The Legends for Charity event was put on Thursday night by St. Jude and their award winner this year was former Pittsburgh Steeler head coach and current CBS analyst Bill Cowher. For those that remember him in his career, you remember the scowl and the veracity with which he coached. To some that saw that, you had to wonder how could this man who seemed so mean receive that award. Well, there is some truth to the statement, “looks are deceiving.”
Beneath that tough exterior that some thought was there, lay a passionate man that cared about his players and also cared about the children, especially the children of St. Jude. And for Cowher to receive the Pat Summerall award, he had to be one highly thought of.
One of Cowher’s former players, retired wide receiver Hines Ward, got up and spoke to what kind of man Cowher is and how much he cared, even sharing a story when in his rookie year he got chewed out and then loved on by Cowher for a mistake in a game. And along with that situation, Ward learned Cowher did have a soul and did sacrifice: “I’ve been blessed to have some great coaches and Coach Cowher, you were one of them.”
As for where he is now at CBS, one of his colleagues, Boomer Esiason, had some very flattering words to say about Cowher: “There’s substance there and they couldn’t have picked a better guy than you (Cowher) for this award.”
Bill Cowher was known to be the scowling man on the sideline, but as people that know him mentioned, he was much more than that scowl. And when you listened to him as he accepted the award, he surely was gracious and reflected on the award’s namesake as well.
“Pat Summerall reflected class and professionalism,” said Cowher.
Along with reflecting on Summerall, Cowher also thanked the most important people in his life: “I thank my women for giving me the support and love.”
The scowl became the smile and the graciousness as Cowher stepped out of being the analyst and scowling coach and became the award winner and person everyone else that knows him sees right before everyone’s eyes. The saying always goes “never judge a book by its cover” and to plenty that have judged Cowher by his, they would be completely wrong about him.
