Joe Theismann shares what he remembers about Don Shula

NFL: Indianapolis Colts at Washington Redskins

NFL players both past and present have been paying tribute to the winningest coach in league history this week, with former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann being the most recent to do exactly that.

Legendary head coach Don Shula passed away at the age of 90 on Monday, leaving behind quite a legacy. Theismann and his Redskins team was actually able to defeat Don Shula’s Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII, so the former quarterback knows the NFL legend well.

That’s not the only connection, either. Many forget it was Shula’s Dolphins that drafted Theismann in 1971, with the 99th overall pick. Theismann spoke about that time period, as well as Shula.

“I was surprised it was a fourth-round pick by the Miami Dolphins,” he told Julie Donaldson NBC Sports Washington. “Actually, it was their third pick in the draft because they had to give up their number one to Baltimore when Coach Shula left there to go to the Miami Dolphins and I went and tried to negotiate the contract myself. First mistake I made, business mistake, and [Joe] Robbie was the owner, Joe Thomas was their general manager. [Thomas] was having heart surgery so I negotiated with Mr. Robbie. I remember sitting in the office, sat down, he said ‘what do you want the numbers?'”

Theismann was also drafted by the Toronto Argonauts, though, and due to some issues about how the Dolphins would pay his bonus, he ended up playing in the CFL instead. He clearly wishes he had played for Shula, though, which he himself said.

“I really would have loved to, I think, played for Coach Shula, he was kind of coach I could appreciate, he was tough, he was stern,” he said. “Everybody I’ve talked to that has played for him, he was a tough coach to play for, but he did things the way he wanted to do it. People say the same thing about Bill Belichick today, he’s a tough coach, he has demands, he demands things of you, if you can’t do em, you won’t be there. I think Coach Shula was pretty much that way as well.”

It’s interesting to think about the magic Theismann and Shula could’ve created together.

 

Arrow to top