Lou Rymkus
Encyclopedia
Louis Joseph Rymkus was a football
player and coach in the National Football League
who was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
in 1988 and also served as the first head coach of the American Football League
's Houston Oilers
for 1960, winning the league's first championship, but being fired by Oilers owner Bud Adams
after a slow start in 1961.
, the son of a coal miner who also owned a small grocery store in the town. After his father was shot and killed outside the grocery store a few years later, Rymkus and his family moved to Chicago
. With family finances tight, he took a number of odd jobs, including working as a laborer, delivering newspapers and groceries. One of the homes on Rymkus' grocery route was the residence of future Chicago mayor, Richard J. Daley
.
, where he played under Frank Leahy
from 1940-1942. During his junior year, he earned All-America honors, and after his final season in which he won team Most Valuable Player accolades, was drafted by the National Football League
's Washington Redskins
. He played one season in the nation's capital before entering the war effort for the next two years.
When World War II
ended, Rymkus decided to cast his lot with the new Cleveland Browns
of the fledgling All-America Football Conference
. Under head coach Paul Brown
, Cleveland won all four AAFC championships, then captured the 1950 NFL title, with Rymkus' sound fundamental skills helping lead the way up front. During the summer of 1948, Rymkus served as an umpire in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
.
, Rymkus retired and accepted an assistant coaching position with Indiana University
. In 1953, he headed north to work under former Rams head coach Bob Snyder
with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League
. One year later, he returned to the NFL as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers
, spending four seasons in Wisconsin as offensive line coach. While there, he worked with future Hall of Famers Forrest Gregg
and Jim Ringo
.
On January 9, 1958, Rymkus accepted an assistant coaching position with the Rams, the move coming just days after fellow Packer assistant Ray McLean
was given the Packers' head coaching position. Rymkus worked under Sid Gillman
for two seasons, and was now being looked at as a potential head coach. The new American Football League
's Los Angeles Chargers
considered him, with Rymkus' former coach, Leahy, serving as the team's general manager. However, the Chargers selected Gillman instead, and Rymkus soon accepted the head coaching position of the Oilers.
His rapport with players was such that after Houston dismantled the Denver Broncos
in the team's first exhibition game on August 20, Rymkus was awarded the game ball. That chemistry would continue throughout the season, with Houston winning the first AFL championship on January 1, 1961 by defeating Gillman's Chargers. Rymkus was named AFL Coach of the Year, and to celebrate, ordered thousands of drinking glasses with his likeness on them and gave them to friends and acquaintances.
The celebratory mood continued into the next preseason, with team owner Bud Adams
sending the team for two weeks of training camp in Hawaii
. Upset by the distractions caused by the decision, Rymkus' criticisms became louder when the team got off to a slow start, which resulted in his dismissal on October 14. The Oilers soon regrouped under new head coach Wally Lemm to win their second consecutive title.
Rymkus found himself out of football for the first time in a quarter century, and accepted a regional public relations position with the Los Angeles-based Global Marine Exploration company on November 1. He did stay connected to the sport by serving as a Southwest Conference scout for the Chicago Bears
.
On December 26, 1964, he returned to coaching and the Oilers when former Redskin teammate Hugh Taylor
hired him as the team's offensive line coach. That tenure would only last one season, but Rymkus' popularity in Houston remained strong when over 250 people attended a testimonial for him on January 16, 1966. Three weeks later, he accepted a similar position with the Detroit Lions
.
When Harry Gilmer
was fired as Lions' head coach after the 1966 NFL season
, Rymkus was once again out of work, but resurfaced as head coach and general manager of the Akron Vulcans of the Continental Football League
. That position would only last one year, with Rymkus then taking a steep pay cut to serve as head coach of Many High School in Many, Louisiana
. The job, in rural west-central Louisiana, paid him only $9,200 a year to coach football, teach three history classes and run the school's summer recreation program. Rymkus was drawn by the tough conditions the players endured, with many of his athletes missing practice to work on family farms. Predictably, the team failed to win a game that season, but Rymkus stayed connected to the professional level as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs
.
under Don McCafferty
. However, after just three regular season games, he was replaced by George Young and transferred to the team's scouting department. Rymkus did receive a Super Bowl ring that year when the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys
in Super Bowl V
.
Rymkus later went on to a number of jobs outside of football, including selling cars in Houston, where he spent his remaining years. He died of a massive stroke
in a local hospice
.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player and coach in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
who was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in 1988 and also served as the first head coach of the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Houston Oilers
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
for 1960, winning the league's first championship, but being fired by Oilers owner Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...
after a slow start in 1961.
Early life
Rymkus was born in Royalton, IllinoisRoyalton, Illinois
Royalton is a village in Franklin County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,130 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Royalton is located at ....
, the son of a coal miner who also owned a small grocery store in the town. After his father was shot and killed outside the grocery store a few years later, Rymkus and his family moved to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. With family finances tight, he took a number of odd jobs, including working as a laborer, delivering newspapers and groceries. One of the homes on Rymkus' grocery route was the residence of future Chicago mayor, Richard J. Daley
Richard J. Daley
Richard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the mayor and undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
.
Player
In high school, Rymkus attended Tilden Tech (now known as Tilden High School) and began to display his football talent as a powerful lineman. His success led to a scholarship to the University of Notre DameUniversity of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...
, where he played under Frank Leahy
Frank Leahy
Francis William Leahy was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive...
from 1940-1942. During his junior year, he earned All-America honors, and after his final season in which he won team Most Valuable Player accolades, was drafted by the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
's Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. He played one season in the nation's capital before entering the war effort for the next two years.
When World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
ended, Rymkus decided to cast his lot with the new Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the fledgling All-America Football Conference
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations...
. Under head coach Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
, Cleveland won all four AAFC championships, then captured the 1950 NFL title, with Rymkus' sound fundamental skills helping lead the way up front. During the summer of 1948, Rymkus served as an umpire in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
All-American Girls Professional Baseball League
The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League was a women's professional baseball league founded by Philip K. Wrigley which existed from 1943 to 1954. During the league's history, over 600 women played ball.-History:...
.
Coach
After the Browns dropped the 1951 title game to the Los Angeles RamsSt. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
, Rymkus retired and accepted an assistant coaching position with Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
. In 1953, he headed north to work under former Rams head coach Bob Snyder
Bob Snyder
Bob Snyder was a football player and coach who spent more than three decades in the sport, including his most prominent position as head coach of the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams.-College career:...
with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
. One year later, he returned to the NFL as an assistant with the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
, spending four seasons in Wisconsin as offensive line coach. While there, he worked with future Hall of Famers Forrest Gregg
Forrest Gregg
Alvis Forrest Gregg is a former American football player and coach in the National Football League. During a Pro Football Hall of Fame playing career, he was a part of six championships, five of them with the Green Bay Packers before closing out his tenure with the Dallas Cowboys with a win in...
and Jim Ringo
Jim Ringo
James Stephen "Jim" Ringo was a professional American football player, a Hall of Fame center and coach. He was a ten time Pro Bowler during his career....
.
On January 9, 1958, Rymkus accepted an assistant coaching position with the Rams, the move coming just days after fellow Packer assistant Ray McLean
Ray McLean
Ray "Scooter" McLean was a football player and coach at both the collegiate and professional levels, but may be best remembered for preceding Vince Lombardi as head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1958....
was given the Packers' head coaching position. Rymkus worked under Sid Gillman
Sid Gillman
Sidney "Sid" Gillman was an American football player, coach, executive, and innovator. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in...
for two seasons, and was now being looked at as a potential head coach. The new American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Los Angeles Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
considered him, with Rymkus' former coach, Leahy, serving as the team's general manager. However, the Chargers selected Gillman instead, and Rymkus soon accepted the head coaching position of the Oilers.
His rapport with players was such that after Houston dismantled the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the team's first exhibition game on August 20, Rymkus was awarded the game ball. That chemistry would continue throughout the season, with Houston winning the first AFL championship on January 1, 1961 by defeating Gillman's Chargers. Rymkus was named AFL Coach of the Year, and to celebrate, ordered thousands of drinking glasses with his likeness on them and gave them to friends and acquaintances.
The celebratory mood continued into the next preseason, with team owner Bud Adams
Bud Adams
Kenneth Stanley "Bud" Adams, Jr. is the owner of the Tennessee Titans' National Football League franchise. He was instrumental in the founding and establishment of the former American Football League. Adams became a charter AFL owner with the establishment of the Titans franchise, which was...
sending the team for two weeks of training camp in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
. Upset by the distractions caused by the decision, Rymkus' criticisms became louder when the team got off to a slow start, which resulted in his dismissal on October 14. The Oilers soon regrouped under new head coach Wally Lemm to win their second consecutive title.
Rymkus found himself out of football for the first time in a quarter century, and accepted a regional public relations position with the Los Angeles-based Global Marine Exploration company on November 1. He did stay connected to the sport by serving as a Southwest Conference scout for the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
On December 26, 1964, he returned to coaching and the Oilers when former Redskin teammate Hugh Taylor
Hugh Taylor (American football)
-See also:*Other American Football League coaches, players, and contributors-External links:*...
hired him as the team's offensive line coach. That tenure would only last one season, but Rymkus' popularity in Houston remained strong when over 250 people attended a testimonial for him on January 16, 1966. Three weeks later, he accepted a similar position with the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
.
When Harry Gilmer
Harry Gilmer
Harry Vincent Gilmer, Jr. is a former American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993.-Early life:...
was fired as Lions' head coach after the 1966 NFL season
1966 NFL season
The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season of the National Football League, and the season after which was played Super Bowl I, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons, thus an odd number of teams...
, Rymkus was once again out of work, but resurfaced as head coach and general manager of the Akron Vulcans of the Continental Football League
Continental Football League
The Continental Football League was a professional minor American football league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to become the major force in professional football outside of the...
. That position would only last one year, with Rymkus then taking a steep pay cut to serve as head coach of Many High School in Many, Louisiana
Many, Louisiana
Many is a town in and the parish seat of Sabine Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,889 at the 2000 census. The town was named for John B. Many, the commander of nearby Fort Jesup.-History:...
. The job, in rural west-central Louisiana, paid him only $9,200 a year to coach football, teach three history classes and run the school's summer recreation program. Rymkus was drawn by the tough conditions the players endured, with many of his athletes missing practice to work on family farms. Predictably, the team failed to win a game that season, but Rymkus stayed connected to the professional level as a scout with the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
.
After football
In 1969, he was out of coaching, serving as a sales representative for a Chicago trucking company, but returned to the NFL in 1970 as an assistant coach for the Baltimore ColtsIndianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
under Don McCafferty
Don McCafferty
Donald William McCafferty was an American football coach who, in his first year as head coach of the Baltimore Colts, led the team to a victory in Super Bowl V....
. However, after just three regular season games, he was replaced by George Young and transferred to the team's scouting department. Rymkus did receive a Super Bowl ring that year when the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
in Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1970 regular season...
.
Rymkus later went on to a number of jobs outside of football, including selling cars in Houston, where he spent his remaining years. He died of a massive stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in a local hospice
Hospice
Hospice is a type of care and a philosophy of care which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms.In the United States and Canada:*Gentiva Health Services, national provider of hospice and home health services...
.