Dan Reeves died on January 1 at the age of 77, meaning his long overdue addition to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, whenever it comes, will be posthumous.
The fact that Reeves was not honored during his lifetime is astonishing. He’s 10th on the list of all-time NFL coach wins with 190, and the only coaches with more wins without being enrolled in Canton are Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Belichick and Andy Reid still playing. work.
Reeves, in his most famous coaching career with the Broncos, had legendary battles with Schottenheimer’s Cleveland Browns in the 1980s. Denver attended three Super Bowls in four years, and lost one each time. team with Hall of Fame coaches on the opposite side: Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs and Bill Walsh.
If the difference between Reeves and Marv Levy is that the Bills attended four Super Bowl games, losing to Parcells, Gibbs, and Jimmy Johnson, then Reeves also coached the Atlanta Falcons to win the convention championship before losing Super Bowl XXXIII first, in all teams. , John Elway, former Broncos and Reeves quarterback.
In addition to 12 seasons coaching the Broncos and 7 seasons with the Falcons, Reeves spent 1993-96 coaching the New York Giants, reaching the knockout stages with 38-year-old Phil Simms in quarterback in his first year. .
But Reeves is more than just one of the top coaches in NFL history. He also played eight run-back seasons for the Cowboys, with his best year coming in 1966. Reeves amassed 1,314 yards from the script and scored 16 touchdowns that season – a capacity of His return showed that Reeves would feel comfortable in today’s NFL.
Reeves, who played quarterback in college in South Carolina, also had what is close to one of the most memorable plays in NFL history, a half-back pass to Lance Rentzel for a Touch down 50 yards to give Dallas the lead in the fourth quarter of the Ice Bowl. Had Bart Starr not continued his legendary plunge for the winning score, the Cowboys could have won the historic match and advanced into Super Bowl I.
Also a college baseball player, Reeves received an offer from the Pittsburgh Pirates which he turned down to pursue his dream of professional football. It was a good choice, one that should have been, and possibly still will one day, a Hall of Fame end.
