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Don Shula Had A Huge Impact On Football, And Also Alabama

The Coronavirus Crisis and Sports: Maybe the greatest 'What If' moment in football with Don Shula and Bear Bryant, and a sports-related industry that's thriving during the pandemic
Christopher Walsh|
Don Shula Had A Huge Impact On Football, And Also Alabama
Don Shula Had A Huge Impact On Football, And Also Alabama

The passing of Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history and the architect of the league's only prefect season (1972), reverberated throughout the football world on Monday, even at the University of Alabama. 

Shula was 90 years old.

​"Don Shula will always be remembered as one of the greatest coaches and contributors in the history of our game," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. "He made an extraordinarily positive impact on so many lives. The winningest coach in NFL history and the only one to lead a team to a perfect season, Coach Shula lived an unparalleled football life. 

"As a player, Hall of Fame coach, and long-time member and co-chair of the NFL Competition Committee, he was a remarkable teacher and mentor who for decades inspired excellence and exemplified integrity. His iconic legacy will endure through his family and continue to inspire generations to come. We extend our heartfelt sympathy to Don's wife Mary Anne along to his children Dave, Donna, Sharon and Mike, the Shula family, and the Dolphins organization."

Among the numerous Crimson Tide players who suited up for Shula included Hall of Fame center Dwight Stephenson, defensive back Don McNeal, running back Tony Nathan and defensive lineman Bob Baumhower — who was the first Alabama player selected by the Miami Dolphins in the draft. 

Shula's imprint will forever remain on the sport and franchise, and even with its more recent Crimson Tide draft picks like running back Kenyan Drake.

His ties to Alabama go way beyond the draft as Mike Shula was a quarterback for the Crimson Tide and returned to be the head coach from 2003-06.

The connection also created one of the biggest "What if?" moments in football as Shula was hired by the Dolphins after they very lured Paul W. "Bear" Bryant away from the Crimson Tide. 

Bryant wrote about it s in his autobiography “Bear: The Hard Life & Good Times of Alabama’s Coach Bryant.” The Crimson Tide was coming off a disappointing 6-5 season. The two sides went so far as to draw up a contract in a Birmingham hotel room.

“That night I told Joe Robbie I’d take the job,” Bryant wrote, adding that the Dolphins offer had a total value of $1.7 million over five years, including “a stock option, a place to live, cars — the works.”

(Note: At the time the deal was considered exorbitant. Vince Lombardi with the Green Bay Packers was making $110,000 a season)

“They had done everything but paper it up,” Tim Robbie told the Palm Beach Post in 2015. “Bear said let me get back to the University of Alabama and tell them. Dad said OK. So he went back and talked to the board of regents or whoever he had to talk to and they said to him, ‘We want you to help us find your successor so that when we announce you’re leaving, we’re all set.’

“That gave him time to reflect. He called my dad back a week or two later and said, ‘I just can’t do it, as much as I wanted to. I’m sorry. I wasn’t being insincere. I just can’t do it.’ ”

The Dolphins instead turned to Shula, who had led the Baltimore Colts (1963-69) to the Super Bowl. Bryant went on to be the winningest coach at the Division I level and won three more national titles. 

Shula reaction

Trading cards

Watching someone open packs of cards for hours may not seem like scintillating entertainment, but livestreams of "breakers" have saved the industry. Amid the pandemic, interest has never been higher.

"You can’t go out to a sports bar anymore, so we’ve kind of become that," said one breaker. "Sit down, whatever beverage you want, BYOB, watch the breaks, and talk.”

Some come looking for a big score. Others because they love their favorite team. And still others because it's the closest thing to a neighborhood sports bar. Amid the pandemic, viewers are flocking to livestreams of "breakers" opening sports cards.

Sports Illustrated's daily cover story is on how baseball cards are providing entertainment during a time when there's no sports.

Did you notice?

• These teams likely would have ended up with NBA titles if not for MJ and the Bulls. 

• Private quarterback coaches are doing big business during the pandemic. 

• Umpires are the overlooked part of the baseball shutdown.

• Why U.S. Soccer won its legal battle against the USWNT.

• In 1993, Sports Illustrated named Shula Sportsman of the Year.

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Christopher Walsh
CHRISTOPHER WALSH

Christopher Walsh is the founder and publisher of Alabama Crimson Tide On SI, which first published as BamaCentral in 2018, and is also the publisher of the Boston College, Missouri and Vanderbilt sites. He's covered the Crimson Tide since 2004 and is the author of 26 books including “100 Things Crimson Tide Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die” and “Nick Saban vs. College Football.” He's an eight-time honoree of Football Writers Association of America awards and three-time winner of the Herby Kirby Memorial Award, the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s highest writing honor for story of the year. In 2022, he was named one of the 50 Legends of the ASWA. Previous beats include the Green Bay Packers, Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, along with Major League Baseball’s Arizona Diamondbacks. Originally from Minnesota and a graduate of the University of New Hampshire, he currently resides in Tuscaloosa.

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