American Football (NFL, College, etc.)

gaijinmark wrote:Former NFL star Bubba Smith dies

aww my big Guy is gone :puppydog: :puppydog: :(
Police Academy was the bomb with him in it ... to be honest didn't know he played foot until yesterday :mecry:
R.I.P condolence Goes out o his family

gaijinmark wrote:Former NFL star Bubba Smith dies

This is sad news. I am old enough to remember Bubba Smith from his collegiate playing days at Michigan State. He was a two-time All-American defensive end, a member of the college football hall of fame, and one of the most physically intimidating players ever in college football (he was six feet seven and probably weighed around 270 pounds--that was huge back in the mid-60's). Spartan fans used to chant "kill Bubba kill" at home games. He was the first player drafted in 1967 and went on to have a fine pro career, winning a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Colts in 1971.

By all accounts, off the field he was a really good guy. For me it's somewhat strange that most people remember him as an actor (judging by the comments posted on the ESPN website). I guess it's a generation thing.

gaijinmark wrote:Just in the past month we've had former Notre Dame/Denver Bronco Pete Duranko, former 49er Forrest Blue (one of my all time favorite names in sports) and now Bubba Smith pass away. They were all contemporaries. I hope this isn't a trend. :sweat:

The great TE John Mackey passed away as well in July. All of these guys were relatively young--in their mid-60's. Very disconcerting.

shin2

Hmm. What does it say about us when we both think of someone in their mid sixties as "reletively young"?

Geezer wrote:shin2

Hmm. What does it say about us when we both think of someone in their mid sixties as "reletively young"?

Optimistic? :rofl:

I'm driving on the freeway listening to a sports talk radio station when they introduce a segment on who should be put on an NFL team's Mt. Rushmore. The first team they talked about happened to be the Cincinnati Bengals, and there was a lot of heated discussion among the hosts, producers, and callers. That got me to thinking, and for some NFL teams, particularly those with rich legacies, it would be pretty difficult to choose which four people to put on their Mt. Rushmore. Take for example the two oldest NFL franchises--the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Who would you choose, and just as difficult, who would have to be left off?

My two cents:

Bears: George Halas, Bronko Nagurski, Dick Butkus, Walter Payton

Packers: Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Forrest Gregg, Reggie White


Tough to leave Gale Sayers, my all-time favorite running back, off. :sweat:

Lots of worthy people to consider from those two storied franchises.

The Cowboys and the Forty-niners were bitter rivals in the 80's and 90's. So who should be on their Mt. Rushmore?

Dallas: Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Emmitt Smith, Randy White

San Francisco: Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice


Like the Bears and the Packers, there were many worthy candidates from these two teams.


Two more storied franchises who ended up moving to new locales:

Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams: Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Jackie Slater, Marshall Faulk

Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts: Johnny Unitas, Jim Parker, Gino Marchetti, Peyton Manning

Three more established franchises with rich histories are the New York Giants, Washington Redskins, and Cleveland Browns.
A bit of trivia:
The Giants were named after their baseball counterparts, something that happened quite frequently back then (New York Yankees, Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Boston Braves, Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators were all names of NFL teams)

The Washington Redskins were originally the Boston Braves, then became the Boston Redskins before moving to DC

The Cleveland Browns are the only NFL team named after their head coach

Giants Mt. Rushmore: Emlen Tunnell, Mel Hein, Roosevelt Brown, Lawrence Taylor

Redskins Mt. Rushmore: Joe Gibbs, Sammy Baugh, Charley Taylor, Darrell Green

Browns Mt. Rushmore: Paul Brown, Jim Brown, Otto Graham, Lou Groza

For the Giants, can't believe you left off Sam Huff!!! :rolleyes:

(Prime candidate for most overrated player in NFL history)

gaijinmark wrote:For the Giants, can't believe you left off Sam Huff!!! :rolleyes:

(Prime candidate for most overrated player in NFL history)

I think the most overrated player in NFL History is another New York player, Jets QB Joe Namath who threw far more interceptions in his career than touchdowns.

If you had a Mt. Rushmore of most overrated players, it would be easy to plaster Giants and Jets on it. I think playing on teams in New York has a lot to do with players being overhyped. As mentioned above, Sam Huff and Joe Namath are no-brainer choices. Frank Gifford and Phil Simms could join them.

Re: Huff--the New York media touted him as always being around the ball. One of his contemporaries added, "yeah, after the play was over." An average player who courted the media who was only too happy to oblige.

Speaking of courting the media, re: Namath--once and for all, he was not THE reason the Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. I remember watching that game on TV. The Jets won because of 1) their defense which forced five turnovers and shut out the Colts until a little more than three minutes left in the game, ultimately holding Baltimore to seven measly points; 2) their offensive line which controlled the line of scrimmage against the vaunted Colts defense which included all-pros Bubba Smith Smith and Mike Curtis as part of their front seven; 3) FB Matt Snell who rushed for 121 yards in addition to catching four passes for another 40 yards thus accounting for over half the total yards of the Jets offense that day; 4) kicker Jim Turner who scored 10 of the Jets 16 points in the game; 5) head coach Weeb Ewbank who had a knack for preparing his teams to win big games.

Weeb Ewbank btw, coached and won the two most important games in pro football history: Super Bowl III which gave the AFL legitimacy against the established NFL; and the 1958 NFL championship game when his (ironically) Baltimore Colts beat the (ironically) New York Giants in the "NFL's greatest game."

As for Namath's role in Super Bowl III . . . well, he didn't screw up. His passing stats were rather pedestrian, he threw one or two very good passes, and, despite the fact that his team scored only one TD (by Snell), he was named the game's MVP, the only QB ever named Super Bowl MVP who didn't throw a TD pass in the game.

shin2 wrote:If you had a Mt. Rushmore of most overrated players, it would be easy to plaster Giants and Jets on it. I think playing on teams in New York has a lot to do with players being overhyped. As mentioned above, Sam Huff and Joe Namath are no-brainer choices. Frank Gifford and Phil Simms could join them.

Re: Huff--the New York media touted him as always being around the ball. One of his contemporaries added, "yeah, after the play was over." An average player who courted the media who was only too happy to oblige.

Speaking of courting the media, re: Namath--once and for all, he was not THE reason the Jets upset the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. I remember watching that game on TV. The Jets won because of 1) their defense which forced five turnovers and shut out the Colts until a little more than three minutes left in the game, ultimately holding Baltimore to seven measly points; 2) their offensive line which controlled the line of scrimmage against the vaunted Colts defense which included all-pros Bubba Smith Smith and Mike Curtis as part of their front seven; 3) FB Matt Snell who rushed for 121 yards in addition to catching four passes for another 40 yards thus accounting for over half the total yards of the Jets offense that day; 4) kicker Jim Turner who scored 10 of the Jets 16 points in the game; 5) head coach Weeb Ewbank who had a knack for preparing his teams to win big games.

Weeb Ewbank btw, coached and won the two most important games in pro football history: Super Bowl III which gave the AFL legitimacy against the established NFL; and the 1958 NFL championship game when his (ironically) Baltimore Colts beat the (ironically) New York Giants in the "NFL's greatest game."

As for Namath's role in Super Bowl III . . . well, he didn't screw up. His passing stats were rather pedestrian, he threw one or two very good passes, and, despite the fact that his team scored only one TD (by Snell), he was named the game's MVP, the only QB ever named Super Bowl MVP who didn't throw a TD pass in the game.

Well, they couldn't name Snell as MVP since he was black, huh? :rolleyes:

Until/if he's elected to the Hall of Fame it's just always going to stick in my craw that Huff is in and Randy Gradishar isn't. :crazy:

gaijinmark wrote:Until/if he's elected to the Hall of Fame it's just always going to stick in my craw that Huff is in and Randy Gradishar isn't. :crazy:

I agree with you wholeheartedly; Gradisher belongs in the pro football Hall of Fame. He's already in the college football HOF after a superb career at Ohio State; he had an equally outstanding career for the Broncos.

Other worthy candidates who imo should be in pro football's HOF: Tommy Nobis, Bob Kuechenberg, Dick Anderson, Mike Kenn, Don Coryell.

Then there's the situation where you have players who played absolutely brilliantly only to have their careers end prematurely due to injury: Kenny Easley, Terrell Davis, William Andrews, and Chris Spielman come immediately to mind. While they were healthy, each of them played their position as good as or better than many of the players who also played their position who are in the HOF. Btw, these four played more games than the great Gale Sayers.

Then there's the case of Bo Jackson--he was a part-time player (baseball was his full-time job) whose career, which ended prematurely because of injury, consisted of a mere 38 games. But in those few games, the argument could be made he was the best running back in the league; he was certainly the most explosive and exciting player out there when he played.

And then, how do you deal with the fullback position post-1990? That position is a lot different in the last 20 years than it was previously. Fullbacks have become basically a sixth offensive lineman who, when they do touch the ball which is rare, are more likely to be on the receiving end of a pass from the QB rather than a hand-off from the QB. Players like Daryl Johnston, Lorenzo Neal, and Tony Richardson were great at that position--would HOF voters acknowledge that?

Continuing the Mt. Rushmore tour:

These two franchises were original AFL teams who not only ended up moving to new cities, but changed their nicknames as well.

Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs: Lamar Hunt, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Derrick Thomas (geez, ya think KC had a knack for producing dominating LBs?)

Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans: Earl Campbell, Bruce Matthews, Warren Moon, George Blanda

shin2 wrote:Then there's the case of Bo Jackson--he was a part-time player (baseball was his full-time job) whose career, which ended prematurely because of injury, consisted of a mere 38 games. But in those few games, the argument could be made he was the best running back in the league; he was certainly the most explosive and exciting player out there when he played.

I'll never forget that Monday Night Football game against the Seahawks... A performance for the ages. :applaud:

shin2 wrote:Continuing the Mt. Rushmore tour:

These two franchises were original AFL teams who not only ended up moving to new cities, but changed their nicknames as well.

Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs: Lamar Hunt, Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier, Derrick Thomas (geez, ya think KC had a knack for producing dominating LBs?)

Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans: Earl Campbell, Bruce Matthews, Warren Moon, George Blanda

Bud Adams should be there for Houston/Tennessee.

mrsmith10 wrote:

Bud Adams should be there for Houston/Tennessee.

Is it because of his longevity as an owner or because, at age 86, he pugnaciously flipped off the Buffalo Bills?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTxHuUGG_2c

The Raiders and Chargers were original AFL franchises. Because they are both West Coast teams and have always played in the same division, a bitter rivalry has existed between the two franchises from the beginning. Curiously, one name that both teams and the AFL share in common is Al Davis. Davis actually began his professional football coaching career with the Chargers where he was employed for three years before moving on to the Raiders. In addition, he once served as commissioner of the AFL (for around four months, then resigned because he was pissed his league decided to merge with the NFL).

The Raiders have more slogans attributed to them than any other team in the NFL: "Pride and Poise"; "Commitment to Excellence"; "Just Win, Baby" (these three are actually patented trademarks by the Raiders); "Black Hole"; "Raider Nation" (the Raiders were the first team to use "nation" to describe their fan base).

Raider clothing is also the favorite gear of gangbangers.

As for the Chargers . . . well, they were the only team in the history of the AFL (1960--1969) to have the same head coach for the entire duration of the league's existence; and the first player to be inducted in pro football's Hall of Fame who began his career in the AFL was a Charger.

Oakland/Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders Mt. Rushmore: Al Davis, Jim Otto, Ted Hendricks, Dave Casper

Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers Mt. Rushmore: Sid Gillman, Lance Alworth, Junior Seau, LaDainian Tomlinson

Ex-Giants, Packers kicker Chandler dead at 76

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) \ Don Chandler, a kicker and punter who was part of four championship teams with the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers, has died. He was 76.

The Moore Southlawn Funeral Home in Tulsa, Okla., said Chandler died Thursday.

Chandler played 12 NFL seasons, nine with the Giants and three with the Packers. He won an NFL championship with the Giants as a rookie in 1956 and three with Vince Lombardi's Packers, an NFL championship game victory over Cleveland after the 1965 season. He was also part of victories in the first two Super Bowls, over Kansas City in January 1967 and over Oakland in January 1968.