The Peculiar Truth about Nixon and the NFL

• President Richard Nixon loved football. Like so many other sports fans, he was an armchair coach who thought his play selections would lead his favorite NFL teams to victory.

• In truth, he was a jinx.

• George Allen coached the Washington Redskins (as they were called then). He was not only a Nixon supporter but also a longtime friend.

• 1952: Allen and Nixon, then a US Senator from California, met at a college sports banquet. They discovered they had something in common, namely Whittier, CA. Allen coached Whittier College’s football team in the early 50s. Nixon not only grew up in Whittier, but he also attended college there in the 1930s.

• Nixon played football for the college team. Sort of. In truth, young Dick Nixon barely made the freshman squad and didn’t play much.

• From their mutual backgrounds, Allen and Nixon struck up a friendship that would last decades.

• George Allen was an assistant coach in the NFL for 10 years before being named head coach of the LA Rams in 1966. He then took the reins of the lowly Washington Redskins in the 1970s and transformed them into a winning franchise.

• No thanks to his buddy, the President of the United States.

• 1971: Allen coached his team to their first playoff appearance since 1945. Nixon visited the team to give a pep talk. He told them they were going to win.

• Nixon recommended a trick play to Allen - a flanker reverse. The quarterback would receive the snap and hand off to a running back. The running back would reach the line of scrimmage and then hand off to an awaiting wide receiver who would run in the opposite direction. Allen ran that play in the playoff game versus the San Francisco 49ers.

• It failed. The play lost so much yardage that Washington had to settle for a field goal. They eventually lost to the 49ers.

• Sportswriters blamed the loss on Nixon’s play calling.

• That same season, the Miami Dolphins advanced to play the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Nixon rooted for the Dolphins to win because he owned vacation property in Key Biscayne, Florida.

• He called Miami’s head coach Don Shula in the middle of the night to congratulate him on advancing to the big game. Shula thought it was a prank call. He almost hung up until he realized he was actually speaking to Richard Nixon.

• Again, the President suggested a key play. It involved star wide receiver Paul Warfield.

• During the Super Bowl, the Dolphins attempted the play three times. It failed in all three attempts. That’s because the Cowboys had learned that Nixon had requested the play, and their defense was prepared for it.

• As a result, a group of Dallas businessmen awarded Nixon a satirical Bonehead of the Year Award.

• The next season, George Allen coached Washington all the way to the Super Bowl with no help from the newly re-elected President. However, they lost to the Miami Dolphins who completed the only undefeated season in history - also with no input from Richard Nixon.

• While those NFL franchises enjoyed great success, the Watergate scandal began to unfold and led to Richard Nixon’s eventual resignation in 1974.

• 1978: Nixon had retired to Southern California and coincidentally his pal George Allen was named head coach of the Los Angeles Rams. The former president told a reporter that he believed Allen would lead the team to the Super Bowl.

• Wrong. Allen was fired during the pre-season. He never coached again.