Joe Gibbs On The Forgotten Redskins’ Dynasty, How It Still Bothers Him

The Washington Redskins won three Super Bowls in nine seasons – and no one remembers. Except me and Joe Gibbs.

For an unknown reason, NFL history has robbed the Redskins dynasty of the 1980s and early 90s of the recognition it deserves. But the real question is, why?

NFL fans remember the Packers championship teams of the 60s, the Steelers of the 70s, the 49ers of the 80s, the Cowboys of the 90s, and the Patriots of the present day. But no one remembers the Joe Gibbs-led Redskins.

From 1982 to 1991, the Redskins appeared in four Super Bowls and won three of those games. And in each game, they won with a different starting quarterback and a different starting running back.

Not content with one of the most successful coaching careers in NFL history, Gibbs created his Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR team in 1992. The team has won four Sprint Cup championships since 2000 with stud drivers like Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, and Kyle Busch.

I spoke to Coach Gibbs about flourishing in both sports, the upcoming Daytona 500, his relationship with Jack Kent Cooke, and why he thinks his success with the Redskins has been largely ignored.

FROM THE TAPE ROOM

The original audio from my 2015 interview with Joe Gibbs has been preserved as Tape #001 in the I-80 Sports Blog Tape Room, including the complete interview, timestamped highlights, transcript, and archival record.

→ Listen to the Original Joe Gibbs Interview

You’re an absolute titan in two of the biggest sports in North America, in the NFL and NASCAR. It’s almost like you’ve lived two different lives, really. What’s it been like for you?

I realize I’m one of the most fortunate people in the world. Because rarely does anybody get to have a dream as an occupation, and I’ve had two of them. It’s a thrill for me. I know how fortunate I am and I appreciate being a part of two great sports.

And what I’ve found, is they are very similar, football and racing. Amazingly, they’re almost exactly the same because it’s what? It’s people. It’s picking people, putting them on a team and getting them to sacrifice their individual goals for the goals of the team. It’s teamwork. And that’s a big part of life. I’m thrilled to be a part of the M&M’S team and it’s a thrill for us to race in a place like the Daytona 500 this Sunday.

Can you talk about (former Redskins and Lakers owner) Jack Kent Cooke and what it was like to work with him? 

Mr. Cooke I think was a great owner, and for this reason: Many times he had a strong opinion. He’d stick that finger out and say, “You need to do this.” But what he always said before I left the meeting was, “But it’s gotta be your decision; you decide.” Many times, if I did something and it turned out to be he was correct, he’d definitely let me hear about it. But Mr. Cooke always said to me,  “It’s gotta be your decision; you make the decision.”

The other thing about Mr. Cooke, he was always at his best when things were at their worst. He would come in, he would visit me, I figured he was going to be upset when we’d be going through a bad streak of losses and he would say to me, “Hey Joe, we’re going up and we’re going down together.” He had a favorite saying: “I’m going to lay down and bleed a while, and then we’re gonna get up and fight again.” He was special, I think, for me, just like Dan Snyder was the second go-around for me. I had two great owners.

The last question I have is about you personally. How much of your success has been attributed directly to your will? And also, as you’ve increased your skill in life, have you noticed that life sort of accommodates by demanding more of you?

I think for me, it’s been all about team. It’s been about people. I like people. And it’s being able to recruit them, put them together in a group and ask them to sacrifice themselves and their individual goals for the goals of the team. So, it’s been about people. And so I look back at my life… it’s interesting you ask me that… I think a lot about all the people and the relationships I’ve had. And that to me is the real thrill. And most of it, when you’re in sports, a lot of it has to do with the tough times. You go through tough times and losses, practices, all the hard work on the field, and that’s what kind of binds everybody together. And then you’re hoping that you can kind of capture that feeling and wind up winning a Super Bowl. And that’s hard to do. So, I’ve been thrilled to be around the right people, that’s the best way for me to put it. And with the right ownership and front office, and those assistant coaches, our coaching staff had a lot to do with our success.