Make no mistake. The NFL is an unforgiving business. The demand to win is constant and pressing. It can have a serious impact on physical and mental health for those who’ve gone through the grind for a long period of time. Especially as they get older. Gary Kubiak, the former head coach of the Broncos and Texans retired because of persistent health issues. What many may forget is Chicago Bears head coach John Fox had one as well.
The difference is it happened on a golf course instead of the football field.
Back in 2013 Fox was told by doctors he had a problem with the aortic valve in his heart. At some point he’d have to get it fixed. Doing so during the season didn’t seem prudent though. His wife pushed him constantly to see the doctor. It wasn’t until he suffered an episode that really brought home how close he was to things getting serious.
Wife of John Fox always knew the problem was coming
Her description of what happened when action was finally taken is rather frightening. She put it in her own words thanks to collaboration with Sports Illustrated.
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“That day, he went out golfing with his buddies. A bunch of the wives, we all met for lunch together with the guys after nine holes, and then they left to play the back nine. A friend and I were heading out to run some errands, and we might have been two miles from the house, and here comes a fire truck and an ambulance. We had no idea who it was for.
We pulled over to the side, let them go by, and no sooner did we pull into the parking lot of where we were going that I got a phone call. It was a friend of his. “Hey, listen, we think it’s John’s heart. You better get back here. It’s not good.”
I turned the car around. I flew back. When I got there, he was in the golf cart, and he had oxygen, with paramedics around him. He was feeling really good at that point, with the oxygen, but they went to take the oxygen off he started getting woozy again. He knew he had to go to the hospital.”
Fox was admitted shortly after and underwent surgery to repair the valve. He ended up missing four games for the Broncos that season, during which they went 3-1. When he finally returned things continued on track and Denver reached the Super Bowl. Unfortunately they were trounced 43-8 by the Seahawks.
Did the episode change Fox?
It’s fair to wonder if that brush with death might’ve altered perspective for Fox. He was 58-years old at the time. It’s not a shock to think that maybe it crept into his head that he might die if he kept pushing himself too hard. One could say the cracks started to show after that. The loss to Seattle was bad enough. In 2014, even though the Broncos went 12-4 there were warning signs.
Getting blown out by the 3-6 Rams was bad, as was failing to give their rival Patriots a challenge in their rematch from the AFC championship game. Yet things came to a head in the playoffs when Denver was soundly beaten at Mile High 24-13 by the Indianapolis Colts. That was the loss that compelled John Elway to fire Fox.
None of that stopped the Bears from scooping him up almost immediately. Fox took over and not much has changed. He’s 12-29 with seven games left in his third season. The persistent issue? His players aren’t executing with enough discipline. This speaks to a head coach who isn’t paying attention to the details.
How did the man who got Jake Delhomme to the Super Bowl and Tim Tebow to the playoffs fall to this point?
Ditka would understand his pain
One man who might understand this reality is Mike Ditka himself. In 1988 the thought-to-be invincible Bears head coach suffered a heart attack during the season. Like Fox he came back and led the team on an inspired deep playoff run. Also like Fox it ended in dismal fashion, a 28-3 blowout at home to 49ers.
It was felt by some that Ditka wasn’t quite the same after that. He didn’t have the same edge, the same relentless drive. It certainly showed on the field. In seasons before the heart attack he was 73-31 and 4-3 in the playoffs. After it he was 33-31 and 2-3 in the playoffs. Still decent but not what he once was. Keep in mind Ditka was only 49 when that happened. Almost a decade younger than Fox.
Dan Reeves too. He suffered a heart condition in 1998, came back and went to the Super Bowl. After that he had just one winning season over the final five years of his career.
Chicago wanted to believe that they were getting the master of team turnarounds when he was hired in 2015. It may be instead they got a shadow of who the man once was. Brushes with death are fairly unforgiving that way. This isn’t a crime or a knock on Fox. It’s merely a reality the Bears must face, and another reason it’s time for a change.
