How could this be? How could two well-known Winks Martindale roam the face of this Earth? One Wink Martindale is the consummate game show host, most notably of the popular game show "Tic-Tac-Dough" that ran from 1978-1985. He is now a healthy 87 years old. His full name is Winston Conrad Martindale and a childhood friend started calling him "Wink" for short and it stuck.
But there's a second Wink Martindale, and that's what seems impossible. The latter Wink was born Don Martindale, and in 2012 became the linebackers coach and eventually the defensive coordinator for the professional football team the Baltimore Ravens.
When I heard his name being called during the playoff game between the Ravens and the Tennessee Titans, my first thought was, "how could there ever be two people with such a ridiculous name and how could they each have acquired enough fame for me to hear of them both?" Never did I think game-show Wink had a career change.
Before I looked for a glitch in the matrix I looked it up on my phone and the answer was really simple. Don Martindale's team mates on his college football team at Defiance College nicknamed him Wink after the well-known game show host, because he had the Martindale last name. Totally makes sense.
Still. Football Wink got that name well before he became a known NFL figure…and he eventually acquired notoriety despite his goofy nickname, not because of it? An inspection of the matrix might still be necessary.
