Bearly Legal: Hall of Famer Ron Yary

Robin and David line it up with Hall of Fame OT Ron Yary, who talks about his playing days in Minnesota, and the evolution of the tackle in the NFL. As a USC grad, he has some pretty strong words for Reggie Bush.

Bearly Legal: Neil Armstrong & Raymond Berry

Coach Armstrong looks back on the 1979 playoffs, the defense of Buddy Ryan, and compares the Cover 2 to the 46. He also gives his thoughts on the 2010 Bears. Then, Hall of Famer Raymond Berry says without a doubt, it was a touchdown and the Bears should have lost.

Raymond Berry

Raymond Emmett Berry played wide receiver for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins. He later had a career in coaching, highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Raymond\'s Career Stats

Ron Yary

Ron Yary joined the Minnesota Vikings as the first player chosen in the 1968 AFL-NFL Draft. His 15-season, 207-game career included 14 years with the Vikings from 1968 to 1981 and a final season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1982. Yary won the starting right tackle job on the Vikings offensive line in his second season and remained as a fixture at that spot throughout his Minnesota tenure.

The 6-5, 255-pound Yary possessed speed, agility, intelligence, aggressiveness, a hard work ethic and size – all the attributes necessary to be an outstanding offensive lineman. Yary was named all-pro six times and All-NFC eight straight seasons from 1970-1977. He played in seven consecutive Pro Bowls during that period and was a major force in a Minnesota team that was highly successful throughout the 1970s.

During Yary’s tenure, the Vikings won two NFL Central Division titles and nine NFC Central championships. During that period, Minnesota won the 1969 NFL championship and NFC titles in 1973, 1974 and 1976. Yary played in five NFL/NFC championships and Super Bowls IV, VIII, IX and XI.

Yary, who was born in Chicago, Illinois, on July 16, 1946, was a two-time consensus All-America at the University of Southern California. He was the 1967 winner of both the Outland Trophy and the Knute Rockne Award, honors that annually go to the nation’s top collegiate lineman. The Vikings used a draft choice gained in the trade that sent quarterback Fran Tarkenton to the New York Giants to pick Yary No. 1 in 1968.

In addition to his many playing abilities, Yary also was durable and willing to play in spite of injuries. He missed only two games due to injuries – both coming in 1980 with a broken ankle – in 14 years in Minnesota. Later that same year, he continued to play in spite of a broken foot.

Ron Yary at the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Neil Armstrong

Armstrong played college football at Oklahoma A & M from 1943-1946, and was drafted in the first round (eighth overall) of the 1947 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Playing both at wide receiver and defensive back, Armstrong helped the team capture the NFL championship in both 1948 and 1949. Armstrong concluded his playing career in the early 1950s playing for the CFL\\\'s Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
In 1962, Armstrong\\\'s professional coaching career began when he was hired as an assistant coach with the American Football League Houston Oilers. After serving two years in that capacity, he shifted back to Canada as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. In his six years, the team reached the postseason three times.
Armstrong was hired as an assistant with the Minnesota Vikings in 1970, and became an integral part of developing the team\\\'s dominating defense. After helping the team reach the postseason in all but one of the next eight years, he was hired as head coach of the Chicago Bears on February 16, 1978.
In four years at the helm of the Bears, he was only able to compile a record of 30-35, with one playoff appearance in 1979. He was fired on January 3, 1982, but hired less than two months later as an assistant with the Dallas Cowboys. He spent the next eight seasons with the team before announcing his retirement on February 22, 1990.
He and Bud Grant hold the distinction of being the only two people to have both played and been a head coach in both the NFL and CFL.