Archive for the ‘NFL History’ Category
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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:
18
Sep
2009
Memorable moments from the Giants-Cowboys blood-fued
The New York Football Giants and Dallas Cowboys meet this Sunday. It is a rivalry that stands among the league’s finest, as both teams have remained competitive in a bruising, unforgiving NFC East.
Surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of video on the rivalry on Web (at least in the 20 minutes I spent searching). Two highlights stood out:
(1) The Giants 2007 Super Bowl run included the first-ever Giants-Cowboys playoff battle. Before the game, the always-overconfident Jerry Jones placed NFC Championship tickets in the locker of every Cowboys player–when this news got back to the Giants and their head coach, Tom Coughlin, it served as immediate bulletin board material, and a symbol of the Cowboys hubris. (This clips starts with New York’s Wildcard victory over Tampa Bay… endure it.)
(2) Then, of course, there’s Emmitt Smith’s courageous performance in the 1993 season finale at Giants Stadium:
17
Sep
2009
Browns-Steelers: Still a rivalry?
Strange NFL videos from yesteryear (Part 4 of 213): Check out this bizarre, captivating video of a 1986 Browns-Steelers game at Three Rivers Stadium. The Browns, who–in 16 years–had NEVER beaten Pittsburgh in Three Rivers Stadium, go for the kill in this clip. Weird moment: check out Art Modell and his two high-society friends (including Al Lerner to Modell’s left) in an outdoor box, looking like they’re at a tennis match (do we ever see owners sitting outdoors like this anymore?). At one point, Modell angrily paces around in the outdoor booth. Fantastic. This rivalry is on life support in 2009–Cleveland hasn’t beaten Pittsburgh since 2003–but it once had meaning.
Back when Modell had a soul.
12
Sep
2009
Reminder: Pro Football is a violent sport
Here we sit on the eve of the first Sunday of the 2009 NFL season, and we’re as giddy as kids on Christmas eve. So, to help everyone get in the right frame of mind, we present the hardest hits in NFL History for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy:
Complex.com was also good enough to compile their list (w/videos) of the 50 Most Brutal NFL hits. While the list features some shaky video quality, has some notable omissions, and is heavily weighted toward recent years (probably due to video availability), we highly recommend taking the time to scroll through the videos to get yourself fired up for the season. (WARNING: There are quite a few videos of graphic injuries included)
Here are a few more of our favorites:
Brandon Jacobs – NY Giants
MORE NFL HARD HITS AFTER THE JUMP
