Wednesday, February 24, 1999
Myers' death stuns Coslet, ex-teammates
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Chip Myers, who waited 15 years to become an NFL offensive coordinator, admitted once he didn't promote himself for the job. On Tuesday, friends and colleagues did it for him as they mourned his sudden death.
Myers, 53, one of the top receivers in Bengals history, died of a heart attack late Monday, hours after leaving the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.
Just last month, the Vikings promoted him to offensive coordinator after stints coaching quarterbacks and receivers.
“He was really excited about that, he couldn't wait to get started,” said Bengals offensive coordinator Ken Anderson, the rookie quarterback who Myers took under his wing in 1971. The veteran helped the youngster get settled in Cincinnati.
“He had planned to come in here in a few weeks and see how we did some things on the computer. Kind of compare notes. ... And now this happens,” Anderson said.
The Bengal probably hit hardest by the news was coach Bruce Coslet. Coslet, who turns 53 in August, broke in with Myers in Cincinnati in 1969 and left with him in 1976. When Coslet became a head coach with the Jets in 1990, Myers was one of his first hires.
As they do each year at the combine, Coslet, Anderson and Myers dined together Sunday night trading war stories about Paul Brown's Bengals. On Monday, they walked out of the RCA Dome after watching workouts and then left to go home.
“Everything seemed fine,” Coslet said. “I'm just devastated. What a tragedy. Great guy. We fished together. I would have liked to have had him coach here, but the timing was never right when I got the job (in 1996 ) and he was in Minnesota.”
Myers, a two-time All-American at Northwestern Oklahoma State who did a variety of jobs that included drilling for oil and cow-punching, was a 10th-round draft pick of San Francisco in 1967 before hooking on with the Bengals two years later.
Anderson helped Myers set the Bengals' 14-game record for catches in a season with 57 in 1972. That put Myers in the Pro Bowl.
“A great possession receiver. He was sneaky fast and very reliable,” Anderson said. “Nobody said he could go deep, but whenever he went deep, he was always the guy that got open. He was the guy who taught me how to be a professional, who showed me how to work every day.”
When the Bengals made San Diego State speedster Isaac Curtis their No. 1 pick in 1973 despite Myers' big year, Myers told the Enquirer, “I'll have my work cut out for me.”
But Curtis recalled Tuesday how Myers helped him.
“He was one of the good guys, a down-to-earth guy,” Curtis said. “I was raw running routes and he gave me tips. I learned a lot from watching him. He didn't have a lot of speed, but he was tall and rangy and he got where he wanted to go.”
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