With the Celtics pushing for a championship, we spoke with the widow of a fan immortalized in a decades-old clip that resurfaced after his death.
You probably have seen it, posted it on social media or texted it to friends: The viral Boston Celtics interview you know and love.
In the six second clip, a young man with a decidedly Boston accent says, "Who's gonna win it? The Celtics! Because there's no other reason why. The Celtics are the balls!"
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The man in that video, wearing Celtics green and sharing his passion, is Donnie Beardsley.
"What's there to say about him? He was larger than life, and he just enjoyed life," said Susan Beardsley.
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Unfortunately, Donnie Beardsley didn't live to see his clip go viral. He died unexpectedly in 2015 from a heart attack.
"He was just a huge Celtics fan," Susan Beardsley said. "It brings back a lot of happy memories."
His family says a year or two after his death, with no notice or heads up, the now-viral clip of him ran in an ESPN documentary.
"Our phones were ringing off the hooks, because people were in the kitchen cooking, or whatever they were doing, watching and listening and they were like, 'Oh my god, that is Don Beardsley,'" Susan Beardsley said with a laugh.
She says Donnie was interviewed in 1984 as he watched the Celtics play the Los Angeles Lakers at a bar near the old Boston Garden.
"We had heard over the years that he was interviewed, but sometimes we were like, 'Oh, yeah, right," Beardsley said, laughing again.
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Outside TD Garden on Monday, with the C's up 2-0 over the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals, fans were quick to react to the clip.
"Oh man, have I seen that guy? I have a lot, my brother sends that in the text every playoffs I promise you," Johnny Rodriguez said. "We are the balls, so there you go."
Max Sidore agrees.
"I love that clip, yeah, it is my favorite," he said. "It is just the Boston spirit, honestly."
For Beardsley's family, it all is a great reminder of the man who died way too soon.
"He lives on, and that is kind of who he was in life," Susan Beardsley said. "So it does make me happy, makes me sad he is not here, to be here and experience this."
