Hank Stram has passed away. - Page 5

**dirk digler** · 07-04-2005, 02:38 PM

Just saw it on the news.

07-04-2005, 07:49 PM

Hank was 20 years ahead of the rest of the NFL in 1969.

I agree that this would be a good year to dedicate to Hank.

NJ Chief Fan · 07-04-2005, 07:56 PM

R I P Hank thanks for being the best head coach in chiefs history and the super bowl

WebGem · 07-04-2005, 08:38 PM

RIP Hank. Ford Field, here we come.

Coach · 07-04-2005, 08:40 PM

NFL loses a true pioneer -- the charismatic Stram

By Len Pasquarelli
ESPN.com

When it was brought before the Hall of Fame board of selectors in 2003, even in a year when the roster of possibilities was regarded as a relatively weak one, the candidacy of Hank Stram for entry into the hallowed shrine was the subject of considerable discussion.

In a pantheon that includes five head coaches with more than 200 victories each, after all, Stram's 136 career wins seemed a little on the light side to some of the voting members.

But what was never debated, and the element which ultimately swung several selectors toward Stram, was his inarguable role as an innovator.

That word, innovator, was clearly the most oft-used description of Stram in all of the early reaction pieces authored Monday evening following his death earlier in the day at age 82. It is, when discussing football, an easy term (much in the manner my kids resort with far too much facility to the word great to describe anything remotely beyond the ordinary) to toss around. In Hank Stram's case, though, it fit even better than the finely-tailored blazers with which he once graced the sideline.

In truth, the history of professional football includes but a handful of innovators, at most. Sid Gillman. Paul Brown. Clark Shaughnessy. Tom Landry. Maybe Stram doesn't quite belong in the same pew as those guys, way up front and close to the gridiron altar, but he does merit membership in the same elite congregation.

Because the little man -- perhaps his stockiness added some gravitas to the Stram persona but, truth be told, he was short of stature -- contributed to the game in a big way. It might have been, ironically enough, because Stram was so preoccupied with size. And about all of its possible implications when applied to his beloved sport.

Think, for just a minute or two, about the principle nuances Stram is most credited with introducing to the game. The moving pocket. The stacked defensive front. The penchant for bigger, beefier offensive linemen. All of them dealt with either size or, in some cases, with an ingenious way to overcome a lack of it.

The moving pocket was incorporated by Stram because he needed to find a way for his quarterback, Len Dawson, to locate passing lanes amid the swarm of arms in front of him. Stram wanted behemoth linemen because he actually felt that diminutive tailbacks such as Mike Garrett would get lost behind them on misdirection runs and screen-passes, creating a human camouflage that led to big plays. He stacked his linebackers behind the down lineman to disrupt age-old offensive blocking schemes, and to allow them to flow to the football without having to cut through a lot of trash.

Given his own stature, Stram had a soft spot for vertically-challenged players, no doubt. At the same time, though, he was fascinated by raw size. He brought the tallest player in NFL history, 6-feet-10 tight end Morris Stroud, into the league in 1970. Not only did he design red zone plays specifically to create size mismatches for Stroud, but Stram also positioned him under the goal posts, where he was instructed to try to swat away long field goal attempts.

Little known is that Stram once spent several hours attempting to convince the splendid seven-footer Wilt Chamberlain to give the NFL a try.

It's often said that there is nothing new under the football sun. But the fertile football imagination that resided in Hank Stram's cranium was the fecund breeding ground for a universe full of inventive chalk-board doodlings. Yep, beneath one of the worst and most ill-fitting toupees ever witnessed in the NFL was a football mind matched by very few.

Make no mistake, the faux-erudite Stram could be creative with language, too. His entreaty to his Kansas City Chiefs players during their victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV, to keep "matriculating" the ball up the field, boys, is certainly one of the most unforgettable moments in the NFL Films archive. In truth, it is just a masterful bit of malapropism, since "matriculate" means to enroll at a school of higher education, not to advance a football.

Funny thing is, for a man who loved language the way Stram did, and who relished the verbal badinage with the media, he employed precious few words to articulate his own football philosophy. "Simplicity plus variety," Stram once announced, with little pause for consideration, when asked about his designs.

One of his contemporaries, George Allen, who entered the Hall of Fame one year ahead of Stram, was noted for his love of ice cream. But it was Stram who actually mastered the Baskin-Robbins approach to the game, figuring a way to cram all those varieties into one game plan. And, in a manner that endeared him to the many media members with whom he was so generous with his time. Stram wasn't particularly shy about reminding we ink-stained wretches of his imaginative flair.

Too weak of flesh to even deliver his Hall of Fame induction address in 2003, Stram had previously used up millions of words talking football with anyone who called him during those years spent in retirement. Just say "hello," and you guaranteed yourself a minimum of 20 minutes on the phone. They were typically, until the last few years, an insightful 20 or so minutes.

There is a phrase too frequently employed during the course of the annual Hall of Fame deliberations, usually by someone presenting the case for a candidate, and the hyperbole generally goes something like this: "You can't write the history of pro football without including [fill in the name of the particular candidate]."

In truth, maybe someone really could author the history of professional football with only scant reference to Hank Stram. But if they did, it would be missing a few colorful chapters, for sure.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...len&id=2100503

mikey23545 · 07-04-2005, 09:03 PM

Ah ****.
Ah ****.

I have always derided people who get emotional over the death of celebrities...

I am shedding tears right now, Hank...Goddam, this just ruined my 4th.

God bless you, Hank. I sure hope you are better off now than you were just a day ago.

Thank you for some of the greatest memories of my youth....

Crap, this hurts.

Pants · 07-04-2005, 09:09 PM

"It was called "The Offense of the '70s," implementing avant-garde strategies like "the moving pocket." Frankly, I loved it then and love it still; can still hear Hank Stram now, puffed up, strutting like a rooster, his black Chiefs blazer with the pocket insignia over a red vest barely restraining his belly. I can still hear him because some genius wired him for sound before Super Bowl IV in New Orleans against the doomed Minnesota Vikings; then NFL Films had laid in this score of the old show tune, "Everything's Up To Date In Kansas City." Every time I think of the Chiefs, this is what I see and hear:

... everything's up to date in Kansas City ... da-da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum--dum ...

" ... just keep matriculating that ball down the field, Lenny ... "

"Throw that damn thing on the ouside, Leonard! They can't cover that thing, Lenny. That's it, this is good, the hitch ... "

" ... 24 Toss Power Trap ... it should be there, fellas ... "

"Ha-HA! Heeheeheeheeheehee. See that boys? Did'ya see that? Popped wide open, didn't it, boys? The mentor ... heeheeheehee ... the mentor ... "

(to game official) " ... Mr. Official, he wasn't there, he was right there! No, no, you did good, you spotted it good."
(game official says) "Oh, I thought you were talking about you being out on the field."
" ... No ... what?"

"Go Odie, Go! Go!"

"Gloster! Gloster! Where's Gloster ... ?!"

... Everything's up to date in Kansas Ci-ty ... da-da-dum, da-dum, da-dum da-dum, da-dum--dum ... "

-- Ralph Wiley

tomahawk kid · 07-04-2005, 09:29 PM

I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Stram early in 2003, shortly after his HOF induction announcement.

I have never met a more jovial or down to earth "celebrity" in my life. Even though his health was obviously failing (even then), you could tell that he enjoyed interacting with Chiefs fans and telling stories about the Chiefs glory days.

I'm sure Coach Stram is in a better place, but his loss will surely be felt throughout the NFL, and especially in the heart of Kansas City.

God Speed Hank and God Bless........

Braincase · 07-04-2005, 09:32 PM

Thanks for the years, Coach Stram. They should put your toupee in Canton.

RedDread · 07-04-2005, 09:50 PM

RIP Coach

This year is for you.

tommykat · 07-04-2005, 10:46 PM

RIP coach, this year is for you and DT

Hammock Parties · 07-04-2005, 10:48 PM

Stram is on NFLE right now.

**Nzoner** · 07-04-2005, 10:53 PM

RIP Coach,although I don't remember your Super Bowl win,I'll never forget being in Canton and taking in your moving induction to the Hall.You were a class act and will be missed.

Take your place with Joe Delaney and DT and may your spirits be present at Arrowhead to help guide our Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory.

teedubya · 07-04-2005, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braincase

Thanks for the years, Coach Stram. They should put your toupee in Canton.

awesome.

___

also, I forgot to mention Joe Delaney... we got Three powerful Gaurdian Angels for this years SB run. Should be a special season. Thanks guys.

Hammock Parties · 07-05-2005, 12:01 AM

Stram on NFLE again.

**Mr. Kotter** · 07-05-2005, 12:05 AM

RIP, Hank.

07-04-2005, 02:38 PM
dirk digler Please squeeze Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Clinton, MO Casino cash: $154644	Hank Stram has passed away. Just saw it on the news.
Posts: 67,114

07-04-2005, 07:49 PM	#61
Electric Guest Casino cash: $	Hank was 20 years ahead of the rest of the NFL in 1969. I agree that this would be a good year to dedicate to Hank.
Posts: n/a

07-04-2005, 07:56 PM	#62
NJ Chief Fan DAMMIT CARL! Join Date: Mar 2005 Casino cash: $10004900	R I P Hank thanks for being the best head coach in chiefs history and the super bowl
Posts: 2,510

07-04-2005, 08:38 PM	#63
WebGem MVP Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NYC/Toronto/Mexico Casino cash: $9994900	RIP Hank. Ford Field, here we come. __________________ Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/bmifsud
Posts: 7,009

07-04-2005, 08:40 PM	#64
Coach Champs! Join Date: Mar 2004 Casino cash: $3738476	NFL loses a true pioneer -- the charismatic Stram By Len Pasquarelli ESPN.com When it was brought before the Hall of Fame board of selectors in 2003, even in a year when the roster of possibilities was regarded as a relatively weak one, the candidacy of Hank Stram for entry into the hallowed shrine was the subject of considerable discussion. In a pantheon that includes five head coaches with more than 200 victories each, after all, Stram's 136 career wins seemed a little on the light side to some of the voting members. But what was never debated, and the element which ultimately swung several selectors toward Stram, was his inarguable role as an innovator. That word, innovator, was clearly the most oft-used description of Stram in all of the early reaction pieces authored Monday evening following his death earlier in the day at age 82. It is, when discussing football, an easy term (much in the manner my kids resort with far too much facility to the word great to describe anything remotely beyond the ordinary) to toss around. In Hank Stram's case, though, it fit even better than the finely-tailored blazers with which he once graced the sideline. In truth, the history of professional football includes but a handful of innovators, at most. Sid Gillman. Paul Brown. Clark Shaughnessy. Tom Landry. Maybe Stram doesn't quite belong in the same pew as those guys, way up front and close to the gridiron altar, but he does merit membership in the same elite congregation. Because the little man -- perhaps his stockiness added some gravitas to the Stram persona but, truth be told, he was short of stature -- contributed to the game in a big way. It might have been, ironically enough, because Stram was so preoccupied with size. And about all of its possible implications when applied to his beloved sport. Think, for just a minute or two, about the principle nuances Stram is most credited with introducing to the game. The moving pocket. The stacked defensive front. The penchant for bigger, beefier offensive linemen. All of them dealt with either size or, in some cases, with an ingenious way to overcome a lack of it. The moving pocket was incorporated by Stram because he needed to find a way for his quarterback, Len Dawson, to locate passing lanes amid the swarm of arms in front of him. Stram wanted behemoth linemen because he actually felt that diminutive tailbacks such as Mike Garrett would get lost behind them on misdirection runs and screen-passes, creating a human camouflage that led to big plays. He stacked his linebackers behind the down lineman to disrupt age-old offensive blocking schemes, and to allow them to flow to the football without having to cut through a lot of trash. Given his own stature, Stram had a soft spot for vertically-challenged players, no doubt. At the same time, though, he was fascinated by raw size. He brought the tallest player in NFL history, 6-feet-10 tight end Morris Stroud, into the league in 1970. Not only did he design red zone plays specifically to create size mismatches for Stroud, but Stram also positioned him under the goal posts, where he was instructed to try to swat away long field goal attempts. Little known is that Stram once spent several hours attempting to convince the splendid seven-footer Wilt Chamberlain to give the NFL a try. It's often said that there is nothing new under the football sun. But the fertile football imagination that resided in Hank Stram's cranium was the fecund breeding ground for a universe full of inventive chalk-board doodlings. Yep, beneath one of the worst and most ill-fitting toupees ever witnessed in the NFL was a football mind matched by very few. Make no mistake, the faux-erudite Stram could be creative with language, too. His entreaty to his Kansas City Chiefs players during their victory over Minnesota in Super Bowl IV, to keep "matriculating" the ball up the field, boys, is certainly one of the most unforgettable moments in the NFL Films archive. In truth, it is just a masterful bit of malapropism, since "matriculate" means to enroll at a school of higher education, not to advance a football. Funny thing is, for a man who loved language the way Stram did, and who relished the verbal badinage with the media, he employed precious few words to articulate his own football philosophy. "Simplicity plus variety," Stram once announced, with little pause for consideration, when asked about his designs. One of his contemporaries, George Allen, who entered the Hall of Fame one year ahead of Stram, was noted for his love of ice cream. But it was Stram who actually mastered the Baskin-Robbins approach to the game, figuring a way to cram all those varieties into one game plan. And, in a manner that endeared him to the many media members with whom he was so generous with his time. Stram wasn't particularly shy about reminding we ink-stained wretches of his imaginative flair. Too weak of flesh to even deliver his Hall of Fame induction address in 2003, Stram had previously used up millions of words talking football with anyone who called him during those years spent in retirement. Just say "hello," and you guaranteed yourself a minimum of 20 minutes on the phone. They were typically, until the last few years, an insightful 20 or so minutes. There is a phrase too frequently employed during the course of the annual Hall of Fame deliberations, usually by someone presenting the case for a candidate, and the hyperbole generally goes something like this: "You can't write the history of pro football without including [fill in the name of the particular candidate]." In truth, maybe someone really could author the history of professional football with only scant reference to Hank Stram. But if they did, it would be missing a few colorful chapters, for sure. Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/column...len&id=2100503 __________________ Super Bowl IV, LIV, LVII & LVIII Champions 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024, & 2025 AFC Champions 1985 & 2015 Major League Baseball World Series Champions 1980, 1985, 2014, & 2015 Major League Baseball American League Champions 2015 American League Central Division Champs
Posts: 54,703

07-04-2005, 09:03 PM	#65
mikey23545 MVP Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $10015321	Ah **. Ah **. I have always derided people who get emotional over the death of celebrities... I am shedding tears right now, Hank...Goddam, this just ruined my 4th. God bless you, Hank. I sure hope you are better off now than you were just a day ago. Thank you for some of the greatest memories of my youth.... Crap, this hurts.
Posts: 12,314

07-04-2005, 09:09 PM	#66
Pants Time Keeps On Slipping Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Overland Park Casino cash: $3539900	"It was called "The Offense of the '70s," implementing avant-garde strategies like "the moving pocket." Frankly, I loved it then and love it still; can still hear Hank Stram now, puffed up, strutting like a rooster, his black Chiefs blazer with the pocket insignia over a red vest barely restraining his belly. I can still hear him because some genius wired him for sound before Super Bowl IV in New Orleans against the doomed Minnesota Vikings; then NFL Films had laid in this score of the old show tune, "Everything's Up To Date In Kansas City." Every time I think of the Chiefs, this is what I see and hear: ... everything's up to date in Kansas City ... da-da-dum, da-dum, da-dum, da-dum--dum ... " ... just keep matriculating that ball down the field, Lenny ... " "Throw that damn thing on the ouside, Leonard! They can't cover that thing, Lenny. That's it, this is good, the hitch ... " " ... 24 Toss Power Trap ... it should be there, fellas ... " "Ha-HA! Heeheeheeheeheehee. See that boys? Did'ya see that? Popped wide open, didn't it, boys? The mentor ... heeheeheehee ... the mentor ... " (to game official) " ... Mr. Official, he wasn't there, he was right there! No, no, you did good, you spotted it good." (game official says) "Oh, I thought you were talking about you being out on the field." " ... No ... what?" "Go Odie, Go! Go!" "Gloster! Gloster! Where's Gloster ... ?!" ... Everything's up to date in Kansas Ci-ty ... da-da-dum, da-dum, da-dum da-dum, da-dum--dum ... " -- Ralph Wiley __________________ "Turn the channel to 26!"
Posts: 27,417

07-04-2005, 09:29 PM	#67
tomahawk kid Drunk in the Neighborhood Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Beating the War Drums Casino cash: $10001837	I had the pleasure of meeting Coach Stram early in 2003, shortly after his HOF induction announcement. I have never met a more jovial or down to earth "celebrity" in my life. Even though his health was obviously failing (even then), you could tell that he enjoyed interacting with Chiefs fans and telling stories about the Chiefs glory days. I'm sure Coach Stram is in a better place, but his loss will surely be felt throughout the NFL, and especially in the heart of Kansas City. God Speed Hank and God Bless........ Last edited by tomahawk kid; 07-05-2005 at 10:00 AM..
Posts: 5,974

07-04-2005, 09:32 PM	#68
Braincase Banned Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Pond> Me <Barn Casino cash: $11298284	Thanks for the years, Coach Stram. They should put your toupee in Canton. __________________ BrainCase
Posts: 15,429

07-04-2005, 09:50 PM	#69
RedDread Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Back in KC Casino cash: $10007771	RIP Coach This year is for you. __________________
Posts: 4,167

07-04-2005, 10:46 PM	#70
tommykat zzzz Kats always Join Date: Mar 2001 Casino cash: $9994925	RIP coach, this year is for you and DT __________________ Take that KC helmet and just
Posts: 4,004

07-04-2005, 10:48 PM	#71
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $840478	Stram is on NFLE right now. __________________ Chiefs game films
Posts: 297,352

07-04-2005, 10:53 PM	#72
Nzoner a haw haw haw Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: MIZZOU Casino cash: $26365802	RIP Coach,although I don't remember your Super Bowl win,I'll never forget being in Canton and taking in your moving induction to the Hall.You were a class act and will be missed. Take your place with Joe Delaney and DT and may your spirits be present at Arrowhead to help guide our Chiefs to another Super Bowl victory.
Posts: 27,111

07-05-2005, 12:01 AM	#74
Hammock Parties I'll be back. Join Date: Nov 2002 Casino cash: $840478	Stram on NFLE again. __________________ Chiefs game films
Posts: 297,352

07-05-2005, 12:05 AM	#75
Mr. Kotter The Dude Abides Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Dakota Country Casino cash: $3284285	RIP, Hank. __________________ "I've always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment...We see what's going on around the league, but at the same time, I'll never do anything that's going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me.”
Posts: 46,901