This man was before my time but he had an interesting story.




During the famed upset in Super Bowl III, Jets cornerback Johnny Sample intercepted a pass, stopping a Baltimore Colts drive 2 yards from the end zone. Then he tapped the ball on the helmet of the intended receiver and said, “Is this what you’re looking for?”

Later, Sample tackled the same receiver, Willie Richardson, and was confronted by Baltimore Coach Don Shula, who complained that Sample had pushed Richardson over the Colts’ bench. The two men stood jawing and Sample told Shula, “I wish I had pushed you over the bench.”

Before he died, Sample hosted a talk-radio program in Philadelphia, which seemed appropriate, given his outspokenness as a player. He decried racial injustice in an era when there were relatively few black players and when those who spoke candidly risked being labeled militants and troublemakers. He confronted team owners about perceived inequities in pay, verbally sparred with coaches and, of course, engaged opposing receivers in a disruptive dialogue.

“He was talking all the time,” said Buddy Ryan, Rex’s father, who was a Jets assistant that Super Bowl season and built a coaching career on fierce defenses and incessant trash talking. “And he was a real student of the game. In the Super Bowl, the Colts didn’t throw to his side much. They must have respected him quite a bit.” ...

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