ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- The impact ripped part of Anthony Lynn's nose off his face, collapsed both of his lungs and sent his body flying about 50 feet through the air into a parked Volkswagen.

There is not much Lynn, the Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator, remembers about the hit-and-run collision that almost took his life the night of Aug. 20, 2005. Instead, the details about him being struck by a drunken driver speeding off a California freeway come from Todd Haley.

Haley, the Steelers' offensive coordinator since 2012, will call plays Sunday when the Bills host Pittsburgh at New Era Field. But 11 years ago, Haley coached the Dallas Cowboys' wide receivers while Lynn coached the running backs for that Bill Parcells-led team.

"He was more the victim of this than I was," Bills offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, left, said of Todd Haley - now Steelers OC - witnessing an extraordinarily scary 2005 hit-and-run that nearly killed Lynn. AP Photo

As the Cowboys prepared to break camp in Oxnard, California, that night, Haley and Lynn decided to go out for pizza. Leaving the restaurant, Haley walked across the street and called for Lynn to follow him. As the former NFL running back, then 36, began to cross the road, the driver of the speeding car -- who was about three times over the legal blood-alcohol limit -- swerved into Lynn as he tried to let the vehicle pass.

"[The doctors] said 100 percent of people die who get hit by a car going 55 to 60 miles per hour," Lynn told ESPN this week. "Somehow, by the grace of God, I survived it."

Bloodied and initially unconscious, Lynn woke up on the pavement with Haley holding his head off the ground and comforting him. Lynn could not move his legs and was afraid he was paralyzed. Haley remained by Lynn's side in the ambulance and at the hospital as Lynn eventually regained feeling in his lower body.

With the help of plastic surgery, Lynn's face was repaired and he was back at work in less than two weeks.

"They did a really good job of covering up those scars and blending that stuff back in," he said. "They showed me pictures before all that, and oh my God, it was scary. I get sick to my stomach when I look at something like that again."

All Lynn remembered from the crash was seeing the oncoming headlights of the drunken driver's car. Haley, on the other hand, witnessed everything. He lost so much sleep over it that Haley's wife, according to Lynn, recommended her husband visit a psychologist. In meetings that season, Lynn would glance over and find Haley staring at him.

"Dude, would you stop staring at me?" Lynn would say, with slight annoyance.

"I can't believe you're alive," Haley would respond, the shock of the night still evident in his voice.

In the days after Lynn was almost killed, the two told each other they would be "brothers for life." But as Lynn began to realize how much the crash traumatized Haley, the two coaches actually grew apart. Going out to dinner, as they were accustomed to doing on road trips, made emotions from that summer night too fresh.

Late in the 2005 season, Lynn offered to meet Haley out to eat, with the objective of moving beyond the harsh memories created months prior. But even though Haley accepted the offer, he was still deeply affected. This time, he kept a watchful eye over Lynn, stopping him as he tried to cross the street.

"It was like [Haley] was my father. ‘No, you can’t go yet. No, no, wait.’ I think he was a little traumatized by it, that whole experience," Lynn said this week. "I just remember years later, talking about it, he watered up and got emotional.

"That’s when I really realized he was more the victim of this than I was. I didn’t see it. I didn’t witness it. He had to witness it and watch it, and go through it."

Angered by what the drunken driver had done to his friend, Haley wanted harsh penalties against the man who almost took Lynn's life. But when the district attorney called Lynn before sentencing, the coach asked about the driver's history and family. After learning the driver had no prior offenses, and had a wife and two daughters, Lynn recommended the minimum, which turned out to be 300 days in jail and five years of probation.

"I just thought back on how many times in college or high school or even when I was in the NFL, how many times maybe I had too many [drinks]," Lynn told ESPN. "It definitely could have happened to me. If he didn't have any priors, any history of this stuff, then I didn't want this man and his family to suffer any longer than they needed to."

Other than some scars and lingering shoulder issues that affect his golf game, Lynn has suffered little long-term effects from the accident. Although he and Haley have coached against each other in five games since their final season in Dallas in 2006, Sunday's game will be the first time that Lynn -- whom Bills coach Rex Ryan promoted to offensive coordinator Sept. 16 -- will be calling plays.

"He’s always been in my corner," Lynn said of Haley. "Of course, I think he’s the best in the game. We watch each other’s stuff closely. It’s been a unique relationship. It’s a little different this time around because we’re both [offensive coordinators].

"It will be special."