Hank Stram R.I.P.

July 7, 2005 on 1:52 pm | In Uncategorized |

As a young boy I spent an inordinate amount time consumed in reading sports trivia books, collecting cards and when given the opportunity wathing ESPN. During my ESPN viewing opportunities, I often was able to watch their broadcasts of NFL films features on players, coaches, teams, etc. Hank Stram,miked in Super Bowl IV, for some reason made a strong impression upon me. He was as serious as every other coach, but he was loose enough that his players seemed to really benefit. Last year, I even named one of my fantasy football teams “Hank’s Matriculators” (Matriculate the Ball up the field) from his famous quote while miked in Super Bowl IV.

At any rate, Hank Stram is a member of a shortlist of major innovative forces in the NFL and probably the first charisdmatic, modern-style NFL coach (i.e. player’s coach). Many nostalgists prefer the John Wayne-like toughness of Vince Lombardi or the expletive-filled coarseness of George Halas, legends both. That being said, I prefer Stram because he appeared to be having fun and had a good rapport with his players. His attitude was more familiar to people like me who weren’t raised in a WWII-era culture. My thoughts go out to his family.

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  1. Football coaches. Is football the sport where the coach has the most game time influence over the outcome of that game? Baseball managers and relief pitchers? Any third grader with any math skills can create a good starting lineup. Basketball coaches. Drawn-up plays after a time out. The occasional substitution. Don’t the players (or their respective managers) actually make all the important decisions. Defensive strategy. Are there any other sports? I think hockey is a sport. Line changes. “Don’t ice the puck”. Some defensive sets. How about boxing? Forgot about that one. Trainers have quite an effect on their subject/boxer. One on one. Back to football. With the complexity of the game itself, as well as the intricacies of the locker room and player diversity/mentality (i.e. offense v defense v special teams v OL v DL v QB v CB etc.) football coaches are so important and integral to the actual team as well as the organization as a whole, not to mention the time spent in preparation for each game (practices, meetings, film) what a great ambling rambling run on sentence this has turned out to be. What I am trying to say is Here’s to Hank Stram and the rest of the football coaches from Pop Warner, semi-pro, arena, college, high school etc. Man I love football. Tune in next week when I rip on Lance Armstrong.

    Comment by WHITEY — July 17, 2005 #

  2. Coaches serve so many roles in the modern NFL. They have to be motivators, game managers, posess media savvy, and have the vision to cultivate a philosophy that best utilizes the unique talents of their personnel and coaching staff. Meanwhile, they must be able to perform these tasks in overdrive since the NFL season is so comparatively short to the other major professional sports. All of this doesn’t account for the NFL being the most violent and intense of all of the major sports. Whitey don’t push Lance off of his bike, so many people are trying to argue that he is great athlete on par with Muhammad Ali, Babe Ruth, Walter Payton , etc that it makes me want to vomit.

    Comment by Steve — July 18, 2005 #

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