Jack Patera

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Jack Patera
Date of birth August 1, 1933
Place of birth Bismarck, North Dakota
Position(s) Offensive Guard
Linebacker
College Oregon
NFL Draft 1955 / Round 4
Statistics
Team(s)
1955-1957
1958-1959
1960-1961		 Baltimore Colts
Chicago Cardinals
Dallas Cowboys

John Arlen "Jack" Patera (born August 1, 1933) is a former American Football player and coach in the National Football League. He played for the Baltimore Colts, Chicago Cardinals and Dallas Cowboys. He was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Rams, New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings. Patera was the first head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. His career head coaching record is 35-59-0, all with the Seahawks.

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[edit] College Football

Patera attended Washington High School in Portland, Oregon. Upon graduation he enrolled at the University of Oregon, where he played football from 1951-1954, earning All-Pacific Coast Conference honors as a tackle in his senior year. Other honors included his selection to play in the 1955 East-West Shrine Game, the Hula Bowl, and the College All-Star Game. Patera was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1982 and the University of Oregon Hall of Fame in 2000.

[edit] NFL Player career

Patera's NFL playing career started in 1955 when he was selected as a fourth round draft pick by the Baltimore Colts. Although he was initially drafted as an offensive guard, he was soon switched to the defense as a linebacker and played at that position for three seasons under head coach Weeb Ewbank. In 1958, he was traded to the Chicago Cardinals and played there for two seasons under head coach Frank Ivy. In 1960, he was selected by the new Dallas Cowboys in the NFL expansion draft. Under head coach Tom Landry, he was designated as the starting middle linebacker in the Cowboys 4-3 defensive scheme. Unfortunately Patera's playing career ended early when he suffered a knee injury in the fourth game of the 1960 season. Patera returned in 1961, but played in only two games and retired at the end of the season.

[edit] NFL Assistant Coach career

His playing days over, Patera turned his attention to coaching and joined the Los Angeles Rams in 1963 as a defensive line coach. During his tenure with the Rams from 1963 to 1967, he was responsible for directing the Fearsome Foursome, one of the most dominating defensive lines in the NFL during the sixties.

In 1968, Patera became an assistant coach for the New York Giants, but left after one year to take an assistant coaching position with the Minnesota Vikings under head coach Bud Grant. As defensive line coach with the Vikings from 1969 to 1976, Patera worked with another very talented and dominant defensive line, nicknamed the Purple People Eaters. During this period, the Vikings would go to three Super Bowls (IV, VIII, IX).

[edit] NFL Head Coach career

In January 1976, Patera was hired as the first head coach for the new Seattle Seahawks expansion team. Shortly after arriving, he began the difficult task of building a competitive team from the ground up. Along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Seahawks selected 39 players through the NFL expansion draft held on March 30-31, 1976. The other 26 NFL teams each protected 29 players on their rosters. Seattle and Tampa Bay alternated selections from the remaining pool of unprotected players. Acquiring quality veteran players via free agency was not an aspect of the league at that time. However, the Seahawks were awarded the 2nd overall pick in the 1976 draft, a pick they used on defensive tackle Steve Niehaus.

Since he would not have the player talent to compete with other NFL teams possessing superior power, speed and finesse, Patera resorted to a wide-open gambling style offense that was centered around a passing game using lots of creative gadget plays. “I had a team that could move the ball like hell, but couldn’t stop anybody,” Patera said. “So I figured that to win more ballgames we’d simply have to gamble more often. I would much rather have beaten teams on muscle and execution, but we just didn’t have the talent.”

Even with the lack of talent, Patera still found a way to win games. In 1976, the Seahawks would finish their first season with a 2-12 record, which was typical for a first year expansion team. The 1976 season also showed promise for the future with QB Jim Zorn and WR Steve Largent beginning to develop into a potent offensive combination. Behind Zorn and Largent, the team improved their performance with a 5-9 record in 1977. When the Seahawks finished with an impressive 9-7 record in their third season, Patera was voted the NFL Coach of the Year in 1978 by the Associated Press and Sporting News. The Seahawks finished with a 9-7 record again in 1979, but it was followed by disappointing losing seasons in 1980 and 1981.

As a head coach, Patera was considered to be a stern disciplinarian with strict rules of conduct. For example, he required players to hold their helmets a certain way on the sidelines during the playing of the national anthem. His players were required to wear coats and ties when traveling on the road. During training camp even the trainers and ball boys had to participate in pre-workout exercise routines. One of his most controversial rules was that he wouldn't allow players to have water breaks during practices at training camp in Cheney, Washington where temperatures frequently reached into the nineties in July and August.

Patera's relationship with the local press in Seattle was stormy at times. He did not enjoy the constant questions about his coaching decisions and the dissection of his teams performance by the sports reporters. He once held a seven-second press conference after a loss in Seattle. After asking, "Any questions?", he left the room when reporters did not speak up quickly enough.

In 1982, the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA) was threatening to strike over deadlocked negotiations with NFL team owners to give a percentage of the gross revenues for player salaries. Patera's relationship with his players rapidly deteriorated when he first threatened and then fined players for participating in a union solidarity handshake with the opposing team at midfield during pre-season games. When Sam McCullum, a popular player and union representative, was cut from the team by Patera one week before the season started, it was speculated the release was done as retaliation for McCullum's union activities. The release was eventually ruled an illegal termination in an "Unfair Labor Practice" lawsuit brought against the team by the NFLPA and McCullum.

After losing the first two games of the season, Patera was fired by the Seahawks on October 13, 1982 along with general manager John Thompson. The announcement was made by John Nordstrom, representing the Nordstrom family as majority owners. The firing occurred during the 57-day NFL players strike which had started on September 21. He was replaced by Mike McCormack, who was the Seahawks director of football operations, as the interim head coach for the remainder of the 1982 season.

After being fired by the Seahawks, Patera never took another coaching position and is completely retired from football. He currently resides in Cle Elum, Washington. He and his wife, Susan, are divorced after 44 years of marriage. They have four children.

[edit] Trivia

Jack is the older brother of former professional wrestler Ken Patera.

[edit] References

Preceded by
first coach		 Seattle Seahawks Head Coaches
1976–1982		 Succeeded by
Mike McCormack


Seattle Seahawks Head Coaches
Patera • McCormack • Knox • Flores • Erickson • Holmgren
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