History UsefulNotes / NationalFootballLeagueNonPlayerFigures

* '''Mel Kiper Jr.''' is an NFL Draft analyst for ESPN, having served in that role since 1984. Kiper's analysis in the months leading up to the draft as well as during the draft broadcast itself has been instrumental in growing the event from what was essentially a non-televised meeting of team representatives to the multi-million dollar television event is is today. Kiper firmly established himself during ESPN's broadcast of the '94 Draft, then a very niche program, where Kiper's criticism of the Colts for selecting LB Trev Alberts over QB Trent Dilfer[[note]]who admittedly ''also'' became a draft bust as the first of the "Tedford Five"; see the "Quarterback Busts (O–Z)" folder of the [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueNotoriousFigures Notorious Figures]] page[[/note]] became famous. Colts GM Bill Tobin, when informed of Kiper's criticism during an on-air segment, uttered the now-famous and widely replayed line "Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?" (Tobin was fired after a 3-13 season, having missed four future Hall of Famers for Alberts, while Kiper became the face of the annual NFL Draft broadcast.)

* '''Mike Vrabel''' was HC of the Tennessee Titans from 2018-23, following a playing career as a linebacker that saw him win three Super Bowls with the Patriots, and an All-Pro season in 2007. After a few years as a successful assistant, he revived the struggling Titans' prospects, taking them to an AFC Championship appearance in 2019 and winning Coach of the Year in 2021 after keeping his highly injured roster extremely competitive. He has also gained some notoriety for following his mentor Bill Belichick's footsteps as a prominent RulesLawyer, using technically legal though rather underhanded tactics of clock management that became known as "Vrabeling". He was fired after two losing seasons.

* '''Matt Patricia''' was a successful DC for the Patriots during an era where they were the top scoring defense twice and brought the team to two Super Bowl wins and one loss. In 2018, the Detroit Lions hired him to replace Jim Caldwell, the only full-time Lions coach with a winning record since the '70s,[[note]]36-28 (.563); Gary Moeller had a 4-3 record as an interim coach in 2000[[/note]] right after he had notched another winning season. Patricia failed to improve on Caldwell's record, ending up going first 6-10, then 3-12-1, and was fired after a 4-7 start to 2020, leaving him with a much worse 13-29-1 (.314) record. In contrast to Caldwell, who had been generally successful and well liked, many past and present players rejoiced at Patricia's firing. He returned to the Patriots in 2021 as an ''offensive'' assistant. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work; Patricia was not retained for 2023 and was hired by the Eagles in 2023 as a senior defensive assistant. In the middle of the 2023 season, in a power struggle at DC he won play-calling duties over DC Sean Desai. He ultimately failed in this role as the Eagles had one of the biggest collapses in NFL History starting 10-1 only to finish 11-6 and losing in the Wild Card round to the Buccaneers. Patricia was let go after the season.

* '''Matt Patricia''' was a successful DC for the Patriots during an era where they were the top scoring defense twice and brought the team to two Super Bowl wins and one loss. In 2018, the Detroit Lions hired him to replace Jim Caldwell, the only full-time Lions coach with a winning record since the '70s,[[note]]36-28 (.563); Gary Moeller had a 4-3 record as an interim coach in 2000[[/note]] right after he had notched another winning season. Patricia failed to improve on Caldwell's record, ending up going first 6-10, then 3-12-1, and was fired after a 4-7 start to 2020, leaving him with a much worse 13-29-1 (.314) record. In contrast to Caldwell, who had been generally successful and well liked, many past and present players rejoiced at Patricia's firing. He returned to the Patriots in 2021 as an ''offensive'' assistant. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work; Patricia was not retained for 2023 and is currently an assistant with the Eagles.

There have been many, ''many'' great, terrible, inspiring, despicable, and interesting players, coaches, and staff in the century-long history of the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague. This page is for those individuals who are most famous for their contributions to football made off of the field, either through coaching, business operations, or covering the NFL on television. Individuals who are notable for their on-field accomplishments as quarterbacks can be found in UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeagueQuarterbacks; those notable for on-field accomplishments at other positions can be found in UsefulNotes/NFLOffensivePlayers and UsefulNotes/NFLDefensiveAndSpecialTeamsPlayers. Finally, those whose greatest contributions to the sport have been in the college ranks can be found on UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootballNonPlayerFigures.

* '''Harry Wismer''' was a major broadcaster in the early TV years of the NFL, a play-by-play announcer for ABC who called games in Washington and Detroit and provided commentary for college highlight reels. While very successful, he was also well known for his massive ego and eccentric behavior, occasionally ignoring on-field action to focus on namedropping celebrities he knew were attending. He later became a minority owner for Washington and constantly butted heads with founder George Preston Marshall, eventually leaving the team to become a founding member of the AFL in 1960, establishing the Titans of New York and advocating for revenue sharing amongst teams. Unfortunately, the Titans became the league's biggest trainwreck due to competing with the established Giants; they played in the decrepit Polo Grounds in front of shrinking crowds and players often went unpaid, with Wismer turning to alcohol and continuously feuding with other AFL owners and HC Sammy Baugh. By the end of 1962, Wismer was nearly $2.5 million in debt and had effectively alienated himself from the other owners, who forced the sale of the team to Sonny Werblin that offseason. While the newly-christened Jets would begin to flourish under new ownership, Wismer would spend the rest of his life in debt and an alcoholic

* '''Harry Wismer''' was a major broadcaster in the early TV years of the NFL, a play-by-play announcer for ABC who called games in Washington and Detroit and provided commentary for college highlight reels. While very successful, he was also well known for his massive ego and eccentric behavior, occasionally ignoring on-field action to focus on namedropping celebrities he knew were attending. He later became a minority owner for Washington and constantly butted heads with founder George Preston Marshall, eventually leaving the team to become a founding member of the AFL in 1960, establishing the Titans of New York and advocating for revenue sharing amongst teams. Unfortunately, the Titans became the league's biggest trainwreck due to competing with the established Giants; they played in the decrepit Polo Grounds in front of shrinking crowds and players often went unpaid, with Wismer turning to alcohol and continuously feuding with other AFL owners and HC Sammy Baugh. By the end of 1962, Wismer was nearly $2.5 million in debt and had effectively alienated himself from the other owners, who forced the sale of the team to Sonny Werblin that offseason. While the newly-christened Jets would begin to flourish under new ownership, Wismer would spend the rest of his life in debt and an alcoholic before dying in 1967 after falling down a staircase.
* '''Urban Meyer'''. ''Oh boy'', where to begin? Meyer saw major success as a head coach in college football, winning two national championships with the University of Florida, and another with Ohio State University from 2005 to 2018. Meyer retired from coaching due to "health concerns", but in 2021, he was brought back into the coaching world as the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars. For years, many were skeptical of Meyer's ability to coach at the NFL level, and their suspicions were complelty vindicated in 2021. Countless accusations of a toxic work environment from players and coaches alike. Ressurecting Tim Tebow's career to have him play tight end, for some reason. Meyer himself getting caught on video, fooling around with a woman who was not his wife. An unwatchably bad football team. These were only ''some'' of the issues associated with the Meyer Jaguars. Things finally came to a head when kicker Josh Lambo publicly accused Meyer of kicking his leg during warmups, then cursing him out when Lambo rightfully spoke up. Meyer was almost immediately fired after this came to light, and his tenure with the Jags is viewed as one of the worst head coach stints in NFL history.

* '''Bill Callahan''' was the OC for the Oakland Raiders under Jon Gruden before Gruden was traded to Tampa Bay. As part of the terms of the trade, Gruden was not permitted to bring any of his former staff with him, and owner Al Davis elevated Callahan to the HC position. He built off of Gruden's success and brought the Raiders all the way to the Super Bowl in his first year as HC, where they faced off against... Gruden and the Buccaneers. The Raiders got blown out completely by Gruden in the Big Game, which many attributed to Callahan not changing his friend's playbook once he left town; many Raiders fans and even players speculated that he even intentionally sabotaged the team due to his disputes with Davis. Callahan lost the locker room the following season, the team collapsed, and he was fired. He bounced around the college ranks and assistant jobs in the NFL for the next two decades and even served as an interim HC in Washington for most of 2019, but he was never rehired to be HC for another NFL team. At just 46 total games, Callahan had the shortest career of any HC to reach the Super Bowl. His son Brian has followed him into coaching, currently serving as HC of the Tennessee Titans.

* '''Gus Bradley''' rose to prominence as the DC of the Seahawks from 2009-12, laying the foundation for their vaunted "Legion of Boom" secondary and riding that success to become HC of the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars struggled mightily during his first three seasons with the team, compiling just a 12-36 record. Management then shocked fans and media by bringing Bradley back for a fourth as one of the few head coaches in NFL history to be retained despite not taking his team to a winning record in his first three seasons. He was fired near the end of that season with a 2-12 record. His .226 winning percentage was second worst in NFL history at the time behind only Eagles owner/coach Bert Bell among [=HCs=] to last over 50 games.[[note]]Bradley now sits fourth worst all-time behind Bell, Hue Jackson (see below), and Steve Spagnuolo (who fell there during a 1-3 stint as the Giants interim HC in 2017). Bradley coached the most games out of those four.[[/note]] Well liked by his players and considered one of the best defensive schemers/playcallers in the league, Bradley is a shining example of ThePeterPrinciple in the NFL, having simply been in over his head as HC. He has since returned to the DC role for several teams and is unlikely to be considered for a HC job anytime soon.

* '''Steve Spagnuolo''' has the third worst win percentage for any HC to coach more than 40 games (.212). Hired by the St. Louis Rams in 2009 after serving as the DC for the Giants (where he organized the defense that upset the record-breaking, undefeated Patriots offense in Super Bowl XLII), he went 10-38 with organization over three seasons before being fired. He returned to the DC ranks, bouncing around to a few different teams and slightly lifting his lifetime win percentage by going 1-3 as the Giants interim HC in 2017. After a year out of coaching, "Spags" reunited with Andy Reid (who he served under as an assistant for many years with the Eagles in the early 2000s) in 2019 and excelled as DC of the Kansas City Chiefs, leading the defense of their dynastic run that has won three more Super Bowls and making him the most accomplished coordinator in NFL history in terms of rings, with the Chiefs (and possibly Spagnuolo himself) benefitting from his HC record averting [[ThePeterPrinciple him getting poached for another team's head coaching job]].

* '''Jim Nantz''' is a multi-sport announcer who has worked for CBS since the '80s. He was the host of ''The NFL Today'' pregame show for several years before becoming the network's lead NFL play-by-play announcer in 2004, teaming initially with Phil Simms and since 2017 with Tony Romo. He was given the Hall of Fame's Radio-Television Award in 2011. Non-football fans will better recognize him as a longtime fixture of CBS' PGA Tour and college basketball coverage.

* '''Dick Enberg''' was an immensely prolific announcer for [[LongRunner six decades]], broadcasting for pretty much every sport imaginable. In the NFL, he served as NBC's lead announcer for the NFL in the '80s and '90s, calling eight Super Bowls, then moved to CBS to serve as their #2 announcer for the first decade of the 2000s. Famous for his warm and reflective style and his catchphrase "Oh my!", Enberg was bestowed the Hall of Fame's Radio-Television Award in 1999. He passed away in 2017.

* '''Al Michaels''' is one of the most respected broadcasters working today. He is the current voice of Creator/{{Amazon}} Creator/PrimeVideo's ''Thursday Night Football'' and was previously the play-by-play announcer for ABC's ''Monday Night Football'' for 20 years (1986-2006, the longest tenure of any broadcaster on that program) and NBC's ''Sunday Night Football'' for another 15 (2007-21). When ''MNF'' shifted to ESPN in 2006, NBC-Universal offered several of their properties, including PGA Cup coverage, Olympic footage, and the legal rights of the character "WesternAnimation/OswaldTheLuckyRabbit",[[note]]a character created by Walt Disney himself in the 1920s but whose rights were purchased by Universal[[/note]] in exchange for letting Michaels out of his contract so that he could join NBC for ''SNF''. (Michaels himself was bemused by this, comparing it to a team trading a coach for draft picks.) Upon the experation of his NBC contract, he signed a massive deal to launch Amazon's foray into NFL coverage. In total, Michaels has called ten Super Bowls, the third most behind Summerall and Madden (his former partner), and he was bestowed the Hall of Fame's Radio-Television Award in 2013. He is well known for his passionate, earnest excitement for all sports: his most famous call, after all, was not in football... "[[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames Do you]] [[UsefulNotes/IceHockey believe in]] Film/{{miracle}}s... [[PunctuatedForEmphasis YES!!]]"

* '''Joe Buck''' was the top play-by-play announcer for Fox for two decades, having started with the network in 1994 at just 25 years old before partnering with Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman starting in 2001 and calling six Super Bowls. Despite his LongRunner status, he's not the most well-liked broadcaster, with fans criticizing him for his seeming lack of excitement in big moments and for what they perceive as bias in favor of certain teams (Buck is aware of this complaint, as his Twitter bio started with [[DeadpanSnarker "I love all teams EXCEPT yours"]] for a time). As he also covers Major League Baseball for Fox, particularly the World Series, many football fans express their desire that Buck "stick to baseball" to keep him off of NFL broadcasts. (MLB fans retort with the exact opposite sentiment.) In 2022, he made the leap with Aikman to take over ''Monday Night Football'' at ESPN.
** Another reason for Buck's frequent criticism is that he is often accused of benefiting from {{nepotism}}; his father, '''Jack Buck''', was a legendary baseball and football broadcaster who got Joe his first jobs in broadcasting (hence the early start to Joe's career). The elder Buck was active in TV and radio from 1950-2001, calling 17 Super Bowls for CBS Radio (the most of any announcer) and performing the television broadcasts for some of the most notable games in NFL and AFL history, including the "Ice Bowl" and Super Bowl IV. Both Jack and Joe have been awarded the Hall of Fame's Radio-Television Award, the only father-son duo with the honor. Jack passed in 2002 after many years of battling through health issues to continue to call baseball games for the St. Louis Cardinals.

* '''Andy Reid''' is the current head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the only HC to win 100+ games with two different franchises. After several years as an o-line coach in college, Reid joined the Packers staff and worked his way to be TheLancer to coach Mike Holmgren. This won Reid the HC job with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2012. While he is the winningest coach in Eagles history, helped turn them around from mediocrity, and won Coach of the Year in 2002, fans had a love-hate relationship with him because he was unsuccessful in delivering the Super Bowl title the city so very much wanted during his time there. Despite his successes, he was often accused of costing his teams winnable games due to poor clock management and an aggressive run/pass ratio that skews toward the much-riskier pass; the Eagles visited the NFC Championship five times under Reid and [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut only moved on to the Super Bowl once (and then lost that game, too)]]. On a more positive note, he developed a reputation as a brilliant offensive mind and a good leader who saw the best in players that other programs dismissed or judged to be too risky for on- or off-field reasons, and his coaching tree spawned many individuals who went on to successful HC careers themselves. After moving on from the Eagles, Reid went on to even greater success with the Chiefs, helped turn the long-struggling franchise back into consistent contenders and reached another level with the emergence of Patrick Mahomes, whose abilities were the perfect match for Reid's creative offensive schemes. Reid's Chiefs have reached six straight AFC Championship games and four Super Bowls. He finally shed his title of [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut "winningest coach to never win a Super Bowl"]] by leading the team to victory in LIV, winning a second ring three years later, and notching more playoff wins than any NFL coach besides Bill Belichick. A self-professed BigEater whose TrademarkFavoriteFood is a cheeseburger, he also boasts [[ManlyFacialHair an excellent walrus mustache]].

** Mike's son '''Kyle Shanahan''', who served as OC under Mike while in Washington, is served as HC for the San Francisco 49ers since 2017. Though he has seen tremendous success as an influential play designer, he has developed a reputation for choking away leads in the Super Bowl, first as OC for the Falcons in their infamous loss to the Patriots and later as HC of the 49ers against the Chiefs.

* '''Kevin Stefanski''' is the current coach of the Cleveland Browns and easily the most successful HC for the franchise since it was revived in 1999 (though that's really not saying much). When he was hired in 2020 after many years as an assistant with the Vikings, the Browns hadn't had a winning season since '07, a playoff berth since '02, and a playoff win since '94; Stefanski accomplished all three in his first year on the job, winning Coach of the Year. In 2023, he won the award a second time after again taking the Browns to the playoffs despite the roster being wrecked by injury, becoming just the second team in NFL history to make the postseason while starting four different [=QBs=], and becoming the first Browns coach since Marty Schottenheimer in the '80s to post multiple winning records.

* '''Kevin Stefanski''' is the current coach of the Cleveland Browns and easily the most successful HC for the franchise since it was revived in 1999 (though that's really not saying much). When he was hired in 2020 after many years as an assistant with the Vikings, the Browns hadn't had a winning season since '07, a playoff berth since '02, and a playoff win since '94; Stefanski accomplished all three in his first year on the job, winning Coach of the Year. In 2023, he won the award a second time after again taking the Browns to the playoffs despite the roster being wrecked by injury, becoming the first Browns coach since Marty Schottenheimer in the '80s to post multiple winning records.

* '''Bruce Arians''' had a long and influential coaching career with several programs. A wishbone QB at Virginia Tech, he began coaching on the college level as one of the last assistants hired by Bear Bryant at Alabama. After working at various colleges, including a short HC stint at Temple, Arians entered the NFL in the late '90s, hopping around as an offensive coach for a few teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers during their run of Super Bowl success in the '00s. Around this time, Arians became known as for his risky offensive philosophy of [[DeathOrGloryAttack "No risk it, no biscuit."]] Arians was hired as the OC of the Indianapolis Colts in 2012 and was unexpectedly thrust into the head coach position when new HC Chuck Pagano, also hired that year, was diagnosed with leukemia early in the season. Arians, himself a cancer survivor, took the reins and went 9-3, the best performance ever for an interim NFL HC, made all the more impressive by the immense turnaround it represented from the team's previous two-win season. Arians won Coach of the Year for his efforts and was immediately offered the HC position by the Arizona Cardinals, where he again won Coach of the Year in 2014. Arians retired in 2017 due to continued recurrences with cancer, but he couldn't stay away from the field long and signed to be HC of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. While his medical history put him at greater risk of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic during the 2020 season, Arians stayed on for his second season and helped lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory, making him the oldest head coach to win the Big Game. He retired from coaching after the next season to take a front office role.

* '''Bruce Arians''' had a long and influential coaching career with several programs. A wishbone QB at Virginia Tech, he began coaching on the college level as one of the last assistants hired by Bear Bryant at Alabama. After working at various colleges, including a short HC stint at Temple, Arians entered the NFL in the late '90s, hopping around as an offensive coach for a few teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers during their run of Super Bowl success in the '00s. Around this time, Arians became known as for his risky offensive philosophy of [[DeathOrGloryAttack "No risk it, no biscuit,"]] which eventually wound up costing him the Steelers gig in 2011 when the risks stopped paying off. Arians was hired as the OC of the Indianapolis Colts the following season and was unexpectedly thrust into the head coach position when new HC Chuck Pagano, also hired that year, was diagnosed with leukemia early in the season. Arians, himself a cancer survivor, took the reins and went 9-3, the best performance ever for an interim NFL HC, made all the more impressive by the immense turnaround it represented from the team's previous two-win season. Arians won Coach of the Year for his efforts and was immediately offered the HC position by the Arizona Cardinals, where he again won Coach of the Year in 2014. Arians retired in 2017 due to continued recurrences with cancer, but he couldn't stay away from the field long and signed to be HC of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. While his medical history put him at greater risk of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic during the 2020 season, Arians stayed on for his second season and helped lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory, making him the oldest head coach to win the Big Game. He retired from coaching after the next season to take a front office role.

* '''Bruce Arians''' had a long and influential coaching career with several programs. A wishbone QB at Virginia Tech, he began coaching on the college level as one of the last assistants hired by Bear Bryant at Alabama. After working at various colleges, including a short HC stint at Temple, Arians entered the NFL in the late '90s, hopping around as an offensive coach for a few teams, most notably the Pittsburgh Steelers during their run of Super Bowl success in the '00s. Around this time, Arians became known as for his risky offensive philosophy of [[DeathOrGloryAttack "No risk it, no biscuit,"]] which eventually wound up costing him the Steelers gig in 2011 when the risks stopped paying off. Arians was hired as the OC of the Indianapolis Colts the following season and was unexpectedly thrust into the head coach position when new HC Chuck Pagano, also hired that year, was diagnosed with leukemia early in the season. Arians, himself a cancer survivor, took the reins and went 9-3, the best performance ever for an interim NFL HC, made all the more impressive by the immense turnaround it represented from the team's previous two-win season. Arians won Coach of the Year for his efforts and was immediately offered the HC position by the Arizona Cardinals, where he saw more success and again won Coach of the Year. Arians retired in 2017 due to continued recurrences with cancer, but he couldn't stay away from the field long and signed to be HC of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. While his medical history put him at greater risk of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic during the 2020 season, Arians stayed on for his second season and helped lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory, making him the oldest head coach to win the Big Game. He retired from coaching after the next season to take a front office role.

* '''Andy Reid''' is the current head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and the only HC to win 100+ games with two different franchises. After several years as an o-line coach in college, Reid joined the Packers staff and worked his way to be TheLancer to coach Mike Holmgren. This won Reid the HC job with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2012. While he is the winningest coach in Eagles history, helped turn them around from mediocrity, and won Coach of the Year in 2002, fans had a love-hate relationship with him because he was unsuccessful in delivering the Super Bowl title the city so very much wanted during his time there. Despite his successes, he was often accused of costing his teams winnable games due to poor clock management and an aggressive run/pass ratio that skews toward the much-riskier pass; the Eagles visited the NFC Championship five times under Reid and [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut only moved on to the Super Bowl once (and then lost that game, too)]]. On a more positive note, he developed a reputation as a brilliant offensive mind and a good leader who saw the best in players that other programs dismissed or judged to be too risky for on- or off-field reasons, and his coaching tree spawned many individuals who went on to successful HC careers themselves. After moving on from the Eagles, Reid went on to even greater success with the Chiefs, helped turn the long-struggling franchise back into consistent contenders and reached another level with the emergence of Patrick Mahomes, whose abilities were the perfect match for Reid's creative offensive schemes. Reid's Chiefs have reached five straight AFC Championship games and three Super Bowls. He finally shed his title of [[EveryYearTheyFizzleOut "winningest coach to never win a Super Bowl"]] by leading the team to victory in LIV, winning a second ring three years later, and notching more playoff wins than any NFL coach besides Bill Belichick. A self-professed BigEater whose TrademarkFavoriteFood is a cheeseburger, he also boasts [[ManlyFacialHair an excellent walrus mustache]].

* '''Joe Buck''' was the top play-by-play announcer for Fox for two decades, having started with the network in 1994 at just 25 years old before partnering with Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman starting in 2001 and calling six Super Bowls. Despite his LongRunner status, he's not the most well-liked broadcaster, with fans criticizing him for his seeming lack of excitement in big moments and for what they perceive as bias in favor of certain teams (Buck is aware of this complaint, as his Twitter bio started with [[DeadpanSnarker "I love all teams EXCEPT yours"]] for a time). As he also covers Major League Baseball for Fox, particularly the World Series, many football fans express their desire that Buck "stick to baseball" to keep him off of NFL broadcasts. (MLB fans retort with the exact opposite sentiment.) In 2022, he made the leap with Aikman to take over ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' at ESPN.

* '''Howard Cosell''' was a commentator on ABC's ''Series/MondayNightFootball'' from 1970-84. An accomplished sports journalist and commentator dating back to the early '60s (he's the announcer behind "Down goes Frazier!"), Cosell was well known for his colorful (and confrontational) personality, inimitable delivery peppered with SesquipedalianLoquaciousness, and DodgyToupee. The PunctuatedForEmphasis delivery of "He! Could! Go! All! The! Way!" now used by almost every football commentator was coined by him. Cosell [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor got fired]] from the program he launched and popularized after a NeverLiveItDown incident when he referred to a speedy black player (Alvin Garrett) as "that little monkey".[[note]]For the record, Cosell was anything but racist, being a proponent of integration of professional sports from the beginning and one of the few major figures in professional sports to defend UsefulNotes/MuhammadAli's refusal to register for the draft. Cosell had used a term of affection ('little monkey') commonly used toward children in Jewish families (it was in fact his nickname for his own grandson). It was not the first time he had used the term, nor did he use the term exclusively for African-American athletes. Alvin Garrett himself took no offense.[[/note]] Cosell continued to cover sports, primarily boxing, until finally retiring in 1988. He died in 1995, and despite all of his contributions to football, he has notably [[AwardSnub never been recognized]] with the Hall of Fame's Radio-Television Award.

* '''Don Shula''' was HC for the most games (509) and [[TheAce the most wins]] (347) in NFL history over a [[LongRunner 33-year HC career]]. He was an NFL DB before his coaching career, a ninth round pick by the Cleveland Browns out of the obscure John Carroll in 1951. After seven years as a journeyman player and a few more as an assistant in college and with the Lions, Shula became HC of one of his former teams, the Baltimore Colts, in 1963. He immediately broke out as a major talent known for an obsessive attention to detail; he invented the wristband now worn by most quarterbacks so that his backups could keep track of the different play calls. Shula shaped the Colts into one of the strongest teams of the '60s and led them to Super Bowl III, where the underdog AFL champion Jets beat his heavily favored team. Shula gained the most fame after he left Baltimore in 1970 to coach the Miami Dolphins, which gave up a first round pick to the Colts just to get him. The investment was well worth it: Shula took the Dolphins to a Super Bowl appearance in his second year with the team before leading them to back-to-back Super Bowl victories in VII and VIII. The former victory capped off the 1972 team's perfect 17-0 run, which remains the NFL's only undefeated season (regular and postseason) since the merger. Shula kept the Dolphins regular contenders for another two decades, only putting up two losing seasons in '76 and '88, and revisited the Super Bowl two more times (XVII and XIX), though he never claimed another ring. Shula visited the playoffs a record 19 times and won Coach of the Year a record four times, though ironically the AP gave him the first three while he was with the Colts. Shula finally retired from coaching in 1995 with the second-longest NFL HC career behind only George Halas (see below under "Owners/Management"), was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, and died in 2020.