Legendary NFL defensive coach Buddy Ryan died Tuesday at 85, after years of battling a variety of illnesses. On Friday, he was laid to rest in Kentucky.
Hall of Fame linebacker Mike Singletary eulogized Ryan, whose casket was carried by former players Richard Dent, Eric Allen, Aeneas Williams, Gary Fencik, Dan Neal, Dan Hampton, and Doug Plank.
“The thing I loved about Buddy is that everybody got the same treatment,” Singletary said during his 20-minute reflection on Ryan, via Gary Graves of the Associated Press. “There’s not enough time to go into so many other things that he taught me as a player, as a husband, as a father. But what he did for me I am eternally . . . in debt.”
Former Bears, Eagles, and Cardinals players attended the funeral.
“[W]hen you look around this room and see all these men, that is the result of a coach that is loyal,” Singletary said.
“It was great to see Eagles players along with a lot of Bears, and not just on that ’85 team,” Fencik said. “There were just so many [guys] that played for Buddy.”
There were plenty of great players that played for him, due both to his eye for talent and his willingness to draw up schemes aimed at putting his players in a position to thrive.
