Great loss is part of a great life. We all experience it. My dear friend, Bernie Yuman, like millions of people around the world, is mourning the loss of the incomparable Miami Dolphins coach, Don Shula. But, unlike almost everyone else, Bernie’s loss — and therefore, his memories — is up close and personal.
I asked Bernie to express some of those personal times and feelings in writing so that Las Vegas Sun readers could share the Shula whom Bernie knew so well for such a long time.
He did it, but not in the typical fashion of a columnist. He did it Bernie Yuman’s way, straight from the heart. I thought I could improve his message by rewriting it. But I can’t.
So I am publishing Bernie’s recollections of coach Don Shula as he sent them, as he wrote them and as he feels them so genuinely and deeply.
We each know and remember people in our lives in different ways.
Bernie Yuman knew Don Shula. And the coach knew Bernie. They were both better because of it.
— Brian Greenspun
I remember like it was yesterday how it all began more than a half a century ago. I was a kid playing football at Miami Beach High School. I was working selling Coca-Cola in the end zone at the Orange Bowl. It was the first game in the history of the Dolphins franchise.
The kickoff went to Joe Auer, who scampered 95 yards up the right sideline for a touchdown. The crowd went wild. It was a historic moment. When the Dolphins kicked the extra point, as the ball sailed through the goal posts it came straight at me. Instinctively, I dropped my tray of Cokes and caught the football. First game. First play. First touchdown. First extra point. And I caught the ball. I didn’t have to make a choice. I was sealed forever as the No. 1 Dolphins fan of all time!
When coach Shula and I first met, we took a photo. There was no film in the camera. The next morning coach Shula heard about the missing film and invited me to come by and retake the photo. We spent the entire day together and have been friends ever since. If there had been film in the camera, there would have been no friendship. Our friendship was meant to be. My tradition calls it Bashert. I love tradition and I love coach Shula.
Don Shula was an iron man with a granite jaw. He came to Miami to coach an NFL expansion team. Shula’s philosophy was that, “Football is not a game for the weak of heart.” It isn’t and he wasn’t. That worked perfect. Shula had a strong heart and it was made out of gold.
When he first arrived in Miami, the Dolphins were a losing team, 3-11. Those days were gone the moment he became The Head Coach.
In his first year, Miami made it to the playoffs. The second year, he took them to the Super Bowl. In year three … the Miami Dolphins won every game — including the Super Bowl — and posted the only 17-0 season in NFL history. A Perfect Season! In year four, Shula’s Dolphin’s did it again. Back to back Super Bowl championships. Through his leadership and constant pursuit of perfection, Shula and the Dolphins changed the culture in Miami. He also changed the NFL. He brought integrity and dignity to sports in a way that recalls the words of the great Ralph Waldo Emerson who wrote “Greatness is he who reminds you of no other.” Coach Shula was great. He was blessed to achieve at the highest level because of the support of his family and because of his unconditional faith.
I remember when I went to the Dolphins training camp on a day where the humidity was suspended in mid-air. As I walked on the field, coach approached me and said that he wanted to see me after practice. I responded, “I’ll be right here.” After practice he walked up and said “I snapped my achilles. Take me to the hospital.” We jumped in my Corvette and off we went.
The operation to repair his achilles was successful. The doctors explained to coach’s wife, Mary Anne, that coach was in a Dolphins cast and won’t see training camp for 90 days. Marry Anne knew better. We went home.
The following morning I received a phone call at 4 a.m. Mary Anne was calling to ask me to pick up coach and take him to training camp. When coach got in the car, his focus and determination was unlike anything I had ever witnessed. He never skipped a beat. After a day of practice and meetings coach made his way to his office and almost knocked down the door with his crutches. He immediately went into his private bath to jump into the shower. I heard a loud bang, a crashing sound, so I reached in and offered my hand to help him up. I also grabbed a folding chair. He said, “What took you so long?” We laughed.
As a football coach, he could beat you with his players or he could beat you with your players. Years before he retired the question came up, “What do you want to be remembered for?” He said, “The winningest coach and a perfect season are great to think about, but the thing that is most important to me, is that I played by the rules.”
Character, morality, family and faith came first for coach Shula.
He also had a great sense of humor. One day Mary Anne invited my family and me to lunch at Indian Creek Country Club, an exclusive golf community. During lunch, I asked to excuse myself for an important work-related call. During the call, I saw coach get up from the table and I noticed his granite jaw coming toward me. When he approached I asked him, “All good?” He asked, “Can you read?” I said, “Coach, you know I can.” He asked me to turn around and look at the sign I was leaning against. I was wearing blue jeans, holding my phone. I turned around and the sign read “No blue jeans, No phones.” We laughed and he gave me a hug.
One day many years ago, I was driving on Miami Beach when coach called. He asked me what I was doing and I told him that my mother and I were out for a ride. He invited me to come to his home. He was going to take Tex Schramm, from the Dallas Cowboys, for a ride on his boat. I asked coach to think about the best way to help my mom make her way to the boat, as my mother was older. When we arrived at the Shula residence, coach picked my mother up in his arms and carried her on to the boat. Nothing was difficult for coach Shula.
Decades ago on one of Mary Anne and coach Shula’s visits to Las Vegas, we got to spend an evening together. Later that night, while walking through the Tropicana, coach put $5 on a blackjack table. He won four hands in a row. I encouraged him to increase his bet. With one quick look, from the corner of his eye, I knew not to say another word. He won 36 hands in a row. I let him know if he bet progressively, we could have retired. He told me, “Where I come from, you play one hand at a time and you always play the hand that you’re dealt.” Another great life lesson. He was always leading me forward.
I remember vividly that at practice one day, I stood on the sideline at the Dolphins training camp. On this particular day, there were no fans or visitors. Dan Marino beckoned for me to come onto the field. As I did, O.J. McDuffie, a player on the Dolphins, joined and leaned in to hear Danny with a couple of other players. Next thing I knew, coach Shula leaned in as well. When he looked up and saw my face, he literally froze! In disbelief he threw his clipboard high in the air. He screamed “Bernie! Get out of the huddle!” We shared a hug and a laugh that has lasted for decades.
And, lastly, but foremost in my mind because it involves two men I have loved deeply and have been privileged to call my friend:
I remember when my wife, Candace, hosted a surprise 50th birthday party for me at Shula’s Steakhouse on Miami Beach. There were only a few family members and friends in attendance. It was one of the greatest nights in my life. My lifelong friend Don Shula leaned over to my lifelong friend, Muhammad Ali, and I overheard him say, “Champ, I don’t know about you, but I got a $50,000 appearance fee to attend Bernie’s party.” Ali immediately looked at coach and said as only he could say, “I feel bad … I got a $100,000.”
Coach, thank you for making me a better person and for the gift of our friendship. I am blessed. The world is a better place because of you.