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So the way I heard it is this: You know that Keanu Reeves movie "The Replacements" where the NFL players go on strike and so they hold tryouts and let replacement players play in the meantime? Well, I guess that actually happened back in like '87. For those of you who don't know, Glen Kozlowski caught passes from McMahon, Young, and Bosco at BYU, and was a part of the 84 team. He blew out his knee his senior season but was still drafted in the 11th round by the 86 Bears and was immediately placed on injured reserve to heal but was waved early on in 87. But he healed up and regained his speed just in time for the strike. He made the team but a few games in broke his leg returning a kickoff.
All of that you can get off Wikipedia.
Here's the part you can't:
A few minutes after Glen broke his leg on that kickoff return, one of the assistants gingerly made his way over to coach Ditka and tapped him on the shoulder. Ditka turned on him and asked him what he wanted. "I need you to talk to Kozlowski. He wants to go back in and play. I told him no way but he won't listen to me. His leg is busted but he still wants to play."
Ditka couldn't believe it. He went over and told Koz that he wasn't going back in. Apparently Koz didn't take it too well.
Anyway, a few games later when the strike was over and the normal players came back Ditka supposedly held a team meeting and asked everybody in the room if they had been watching the games. Most had watched a couple. He asked them what they thought of the replacements and they all just rolled their eyes and laughed. Ditka went off like a volcano, "FUCK YOU!!!! Any of you hot shots ever heard of a guy named Kozlowski? You know he BEGGED me to let him play on a broken leg? Some of you are half asleep at practice and here this guy will play on a broken leg! Do you have any idea what it takes to be a champion in this league? It takes that. Fuck every one of you. THAT guy is a Chicago Bear."
Now, that was the story I heard. True? You'll have to ask Ditka, cause I don't know. But it sounded nice. Just for the record though, Koz DID recover from that injury and he DID stay a Chicago Bear and he played several seasons in the NFL.
Go cougs
All of that you can get off Wikipedia.
Here's the part you can't:
A few minutes after Glen broke his leg on that kickoff return, one of the assistants gingerly made his way over to coach Ditka and tapped him on the shoulder. Ditka turned on him and asked him what he wanted. "I need you to talk to Kozlowski. He wants to go back in and play. I told him no way but he won't listen to me. His leg is busted but he still wants to play."
Ditka couldn't believe it. He went over and told Koz that he wasn't going back in. Apparently Koz didn't take it too well.
Anyway, a few games later when the strike was over and the normal players came back Ditka supposedly held a team meeting and asked everybody in the room if they had been watching the games. Most had watched a couple. He asked them what they thought of the replacements and they all just rolled their eyes and laughed. Ditka went off like a volcano, "FUCK YOU!!!! Any of you hot shots ever heard of a guy named Kozlowski? You know he BEGGED me to let him play on a broken leg? Some of you are half asleep at practice and here this guy will play on a broken leg! Do you have any idea what it takes to be a champion in this league? It takes that. Fuck every one of you. THAT guy is a Chicago Bear."
Now, that was the story I heard. True? You'll have to ask Ditka, cause I don't know. But it sounded nice. Just for the record though, Koz DID recover from that injury and he DID stay a Chicago Bear and he played several seasons in the NFL.
Go cougs
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