Play for Gabby Price – heck, even cover his team a couple of times – and eventually, inexorably, you’d become a different person than you thought you’d been.

You might be a Tom or a Dick or even a Harry at the beginning of the day. You might spend some time in his doghouse for a missed assignment. No matter.

At the end of the day, or at some other point, everyone who crosses paths with Jonathan “Gabby” Price becomes a Bigboy.

That’s Bigboy. Not Big Boy. Or Big-Boy.

Bigboy. One word, mashed together, just like the peculiar all-purpose nickname gurgles out of his throat: A raspy bark that works equally well in greeting, approval or farewell.

Put an opposing lineman on his back, and you’d get a “Nice job, Bigboy!” Scrap for an extra yard, and you might get “Way to work, Bigboy!” Say goodbye after a postgame interview? “Thanks for coming, Bigboy.”

Gabby Price retired from coaching this week, after 18 years as the helm of Bangor High’s football program.

Today, a generation of Bigboys mourn the loss.

Some call Price “intense.” The word is inadequate.

On the sidelines, he often resembled a small, riled-up bear, paws flying and growls emanating from deep in his belly.

Sometimes officials felt his wrath. Sometimes players did. And other times (these were always the most amusing … after the fact), it was a stray reporter who made Price’s blood pressure rise.

“What are you, a nitwit?” he squeaked at one camera-carrying TV type last fall, as a herd of reporters checked to see if they were in fact the nitwit-in-question who’d stepped too close to the sideline Price owned.

After a few seconds, and after another Ram waltzed into the end zone, the reporter reminded Price that he was up by 30. And that his team had scored three or four touchdowns in the past three or four minutes.

Price managed a grin. And later, the reporter was probably a Bigboy again.

From the outside, Price could have been an easy target for critics. Coaches who rant and rave offend our modern sensibilities, after all. And make no mistake: He is a world-class ranter.

Instead, he was revered. And imitated.

Go to a few Bangor High events and you’ll hear administrators and players and parents calling each other “Bigboy.” ‘Nuff said.

But Price is loved in Bangor for a reason that has nothing to do with his impact on the language.

And it isn’t the wins he produced. Not really.

It’s this: He affects people. Not for a 48-minute football game, or for a three-month season. For life.

Talk to a former Bangor football player. Ask him about Price. Then sit down and listen … and listen … and listen.

Every year, Price gives his team a booklet that outlines his philosophies and highlights Bangor’s gridiron triumphs of the past.

Among the nuggets: “Be honest. Most important rule.”

“Have enthusiasm.”

“Never, never complain about the officials.”

And this sage advice with lifelong impact: “Wash your uniform once in awhile.”

But another passage might surprise you. It comes early in the booklet. And it talks about balance.

“I do not hold the opinion of many people in this field that ‘football will make a better man out of you,’ ” Price wrote.

Instead, he said, the game can contribute positively to a player’s life “when it is used and put into proper perspective.”

Good advice, Bigboy. Enjoy your retirement.

John Holyoke is a NEWS sportswriter. His e-mail address is jholyoke@bangordailynews.net