Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldcolt
As a player he had the distinction of being on a team that lost 4 Super Bowls in a row.
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o
It's much better to make it to 4 Super Bowls in a row and lose them than it is to lose in the conference championship game, or lose in the divisional playoffs. Winning a Super Bowl is like winning a gold medal in the Olympics, and losing in the Super Bowl is like winning a silver medal in the Olympics. The further that a team goes in the post-season, the more impressive/accomplished it is ...... the notion that making it to a Super Bowl and not winning it makes one a "loser" is absurd, twisted logic. Jim Kelly was not more of a loser than was Dan Marino because of the fact that his teams lost 4 Super Bowls compared to Marino's teams losing 1 Super Bowl. And John Elway was not a loser prior to his team winning back-to-back Super Bowls in the final 2 years of his career because of the fact that his teams had gotten blown out in 3 previous Super Bowls.
Also, I'm not reaching for the good in Reich when citing his legacy. Football fans have, and will continue to think of Reich for those 2 historic games ...... "one or 2 games", as you dismissively describe them, don't begin to describe the weight of their significance.
Lastly, I don't always just look for the good in people. I believe that Chuck Pagano was, at best, a below-average coach, arguably even a bad head coach. The fact that he overcame cancer doesn't change that specific legacy in my eyes. Which is not to say that his battle with cancer won't have a legacy of its own ...... "Chuck-Strong" does, and will continue to have a lasting legacy of its own. But it doesn't necessarily change his legacy of how effective he was as a head coach.
o