Posted on 07/01/2010 10:30:14 PM PDT by South40
I will never forget watching the 81 AFC Playoff game between my Dolphins and the Chargers. It was called “The Game of the 80s” and certainly one of the all time greatest NFL games ever played.
I will never forget Air Coryell, I love the NFL passing game.
Sad that his entry into the HOF will be posthumous. He was a genius whose fingerprints are on the passing game of every team in the NFL today.
Coryell a big part of football history.
The link below has several comments.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2545513/posts
Coryell reinvented the game. His was the original “West Coast Offense”, which was, of course, radically different from the Paul Brown/Bill Walsh offense we know as the West Coast Offense today.
Football owes a lot of its current popularity to Coryell.
Correction, THE best game I ever watched. The only one close to it for the drama was the Giant Pat Super Bowl.
The NFL passing game of today sucks...IMO, Coryell and his teams excelled even with the ability of D backs to maul receivers from the snap to the moment of release of the pass. Now, you can bump them for the first 2 seconds, then it is hands off. I liked the combination of tough play, grind it out, then hit em deep, that the Dan Fouts years represented. I know that the Chargers were not much for the grind it out game, but more styles were successful during that era simultaneously. Now, you have to be able to throw the ball, or you are going to be a loser. There is no place for a running game and defensive powerhouse, if you want to win rings. The league has written the rule book to drastically favor one style......
Ah, one of the great offensive coaches of all time - I remember his teams from my childhood - those Charger offenses with Fouts, Joyner, Jefferson and the great Kellen Winslow - and later Wes Chandler. That defensive line with Louie Kelcher, Gary Johnson and Fred Dean weren’t bad at all either - and all three ended up getting Super Bowl rings with my beloved 49ers.
He also coached the hapless St. Louis Cardinals football team in the 70s. He was a good coach with a bad team.
RIP coach.
He was a superb coach, and his offense was always fun to watch. He is also known for never having smiled (at least, the rumor is that there is no photograph in existence of the man ever smiling).
I am shocked his isn’t already in the NFL hall of fame.
RIP
As a neutral observer of the Air Coryell teams I wondered how this bunch could get so wired up to play for such a taciturn man but that was long before I understood the dynamics of a team, the practice and preparation and what goes on behind the scene. Dan Fouts is no fool and Fouts reveres Coryell.
I do recall him sneaking a cigarette (!) during the Freezer Bowl game against the Bengals. My parents (who both smoked at the time) were incredulous that he did so in such cold temperatures.
Especially given the number of relatively less-deserving candidates.
The NFL’s HOF minimum-number-of-inductees rule is silly. The TV/NFL Films era means that we are all familiar with even the most marginal players but the hot dogs get the air time and somehow become HOF material. Ridiculous. As an example, I bow to nobody as a Steeler fan but Lynn Swann is simply not a HOFer.
Defense, now that’s another story.
Did you ever see the 1972 AFC Championship game between Miami & Kansas City? Now, that was some game!...
Air Coryell takes its final flight. Godspeed.
I don’t recall that game, so I must have been busy with unimportant things, partying, chasing girls, and figuring out how to nearly kill myself without actually dying. If it was a great game, I missed it. Then again, I don’t remember the 4 years following graduation from HS. No I did not get a degree, at least on paper.
Are you talking of the longest game? I wasnt around for it, but have seen highlights and interviews.
For those that dont know, Kansas City’s RB Ed Podolack ran for 85 yds/1 TD, caught 110 yds/1 TD, returned 3 KOs for 153 yds and 2 PR for 2 yds. His 350 combined yds were an NFL record.
In the 2nd overtime, you could tell he was running on something extra because he had no energy left. The field was muddy. The Dolphins eventually won.
An interview I saw from Podolack was very sombering. That game, where he played his heart out, was the closest he ever got to the Super Bowl. The Chiefs did not make th playoffs the rest of his career. In all his effort, he came up just short. This was only his 3rd season, and he figured he would have another chance, but never did.
Sometimes, you can do everything possible, and it still isnt enough. That is why the game (football) is special.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.