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CFL/NFL HC Neill Armstrong paved his own path, including an Eagles' lawsuit

CFL/NFL HC Neill Armstrong paved his own path, including an Eagles' lawsuit

It can't be easy to go through life with a similar name to legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong, especially if you live in the same town, but that was the case for former CFL, AFL and NFL coach Neill Armstrong. Armstrong passed away last week at the age of 90, but left a strong legacy in his own right. Along with Bud Grant, he was one of only two men to serve as both a player and a head coach in both the CFL and NFL. Armstrong's son Dave spoke to Gerry Moddejonge of The Edmonton Journal this week, and talked about how the name similarity was particularly noticeable while his father was an assistant coach in Houston from 1962 to 1963 while the other Armstrong was training there:

“It was a funny thing, because when we lived in Houston, he coached with the Oilers when they were in the AFL way back when,” said his son, Dave. “And that was just when the space program had moved to Houston and Neil Armstrong, the astronaut, lived in Houston at the same time as Neill Armstrong, the football coach.

“And we would get the occasional phone call intended for the astronaut. And, apparently, he would get the same phone calls intended for the football coach.”

Back then, it wasn’t quite the matter of national security it would have turned out to be.

“At the time, that didn’t seem like a real big deal because Neil Armstrong had not walked on the moon,” Dave said. “But once he walked on the moon, that all changed. Every time we were on holiday and he would pull out his credit card, people would always do a double take and they couldn’t help but ask: ‘Are you the guy that walked on the moon? So he was pretty good natured.

“One of the best answers I’d ever heard him give was when one waiter in a restaurant said: ‘Are you THE Neil Armstrong?’ And he looked at this woman and said: ‘My mother thinks I am.’ ”

Neill Armstrong's story was quite something in his own right. He played wide receiver and defensive back at Oklahoma A&M from 1943 to 1946, then was picked in the first round of the 1947 NFL draft (eighth overall) by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. He played both ways for them as well and helped them win NFL championships in 1948 and 1949. This was back when the CFL sometimes offered better salaries than the NFL, and that led to Armstrong heading to Winnipeg to play for the Blue Bombers in 1951. However, as Dave Armstrong told Moddejonge, the Eagles didn't want to let Neill go, and even were able to force him to return later in 1951 before he headed back to Winnipeg in 1952. It's a good thing for the CFL Armstrong had to go to Philadelphia in 1951, though; that was Grant's first year as a player with the Eagles, and Dave Armstrong says his father's comments convinced Grant to follow him to Winnipeg in 1953, dramatically changing CFL history.

“If you talked to my dad, he loved his time coaching in Edmonton and playing in the CFL,” said his son, Dave. “He once told me a long time ago that those were some of the most fun years he ever had playing football, when he was with the Blue Bombers because, believe it or not, at the time, players made more money in Canada if you were an import, than if you were in the NFL.

“He was the No. 1 draft pick of the (Philadelphia) Eagles. He went there and in his second and third years, they won the world championship, and after his fourth season he asked for a raise.”

When they said no, Armstrong made his way up north.

“He ended up signing with the Bombers and the Eagles took him to court over it, and they managed to get him back for the end of that season,” Dave recalled. “When he went back down there, Bud Grant was a good friend of his, and he told Bud how great it was playing football in Canada.

“The next thing you know, Bud jumps ship and he comes to Winnipeg.

“And the rest is history.”

Indeed it was; Grant would play for the Bombers from 1953 to 1956, then coach them from 1957 to 1966 and win four Grey Cups during that time before heading to the NFL to coach the Minnesota Vikings, who he coached between 1967 and 1983 (and then again in 1985) and took to four Super Bowl appearances. Armstrong wound up being a pretty good coach in his own right, too. After his playing career ended in 1954, he took some time away from high-level football before resurfacing as an assistant with the AFL's Oilers in 1962. He then became the Edmonton Eskimos' head coach in 1964, coached them until 1969 and took them to the postseason three times in that span, and then became an assistant coach with Grant's Vikings in 1970 and played a key role in developing their "Purple People Eaters" defensive line. That led to a job as the Chicago Bears' head coach in 1978, and he'd post a 30-34 record over four seasons there. He was fired in January 1982, but quickly hired as an assistant with Dallas, and would coach with the Cowboys until 1989.

That's a pretty remarkable career, and one that stands out apart from Armstrong's name. It's amazing that he and Grant are the only two people to ever both play and be a head coach in both the CFL and the NFL, and also that he played such a key role in getting Grant into the CFL. He wasn't "the Neil Armstrong," but he was "the Neill Armstrong," and that's pretty special too.