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by **perlick29** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 6:14 pm

The former defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles passed away to day at age 68. I know it's football not baseball, but this was an extremely important man in the game's history not to mention Philly history. Certainly being a fan of the Giants he's one of those guys I rooted against but I had a lot of respect for him as a coach. Then while working in Philly myself I had the privilege to work with and interview him on a number of occasions. He was one of the most sincere and genuinely nice people I'd met. He was also a genius, explaining a couple of football ideas that I couldn't grasp because they were so detailed.

Safe passages, Mr. Johnson. Thanks for the memories.

by **jlm53089** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 6:16 pm

Not an Eagle fan but he was an awesome coach.
With his awesome Blitz packages and always solid Eagles Defense.

Its pathetic that all that is on ESPN is that Brett Farve is staying retired, no mention of this yet, except on the bottom line. :-t

RIP JJ

by **daullaz** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 8:40 pm

RIP. One of the best coordinators ever. :~(

I hope the Eagles dedicate this season to him.

by **Inukchuk** » Tue Jul 28, 2009 9:07 pm

Wow. Another Giants fan here, and he gave me fits, which means he did a phenomenal job as a DC. I was unaware his cancer had progressed to that point. That is, I assume, how he passed?

RIP to a marvelous coach and a classy guy.

by **jfg** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:28 am

I always wondered why this guy never got a shot at head coach. Personal choice?

by **Snakes Gould** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:04 am

jfg wrote:I always wondered why this guy never got a shot at head coach. Personal choice?

for the most part it was, but at the same time, a lot of teams shied away from him because he was already in his 60's.

im very sad today as a birds fan and theres not really much i can say. rip jim johnson.

by **Inukchuk** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:52 am

Snakes Gould wrote:
jfg wrote:I always wondered why this guy never got a shot at head coach. Personal choice?

for the most part it was, but at the same time, a lot of teams shied away from him because he was already in his 60's.

im very sad today as a birds fan and theres not really much i can say. rip jim johnson.

Yeah, you were the first person I thought of here. I thought it was a real testament to his love for the game that he was still coaching minicamps in May from a motorized scooter.

I echo the sentiments of the poster that was upset this story was buried under the avalanche of Favre/Vick crap... :-t

by **Rubidium** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:58 pm

Inukchuk wrote:Wow. Another Giants fan here, and he gave me fits, which means he did a phenomenal job as a DC. I was unaware his cancer had progressed to that point. That is, I assume, how he passed?

RIP to a marvelous coach and a classy guy.

I had a feeling it was worse than originally stated once they officially promoted McDermott to DC, but the media kept it under wraps that it was life-threatening already. Pretty amazing that he was able to coach through most of last year, especially in the playoffs when he was clearly struggling but still made it out to the games to coach from the booth.

And yes, he died of melanoma.

One of my favorite football guys ever. RIP. :,-(