|
Stephen Story
"I Was Afraid Bottles Were
Going to Come Flying at Him!"
(Originally published in Pinellas County Review,
November 1994)
By Bob
Andelman
October 19th was Stephen F. Story's birthday.
He celebrated by playing a round of golf that afternoon with
his pal, Mike Azzarelli, and taking in a Jackson Browne concert
that evening at Killian's in Ybor City.
"There were a lot of important people
running around that place," Azzarelli recalled. "But
the only person this guy from Mix 96 introduced from the stage
was 'Steve Story, the head of the Tampa Bay Bucs brain trust.'
It was dangerous sitting next to him! I was afraid bottles were
going to come flying at him!"
As Hugh Culverhouse's law partner, confidante
and trustee for more than a decade, Steve Story's name barely
seeped into the public conscious during the late 1980s and early
'90s. But when the owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers died of
lung cancer on Aug. 25, Story was the man thrust hard under the
microscope
Following a respectful period of mourning
- a few hours was all the sports media could spare - the great
game of second-guessing began. Would Story and his fellow trustees,
Jack Donlan and Fred Cone, sell the Bucs? Was Coach Sam Wyche's
head on the chopping block? Would Story at least trade in the
team's audacious orange uniforms for something a little more
threatening?
Maybe, no and
no, came the answers.
And when his initial "maybe" generated
even more angst and uncertainty for the Bucs' day-to-day operations,
Story and the trustees stepped forward again, saying they would
not be entertaining offers to buy the team. Period. This quickly
silenced the alarmists who saw the team headed everywhere from
Orlando to Baltimore or St. Louis.
However . . . When the team faltered once
again on the field, dropping to 2-7, the season was effectively
over and all hell broke lose. First, vice president of football
administration Rich McKay was promoted to general manager of
the team, a heretofore alien concept at One Buc Place. Many of
his new responsibilities (including the college player draft)
were stripped away from head coach Sam Wyche.
But the bigger news came a day later and in
waves. Hugh Culverhouse's widow, Joy, sued her husband's estate
for $25-million, challenging a property settlement agreement
she allegedly signed under duress. Then Hugh Culverhouse Jr.,
a Miami-based attorney, filed a slander suit against Story for
allegedly posting a sign denying him and his sister, Gay, the
former Bucs president, entry to a Bal Harbour condominium owned
by their father.
All of this was just a prelude to the main
meal: The Bucs are for sale and the line forms outside
Steve Story's office. But would-be suitors should not only pack
up to $200-million in cash: a sleeping bag and several changes
of underwear might be advisable. It could be a long wait before
the last lawsuit drops and the last cleat settles in Steve Story's
back.
"My focus will be toward the sale of
the Buccaneers over the next three months," Story said.
"I would envision that's when most of the activity will
get done. But despite the number of people who want to buy a
team, when it comes to payment, a lot of people fall by the wayside."
Story's original plan was to hold off on a
sale until the 1994 season ended, keeping attention on the field.
But the sorriest team in sports history fell short of its promised
trip to the playoffs this year and all hell broke loose.
"Our performance to date, as well as
some of the family's desire, is just moving that timetable up,"
Story said with resignation. Still, he added, the final decision
on when to sell, to whom, and under what conditions remains his
and the other trustees'. "We can respect the beneficiaries
or not. We think it's a proper decision to consider sale. Whether
we can consummate is another matter."
This is precisely the situation that tied
up the Miami Dolphins when owner Joe Robbie died. His death ripped
the veil off vicious internecine family bickering that lasted
for years, ending only when H. Wayne Huizenga purchased the team
from Robbie's heirs. "Any family disharmony is similar to
the Robbie situation," Story said. "It took the Dolphins
two years to complete a sale."
If anything like that happens here, Mr. C's
presence in his protégé's life may seem more like
a haunting.
Story studied the Robbie situation carefully
in organizing the Culverhouse trust and the Georgia native is
nothing if not well-prepared and well-educated in tax and trust
matters. He earned his first degree, in accounting, from Emory
University, then picked up a J.D. and MBA from the University
of Georgia. He went to one more school, the University of Florida,
where he got an LLM in taxation. One of his professors recommended
him to Jacksonville tax attorney Hugh Culverhouse in 1977 and
sealed Story's fate.
"I think he really shaped me," he
said. "You spend so much time working so closely to someone,
especially when they're successful, you tend to mold yourself
to them, or try. I hope that I have developed some of the same
personality characteristics, negotiating and analytical skills
that he maintained. He was a tremendous delegator. He gave you
a great deal of control and did not interfere. And he really
was an excellent evaluator of people, although people would argue
he wasn't good at choosing football coaches."
Story followed the boss south in 1980 and
opened an office of Culverhouse, Botts and Story in Tampa. (Guy
Botts, former chairman of Barnett Banks, passed away in 1993.).
But in the last five years, non-Culverhouse business dwindled.
Today, the firm is down to two lawyers, Story and Valerie Cappello,
who practice hardly any law at all.
"I can't remember the last client I billed,"
Story said. "The law is so integral to any transaction that
I get my dosage of it. Mr. C felt it was important to maintain
the law firm. He was proud of being an attorney and he wanted
to keep that identification." The firm does still take on
specific assignments from long-time client Pepin Distributing
in Tampa.
As manager for the last few years of the Culverhouse
financial empire - estimated by Forbes in 1993 at $360-million
- Story oversees the entire family holdings. (See sidebar.)
"Mr. Culverhouse had great confidence
in Steve," said Jack Donlan, a Culverhouse trustee and former
executive director of the NFL Management Council from 1980-91.
"Mr. Culverhouse really liked people who could perform.
Their relationship transcended an everyday business relationship.
It was a caring relationship for both men by each other."
"My daily activities have not changed
dramatically because Mr. C turned over the reins four years ago,"
Story said. "That has allowed for a very smooth business
transition, both internally with the employees and externally
with the banks and people we do business with. I was, in essence,
the clearing board for all the other managers - even before they
reported to me - for how Mr. C would react to something. You
naturally progress to structure a deal based on your speculation
about what his reaction would be."
Story's enjoyment of the job depends upon
the business category. For instance, when the boss purchased
Provincetown-Boston Airline (PBA) in 1985, he announced the carrier
would be profitable in 90 days. "Instead, in 60 days, I
was on the front pages announcing a bankruptcy," Story said.
And when Culverhouse acquired Coast Federal
S&L in Sarasota five years ago, the bank's president abruptly
quit and Story was dispatched to get the $1-billion financial
institution's house in order. "That was a very difficult
experience for me," he recalled. "It had so much overhead.
I was left with the task of downsizing, significantly, the expense
side of the balance statement."
He converted Coast from an S&L to a bank
and took an ax to its swollen staff of 500. He also switched
his mortgage lenders from salary to commission, effectively doubling
their income.
There are other considerations in his job,
of course. Story, an avid golfer, was a frustrated athlete in
high school who now gets all the football exposure he can handle.
As in 1990, when Rich McKay, then a private practice attorney
representing the Bucs, was negotiating an extension of the team's
Tampa Stadium lease.
"Whenever we had a problem in the deal,"
McKay recalled, "I'd bring Steve in the room. He'd put on
the black hat, scream, yell and leave."
And this summer, his 15-year-old son, Steve
Jr., worked with the Bucs equipment managers during pre-season
camp. "The first week, he lost $20 to Trent Dilfer playing
pool," Story recalled. "Trent said to me, 'Mr. Story,
I don't want to ask Steve for the money.' I said, if he bet you,
he's got to pay. Maybe he'll learn a lesson."
Friends describe Story's relationship with
Culverhouse as familial.
"I think Steve was like a son to Mr.
Culverhouse," said Mike Azzarelli, president of Azzarelli
Construction Co. in Tampa and agent for former Bucs QB Vinnie
Testaverde. "I don't think there was anyone closer to Mr.
C, other than his wife and children. In the days Mr. C was sick,
Steve would see him at home or spend a great deal of time with
him at the hospital."
Culverhouse's loyalty to Story was equally
unquestioned, as he demonstrated when the younger man quit drinking
in October 1988.
"I clearly had a problem with it and
I dealt with it," Story said. "He stood by me and that
grew our bond. The whole Culverhouse family stood by me - Hugh,
Mrs. Culverhouse, Gay and Hugh Jr. were all very supportive.
They were encouraging me to quit. Well, it was encouragement
and veiled threats. But they were correct. I discovered I had
a problem."
Less than three months after giving up alcohol,
Story also went cold turkey on a five-pack-a-day cigarette habit.
"That's the hardest thing I've ever done," he said.
"I still miss cigarettes. Now my wife says I work
to excess."
That Story addressed his devils hastened Culverhouse's
decision to turn over day-to-day responsibility for his business
affairs.
"I always say he's a miracle," said
friend and Tampa criminal defense attorney Gary Trombley. "I'm
impressed and amazed at his control and discipline. He had always
had the qualities he has now but he's been able to use them better
since he quit drinking and wasn't obsessed with his habits."
Lucky for Story that he did straighten out,
because Culverhouse left him a helluva lot of work to do.
"It's a long-term job," Story said.
"I think I'll have my hands pretty full here for the foreseeable
future as we go through the estate and the winding down of assets.
I'm probably the only one that has an overall picture of the
Culverhouse empire. I'm in the process of educating my two fellow
trustees as well as the family."
In recent years, as Culverhouse's health waned
and his reliance on Story increased, so did Story's dependence
upon his cellular phone. Or phones.
"He has so many cellular phones it's
hard to know which one to call," Trombley said. "But
it works for him. He can definitely be reached."
"He lives for the phone," McKay
said. "He's the guy who, when it first came out that certain
cellular phones cause cancer, I decided it was time to write
his eulogy."
Every one of Story's friends has a tale to
tell of Story and his phones. It's a habit that got out of control
when Culverhouse was sick and wanted to be able to instantly
reach Story. But it made him a less than ideal golf partner,
because he wouldn't leave the damn thing behind.
"It's a pain in the neck playing golf
with him," according to McKay. "People know Steve is
never without his phone so they let it ring and ring. They know
he'll pick up. And he's the only guy I know who can distinguish
his ring from other cell phones."
Of course, there are advantages to knowing
his habits.
"If he's golfing and I'm not there, I
like to call just to bother him," Azzarelli said. "You
can be sitting in his office and the cell phone rings. People
don't waste time - they know he's always got it."
The Culverhouse Empire:
Major Assets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Palmer Ranch, Sarasota County, 8,000 acres
Orange groves in Arcadia and Ft. Pierce, 5,000 acres
Cypress Lakes, Lakeland, manufactured housing development
Raw land in Broward County and Jacksonville
Central County Utility Co., Sarasota County
South Broward Utility Co., Broward County
BAY LAWYER FILE
Name: Stephen F. Story
Title: Partner,
Culverhouse, Botts & Story
Birthplace/date:
Oct. 19, 1949
Marital Status:
Married; Robyn is an advertising exec with Bozell, responsible
for the Chrysler account
Children: Steve
Jr., 15
Pre-Law: Father
was an internist; mother was a housewife. Story received a BBA
from Emory University, a J.D. and MBA from the University of
Georgia and LLM in Taxation from the University of Florida.
First Law Job:
Hired by Hugh Culverhouse after graduating UF
Biggest Victory:
"I sold half the Palmer Ranch to Coast Federal S&L in
1981 for $35-million. In 1989, we bought Coast. Four years later,
we sold off the banking operation to SunBank and used the profit
from the bank to buy back most of the ranch for less than we
sold it in '81. It was a good transaction."
Biggest Disappointment: "Mr. C wanted to give something back to the
Bar. He started Lawyer's Professional Liability Insurance Co.
in the early '80s. We lost $8-million through trying to help
our fellow attorneys."
end
©2000,
All rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced without the
express written permission of the author.
Free Andelmania E-Newsletter!
Want to hear the latest about the Andelmans? Join
our mailing list!
You'll get updates about the family and professional news, too.
Enter your email address below, then click the 'Join List' button:
|