Andre Rison was always one of the more interesting characters of 1990s NFL.
Best buds with MC Hammer? Check. Owner of multiple nicknames? Check. Part of a trade for a No. 1 pick that ultimately netted the infamous Jeff George? Check. Heated, so to speak, relationship with an uber-famous pop star? Check. Oh, and he was pretty darn good at football too.
From 1990 to 1993, during those four seasons with the Falcons, Rison netted 48 touchdowns. Jerry Rice, for comparison's sake, had 52. In that window he never caught less than 80 balls in a season and racked up more than 4,000 yards. He was trending toward all-time greatness.
But then he signed a fat contract with Cleveland that didn't work out and found himself on the Jaguars, entering their second season of playing football come 1996. Throughout his journey to this point he'd experienced a who's who of coaching. Jerry Glanville in Atlanta, Bill Belichick in Cleveland and now Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville.
And that relationship was something else for the 10 games it lasted before Rison finished the season wining a Super Bowl with Green Bay in 1996. Here's maybe one of the more defining stories from that eventful season our Pete Prisco detailed in his fantastic oral history of the team. We'll let Tony Boselli and Tom Coughlin take it from here.
Boselli: When you are at the team meeting, nobody is talking. No one is saying anything but Tom. Tom is going to go through his spiel. All of us are sitting there knowing what he's going to say. Let's listen to what he has to say and let's get out of here and go do our thing. In mid-sentence, as Tom is explaining game-plan stuff, and that week it was all about (Patriots running back-returner) Dave Meggett and special teams.
As soon as he mentions Dave Meggett again, Andre Rison raises his hand after having I'm sure a couple adult beverages and says, "Coach, I got something to say. He stands up and starts the sentence with "bleep Dave Meggett," and goes on a five-minute tirade about "bleep Dave Meggett" and what we need to do. This and this, and give me the ball. The thing that shocked me most: Tom was just sitting there. I was waiting for him to kick him out of the meeting or whatever.
Andre sits down, Tom looks at him and says, "Well said, Andre. Well said."
Coughlin: Yeah, I do remember it. But he did make some good points. We needed to worry about us and not focus so much on the opponent. The way he conducted himself had both a positive and a negative influence.
I'm guessing Coughlin was just happy Rison didn't break out this rap from his rookie year in Indy (via Ray Didinger).
"Covering 'Dre one-on-one is like eating a burger without a bun.
He'll run to the left, he'll run to the right.
Shaking DB's all day and night.
Goin' for the bomb is what he does best.
Lookin' real sweet with ultimate finesse."
Andre Rison, legend.
