The one question Joe Gibbs will take to his grave

[turtle28]

And yet there are tiny detours from the warm fuzzies, brief moments at the beginning and end of the film when Gibbs grapples not just with his greatness but with some regret. When he wonders whether he balanced his nearly unmatched professional career well enough with being the father and husband he wanted to be. Those were the questions that sparked his shocking first resignation in Washington, and something similar later caused him to leave the team a second time.

“The thing I second-guess the most about my life was the time I missed being with family,” Gibbs says as the movie begins. “I probably didn’t have to do it the way I did it.”

He didn’t? Because the way he did it — the meeting rooms without clocks, the pullout sofa in his office, the coaching conferences interrupted by middle-of-the-night garbage trucks, the single-mindedness that caused him not to recognize Oliver North when he visited a practice during the height of his celebrity — remains so central to everything we think about Gibbs. Could he really have had the same success without that obsessive single-mindedness?

“I think that’s a great question,” Gibbs said Tuesday afternoon, during a wave of interviews to promote the movie. “As I reflect back on it, I really feel like I probably could have done it different. I could have taken some time off on Tuesdays to go have lunch with my kids — which I tried to do with [younger son] Coy some, and I missed it with J.D. 

“But I sat down with both my boys a few years back,” Gibbs went on. “They both have four kids apiece. I said, ‘Don’t do what I did.’ I said, ‘I apologize for all the time I missed. Listen, stay close to your kids.’ And one thing I’m trying to do now is with my grandkids, I am trying to stay close with them and be a part of their life, and so I try to encourage both my boys to do that. But I think it’s the one thing that I’ll go to my grave second-guessing, and not really knowing. Hey, could I have done it a different way?

[Woz]

From the article:

Quote

There are all the usual themes, accompanied by brilliant visuals: the self-deprecation (“very average intelligence,” Gibbs says of himself in one old interview),

Personal anecdote time.

I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but I'm a geek and have always been one. Back in the day, when the Redskins still had training camp in Carlisle, I attended a G&T science camp (no, this isn't me trying to brag, just trying to set up the story a bit). Anyway, while I was there the Redskins were in training camp. It was incredible eating in the same cafeteria (albeit with a divider between us and them), and watching these huge guys wandering around. I used to have a bunch of their autographs on a piece of legal paper (was cool, but the problem was I couldn't figure out who was who after the fact ... one of the defense linemen mentioned that he had already signed my notes the day before; the paper was later put under a lamp and crinkled something fierce).

One day, as I'm walking to hellifIremembernow, I see Joe Gibbs walking by himself. I tell the kid I'm with that's Joe Gibbs and he disagrees. We argue for a bit but I convince him we should go say hi. So I walk up to Joe Gibbs, scared as I can be, since this guy is a living legend. I remember weakly asking "Mr. Gibbs?" and holding out my hand. He turns and smiles and shakes my hand. He then asked what we were doing up here in Carlisle. Slightly embarrassed, I told him we were in camp.

He replied, "Oh, you're one of the smart ones? I've always been one of the dumb ones."

I think you needed to get a forklift to get my jaw off the floor. I remember distinctly thinking (but not saying) "Mr. Gibbs I would kill multiple people to have your job." Looking back on it, I now know that Gibbs was literally killing himself as the head coach, but I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Joe freaking Gibbs thought he was stupid. The fact that he was willing to take a few minutes for a snot-nosed kid like myself and then was so self-deprecating ... I still don't know how he did it. As a father now, I can understand Gibbs' regrets. I don't spend anywhere near the time Gibbs did away from family, but I don't really see the kids much during the week.

[Doc Draper]

On 11/23/2017 at 4:49 AM, turtle28 said:

 

 

Most if not all highly successful self made people make choices and sacrifices, some very very consequential ones. They sacrifice time with their family and friends-some ( mostly women) decide to not have children, those that have families move them all over the place etc.. As they age they question did they have to make them or was there another way. It’s almost a rite of passage. Very few people and I’ve never met anyone who didn’t question or have regrets. The story of Gibbs is that he was intensely driven to succeed but did so not by inheriting money, having a successful father or older brother who shared his name and not screwing over his partners and anyone he’s ever worked with. He sacrificed personally and will be remembered as  a great leader, a humble person and an example of how to pursue and achieve success in whatever field a person chooses to pursue. 

My advice to Joe is when you start thinking about regrets, take a drink and instead let your mind be directed to all the new things you want to pursue and accomplish 

[turtle28]

On 11/28/2017 at 4:46 PM, Woz said:

From the article:

Personal anecdote time.

I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but I'm a geek and have always been one. Back in the day, when the Redskins still had training camp in Carlisle, I attended a G&T science camp (no, this isn't me trying to brag, just trying to set up the story a bit). Anyway, while I was there the Redskins were in training camp. It was incredible eating in the same cafeteria (albeit with a divider between us and them), and watching these huge guys wandering around. I used to have a bunch of their autographs on a piece of legal paper (was cool, but the problem was I couldn't figure out who was who after the fact ... one of the defense linemen mentioned that he had already signed my notes the day before; the paper was later put under a lamp and crinkled something fierce).

One day, as I'm walking to hellifIremembernow, I see Joe Gibbs walking by himself. I tell the kid I'm with that's Joe Gibbs and he disagrees. We argue for a bit but I convince him we should go say hi. So I walk up to Joe Gibbs, scared as I can be, since this guy is a living legend. I remember weakly asking "Mr. Gibbs?" and holding out my hand. He turns and smiles and shakes my hand. He then asked what we were doing up here in Carlisle. Slightly embarrassed, I told him we were in camp.

He replied, "Oh, you're one of the smart ones? I've always been one of the dumb ones."

I think you needed to get a forklift to get my jaw off the floor. I remember distinctly thinking (but not saying) "Mr. Gibbs I would kill multiple people to have your job." Looking back on it, I now know that Gibbs was literally killing himself as the head coach, but I couldn't wrap my mind around the fact that Joe freaking Gibbs thought he was stupid. The fact that he was willing to take a few minutes for a snot-nosed kid like myself and then was so self-deprecating ... I still don't know how he did it. As a father now, I can understand Gibbs' regrets. I don't spend anywhere near the time Gibbs did away from family, but I don't really see the kids much during the week.

My dad (the Steelers fan) took me to Carlisle a few times to Redskins training camp and once to a scrimmage against the Steelers. I got all kinds of signatures on a notebook paper also, my mom didn’t know what it was like 5 years later when I was in high school and she threw it away. I was so disappointed. I had hall of famers on it like Grimm, Green & Monk and guys like Mitchell & Jacoby who should be. I think I had Rypien, Byner and Clark too.