Steve Weatherford on Tom Coughlin: 'He's the finest man I ever met'

For The Win advice columnist Steve Weatherford reflects on what his longtime coach Tom Coughlin meant to him, his family and his former team, the New York Giants. Coughlin stepped down from the team on Monday

When I got to the facility and told him what happened it really hit home after four years on the Giants how important my relationship with him was. He started to cry when I told him the story of how I thought I was going to die and I realized that with him, it was more than just football. Our relationship was almost kind of father-son quality to it. Not to take anything away from his biological kids, that’s the relationship he and I had and I think he had that relationship with more players than just myself … guys who come early and who stay late and work hard, we have endeared ourselves to him over time.

He’s a very special person to me. I wouldn’t be the leader that I am in the community or the father that I am to my children or the husband that I am to my wife without having been able to grow and learn under a person like that. When you think of Tom Coughlin, there are several things you think of and it’s integrity and class and excellence at football, but he’s so much more than what he is on the field. He’s the finest man I ever met.

One thing that people don’t know about Tom Coughlin is that he’s a pretty funny person. He enjoys smiling but on game day, or even in practice, when everyone sees him he’s very guarded. When he lets his hair down, when you’re in his office and it’s just you and him or in a team meeting he’s a really funny guy and he smiles a lot and he likes to laugh. He’s an incredible father to his kids and grandfather and mentor to us and funny as hell..

One of the things I think I’ll never forget about Tom Coughlin — and it actually happened this year  — was when I was in the bad car wreck and almost lost my life, my main motivator for getting back to New Jersey was to not disappoint him. I know how important it is to him to have his entire team at mini-camp and everyone to be there five minutes early.

That was one of the reasons getting back was so important to me — of course I wanted to be there for my teammates — but it was Tom Coughlin after I got into the accident that I was bending over backwards to get there for, but not to appease him. I didn’t train like I trained in the offseason to appease him but because I wanted to do my best for him.