It is hard to roast a nice guy like Wade Phillips.
That did not stop guys like J.J. Watt and Jimmy Johnson from coming to Port Arthur for the Port Arthur News Homecoming Roast of Wade Phillips.
The idea started when Phillips won Super Bowl 50 as the defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos. Denver defeated Carolina 24-10 behind Phillips’ outstanding defensive plan that held the Panthers high-powered offense to only one touchdown.
The roasters brought in by former News sports editor Bob West spent most of the time celebrating Phillips instead of throwing jabs.
“You were the most outstanding person of that Super Bowl,” CBS sportscaster Jim Nantz said via video.
Watt, who left early to co-host the CMT Awards with Erin Andrews, started the night by thanking the man who drafted him out of Wisconsin.
He spoke about how at first he was booed when drafted by the Houston Texans. He is now thought to be the most dominant defensive player in the NFL.
“Coach Phillips helped me be a better player,” Watt said. “There is not a better guy who you could play for.”
Watt told the story when he first came down to Houston after the draft and he was coming off the plane and was stopped by TSA.
“The guy asked if I was a Texans fan and I told him ‘Yeah, I’m a Texans fan,’” Watt told the crowd. “He then told me that white kid from Wisconsin better be good and I told him ‘Damn, I hope so too.’ Wade believed in me.”
Denver linebacker DeMarcus Ware was supposed to be at the roast but could not make it due to back problems. Ware sent in a video that had the most jokes of the night against Phillips.
Ware roasted Phillips for his many attempts at dancing and also reflected on several times Phillips tried to make jokes on Twitter.
One of the jokes on Twitter came after the Broncos defeated the Green Bay Packers and the next morning Phillips took to social media to troll the Packers. He played off the Peyton Manning Nationwide commercials by tweeting: “Chicken Parm tastes so good-I like it especially with Cheese.”
Ware was confused by the joke and teased his coach about the attempt at being funny.
Roast emcee and ESPN-97.5FM radio personality Barry Warner told Phillips he need to take tips from another roaster on hand.
“Wade you need to get with J.J.’s people about your social media,” Warner said.
The joke of the night had to go to Phillips’ son Wesley Phillips who is the tight ends coach for the Washington Redskins.
Wade Phillips is of course the son of legendary Houston Oilers coach Bum Phillips and the trio is the first three-generation family to coach in the NFL.
“The only reason I’m here is because I’m Wade’s son,” Wesley said. “Score another one for nepotism.”
Wade Phillips took all the jokes in stride and in very Wade Phillips fashion mainly chose to thank everyone when it was his turn to talk.
He also gave out two Super Bowl replica trophies. One went to the Museum of the Gulf Coast and the other to Port Neches-Groves football coach Brandon Faircloth.
“This night has been very humbling,” Phillips said. “It was outstanding. It was a little bit emotional and then we had a little bit of fun. Everyone enjoyed it. To have bust in the museum is an amazing deal for me.
“I was there at PNG. I never thought at that time I would be anywhere close to that trophy. I wanted to give something back