Allie Sherman

Alex "Allie" Sherman (February 10, 1923 – January 3, 2015) was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and of the New York Giants of the NFL. He later worked as a cable television and sports marketing executive and media personality.

Sherman was head coach of the NFL's New York Giants from 1961 to the 1969 preseason. He won three consecutive Eastern Conference titles with the Giants from 1961 to 1963, and coached in three NFL Pro Bowls. Sherman collected two NFL Coach of the Year Awards, in 1961 and 1962, the first time such an honor was awarded to the same person in consecutive years. He was the first "media" NFL head coach, producing and hosting his own shows on television and radio, and becoming a frequent on-air football analyst. After 1963, however, he failed to lead them to a winning record in his next five seasons as coach.

After coaching, he had a long career at Warner Communications (today WarnerMedia), where he developed the first cable television sports networks, pioneered interactive and pay-per-view television and events, oversaw and marketed the New York Cosmos soccer team, and produced for ABC and worldwide syndication Pelé's farewell game event (with Muhammad Ali and other celebrities). Later, new New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani tapped Sherman to become president of the failing New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (OTB), which, within two years, Sherman made profitable for the first time while revitalizing its tawdry image. Provided by Wikipedia