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Is retirement contagious?
by Joe Fagella
Exchange Staff
A little less than three weeks ago, long-time Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, called it a career after 15 years at the helm in the Steel City. Now fast forward to earlier this week, and after just four years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, Bill Parcells announced that he is hanging up the headset and clipboard for the third and final time.
After 15 seasons parading the sidelines for his hometown team, Cowher (AKA "The Jaw," for his seemingly ultra-defined jaw bone) explained in his press conference that he prefers the word "resign" because retire makes him sound too old, and at 49 he is still quite young for a football coach. He didn't deny that he might return to coaching somewhere down the road, but as for now he just wants to focus on his family --- who are very close to his heart and who he feels had to endure a lot through the years. "There comes a time in your life --- I'm healthy and happy, and I've been fortunate --- you've got to prioritize things. My family has made a lot of sacrifices for me, and I'm looking forward to being there for them. It's the right time."
As for "The Big Tuna," Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells, he retired for the first time shortly after leading the New York Giants to victory in Super Bowl XXV due to health problems. In 1999, he retired from football for the second time, vowing that he would not coach again. Apparently he didn’t get it all out of his system though, because in 2003 he again came out of retirement and took over in "Big D" for Jerry Jones who was looking for a savior to take his team back to the "promised land" --- the Super Bowl. He did get the 'Boys to the playoffs in both his first season and this past one, but they were bounced in the first round both times. So the Cowboys remain winless in the postseason since 1996.
And then came the hat trick earlier this week when he announced that this time he is calling it a career…for real this time. At 65, he too wants to just relax and spend time with his family…and at the racetrack. "I am in good health and feel lucky to have been able to coach in the NFL for an extended period of time," he said in his press conference. "I will never leave this game with anything but good feelings about it," he added during a January 3rd conference call. "It's been a great experience for me, and it's also been a lot of fun. I've met a lot of good people: players, coaches, owners, personnel guys, guys that I like."
One thing is for sure, I hope
this retirement thing doesn't get too contagious, because it's going to be
very strange looking on the Pittsburgh and Dallas sidelines next season and
not see "The Jaw" or "The Big Tuna" cursing their players out.
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