The Bermuda Triangle - Reunited
It's been over 33 years since the three guys who formed the Bermuda Triangle have been together, but it seems like only yesterday that running backs from opposing teams were disappearing into the no-man's land that was formed by Nose Guard - Fred Smerlas, Strong side Linenacker - Shane Nelson, and Weakside Linebacker - Jim Haslett. I always thought, and still think, the Bermuda Triangle was one of the best nicknames that anyone ever came up with for a group of NFL players. It has withstood the test of time.
Vic Carrucci wrote a nice article in the Buffalo News about the reunion. You can read it at this link: "Bermuda Triangle" has Rare Reunion.
As a Free Safety, I had the luxury of positioning myself right behind the Bermuda Triangle and as such, I didn't have to worry about coming up and making many tackles, because very few running backs made it past them and into the secondary. This allowed me to concentrate on shutting down the passsing game and helping my cornerbacks with any long throws downfield.
The three of them put a lot of heat on opposing quarterbacks, which made them hurry throws or made them move in the pocket. Here's an example of how Fred Smerlas almost sacks Dan Pastorini and causes him to delay throwing a deep ball to Cliff Branch. The delay gave me just enough time to make up some ground on one of the fastest wide receivers of my era. Ken Stabler, Dan Pastorini and Jim Plunkett loved throwing deep to this guy.
Me and a few other former players joined Fred, Jim and Shane this past Sunday. We had a great time talking about the good old days and we also raised some money for charity.
Here are some photos from the event:
