NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When I was a kid, I knew Raymond Berry as an NFL coach who’d been a very good player. His New England Patriots won the AFC in 1985 but got destroyed in the Super Bowl by the mighty Bears.
As with a lot of old-time greats, it was only after I read something later detailing his Hall of Fame career that I came to fully appreciate him.
You hear this guy or that guy was incredibly detailed, but this extraordinary 2008 Sports Illustrated piece shows that Berry rates with the most meticulous players imaginable.
And as we watched Eagles and Chiefs players slip all over the terrible Super-Bowl field and the Titans decide to move to a high-tech artificial turf after seasons of footing problems because of late-season issues with their natural grass, I’ve often thought of Berry and how he handled the grass at Yankee Stadium in the Colts-Giants 1958 NFL Championship Game, known as the Greatest Game Ever Played.
