On January 2, Beijing time, NFL football legend Dan Rivers died at the age of 77. He won titles with the Dallas Cowboys as a player and then reached the Super Bowl four times as head coach. Rivers played in the Super Bowl nine times in his long career and played as a running back before head coaching the Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Atlanta Falcons.
Rivers played in the NFL for 8 years as a player, all cowboys, rushing out of 1990 yards and 25 touchdowns, while at the same time 129 catches to advance 1693 yards and 17 touchdowns. He followed Cowboy to the Super Bowl in 1971, when cowboys beat the Miami Dolphins at the sixth Super Bowl. At the end of his career, Rivers became a coach again. An apprentice to Tom Landry, Rivers served as the Cowboys' offensive coordinator at the 12th Super Bowl in 1977 and worked in that role for four years until 1981, when he received his first head coaching job at the Broncos.
Rivers spent 23 years as head coach at the Broncos, Giants and Falcons. He formed the Broncos around John Aylvey and led them to three American League titles in four seasons, but lost each time to the Super Bowl. He finished 110-73 in 12 seasons in charge of the Broncos before leaving the Broncos due to a deteriorating relationship with Elvie. Rivers coached the Giants for four seasons with a record of 31 wins and 33 losses, before being cut at the end of the 1996 season.
In 1997, Rivers coached the Falcons again, and in his second season he led the team to the Super Bowl, helping the Falcons win their first National League championship. But in super bowl 33, they lost to Elvie and the Broncos. Before leaving at the end of the 2003 season, Elvie's record for seven seasons with the Falcons was 49 wins and 59 losses. In his 23 seasons as head coach, Rivers has a record of 190 wins, 165 losses and 2 draws, and his 190 wins are the tenth in NFL history. He was twice named Coach of the Year by the Associated Press (1993 and 1998), the third head coach to lead three different teams to the playoffs, and one of seven coaches to lead different teams to the Super Bowl twice.
"As a coach, Dan Rivers has left a legendary coaching career in our league. He has had great successes in Denver, Dallas, New York and Atlanta over the decades, marking a long and successful career in rugby. Falcon owner and chairman Arthur Blanco said in a statement: "On behalf of the Falcons of Atlanta, I offer heavy condolences to Dan's family and friends. ”
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