European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 04, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday. January 4, 1991 the stars and stripes Page 25commentaryallen s us tackled them by Jack Mann the Baltimore evening Sun Etty Allen answered the phone. Quot he a Home a she said Quot but can you wait until be finishes dinner a George wait. There was football to talk of about now football and future football. Quot i think the Guys will do even better next year Quot George Allen said. Quot they believe now you the Guys were the Long Beach state football team the virtually abandoned losers he had taken Over at age 72. Allen scraped them off the Field after a 59-0 opening Day humbling by Clemson and making the believe led them to a 6-5 season. A you see was the subtly condescending phrase George used to explain things he could perceive to people who probably . Sports writers kicking teams you see win games and lose games. George perceived that truth before anybody else and invented special teams. In 1958, a giant Spear Carrier named Mickey Walker was describing his Job As Quot kicking ass on the suicide in Frk in 197i, the Public address announcer intoned the names of Malinchak and Hull and vector and Jaqua. George Allen was introducing his special team giving the players dignity and Pride and the will to win for him. He told them again and again that they were like Larry Brown and Ron Mcdonie and Jack Pardee men of character. And they won for him. Behind Jris Back Many of them laughed. Up to the last Day of 1990 when Allen Guite unwillingly died there were sex redskins mimicking his slogans a closing is like they joked about carrying his Liturgy to the table to the Bath to bed a is what i am doing or about to do getting us closer to our objective a winning a Merlin Olsen the Flower Salesman played for Allen As a ram for five seasons. He was not surprised in 1977 when Edward Bennett Williams declined to resign his winning .690, still the Redskin record coach. Quot five years is about Long enough a Olsen said a to be told that every next game is going to be the most important Day of your yet Allen Quot could make you feel that Way for those three hours each week said Mike Hull a thinking Man who gave body As a special Teamor in 19717.4, All playoff years. Part of it was the paranoia George could Quot us of his redskins comprised not Only guards v and linebackers but also ceo ally no office staff. In the official Redskin yearbook of 1973hon believers in George were termed t1ie Quot them he preached of included not Only giants and cowboys but also nil officials who made rules that restricted Allens stockpiling and manipulation of players. It also included the press which he excluded effectually from practice and absolutely from the locker room. Anyone who has seen wide receiver Roy Jefferson. Do his children a program on television would have difficulty believing the vocabulary he used coming up the stairs in rods pm Park one Day. Quot so he a got a few More players than the rules allow a Jefferson ranted. Quot what difference does it make a some a a them in the league office had caught Allen Corner cutting again and a sports writer them one of those thums George Hadnot mesmerized had written about it. Can to Trust a those Guys a alien reiterated to his team. A there were a thousand laughs about double of seven the pleasant Little Man who was Allens internal Security Force at Redskin Park. De Boynton a retired los Angeles cop would ride the perimeter Fence on his bicycle stopping to advise packers in mostly children that while coach Allen certainly a predated their interest they were Quot distractions and should go away. \. Everybody agreed that was silly but George never did silly things. Absurd yes but never silly. He did no to really think there were Dallas spies out there but double of sevens patrol served to heighten the siege mentality and motivate us to win. V a and win they did 67 of the 98 redskins games he George Alle bad heart killed coach Rancho Palos Verdes Calif. Apr famed football coach George alien died of a sudden heart problem his son said wednesday. Quot his death was totally unrelated to any bout with pneumonia or any previous illness a Bruce Allen said in a Brief press release. Quot a specialist told us that the cause of death was a very rare coronary spasm a Allen died suddenly at his Home monday. Lie was 72. A a a a a a v or. Julian Haywood a professor of Medicine at the University of Southern California said the statement apparently Means that a sudden spasm to one of Allens coronary arteries impaired blood flow to his heart causing a fatal heart attack. Another of Allens sons George said doctors concluded that Ahen died of a coronary spasm after eliminating other possibilities. An autopsy to determine the ultimate cause of Ai Lens death has not been conducted. Coached. They did not win the 1973 super bowl for him but in a very real Way that Quot Ultis Natch game was an anticlimax. George Allen could never die happily because there were so Many things that needed doing but he must have had Happy memories on his last morning because it was dec. 31. That Washe Date of Georges favorite Victory. A 7 7v the nations capital has not had a new years eve More gala than dec. 31, 1972, the Day the future was now. In the cold Twilight at Frk stadium the redskins stomped the cowboys 26-3 for the pfc championship. The super bowl two weeks later Miami 14, Washington 7like the new York world series the Day after Bobby Thomson a Home run was irrelevant. Whatever Long Beach state is going to have a better season. The kids believe now you see the present was George George Allen was always the coach in my Lexi a con. Always. Since 1971, anyway when he gripped the Washington redskins head coaching Job with zealous Confidence. A a a a a he stood at the microphones of his first Redskin mews conference and told to and radio land he would Quot win at a. Win at once. Not Quot build a foundation for a constructive football not Quot shoot for an exciting team this City can be proud Allen saw those spiels As promises for the unknown. His future his redskins future was 1971. Now. Win atone. That sounded crazy Back then. It was january �?T71. The redskins had just gone 6-8 under Bill Austin they were nowhere in an everywhere division. The mfg East had the Dallas cowboys High in the Saddle the new York giants nearly grabbing the reins and the St. Louis cardinals footing a Stirrup. No room at the top. Win at once what the opening exhibition game the exhibition season made Allens declaration seem insane. His no. 1 Redskin asset Sonny Jurgen sen went Down with a broken shoulder. Goodbye quarterback. A and yet Allen had already saved the season. He had picked up Billy Kilmer from new Orleans in his first Deal As Redskin coach. Quot the Kilmer acquisition looked superfluous Back in january 1971, 1 a. Now with the regular season Days away Allen looked like a Genius. Because he was. He loved to say Quot the future is he saw the future and. Acted now. A a Kilmer filled the Jurgensen void arid the redskins did no to miss a beat. 1 hey beat everyone the first five weeks Thev even to Nett Dulles in week 3 by a Iulo count. A a a a Bucky Fox win at once you bet. Allens redskins won nearly 70 percent of their games. They won with Kilmer he of the Peg leg and Duck passes. They won with a defense that retire. Guys like Chris Hanburger Jack Pardee and Pat Fischer had to be playing since Sammy Baugh Slung for Washington. A a. A Quot a a. That was Allens stamp. The old defense. Smart aim for the head. Produce the turnover. Allen was so involved with his defense that he hardly appeared to watch while Kilmer a offence moved the Ball. Once Allens defense took the Field the coach squatted licked his thumb and was generally a nervous wreck. A a. A. A. The scariest Back in the pfc Terry Metcalf. The cardinals were a Force. If you were in Cardinal country they let you know it. Especially if you were an Allen Man. I thus spent tortuous years at Mizzau. Watching the cardinals on regional telecasts. Hearing Cardinal fans deride Allens gang As Gimp. My revenge came in 1976. Monday night football from Frk stadium. My dorm rumbled with Cardinal maniacs. They figured on a Metcalf Romp. But on this Rainy Muddy night Metcalf flopped and fumbled All Over Allen s redskins revealed in the Slop for a 20-10 Triumph. They went on to make the playoffs. The cardinals were finished. The coach had delivered again. Win at once. Seven years after that mud bowl in september 1983, Allen came to Germany. He had been out of the nil for five years and was coaching in the Usel. He came As chairman of the presidents Council on physical fitness and sports. Except for the 1972 super bowl season Allens redskins Sank in the playoffs. His detractors said his Over the Hill system left them with no Energy to be come Kings of the Hill. Detractors abounded. Fans either loved or hated Allen. Just like with Billy Martin Howard Cosell and Richard Nixon there was no room t6 Ponder. With George Allen football followers Felt Good or bad. A v a. Outside of Washington the feeling was mostly bad. That a because Allens redskins beat their teams. With a forearm to the helmet. I i Felt that Wrath while attending the University of Missouri. Cardinal fans saturated the Campus. They loathed alien Kilmer Fisher the whole Bunch. With Cardinal fans you normally care. They re harmless because their team is. _ but in my College Days of the mid-1970s, St. Louis was a contender. The cardinals had Jim Hart Mel Gray and he sure was perfect for that Job. 1 joined him for an a a a a Klov a Sion to the main River. For a three life run. Interview in Frankfurt and he quickly moved courses Here was a 65-year-old Man with the intensity of Well nobody. As soon As he finished the three Miles he dived into sit ups push ups isometric More pushups. You done to find 25-year-Olds doing Thal. For his dast set of push ups he said Quot the number _ i do will be How Miny games we win at the Start of the did 10. / the next Spring his Arizona wranglers won 10 games. Win at once. The coach could be exact. During our. Run i asked How some coaches always win in the nil and some can to. His answer Quot organization Quot even his death had an order. It came on new year seve. On a sad note it finished 1990. The stamp res strip
