Bean works behind the teams as athletic equipment manager

By Josh Creighton
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

Every team has those that shine on the field, but there are also those that go unnoticed behind the scenes. It is this man that keeps players safe and properly equipped.

Dana Bean is Norwich University's athletic equipment manager, with the job of making sure all athletic teams are properly equipped with clean uniforms and proper equipment.

Bean is on his 15th year as NU equipment manager. He serves as the equipment manager for all 19 athletic teams here at Norwich University.

He has seen it all, from minor league hockey to National Football League football. He has been the man in the shadows. His work is not as easy as it may appear.

"I spend up to 11 hours a day getting equipment ready," stated Bean. "I need to make sure all teams are ready for practices or games."

Every day, Bean spends his time fixing broken equipment, organizing teams' equipment and washing athletic uniforms.

"I really appreciate the work that Dana does for us," said Nick Atwood, a 20 year-old Biology major from Middlebury, Vt., and a football player. "He is a man that gets very little credit, but does all of the work that gets unnoticed. If it was not for him, many teams would be scrambling with uniforms and equipment."

Early in his career, Bean did a preseason internship with the Green Bay Packers. It was quite different than working here at Norwich, recalled Bean.

Working with the Green Bay Packers, Bean met up with an equipment manager from Douglas Equipment Company. During the time spent with the NFL organization, he learned how to purchase the best equipment with the budget that was given to him.

Bean got the chance to meet many great Packers players such as Brett Favre, Sterling Sharpe and Reggie White. "The equipment room was right next to the locker room; there were constantly players coming and going," Bean said.

"The fans would hold up the players; they all want autographs or a piece of equipment," said Bean. "When it was time for practice, we would drive Favre in an old 1980 Cadillac to get him to practice, so that he wouldn't get swamped by the fans."

Bean has the pictures to prove it. Hanging up in the equipment room of Andrews Hall are three giant pictures of the Packers' sidelines during a pre-season game with the Rams.

You can clearly see Favre, Sharpe and White in the pictures, along with a few other players along the sidelines.

Bean worked with the team for all of the pre-season before heading back up to Norwich University.

"Coming off of working with the Packers, then back to Norwich University was quite a different setting. A crowd of 72,000 fans compared to 1,000 local college fans is much different," said Bean. "Packers fans are crazy; they don't care who you are. All they want is whatever you have on that has a Packers logo on it, from a hat to jersey."

From there, Bean worked with a team from the minor leagues of the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), the Mississippi Sea Wolves. "It was a great experience working with the players. The head coach was a very understanding man," Bean said.

He spent three months in Mississippi before heading back north. "It was a short stint down south, but it was tough with my wife back in VT." Bean said.

"It was tough being so far away from my family. I couldn't deal with the whole phone thing," stated Bean. "I just couldn't do it, anymore; it was time to come back to Norwich University."

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