Bill Curry

I spent the majority of my day in a Unum Service Operations leadership meeting at The Chattanoogan today. We covered many great topics, but our session after lunch was special. Our guest speaker was Bill Curry.

Now I always remember Bill Curry as the three-year coach of Alabama and an ESPN football analyst/commentator for ESPN for the past 10 years.

But, wow, I did not realize that he played pro football from 1965 to 1974 with the Green Bay Packers (under the legendary Vince Lombardi), Houston Oilers, Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams, and was an all-pro center with the Colts in 1971 and 1972. Curry was the starting offensive line center for the Packers in Super Bowl I and the Colts in Super Bowl V. He was also the ACC coach of the year in 1985 and the SEC coach of the year in 1989.

After his hour-long, moving speech about leadership development and supporting football metaphors, I had the opportunity to briefly meet him. My time was spent holding his Super Bowl I championship ring, similar to the one in the picture.

Some stats from the game:

Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
Memorial Coliseum
Los Angeles, California
January 15, 1967
Attendance: 61,946
MVP: Bart Starr, QB, Green Bay (Curry was the center!)