OT: Buddy Ryan , RIP

I met Buddy Ryan on a hike back in the 90's. Super cool guy who loves to talk about the '86 Bears with fondness. He was worried about the "Fridge" William Perry even back then, 20 years ago. What a predictor he was about his demise as an overeater and consumption monster. I'm guessing the Fridge will be joining Buddy fairly soon. RIP Buddy.

The key to the 46 was over loading the middle of the offensive line so someone could rush unblocked. They did this with various stunts like putting Dent on a tight end and looping a linebacker, safety blitzes and things of that nature. It took several years for teams to figure out how to beat it, which was to line up a wide receiver sevearl yards behind the line (in a legal formation) and quickly throw him the ball. A good wide out could then get chunks of yards by slipping just one tackler.

Ryan exploited the vast talent he had to work with by inventing an optimum system to get the most out of their talents, as well as hide the weak corners (LA Mike Richardson in particular. He was terrible but no one could ever throw the ball to his man anyway).

I was hearing a former player talking on the radio that the "46" defense came about b/c in a particular season Buddy's defense had most of its linebackers injured so he came-up w/ the "46" defense to account-for/get-around his lack of linebackers due to injury and I assume subsequently found out how effective a D it actually was (nor sure if this is the absolute reason; a partial reason; or just an urban legend).

I often wondered what the "46" stood for - I thought it had to do w/ the alignment of the players on D; but apparently it was named after the jersey # of Buddy's strong-safety at the time (some fellow named Plank) since Buddy would put Plank, #46, to play in a LB position instead of the normal SS position.

Should've called it "The Plank" instead of the 46. RIP Buddy. Once a Viking always a Viking. I forgive you for coaching for the Bears (mostly).