Fred Cook—The Next Deacon Jones?

 By John Turney 

Fred Cook

Fred Cook entered Southern Miss in 1970 and from 1971-73 was one of the school's best-ever players. He also began as one of the school's first four Black students. By the time he graduated there were "about 150" Cook told the Baltimore Sun. Cook is proud of being on the leading edge of integrating his alma mater. 

As a soph, he finished among the team's leaders in tackles with 68 and a school-record 18 quarterback sacks. As a junior, he recorded 19 quarterback sacks while finishing second on the team in tackles with 122 (81 solo, 41 assists). 

In 1973 his senior year, Cook finished fourth on the team in tackles with 67 and was once more the team leader in quarterback sacks with 16 despite being a marked man, drawing the attention of extra blockers seemingly every play. He earned Third-team All-American honors in addition to being named First-team All-South Independent. (An honor he repeated from 1972).

In his three seasons at Southern Miss, Cook was credited with 271 tackles (163 solo) and 53 sacks. One note—college statistics of that era are not really reliable, especially in terms of sacks. They probably contain tackles for loss on running plays and also don't separate out solo and assisted tackles for loss/sacks. Regardless, it's clear he was a tremendous player who was in the backfield often and the NFL scouts noticed.

The Baltimore Colts were considering taking Cook with the second of their two first-round picks in 1974 but after some debate decided that there was a higher likelihood that Cook would be available in the second round than Roger Carr, a wide receiver they coveted, so they took Carr.

Cook was considered undersized for an NFL defensive end and had played the position from a two-point stance in college, so they rolled the dice and won and grabbed him with the 32nd overall pick in the 1974 NFL draft. And they were glad they did because they were able to secure Cook as well, filling out their wish list—John Dutton, Carr, and Cook.

But there is a story behind why Cook was undersized. He'd grown to around 250 pounds as a senior in college, but after the season, in December, he had a wisdom tooth growing in and he hated dentists and avoided going in and having it extracted. He didn't eat properly, avoided solid foods and started losing weight. 

Pro scouts coming around, they thought he was much larger, and by the time he got to the Senior Bowl he was down to about 230 pounds but he wouldn't 'fess up as to why he was so light. So, teams were not sure what kind of player he'd be on the NFL level and the lower wight.

He was running 4.6 forties but was he going to be a defensive end? A linebacker? The weight issue likely caused him to drop enough slots for the Colts to grab him.

Howard Schnellenberger, his coach, compared his quickness to Deacon Jones. Schnellenberger had been on George Allen's staff in Los Angeles and saw Jones up close. Though Cook was a bit smaller (Jones was 250-260ish) he saw the quick first step, the explosion, and the pursuit speed Cook possessed. 

Cook won the left defensive end position opposite fellow rookie end John Dutton and they both were voted All-Rookie and the Colts were definitely pleased. 

The next season Mike Barnes, who was the left defensive end in 1973—his rookie year, and a backup in 1974, and Joe Ehrmann, who'd been the right tackle for two years began their three-year run as the best pass-rushing unit in football—The Sack Pack. 

Cook in 1975

However, that term—Sack Pack, didn't appear in print until late in the season. Ehrmann's nickname for the foursome was "The Looney Tunes". In fact, a Washington Post writer, Dave Brady, in early December of 1975, opined that all the unit needed was a nickname to boost their fame and then jokingly (we hope) called them the "Hard Shells". 

Within two weeks the term "Sack Pack" appeared all, the wire services prior to the Week 14 matchup against the Patriots. 

The '75 Colts sacked the quarterback 59 times, in '76 the total was 56 and in 1977 it was 47—a three-year total of 162, nineteen more than the next closest NFL club, and Cook -- called, Cookie Monster by teammates (had the most with 36½ (Dutton right on his heels with 36). 

Of course, there is something that needs to be unpacked about that. 

First, of course, sacks are not the be-all, end-all, pressure is the most important, however, we've found that where they are sacks this is pressure. Second, when you watch the Colts of that era there are a lot of times it is hard to tell who got the sack since all four of the linemen were so good at getting pressure. We feel for the scorekeeper who had to sort that out without a lot of time to do it. Really, all four of the defensive linemen were stars.

Cook and Stand White (53)

Third, Stan White was a big part of the pressure. In a George Allen defense, which is what defense Coordinator Maxie Baughan was running the right-side linebacker dogs quite often—taking the outside rush, either on green dog (based on what the halfback does) or by huddle call, and even gets involved in stunts, one common one was called "Ox" when White would charge the A-Gap and the right end would take the outside. From 1975-77 White average just over six sacks a year in the role Larry Morris filled in Chicago for Allen, Baughen himself did for Allen, and that Hanburger was still doing for Allen at the time. Like the fifth Beatle, Stan White was part of the Sack Pack's success.

Fourth, the Sack Pack didn't have a stellar secondary backing them up. It was okay but it's not like there was what is now called "sticky" coverage happening a lot, allowing the rushmen (an Allen term for d-line) an extra heartbeat to get to the passer. Allen himself rated them middle-of-the-pack in 1976, the only year we have Allen's grades.

Dutton unofficially led the NFL in bagging quarterbacks in 1975 with 17 and Cook was just a half-sack behind him. Dutton, however, made the Pro Bowl, Cook didn't. Dutton was a consensus Second-team All-Pro, Cook didn't make any of the major teams however the New York Daily News did name him All-Pro and All-AFC. 

The next year it was more of the same Dutton had 13 sacks and made All-Pro, the Pro Bowl and was All-AFC, Cook had 11 and was Second-team All-AFC but no Pro Bowl. In hindsight, Cook likely had a better year than L.C. Greenwood but then again Elvin Bethea was also worthy so perhaps that is a wash.

In 1977 Cook led the club in sacks with nine and was All-AFC and Dutton, too, was All-AFC with his six-sack total.

Cook played great, as did the whole unit, but it seemed others got more of the limelight. However, it didn't bother Cook as long as the Colts were winning. He was a self-proclaimed "sore-loser" and from 1975-77 the Colts were 31-11 but also couldn't get past the Raiders or Steelers in the playoffs.

Those three years did show that Schnellenberger's Deacon Jones comparison was not as far-fetched as it seemed. Cook grew into a 244-pound man, and anyone who can, in the 1970s, record 16½ sacks in a season deserves to be noticed.

The success of the "Pack" led to the players wanting to be compensated fairly. John Dutton didn't think he was and he held out early in 1978. Several other Colts wanted to be paid better or traded, Cook's name was listed among them. Bert Jones got hurt and the 1978 season was a disaster.

Cook hung in there but it was not the stuff of Deacon Jones, either. 

Dutton help out again and forced a trade to the Cowboys in 1979 where he filled in for the retired-to-boxing Too Tall Jones (when Jones returned Dutton played defensive tackle for the next seven years but that is another story for another day). 

Cook, on the other hand, had a fine year, drawing praise from his coach Ted Marchibroda who thought this might be the year Cook may get his just due in terms of post-season honors, such as maybe going to a pro bowl. The Colts second consecutive 5-11 season could have helped but the Pro Bowl didn't happen, though he was an alternate—a player who was in line to go if one of the players named to the team were injured.

Looking back, which isn't really fair, but we'll do it anyway, Cook being in the Pro Bowl would have made sense. His year was certainly better than Elvin Bethea's season. But also, he'd have to have beaten out Art Still or maybe Vern Den Herder who also likely had better years than Bethea. 

Cook slumped in 1980, there is no other way to put it. When you are paid to get pressure on the quarterback and don't do it, then it's a sump—the same way if a home run hitter who is expected to hit 25-30 home runs hits 10 or 11. If that happens, coaches, fans, the media are going to talk.

Cook, though, wanted a raise based not on 1980, but on his recent body of work, which except for 1980, which he thought was unusual, an anomaly if you will. He asked that his $140,000 salary be doubled, to something on par with other defensive ends who were of his caliber. 

The Colts offered $169,000. Cook felt the Colts didn't come through he demanded a trade. It took s few months but it finally was consummated in July when he was sent to Washington for a pair of conditional draft picks (possibly a sixth and a ninth). 

Unfortunately, it didn't work out, rookie coach Joe Gibbs cut Cook in August, but said he felt by doing it early that Cook would have a chance to catch on with someone. That didn't happen.

The next Summer Cook gave it one more shot and signed a contract with the Chargers, but again the Turk visited him in August and that was all for Cook in the NFL.

We find it curious that Cook didn't find work in 1981 or 1982, even as a nickel rusher for a 3-4 team then used a 4-man line in passing downs. He'd seemingly have been ideal in that role. We'd guess that was what Gibbs saw his role, though, in Washington, though more so as a platoon situation for Karl Lorch and/or Mat Mendenhall since Washington was a 4-3 team. 

Washington, though, still had Coy Bacon and has picked up Mike Clark off of waivers from the Rams, a really fast rookie end, and had drafted a really, really fast rookie defense end named Dexter Manley who was waiting in the wings. So it is possible Gibbs and his staff thought those two would be better for the future than Cook.

Certainly, Cook's competitiveness had not diminished. He and rookie tackle Mark May scuffled in practice daily so his pride was still there, not about to let a rook show him up. 

The Chargers situation may have been similar. The starting left end was Leroy Jones but they had a younger one named Keith Ferguson who showed potential in 1981 and they had John Woodcock who took over for Fred Dean in 1981 so they perhaps thought one of those two would be the right end and the other would be the third end and a nickel end if Jones needed to be spelled in passing situations so there was no need for Cook.

Or, it may be Cook had lost it—maybe he just didn't show too well in the 1981 and 1982 camps and the coaches didn't think he could help his teams, that 1980s was not a fluke. Honestly, we don't know.

In the end, it is never fair for a coach to compare any defensive end to Deacon Jones as Howard Schnellenberger did. It just sets the expectations too high, even if the player does very well for a while, as Cook did.

In some ways it reminds us of Bobby Murcer being compared to Mickey Mantle because both were shortstops signed by the same scout, both being from Oklahoma. But Murcer never had the strength of Mantle or the speed. Murcer, after he returned from the Army had some excellent seasons, even near-MVP seasons in 1971-72 but even then it was never going to be enough. 

Then when his power abandoned him in 1974 and 1975 (remember earlier in this post we talked about a power hitter expected to hit 25+ homers and then hits 10 or 11?) the criticism mounts.

Whan can be said is that Cook was an excellent pass rusher, who was superiorly quick and part of the best pass-rushing line in the NFL for a few years. He was competitive and a hustle-type. He played with a lot of heart and from 1975-79 there were not many pass rushers who got to the quarterback more often than Cook.

And sometimes that is enough to be said about a player. But what can be said about Cook's toughness came from off-the-field pain. 

Cook went to a Catholic High School—Our Lady of Victory High School in Pascagoula, MS, and stayed devout through his career and after. 

He married in 1977 and two years later, without going into details which may suggest the poor practice of medicine by doctors, his first baby died of a rare heart condition, one that cannot be detected with any blood or any other kind of tests. 

And it didn't end there. He and his wife lost two more infants to the same heart disease which nearly crushed the young couple and brought immeasurable trauma to Cook's life.

He once said, "I've lost money, I've lost property, I lost cars, and I laughed. Sorrow, grief, these things—I used to think people couldn't die from a broken heart, but actually, you can die from a broken heart."

Cook attributes his ability to overcome and cope came from his faith and Catholic upbringing and the counsel from his grandmother who taught him about life lessons and the challenges in life. 

Still, this kind of suffering seems above and beyond normal.

In time Cook took his energies to counsel youth and believing his calling now is service to others, "I'm God's child. I'm a warrior for the Lord" and he endeavored to start an organization to further the causes he believed in called, "S.E.P.P.A.—Southeastern Professionals of Positive Action".

Honestly, we could not find any recent information on the organization he hoped to create so we don't of if it was successful or not, but we admire his efforts nonetheless just as we admired his efforts and competitiveness on the football field.

Sometimes sore losers are needed—it teaches the principle that Hem Edwards once said emphatically, "We play to win the game" and even if the Colts never got the Lombardi Trophy it's the effort that matters so it can be said that Fred Cook did play to win the game.

Career stats—

Bob Pollard—Hard Worker, Some Wiggle and a Decent Career

 By John Turney 

Bob Pollard

Bob Pollard was a versatile player who was sort of a forerunner to some of the 1980s defensive lineman that played multiple roles like Howie Long, Dan Hampton, Leonard Marshall, and others, at least for part of his career, the times he was in a 3-4 defense. We're not saying he did it to the level of those players or as often but his role was essentially the same, he was a pioneer of sorts.

Early on, from 1970 through 1973 he was a defensive tackle for the Saints. He was a late-round pick (really late—the 11th round) in the 1971 NFL Draft out of Weber State (where he was honorable mention All-Big Sky in 1970), though he began his collegiate career at Texas Southern but transferred to Weber State. 

He was from Beaumont and stayed local to go to school but the coaches, according to Pollard, wanted to take his scholarship away and give it to out-of-state kids. So, even though he had been a starter he took the scholarship Weber State offered rather than deal with the "manipulation" the Texas Southern coaches were displaying.

 

Pollard felt it was a positive experience to transfer to Weber because he didn't find the prejudice in Utah that he had in Texas, he made lots of white friends and it changes his perception of whites from bad to good—he felt it was a growth experience for him which was significant for someone whose formative years were still under Jim Crow.

With the Saints in 1971, Pollard earned the starting left defensive tackle job as a rookie with his coach saying, "Pollard combines quick feet and quick hands and a willingness to work combined with an intense desire to become an outstanding pro player." Pollard recorded 79 tackles and was a consensus All-Rookie selection.

Nineteen seventy-two and the next season were, really, carbon copies of his rookie season gaining experience and progress, though clearly not by leaps and bounds. 

Then, in 1974, the Saints changed up their scheme some and played a 3-4 defense a lot more as a base defense. Pollard moved to right end and in passing situations Joe Owens would play right end and Pollard would move inside, like the "sink" ends we mention earlier in the post. 

While it was not unheard of in the 1970s, it was not particularly common. Bubba Smith did it some, as did Coy Bacon in the Rams '57 defense' but those were 4-3 base defenses. So this season with this multiple-front scheme Pollard did make a leap in production and thrived in the new scheme recording nine sacks and two forced fumbles. 

In addition, the Saints run defense was much improved in 1974 over 1973—cutting the rushing yards per game from 171.6 to 125.6 and the yards per carry from 4.3 to 3.9. 

Shots of the '74 Saints in a 3-4 front. Pollard RDE

We are not suggesting the Saints played the 3-4 full-time in '74 on run downs or as a base defense, it seemed to vary week-to-week depending on the opponent and game plan and the tendencies of the teams but we'd estimate they used to perhaps 25-40% of the time that season.

Shots of Pollard's position in nickel, left defensive tackle

In 1975 they used it far less, maybe 15-25% as a rough estimate but when they did Pollard played over the center as a nose tackle. The Saints yards rushing allowed went up some but the yards per rush dropped a hair to 3.8.

Shot of the '75 Saints in a 3-4 with Pollard on the nose

Interestingly, the Saints didn't continue with the 3-4 base the next couple of seasons—1976-77. They were primarily a 4-3 for the next few years and the run defense really fell apart, performing worse than in the early 1970s before the switch to the multiple front looks.

In 1976 Hank Stram moved Pollard to left end and he was excellent—on pace for a double-digit sack season but a knee injury felled him at mid-season. In the eight games he played he recorded eight sacks. 

The next year he was off to a fast start in injuries inside cause Pollard to have to move back to tackle. Pollard hard cut weight (about 10 pounds to just under 240 pounds) in '77 to take try and up his game and he had a 3-sack game versus the Lions scored a touchdown on a scoop and score in Chicago. 

But late in November things went sour. The Saints had spent a 7th overall pick in the 1977 NFL Draft  on Joe Campbell and perhaps wanted to get him on the field. Up until that point, he'd only been playing some passing downs on the right side. So, Pollard was benched to make room for the top draft pick rookie. This irked Pollard who then demanded a trade. However, fate set in when starters Elex Price and Derland Moore were injured and Pollard moved to defensive tackle, a position he was very familiar with. 

In 1978 the trade came when the Cardinals sent Conrad Dobler and Ike Harris to the Saints for Pollard and guard Terry Stieve. At first, the trade was not popular in "the Lou". 

Cardinals Director of Operations Joe Sullivan told the papers, "I trade Conrad Dobler and all of the sudden the town turns upside down. Before that they said I should do anything for a pass rusher then I do it and they say 'what did you do that for'".

Sullivan also went out on a limb, comparing Pollard to L.C. Greenwood, Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, and other top ends. Sullivan defended his comments saying "We belong to a scouting combine and I looked up Pollard's scouting report and they put him in that class. And I watched films of him and I put him in that class, too."

The Cardinals were moving to a 3-4 defense in 1978 and Pollard was going to man the left end position and move to tackle on passing downs and Pollard gave the Cards three excellent seasons doing just that averaging 87 tackles and 6½ sacks.

Shots of Pollard in base and nickel with the Cardinals in 1979

In his final season of 1981 the Cards, primarily due to the development of 1980 first-round pick Curtis Greer who became a starter that season, switched to the 4-3 defense. But by 1981 Pollard was likely not suited to play outside in a 40 front anymore. He was 33-years old and that year it proved to be his last season.

Pollard was named to the Saints Hall of Fame in 1995 and for his career he averaged 97 tackles per 16 games and 5.5 sacks per 16 games. he was a solid pro who never got any post-season honors though had he gotten some All-NFC votes in 1974, that was likely justified. 

Mostly a hustle player, and on the "tough-guy" side, he'd scrap with tackles some, he was one of the last players to rely on the head slap a lot until it was finally outlawed in 1977. 

What you can say is he was steady, always there (missed only eight games and ten starts in eleven seasons) and he would stick his nose in there and fight a tackle. And could give a little pass rush—he had a little wiggle. 

It was a nice career. 

Captain Crunch

Career stats—

Coy Bacon—An Original Blindside Pass Rusher

 By John Turney 

Coy Bacon made his way around the NFL, playing for five teams and also one in the USFL and at each stop (save the Cowboys for whom he didn't actually suit up for), he did his job, which was to get after the quarterback.

Bacon played two seasons at Jackson State College (now University) as a second- and third-string defensive tackle after and for some reason in 1964 tied out for the Houston Oilers but they wouldn't sign him because they found out he had not graduated from school (signing players whose graduating class had not graduated was against both AFL and NFL rules).

This also ended his collegiate career due to a rules violation. 

So, Bacon played minor league ball for a few years for the Charleston Rockets, starting in August of 1964, where he began as a linebacker then at mid-season he was moved to defensive end (making $42.50 a week and working construction during the days). 

In August of 1965, Bacon (not making $100 a week) got suspended by the Rockets for disappearing for a few days with his coach, Perry Moss, stating that "even if he returns today he has to sit out the Norfolk game and agree to abide by our rules before being allowed to rejoin our team". 

Moss added, "Bacon has a tremendous future in professional football but once word gets around that he is a troublemaker, no general manager or coach will want anything to do with him. This isn't the first time we've had trouble with him but he's always played hard on the field".  

But Bacon's disappearing act didn't seem to hurt the team too much with the Rockets, Bacon going 14-and winning the first Continental Football League championship game.

In 1966, Bacon became the first Rocket to score two touchdowns on interception returns in one season according to the club and made the Continental Football League's All-Star Team as well. 

In 1967, he was purchased from the Rockets (for $1,000 and Coy getting half of that) and signed by the Dallas Cowboys (two-year contract for $16,000). In his first workout with the Cowboys, Bacon made a big "noise" by blocking a punt and a kick in special teams drills. One Dallas paper said, early on in camp, that bacon had been "impressive" but by September, Ron East had won the backup defensive tackle ob behind Jethro Pugh and Bacon was sent to the taxi squad. 

In November, Bacon was loaned to Orlando of the Continental League to gain experience, this year playing defensive tackle for the most part. Back then an NFL team could allow a player on their payroll to perform for semi-pro teams.

The Los Angeles Rams were familiar with Bacon because they often scrimmaged with the Cowboys because both trained in Southern California at the time (the Cowboys at Thousand Oaks). 

Bacon's skill set was an up-the-field type defensive lineman and as such was not a fit for the Dallas disciplined flex defense which on likely running downs, was a read and react defense. Dallas saw that pretty quickly so in August of 1968 the Rams sent a 1969 fifth-round pick to the Cowboys for Bacon. 

Bacon was a backup in 1968 not playing much but filled in at defensive tackle for an injured Roger Brown in the early part of the 1969 season even playing a little in passing situations after Brown returned from a knee injury late in the season. Brown himself taught Bacon some of the nuances of the pro game i.e., "NFL things" and said, "He’s going to be one of the best in the league. He’s quick— what you might call like greased lightning".

The following season the '69 starting right defensive end, Diron Talbert, moved inside to tackle and Bacon took over at right defensive end and held that spot through 1972, though there was some drama in 1972, which we will cover later in this post. 

Bacon played excellent football in 1970 and 1971, averaging 57 tackles and 11 sacks. In 1971, he also had 13.5 run stuffs, a terrific number and was a Second-team All-Pro and clearly was the Rams' best defensive lineman (Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen both had nagging injuries).

Sidebar: In 1971 training camp, Bacon was briefly moved to right tackle in camp when there were injuries to who was starting at the time. Bacon had experience there, so Rams put him there with rookie Jack Youngblood with the first team right defensive end position, but it didn't last long. The Rams quickly moved Bacon back outside and put younger players at right tackle.

Still, despite that success, Bacon was often confused by fans with Jones and he would often sign Jones' name to autograph seekers when they'd say, "Deacon, can we have your autograph?"

The 1972 drama began when the Rams traded Deacon Jones to San Diego and acquired Fred Dryer from New England (where the Giants traded him and Dryer refused to play). 

The thinking by the Rams coaching staff was that Bacon's size (6'4, 270 pounds) would make him a fit for the left defensive end, and Dryer would play the right, his natural position, and 1971 rookie Jack Youngblood would compete with Dryer on the right side.

Youngblood started a few games at left end for Jones in 1971 but also played the right end in the "57 defense," which was the Rams nickel defensive line when Phil Olsen came out of the game, Bacon played right tackle and Youngblood played right end, and Merlin Olsen and Jones (when healthy) played his usual left end. Thus, the Rams coaches thought that Youngblood could play the right side because he had good quickness and some experience there. 

Preseason 1972 with Bacon (#79) at left end

So, the Rams go through the '72 training camp and part of the preseason that way, but as time went on Bacon became more and more disgruntled with his position change. He didn't like doing things in reverse and was becoming more and more vocal about it.

Finally, very late in the preseason, Bacon was moved back to his right end spot and Dryer and Youngblood moved to the left, which incensed Dryer, who told the Rams coaches he wasn't prepared for the season because he got no reps at left end. So, Youngblood ended up getting most of the snaps at left end, and Dryer was the right end in the '57' with Bacon playing right tackle.

Still, Bacon had a fine season, making the Pro Bowl and making the player's All-Pro team and recording 10½ sacks, making his 1970-72 total 32½, an average of just under 11 per season.

Change came in 1973 when the Rams hired Chuck Knox as the head coach and there would be a change in the defense to more of an AFL odd-man scheme, though it was still a 4-3. While the Rams would still get after the passer, if run showed, the Rams would play a 'butt technique' to control the run. And this was some that would be taught by Ray Malavasi who the Rams were planning to sign as their defensive coordinator.

In the Spring, Bacon was part of the package that sent John Hadl to the Rams and Bacon was reunited with Deacon Jones in San Diego (along with Bob Thomas). His Rams days were over. A few years later, Bacon told a Cincinnati paper that he looked back fondly on his time with the Rams and that he may have played his best in those years. "I wish I had stayed there," He said, "I'm sure they'd have won a Super Bowl by now. I am not knocking Fred Dryer but Youngblood and I had our thing going."

Jones even said that throughout camp that Bacon was moving with "that All-Pro vitality" and that the Chargers had the making of a "super front four" including himself and Bacon, former Packer Lionel Aldridge, and steady Ron East (the same guy who beat him out for the backup job in Dallas in 1967).

At first, Bacon had to play left defensive tackle (after refusing to play left defensive end the year before) because Aldridge was the right end and he had played pretty well in 1972. But in 1973 his play suffered and an injury sidelined him and by midseason, Bacon was playing the right end and Ron East took over as the left tackle. 

However, the "super front four" never came to pass and the unit only totaled 26 sacks and the run defense was gashed often, giving up 42 yards a game more than in 1972. The next season only Bacon remained as a starter on the defensive line and Jones, Aldridge, Costa, and East were all jettisoned.

Before the '74 season, Bacon was fined $2,000 and placed on probation by the NFL by Pete Rozelle along with seven other Chargers (including Deacon Jones) for his part in the violations of the league drug policies that revolved around the widespread use of marijuana and "pep" pills.

In 1974 Bacon was played reasonably well but became disgruntled along with several other players with Monday workouts that the Chargers were having on Mondays.  "An hour and a half on Mondays after a game", Bacon recalled, "Full pads!". He felt that his three years in San Diego amounted to being "treated like a dog."

Usually, Mondays were for treatment and reviewing game films but the Chargers were getting people out on the field. This led to an argument on a flight in November and led to a fine and suspension to Bacon and a couple of other players. In the off-season, the Chargers tried to move Bacon but nothing came of it. 

The next year, he led the team with 10 sacks but the team was awful at 2-12 but Bacon became expendable after the season because they landed several good young linemen in the 1975 draft—Fred Dean, Gary Johnson, and Louis Kelcher and they played very well. So, in April 1976, they sent him to the Bengals for offensive help, Charlie Joiner.

It was a relief for Bacon who said that playing in San Diego turned him off and that, "No matter how hard you played, you knew you were going to lose".

Bacon responded with his career year, recording 21½ sacks and making Second-team All-Pro for the third time in his career. He really was unblockable. He was showing up regularly on Monday Night Football's Halftime Highlights, rare for a defensive player because he made so many big plays. 

About the 1976 season, Bacon told ESPN, "Couldn't anybody stop me," he said recently. "They just double-teamed me, because I had confidence one man couldn't stop me on a pass rush. That was a good year."

However, at the time, when the Bengals lost a late-season game to knock them out of the playoffs, Bacon felt down, telling the media " . . . the Bengals "blew it." I can’t go through this no more, it's really disheartening. I’m 33 years old. I don’t know if I’m going to play anymore. I don’t know if I am coming back next year or not."

But within a few days, the emotion wore off and logic set in, "I talked to my accountant. I’ve got mouths to feed."

So, he did come back and followed up his 1976 career-year with another Pro Bowl after the '77 season but it was kind of dubious, recording just 37 tackles and 5½ sacks and putting far less pressure on the quarterback than he had in '76. 

Once again, Bacon became disgruntled, demanding a trade in the 1978 offseason. Part of it may have been the Bengals' promising to move to a 3-4 front, as many teams were doing in the late 1970s. Bacon told the media, "I want it to be known that (Coach Chuck) Studley and I don't get along because of a conflict of defensive philosophy with the coaching staff".

Bacon went on to say he didn't think the Bengals scheme couldn't beat teams and that he and Studley argued all the time and that it was "best that I leave."

The Bengals agreed. 

Bill Johnson, the Bengals head coach said Bacon was "a very disruptive force" and insinuated he was a factor in the Bengals losing a playoff slot in the season finale defeat to the Oilers. Johnson was referring to Bacon's bulletin board comment that the "Oilers might play ball for a couple of quarters but give up".

The Bengals, like the Chargers, had used a lot of recent high choices on defensive linemen—Gary Burley (#3-'75, Eddie Edwards (#1-'77), and Wilson Whitley (#1-'77), once again making Bacon expendable, so the Bengals granted him his wish and he was sent to Washington in July. It should also be noted that this was after the Bengals had taken Ross Browner with a 1978 #1 pick, adding to their stockpile of high picks on the defensive line making Bacon even more obsolete.

There, he provided Jack Pardee with a good pass rush from the blind side for three seasons before finally running out of gas in 1981. Washington had a young lion ready to take Bacon's place at right end—Dexter Manley, who could run a 4.5 forty and had been running down on kickoffs (as the L-1) and punts (as a gunner) the first half of the season with abandon. 

Bacon even lost a little weight in Washington, dropping to about 265 pounds, down from 278, which he played at in San Diego and Cincinnati, perhaps to compensate for getting older. However, he kept talking. 

In 1979, he angered Dick Vermeil and Eagles left tackle Stan Walters after one game in which Bacon played well, getting lots of pressure on Ron Jaworski. He told the papers that he was reading Walters' stance and that he knew when it was a pass and when it was a run. Walters and Vermeil didn't think it was true, but Walters said he'd "look at the film". It was classic Coy.

When the USFL formed in 1982, Bacon found a job with the Washington Federals and Bacon got one more season out of his 41-year-old body and bagged himself 6.5 more sacks playing in a defense that was mostly a 4-3 but would mix in some 3-4 fronts.

Bacon at right end in a 3-4

The old dog even learned a new trick: standing up as a linebacker to give the Federals' defense a 3-4 look. He still rushed, but it certainly was something he'd never done before—using a two-point stance.

Bacon as a de facto linebacker with Washington in 1983

But habits are habits, Bacon used one of his old tricks as well, here is a headslap against the left tackle of the Generals—

Boys will be boys, and Coy will be Coy, once a disciple of Deacon Jones' head slap, always a disciple. Bacon began his career with that move and ended it with that move (at least a few times).

Career stats—

After his playing career, he had some colorful moments, taking on the name "Boom Boom" Bacon and joining the pro wrestling circuits. He was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1986 and later that year nearly lost his life when he was shot at his own door by a stranger who was never arrested.

The shooting changed Bacon's life:  he became rededicated to his Christian faith and settled down to a more peaceful life in his hometown of Irontown, Ohio, doing motivational and faith-based speaking, getting involved in the community, attending local sports events—enjoying life.

Certainly, Bacon's legacy is sealed; he was one of the best at what he did—rushing the passer. He ended his NFL career with 130½ sacks despite not entering the NFL until he was 26 years old and playing until he was 39. He also had at least 73.0 run stuffs. 

For a quick comparison, recent blind-side rushers Jason Taylor had 76.0 stuffs, John Abraham had 54.0, Dwight Freeney had 39.0, Jared Allen 72.5 and DeMarcus Ware 67.5. 

Certainly, there are differences in playing time, years played, and so on, but as a thumbnail sketch that gives you an idea that Bacon was seeing runs develop and making some tackles behind the line of scrimmage and that is what his scheme asked him to do.

In terms of pass-rushing, Bacon rates as one of the best-ever.

At Bacon's passing in 2008, Bengals owner Mike Brown was quoted in the Los Angeles Times saying, "Coy was the best rusher I've ever seen, and that would include people such as Deacon Jones. He had feet as light as a dancer’s."

Left tackle Doug Dieken said that Bacon, on AstroTurf, was as good as there was. He was a different player at our place, on grass, but he used to drive me nuts. And Paul Zimmerman, who named Bacon to his New York Post All-Pro team in 1976, named Bacon as one of the ten best pass rushers of All-Time in 2000. 

Bacon was never First-team All-Pro and has four seasons with postseason honors and that is likely was hurts his Hall of Fame chances more than anything. 

That, and perhaps his so-called troublemaker issues. If that is what they were. There did seem to be one or two at every stop—not following rules. Trying out for a pro team when he had to have been advised that something like that was not allowed. Disappearing during the season on his semi-pro team. Not wanting to play left end in Los Angeles. Not liking the Monday after games and practices in San Diego. Not wanted to play a 3-4 defense in Cincinnati. Trash-talking the Eagles when he was in Washington. 

Who knows? Maybe he was just standing up for his abilities and knowing what he could and couldn't do on the football field, knowing he was a right end and a right end in a 4-3 defense exclusively. And knowing practice on Mondays was dumb. Maybe he had valid points.

Sure, there were other issues, the use of prohibited drugs in his career (and after which may have been linked to his shooting and potentially costing his life). Not understanding college rules about contact with pro teams, but maybe college was not for him. 

Anyway, Lander McCoy Bacon was a great pass rusher. For his football life, maybe that is enough. It sure is for some recent players who sure got a lot of publicity. Why not for Coy?

Rams Unveil "Modern Throwback" Jerseys

 By John Turney 

After mixed reviews of last year's new uniform release, as promised, the Rams released a new jersey this year. It was met with mixed reviews but nowhere near as bad as last year.

It is patterned after the 1973-99 white jerseys. It had the yellow sleeves and the blue Rams horn over the shoulders and blue numerals but all of those features are the new versions—rounded numbers and the broken horn and will only (as far as we know) will be worn with the yellow pants.

They will be worn three times this season—

Kathleen Rubadue: First Woman to Work for the NFL

LOOKING BACK
By Chris Willis, NFL Films

Kathleen Rubadue, on the phone at her desk at the NFL office
in Columbus, Ohio, 1936. (Courtesy: Robert Knapp)

Today PFJ looks back at one of the early pioneers in NFL history who would be celebrating her 111^th birthday today. Someone who has been overlooked for far too long. Her name is Kathleen Rubadue and she was the first woman to work for the NFL.

Early Life

Kathleen Cecilia Rubadue was born on July 15, 1910, in the Irish neighborhood in Columbus, Ohio to Ernest and Mary Rubadue. Ernest was a pharmacist who owned his own drug store on E. Livingston Avenue and Mary was a stay-at-home mom. The couple had four children, two daughters (Regina and Kathleen) and two sons (Clare and Ernest, Jr). The family lived at 672 S. 22^nd Street which was just a couple of blocks from the Sullivan home at 39 N. 22^nd Street where NFL President Joe F. Carr and his family lived from 1923-1926.

Young Kathleen grew up going to school and church, but unlike most of her female friends she had a love affair with sports. “She could talk to anybody. She’s was a very out-going person. She also had a good sense of humor, sort of a dry humor. She could take a joke and she liked any kind of sports,” said Robert Knapp, son of Kathleen Rubadue. “She was an extremely sports minded individual for a lady in those days.”

Knapp continues, “She taught me how to bowl. Taught me how to play baseball. Taught me how to play football. She knew all the rules and the positions and all that kind of stuff. If I had a question, I’d go ask her,” said Knapp. Kathleen grew to be a very tall- five-feet-ten- brunette with large green eyes. While attending St. Joseph’s Academy, the all-girls school in Columbus, she starred on her high school basketball team. Playing forward she enjoyed competing against the other girls, showing a knack of scoring points in the paint. Her love of sports was pretty obvious to anybody who knew her.

Kathleen Rubadue, St. Joseph's Academy, 1926

St. Joseph's Academy, basketball team, 1926

Kathleen Rubadue, St. Joseph's Academy, 1928

In 1929 shortly after graduating from St. Joseph’s Academy she was hired as a stenographer, first working for an insurance company. That same year Joe F. Carr, the President of the NFL since 1921, was given permission to hire a secretary. He knew who he wanted to hire. Kathleen Rubadue would soon make NFL history.  

First Woman to Work for the NFL 

NFL President Joe F. Carr knew the Rubadue family from the Irish neighborhood where he lived too and was well aware of Kathleen’s love for sports. He knew of her exploits as a basketball player at St. Joseph’s and her understanding of the different aspects of the game made her hire a no-brainer. “She thought he was great guy to work for. It took both of them to run the league. Two people, Carr and my mother. They worked together. I think she probably was a little more than a secretary,” said Robert Knapp. “Back in those days she would work nine-to-five but during the fall on Sundays she would go into the office.”

In the only interview Kathleen Rubadue would give about her time as NFL secretary she told Dick Fenlon of the Columbus Dispatch in January 1982 about working on Sundays.

 

The one big thing that really stuck with me is that when I went to work for him, none of the wire services or news agencies would even carry the scores of the game. Mr. Carr finally got them to agree to carry the scores and standings. The referees would wire in the scores on Sunday afternoon and I’d figure out the standings and take them over to the Associated Press and the rest. That was the only way they had a chance of getting into the newspapers. I think he expected the league to grow, but I don’t think there is any way he could have foreseen what it has become now. But he worked hard to make it better every year. Football was his whole life.

Even fifty years later she still referred to her boss as Mr. Carr. Working on Sundays was no problem for the 19-year old sports lover. “Being single and liking what she did, I wouldn’t think that would be a problem for her,” said Robert Knapp. Her routine of receiving the scores from the referees in the NFL office, calculating the standings, then walking down to the Ohio State Journal newspaper offices to get the information to the Associated Press to wire across the country was a job she would do for over a decade.

Her role, like her son mentioned, was more than just a secretary. She knew everything the NFL office was supposed to be doing- whether it was working on the League’s schedule, assigning officials to work the games, calling in the scores on Sundays, making sure contracts were fulfilled and players were paid, Rubadue was the person in charge when President Carr wasn’t available. She loved working for the NFL that she didn’t think about working anyplace else.

Kathleen Rubadue
(Courtesy: Robert Knapp) 

NFL Office Building, Columbus, Ohio, 11th Floor

Joe F. Carr, NFL President (1921-1939), at desk NFL Office, Columbus, Ohio
(Courtesy: Carr Family, Color by PFJ)

When Rubadue was hired the NFL’s office was on the 11^th floor at 16 East Broad Street in downtown Columbus- right across the street from the state’s Capitol Building. In 1927 Carr had officially set up a League office in his hometown. He was the only NFL employee working in the office until 1929. That year the league had only two people working in it. Kathleen took over the front office in room 1115 and Carr’s office located in room 1116. Her out-going personality made everyone who visited the office feel special. Joe Carr’s niece, Martha Sullivan, recalls the scene:

 

It was just about as ordinary office as can imagine. It wasn’t luxury, it was not that deep just terribly ordinary. The secretary had a separate area. I use to go with my mother and she would go to see uncle Joe and he had a secretary and she entertained me while they had their meeting. She was nice to me. She talked to me or give me a picture book to look at.

 

Whether it was a family member like Martha Sullivan or a team owner like George Halas the personable Rubadue could handle them all. No guest or chore was too big for the hard-working Rubaduee. When Carr traveled she ran the office herself. “She knew everything that he was doing, when he wasn’t here, she handled it. When he was out, she took over and you had deal with her! Somebody told her one time that Joe Carr was basically the NFL and she was the other half of it. They had two officials, not hundreds like we got now,” said Robert Knapp.

1930 Columbus, Ohio City Directory listing

1939 Columbus, Ohio City Directory listing

1935 NFL Bulletin newsletter, typed by Kathleen Rubadue

1937 Letter from Joe F. Carr to Bert Bell, Eagles owner, typed by Kathleen Rubadue

Ms. Rubadue was the NFL’s first woman employee and the only secretary Joe F. Carr would ever have. The NFL would operate as a two-headed machine until Carr suddenly passed away of a heart attack in May of 1939 at the age of fifty-nine. “She was definitely sad about the whole thing,” said Robert Knapp. “Later on she never really said a whole lot about that.” After working for a decade for President Carr, Rubadue was heartbroken when he passed away. He was more than a boss to her, he was a friend, to not only her but her family. The NFL had to continue on, so did Rubadue. In the 1939 NFL League Minutes the owners decided to continue to pay Kathleen’s salary- which was $1,200 for the year- for 1939.  

1938 Letter from Joe F. Carr to Columbus Employment Office
(Courtesy: Joe F. Carr Family)

Long-time NFL Vice-President Carl Storck replaced Carr as NFL President in 1939. He kept Rubadue on as secretary and an NFL employee. She still loved what she was doing and she loved the NFL, so she made the decision to relocate to Dayton, Ohio where Storck had his office (Besides being the NFL President, Storck was the long-time manager of the Dayton Triangles and also worked for General Motors). Kathleen lived at The Loretto, a hotel in Dayton for businesswomen, which was operated by the Sisters of St. Dominic. While it was called a hotel The Loretto rooms (225 total rooms) were more like apartments, very luxurious for single working women of that era. Kathleen rented a room (Apt. number 433) there while continuing her work for the NFL. The 1940 U.S. Census listed her salary at $1,375 (roughly about $26,000 in 2021) and her occupation as “secretary- professional football.”

Although she enjoyed her work with the NFL the owners were in the middle of looking for a new leader. In April of 1941 they selected Elmer Layden, one of the original Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, to be the league’s first Commissioner. With that hire Carl Storck resigned as President. Layden moved the League’s office to Chicago.

While the owners were selecting a Commissioner Rubadue decided to leave the NFL.  

After the NFL

On July 5, 1941 Kathleen married Norman Knapp- whom she met earlier at her father’s drugstore in Columbus. Norman worked as an interior painter in town (Hanna Paint Mgf. Co.) and the couple would have two children, Robert and Judy. The family would live at the Rubadue home on S. 22nd Street. Tragedy struck Judy when she died right before her second birthday. Although her family was now her top priority the NFL was never far from her heart.

“She still followed the games. She’d watch them on TV. Keep track of who was doing what,” said Robert Knapp. While keeping an eye on the NFL Kathleen took care of her only child. After Robert graduated from high school she went back to work as a secretary for a building contractor. Even later in life the NFL’s first female employee was amazed how the game had grown, especially with all the sports’ numbers. “Oh, yea. How big it got and how many mountains and mountains of statistics they pour out at the office. She was flabbergasted. It’s almost too much information,” said Knapp. 

Rubadue always enjoyed her time working for the NFL in those early years. She was a big fan of the game and its players. “Players were paid by the game,” Kathleen told the Columbus Dispatch back in 1982, “and if they got $150, they were doing pretty good. It sounds ridiculous now, but it was fair money in those days. Of course, teams played both defense and offense – the whole game. That, to me, was more enjoyable. And I think they had to be better players to do that.” Although she might’ve been partial to the two-way players of the 1930’s she continued to follow the NFL, watching games every fall.

On August 3, 1984 Kathleen (Rubadue) Knapp died in Columbus of congestive heart failure at the age of 74. She is buried at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in the south end of Columbus- the same cemetery her long-time boss Joe F. Carr is buried in. The two-headed machine of the early days of the NFL were reunited once again.

Kathleen Rubadue-Knapp, headstone, St. Joseph's Cemetery

Joe F. Carr, headstone, St. Joseph's Cemetery

Her son Robert never thought of his mother as an NFL pioneer. “I didn’t think of her as a working mom from the NFL. I just thought of her as mom’s at home taking care of things. Till one day it suddenly came to me like, ‘hey, she had a neat job,’” said Robert Knapp.

For nearly thirteen years (1929-1941) Kathleen Rubadue-Knapp worked for the NFL. She made history by being the first woman to work for the NFL. On her birthday today (she would’ve been 111 years old) we remember a football pioneer. Today there are nearly 700 full-time employees to administer the NFL. For the League’s first two decades, the League office based in Columbus or Dayton, they only had TWO - Presidents Joe F. Carr, Carl Storck, and Kathleen Rubadue (Knapp).  

Happy Birthday, Kathleen Rubadue-Knapp!!  

Sources/Acknowledgments

Robert Knapp, author interview, April 19, 2009
Martha Sullivan, author interview, March 4, 2007
Columbus Dispatch, January 14, 1982
St. Joseph’s Academy Yearbook, Sandalphon, 1926, 1927, 1928

Robert Knapp, son of Kathleen Rubaude-Knapp, 2009 interview

Columbus (OH) Public Library (Megan); Dayton (OH) Metro Library-Special Collections Division (Lori); Mark Fenner; Dave Plaut; St. Joseph’s Montessori (Cheralyn Corlett, Roxanne Holonitch); Robert Knapp (Columbus, Ohio); and Joe F. Carr family.