Dick Vermeil looks absolutely fabulous for age 75.
So do I. Unfortunately, I'm 53.
Life obviously agrees with Vermeil and there's a reason for this ... Vermeil agrees with life.
In this world of phoniness and mediocrity, Vermeil is as true as it gets and as good as it gets.
The former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Super-Bowl champion St. Louis Rams, and Kansas City Chiefs was in Jefferson City on Friday in conjunction with a coaches clinic and fundraisers for the Lincoln University weight room.
He spoke at a luncheon Friday, and appeared at a Presidential Reception at the home of Lincoln President Dr. Carolyn Mahoney, along with the Blue Tie Casino Night at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
It doesn't take long to be captured by his warmth, smile, candor and sincerity.
"I'm excited about being here," Vermeil said. "Whenever I get to line up with Mike Jones, I feel better."
Jones, head football coach of the Blue Tigers, has deep ties with Vermeil. Jones made "The Tackle" --- one of the most famous plays in NFL history --- of Tennessee's Kevin Dyson at the 1-yard line on the last play of Super Bowl XXXIV to preserve the Rams' 23-16 win over the Titans on Jan. 30, 2000.
"Mike was the first free agent we signed when I took over the Rams in 1997," Vermeil said. "We went out and got him, because this guy could add depth to our leadership and character, as well as his playing performance. He could help permeate the locker room in a positive way when the coaches weren't around.
"Mike gets credit for making that great tackle, and he should. You wake up at night, once in a while, and you think about that. You shake yourself.
"That was a great experience but really, I think more about the whole journey than the one game. He should get even more credit for helping us get there over a three-year period."
This was Vermeil's pattern in the NFL, turning a loser into a winner.
He turned the Eagles around, earning Philadelphia's first playoff appearance in 18 years and taking the team to the 1980 Super Bowl. That memory wasn't quite as good as "The Tackle," as Oakland's Rod Martin intercepted Ron Jaworski a still-Super Bowl record three times in the Raiders' 27-10 win.
"Bad coaching on my part," Vermeil said. "Two of them were the same play ... I didn't think (Martin) could make that play twice in a row. But he did."
Vermeil took a 14-year break from coaching to join the broadcast booth, before taking over the Rams --- who had been the NFL's biggest loser the previous decade --- and leading them to the championship.
He did likewise in Kansas City, turning the Chiefs from a doormat into a contender. Now, Jones is trying to do the same with the Blue Tigers.
No easy task, to be sure, but he certainly has a great mentor.
"Hopefully, what we did in St. Louis will be an example of what he has to do here," Vermeil said.
Then came a string of 'Vermeilisms' ... "Work real hard," he said, "surround yourself with real good people, add some values and depth to the program, get help from the administration, get the city behind you, get some money behind you ... because he's competing against teams that are further along, right now, in every category."
Friday was definitely a step in the right direction, as an estimated $40,000 was raised for the cause.
"Mike will provide them the leadership to go in the right direction," Vermeil continued. "You've got to be patient, you've got to build while losing, you've got to find a way to be positive, even when it's tough.
"You just have to remain focused on what you have to do --- doing the right things for the right reasons with the right people at the right time. It isn't complicated, but people make it complicated."
During Friday's luncheon, Vermeil gave a stirring speech about his "Seven Common Sense Principles of Leadership." This was a spiritual revival without religion.
The first on the list: Make sure your people know you care! His exclamation point, not mine.
This is not a problem with Vermeil. If anything, he cared too much, as he became known for his frequent tears while talking about his players.
Obviously, there is crying in football. Has Jones picked up on this?
"No, no," the second-year coach said with a smile. "He's a lot more emotional than I am."
Two others from Vermeil's List of Seven: Be a good example! and Be sincere!
Again, this is who Vermeil is. "If you have integrity," he said, "nothing else matters. If you don't have integrity, nothing else matters."
Said Jones: "He taught me a lot about not only being a coach, but being a man. Everybody feels the same away about him, whether you played for him in the 70's or 90's ... he teaches the same things about character and building a program.
"You have to have guys with character and guys who will work. The one thing he always stressed to us was that you'll never get better without working hard.
"That's what we're stressing and that's what we're trying to do."
During Vermeil's speech, he spoke of the Lombardi Trophy the Rams received for winning the Super Bowl and what it took. "I told our guys that the trophy only weighs 7 1/2 pounds, but it takes an entire organization to lift it."
With help from Jones and upstart quarterback Kurt Warner, they did.
These days, Vermeil spends time with his wife of 56 years, Carol, their three children and 11 grandchildren, and he's in constant contact with former players --- from high school to the NFL.
He's also the man behind OnThEdge wines.
"I've been fooling around with wine all my life, because I grew up in the north end of Napa Valley," Vermeil said. "My grandfather used to make our family wines and I grew up helping him. Heck, even when I was coaching the Rams, I was making about 150 cases of wine a year as a hobby.
"When I got out of coaching completely, we turned the hobby into a business. Now, we make about 5,000 cases a year.
"It's good wine. Just google Vermeil and you'll see Vermeil Wines come up."
And this wine, perhaps, is the Fountain of Youth. Besides Vermeil looking at least 20 years younger than he is, consider this:
"My babysitter, when I was born 75 years ago, owns the (170-acre) vineyard," he said. "She's now 91 years old. She's unbelievable, she's absolutely my inspiration.
"Her daughter runs our tasting room and her son-in-law is our wine-maker and partner. So it's a little family thing."
That's Dick Vermeil, it's all about family. His family just extends to almost everyone he meets.
And that's as good as it gets.
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