Don McCafferty
Encyclopedia
Donald William McCafferty (March 12, 1921 – July 28, 1974) was an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 coach who, in his first year as head coach of the Baltimore Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

, led the team to a victory in Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V
Super Bowl V was an American football game played on January 17, 1971, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1970 regular season...

.

McCafferty played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 under Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...

, where he was a key member of the offensive line. Due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was one of a select group of players to play twice in the annual College All-Star Game
College All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...

 held in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

.

After moving on to the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

, McCafferty was shifted to wide receiver, playing one season with the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. After working in the Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...

 recreation department the following year, he was hired as an assistant at Kent State University
Kent State University
Kent State University is a public research university located in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university has eight campuses around the northeast Ohio region with the main campus in Kent being the largest...

 in 1948. He spent 11 seasons with the Golden Flashes until accepting an assistant coaching position with the Baltimore Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....

. During that first season at the professional level, McCafferty was part of the Colts' second straight championship team.

When Colts' head coach Weeb Ewbank was fired after the conclusion of the 1962 NFL season
1962 NFL season
The 1962 NFL season was the 43rd regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, CBS signed a contract with the league to televise all regular-season games for a $4.65 million annual fee....

, McCafferty remained with the team as offensive coordinator
Offensive coordinator
An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

 under new coach Don Shula
Don Shula
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....

. McCafferty's easy-going personality helped serve as a buffer against the demanding Shula's quest for perfection, a contrast that played a major part in the team's three NFL playoff appearances during the next seven years. Colts' Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas , known as Johnny Unitas or "Johnny U", and nicknamed "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football...

 once said about McCafferty, "He doesn't shout and scream. He's able to look at football objectively without getting carried away emotionally." He was referred to in the press and by the Colts players as "Easy Rider".

When Shula left to accept the head coaching position with the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, McCafferty was chosen to replace him on April 6, 1970, then the following season led the Baltimore Colts to an 11-2-1 record and their second Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 appearance in three years. In that mistake-filled contest against the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 on January 17, 1971, the Colts won 16-13 on a last-second field goal by rookie Jim O'Brien
Jim O'Brien (American football)
Jim O'Brien is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League. He played for the Baltimore Colts from 1970 to 1972 and the Detroit Lions in 1973. He also played wide receiver, catching the bulk of his career passes during the 1972 season while still performing his kicking...

.

The Colts once again reached the playoffs in 1971, but were shut out 21-0 in the AFC Championship game
AFC Championship Game
The American Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the American...

 by Shula's Dolphins. The following year, after only one win in the team's first five games, the Colts' general manager, Joe Thomas
Joe Thomas (football coach)
Joe Thomas was a former National Football League general manager and also served as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts for part of the 1974 season....

, ordered Unitas benched as the team's quarterback. When McCafferty refused, he was fired.

On January 26, 1973, McCafferty was hired as head coach of the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

 and was 6-7-1 in his first year on the sidelines. On July 28, 1974, while spending some time at his nearby home in West Bloomfield, Michigan, he suffered a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 while cutting his grass. He died after being transported to a Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...

 hospital. He was buried three days later following services at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens
Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens
Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum is a cemetery and mausoleum in Timonium, Maryland, a fashionable Baltimore County suburban community. It is located at 200 E. Padonia Rd, about two miles from the intersection of Interstate 83 and Padonia Road...

 in Timonium, Maryland.

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