Captain Crunch

[WarEagle1982 449]

I’m surprised this hasn’t been mentioned.  I saw where Mike “Captain Crunch” Kolen passed away at the age of 76.  He was an AU great and also a starter on the “No Name” Miami Dolphins defense when they went 17-0.

[im4aual 487]

Great player and the nicest guy you could meet ( off the football field ). Rest in peace Mike

[Mike4AU 1,739]

52 minutes ago, im4aual said:

Great player and the nicest guy you could meet ( off the football field ). Rest in peace Mike

He was an extremely nice person. I talked with Mike at the Apple Store in Bham and met his wife. Top flight foks. It appears he died from Alzheimer’s. 

[beagle34 72]

Great football player but is it worth the risk?Any thoughts https://www.postguam.com/sports/local/ctes-plague-miamis-storied-team/article_7cb662e6-394d-11e7-bf36-97adc948070b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Edited April 4 by beagle34

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

It's up to the individual, I guess. I sure hate it for the family but I loved to watch him play. Well, listen and read about him playing would be more like it. Plus the Auburn review on Sunday afternoon.

[augolf1716 21,167]

One of the hardest hitters I've ever seen. RIP Captain Crunch. 

 

 

 

AUBURN, Ala. – Nicknamed "Captain Crunch" for his rugged tackling, former Auburn linebacker Mike Kolen passed away Wednesday at the age of 76.

A 1985 Alabama Sports Hall of Fame inductee, Kolen led Auburn in tackles in 16 of the 25 games he started from 1967-69, earning All-SEC honors as a junior and senior.

Selected by Miami in the 12^th round of the 1970 NFL Draft, Kolen played eight seasons for the Dolphins, winning back-to-back Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973.

For decades, Kolen returned to his alma mater each spring to present the Mike Kolen Award at A-Day to Auburn's leading tackler from the previous season.

"It's been a real thrill for me," Kolen said in 2016. "You're congratulating a player from the previous year who had a great impact on Auburn's defensive side of the ball, being the leading tackler. Being there at Auburn, being out on the field, kind of reminds you of some old memories. It's just a really next experience, and something I've thoroughly enjoyed over the years."

Kolen arrived at Auburn in 1966 after starring at Birmingham's Berry High School.

In his 2016 book, The Greatest Team: A Playbook for Champions, Kolen wrote about his admiration for Coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan.

"I liked everything about him. He was super organized and would have been a great CEO in business. His expectations were high," Kolen wrote. "It was an outstanding opportunity for a young man like me to be exposed to such a quality and disciplined program."

The title of Kolen's book refers to the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the NFL's only unbeaten Super Bowl champion.
 

Mike Kolen (third row, second from right) visited the White House in 2013

Kolen arrived in Miami in 1970, the same season the Dolphins hired Don Shula as head coach.

Like all teams, Shula's Dolphins focused on the fundamentals. While tangibles were important, Kolen said intangibles were even more so.

"I'm totally convinced that a big part of our success was TEAM as an acronym," Kolen said, elaborating on the meaning behind the letters in a 2016 interview with AuburnTIgers.com.

T: "Trust is really the foundation of any collaborative effort or any championship endeavor. The importance of trusting each other and having each other's back. And being committed to being trustworthy to your teammates is so vital, not only on the football field, but in the business world."

E: "Enthusiasm is really the fuel behind any championship endeavor. We had a lot of enthusiasm on our team down in Miami, and especially when we had our perfect season, 17-0, and we won the next Super Bowl as well. But you can't be a champion, and you can't have a championship organization without enthusiasm right in the center of it."

A: "Attitude is so vital in terms of the perspective you're going to have. A never-give-up attitude. One that is contagious, in regard to thinking and playing like a winner in every situation. It's a challenge. I also stress in the book a little bit about humility being a vital part of an attitude."

M: "Motivation is overcoming initial inertia and all of us have some of that experience at times. In a team environment, I've found out that the greatest motivation is love and respect for your teammates, for your coaches, for your leadership in an organization and really being motivated by that."

After his professional football career, Kolen enjoyed success in real estate, fitness center ownership and financial services.

Lessons learned at Auburn, in lecture halls and practice fields, benefited Kolen for a lifetime, he said.

"Coach Jordan had such a solid program for so many years," he said. "Paul Davis, his defensive coordinator during the years I was there, was an experienced head coach at Mississippi State before he came over to Auburn. We had two great coaches who we could draw from and look up to who were truly champions.

"They knew what they were doing and they were enthused about it. Totally committed to it. And I think as a result of playing under such quality coaches it did prepare me for eight years of professional football."

A man of deep faith, Kolen in 1969 became the first recipient of the National Christian Athlete of the year Award.

"Mike Kolen is one of the finest men I've ever known," said former Auburn athletics director and sports information director David Housel. "Being a football player was secondary to Mike Kolen. He's one of the greatest football players Auburn ever had, but he was much more. A rock, a beacon.

"When I think of Mike Kolen, I think of toughness, competitiveness, and a quality of goodness. He was a great football player but he was a better man."

Kolen displayed that competitiveness at Legion Field before and during the 1969 Iron Bowl. A team captain, Kolen determined to help his team end Alabama's five-game rivalry win streak.

"His teammates never heard him cuss," recalled Housel. "That day at Legion Field, they were about to leave the dressing room he said, 'All right, guys. Let's go out there and beat the hell out of them.'

"The players say that really got them fired up because when Mike Kolen was fired up enough to say that, they knew he was serious. It gave all of them a spark."

Auburn won 49-26.
 

'Captain Crunch': Mike Kolen earned All-SEC honors in 1968 and 1969

Funeral arrangements are pending. 

[Eagle-2 247]

One of my first Auburn football heroes as a kid. So sad to hear of his passing.

[AURex 1,999]

I was a true fan of "Captain Crunch" back in the day. I don't follow pro ball, but I know he was an imposing LB at Miami.

But as with so many men who succeed in college and then in the NFL, CTE catches up with them in later life. The connection between CTE and Alzheimer's is well documented.

Mike gave his all for Auburn and then Miami. He deserves our greatest respect.

I was wowed by him as a LB at Auburn and he has always been one of my favorite Auburn players ever.

RIP Captain Crunch!

 

 

[Mikey 16,604]

6 hours ago, beagle34 said:

Great football player but is it worth the risk?Any thoughts https://www.postguam.com/sports/local/ctes-plague-miamis-storied-team/article_7cb662e6-394d-11e7-bf36-97adc948070b.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=user-share

Anyone who takes an in-depth look at the statistics of football injuries would never let their minor child start playing the game.

[LPTiger 5,165]

33 minutes ago, Mikey said:

Anyone who takes an in-depth look at the statistics of football injuries would never let their minor child start playing the game.

I don't know Mikey.  Your point may be focused on "minor" as in when is the right time to start.    Overall, there injury issue is certainly better now than 30 years ago when getting knocked out meant you got woke up, eventually, and sent right back in.   No injury is a good injury no doubt.  But, football teaches life lessons like maybe no other activity.   Learning to be on a team of 100 guys, learning to be a team leader of 100 guys, learning to push yourself past what you thought was ever possible, experiencing the highs of wins and the lows of losses and learning from each.  I was fortunate enough to play high school football and college baseball.   I learned more about myself and grew more as person playing high school football than I did playing college baseball.   And, I enjoyed HS football more.   Baseball is a team sport in some ways, but it is also a lot of you at the plate alone facing a pitcher.  I didn't have any football injuries of note.  In baseball, I broke my nose -- a high inside fastball on a failed bunt attempt, and broke a tooth (at freakin Alabama's rock hard field when a ground ball came up and into may grill). Both probably caused concussions, but we didn't know such existed in the 80's.  I managed to overcome them and became a lawyer -- a low bar I know.  Our son played both in high school.  He suffered no injuries in baseball and only a dislocated elbow in football (which led to him deciding he wanted to be a doctor).   He just finished his second year in med school and is starting rotations in 2 months.  He did have 2 teammates who died after high school in separate drug deals.  I get what you you saying.   But, if we studied young adults and car wrecks, we wouldn't let them drive.

 

[JuscAUse! 1,410]

My son graduated college in 2010

 Played football from the time he was six. He was a great kid  but too little to play organized ball. He absolutely refused not to play. He would be in the yards of neighbors playing tackle football with no pads and everyone out there bigger than he was. We could not stop him, so we let him play organized ball if he wouldn't play without pads in the neighborhood. To be honest I'm not sure he ever stopped the neighborhood ball either. He played 4 years in college (DIII) and formed bonds with his LB group and a couple of others that are unbreakable. They all meet once a year for a deer hunt in a central location, and come from 4 different states to get there. They meet in smaller groups for a couple of NASCAR races, concerts, or fishing trips whenever possible. All are married and have kids and stayed out of trouble. There are a lot of pros to go with the cons in the discussion about playing the sport.

Sorry for the long post. 

Edited April 5 by JuscAUse!

[Tigermike 3,029]

One of my all time Auburn favorites.  RIP Captain CRUNCH.

[milehighfan 1,240]

On 4/4/2024 at 10:10 AM, im4aual said:

Great player and the nicest guy you could meet ( off the football field ). Rest in peace Mike

You got that right. I met him once and you would never have guessed he was a stud football player. R.I.P. Mike Kolen