Jump to content

Don Shula


PASabreFan

Recommended Posts

I never hated the guy. More like feared and respected.

The face is just seared into the brains of Bills fans of a certain age. How it tortured us and then how we delighted in torturing it.

My dad used to get so mad during Bills Dolphins games. "He's got the refs in his pocket!"

Good times.

Thanks for the memories, Don.

  • Like (+1) 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm on a media fast from terrible news of COVID and mass shootings and helicopter crashes ...

Did something happen to Don?

I hated the *fish* and wanted the Bills to *squish the fish* everytime, but always respected Don as a learned man of the game.  Anyone that can coach an NFL team to a perfect record trough a regular season and playoff deserves our respect, I think.

 

Edited by New Scotland (NS)
all these years later and I still can't type very goodly ...
Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I'm on a media fast from terrible news of COVID and mass shootings and helicopter crashes ...

Did something happen to Don?

I hated the *fish* and wanted the Bills to *squish the fish* everytime, but always respected Don as a learned man of the game.  Anyone that can coach an NFL team to a perfect record trough a regular season and playoff deserves our respect, I think.

 

He died.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Before there was Belicheck and his smug surliness, before there was Johnson and his outsized Texas celebrity, before there was Parcells and his condescending hubris, there was Shula.  Arms folded across his chest, hands on his hips, he presided over teams that stood in our way.  Often, the obstacle was their fifty being better than our fifty.  Occasionally, the obstacle was their one being better than our one.

Don Shula went to Canton as Noll and Landry did, granite faced stoics.  They walked the sidelines with little animation.  Their faces live in my memory like Rushmore busts.  There were no sneers or shouts.  There were no thrown clipboards.  There were only leaders of men.

I wonder, from time to time, how we would have known men of that era had there been 24/7/365 multi-media non-stop quotes, quips and film.  There wasn’t.  And so, I know them as quiet Field Marshalls, masters of the gladiators of my youth.  They are who I believed they were, not who they revealed themselves to be.  I was a boy.  They are Titans.

Edited by Neo
  • Like (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Neo said:

Before there was Belicheck and his smug surliness, before there was Johnson and his outsized Texas celebrity, before there was Parcells and his condescending hubris, there was Shula.  Arms folded across his chest, hands on his hips, he presided over teams that stood in our way.  Often, the obstacle was their fifty being better than our fifty.  Occasionally, the obstacle was their one being better than our one.

Don Shula went to Canton as Noll and Landry did, granite faced stoics.  They walked the sidelines with little animation.  Their faces live in my memory like Rushmore busts.  There were no sneers or shouts.  There were no thrown clipboards.  There were only leaders of men.

I wonder, from time to time, how we would have known men of that era had there been 24/7/365 multi-media non-stop quotes, quips and film.  There wasn’t.  And so, I know them as quiet Field Marshalls, masters of the gladiators of my youth.  They are who I believed they were, not who they revealed themselves to be.  I was a boy.  They are Titans.

The first Bills game I attended was against the fish in '69 at the Rockpile. I was 8 and the Bills won. Then they went "0 for the 70's" and I was a college grad before they beat the fish again 

  • Like (+1) 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mphs mike said:

The first Bills game I attended was against the fish in '69 at the Rockpile. I was 8 and the Bills won. Then they went "0 for the 70's" and I was a college grad before they beat the fish again 

You graduated college by 19?  Impressive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, Crosschecking said:

Who was the last opponent Shula faced? The Bills. He lost that game and called it a career.

Another coach that was out of a job after losing to a Buffalo team.  Usually, it's the Sabres.  We must hold the record of getting rid of coaches after losing to us.  I wonder if they keep that statistic?

  • Like (+1) 1
  • Haha (+1) 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...