A cliche perhaps, but living well is the best revenge. And it is how Ron Rivera has been going about his life’s work, as SI writer Austin Murphy chronicles nicely in his piece “Ron Rivera’s rift with Lovie Smith behind him in Super Bowl return.”
The Carolina Panthers head coach and member of the ’85 Bears has gotten far, far beyond one of his greatest career disappointments, that of being let go as defensive coordinator by Smith in the aftermath of the Bears’ Super Bowl XLI loss to Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.
Fittingly perhaps, Rivera now faces Manning in another Super Bowl, although job security is obviously not in the Rivera discussion now, win or lose on Sunday.