NFL Legend Chose to Enter Hall of Fame as a Philadelphia Eagle Despite History With St. Louis Rams and Kansas City Chiefs: “I Live And Deeply Identify With The Community”

Legendary NFL head coach Dick Vermeil is credited with flipping the fortunes of three franchises throughout his legendary career. However, when it was time for his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Vermeil was asked to make his No.1 team choice. While it might have appeared a difficult choice, the HC only had one team and city on his mind.

While talking with NBC10 sports anchor John Clark about his Hall of Fame induction, Vermeil states, “I’m going in as an Eagle. They ask you to select which team you are going in as No.1. Yes, I coached the Chiefs, and yes, I coached the Rams, but Philadelphia is my home team. It’s where I live and deeply identify with the community.”

Despite winning the 1999 Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams and winning the AFC West title with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2003, the ‘City of Brotherly Love’ was his choice.

The former Eagles head coach earned his stripes during his 6-year tenure in Philadelphia and ended their 9-year absence from the NFL playoffs in 1978. As a versatile communicator and motivator in a career that spanned nearly four decades, Vermeil took a then-bumbling Eagles franchise and led them to play in the Super Bowl in 1980.

Dick Vermeil set standards for the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL

The highest individual award in the NFL is the result of Vermeil earning a reputation after entering the league following a 2-year head coaching stint with UCLA. Philadelphia was struggling before his arrival and didn’t manage an above .500 record between 1967 and 1976. While gaining a reputation for being a harsh taskmaster early on with an emphasis on hard work, Vermeil was working towards instilling accountability in the Eagles dressing room.

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A player’s coach till 1982, Vermeil took a sabbatical to work as a broadcaster for 15 years before returning in 1997 to the St. Louis Rams. It took him 3 seasons, but he made the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ Rams roster, a legitimate Super Bowl team.

In 1999, the wait finally was over for Vermeil as his Rams team. They beat the Tennessee Titans to clinch his only Super Bowl title.

While he retired again for a year before returning to the Chiefs, his heart always remained in Philadelphia. It seems to be the perfect end to his Hall of Fame career that NFL fans will get an opportunity to honor again in August.

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