R.I.P.: Coach/Broadcaster Hank Stram

[Joseph_Gallant]

Hank Stram, who coached the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl IV championship (and who had previously coached the Chiefs to a berth in the first-ever Super Bowl before losing to Green Bay) before becoming an analyst on television and radio broadcasts of NFL games, is dead at the age of 82.

You may recall that Stram and Vin Scully called the 1981/82 NFC Championship Game for CBS Television, which was won by San Francisco on Dwight Clark's spectacular touchdown catch late in the game. Stram also served for years as an analyst for CBS Radio's coverage of the NFL, including Monday-night games and the Super Bowl, working alongside the late Jack Buck.

During the years that Stram and Buck did NFL games on radio, several newspaper columnists wrote stories suggesting that fans turn off the sound of the television broadcast of ABC's "Monday Night Football" and turn on Buck and Stram's call on radio. Chicago writer Gary Deeb wrote a number of columns on this subject, going as far as to suggest that millions of people were doing just that to avoid having to endure Howard Cosell!

Click Here For An NFL.com News Story.

 

[Phantom]

> During the years that Stram and Buck did NFL games on radio,
> several newspaper columnists wrote stories suggesting that
> fans turn off the sound of the television broadcast of ABC's
> "Monday Night Football" and turn on Buck and Stram's call on
> radio. Chicago writer Gary Deeb wrote a number of columns on
> this subject, going as far as to suggest that millions of
> people were doing just that to avoid having to endure Howard
> Cosell!


I never wanted to miss what Cosell had to say, but Stram was great on the air.

Always had an opinion, personality plus, knowledgeable and, obviously, a great coach. I always wondered why he wasn't on television more than radio.

And, he was only 54 when he left coaching for good (or bad) after a stint with the horrid Saints. In his last years, he suffered from the side effect of diabetes.

He once said Saints' quarterback Archie Manning, whose sons are starting QBs in the NFL now, was a "franchise quarterback without a franchise."

 

[tlyle]

> > During the years that Stram and Buck did NFL games on
> radio,
> > several newspaper columnists wrote stories suggesting that
>
> > fans turn off the sound of the television broadcast of
> ABC's
> > "Monday Night Football" and turn on Buck and Stram's call
> on
> > radio. Chicago writer Gary Deeb wrote a number of columns
> on
> > this subject, going as far as to suggest that millions of
> > people were doing just that to avoid having to endure
> Howard
> > Cosell!
>
>
> I never wanted to miss what Cosell had to say, but Stram was
> great on the air.
>
> Always had an opinion, personality plus, knowledgeable and,
> obviously, a great coach. I always wondered why he wasn't on
> television more than radio.
>
> And, he was only 54 when he left coaching for good (or bad)
> after a stint with the horrid Saints. In his last years, he
> suffered from the side effect of diabetes.
>
> He once said Saints' quarterback Archie Manning, whose sons
> are starting QBs in the NFL now, was a "franchise
> quarterback without a franchise."
>
He also did an episode of "Coach" called Coaches Conference. Had a great comment to "Hayden Fox" where he wished he could be just be a football coach without all the fluff.