RIP Marty Schottenheimer

Another absolute legend was lost today with Marty Schottenheimer passing away at the age of 77. I saw a report last week that Schottenheimer had been moved to hospice care, so I think most people were hoping for the best while expecting the worst.

Schottenheimer's legacy as a coach will probably end up being someone who had dominant teams in the regular season that ultimately fell short in the playoffs considering he led his teams to double digit wins 11 times and was the number 1 seed in the AFC four times but never made it to the Super Bowl. However, I think you have to grade on a little bit of a curve considering he took the Cleveland Browns to the brink of the Super Bowl two years in a row before he ran into John Elway and Earnest Byner ran into Jeremiah Castille in 4th quarter moments so infamous they only have to be referenced in two words as The Drive and The Fumble.

TRIGGER WARNING FOR BROWNS FANS:

Crushing. (Speaking of crushing, the Broncos neeeeed to bring back those old school Orange Crush jerseys and D helmets as their primary uniforms ASAP).

Kevin Stefanski could run for mayor of Cleveland and win unanimously after making the Browns a playoff winner for the first time since BB was HC of CLE. He may actually have been forced into the role if he got the Browns to back-to-back AFC Championship Games, no matter the result.

Schotty obviously had a hell of a run in Kansas City with the Derrick Thomas + Neil Smith Chiefs, went 8-8 in his one year with Washington before Dan Snyder decided to go with Steve Spurrier like a fucking idiot, and had some monster teams with the Chargers where he went 14-2 in his final season. Not only was Schottenheimer a hell of a football coach but he also got a shout out in Eminem's "Just Don't Give A Fuck" and wasn't afraid to embrace modern technology to help his team.

RIP Marty. Fuck Alzheimer's.