The master and his greatest apprentice met again to celebrate.
Russ Grimm received his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring during halftime of Sunday’s Washington Redskins-Indianapolis Colts game. Sixty-two former Redskins joined in a ceremony that doubled as the team’s first alumni homecoming event. Most of them — including Grimm — never played at FedEx Field, but he and his old coach Joe Bugel enjoyed a warm reception from the home crowd.
Grimm and Bugel may be one of the sport’s greatest pairings — all the way to the steps of Canton, where Bugel was Grimm’s Hall of Fame presenter. The offensive line coach said Grimm was the “greatest player I ever coached” in leading the Hogs to four Super Bowls and three championships. Certainly, Grimm deserved the honor after being named to the 1980s All-Decade team as a guard.
Grimm is much like former teammate and fellow Hall of Famer John Riggins. They’re blue-collar, everyday people who fans love — a pal you can meet in the corner tavern for a beer and watch the game with. It’s an unassuming style that enabled Grimm to be awed over joining the 260 other men enshrined in Canton.
The best part of becoming a Hall of Famer, Grimm said, was meeting so many of his boyhood heroes at the Aug. 7 induction. Men he looked up to were now his contemporaries. It was awesome.
Grimm so loved hearing the fans at RFK Stadium rock the stands before games while putting on his pads. The “seat cushion game” in which Washington beat Atlanta in the playoffs and John Riggins’ breakaway touchdown run in Super Bowl XVII were special memories.
But a game from his rookie season explained why Grimm retired at just 31 following his third Super Bowl championship in 1992. He remembered dominating an unnamed aging star player and promised himself not to overstay his time. Sure enough, injuries mounted the last couple years, and Grimm retired to become a Redskins assistant coach despite admitting he could have played longer.
“Things started falling apart,” he said. “It was time for me to say, ‘Let’s move on to other things.'”
Other things should have led Grimm back to Washington in 2008 when the Redskins needed a head coach and instead chose Jim Zorn. Grimm would have been the perfect successor to his old coach Joe Gibbs.
Grimm no longer worries whether he one day will become a head coach. He nearly earned the Pittsburgh Steelers job in 2007. If it comes, it comes.
“I don’t worry about it,” he said. “I enjoy doing what I do.”
Even if the offer was from the coming Norfolk team of the UFL — where some NFL coaches have spent the past two years?
“If the price was right I’d be interested,” Grimm said half jokingly. “I grew up as blue collar as it comes. If I have enough money for a sandwich and cool beer after work I’m happy.”
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has ?covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com and Twitter @Snide_Remarks or e-mail [email protected].
