NFL News:

• The Rams have named Mike Singletary as a defensive assistant. Smart move pulling his name out of the Baylor hat.
• The last player in the Odin Lloyd case has finally been convicted. Aaron Hernandez pal Carlos Ortiz pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact, and will serve between 4.5 to 7 years.
• ESPN talks about how Russell Wilson has been using a “mental conditioning” coach since the Super Bowl 49 interception. It’s been credited with helping him rebound and have a good-not-great year last year, and is probably helping him work through his blue balls.

Finally, doesn’t Axl look thrilled to be meeting Dan Snyder?

It was nice of everyone to line up by height. That sure looks like the face of someone who regrets putting the band back together.

Two fine coaches shuffled off their mortal coil today.

The reason most casual observers knew anything about NCAA Women’s basketball was Pat Summitt. She won over a thousand games, made the Women’s tournament 31 consecutive times, and was only brought down by her own body’s weakness. Even up here in Canada, her name had a reverence; at one high school I taught at, the girls all knew who she was, and the coach talked about her and her dominance. That’s how you know you’ve left a mark, when people who will never meet you can use you as a positive reference.

Peyton Manning got asked for a quote, because Tennessee. While he tried to not make it about him, the pros just can’t help themselves sometimes.

Because ESPN’s videos won’t embed, here’s a tribute from the Final Four:

https://youtu.be/3-nwUz8oq7g?t=39s

And her Arthur Ashe presentation video from the ESPYs.

Of course, more important to the DFO mindset, there’s Buddy Ryan. In one way, he birthed the whole [Door Flies Open] meme we ascribe to. The gifts of Rex and The Wolfman would be enough for most fans to remember his place in the pantheon of coaches, despite a 55-55-1 lifetime record. But anyone who grew up in the 80s is going to remember the dominance that was the 46 defence. From ESPN,

James David Ryan was a Korean War veteran who went to Oklahoma State, then got a master’s degree from Middle Tennessee State even while coaching. He got his first major job in the pros in New York, then of the American Football League, in 1968. Ryan was the linebackers coach for the Joe Namath-led Jets, a boastful, confident team that fit his personality. Those Jets led the AFL in defense in his first season on staff, then shocked the Colts in the Super Bowl 16-7.

Aside from gifting the NFL with a defensive strategy that’s still talked with hushed reverence about 30 years later, there’s also his legacy as both a head coach and quote machine. I’m going to use ESPN’s collection of his 10 best quotes to highlight both facts.

1. “Kevin Gilbride will be selling insurance in two years.”

Instead of offering an apology, this is what Ryan told reporters after punching offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride on the sideline when they coached together with the Houston Oilers.

2. “Some say the 46 is just an eight-man front. That’s like saying Marilyn Monroe is just a girl.”

Ryan’s defense with the Chicago Bears in 1985 allowed a total of 10 points in three playoff games en route to a Super Bowl victory.

3. “QBs are overpaid, overrated, pompous bastards and must be punished.”

That was an actual quote from Ryan’s playbook.

4. “He looks like a reject guard from the USFL, he’s so damn fat.”

That’s how Ryan described running back Michael Haddix. Haddix is the only running back since the merger (minimum 500 attempts) to average worse than 3.1 yards per carry.

5. “Trade him for a six-pack. It doesn’t even have to be cold.”

Ryan summed up his thoughts on running back Earnest Jackson.

6. “Football kickers are like taxi cabs. You can always go out and hire another one.”

The 2016 version: “Football kickers are like Uber drivers. Just download the app.” Or something like that.

7. “Offense my butt. Our offense is for Randall [Cunningham] to make five big plays and we’ll win.”

Perhaps no coach in history has summed up his offensive philosophy more accurately and more succinctly.

8. “If you listen to the fans, you’ll be sitting up there with them.”

When Bill Belichick was coaching the Cleveland Browns, he attributed this quote to Ryan.

9. “It was so easy my wife could have made them, and she didn’t even know these guys.”

Ryan explained that he didn’t find making roster cuts to be all that difficult.

10. “We might have the worst bunch of guys together we’ve ever seen as a football team. I don’t know what anybody else has, but I’d trade mine with anybody, sight unseen.”

Ryan left no room for interpretation about how he felt about his roster of replacement players with the Eagles.

RIP to both of them.

Tonight’s sports:

• ESPN: College World Series: Finals Game 2: Coastal Carolina vs. Arizona – 8:00
• NBC: U.S. Olympic Trials: Swimming finals – 8:00
  • men’s 200m free and 100m back, and the women’s 100m breast and 100m back.

In closing, I leave you with the Eagles version of the Super Bowl Shuffle, “Buddy’s Watchin’ You”.

IT’S SO BEAUTIFULLY 80s!