Remembering Chip Myers
Posted: Wednesday February 24, 1999 02:17 PM
Chip Myers, offensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings, died in his sleep Monday night after coming home from the NFL combine.
He was not a well-known coach, and life in the NFL will go on, but it really won't be the same for the people who knew him. Whether they were coaches, players, fans, coaches' children or his friends, everyone who knew Chip respected him.
He was my good friend and he was a gentleman. I had the privilege of coaching with him for
four years, and he was a patient teacher who developed young receivers and prided himself in always being a "team guy."
A man of his word, he put a premium on loyalty. Back in 1994 after he left the Jets, the only job he was able to find was as a volunteer quality-control coach for the Saints. Soon after he accepted the lowly position, the Vikings offered him a well-paying position as their receivers coach, but he turned it down because
he gave his word that he would stay a year.
Of course, Dennis Green came calling the next year and Chip did go to Minnesota. I was so impressed with his values and his quiet confidence in his ability. It meant more to him to
demonstrate his values by staying in New Orleans than to be paid well and perceived as jumping ship.
Chip was more than qualified to be a coordinator but he always thought his actions spoke for themselves, and while others politicked for promotions, Chip just did his job. He always felt he could reach any player no matter how many
problems the guy had, and there are a number of very successful NFL players who owe a debt of gratitude to Chip Myers.
When he had free time, he loved to fish, and if you were ever as lucky as I was to go with him -- or if you were a player who needed to relieve some of the pressures of the game -- being out on his boat always accomplished two things. You had a bag of fish at the end of the day, and you got some old-fashioned country wisdom about appreciating the little things of life.
Chip Myers was a little known NFL assistant coach who finally got his chance to run an offense when Dennis Green promoted him to offensive coordinator a little over a month ago. He never wanted to be a head coach, but he sure did want to show the NFL what he could do for an offense, and he got it the way he thought everyone should get a job -- without tooting his own horn. The best part of his professional triumph was that he was promoted, not at a press
conference, but while down at the Senior Bowl on a night he was with all his coaching friends. I'm proud to say I was there.
To his wife Suzie and to his wonderful children, our prayers are with you, and for all those who knew Chip, we'll miss him, and the game of football will miss him, too.
Pat Kirwan, who spent 12 years in the NFL as a coach and scout, is an NFL analyst for CNN/SI.
| 
