The Sports World lost a legend
over the weekend, former Celtic
great Bill Russell, he was a Trailblazer both on and off
the court, another Boston Legend. Tom Brady was asked about Bill
Russell on Monday. Here's what Tom Brady had to say.
Yeah, I knew him pretty well. You know, I had a lot of time
up there in Boston and got to got to know him and he was
a very impactful, figure non, even back to my early days with
the Patriots, you know, my second year,
training camp became a spoke to our team
and really an imposing figure. You know, he had a great
just a great presence about him
and
obviously what he overcame and his career was pretty
unbelievable and
it was a sad day.
Just one of those guys that.
just felt like he'd always be around. Like, you don't like,
you know, like my entire life, the wize wizard about,
yeah? Like he's just always going to be here. Yeah, and
that's what was it. It didn't want to register for me on
Sunday, when I saw the announcement that was made by
his family because it's just, you've
always heard it. Like, in hushed tones about Bill Russell
and what he meant to Sport and he was in his Heyday really
before I was born
and I was too young to be paying attention to basketball
then, but 11 titles and two as a player coach. Coaching
greatness all around and and also a great member of
the community
and a leader in many many ways. So yeah, given the impact that
he had on the NBA. Let's do a little drafted. A on the most
influential figures in NFL history, Chris, I will give you
as I always do. You do most part. The first pick your nice
guy, you really
are. Um,
I think
it's hard actually to find a guy or just at least a player
that I think fits that role of Bill Russell in the NFL. Maybe
we don't have as many of Those type of guys, but
like you said Russell special
the times, the 60s,
you know, African-American the city of Boston, the way he
handled himself professionally on and off the court very
special that way. I'm going to go with Jim Brown.
The be that guy,
Jim Brown's. The first guy that came to my mind when I thought
about wait, who's that guy in the NFL? Jim Brown has been in,
you know, at the Forefront of, you know, some of the culture
issues we've had in our country certainly,
and I still think, you know, Jim Brown is
the The first really famous African-American NFL football
player where it was just like man
this guy is different and he's special
and he's playing at another level than the rest of us here.
So there's there's so much he has done on the field for being
special there in Cleveland but the activist he was off
the field I think is where he's really the only guy I think
that can maybe even rival Russell. As far as that's
concerned in the
NFL
and he walked away with gas in the tank, right? Right, he
walked away from the game when he still had plenty left and he
was just Unstoppable, those highlight just incredible. It
was man among boys stuff the way that
he played the game of football and the impact that he had at.
Look, I'm looking at it more. Broadly, influential in
the NFL, has been around more than 100 years. And
I remember this from late last year, when he passed John Madden,
the fact that he influenced
in so many different ways as
a Super Bowl winning coach.
As the greatest broadcaster of all time,
as the name and the face. And he'll be on the cover of this
year's version of the, the
video game that for a lot of kids is
a great way to learn about football
and I was talking to somebody about this not long ago and
just the idea that
kids play those games, understand routes,
the understand coverages, they go to seven on seven camps and
they know what to do. They know that it's Saul
baked into them from
the moment, they first start playing Madden and they see,
you know, there's a lot of real defenses in real offenses in
there and you learn the game in a way that we never had
an opportunity to learn a grown-up.
At least I didn't, I mean you had a
Super Bowl winning quarterback in your house
but from my perspective just watching it on TV and getting
the Electric football game and you know lining all the pieces
up and turn it on watching them spin around in a circle. Yeah
I mean I'm with
you there he would have been
if I didn't take
Jim Brown. First I want to thank John Madden. He'd have
been the guy so I'm, I think you're right on. I mean, yeah,
what he did announcing, you know, of course coaching
and then I think that like, you said, the biggest influence he
had really is, you know, the game itself, the video game and
just you know bringing young kids and making the game more
fun and more relatable to the pliers and all that
very special influence, on the history of the NFL. No question
about that with the John Madden.
This is where it gets tough because I Got a, not a names,
but I'm not sure if I know any of them really jump out, maybe
more than the other.
I think the guy I'm gonna go with next, though, is Vince
Lombardi. I am. I mean, I just think overall,
I know maybe he didn't have quite the,
you know, effect on American culture,
maybe like a Jim Brown and being an activist that way. But
I do think I stand corrected, I do think he had an effect on
American culture and a lot of ways, you know, he became
the poster child of hey, football. Hey, your coach is going to
Yell at you but you got to work as a team and it's all getting
better. It's all about getting better. And I mean, I know my
high school coach and I'll Mike me yellow, you know,
an Italian-American. He
hit me, he had Pride about, you know, being like Vince Lombardi
and approaching that way. Lombardi had so many influences
on the game let alone. Hey, just the establishment of that
the NFL was better than the AFL and the first two Super Bowls
the dynasty, they're
putting Green Bay Wisconsin on the map and then
really being Mike. Here's another one. The first
offensive mind
as the Green Bay. Sweep, right? Mike
the Green Bay sweep? They were the first team to go away. We
want to run the Green Bay sweep every week. So we got to start
to figure out how we're going to change the blocking.
According to the team, we're going to play.
And they were the first team to really make calls at the line
of scrimmage. Hey, do this do that. So they could run
the play that they wanted to, and that they had mastered. So
that's where I look at him as having a lot of influence in
some different ways.
I've got to go to George Halas.
Next just because I don't know that there would be an NFL,
yeah, without George Halas. When you consider all
the years, he spent as
player-coach
owner of the Bears, one of the founding fathers of
the National Football League coached into his into his 70s.
I believe.
Just unbelievable. Figure.
Not 70s. Maybe. Maybe mid to late 60s and I think for him
it was and I remember looking this up trying to figure out
how long Bill Belichick can do it. He got to the point where
you just couldn't move on the sidelines. He couldn't run. On
down and yell at the official when he wanted to and
he realized that was the time
for him to stop coaching and just be the owner of the team
but a towering figure. In one of the reasons why
you know we've talked in the past about how it's frustrating
that the Bears aren't better. That that city is just so wired
to support football
and and
George Halas is Legacy,
should boost this team. Just a mere mention of his name should
cause the team to be better than it's been. And it's just
one of the weird conundrums of the NFL that the Is are better.
When you consider
what George Halas brought to that organization brought to
that City? Yeah. I think you're right. I mean I think he's
maybe maybe greater than Barney. I'm sorry. Is that
influence is concerned? But yeah, it's right up there.
I think when you think about,
when I think about the two
you know prominent head coach figures in the history of
football, those are the two that I think come to my mind,
maybe more than everybody else. All right. Now, this is where
I'm stuck between and here I am I'm just going to talk it out
with you. I'm stuck
between Paul Brown, Al Davis.
And and even Sammy Baugh, you know, the
and I. All right, you know what? I'm going to go, I'm
going to go with Al. I'm going to give Al some love here
because I think Alice
definitely influential in the,
of course, pushing the boundaries of the sport. You know
it just as far as an always and making
the sport a bigger business, more money,
everything that way
and then of course is innovative coaching style and
everything that he is. The modern-day, you know, Jerry jar
the the Jerry Jones of the Robert Kraft. The guy that was
kind of steering the league in the right direction.
So I'll go with Al Davis is my last pick?
I've got names on my list, like Art, Rooney?
Yeah, I've got out. Davis to Jerry Jones is on there.
I'm going to Pete Rozelle.
Okay. If Pete Rozelle
was the commissioner of the NFL from 1960 to 1990, when you
think about everything that happened, and how the league
ascended and how, as it became
more profitable and popular.
Popular, it could have fractured,
you know, the AFL came along, they found a way to absorb it.
They found a way to maintain Revenue, sharing through the TV
money that kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger, they
caught and surpassed baseball on his watch. They fought off
the wfl. They fought off the usfl
And he as of 1990 when he handed the reins Paul
tagliabue, he had everything set up
for the league that we now.
Yeah, Joy. Third, that's good place. My, you
take a break, we'll wrap up this.
Tuesday edition of PFT live, right after this.