ASHBURN – In 30 minutes, Joe Bugel stood in front of the audience and revealed the attributes that made him Buges. Not to mention a successful coach. He was passionate, speaking about owner Dan Snyder, his love for the Redskins and the players. He was funny, talking about his knees knocking, punching players in the stomach and flashing his Super Bowl ring. A few times.
He also was sincere, letting everyone in the room know what he thought of them.
And now that Bugel has retired, another era in Redskins, and NFL history, has passed. He coached for 32 seasons in the NFL, 15 with the Redskins in two stints, including the past six seasons.
He developed the most famous offensive line in history — The Hogs.
“No one talked about the offensive line before the Hogs,” former Redskins tackle George Starke said. “It changed how people looked at football.”
The stories flowed, too, about Bugel’s limited vocabulary. Limited, that is, to cuss words.
“I don’t have a big vocabulary,” Bugel said. “I have every swear word you want to know.”
“He never let up off us even when we were playing pretty good,” Chris Samuels said.
Bugel, 70, decided a while back that this season would be his last. One of his three daughters died during last season and he wants to spend more time with his wife and his two other daughters, both of whom live near his home in Phoenix. His plans? Watch football, play a little golf and be a family man.
It won’t always be easy.
“The toughest thing in the world is to walk away from this group here,” Bugel said, pointing to current Redskins linemen in attendance — Chris Samuels, Randy Thomas, Derrick Dockery and Mike Williams. Ex-Redskins Starke, Doc Walker, Raleigh McKenzie and Donnie Warren also attended. “The only thing I regret is not bringing a Super Bowl to Dan Snyder and this organization. We gave it our best shot.”
Thomas said, “I’m gonna miss that feisty little guy.”
