Football fans around the world are mourning the loss of NFL Hall of Fame defensive end Chris Doleman who passed away Tuesday after a courageous battle with brain cancer that lasted more than two years. Doleman was 58.
Doleman spent the majority of his fabulous football career with the Minnesota Vikings. The University of Pittsburgh great also played for the Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers. He was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection.
It was in August of 2014 that Chris Doleman was a guest on SportsJam.
Doleman played on some terrific Vikings teams, but never won a Super Bowl. How did he handle that through his amazing career?
"You just keep playing. There's nothing guaranteed to any of us here in this world. I think it shows the resolve of your team, it shows the resolve of your players, coaches and management staff to continue to put out a good product so that you can continue to play to get to that point. Once you get there and once you achieve all the things you want to achieve you start all over again. You know I look at the Buffalo Bills go to four straight Super Bowls in a row. No one could tell me anything different that they weren't the best football team in the National Football League, even though they lost one game doesn't mean they weren't the best football team. The NFL and professional sports is all about promise and guys go out and do the best they can to fulfill those promises."
The defensive end was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012. He record 150.5 sacks during his career. He was selected as a member of the NFL's 1990 All Decade Team.
I was a student at Penn State when Chris Doleman started his college career at Pitt and remember his prowess on the football field. He talked about the great Pitt teams at the time that came so close to winning a National Championship.
"I think it was 41-14 we ended up losing to Penn State my freshman year at home and that was the only loss we suffered. My first three years in school we were 33-and-3. We were a really good football team but we were an independent so we always traveled and played the best teams in colleg football. Pitt football is near and dear to me. You know it really had some great teachings and tutelage to prepare to come to the next level."
Doleman was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1961. The legendary defensive star died on January 28, 2020 in Duluth, Georgia.
It was an honor to have him as a guest on SportsJam.
Click above to hear the entire show.
