Truth be told, Gil Brandt and I have shared an uneasy friendship over the past 17 years. He was extremely helpful to me as a young beat writer, but he could also be pretty biting.
Brandt was a devoted listener to our radio show at 103.3 FM ESPN, which was both good and bad. I liked that a legendary figure such as Gil chose our afternoon show over the others, but it also meant he was ready to correct any mistake I made on air. When I left the Morning News to work for ESPN.com, I called Brandt for help on a Cowboys story.
“You work for the enemy now,” Brandt explained, declining to help.
This lasted only a few weeks before he remembered how much he enjoyed seeing his name on all platforms. About that time, I decided to do a story for ESPN on the legendary Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans scout C.O. Brocato. It was a great honor to shadow Brocato, because even in his late 70s he was still running the pro days at places such as Texas and Texas A&M. Brocato, who billed himself as the only Catholic on the Baylor football team in the 1950s, was showing me what he kept in the back of his car on scouting trips when Brandt walked up to us.
“C.O., he didn’t have a clue who you were before he decided to do this story,” Brandt muttered before walking off.
Yes, the man could be a bit petty. But when you were one of the architects of the most prominent team in professional sports, it’s hard not to be prideful. I think the fact Tom Landry and Tex Schramm were given the lion’s share of the credit for building the Cowboys had to irk Brandt at some level. It’s one of the reasons he’s always been quick to let folks know of his friendships with Paul “Bear” Bryant, Bob Knight, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. Those friendships gave him instant credibility, in his mind. The truth is that Brandt did plenty of his own to warrant his enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
I’ve heard scouts scoff at Gil for “inventing” the computer, but his efforts in that area were truly revolutionary. He came up with a way to measure players that didn’t involve simply breaking down tape or having them run the 40-yard dash. And taking Bob Lilly in the first round of the 1961 draft was a stroke of genius. He would become one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the game and form the backbone of Landry’s famed “Flex” defense.
As my colleague Gil LeBreton wrote, Brandt was able to reinvent himself as one of the cornerstones of NFL.com in the late 90s. I actually think he unwittingly gave birth to the lucrative coach-search business that is populated by companies such as Korn Ferry and Eastman & Beaudine. Brandt had such great relationships with coaches in college football that he became somewhat of a one-man search firm. There were both NCAA basketball and football coaches who secured jobs based on a recommendation from Brandt. He could’ve made millions off those relationships, but he predated the rise of the search firms. I think the fit with both the NFL and its broadcasting platforms was better for Gil because it kept him around the players and coaches.
He continues to be the man who commissioner Roger Goodell pegs to invite players to the NFL draft each April. Just like he’s done his whole career, Brandt develops relationships with the players, parents and coaches. I had to laugh Tuesday as Brandt recited to a large group of reporters Cornell Green’s first phone number in Dallas. Green, one of the greatest defensive backs in team history, retired in 1974.
The man has a steel trap for a mind, and that won’t change any time soon. And he doesn’t suffer fools.
“The thing I liked about him is that he was totally accessible to the media, but he would snap on you in a hurry if he didn’t like something,” said longtime columnist Randy Galloway. “I used to hear that Bear Bryant would drop everything if Gil showed up in Tuscaloosa. And I think that was true.”
I love all the old stories about the Cowboys and the legendary Redskins coach George Allen. I remember Brandt telling me the Cowboys feared that Allen had placed spies in the hotel that overlooked the team’s old practice facility on Forest Lane. As I recall, Brandt bought out the entire second floor of that hotel to keep the Redskins from gaining any advantage. Landry, Schramm and Brandt formed one of the most unique teams in the history of the NFL.
It’s only fitting Brandt finally joins them in the Hall of Fame. Anyone who’s ever talked to Gil knew he would stick around long enough to see this through.
