steelers former head coach died in the fire affected home together with family…
I’m astonished and saddened by this. My sympathies and heartfelt wishes go out to** Marianne. **She’s a wonderful lady. These are times when we reflect on all of the wonderful memories and experiences we’ve had. And there’s no denying that these recollections are undoubtedly among the best in professional football history. That goes for Chuck, the organization, and the team he assembled.
I’m reflecting on when I first got the news. I am shocked. I believe that the finest honor someone can pay is to start talking about them. Chuck often maintained that his players’ success will be determined by their children’s upbringing, and I had no idea what he meant. But I believe it was the impact of who they are as individuals and their values, and how that translates into the impact they have on their children. I found myself doing this, delivering Chuck’s “Nollisms” on life and how they influenced us while we were playing, the basics, the fundamentals, giving my all. When you reflect on the people who had an impact on you, Chuck was one of them.
Whether you had a close or distant relationship with him, he made a significant difference in our lives. It altered our thinking and approach to situations, as well as our self-perception. That was Chuck’s main legacy. If you consider the group of people he had and their subsequent lives, the commitments they made, the service they provided to their communities, and raising their children, it is arguably the greatest tribute you can make to another person.
certainly sad for Marianne and Chris to lose a husband and a father. In Marianne’s case, Chuck was her best friend. There is nothing sadder. And you start thinking about Chuck and when all of the wonderful things that come to mind, you realize he’s in heaven and spending eternity in peace. That’s very refreshing. I’m proud to have played for him. It was a great honor. My relationship wasn’t good, as you well know, but he made me understand my job responsibilities, because I had to grow up. I came out of an environment with nothing but pats on the back and love. With him it was nowhere near that. I had to go through all the developments emotionally of how to deal with it. He was a tough coach to me, and I spent more time with him than anybody, so I know. I learned how to be mentally tough with him, and for that I can never say thank you enough, because that got me through divorces, Super Bowls, and those times when I had bad moments in big games. He made me mentally strong, which I wasn’t. And he instilled in me a great work ethic. I had a good work ethic, but preparation was paramount with him, so we spent a lot of time going through preparations for the games.
He was an amazing guy. I watched him more than he watched me (laughs). I had a great amount of fear for him. He’s kind of like a father from whom you want approval and you don’t quite get it, and in the advent of that journey you work harder and harder, you try to get better and better, and then when it’s all said and done he says, “Thank you. You were a great quarterback.” And you say, “Wow!” He was different than anybody I had ever been around and played for. He was smart, really smart. His game plans were spot on. He figured out the 3-4 blitzing schemes. He figured out the flex. He was just an amazing football mind. I would say I know I more about defenses than I do offenses because that’s what he taught me. He taught me defenses. If you know defenses you can run offenses.
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