Tom Coughlin Looks Back at Giants’ Super Bowl Win

Tom Coughlin was an unforgettable sideline presence in the N.F.L. for parts of three decades, a driven, tightly wound field general whose style matched the game’s inherent intensity.

But as a young man, Coughlin almost quit coaching to peddle annuities to everyday folks. Married with three children, Coughlin, then 33, was attracted to a stable desk job after he lost an assistant coach’s position at his alma mater, Syracuse University.

Judy Coughlin, who had known her sports-loving, competition-obsessed husband since high school, listened but ignored his new career plans. With a smile, she said: “Sure, you’re going to sell insurance.”

Judy, 77, died last month from progressive supranuclear palsy, an incurable brain disorder that erodes the ability to walk, speak, think and control body movements. Coughlin, who led the Giants to two Super Bowl victories before leaving his last coaching job in 2015, spent the last several years as his wife’s primary, full-time caregiver.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/15/sports/football/tom-coughlin-memoir-super-bowl.html