Lewes man and dog come in from the cold

Five years ago, Harry Crosser and his black Lab, Sparky, were regulars along Route 1. They walked everywhere and slept where they could.

The kindness of strangers kept them in a motel on some cold nights. Others supplied enough dog food to last a year for Sparky.

A job at an area business eventually kept Crosser employed and off the street, but when the business closed its doors in December, Crosser faced homelessness again.

And he fell back into the same bad habits that ruined the family and home he once had.

But this time it wasn't a group of strangers who rescued him. By a strange twist of fate, a search for former football players at Salem College led one woman on a quest to find Crosser, a former player for whom she could find no contact information. As it happened, her search dovetailed with Crosser's impending housing and job crisis.

Lost and found

Brenda Cooper, an organizer of the team's 2017 reunion, started digging and didn't stop until she got answers.

An internet search turned up a 2012 Cape Gazette article about Crosser and his dog, Sparky, and from there she was able to track him down. “When I saw the mention of Salem College, I knew this was our Harry,” she said.

A few phone calls later, Crosser's old teammate, Dan Cappelletti, was on the ferry from his home in Cape May, N.J., to meet Crosser in Lewes.

“He looked terrible when we saw him. We went out and bought him a bunch of clothes for the winter, and I'm pretty sure he took them back for a bottle,” he said. “But when I asked him if he wanted to leave, he said yes, and there were tears rolling down his face.”

That was all Cappelletti and Cooper needed to put the wheels in motion. Through social media and emails, Crosser's story was shared with all his former teammates. “You can't believe how many people who played football with him wanted to help,” Cappelletti said.

As fate would have it, one former teammate is a pastor in Indiana who runs a rehabilitation home for men like Crosser.

Pastor John Lowe said their former coach contacted him because he knew about the home. “I told him give me an hour so I could check on the availability,” Lowe said.

Turns out there was a spot for Crosser, and Sparky too, in the eight-man home, he said.

About a week after Cappelletti first reconnected with Crosser, Crosser and Sparky made the trip to Cape May where Cappelletti picked them up and the three made a 17-hour trip to Warsaw, Ind.

“During the car ride, we talked the whole time. That's more than I spoke to him in the three years that I played next to him,” Cappelletti said.

For four years, Cappelletti played offensive guard for Salem College – three of them with Crosser next to him as offensive tackle. Both were on football scholarships on a team that went 35-4 in four years and played for a national title against Texas A&I.

“Harry was the best lineman on the team. Nobody else was even close,” Cappelletti said.

Lowe recalls getting pancaked his freshman year by Crosser – a hit that would make the receiver's knees buckle, he said.

Other than that, Lowe said, Crosser was very quiet and reserved. “We'd see each other coming and going, but that was about it,” he said.

Just before Christmas, Cappelletti and Crosser arrived in Warsaw to 20-degree weather. Right away, Cappelletti said, Crosser cleaned up, shaving his head and full, white beard. “I know he knew he made the right decision,” Cappelletti said.

A new start

Crosser declined to be interviewed for the story, but Lowe said, Crosser agreed to the year-long program at True Purpose Ministries designed to help men fight addiction.

“He is in stage 1, and he doesn't have a cellphone,” he said. “He's been ideal and compliant. We got him some work so he can start earning some money.”

The faith-based program intermixes Bible study with counseling while teaching the men a trade. For now, Crosser is working a part-time cleaning job.

A hand injury that plagued Crosser five years ago has healed, but he has a hip that needs replacement. Lowe remains hopeful that someone will offer pro-bono help. Known as the orthopedic capital of the world, Warsaw's main industry is making replacement body parts, so Crosser is in an ideal place, Lowe said.

“We got him on the mend. We're excited about it because he's been so compliant,” said Lowe, adding Sparky has fit right in and is one of the guys.

Former teammate Cappelletti refuses to take credit for his role in helping Crosser.

“I can guarantee you, any one of my teammates would've done the same thing,” he said. “At least he has a shot now. We have a year to figure this out.”

Cooper said she's not surprised at the outpouring of support that has come from the Salem College football community.

“I've never seen such a tight-knit group of guys who are willing to go above and beyond,” she said.

Former Salem players are in good company. Its alumni include some football legends: former Steeler Jack Deloplaine, Larry Riley, who was part of the Denver Broncos “Orange Crush,” and Jimbo Fisher, head coach of Florida State University, to name a few.

“It's pretty amazing that a school so small produced so much talent,” Cooper said. “These guys are so close there's nothing they wouldn't do for someone if they knew they needed it.”

It's a lesson others could learn from, and if more people took the time to help, she said, the homeless population could be greatly reduced.

Cappelletti, for one, plans to make sure Crosser's rehabilitation is the start of a new beginning. It may be different from the teaching job he once held or the lacrosse and football teams he once coached, but reconciling with his children is a strong possibility.

“This is about Harry, and my only hope is that his kids will get in touch with him,” Cappelletti said. “It's a great feeling to know that we can help a guy who was out of touch with society have a step up.”