Dan Reeves: Quiet Strength and Pride

 

Often the quieter but constantly steadier sounds are the ones that leave the longest-lasting echoes. There may be loud blasts at times that seem to drown out those quieter ones. But the real test of their quality comes after that first blast when their sudden waves have just as quickly faded and the quieter, more dependable ones are still there reminding us of the qualities we need for the long haul.

Dan Reeves may or may not receive the public notice he has always deserved but has rarely gotten. He died on the 1st of January, just in time to miss being on all those lists of 2021 notables who were lost the 12 months before. There will be 364 more days for the 2022 list to fill up, providing distance to his passing and clouding all that should be said about him.

In a year when the NFL expanded the limits on Hall of Fame inductees, he once again was left out to make more modern and inclusive choices. All of the choices were certainly deserving but that does not change the long, special 38 years that Reeves spent in The League, 23 of them as a head coach who piled up more than 200 wins and four Super Bowl appearances. As player and coach, he took part in the third-highest total of Super Bowls for an individual (nine).

In a short time as a broadcaster, he was not a bigger-than-life personality. His voice had that soft, measured Georgia sound. It was steady and informative but hardly a shock wave. His bigger-than-life persona was made for eye-to-eye honesty with individuals, not mass media. It was for one-on-ones at the side of a huddle, a private office discussion, or the position meeting room. Of course, much the same could be said for his mentor, Tom Landry.

Being in the broadcast rim for the Dallas Cowboys, I was able to watch Reeves break-in as a player and later a coach as a knee injury slowed him as a player. His “break-out” season was his second with the Cowboys and my last as a high school player. He was a Paul Hornung type back with a controlled running style that could set up blocks and then cut to the running lane. Having been a three-year starter as a college quarterback, he ran the option pass off of the sweep action every bit as good as Hornung had for the Packers or Gifford had for the Giants before that. He was an excellent receiver and even approached Hornung in the area of blocking from the halfback spot, which few have done.

He had gotten that chance for the “break-out” because the great safety Mel Renfro had been moved to offense that training camp because Landry felt more speed was needed at the halfback position. An early injury to Renfro gave Reeves his chance and Dan’s 16 touchdowns that season moved Mel back to safety.

But Reeve’s presence on an NFL roster was a long-shot to start with. Being a Georgia boy, his dream was to play college ball for the Bulldogs. But he was not heavily recruited and when he missed four of his senior year’s games due to injury, the only major offer he got was from South Carolina. He had given an oral commitment to the Gamecocks but had not signed the letter of intent when he played in the Georgia state all-star game.

After being named the game’s MVP, the University of Georgia came calling with a scholarship offer. Despite his childhood dreams, Reeves kept his word as a man and went to South Carolina to play for what would be a losing program while the Bulldogs had national success.

The Cowboys were making their reputation for finding overlooked talent and fitting it into pro football. But they had a strict rule to always have a height, weight, and speed on any they considered. The time they had on Reeves was 4.95 at 40 yards, a time that even made me look speedy. Gil Brandt told him they would like to sign him as an undrafted free agent but his 40 time just wouldn’t let them. When Reeves told Brandt he had been timed after practice, he was timed at 4.75. It was hardly world-class but close enough to the standards to give him a free agent shot.

All football historians consider the touchdown plunge by Bart Starr to end the 1967 Ice Bowl as one of the great moments in the story of the NFL. But without that touchdown drive, the deciding play of the game would have been Reeve’s touchdown pass off of the halfback sweep – going to his left.

Perhaps one of the best clues to Reeves’ character as well as his approach to both the game and life is just how good a player/coach he became. As a 1968 knee injury took its toll, the Cowboys designated him as a player/coach (which actually gained them a roster spot in the days of 42-man rosters) and he coached the running backs who would replace him more and more for playing time.

The regard that Tom Landry had for him was perhaps best shown after they had drafted Tony Dorsett in 1977. If you are unaware of it, Coach Landry was pretty rigid about having things his way. The offense and defense were almost entirely of his design and he took great pride in the exactness they required. In training camp and as the first games of the season progressed, Landry was more and more frustrated with Dorsett’s running style which tended to become freelance in the middle of a play requiring precise running lanes. It was Dan Reeves who day by day, week by week convinced Landry that Dorsett’s great skill could be turned loose with a little more depth for vision and more zone on the backside to create cutback opportunities. Among the results were two straight Super Bowl appearances, a championship in ’77, and the Hall of Fame for Dorsett.

Most accounts of Reeves’ career will center on his time as the Denver head coach and the three Super Bowl appearances in a four-year run but will make sure to include that they were all losses. After being let go by the Broncos, he coached both the Giants and the Falcons, winning NFL Coach of the Year honors with both teams. His 1998 trip to the Super Bowl with the Falcons marked the fourth time he took a team to the big game as head coach. But he had to go through quadruple-bypass heart surgery to get there.

There are only two other coaches in NFL history with four Super Bowl losses and no championship. They are both in the Hall of Fame with fewer total wins than Reeves.

I did not get to meet Coach Reeves but I have shared a few brews with his good friend Wade Phillips (Wade was not only his defensive coordinator several times but twice replaced him, as the Denver head coach and as the interim when the Falcons let him go). And as Wade’s dad was famous for saying (among other things), “there are only two kinds of coaches. Them that have been fired and them that are gonna be.” It can be said that the true measure of either man or coach is not just the wins and losses but how each of them is handled. It can be measured by how one moves to the next challenge, and the next, carrying lessons which deepen the next effort.

Among the things I know for sure about Dan Reeves are the strong respect that people whom I respect have for him, the extensive work for the community he and his wife threw themselves into in their home state of Georgia, and that he was a person of deep faith displaying a quiet dignity in all the positive and negative life turns thrown his way.

Without elaboration, I will recall a well-paying consultant job that he quit after two days because of a provision in the final contract he considered insulting to his work ethic. You see, quiet men have pride too. Sometimes it is even stronger. Often times it is quieter because it is also deeper.

I believe that Dan Reeves was an example of both deep pride and principles. I don’t know if he will ever be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. But I have faith he will be. I have lived long enough to know that justice is not always (or often) timely. But it exists.

I also know that Dan Reeves was a far better than average NFL player, a great NFL coach, and a really, really good man. His well-earned peace and reward have been granted him in a higher court than any of us sit on.

Published in Sports
Tags: ,

This post was promoted to the Main Feed by a Ricochet Editor at the recommendation of Ricochet members. Like this post? Want to comment? Join Ricochet’s community of conservatives and be part of the conversation. Join Ricochet for Free.

There are 13 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Jimmy Carter Member
    Jimmy Carter
    @JimmyCarter

    Outstanding post.

    • #1
  2. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Ole Summers: All football historians consider the touchdown plunge by Bart Starr to end the 1967 Ice Bowl

    Behind Jerry Kramer’s block of Jethro Pugh.  I watched that game live.

    • #2
  3. Ole Summers Member
    Ole Summers
    @OleSummers

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Ole Summers: All football historians consider the touchdown plunge by Bart Starr to end the 1967 Ice Bowl

    Behind Jerry Kramer’s block of Jethro Pugh. I watched that game live.

    And it took them FOREEVER to vote Kramer into the Hall even thro he had been named the greatest guard of the first 50 years. I am glad they finally got him in while he3 was still alive to see it. 

    • #3
  4. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Kramer wrote a book, which I read, but the name of which I can’t remember.

    • #4
  5. Ole Summers Member
    Ole Summers
    @OleSummers

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Kramer wrote a book, which I read, but the name of which I can’t remember.

    wrote two books , the first was “Instant Replay” and the big hit – the second was “Distant Replay” mostly about the season after the third championship – mentioned it in a post not too long ago about affluence but can’t tell you how far back lol.

    • #5
  6. Richard Easton Coolidge
    Richard Easton
    @RichardEaston

    I heard Kramer talk at a bookstore about a collection of Vince Lombardi’s locker room talks he’d recorded.

    • #6
  7. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    I was not a big Reeves fan as I was not a fan of his teams. But the post is a great summary of a too little appreciated man.

    • #7
  8. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    For years Dan Reeves was thought by many to be the inevitable “next” Head Coach of the Cowboys after Tom Landry.  But Landry kept winning and became the first coach to have twenty winning seasons in a row.  Dan Reeves had a mountain of character.  He was a great man.  

    • #8
  9. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    Ole Summers: I believe that Dan Reeves was an example of both deep pride and principles.

    We were Bronco fans when he was there. He was one of the most intense coaches ever. But he was a dedicated man and I liked his work ethic. I remember when he had heart surgery–I think it followed a heart attack–and I hoped he’d find a way to deal with his stress much better and live longer. I guess he figured it out! RIP, Dan.

    • #9
  10. Concretevol Thatcher
    Concretevol
    @Concretevol

    In the book Once a Cowboy, Walt Garrison wrote that fellow halfback Dan Reeves was the only person on the team slower than he was.  haha  (the book is full of funny stories and self depreciation).  He also said that Dan Reeves was the smartest person on the team as well.   God bless him.  RIP

    • #10
  11. WiesbadenJake Coolidge
    WiesbadenJake
    @WiesbadenJake

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Kramer wrote a book, which I read, but the name of which I can’t remember.

    Instant Replay was his first book, about that season. I watched the game on TV; as a Packers fan, it was great (love the frozen tundra!).

    • #11
  12. ChrisShearer Coolidge
    ChrisShearer
    @ChrisShearer

    As a long time Broncos fan I fear he will be remembered by Broncos fans as the coach who lost 3 Super Bowls, each by successively worse scores and as the coach who sparred with Elway and couldn’t get Elway a SB ring.

    • #12
  13. Ole Summers Member
    Ole Summers
    @OleSummers

    ChrisShearer (View Comment):

    As a long time Broncos fan I fear he will be remembered by Broncos fans as the coach who lost 3 Super Bowls, each by successively worse scores and as the coach who sparred with Elway and couldn’t get Elway a SB ring.

    I am afraid that you are right, that second quarter against the Redskins left a mark! Reeves was of course pretty intense himself and the deal with Elway started going sideways when he brought in Shanahan, may well have done his best coaching after Denver with less talented quarterbacks. 

    • #13
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.