American Football (NFL, College, etc.)

bmwracer wrote:
Chad and Albert, we hardly knew ye. :rofl:

Ain't that appropriate...I wonder how this is gonna play out.

Tu_triky wrote:Ain't that appropriate...I wonder how this is gonna play out.

It'll get plenty of press, regardless. :beaten:

The Detroit Lions have been a franchise of futility in recent years, more (literary reference coming up) paper lion than king of the jungle. They last won a division championship in 1993; their last play-off appearance was in 1999; and 2000 was the last time they had a winning record.

Bit o' trivia:

In the 1950's they were one of the better NFL teams, winning three league championships.

They were originally named the Portsmouth Spartans.

The shade of blue that is part of their team colors is officially called Honolulu blue.

They are one of four teams never to have played in a Super Bowl.

They were not the first NFL team to play on Thanksgiving Day, but they hold the record for most consecutive Thanksgiving Day appearances, an active streak which began in 1945.

Lions Mt. Rushmore: Dick "Night Train" Lane, Bobby Layne, Joe Schmidt, Barry Sanders

Chicago-St. Louis-Arizona Cardinals (although I guess it should be just St. Louis since that's where all these guys played)

Dan Dierdorf - Jim Hart - Jackie Smith - Larry Wilson

gaijinmark wrote:Chicago-St. Louis-Arizona Cardinals (although I guess it should be just St. Louis since that's where all these guys played)

Dan Dierdorf - Jim Hart - Jackie Smith - Larry Wilson

Under Don Coryell in the 70's, the Cardinals were very entertaining to watch, at least offensively: QB Jim Hart winging the ball all over the place; FB Jim Otis pounding the ball up inside; and HB Terry Metcalf doing a fair imitation of Gale Sayers running, catching, and returning punts and kicks. Then owner Bill Bidwell screwed it all up: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1093340/index.htm

shin2 wrote: Then owner Bill Bidwell screwed it all up

That's one thing I've never been able to figure out. You don't get wealthy enough to own a professional sports team by being stupid. But you have some owners, like Bidwell, Donald Sterling of the Clippers, there are others, that are world class idiots when it comes to running their sports teams.

^ Donald Sterling is the gold standard for lousy team owners. :bleh:

bmwracer wrote:^ Donald Sterling is the gold standard for lousy team owners. :bleh:

Beem, I'm surprised you didn't say Frank McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie. :bleh:

shin2 wrote:Beem, I'm surprised you didn't say Frank McCourt and his ex-wife Jamie. :bleh:

Those two dopes are a close second: Sterling has a much longer record of incompetence.

Baltimore Ravens Mt. Rushmore: Jonathan Ogden, Rod Woodson, Ed Reed, Ray Lewis

It's pretty remarkable that the Ravens, who have only been playing in the NFL since 1996, boast four players who rank among the best ever at their respective positions.

The Ravens are the only team I know of who are named after a poem. The only other team who comes close is Whittier College in Southern California whose nickname is the Poets. Btw, some notable football coaches have coached at Whittier: HOFer George Allen, should-be-HOFer Don Coryell, and Jerry Burns, who was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

bmwracer wrote:
Those two dopes are a close second: Sterling has a much longer record of incompetence.

Yeah, but he never took a once great franchise and threw it in the gutter.

shin2 wrote:Yeah, but he never took a once great franchise and threw it in the gutter.

That is true.

I loved watching the Miami Dolphins of the early 70's play. The synchronization exhibited by both their offense and defense and their emphasis on team play made terrific viewing. I think those teams from 1971--1973 (three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, back-to-back Super Bowl victories) are underrated by both pundits and the public, even with their 1972 perfect season.

There's an adage in baseball: to be a good team you need to be strong up the middle.

Well, those Dolphins were strong par excellence up the middle, both offensively and defensively. On offense there was center Jim Langer flanked by guards Larry Little and Bob Kuechenberg, QB Bob Griese, and FB Larry Csonka. Defensively there was nose tackle Manny Fernandez, MLB Nick Buonoconti, and safeties Dick Anderson and Jake Scott. Combined with other strong players and the result was a marvelously functioning, well oiled machine.

Dolphins Mt. Rushmore: Don Shula, Larry Csonka, Nick Buonoconti, Dan Marino

The Philadelphia Eagles last won an NFL championship in 1960. That year they beat Vince Lombardi's Packers for the title, the only time Lombardi lost a championship game. That Eagles team had two HOF QBs: Norm Van Brocklin (who was the starter) and Sonny Jurgensen. Coincidentally, Van Brocklin, before coming to the Eagles, spent most of his career with the Rams where he was paired with another HOF QB, Bob Waterfield.

Eagles' Mt. Rushmore: Steve Van Buren, Chuck Bednarik, Norm Van Brocklin, Reggie White

shin2 wrote: Jerry Burns, who was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings.

One of the better meltdowns, don't play this if you're at work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6-SvsRRuw

gaijinmark wrote:

One of the better meltdowns, don't play this if you're at work: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6-SvsRRuw

Only 17 f-bombs in about a four-minute period? I've heard coaches throw out 17 or more f-bombs in 40 seconds. :hehe:

Jerry Burns btw, had a pretty f___king good coaching career. From Wikipedia:

He moved on to the Green Bay Packers of the NFL and served for two years as an assistant coach to Vince Lombardi in 1966 and 1967 when the Packers won Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.[6][7] When Lombardi retired after the 1967 season, Burns was hired by Bud Grant of the Minnesota Vikings. Grant hired Burns to be his offensive coordinator. Burns served as Minnesota's offensive coordinator for the next 18 years, from 1968–1985. During that time, the Vikings made the playoffs 12 times, won 11 division titles, and played in four Super Bowls.
When Grant retired from coaching in 1985, Burns was named as the fourth head coach of the Minnesota Vikings on January 7, 1986. He coached Minnesota for six years, from 1986 to 1991. Burns compiled a record of 52–43 and led the Vikings to the playoffs three times.[8] He helped the Vikings win the division title in 1989 and led them to the NFC championship game in 1987.

Preseason action: Falcons-Jaguars on Fox right now.

The Patriots are an original AFL team (the AFL as a singular league existed between 1960 and 1969). Originally named the Boston Patriots, for about a month in 1971 they changed their name to the Bay State Patriots before realizing they would be referred to as the BS Patriots; they quickly renamed the team the New England Patriots. Supposedly the name switch from Boston occurred because the Pats' owner at the time was pissed at the city for refusing to build a stadium for the team. When a stadium was built in nearby Foxborough in 1971, a new name was instituted.

As far as I know, the Pats are the only team in NFL history to be named after a region (the Vikings and Cardinals, of course, are named after states). I think only one other NFL franchise was not named after a city (not counting the Steagles and Carpets, see my post about the Steelers): the Oorang Indians (1922--1923). Oorang is the name of a dog kennel franchise; the team's nickname was appropriate because all the players were actual Indians, coached by Jim Thorpe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oorang_Indians

Boston/Bay State/New England Patriots Mt. Rushmore: John Hannah, Nick Buonoconti, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick

shin2 wrote:Originally named the Boston Patriots, for about a month in 1971 they changed their name to the Bay State Patriots before realizing they would be referred to as the BS Patriots; they quickly renamed the team the New England Patriots.

LOL. :rofl:


With Rex Ryan coaching in New York, shouldn't they be the BS Jets? :hehe:

shin2 wrote:
Boston/Bay State/New England Patriots Mt. Rushmore: John Hannah, Nick Buonoconti, Tom Brady, Bill Belichick

If you made that list 10 years ago, you would have had to include Gino Cappelletti . The price of success, I guess.