National Football League quarterback and coach Sam Wyche has passed away.
Samuel David (Sam) Wyche
January 5, 1945 – January 2, 2020
Cincinnati Enquirer photo tribute.
From the Cincinnati Enquirer of two years ago:
…Wyche had been working on developing the no-huddle offense, which revolutionized the NFL and gave the Bengals an offensive edge over nearly every opponent.
“What that did was make it difficult, even impossible, for the opponent to substitute and matchup. So we suddenly had this big advantage,” Bengals owner and president Mike Brown said. “And he knew how to use it. They could not come up with an answer to it, so the coaches all got together and they literally put through a rule change that required time for the defense to match up.”
It was a unique concept that seemed like it could be born only from a unique mind.
Which gets us to our part of the universe.
For a year and a half, from September 7, 1998 – February 5, 2000 (two NFL football seasons), Sam partnered with J.D. Crowe and created the No Huddle comic strip. Not the first time a sports celebrity has lent his name to a comic strip, but one of very few times where the “Big Name” contributed.
Word is that Sam had quite a sense of humor and, more than just lend his name to the strip for publicity and a percentage, he actively contributed to creating and producing the strip.
