Cleaning out the Inbox: Football Passings Plus One

  There have been many passings of late, far too many, and there have been enough that I can do a post for passings for football, baseball, and basketball.

Each will also have a tribute to someone from sports that is not famous for any of the big four team sports as well...

Goodbye to Jim Hanifan at the age of 87.

Hanifan was the head coach of the then-St.Louis Cardinals for six seasons from 1980-85 and caught a few unlucky breaks with a team that was talented enough to perhaps become a perennial contender.

Had a few things bounced Hanifan and his Cardinals way, the Cardinals may be in St.Louis today.

Hanifan led the Cardinals to their only playoff spot in the 1980s 1981 strike-caused Super Bowl Tournament, and in their 1984 season finale' the Cardinals entered Washington with an all or nothing scenario- defeat the Redskins and the Cardinals win the division.

Lose to Washington and the Cardinals don't make the playoffs at all.

The Cardinals and Redskins traded shots all game and with the score 29-27 Washington, the Cardinals drove down the field without any timeouts behind quarterback Neil Lomax.

St.Louis reached the 38 and Lomax threw a pass to Danny Pittman for six yards but Pittman was tackled inbounds.

The Cardinals frantically tried to have kicker Neil O'Donoghue rush onto the field for a game-winning 49 yard field attempt, but a low snap and the rushed kicker resulted in the kick going wide.

The Cardinals finished 5-11 the following year and Hanifan was fired, never to receive another chance as a head coach other than as interim coach in Atlanta.

Hanifan spent the rest of his career as a highly touted offensive line coach including coaching Washington's "Hogs" under Joe Gibbs when Joe Bugel left to be the head coach of, you guessed it, the Cardinals.

Goodbye to Jake Scott at the age of  75.

Scott spent most of his career with the Miami Dolphins before finishing with the George Allen "Over the Hill Gang" in Washington.

Scott won the MVP for Miami in Super Bowl VII as Scott finished with two interceptions against Washington and Scott's interception of Billy Kilmer in the end zone in the fourth quarter snuffed out the best drive of the game for Washington.

Scott finished his career with 49 interceptions, 35 of those with Miami, and Scott is the Dolphins' all-time leader to this day.
Scott made five Pro Bowls and was first or second-team All-Pro on five occasions.

Goodbye to Fred Akers at the age of 82.

Akers, who spent his most successful seasons as the head coach at Texas, had the unenviable task of following Darrell Royal as the head coach of the Longhorns, but twice finished with undefeated regular seasons only to lose in the Cotton Bowl.

Akers spent one year at Wyoming, winning the then-WAC, and was hired at Texas and behind Earl Campbell and his Heisman-winning season in 1977, the Longhorns only had to defeat Notre Dame in the Cotton Bowl to win the National Championship, but were thrashed by Notre Dame 38-10.

Akers had another chance to win the national title in 1983 when the undefeated Longhorns were rated second and had they defeated Georgia, they would have won the title when number one Nebraska was upset in the Orange Bowl that night to Miami.

Texas lost 10-9 when a fumbled punt led to Georgia's only touchdown.

Akers was fired after a 5-6 season in 1986 and was immediately hired at Purdue, but lasted only four unsuccessful seasons in West Lafayette.

Goodbye to Jack Scarbath at the age of 90.

The 1952 Heisman Trophy runner-up to Oklahoma's Billy Vessels, Scarbath led Maryland to an upset win over Tennessee in the 1951 Sugar Bowl and was the All-American first team quarterback for 1952.

Scarbath is thought of  by many as the greatest quarterback in the history of the Terrapin program and was drafted third overall in 1953 by the Washington Redskins.

Scarbath would play two seasons for Washington, before one season in Canada with Ottawa and a final pro season with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Goodbye to Ray Perkins at the age of 79.

Perkins, who played five seasons in the NFL as a Baltimore Colts wide receiver, is better remembered as a head coach, where he took the New York Giants to the playoffs in 1981 to break a playoff drought of seventeen seasons and drafted Lawrence Taylor before that season.

Perkins left the Giants after the following season and was replaced by a coach that he hired as his defensive coordinator- Bill Parcells.

Perkins left the NFL to replace Bear Bryant at his alma mater Alabama and finished 32-15-1 in a four-year run with the Crimson Tide before leaving again to coach in the NFL with Tampa Bay four losing seasons.

Perkins took the head job at Arkansas State for 1992 before leaving after one year to work as the offensive coordinator under Parcells with the Patriots for four seasons.

Goodbye to Peter Alliss at the age of 89.

Alliss was a longtime announcer for the BBC's golf coverage, Alliss also worked for ABC and ESPN's golf coverage, most notably on coverage of the British Open.

Alliss was also a fine player on the European level, winning twenty tournaments that include three wins in the British PGA championship and played on the winning Ryder Cup team in 1957...