"Three things happen on pass, two of them bad" (1963)

Mon Sep 4 05:34:02 UTC 2006

Texas lore hold that the legendary UT football coach Darrell Royal said that 
there are three things that can happen when you pass the football, and "two 
of them are bad."
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The quote has also be attributed to Woody Hayes (Ohio State), Robert Neyland 
(University of Tennessee), and Duffy Dougherty (Notre Dame).
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Does Fred Shapiro have this famous football quote?
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It goes back to 1963, and Royal's name is attached from at least 1964. A 
search of "two of them are bad" ("two of 'em are bad") on Sporting News shows 
some earlier cites in the 1960s. Maybe someone with Paper of Record access can 
check it?
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_http://talk.ocregister.com/showthread.php?p=367777_ 
(http://talk.ocregister.com/showthread.php?p=367777) 
Interesting. I had always thought it was Hayes, too. When I looked it up I 
found it attributed to Hayes, Royal, Neyland, and Duffy Dougherty on different 
sites. 
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_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Hayes_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woody_Hayes) 
There are three things that can happen when you throw a pass, and two of them 
are bad." This quote is often incorrectly attributed to Mr. Hayes but is 
actually a quote made by General Robert Neyland of the University of Tennessee 
which is "When you throw the ball, three things can happen -- and two of them 
are bad" 
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_http://espn.go.com/classic/s/beano_tenmia.html_ 
(http://espn.go.com/classic/s/beano_tenmia.html) 
I want to set the record straight about something. It was General Neyland 
who said, "When you throw the ball, three things can happen -- and two of them 
are bad." He doesn't always get credit for the quote, as it is often 
attributed to Woody Hayes. But it was Neyland. 
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_Paw Prints Quotes: There are 3 things..._ 
(http://pawprints.kashalinka.com/quotes/three_things.shtml) —Otto von Bismarck; Three things can happen 
when you put a [foot]ball in the air—and two of them are bad. —Duffy 
Daugherty; There are three things extremely ...
pawprints.kashalinka.com/quotes/three_things.shtml - 11k - _Cached_ 
(http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:a8Up-07w7lkJ:pawprints.kashalinka.com/quotes/three
_things.shtml+"two+of+them+are+bad"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=28&ie=UTF-8) - 
_Similar pages_ 
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=related:pawprints.kashalinka.com/quotes/three_things.shtml) 
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_David Stout - The New York Times_ 
(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_stout/index.html?s=oldest&inline=nyt-per) 
Recalling an oft-quoted Royalism of yesteryear, Wade said, "You throw the ball, 
and three things can happen. Two of them are bad." ...
topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/
timesto&inline=nyt-per - 49k - _Cached_ 
(http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:6MJn8FTEEX0J:topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_stout
/index.html?s=oldest&inline=nyt-per+"two+of+them+are+bad"&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&
cd=27&ie=UTF-8) - _Similar pages_ 
(http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&q=related:topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/david_st
out/index.html?s=oldest&inline=nyt-per) 
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31 July 1963, Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette, "Change Style of Attack" 
by Chuck Mills, head football coach, Indiana State College, pg. 22:
A controlled passing game is a safe method of keeping possession of the 
football. As one coach said, "when you pass three things can happen and two of 
them are bad." Well, this is certainly over-simplification. We feel we will have 
 the potential for a good passing attack on the one hand and on the other 
feel we still will lack a top break-away threat for the long run.
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9 January 1964, New York Times, "Royal Is Chosen Coach of Year," pg. 24:
Royal's teams stress defense and a running rather than a passing offense. He 
has said three things can happen when a team throws a pass--one good, two 
bad.
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"You complete the pass, that's good," he repeated yesterday. "You don't 
complete it, that's bad. Or the other team intercepts it and that's very bad."
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15 January 1964, Frederick (MD) Post, pg. 6:
Darrell Royal of Texas, coach of the year: "There are three things that can 
happen to you on a field goal and two of them are bad. There are also three 
things that can happen on a run, punt or pass, and two of them are bad. You can 
 see that I talk pretty conservative. I'm sort of the Barry Goldwater of 
football. The fact that we passed for a touchdown on first down from our own 37 
against Navy is just one of those things."
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5 October 1964, Indiana (PA) Evening Gazette, pg. 14:
Chuck Klausing has been quoted many times as saying, "When you pass three 
things can happen, and two of them are bad."
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23 September 1965, Lincoln (NE) Star, pg. 25:
Devaney, who takes the positive approach to passing rather than the approach 
that says anytime you throw the ball only three things can happen and two of 
them are bad, noted "Each week we try to mix our passing and running game 
to its best advantage."
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12 October 1969, New York Times, "Texas Rally Topples Oklahoma by 
27-17 With Aerial Attack," pg. S1:
Trailing, 14-0, late in the first quarter and forced to justify an offense 
that had thrown only 27 passes in three games, Texas rebounded for its fourth 
straight triumph in 13 games for Coach Darrell Royal against his alma mater.
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It was Royal, one of college football's most successful coaches, who once 
said that three things can happen when you throw the ball and two of them are 
bad.

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