Archive for the ‘NFL History’ Category
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10
Aug
2010
VIDEO: Emmitt Smith and Daryl Johnston in Brokeback Mountain
In case you missed the NFL’s Hall of Fame ceremonies from Canton over the weekend, one of the highlights was Emmitt Smith‘s emotional acceptance speech, where he tearfully thanked his former Cowboy teammates Daryl Johnston, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin. It was genuine heartfelt moment in a sport where emotions are usually downplayed in favor of bravado; one that gave chills to even the most cynical football fan.
Well, it was only a matter of time before the internet took that moment and turned it into a trailer for Brokeback Mountain, right?
I don’t know, it’s still pretty touching to me.
[Via HotClicks]
29
Jun
2010
VIDEO: Walter Payton runs the wildcat offense (1984)
Props to the guys at Tremendous Upside Potential for uncovering this gem from the mid-80s, featuring Bears Hall of Fame RB Walter Payton running a variation of the Wildcat offense, WAY before it was in fashion in the NFL. I’m not exactly sure what happened to Jim McMahon that forced Payton into action here, but Sweetness is fairly effective here, leading the offense to about midfield before heaving a bomb downfield that gets picked off by the Packers (effectively a punt).
Man, that guy was the best.
7
May
2010
Is JaMarcus Russell the #1 Draft Bust of All Time?
Has Jamarcus Russell failed badly enough to make him the biggest flop in league history? (Original photoshop/hack job by ArtieFufkin)
When news broke that the Raiders released former #1 draft pick JaMarcus Russell yesterday, the sports blogosphere collectively wondered weather Russell had claimed the throne as the biggest draft bust in the history of the NFL. And while it would be easy to place the Rotund Raider at the top of the list, we’re not going to hand him the crown just yet.
Until now, the general consensus has been that Ryan Leaf – the #2 overall pick of the San Diego Chargers in 1998 - is the biggest draft bust of all-time. For our money, it’s Tony Mandarich, who the Packers selected with the #2 overall pick in 1989 (you can read our previous pieces on Mandarich here and here). But most people seem to think it’s Leaf, and since both he and Russell are QB’s, it makes things much easier for the purpose of this conversation.
The guys at Shutdown Corner put together a nice statistical comparison between the two quarterbacks, and while both players were godawful, the numbers paint Russell in a more favorable light:
So based on these figures alone, Leaf has the edge (for being worse, that is … 14 TDs vs 36 INTs?!? Ouch.) And when you take into account Leaf’s locker-room outbursts and the fact that he was universally hated by his teammates, Russell doesn’t really even come close to eclipsing the train wreck that was Ryan Leaf.
For us, the question of how big a draft bust someone is always comes down to one main thing: expectations. Sports Illustrated took a look back at the pre-draft hype on JaMarcus Russell from 2007, which includes some incredible gems from some of the draft’s top prognosticators, including Mel Kiper:
JaMarcus Russell is going to immediately energize that fanbase, that football team — on the practice field, in that locker room. Three years from now you could be looking at a guy that’s certainly one of the elite top five quarterbacks in this league. …You’re talking about a 2-3 year period once he’s under center. Look out because the skill level that he has is certainly John Elway-like.”
Way to go Mel. Good call. But he wasn’t alone … at the time, Todd McShay, Terry Bradshaw, and a slew of other “experts” were all drooling over Russell’s physical skill set.
Let's face it, we all saw this one coming
But while everyone seemed to agree that Russell’s physical skills warranted a roll of the dice, there were plenty of questions about his mental state of mind from the beginning. In the linked SI article, Peter King and Gil Brandt were among those who expressed serious doubts as to whether or not JaMarcus had the desire & work ethic to be a top-level NFL quarterback.
When Russell – who was the best QB in a weak draft class for the position – went to the Raiders, it seemed like a bust made in heaven. After all, Al Davis has made a living out of spending draft picks on physical specimens with questionable heads. And with Lane Kiffin taking over at the helm (if temporarily) for Art Shell, the Oakland organization was entering a dysfunctional heyday in 2007. We all knew how this story was going to play out, didn’t we?
6
Feb
2010
Peyton Manning: Backyard Football Crybaby (video)
This insightful video provides a small glimpse of the NFL’s favorite family during some of their now-legendary backyard football games at the Manning family home in New Orleans. Here we see young Peyton turn into a whiny little bitch whenever older brother Cooper puts the smack down on him, while Archie just watches in silence from behind the camera.
Classic footage right here, folks. Unfortunately, Eli was apparently still too young to don the full pads for such hard-hitting action.
[via StacheMouthFootball]
8
Jan
2010
NFL Coaches get the Auto-Tune Treatment
Auto-Tune, in general, might be the worst thing to happen to music in the last 50 years. Thank you Kanye and T-Pain.
But the one good thing to come from this technology has been it’s usage to turn news and other press conferences into somewhat-funny hip-hop parodies (see Auto-Tune The News). DJ Steve Porter, who created the best of the bunch in Press Hop and the Slap Chop Rap, has now set his sights on NFL coaches, resulting in the “You Play To Win The Game” remix video above. Well played, sir.
7
Jan
2010
CLASSIC VIDEO: Mike Ditka goes off on reporter while pantsless
Check out this classic footage of Bears HC Mike Ditka during a 1988 post-game interview with CBS reporter Johnny Morris … which Ditka chose to conduct without pants. The brilliance here is found in the off-air moments before and after the interview, when Ditka absolutely lays into Morris for having to answer the same questions over and over again. Vintage Ditka, right here:
[Via Kap's Corner]
4
Jan
2010
VIDEO: Chris Johnson 2009 Season Highlights (aka the best season by any NFL RB ever)
Even though he fell short of Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season rushing record, Tennessee Titans RB Chris Johnson broke the Marshall Faulk’s record for total yards from scrimmage in a season on Sunday. As the video above demonstrates, in 2009 Johnson put together one of the greatest seasons by a running back in NFL history, finishing with 2,006 yards rushing and 503 yards receiving.
In doing so, he became just the sixth player to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season, joining Eric Dickerson, Jamal Lewis, Barry Sanders, Terrell Davis, and O.J. Simpson in the elite club. But none of those other backs were nearly as prolific as receivers out of the backfield, so one could easily make a case for Johnson as the most complete back of all time.
Congratulations to Johnson and the Titans O-line, and to any fantasy football owners who had CJ on their roster. You had one hell of a year!
11
Nov
2009
The Aaron Rodgers Sack Tracker has been working overtime
(Screen Shot via madison.com)
The Green Bay Packers offensive line has been horrendous in pass protection this year, allowing 37 sacks on QB Aaron Rodgers. That’s already more than the total number of times Rodgers was sacked all of last year, and they are on track to destroy the Packers club record for # of sacks allowed in a season (62). In fact, if the way the OL played against the hapless Bucs on Sunday was any indication (6 sacks allowed), Rodgers has a good shot to break David Carr’s 2002 all-time record for # of times sacked in one season (76).
Fortunately, technology has blessed us with the Interactive Aaron Rodgers Sack Tracker, so we can keep track of Rodgers’ progress from week to week. But be careful not to put all of the sacks for the season up on the tracker at once … just trust me on this one. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.
28
Oct
2009
Top 10 NFL Draft Classes: #9: The 1985 Buffalo Bills and #6: The 1996 Baltimore Ravens
Bruce Smith, pre-Buffalo. (Source: footballfoundation.org)
This intriguing “from-the-vault” series by the NFL Network tells the story of the Top 10 NFL draft classes of all time. Serving as an inspiration to fans of suffering teams, we see the draft for what it is: a leveler, but one that requires knowledge. Teams that can’t get out of the basement are often stuck there because they don’t draft the talent available to them. History suggests that no team with a football-savvy, intuitive GM is going to stay in the dumps for long. So, we have to ask, why do so many teams have the wrong guy at G.M., and stay put? Seems clear that the NFL’s long-standing powerhouses find the right men to lead the charge–and do whatever it takes to keep them in the fold.
Below, we preview two of the Top 10 draft classes of all time: the 1985 Buffalo Bills, detailing the tragic circumstances that led to the rise of G.M. Bill Polian (yes, we find it odd–and, in the Bills’ case, sad– that the demise of TWO Bledsoes led to AFC teams getting to multiple Super Bowls), and (much to my dismay) the 1996 Baltimore Ravens (which should have been the 1996 Cleveland Browns (however, we all know that, instead of drafting Ray Lewis and Friends, the Browns would have selected Avril Lavigne and Raggedy Ann… so we’ll shut up).
Enjoy:
25
Sep
2009
Forget Vick, watch these Randall Cunningham highlights instead
With all the hullabaloo surrounding Michael Vick making his return to the NFL this Sunday, we here at ReadAndReact are reminded of a former great QB for the Philadelphia Eagles. One who didn’t gain notoriety by torturing animals: Randall Cunningham.
Cunningham was the the original scrambling QB, and he had a knack for extending plays and making thinks happen with his feet unlike anyone to play the position before or since. Combine that with his cannon of an arm, and Cunningham was nearly an unstoppable force when at his prime. Just watch:
Trust me, a Giants fan, it was difficult to post this. During the late 80s/early 90′s, I absolutely loathed having to watch NY play the Eagles. You always knew that it was going to be a long day going against Cunningham, and he’s a large part of the reason I grew to hate the Eagles so much. But no matter what, I’ve always appreciated how great of an athlete and a football player Cunningham was. And that holds true even moreso today.
There are two Cunningham plays in particular that I’ll never forget:
- 1988, when Cunningham evaded the seemingly sure tackle of Giants LB Carl Banks to throw a TD strike at the back of the endzone (2:08 of the above highlight reel). That play will haunt Giants fans forever.
- 1989, I was actually at the Meadowlands when Randall Cunningham came in as the Eagles emergency punter. We were sitting behind him in the end zone, when with the wind at his back, Cunningham blasted a record 91-yd punt! Check it out:
