Super Bowl Quiz: 1) Name the 3 wide receivers who have been
MVPs in the Super Bowl? 2) Name the one safety who was
MVP? 3) Who are the two defensive ends who were MVPs?
[Hint: One of those in #3 shared the award.] Answers below.
1958
The last 3 weeks of December 1958 were ones that changed the
course of professional football forever.
It all started with the final game of the regular season when
Cleveland visited the New York Giants in Yankee Stadium. Jim
Brown ran 65 yards on the game”s first play, but the Giants
pulled out a 13-10 win as Pat Summerall kicked a 49-yard field
goal through the wind and snow. [Shades of Adam Vinatieri”s
recent great 45-yarder.]
The victory meant that the two teams finished the regular season
at identical 9-3 records and thus there would be a playoff the
next week, back at Yankee Stadium. This game was televised
nationally and the Giants won, 10-0, as they held the great Jim
Brown to 8 yards on 7 carries. [To give you a better flavor of the
significance of this, Brown had rushed for 1,527 yards during the
regular season, averaging 5.9 a carry and rushing for 18
touchdowns. The next highest on the rushing list that season was
Alan Ameche with 791 yards.]
The Giants” two wins meant that they would now face the
Baltimore Colts in the NFL Championship Game, 12/28. It was
a contest that is still considered the pivotal moment in the history
of the sport. Held once again at Yankee Stadium (you can
imagine the shape of the field at this point), the Colts came in
with a squad loaded with all-time greats, including Johnny
Unitas, Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, tackle Jim Parker and
defensive linemen Gino Marchetti and Art Donovan.
The Colts held a 14-3 advantage at half, having converted two
Frank Gifford fumbles into scores. The Giants then staged a
great goal-line stand early in the second half and scored twice to
take a 17-14 lead with just two minutes to play. But Johnny
Unitas, he of the crew-cut and black high-tops, drove the Colts
73 yards to the Giant 13-yard line in one of the most memorable
performances in league history, with Steve Myhra converting on
a field goal with 7 seconds to play, forcing the game into
overtime.
The Giants won the coin toss, but had to punt away, Baltimore
taking over on the 20. Unitas then marched the Colts 80 yards,
with Alan Ameche going over from the 1-yard line to clinch the
victory, Baltimore 23 New York 17.
Once again a national television audience had viewed a great
game, though the New York audience had been blacked out and
there was a newspaper strike in New York which shut down all 7
dailies. The NFL was on its way to competing with the nation”s
national pastime, baseball. [Regarding the blackout situation,
many of you are too young to remember a time when home
teams” games weren”t shown on TV. The blackout rule stayed in
effect until 1973, when it was decided that a home game could be
telecast if it was sold out 72 hours before the contest.]
As for Pat Summerall, who is retiring from the broadcast booth
this weekend (at least in terms of doing games for Fox), he
played on both the offensive and defensive lines in the NFL (he
was at 6”4″ 228 in those days), though he is best known for his
placekicking. Actually, he only hit on 47% of his field goal
attempts. We wish Summerall well. Personally, I”d like to see
him back doing golf.
Super Bowl Dismantlings
I glanced at the history of the games from a total yardage
standpoint.
Super Bowl IX: Pittsburgh 16 Minnesota 6 . Pittsburgh outgains
Minnesota 333-119. Minnesota has only 17 yards rushing.
Tarkenton goes 11 for 26, with 3 INT. Franco Harris rushes for
158 yards (the team, 249 overall).
SB XII: Dallas 27 Denver 10. 325-156. Denver has 35 yards
passing! Craig Morton is 4 of 15, with 4 INT, all in the first half.
Dallas also recovered 3 Denver fumbles in the opening two
quarters.
SB XVII: Washington 27 Miami 17. 400-176. Miami was up
17-10 at half (helped by a Fulton Walker kickoff return) but the
combination of the Dolphins” David Woodley and Don Strock at
QB was 4 of 17 for the game. As for the Skins, John Riggins ran
for 166 yards.
SB XIX: San Francisco 38 Miami 16. 537-314. Joe Montana is
24 of 35, 331 yards, 3 TD. The 49ers rang up 31 first downs.
SB XX: Chicago 46 New England 10. 408-123. The Patriots get
one first down rushing, 7 yards on the ground, total.
SB XXII: Washington 42 Denver 10. 602-327. Washington QB
Doug Williams is 18 of 29 for 340 yards and 4 TD. Timmy
Smith rushes for 204.
SB XXIV: San Francisco 55 Denver 10. 461-167. 28-12 in first
downs. Montana is 22 of 29, 297 yards, 5 TD.
Assorted Player Profiles
Now I first really started following football in 1967, a good year
to do so with the Ice Bowl and all, and while I was immediately a
Jets fan, with the blackouts of local games in those days, you had
to watch other teams (most of the time an advantage, actually).
This was during the time of broadcasters like Ray Scott and Curt
Gowdy (with Al DeRogatis). It was also a time to collect
football cards. So following are some of the players from the 60s
and 70s, randomly selected, that may jog a brain cell or two as
you settle down for Sunday”s action.
Donny Anderson: 1966-74 (Green Bay). 4,696 yards rushing,
3.9 avg. 41 TD.
Pete Banaszak: 1966-78 (Oakland). 3,772 rushing, 3.9 avg. 121
receptions. [16 TD in 1975.]
Gary Ballman: 1962-73 (Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, NY Giants,
Minnesota). 323 receptions, 16.6 avg. 37 TD.
Dick Bass: 1960-69 (L.A. Rams). 5,417 rushing, 4.4 avg. In
1961, he rushed for 608 yards and a sterling 6.2 avg.
[My electric football game came with the Packers and Rams. I
later added the Jets. Never could get those QBs throwing that
piece of felt. And how patient were our parents to have to listen
to the rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?]
Fred Biletnikoff: 1965-78 (Raiders). 589 receptions, 15.2 avg.,
76 TD.
John Brodie: 1957-73 (San Francisco). Completed 55.0% of his
passes. 31,548 yards, 214 TD – 224 INT.
Bill Brown: 1961-74 (Chicago, Minnesota). 5,838 rushing, 3.5
avg. 52 TD rushing, 76 total.
Harold Carmichael: 1971-84. 590 receptions, 15.2 avg., 79 TD.
Bernie Casey: 1961-68 (San Fran / LA Rams). 359 receptions,
15.2, 40 TD. Went on to become an actor. Another star for the
Rams in my electric football games, along with Jack Snow and
Bass. Of course Roman Gabriel couldn”t hit them with the felt.
Rich Caster: 1970-82 (NY Jets, Houston, New Orleans,
Washington). 322 receptions, 17.1, 45 TD. 6”5″, 228 TE and
WR. [Caster, Barkum and Eddie ”the flea” Bell.ohhh my.]
Don Cockroft: 1968-80 (Cleveland). Can”t remember if he was
the last ”straight-on” field goal kicker or not. 216 FG, 65.9%.
Also punted 9 seasons with a 40.3 avg. About ten years ago,
during my mutual fund career, I was at a financial planning
conference and I approached this distinguished looking
gentleman. “You look like Don Cockroft,” I boldly said. “I am
Don Cockroft,” Don replied. Great guy. And we shared more
than a few brewskies that weekend, which is probably why I
can”t remember any of his stories.
[Actually, consensus has Mark Moseley being last straight-on PK,
having retired in ”86. Moseley”s accuracy was at 65.6% on FGs.]
Gary Collins: 1962-71 (Cleveland). 331 receptions, 16.0 avg.,
70 TD.
Jack Concannon: 1964-75 (Philly, Chicago, Green Bay, Detroit).
36 TD passes – 63 INT.
Clem Daniels: 1960-68 (Oakland, San Francisco). 5,138
rushing, 4.5 avg. (solid).
Ben Davidson: 1961-71 (Oakland ”64-”71). Who can possibly
forget this awesome defensive lineman. 6”8″, 275 (pre- today”s
muscle enhancers).
Hewritt Dixon: 1963-70 (Denver, Oakland). 3,090 rushing, 4.0
avg.
Bobby Duhon: 1968-72 (New York Giants). 840 rushing, 3.8
avg. I only mention him because Brent Musberger keeps mixing
up Duke”s Chris Duhon with Bobby. Idiot.
Speedy Duncan: 1964-74 (San Diego, Washington). 25.2 avg.
on kickoff returns, but no TD! That wasn”t my memory. He did
return 4 punts for TD. As a D-back, he also intercepted 24
passes and returned 3 of those for scores.
Oh, heck.I can”t go through the whole alphabet.let”s jump
ahead.
Jim Hart: 1966-84 (almost all with St. Louis). 51.1% completion
rate. 34,665 yards, 209 TD – 247 INT. QBs were more like
gunslingers in the good old days.
Bob Hayes: 1965-75 (all but one year Dallas). 371 receptions,
20.0 avg. 71 TD receiving. But did you know that he had little
success on the end-around? 24 for only 68 yards.
Leroy Kelly: 1964-73 (Cleveland). Morgan State alum. Took
over the running chores after Jim Brown retired in 1965. Check
out Kelly”s first three seasons as the prime back.
1966 – 1,141 yards, 5.5 avg. 16 total TD.
1967 – 1,205 yards, 5.1 avg. 13 TD.
1968 – 1,239 yards, 5.0 avg. 20 TD.
Unfortunately, he was very mediocre afterwards, finishing with
7,274 yards, a 4.2 avg. and 90 total TD.
Homer Jones: 1964-70 (NY Giants, Cleveland). 224 receptions,
22.3 avg! 36 TD receiving. One of the most exciting players
ever.
Bill Nelsen: 1963-72 (Pittsburgh, Cleveland). 50.6%
completions. 14,165 yards. 98 TD – 101 INT.
Paul Warfield: 1964-77 (Cleveland, Miami). 427 receptions,
20.1 avg., 85 TD. See Homer Jones, ditto Warfield.
Gene Washington: 1969-79 (mostly San Francisco). 385
receptions, 17.8 avg., 60 TD..but. there was another.
Gene Washington: 1967-73 (Minnesota). 182 receptions, 17.8
avg., 26 TD.
Travis Williams: 1967-71 (Green Bay, LA Rams).
“Roadrunner.” Burst on the scene in ”67 as a kick returner. Ran
back 18 for a 41.1 avg.(!) and 4 touchdowns. [Thus the reason
why he only got 18 opportunities.] In his short career he added
another two TD on KR, one on a punt return and averaged 29.7
for LA in his final season. Always exciting in electric football.]
And with that it is time to put away the football encyclopedia for
another season.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/27/73: #1 “Superstition” (Stevie
Wonder) #2 “You”re So Vain” (Carly Simon) #3 “Crocodile
Rock” (Elton John)
Super Bowl Quiz Answers: 1) 3 wide receivers who were
MVPs: Lynn Swann, Super Bowl X (Pittsburgh 21 Dallas 17),
Fred Biletnikoff, XI (Oakland 32 Minnesota 14), Jerry Rice,
XXIII (San Francisco 20 Cincinnati 16). 2) Safety: Jake Scott,
VII (Miami 14 Washington 7). 3) Defensive End: Harvey
Martin, XII (Dallas 27 Denver 10.shared with DT Randy
White), Richard Dent, XX (Chicago 46 New England 10).
–As the Pebble Beach pro-am gets underway this weekend,
many of us will miss Jack Lemmon, who died last June.
Lemmon was a fixture at Pebble in these events, though he never
made the cut in the pro-am competition in 25 tries. All of us
duffers could identify with many of his shots. But as frequent
playing partner Peter Jacobsen said of the great actor, “He treated
everybody the same, which is very rare in today”s world.”
–Dick “Night Train” Lane died Tuesday night. For an article on
this football Hall of Famer, check out Johnny Mac”s piece in the
12/27/01 edition of Bar Chat.
–StocksandNews official Super Bowl prediction……
St. Louis 63 New England 6.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
