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The announced it on WLW Radio in Cincy all day. They have his pic (large) on the wall at Paul Brown Stadium.

Coy Bacon: with a playoff berth at stake against Roger Staubach and the Cowboys, the Redskins defensive end literally had victory in his grasp—but it slipped away
Football Digest, Jan, 2004 by Chuck O'Donnell
E-mail Print Link I PLAYED IN THE NFL FOR 14 YEARS (1968-81), with four different teams: the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Washington Redskins. I played until I was 39 years old and saw a lot of players and teams and coaching styles come and go. I saw the NFL-AFL merger and the start of "Monday Night Football" and the outlawing of the headslap and all kinds of other things. Yes, I was around for a long time.

But do you know how many times I made it to the playoffs? Once. One time, that's it--in 1969 with the Rams.

I would say that 1979 was my last and best hope to get there again. I was playing for the Redskins after being traded to Washington from the Bengals in 1978. I really enjoyed my time with the Redskins; I liked coach Jack Pardee. The team did everything first class, and I loved the city and its people.

The team was just coming together at that point. It had gone through a lot of hard times, but we had brought in some real good players, and we had a tough, tough defense: Lemar Parrish, Ken Houston, Joe Lavender, Diron Talbert, Dave Butz, to name some.

Pardee joined the team in 1978. A lot of people were hopeful that he could turn the team around within a few years, but he had us playing great right from the start. In his first season, we surprised a lot of people by going 8-8. The 1979 season was even more promising. Here we were, starting off the year with victory after victory after victory; we won six of our first eight games. We were playing so well, in fact, that some people thought we may even reach the Super Bowl.

Then people got a little discouraged because we lost a few games. I was saying, "Whoa! Hold on a minute." We were still in the playoff mix right up fill the final week of the season.

That final week, we were in Dallas for a big game against our big rival, the Cowboys. The winner would go to the playoffs. Such a scenario lifts a player to a higher level.

We got off to a quick start, taking a 17-0 lead in the first half. That game was kind of like a mirror image of our season: We did really well early on, then we slipped back down and let Dallas take the lead. But we came on strong again and were leading, 34-21, with 0nly about four minutes left in the game.

The Cowboys, however, received a big break: Running back Clarence Harmon fumbled, and the Cowboys recovered near midfield. That's all Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach needed. He was always leading that team to last-second wins and Hail Mary touchdowns and that sort of thing. That's all Staubach ever did--he was some sort of miracle worker. Sure enough, the Cowboys moved the ball and scored a touchdown on a 26-yard pass from Staubach to Ron Springs. Bang--just like that, the score was 34-28.

And Staubach wasn't done. The Cowboys got the ball back, and Staubach drove downfield, throwing to this guy and to that guy. He had all kinds of big-play guys to throw to: Drew Pearson, Preston Pearson, Tony Dorsett, Tony Hill.

Now, this is why it is the game I'll never forget: With less than a minute to go, Staubach dropped back. We finally got some pressure on him; I had him lined up for a sack. I came charging in, and I had him all to myself. "This is going to be a sack," I thought. We really needed one to stop their momentum.

But then he ducked, and I went flying by and down to the ground. I flipped onto my feet and went back at him; I had him right in front of me again. This was going to be it--right there.

But he ducked again. And once more, I went right over the top of him and ran by him. I fell, flipped back up, and went at him again. To my surprise, he still had the ball; I had another clear shot at him. I figured, "There's no way I'm going to let him get away this time. Not this time." So I came charging in, and guess what he did? Yep, that's right--he ducked again. I missed Staubach a third time--I couldn't believe it.

He turned around and threw an eight-yard, game-winning touchdown pass to Tony Hill. I was sitting there on the field in disbelief while the Cowboys all celebrated. I didn't have the words to express how I felt. I was mad at myself and stunned that the Cowboys had taken the lead.

I played two more seasons in Washington, but we never did reach the playoffs. I played on a lot of good teams during my time. I played on teams that went 11-5 and didn't make the playoffs. I wish the NFL had the wild card back then; I would have been in the playoffs a lot more often. But as it was, I made just that one appearance with the Rams. For me to get as close as I did in 1979

and come up short--and to have Staubach fight there in front of me, only to miss him--was a huge disappointment. I still have nightmares about that play.

Overall, though, I enjoyed my career. I wouldn't trade it for anything--I wouldn't have done anything different. But if only I had made that sack on Staubach ...

--As told to Chuck O'Donnell

Coy Bacon, a standout defensive lineman for the then-Los Angeles Rams as well as for the Chargers, Bengals and Redskins, and who was named to three Pro Bowls during his 14-year career, died Monday at his home in Ironton, Ohio, according to the Cincinnati Bengals. He was 66.

The cause of death was not reported.


"He was the best pass rusher I ever saw," Bengals radio analyst Dave Lapham said of the 6-foot-4, 270-pound Bacon. "He always gained ground . . . never wasted any steps. He could make you miss," Lapham, a former offensive lineman, told the Cincinnati Enquirer some years ago. "He had a very nimble body for a guy his size."

Bacon was born Lander McCoy Bacon on Aug. 30, 1942, in Cadiz, Ky. He played high school football in Ironton and college ball at Jackson State University but left college before graduation. He was never drafted by the NFL, starting his professional career with Charleston of the minor league Continental Football League.

The Dallas Cowboys eventually signed him to a free-agent contract. But Rams coach George Allen liked what he saw of Bacon in a rookie scrimmage and traded a fifth round draft choice for him in 1968.


At that time the Rams' defensive line was populated by Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Roger Brown and Lamar Lundy.

Bacon spent much of 1968 on the reserve squad but was activated after an injury to Lundy. In 1969, he was elevated to starting right tackle after Brown broke his hand during the exhibition season. He moved to defensive end when Lundy retired after the 1969 season. He made the first of his three Pro Bowls as a member of the Rams.

Two years later, the Rams traded Bacon along with running back Bob Thomas to San Diego for quarterback John Hadl. In his first season with the Chargers, Bacon had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown.

In 1976, he was traded to the Bengals for wide receiver Charlie Joiner.

In Cincinnati, the defensive lineman blossomed into the league's top pass rusher, leading the NFL in quarterback sacks in 1976 with 26, according to the Bengals. (The NFL did not start officially tallying sacks until 1982.) He was selected to the Pro Bowl in both of his two years with Cincinnati.

"Coy was a tremendous player for the Bengals, the greatest pass rusher our team has ever had," Bengals owner Mike Brown said in a statement. "After he left the team, he worked hard to make life better for youths in the Ironton area. What he did was admirable, something all of us respect. We are saddened by his passing."

In 1978, Bacon was traded to the Redskins along with cornerback Lemar Parrish for a first-round draft pick. He recorded 15 sacks in 1979 and 11 the next year but was clearly on the downhill slide of his career. Despite being the Redskins' top rusher, he was having problems with Joe Gibbs, then in his first season as head coach of the team, and was waived at the start of the 1981 season. He finished his career with the Washington Federals of the USFL in 1983.

After his playing days, Bacon worked briefly as a professional wrestler and had some trouble with the law. He was charged with possession of cocaine, a misdemeanor in Washington, and was later shot in the abdomen in an attack at his apartment.

Bacon later termed the shooting "a wake-up call." He became a "born-again Christian" and left Washington for Ironton, where he found a job as a juvenile corrections officer.

He also spent some of his time coaching youth basketball. A comment on the website of the Ironton Tribune newspaper Monday reflected Bacon's reputation in the small southern Ohio town: "Ironton has lost a true hero. Mr. Bacon has done so much for children of Ironton and he'll be greatly missed. He coached my daughter in basketball several years ago and was such a positive influence. My heart goes out to his family and friends."