Football Hall-of-Famer Norm Van Brocklin (1926-1983) had retired as a player and was a coach for the Vikings and Falcolns when i began following sports. Veteran sportswriter Tony Kornheiser had a short tribute on today's
Pardon the Interruption:
Happy Anniversary, Norm Van Brocklin. This is posthumous, but around this day 74 years ago the Rams quarterback passed for a still-NFL record 554 yards. Van Brocklin had 5 touchdowns as the Rams beat the then-New York Yanks. Van Brocklin won two NFL championships, one with the Rams, one with the Eagles. He was the NFL MVP in 1960. After 9 Pro Bowls and 12 seasons as a player Van Brocklin turned to coaching, first coach ever for the Minnesota Vikings. Also coached the Atlanta Falcons.
Van Brocklin suffered a number of illnesses, including a brain tumor. After it was removed, he told the press “it was a brain transplant. They gave me a sportswriter’s brain to make sure I got one that hadn’t been used.”
His career was spectacular, but the remark about the entire sportswriting profession belongs on the insult Mt. Rushmore.
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