The Late John McKay Honored in Tampa Bay
by Paragon SC on Dec 7, 2010 4:32 PM PST
in USC Football
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PrintI don't have to tell anyone here what John McKay meant to USC.
This past weekend McKay was inducted into the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ring of honor...
As the story goes, John McKay, already an icon as football coach at the University of Southern California, was dining with his buddy, Alabama's Paul "Bear" Bryant. They were at Chasen's, then the ultimate see-and-be-seen spot in Beverly Hills.
The waiter approached.
"Coach McKay," he said, "Mr. Sinatra has a table in back and wants you to stop by."
McKay, unflinching: "You tell him to come up and see us."
A few minutes later, there was Frank Sinatra, paying homage.
Yes, John McKay absolutely did it his way. At USC, where his steady stream of one-liners played well with the Hollywood set, he won four national championships. McKay was the king.
This is not a new story...
It has been told many times.
And every time it makes me smile!
McKay and Bryant were very close friends...
It is the one reason that I have always respected Alabama as a program. To me McKay and Bryant made the college game what it is today. USC and Alabama have played against each other in some of the sports most memorable games. I know some will disagree but that is fine...to each his own.
Bryant Will always hold a very special place in the college sport, but McKay staked his own claim in both college and the pros.
It was one of my saddest days as a kid growing up when he left for Tampa Bay. I remember crying when USC lost to UCLA in 1975...McKay's last regular season game at USC.
He is as much a part of my youth when it comes to USC as any player on the roster.
I am surprised that this recognition took this long to happen.
He left us far too early.
I wonder what he would have said if he could have witnessed USC's great run this past decade?
Now those would have been some memorable quotes!!
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Great Story
I have never heard that one, but being a UA grad, you can imagine my reverence for Coach Bryant, but my reverence for Coach McKay came long before I became a Trojan. It was said that Coach Bryant flew into an airport somewhere in mid-America in 1969 and got off, and walked into the terminal, and there was Coach McKay, and Coach Bryant looked at him and said, “Hey John, why don’t you come play in Birmingham next year, and the year after we will come out and play in L.A.?”
Coach McKay said “Sounds Good”
Coach Bryant turned and got back on a plane for Birmingham. And that meeting set up 2 of the most memorable games in college football history, Sam Bam Cunningham tearing down the walls of segregation in Birmingham, and the Tide unveiling it’s Wishbone attack in the Collesium that they would use to dominate the 1970s.
Great honor to a most deserved man
"I'm trashed like Oscar the Grouch. Quote That"- Shankapotomous
Here's my up close & personal John McKay story
It’s a joke told to me by the man himself over cocktails at my family’s restaurant in 1984, he was with Corky and another couple who are friends of the family. Enjoy……
3 Nuns die and go to heaven where they are met at the Pearly Gates by St. Peter
“Sisters, for all your good deeds while on earth you each have one wish before you enter the kingdom.
The first one ponders and says "I would like to have sex with Paul Newman, he’s very handsome and I’m a great fan of his.
St Peter “Very well your wish is granted”
The second one who is younger says, “I would like to have sex with Robert Redford, he’s so sexy”
St Peter “Very well your wish is granted”
The third nun after much deliberation says “I would like to have sex with John McKay”
St. Peter, incredulously, “Sister, why on earth John McKay?”
Well, I’m from Tampa and everywhere I’d go all I would hear is, “Fuck McKay, Fuck, Fuck McKay”
"Understanding is a virtue, hard to come by"
J. Airplane
Bravo!!!!!!
That is hilarious. What an awesome story. Obviously, he was a warm, cordial, hell of a guy in person? That is so cool.
I have the same question as with Sam Bam. WTH took so long?
You can't put sanctions on the fkn endzone! Bowls are for salad!
He was a guy's guy
Just the nicest man, but I wouldn’t want to get on his bad side………….
"Understanding is a virtue, hard to come by"
J. Airplane
Yep one of the greatest coaches of all-time, it really didn't bother me to much when he left, everyone has their future in their life plan and he wanted to coach in the pros.
It takes a lot of guts to go from a secure environment to a new venture in anything in life, MaKay had those guts that most men don’t.
Lets face it the Bruins are superior in all aspects of life, heck I here they can wipe their Butts with their mind.
by so.cal.native1952 on Dec 8, 2010 4:42 AM PST reply actions
McKay's Underrated Tampa Tenure
Everyone talks about McKay’s Bucs nearly going winless their first two years in the NFL. However, few mention that by the early ‘80s those same Bucs were Central Division Champs and went deep into the NFC playoffs. Moreover, McKay’s staff during that period was first-rate, featuring Joe Gibbs, for example, who went on to be a Hall of Fame head coach in Washington.
Wishlist Item: John Wayne's boogieboard from his USC football days. :-P
Yeah baby!
Ricky Bell, Doug Williams. Loved those Bucs teams.
You can't put sanctions on the fkn endzone! Bowls are for salad!
One depressing point was,
that they lost to the Rams 7-6 in the NFC Championship game.
"Understanding is a virtue, hard to come by"
J. Airplane
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