Dick Vermeil rocketed to Super Bowl win with Kurt Warner, but 'Jaws' launched him toward Canton
If they hadn't found each other in St. Louis, Dick Vermeil and Kurt Warner might not be roommates in Canton.
But their time together, albeit helping them reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame, was so short. Warner didn't become Vermeil's starting quarterback until 1999. Vermeil left after the season.
Call Warner the sizzle on Vermeil's resume. "Jaws" was the foundation.
Ron Jaworski's original nickname, "The Polish Rifle," materialized as he came out of Youngstown State in the 1973 draft. A Philadelphia basketball player, Doug Collins, dubbed Jaworski "Jaws" several years later.
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Vermeil entered his second season as Eagles head coach when he traded for Jaworski in 1977. For the next six years after, "Jaws" kept a vise grip on the quarterback job.
It was a proud time for Youngstown State. The only two Penguins drafted in the top 100 in the last 70 years were Jaworski at No. 37 in 1973 (Rams) and defensive end Derek Rivers at No. 83 in 2017 (Patriots).
"I was a young assistant on the Rams staff when Ron was drafted," Vermeil said in a recent interview in Canton. "I watched him and I liked him, although I was only with him for one season before going to UCLA as head coach.
"Still, in that one season, I spent way more time with him than NFL coaches are allowed to now. I liked Ron all the way around, on the physical, mental and emotional levels.
"I thought he would be a fit in the Philadelphia community. He was a Youngstown kid, a hard-working, blue-collar type kid.
"We traded an All-Pro tight end, Charlie Young, to get him. I grew with Ron, and he grew with me, and we ended up in a Super Bowl."
Jaworski's senior year at Youngstown State, 1972, marked Dwight Beede's 35th and final season as Penguins head coach. Jaworski recalls that Beede "let me do what I wanted to do ... throw the football."
"Jaws" ran track in high school and was athletic enough as a pro. He ran for five touchdowns in his first season with Vermeil. "The Polish Rifle" aspect certainly applied.
"If he were playing today, he'd be All-Pro," Vermeil said. "His passing numbers would be a lot better, because it's a lot easier to be a great wide receiver today."
Pennsylvania's NFL teams were opposites through most the 1970s. The Steelers won Super Bowls. The Eagles were 4-10 in the two years before Jaworski checked in.
The Vermeil-Jaworski partnership set a new tone. Jaworski kept improving.
In 1978, he ranked ninth in the league in passer rating, one spot behind Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw. By 1980, he was up to No. 2, trailing only NFL MVP Brian Sipe of the Browns. And it was close: Sipe 91.4, Jaworski 91.0.
They might have met in the Super Bowl. The Browns were convinced they would have gone on to be AFC champions had they not blown a playoff game against the Raiders.
The 1980 Eagles went 12-4 and beat Dallas in the NFC Championship Game.
Vermeil never forgot the set-up season of 1979.
"Pittsburgh came in for the fourth game of the season," he said. "The Steelers won the world championship the year before, and they were a dominating, undefeated team ... Bradshaw and the crew.
"We beat them in a major upset. Ron and (tight end) Keith Krepfle had a big day together. John Bunting returned an interception to the 1.
"That game told us we were doing the right things."
Later that season, as the Browns were becoming "The Kardiac Kids," the Eagles lost a 19-10 fourth-quarter lead and fell to Cleveland 24-19. From there Jaworski led the team on a 5-1 hot streak, and the Eagles reached the postseason for the fist time since 1960.
From 1979-81, Vermeil went 42-22 with Jaworski as his starting QB.
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Jaworski went on to be an iconic broadcaster who, incidentally, is a big fan of a coach with Philadelphia roots, Kevin Stefanski.
After Vermeil was elected to the Hall of Fame, Jaworski told Eagles Insider what he remembers most about his old coach.
"Often in today's NFL, the attitude is, 'I care about you as a football player, and the minute I don't need you, I'll bring in someone else,'" Jaworski said. "Coach Vermeil was more important to the guys when they left the game.
"He was a compassionate coach who cared more about players as people."
Vermeil and Jaworski stayed in touch. In 2016, they were part of a group that attempted to introduce pro football to China.
Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com
On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick Vermeil's first QB was Ron Jaworski
