Forrest Gregg
| |
|
|
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Alvis Forrest Gregg (born October 18, 1933, in Birthright, Texas) is a former American Football player and coach. 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 Super Bowl ring in 1971. He went on to serve as head coach of three teams: the Cleveland Browns, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Green Bay Packers.
[edit] College Years
Gregg attended Southern Methodist University and was a letterman in football.
[edit] 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.
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.
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 two ties. He also won and lost two playoff games.
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 their football program after two years of no competition due to the "death penalty" imposed by the NCAA in 1986. 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.
[edit] Scouting Report
[edit] Statistics
[edit] Kick Return Stats
| year | team | league | games | RET | YDS | AVG | LNG | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | GNB | NFL | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1958 | GNB | NFL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1959 | GNB | NFL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1960 | GNB | NFL | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1961 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1962 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1963 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1964 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1965 | GNB | NFL | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1966 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1967 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1968 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1969 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1970 | GNB | NFL | 14 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 16 | 0 |
| 1971 | DAL | NFL | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 year NFL career | 192 | 2 | 21 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | ||



