Playing for Vince Lombardi and George Allen

Not many players can say they were coached by both Vince Lombardi and George Allen. Mike Bass can. He reached Washington in 1969, the year Lombardi took over the club, and he stayed through the George Allen years that followed. This is the road that got him there, and what he says he took from each coach along the way.

A three-sport athlete from Ypsilanti

Mike was born March 31, 1945, and grew up in Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a three-sport athlete. At Ypsilanti High School he played football and basketball and ran track and field. He earned a scholarship to the University of Michigan in 1963.

At Michigan he helped win the 1965 Rose Bowl. He graduated in 1967 with a degree in Education and a Psychology major, and he went on to be considered one of the smartest cornerbacks in the NFL.

Green Bay, Detroit, then Washington

Green Bay drafted Mike in the 12th round in 1967, and he was sold to Detroit the same year. In 1968 he spent time on the Lions' taxi squad. Then, in 1969, he signed with Washington, and that is where the career took off.

He became the starting right cornerback in 1969 and held the job until he retired during the 1976 training camp. In between, he played 104 consecutive games. The line on Mike's profile is that Lombardi saw something in him that the Detroit Lions couldn't see.

What Lombardi taught him

Lombardi's stay in Washington was brief, but the standard he brought was not: preparation, discipline and accountability. Mike carried those ideas for the rest of his career and into his coaching. When he got to Freeport, the rules he set for his teams were Lombardi's rules: know your assignment, respect opponents and teammates, and be accountable.

One line from Lombardi stayed with him in particular. In Mike's own words: "Lombardi said, 'Act like you've been there before' always kept me from embarrassing another player as a result of something I had done. Those that I played against were pros, and where respect is received, it should be given, which would not let me be demonstrative because of my success or his failure."

That's a plain description of how he approached a position where the other side's mistakes often become your chance. A cornerback who takes the ball away has to handle the moment with some restraint, and Mike says Lombardi's line is what kept him there.

What George Allen added

George Allen arrived in 1971, and Washington's defense became the group that carried the franchise to its first Super Bowl in the 1972 season. Mike credits Coach Allen with giving him the knowledge and experience to become the consummate pro on defensive football and the cornerback position.

The results followed. In 1971 Mike intercepted eight passes, which led Washington and put him among the NFL leaders. Two years later, in 1973, he picked off five more, third most in the NFC. In 1972 Washington went 11-3, won the NFC East and beat Green Bay and Dallas to reach Super Bowl VII, where Mike returned a fumble 49 yards for the team's only touchdown.

Years later, when Washington inducted him into its Ring of Fame, the stadium banner with his name hung beside the one for George Allen.

The career in numbers

The totals tell a clear story. Mike finished with 30 career interceptions and 478 interception return yards, with a longest return of 68 yards. He also recovered six fumbles. He started 104 games in a row, and across a nearly ten-year professional career Washington's history credits him with allowing only eight touchdown passes. In 1974 he was named All-NFC first team and AP All-NFL second team.

Washington later named him one of its 70 Greatest Redskins in 2002, and in 2022 the Commanders inducted him into the Ring of Fame. Those honors come from the same place as the Lombardi line: showing up, studying the opponent and doing the work the position asks for, week after week.

Read the whole story

If you'd like the full timeline, from the Rose Bowl through the Ring of Fame, it's on the about page, with Mike's own words and the career numbers laid out in one place.