Sports and Torts: General Matters

Elliott and David wonder is Phil Emery was the right pick for Bears general manager. Then - we say farewell to a boxing legend.

Sports and Torts: Bum Phillips

Bum Phillips became head coach of the National Football League\'s Houston Oilers in 1975. He retired from the league 10 years later as one of its most colorful characters of all time. In his new autobiography, you get to walk the sidelines with the Coach. He gives us a preview in this interview.

Sports and Torts: Tom Flores

Raider Legend, two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and current Raiders Radio analyst Tom Flores discusses the evolution of the Super Bowl since his wins, taking home the Championship as both a player and a coach, and replacing John Madden as head coach.

Bum Phillips

Born Oail Andrew Phillips, he got his famous nickname from his older sister who stammered and could not say the word \"brother\". The name Bum stuck, and he has always explained, \"Bum\'s just a nickname, not a description!\" The name, dry sense of humor, laid-back demeanor, winning tradition, and ever-present cowboy hat and boots all became a part of the Bum Phillips legend.

Said fellow coaching legend and friend, Sid Gillman, \"You could place him in a crowd of a million and ask a total stranger to pick out Bum Phillips, and I\'m sure he\'d walk right up to him.\" That distinctive persona, however, betrayed a shrewd football mind. When Gillman brought Bum to Houston as his defensive coordinator in 1974, it took Phillips only one season to cut the Oilers\' points-against total from 447 to 282. The team was just backing out of consecutive 1-13 seasons, but riding on the strength of Bum\'s defense; the Oilers turned their fortunes around that year, finishing 7-7 with more victories than the previous seasons combined. When Gillman stepped down the following year, Phillips was the natural to take over the head-coaching job. He responded by leading the 1975 Oilers to a 10-4 season revealing an uncanny ability to maximize his players\' potentials.

Read More About Bum at his Website

Tom Flores

Flores played quarterback for two seasons at Fresno City College beginning in 1955. He was active off the field as well serving on the Student Council as well as President of the Associated Men\'s Students. He received an academic scholarship to study at the College (now University) of the Pacific. Flores graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1958, but was unable to find a job in professional football. He was cut by the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL in 1958, and then by the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) in 1959. In 1960 Flores finally landed a position as a quarterback with the American Football League\'s Oakland Raiders, who began play in 1960 as a charter member of the league. He was named the Raiders\' starting quarterback early in the 1960 season, becoming the first Hispanic starting quarterback in professional football history.
Flores had his most productive season in 1966. Although he completed only 49.3 percent of his attempts, he passed for 2,638 yards and 24 touchdowns in 14 games. Oakland traded him to the Buffalo Bills in 1967. After serving primarily as a backup, he was released by the Bills and in 1969 signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he was backup to Len Dawson on the Chiefs\' World Championship team. He retired as a player after the 1970 season. He was one of only twenty players who were with the AFL for its entire ten-year existence. He is the fifth-leading passer, all-time, in the AFL. Flores is a member of the Sid Gillman coaching tree. After stints as an assistant coach in Buffalo and Oakland (he won a Super Bowl XI ring as an Assistant Coach under John Madden), Flores became the Raiders\' head coach in 1979, following Madden\'s retirement. He followed the team to Los Angeles in 1982.
Flores was the NFL\'s first minority head coach to win a Super Bowl, winning twice - Super Bowl XV with the Oakland Raiders and Super Bowl XVIII with the Los Angeles Raiders, the latter victory being the only such in the history of NFL football in Southern California.
After a 5–10 finish to the 1987 season, Flores moved to the Raiders\' front office, but left after just one year to become the president and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks. He returned to coaching as the Seahawks head coach in 1992, but was fired in 1995 following three disappointing seasons.
His 83 wins with the Raiders are the second-most in franchise history, behind only Madden. Flores left Pro Football with a lifetime coaching record of 97–87 (52.7%), as well as an 8-3 playoff record, and with two Super Bowl victories. Flores, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells and George Seifert are the only eligible coaches with two such victories, who have not been selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Flores is currently the color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Greg Papa on the Raiders radio network.

Tom\'s Career Stats