ASHBURN, VA. — Joe Gibbs’ second NFL retirement was much like his first. It came as a surprise, and it was all about family.
On the one-year anniversary of his grandson’s diagnosis with leukemia, and less than a year after one of his sons left town to return to the family NASCAR team, Gibbs resigned Tuesday as coach of the Washington Redskins so that he could devote more time to what he called “the most important thing I’m going to leave on this earth.”
“My family situation being what it is right now, I told him (Redskins owner Dan Snyder) I couldn’t make the kind of commitment I needed to make,” Gibbs said.
The 67-year-old Hall of Fame coach will continue to serve as an adviser to Snyder but was vague about his new role. He is expected to return to the NASCAR team he formed in 1992, but his position there also is unclear.
Among the candidates to replace him will be two former head coaches who have been members of his Redskins staff, Gregg Williams and Al Saunders. Former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher also could be a candidate.
Gibbs went 31-36, including a 1-2 mark in the playoffs, in his second stint with the Redskins. His final career totals: 171-101, including 17-7 in the playoffs, and a career .629 winning percentage that ranks third all time behind George Halas and Don Shula among coaches with more than 125 wins.
Former Bears coach Dooley dies
Dooley coached the Bears from 1968-71.
Lisa Trace said her father had been ill with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, for the past 10 years. He had been in the intensive care unit at Lake Forest Hospital for the past three weeks and had developed pneumonia, Trace said.
Brady named top offensive player. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was named The Associated Press offensive player of the year, beating out teammate Randy Moss for the honor.
Brady received 35 1/2 of the 50 votes from a nationwide media panel, while Moss got 12 1/2 votes. Another of Brady’s receivers, Wes Welker, received one vote, as did Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre.
49ers name Martz offensive coordinator. The San Francisco 49ers hired Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. Martz, who was fired by the Detroit Lions last week after two seasons as offensive coordinator, replaces Jim Hostler.
Jaguars won’t have Peterson. Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Mike Peterson was ruled out of Saturday’s playoff game at New England because of a broken right hand.
NFL gains viewers. Games on CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network averaged 15 million viewers in 2007, up 3 percent from the previous year.
On CBS, Fox and NBC, the average was 16.6 million.
