Forrest Gregg

Infobox NFLretired


|width=
caption=
position=OT / Head Coach
number=75
birthdate=birth date and age|1933|10|18
Birthright, Texas
deathdate=
debutyear=1956
finalyear=1971
draftyear=1956
draftround=2
draftpick=20
college=Southern Methodist
teams=As Player
* Green Bay Packers (1956-1970)
* Dallas Cowboys (1971)As Coach
* Cleveland Browns (1975-1977)
* Toronto Argonauts (1979)
* Cincinnati Bengals (1980-1983)
* Green Bay Packers (1984-1987)
* SMU Mustangs (1989-1990)
* Shreveport Pirates (1994-1995)
stat1label=Games played
stat1value=193
stat2label=Fumble Recoveries
stat2value=8
stat3label=NFL Coaching Record
stat3value=75-85-1
nfl=GRE687312
highlights=
* 9x Pro Bowl selection (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1968)
* 9x All-Pro selection (1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967)
* NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
* NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
HOF=81

Alvis Forrest Gregg (born October 18, 1933 in Birthright, Texas) is a former American football player and coach in the NFL. 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 Super Bowl VI. He went on to serve as head coach of three teams: the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers.

College years

Gregg played college football at Southern Methodist University.

Professional career

Despite his small size (6-4, 249 pounds) for an offensive lineman, Gregg was a key player on the Packers dynasty that won five NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls in the 1960s. Gregg earned an "iron-man" tag by playing in a then-league record 188 consecutive games from 1956 until 1971. He also won All-NFL acclaim eight straight years from 1960 through 1967 and was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls.

Gregg closed his career with the Dallas Cowboys, as did his Packer teammate, cornerback Herb Adderley. They both helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl VI, making them the only players (along with former teammate Fred Thurston, who was on the Baltimore Colts world championship team in 1958) in pro football history to play on six teams that won World Championships.

Vince Lombardi, the famed head coach of the Packers in the 1960s, claimed "Forrest Gregg is the finest player I ever coached!" in his book "Run to Daylight". In 1999, he was ranked number 28 on "The Sporting News"' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, ranking him second behind Ray Nitschke among players coached by Lombardi, second behind Anthony Munoz (who he coached) among offensive tackles, and third behind Munoz and John Hannah among all offensive linemen.

Coaching career

After serving as an assistant with the San Diego Chargers in 1973, he took a similar position the following year with the Browns. After head coach Nick Skorich was dismissed at the conclusion of the 1974 NFL season, Gregg took over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, a position he held until 1977.

After sitting out the 1978 season, Gregg returned to coaching in 1979 with the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts. In 1980 he became the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals and remained until 1983. Gregg's most successful season as a head coach was in 1981, when he coached the Bengals to a 12-4 regular season record and they went on to defeat the San Diego Chargers 27-7 in the AFC championship game (known as the Freezer Bowl), earning them a trip to the Super Bowl. They lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVI 26-21.

He finished his NFL coaching career with his old team, the Packers, from 1984-1987. Gregg's overall record as an NFL coach was 75 wins, 85 losses, and one tie. He also won two and lost two playoff games. [http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/GregFo0.htm]

After coaching in the NFL, Gregg went on to coach for two years at Southern Methodist University, his alma mater, during the 1989 and 1990 seasons. He was brought in to revive the Mustang football program after it received the "death penalty" from the NCAA for an eye-popping litany of wrongdoing. Although the NCAA had only canceled the 1987 season, school officials later opted to cancel the 1988 season as well due to concerns it wouldn't be able to field a competitive team. [Frank, Peter. "'88 football season canceled by SMU." New York Times, 1987-04-11.] As it turned out, when Gregg arrived, he was presented with an undersized and underweight roster comprised mostly of freshmen; Gregg was taller and heavier than nearly the entire team. By nearly all accounts, it would have been unthinkable for the Mustangs to attempt to play the 1988 season under such conditions. Gregg's coaching record at SMU was 3 wins and 19 losses. He served as Athletic Director at SMU from 1990-1994.

He returned to the CFL with the Shreveport Pirates in 1994-95, during that league's brief attempt at expansion to the United States. Gregg's overall record as a CFL coach was 13 wins and 39 losses.

When former Shreveport Pirate owner Bernard Glieberman bought a stake in the Ottawa Renegades in May 2005, Gregg was appointed as Vice President of Football Operations.

References

External links

*"Pro Football Hall of Fame:" [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=81 Member profile]
* [http://www.footballcardgallery.com/player/Forrest+Gregg/ Football cards of Forrest Gregg]

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