4-time Super Bowl loser to speak today about planning a future
As a Super Bowl coach, Marv Levy is less than inspiring.
Best known for coaching the Buffalo Bills, Levy took the team to the big game four years in a row. He lost all four times.
‘We’re not going to bring that up, though,’ Hillel member David Spiegel said.
At 7:30 p.m. today in Grant Auditorium, Levy will speak to students about finding ‘A Gameplan for Success.’ The Hillel-sponsored event costs $3 for students and $6 for adults.
‘He’s a motivational speaker, and he weaves in these stories about football,’ said Spiegel, a junior television, radio and film major. ‘It’s football stories with a purpose.’
Levy coached several football teams around the country, including the Eagles, Rams and Redskins, before spending his last 11 years as head coach of the Bills. With a record of 112-70, Levy is the most successful coach for that team. He retired in December 1997.
In August 2001, sportswriters inducted Levy into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He ranks 10th among pro football coaches for best overall record, 154-120.
In addition to a formidable coaching record, Levy earned a reputation as a person of superior character. Many people, including former Bills Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly, call him their inspiration and an amazing motivator.
Levy, a Harvard graduate, was known for using war metaphors to prep his players for the game. He considered himself a general and the players his troops, frequently quoting Winston Churchill and Dwight Eisenhower.
He even created witticisms, or ‘Marvisms,’ of his own. ‘Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?’ he asked his team before his first Super Bowl appearance.
‘He’s a good man,’ said Rich Vleck, a freshman physical education major and avid Bills fan. ‘He helped keep everyone together and strived to be the best, even when they were the best.’
Even students who aren’t Bills fans recognize Levy’s magnificence.
‘He did so much with a team that under anyone else sucked,’ said AJ Bess, a freshman landscape architect major in the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Each year, Hillel invites a successful Jewish person to speak. In recent years, Hillel brought SportsCenter anchor Linda Cohn, ‘Daily Show’ host Jon Stewart and comedian Lewis Black to campus.
Overall, the group expects a full house and a great turnout.
‘Grant Auditorium only seats 400 people,’ Spiegel said. ‘And we’re hoping that the Buffalo Bills fans on campus show up.’
Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm