Buddy Ryan dead at age 82

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
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I couldn't stand him. Always respected him as a coach, though. RIP
 

Cotton

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Remember the time Buddy Ryan's Eagles faked a kneel-down to run up the score on the Cowboys?

By SportsDayDFW.com

Buddy Ryan's stint as Eagles coach is pretty much the main reason there is even a rivalry between the Eagles and the Cowboys.

Ryan wasn't shy about sticking it to Dallas.

That fact was no more evident than on October 25, 1987, when Ryan's Eagles faked a kneel down to run up the score on Tom Landry's Cowboys.


Already up 10, the Eagles faked a kneel-down and threw for the end zone. The Cowboys were called for pass interference, setting Philly up at the goal line. Keith Byars scored a rushing touchdown on the final play of the game, with the closing score 37-20.

The Eagles claimed the stunt was payback for the Cowboys keeping their starters in against Philly's replacement team two weeks earlier.

Here's how The Dallas Morning News covered the controversy in the next day's newspaper

BY JON MARKS


PHILADELPHIA -- In the minds of the Philadelphia Eagles, their duel in the sun Sunday with the hated Cowboys was no mere a football game. It was a morality play.

With the head preacher man, Buddy Ryan, calling for vengeance before some 61,000 zealots at this Veterans Stadium revival meeting, the Eagles exacted their pound of flesh, punishing the Cowboys, 37-20, and relishing every moment.

Particularly the in-your-face touchdown run by Keith Byars on the final play after Ryan disdained running out the clock by sending Mike Quick deep for the bomb. That resulted in an interference penalty on Ron Francis in the end zone, followed by Byars' score.

"It was a personal thing for Buddy,' said defensive end Clyde Simmons, who went on a one-man crusade with two sacks, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal to lead the inspired defense. "Considering what they did to him and to us. We were very pumped up.'

"I think our intensity matched any game I've ever been in,' agreed Quick, whose 29-yard dash on the quick screen -- in which he hurdled the fallen Francis -- set up the score that put the Eagles ahead to stay midway through the third quarter. "The Dallas games are usually our biggest games anyway, but this one had a different set of circumstances.'

The allusions throughout the locker room were about the way the Eagles claimed Tom Landry ran up the score on Ryan's feeble replacement team two weeks ago. That, combined with the fact that Tex Schramm was the lead hammer for the NFL Management Council during the strike, made the Eagles determined to dispense as little brotherly love as possible.

"I didn't hear any talking to them, but I know the fire was there,' said defensive tackled Ken Clarke, who helped limit Herschel Walker and Tony Dorsett to 86 yards on 23 carries, a big chunk of it coming on Walker's 40-yard run in the first quarter. "The strike made the guys here more confident. Now, we believe we can win, and we don't let adversity affect us like it did before. When we scored that touchdown at the end, it was like all our frustration came out.'

Cowboys fans might call it something else, but the Eagles said they were just paying back Landry.

"What goes around comes around,' said John Spagnola, the man in the center of the storm as the Eagles' player rep who made a triumphant return by catching two touchdown passes. "He (Landry) was the guy who violated our coach first. Buddy saw fit to return the favor. I think that was a score that had to be settled.'

All 45 men in green and white had a hand in the deed. Simmons, Reggie White (1 1/2 sacks, two forced fumbles) and linebackers Dwayne Jiles and Seth Joyner terrorized Danny White all day, sacking him five times for 60 yards. The special teams were just as deadly, particularly Terry Hoage, who returned the blocked field goal 38 yards to set up a Paul McFadden field goal, then stripped the ball from Kelvin Edwards on a punt return, leading to McFadden's third field goal.

"I'd say we came together,' Cunningham said. "Coach told us not to peak too early for this game. But I don't believe that. We had two great practices, then Buddy let us ease off. But as far as the team was concerned, we saved a little bit for today.'

And the Cowboys felt their wrath.

"No question about it, this was a great win for our program,' said Ryan, who admitted that the final rub-it-in score was by design to show his displeasure for what happened two weeks ago at Texas Stadium. "We needed something to get us over the hump.'

And yet one victory, no matter how sweet, won't mean much unless they sustain it. Especially considering the 0-3 hole the "Ill-Eagles' put the veterans in.

"This is something we've got to keep going throughout the year,' said Reggie White. "We can't just play Dallas like this.'
 

dallen

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I couldn't stand him. Always respected him as a coach, though. RIP
One of the best defensive coaches in the history of the league, and also a huge asshole.
 

Cotton

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One of the best defensive coaches in the history of the league, and also a huge asshole.
Oh, he was a great coach, but the fake kneel down and then the Bounty Bowl made me hate him.
 

DLK150

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BS to him being the reason for the rivalry. I've been a DC fan since the early 70's and it started when I lived in central NJ. The Iggles basically sucked in those days but back there, you were either an Iggles, Giants or Jets fan and the Cowboys were despised. That rivalry has been there for decades. I didn't think much of them until Vermeil got them going and I *hated* the result of the NFCCG in 1981 after the 1980 season. I never heard the end of it from some of the A-hole Iggles fans around there, but I digress.

Yeah, Buddy was an A-hole but he was one helluva coordinator. Rest in peace.

*Off to rinse my mouth out with soap*
 

Plan9Misfit

Appreciate The Hate
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I hope he rots. He was a piece of shit.
 

Angrymesscan

DCC 4Life
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I remember hating Jaworski, Charmichel and Montgomery. And they were all way before Buddy came to town...
 

data

Forbes #1
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"You've got a winner in town"

12-20 record in AZ.

:lol
 

L.T. Fan

I'm Easy If You Are
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Ryan made football fun because opponents were always in a dog fight with him at the helm. He as the Woody Hayes of pro football.
 
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