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In his retirement he found contentment in a vastly different line of work that he believes was even more challenging than chasing down quarterbacks for a living.
”It was more difficult being a teacher [url=http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-will-hernandez-jersey]http://www.giantsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-will-hernandez-jersey[/url] ,” he said. ”I was a middle school special ed teacher and it was a challenge every day to find out something to build the trust, the love and the care for these kids.”
Though he loved football and enjoyed his time in the NFL, the 65-year-old Brazile admits working with children was more fulfilling.
”If I had to choose it all over again, I would love being a teacher more than a football player,” he said.
Though he turned in his Dr. Doom persona decades ago for the role of Mr. Brazile, he’ll revisit the success of his first career on Saturday when he’ll be one of eight men inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Brazile was drafted sixth overall in 1975 out of Jackson State, two picks behind teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Walter Payton, and was voted Defensive Rookie of the Year. He was the anchor of the 3-4 defensive scheme which coach Bum Phillips used and was a Pro Bowl selection in seven straight seasons from 1976-1982. He also earned a spot on the NFL’s All-Decade team of the 1970s.
The 6-foot-4, 241-pound Brazile was one of the first players to rush quarterbacks from the outside linebacker position. Many, including Phillips, believe his work paved the way for the success of other stars at the position such as Lawrence Taylor, who was drafted six seasons after Brazile.
Phillips, who died in 2013, was fond of saying that Brazile was ”Lawrence Taylor before Lawrence Taylor.”
”Robert was the forerunner of the Lawrence Taylor era,” Phillips said in a radio interview before his death. ”They remember Lawrence Taylor, but Robert was a guy that proved that you could do that in the NFL. Everybody said `You can’t run a college defense in pro ball.’ But you can [url=http://www.officialmapleleafsproshop.com/authentic-adidas-john-tavares-jersey]Authentic John Tavares Jersey[/url] , and we did.”
With running back Earl Campbell and quarterback Dan Pastorini leading the offense, Brazile headlined a defense that helped the Oilers to some of their most successful seasons. Houston reached the AFC championship game in consecutive seasons in 1978-79 before falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers both times.
Brazile fondly remembers the throngs of `Luv Ya Blue’ fans, with most decked out in the team’s signature powder blue duds, waiting to welcome the team home after those difficult losses. It’s estimated that more than 55,000 fans filled the Astrodome for ”homecoming rallies” after both defeats.
”There are days and times now where I sit in the corner and just think about all the great memories about (those games) and the great turnout of people that supported us,” he said. ”I’ve just always wondered if we would have won … against Pittsburgh, how many people would have been in the Astrodome.”
Brazile’s early years with the Oilers were made special by the presence of Phillips, the cowboy-hat-wearing, folksy-talking Texan, who was fired after the team lost in the wild-card round in 1980.
”Bum was such an organizer of men,” Brazile said. ”He treated us like his boys, but he also treated us like a man. We could go to Bum with any problem, anything that we had on our mind. We trusted in him and he trusted in us, and that’s what made us so unique, that Luv Ya Blue group.”
Brazile spent his entire career with the Oilers, retiring after the 1984 season when he was 31. He is credited with 11 career sacks [url=http://www.authenticsphiladelphiaeagles.com/cheap-markus-wheaton-jersey]Markus Wheaton Jersey Elite[/url] , but certainly had many more; sacks didn’t become an official statistic until 1982.
Brazile is a senior selection into the Hall of Fame, which honors those whose careers ended at least 25 years ago. After waiting so long to get the nod, Brazile can hardly wait for Saturday’s induction.
”I’ve got a grand speech for the Hall of Fame that I hope everyone enjoys,” he said, ”and I’m going to embrace it all.”
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The NHL’s return to Winnipeg has been an instant success in the seats, with regular sellouts since the Jets arrived in 2011 for a second landing in the smallest market in the league.
Progress on the ice has been measurably slower, with just one appearance in the playoffs in the first six years in wintry Manitoba after a struggling franchise moved north from Atlanta, but the patience of general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has been rewarded and then some this season.
Sporting the second-best record in the NHL, the Jets have carried the momentum of 11 wins in their last 12 games into their first-round series against Minnesota.
They boast one of the game’s coveted prodigies in 19-year-old Patrik Laine and his 44 goals. They have a balanced roster that ranked second in the league in scoring and fifth in fewest goals against. They face the Wild on Wednesday night at home, where they’re an NHL-best 32-7-2 this season.
”Enjoy it, right?” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. ”We work real hard to get to a place where there’s mounting pressure and mounting enthusiasm, and then we want to keep working to get to more and more and more. So you have to be a part of it. You have to enjoy it for sure.”
Their time to take a big step forward to join the league’s elite has arrived. They even, considering their seed, represent the best hope to bring the Stanley Cup back to Canada for the first time since 1993.
Toronto is the only other team that made the playoffs this year, and the Maple Leafs must start the first round on the road against the Boston Bruins.
”You don’t know how many times you’re going to come across this opportunity,” goalie Connor Hellebuyck said [url=http://www.sanjosesharksteamshop.com/authentic-joe-thornton-jersey]Authentic Joe Thornton Jersey[/url] , ”and especially now with the great team like we have here. I’m really excited to see what these guys bring.”
With another series of ”Whiteout ” events planned for Bell MTS Place, with fans encouraged to wear white team gear to the arena and surrounding parties, the city has been buzzing all week even as winter again overstays its welcome.
”I’m very excited. I can start feeling my body getting those butterflies,” Hellebuyck said.
The knock against the Jets is the collective lack of postseason experience, with a four-game sweep by the Anaheim Ducks in 2015 serving as the only action in the playoffs for some of these players. Laine hadn’t even been drafted yet.
That’s where the Wild have a clear advantage, with this their sixth straight appearance in the 16-team tournament.
Though they were overshadowed in the Western Conference this season by the Jets, the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators and the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, the Wild posted the third-best record in franchise history. Center Eric Staal had 42 goals, his most in 12 years. Jason Zucker scored a career-high 33 goals. Their defensemen ranked second in the league with 200 points.
”You really got to go through it to know what it’s about,” left wing Zach Parise said, adding: ”I know they’ve been short-lived the last couple years, but you hope with just being there that will help us.”
Here are some other key angles to follow with the series:
PALS IN PADS
Hellebuyck and Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk met last summer in British Columbia during training sessions and rounds of golf that forged a friendship, with Dubnyk encouraging Hellebuyck to keep his head up after the Jets signed Steve Mason to an $8.2 million contract.
Sure enough, Mason stumbled early and Hellebuyck supplanted him as the primary netminder to tie for the NHL lead with 44 wins and finish eighth in goals-against average.
”It’s been fun to watch but that’s enough now,” Dubnyk said. ”It’s been a great year for him, but I’ll stop cheering for him now.”
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One of the Wild’s greatest assets for this matchup will be absent, with a season-ending broken ankle for stalwart Ryan Suter, who tied a franchise defenseman record with 51 points in 78 games.
The upside is that Jared Spurgeon, who missed the last 17 games with a torn hamstring, is on track to return. He practiced with one of the two power-play units on Tuesday, and coach Bruce Boudreau said he’d make a game-time decision about Spurgeon’s availability on Wednesday.
WHEELS UP
Jets captain Blake Wheeler tied for the NHL lead with 68 assists this season and finished ninth with 91 points, fueling a potent first line with Kyle Connor and Mark Schiefele to take some of the scoring pressure off Laine.
Wheeler played at Breck High School in the Twin Cities area and in college for Minnesota before turning pro. He has never missed more than three games in any regular season since his debut with Boston in 2008-09.
CULLEN’S CUPS
Wild center Matt Cullen contributed a modest 11 goals and 11 assists from the fourth line, but the 41-year-old’s contribution transcends points. He’s played in 123 postseason games, winning three Stanley Cups including the past two with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
”This is why we got him, his experience in positions like we’re in right now,” Boudreau said. ”So we’re hoping he’s going to be valuable.”
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