By Cary Shuman
A few blocks from the stadium where he was a superb Revere High School two-sport athlete, Eddie Sullivan Jr. is embarking on a new chapter in his life.
members of his hairstyling team, Eddie Sullivan Jr. and Artie
Cook.
Last week, Sullivan, 25, joined the staff of Derek’s Barber Shop, 235 Park Ave., as a full-time barber. It is a reunion for Sullivan and Derek Anemoduris, the owner of the popular Shop who coached Sullivan as a youth in the Revere travel team basketball program.
Sullivan is a graduate of the New England Hair Academy and received his barber’s license in 2021.
Sullivan had worked at a barber shop in Wilmington for three-and-half years before deciding to return to his Revere roots and accept a job from Anemoduris, whom he considers a valued mentor and friend.
“I can’t say enough about Derek, who’s been a great mentor ever since I was a kid playing basketball and he was the coach,” said Eddie. “He was a great guy then, and I’m grateful that he has given me this opportunity. I grew up getting my haircuts from Derek and I love this shop.”
Welcoming him aboard
Derek Anemoduris said he was happy to offer his former player a job at his shop.
“I was looking for a person who had ties to the community,” said Derek. “Being an athlete with outstanding leadership qualities and a former quarterback, Eddie is someone you want to be part of your team. I really think his participation in sports benefited his development as a person. I’ve known Eddie since he was in middle school. I coached him in travel team basketball as well as kids like John DiGregorio, Brendan Hayes, Anthony Delvecchio. They’re a good group of guys. I know Eddie’s parents, his uncles, and his sisters. Eddie comes from a great family.”
Anemoduris said the addition of Sullivan to the team will allow the shop to welcome walk-in clients.
“This is my 14th year [of owning the shop] and we’re looking to take it to the next level,” said Derek.
Achieving excellence from Pop Warner to college athletics
Eddie Sullivan’s Pop Warner career was off-the-charts’ spectacular, as the Revere Junior Patriots became a GBL superpower with him at quarterback for multiple seasons. The achievements in Pop Warner were family wide. His twin sisters, Taylor and Jordan, were members of four national championship cheering teams and went on to successful softball careers in high school and college.
His father, Eddie Sullivan Sr., a former Pope John star and semiprofessional football player, was one of his Pop Warner coaches. His mother, Tracy Sullivan, was a RJP board member and major fundraiser for several years.
“I started playing football when I was four years old,” recalled Eddie Jr. “Pop Warner was so much fun, and we won at every level. We were one win away making it to nationals in Florida. My love of sports started with my father throwing the ball to me in the backyard and continued by playing sports everyday with my neighbor, John DiGregorio.”
Sullivan picked up the sport of lacrosse in seventh grade and played four years of varsity lacrosse, setting single-season and career scoring records at Revere High School. He was a post-graduate student at Bridgton Academy and played football at Franklin Pierce College before concluding his career as a wide receiver at Westfield State University.
“I’m proud of my athletic career,” said Eddie Jr. “I had some great coaches and have friendships to this day with my teammates. My parents were very supportive in all my endeavors. I’m very proud of my sisters who are graduates of the University of Maine where they played softball. Jordan is a nurse and pursuing a graduate degree. Taylor is a teacher at the Rumney Marsh Academy.”
As he begins his work at Derek’s Barber Shop, Sullivan is also pursuing a position as a firefighter in the Revere Fire Department.
Asked about potentially entering the noble profession of firefighting, Eddie said, “They are basically heroes without a cape.”
