Come on now, I would have expected better out of you and Second Honeymoon Double Barrell. How in the world could Gilbride have deserved to be punched in the face in the middle of a game????? That was one of the most dispicable acts that any coach in any sport has ever displayed and it was a terrible thing to do before the Oilers were going into the playoffs to throw a punch at a fellow coach. Buddy had been known for pulling crap like that in the past as well. That wasn't the first coach that he assaulted either. Buddy was an extreme jerk for years in that regard. I knew the Gilbride family really well back then and Kevin Gilbride was not some arrogant guy. Maybe he came off that way to you on television, but he wasn't that way in person. That was one bullshit succer punch that he threw in between a few other coaches to. He knew that Kevin would have been held back right away as soon as the punch was thrown. That punch was as cheap as it gets.
And Gilbride has won a SB ring as well.
Well, first off, Tex, my statement was purely tongue-in-cheek from a 'hardcore football fan' perspective. I hate the run & shoot for the 35-3 debacle, simply because they could not protect a lead. Gilbride's arrogance back then was that they did not even need a TE or FB on the roster. That's on him and Pardee as masters of the r&s.
My statement about Buddy Ryan was in direct response to WWJD, when she said "Buddy was always one of those that talked alot of noise but he'd run at the first sign of stuff coming his way."
I did not feel this was true, which has been clearly revealed by my statement and yours, as well. I'm not justifying his behavior - dude was temperamental, at best - but he certainly was not one to run away from trouble. But he called it like he saw it, and Gilbride's offense could not control the clock and Ryans called it the "chuck and duck". If Gilbride had just let Buddy blow off steam, the famous punch never would have happened. The truth is that Kevin started talking trash and Buddy punched him.
And I'm aware that Gilbride got a ring, but this was about the Ryans vs. the Phillips in my statement to WWJD.
Obviously, you have more of a personal stake in the story, so your objectivity is a bit slanted, but that's cool. Mine is, too, because 35-3 left a permanent stain on any player, coach, and franchise associated with it. Disgusting stuff, indeed.
And that horrible playoff game was on Buddy Ryan's defense. They gave up a 32 point lead for heaven's sake.
Now you're just plain wrong. Jim Eddy was the Oilers DC for that game, and he was fired as a scapegoat. He ended up in Dallas the next year and got two rings with them, IIRC. (I think the entire staff should have been sacked, but what do I know, I was just an angry fan.)
Buddy was hired the next season. The Oilers started the season 1-4, but it was Ryan's 46 defense that lit a fire and sent them on an 11 game winning streak.
He might have been a jerk, but he was one of the best DCs in the NFL. His 1985 Chicago Bears defense is still considered one of the best in football history.
Prior to that, he got a ring with the Jets in the infamous Joe Namath Super Bowl, creating multiple blitz packages that changed NFL defenses forever.
Then he was the DC for the Vikings "Purple People Eaters", one of the all-time great Ds in history.
You might not like him, but there is no denying his impact on pro football. There have been lots of jerks in the game, but when all that matters is wins and losses, I'd rather have a winning jerk than a nice guy loser. JMO