Choose your coaching geniuses carefully (FOOTBALL ALERT)

NFL FEATURES ^ | Sept. 26, 2002 | Cris Collinsworth

[7thson]

The longer I'm around and watch the NFL, the more determined I am to reserve the label of genius for scientists and Nobel Prize winners. I will no longer refer to anybody in the NFL coaching ranks as a genius. I have seen too many geniuses turn into high school dropouts once their star players -- who represent the Xs and Os -- retire or leave the team.

The first guy I ever thought was a genius was Mike Shanahan. I felt he was a step ahead of everybody after winning two Super Bowls in Denver. He had the spread offense working and it seemed unstoppable. I actually said during a Super Bowl broadcast that he looked like he was a little bit smarter than the rest of the league.

[7thson]

What do you football fans think of this? IMHO, when it comes to NFL coaches, the only two that I would consider in the genius category would be Vince Lombardi and Joe Gibbs. And the smartest thing Joe Gibbs ever did was get out while his star was still shining. Lombardi was spectacular. The man never had a losing season in anything he coached. From high school basketball to the pros. I firmly believe that had he not died, the Washington Redskins would have controlled the NFL in the 70's and not the Steelers.

[Bikers4Bush]

Professional football is fixed, you might as well have Vince McMahon owning all the teams just like the XFL.

The specifics of what happens during the game aren't scripted as well as a WWF or WWE (whatever it is now) match but the outcome is pre-determined.

[robjna]

refuse to read the article after seeing who wrote it. Collinsworth is the biggest ass%^&% in the broadcast booth. He is an egomanical chump. he continually tries to make himself look better by critcizing his colleagues. i had to listen to the radio when they put him in the booth for the packer/lion game last week.

[fone]

Cynical Browns fan?

You're quite right however! I figured that out in the 86 season when the ball was "Bynered" (sp?) in the endzone.

[Bikers4Bush]

I'm preferring to call my self a realist at this point instead of cynical.

I had the realization yesterday in the 4th quarter when we were up by a TD. I called it, Browns will lose by 3. None of my buddies believed I was saying it, and then it happened.

From now on I'm going to watch every football game as though it's a professional wrestling match.

My guess is that I've just added 10 years to my life.

[fone]

LOL! Same thing happened to me yesterday, well, almost. I didn't call the 3 points but I knew we'd lose when we went into overtime.

Makes you want to spike your helmet on the field! Yeah, right.

[mc5cents]

Professional football is fixed, you might as well have Vince McMahon owning all the teams just like the XFL

Whatsamatter? You have the under on the Chiefs-Dolphins?

[dmz]

if the game was fixed, no way the powers that be would have let the ravens take home the trophy in 2000. 'nuf sed.

[Bikers4Bush]

Thankfully no, I don't bet on Pro football and as for the Ravens I'm convinced Modell has naked pictures of TagmeIblow in compromising positions.

[7thson]

Sometimes I think it is, sometimes not. I seriously thought it was fixed when Thiesman throws an interception just before halftime in the Raiders-Rekskins Superbowl of Jan 84. Then, last year, the Patriots pull it out. The question is, if it is fixed, who is being bought? The refs? The owners? The players? The coaches?

I remember some years ago a book came out describing how the NFL is rigged. This was in the mid-80's. I thought, I'll get that one later. Never saw it again. Last I heard, there was a court case involving the author(s). Anyone have any word on this?

[fone]

>>>a book came out describing how the NFL is rigged. This was in the mid-80's<<<

You're ringing a bell with this, been so long ago I'd almost forgotten the controversy.

What vague recollection I have is that *key* games were being thrown (both pro and college) but I have to tell you it is a stretch since there are so many variables in any given game.

I didn't see the book, but I remember discussing this subject years back and since conspiracies are always hard to prove the subject got laughed off. The thing was (and probably still is) if you can get your hands on those "football" picks [rumor has it people bet money on the games heh-heh] just keep track of the win/loss totals (within the spread, of course) and you'll see that almost without exception the "house" wins. I've not seen those slips in years, but from time to time I'd track a week or two here and there, and note this: NEVER did the "house" take an overall loss. Much like the casinos.

It's no longer a game, it is a business...

[William McKinley]

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[Hatteras]

I don't think of Joe Gibbs as a football "genius" and I'd go a little further to even think of Lombardi as a football "genius". What Joe Gibbs had was one of the best offensive lines in the history of the game (thanks Joe Bugle) and some pretty good luck (something all teams are required to have in order to be successful).

As Joe Theisman was quoted as saying, "Nobody in the game of football should be called a genius. A genius is somebody like Norman Einstein."

[justshutupandtakeit]

Weren't the Pack losers Lombardi's first year?

[fone]

Norman Einstein was a guy Joe went to school with.

[Valin]

Mike Tice!
/sarcasm

[Mr. Jeeves]

I think Bill Walsh was a genius who revolutionized the game, but as he says in the article, he got a lot smarter when he met Joe Montana. If the players can't execute, it doesn't matter how brilliant the scheme is.

[Hatteras]

"Norman Einstein was a guy Joe went to school with."

Yes, but this guy was his class valedictorian. The point he is making is that football is a game, and relatively speaking, "genius" doesn't mean a whole lot.

[7thson]

No.

[fightinJAG]

Just wondering if you really mean Collingsworth? There are several egomaniacal chimps in the booths these days, but can't say I'd ever think that of Chris.

In fact, it seems he left the Fox pre-game show because he wasn't as assinine as, say, Terry Bradshaw and Howie.

Just my two cents.