Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh died Monday at age 75, and as most Redskins fans know, 1. Walsh and Gibbs knocked heads several times in the 1980s and 2. Gibbs' son, Coy, played for Stanford when Walsh returned to the college sidelines in the 1990s.

This is from Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Farmer's story about Walsh in the paper's Tuesday editions.

"No reporter knew Walsh better than [Lowell] Cohn, who spent the better part of a year with the coach in writing, "Rough Magic -- Bill Walsh's Return to Stanford Football.

"The night before every Stanford home game, Walsh and Cohn had a routine. Walsh would work late at his office, scripting the first 15 to 20 offensive plays of the game, then would meet the reporter at the now-defunct Rickey's Hyatt House for one margarita -- always one.

"One night, as Walsh and Cohn were walking in, former Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs was walking out. Gibbs was in town to watch his son, Coy, play linebacker for Stanford.

"Cohn couldn't believe his luck. He'd get to see how two giants of the game would interact in a casual setting. Would Walsh give Gibbs a hug, or just a hearty handshake? Would he invite the Redskins legend to join them for a margarita? Or, better yet, dinner?

"Instead, the coaches passed each other with barely a nod.

"Later, while sipping his margarita, Walsh offered a simple explanation: 'When we were coaches, he was my biggest rival.' "

That's great stuff. And it doesn't surprise me one bit. Since he returned to the Redskins, Gibbs would talk fondly about Bill Parcells -- and vice versa -- when the Cowboys would play the Redskins.

Yet when asked if the two kept in contact during their sabbaticals from the NFL, both said they would occasionally cross paths, but little else. Like Parcells/Gibbs, there was great respect between Gibbs and Walsh, but it was never a friendship.