WASHINGTON -- Washington Redskins management, coaches and former players expressed grief and a sense of personal loss at the death Monday of George Allen, who crafted the Redskins into one of the NFL's most dominant teams in the 1970s.
Jack Kent Cooke, who became majority owner of the Redskins in 1974, said he was 'devastated' to learn of his former coach's death.
'George was one of my favorite coaches in my time in professional sports,' said Cooke. 'He was a trojan for work and for winning. He was one of the indestructables. I shall never forget him. He was my friend to the end, and I his.'
Richie Petitbon, who played under the late coach when Allen was an assistant with the Chicago Bears and Los Angeles Rams and head coach with the Redskins, said he saw Allen in the spring 'and he looked in great physical condition.'
'The players loved him,' Petitbon recalled. 'He was a great guy to play for. He was a great competitor who loved to coach and I think that was the reason he was successful.'
Allen, a fitness buff who returned to coaching at California State University at Long Beach just more than a year ago after retiring from professional football in the mid-1980s, died of natural causes at his home in Palos Verdes, a Los Angeles suburb, a school spokeswoman said. He was 72.
He coached the Redskins to seven consecutive winning seasons and took them to Super Bowl VII in 1973, where they lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins 14-7.
Current Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs said Monday, 'We owe a lot to him, all the fans and coaches here.
'He kind of set the tempo for our tradition ... that I kind of feel like I inherited when I came here. He means a lot to Redskins football.'
Allen, named the National Football Conference coach of the year in 1971 and 1972, coached the Redskins from 1971 to 1977. The team's record was 67-30-1, a .689 winning percentage.
The Redskins were known as the over-the-hill gang because of Allen's penchant for signing older players and trading away college draft choices for established stars. Among his choices were quarterback Billy Kilmer, defensive linemen Diron Talbert and Ron McDole.
'I'm in total shock,' Kilmer said in an interview with Washington's WUSA-TV, after learning of the coach's death. 'George Allen seemed indestructable to me. I thought he was going to live to 100. He was like a father to me, personally.
'He was a great motivator,' Kilmer said. 'All of his desire was toward winning. He knew that as players, if you won, everything else fell into place. He taught you how to be a winner, not only on the field but off the field.'
Houston Oilers head coach Jack Pardee, who played with the Redskins under Allen and later succeeded him at Washington, said, 'He was always very popular with the players. He always treated the players as men and expected a lot out of them, but never any more than he expected out of himself.'
