“Yesterday is a cancelled check. Today is cash on the line. Tomorrow is a promissory note.” – Hank Stram
About Hank Stram
Henry Louis “Hank” Stram (January 3, 1923 – July 4, 2005) was an American football coach. He is best known for his 15-year tenure with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL).
Stram was born in Chicago in 1923. His Polish-born father, Henry Wilczek, wrestled professionally under the name Stram and the family name was changed accordingly. He later grew up in Gary, Indiana, and graduated from Lew Wallace High School class of 1941.(The football stadium press box was renamed after him in his honor.)
He earned seven letters playing football and baseball and joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity at Purdue in the 1940s, playing in 1942 and again in 1946 and 1947. Stram served in the US military during World War II interrupting his university career.
He was an assistant football coach for the Boilermakers from 1948 to 1955 and the head baseball coach from 1951 to 1955. In 1996, Stram and Len Dawson were inducted into the Purdue Athletic Hall of Fame. After coaching at Purdue, Stram was an assistant at Notre Dame, Southern Methodist University, and Miami.
Stram was an innovator, a shrewd judge of talent, and an excellent teacher. He was considered a motivational genius. Stram became the head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 1976.
Following his retirement from coaching, Stram enjoyed a long and successful career as a color commentator on CBS’ television and radio broadcasts of NFL games. He remained a part of CBS’ television broadcast team until 1993. Stram’s contributions to the game, like those of other AFL pioneers, helped to change the face of professional football.
He died at St. Tammany Parish hospital in Covington, from complications due to diabetes, on July 4, 2005.
(Source – Wikipedia)