Rest In Peace Buddy Ryan
Legendary defensive mind Buddy Ryan passed away at the age of 85 this Tuesday. Buddy was the father to modern NFL loud mouth bumblers Rex and Rob Ryan. He was the architect of the legendary 46 defense that took the ’85 Chicago Bears to their one and only championship. He was the master behind the Purple People Eaters, the Jets linebackers coach for their famous upset in Super Bowl 3, and the guy who pretty much ordered the infamous “body bag game” between the Skins and the Eagles.
Buddy seems like he was an easy man to respect but a hard man to love. If you watched the 30 for 30 recently about the ’85 Bears, he is presented as some sort of saint, and you can tell how much he meant to Mike Singletary and that defense. It’s clear that to players he liked, he was important as any person in their life. The problem was that was a hard circle to breach, and he was a huge dick to everyone who hadn’t earned his respect. Buddy will go down as one of the last great true football assholes. The kind of asshole that would never last in the modern world.
While the ’85 Bears doc paints a very positive image, the stories about Buddy from everywhere else seem…less forgiving. He hated Mike Ditka. He hated offenses. He hated quarterbacks. He thought everyone on offense was a huge wimp. His defenses were based around causing as much pain and misery to the players as possible. He tried to punch Kevin Gilbride, a coordinator on the same team as him. Swell dude. We all go nuts about how Rex Ryan talks these days, but Rex is a pussy cat compared to his dad.
Buddy, in my eyes, deserves the Hall of Fame. It’s kind of sad he’s not already there. Buddy was a dick but he led so many important defenses, including possibly the greatest defense of all time. I’m a man who believes legacy and importance to the game matters just as much as raw stats. You can’t write the history of the NFL without mentioning Buddy, and to me, that’s what makes a Hall of Famer.
Edit: To those of you getting technical about the word Championship vs Super Bowl, I refuse to acknowledge Championships before the Super Bowl era because the Eagles won some of those
The bears had championships before the Super Bowl era.
Gilbride deserved a smack in the mouth.
I wish the Oilers were still a team
Ryan’s Thursday night radio show during his one season in Houston was the stuff of legend. He’d come out swinging at Gilbride, head coach Jack Pardee, the callers, even the host.
The 85 Bears were legendary. Back-to-back playoff shutouts and allowing just 10 total playoff points are things I still can’t wrap my mind around.
Are there any mere coordinators in the Hall of Fame?
He was a two time head coach (Eagles and Cardinals)
His Eagles time is well known.
Whilst at the Cardinals, he made a good co-ordinator.
Dick LeBeau will be in eventually if he isn’t in yet
LeBeau is in as a player, not a coach though. I don’t think he can be considered as a coach until he retires.
I think it’s also right to pay respects to another all time great that passed that day, albeit not football related. Pat Summit is one of the greatest college coaches ever and nearly singlehandedly put women’s basketball back on the map.
Since they’re in Buffalo now, it should’ve been Amigone Funeral Home.
“He was the architect of the legendary 46 defense that took the ’85 Chicago Bears to their one and only championship”
I’m assuming you mean SBs, but the fact that Buddy Ryan was behind that defense truly puts things into perspective
Too bad my Pats were on the receiving end of that beatdown in 85.
Let’s not forget that a big reason why he punched Gilbride was because the Offense ran the Run and Shoot. Buddy’s defenses barely got a breather before they had to go back out on the field. As previously mentioned, he loved and defended his defensive players to the end, including getting physical with coordinator who insisted on a philosophy that was also nicknamed “the Duck and Chuck”.
You are an insufferable asshole and your comics suck. Refusing to acknowledge pre superbowl championships just because the Eagles won some? You might have been joking but it wasn’t funny, it was insulting and disrespectful to every great NFL player from that era.
Fuck this comic, i’m done and I will never read this shit again. The commentary on this comic made me give up completely.
I can’t even fathom the level of self righteous stupidity required not only take that obvious joke completely seriously, but to get so deeply offended about this self perceived slight towards older players that you feel the need to announce your rage quit.
My deep “hatred” of the Eagles is a long running meta-joke here. You must not have read the site very long if you haven’t picked up on that yet. So I’d say I’m sad to lose a fan to a dumb joke, but you didn’t seem to be much of a fan in the first place, so I wish you well on your travels. Try not to get so pointlessly mad at stuff in the future, it’s better for your health.