Chuck Noll was one tough player


Chuck Noll as a college player at University of Dayton
Photo courtesy of Dayton Flyers

… not exactly Myles Garrett, but close 

In Chuck Noll’s biography entitled “Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work,” writer Michael McCambridge wrote about a play that occurred during the 1954 season when the NFL Hall of Fame coach was playing for the Cleveland Browns.

Noll was then in his third season with the Browns, playing both offensive guard and inside linebacker. He was a tenacious competitor, but was not a cheap-shot artist like the current Cleveland Brown defensive player Myles Garrett.

McCambridge wrote,

Chuck’s tenacious style earned him the appreciation of his teammates but not always his opponents. One player he persistently tangled with was Chuck Bednarik, the Eagles’ cantankerous two-way lineman. Early in his career, Chuck laid a good shot on Bednarik at the line of scrimmage on a punt. After the game, still peeved. Bednarik took a swing at Chuck with his helmet, striking him and knocking him to his knees. Chuck was hurt, angrily nd also venting amoral rage. According to Lopu Groza, what Chuck shouted to Badnarik after the two men were separated was, “May your soul burn in the fires of hell?”

“Chuck Noll,” p. 68 
Punishment

At the time, the NfL commissioner was Bert Bell, and they did not put up with nonsense. However, the fines were not dispensed with the same regularity as they are today.

According to the biography, the commissioner took what might be considered today to be a soft punishment,

NFL Commissioner Bert Bell was watching the game on television with his son, Upton Bell, and was incense both by Bednarik;s unprovoked violence and the fact that the TV Carreras wooed the skirmish at the end of the game. That week, he called Bednarik into his office, cisciplined him with a fine and orders to apologize to Chuck when the two teams played in Philadelphia later in the season.

Before the next Browns-Eagles game, Bednarik walked up to Chuck during warmups, and said, “I was to apologize for what happened.”

“Bull#$%,” said Chuck.

The feud would continue for years.
McCambridge, pp. 68-69 

The Browns, under legendary Coach Paul Brown, captured the NFL title in 1954 for the first time.

At the time, Noll was making $5,000 in salary, but with winning the title, he added another $2,500 to that income.

To supplement his income in the off-season, he sold insurance, which he hated, and he taught as a substitute teacher, which he loved. That was always his goal, to be a high school teacher -- and coach. 

When he made the NFL, that career goal changed -- though even as a professional coach, he still wanted to be thought of as a teacher. 

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