Super Bowl Quiz: [We try and front run events around here.]
1) Name the 9 Super Bowl MVPs (in 8 games) who were not
either QBs, RBs, or WRs. [I’ll make it easier. Here are the
years…1971, 73, 78, 86, 96, 97, 01, 03] 2) In the 39 Super
Bowls, only two different scores have occurred twice. [None
three or more.] What are they? [For ex: two games where the
score was 39-38 and two when it was 56-55…..just to throw
some sample WAC games at you.] Answers below.
Johnny Unitas, Part I
Over three years ago, I did a brief story following the death of
the legendary quarterback. But I didn’t have access to Michael
MacCambridge’s definitive history of the National Football
League, “America’s Game,” back then (it came out in 2004) and
he has a terrific segment on Johnny U. First, though, an
introduction from Sports Illustrated’s Frank Deford (September
2002).
“Johnny U. was an American original, a piece of work like none
other, excepting maybe Paul Bunyan and Horatio Alger.
“Part of it was that he came out of nowhere, like Athena
springing forth full-grown from the brow of Zeus, or like
Shoeless Joe Hardy from Hannibal, Mo., magically joining the
Senators, compliments of the devil. But that was myth, and that
was fiction. Johnny U. was real, before our eyes.
“Nowadays, of course, flesh peddlers and scouting services
identify the best athletes when they are still in junior high.
Prospects are not allowed to sneak up on us. But back then,
1956, was a quaint time when we still could be pleasantly
surprised. Unitas just surfaced there on the roster, showing up
one day after a tryout….His was a story out of legend, if not,
indeed, out of religious tradition: the unlikely savior come out of
nowhere.”
Unitas was born on May 7, 1933, in Pittsburgh. At age five his
father died of pneumonia and his mother, Helen, took over the
family’s coal delivery business. Johnny used to shovel two tons
of coal into his neighbors’ cellars, earning a quarter at a time.
Michael MacCambridge:
“Prematurely stoic, and undersized until a growth spurt in high
school, he was best known at an early age for being an excellent
dribbler in basketball and terribly shy away from the fields and
courts. He could be jovial, even a cutup, but it happened only
with close friends and never in a large social setting, where he
maintained a kind of quiet, barely polite detachment. On many a
Friday night, Unitas would pick up his sweetheart, Dorothy
Hoelle, and take her and her friend to the gymnasium for a
school dance. He would drop them off, then wait in the parking
lot for a couple of hours; he didn’t care for dancing, or crowds,
but he was determined that he would fulfill his obligations and
escort his girlfriend to the dance.”
Unitas was an All-City performer at St. Justin’s, ironically
beating out Dan Rooney at rival St. Cecelia’s. [Yes, that Dan
Rooney.] But when Unitas went for a tryout at Notre Dame, he
was deemed too small. Indiana expressed some interest, but
didn’t follow up, and Johnny failed an entrance exam at Pitt.
The only school left was the University of Louisville, Unitas
enrolled, and midway through his freshman year he earned the
starter’s job. But while his own play was solid, an undermanned
Cardinals team had some tough years his junior and senior
seasons and there was little buzz amongst the pro scouts over his
prospects.
Nonetheless, the Pittsburgh Steelers took Unitas in the ninth
round of the 1955 draft and that summer he headed to training
camp. Michael MacCambridge:
“It was a rude awakening. At the Steelers’ training camp in
Olean, New York, he was overwhelmed by the cliquishness of
the veterans, who after a few days started calling him Clem, after
the country hayseed character Clem Kadiddlehopper created by
comic Red Skelton. The hazing he might have expected; the lack
of professionalism he didn’t. When Unitas asked for the daily
whites – socks, T-shirt, shorts, and an athletic supporter – the
Steelers’ trainer told him to rummage for them himself from
what was lying in a large pile on the floor of the locker room….
When Unitas asked about getting his ankles taped before
practice, he was told that players didn’t get taped unless they
were hurt.”
Johnny and Steelers head coach Walt Kiesling had issues. Unitas
was the #4 quarterback on the depth chart and in the first five
exhibition games didn’t take a snap. But owner Art Rooney’s
son Dan, who was then overseeing the training camp while Art
spent August at the racetrack, was besides himself.
“I’d watch (Unitas) throw for hours and it made me sick to think
Kies wasn’t giving him a look. My brother, Timmy – he was
fifteen then – wrote my father a letter telling him Unitas was not
only the best passer in camp but probably the best passer in
football but the coaches weren’t giving him a fair shot. My dad
wrote back from Aqueduct or someplace and said, ‘Why don’t
you leave the coaching to the coaches?’”
Kiesling didn’t like the way Unitas set up in the pocket, he didn’t
seem to have a good grasp of the playbook, and three weeks
before the start of the regular season he was cut. When
informed, Unitas told Kiesling, “Y’know, it’d be different if I
screwed up, but you never gave me an opportunity to play.”
Famously, Unitas received bus fare back to Pittsburgh but
hitchhiked home instead, “where Dorothy (by now his wife) was
waiting with news that she’d bought tickets for their families to
see the Steelers’ opening home game the following week. That
evening, they sat around in their living room, neither speaking,
neither quite sure what to do next.”
Art Rooney, at the behest of his sons, wired his friend Paul
Brown at Cleveland, urging him to take a look at Unitas, but
Brown was able to convince the great Otto Graham to come back
for one more season. He did tell Unitas, though, that if he
wanted to attend camp the following summer, the Browns would
give him a shot.
So Unitas worked construction in Pittsburgh and on Thursday
nights he played semipro ball with the Bloomfield Rams, one of
the squads in an Industrial Belt league. He was paid $6 a game,
which he’d bring home and say, “Dotty, don’t spend this on bills.
Spend it on something nice for yourself.”
During the fall of 1955, however, Baltimore Colts coach Weeb
Ewbank received a postcard, unsigned, which read, “There’s a
boy in sandlot ball here, playing for the Bloomfield Rams, who’s
worth looking at. His name’s John Unitas.”
While the Colts were secure at quarterback with Rookie of the
Year George Shaw, the backup announced he was going to law
school and Colts General Manager Don Kellett scoured his free
agent list, spotting Unitas’s name. That February he called
Johnny and a week later Unitas was at a tryout with other
prospects.
The Colts hadn’t begun using videotape yet and just took a lot of
still photos of Unitas. Ewbank recalled that the thing they
noticed was his terrific follow through and he told Johnny to be
ready for camp in July. If he made the team he would receive a
$7,000 contract. Cleveland hadn’t been in touch so Unitas’s
choice was easy. And thus another franchise would lose out on
perhaps the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
From his first day in training camp in Westminster, Maryland,
Unitas knew he had found a home. In the locker room the whites
were rolled up and waiting for each player at their locker and the
veterans, especially George Shaw, were happy to show the
rookie the ropes.
While Johnny had his rough spots, for sure, teammates and
opponents alike quickly noticed his leadership abilities and his
“absolute fearlessness in the face of a pass rush, his willingness
to hold on to the football before releasing a pass until the last
possible instant, and to do so without flinching.”
Unitas made the squad as the backup to Shaw and the Colts
started out the regular season 1-2. Then on Sunday, October 21,
facing the Bears in Wrigley Field and leading Chicago 20-7,
Shaw was injured, tearing ligaments while being tackled.
“Unitas came in and the first ball he handed off was a fumbled
exchange, leading to a touchdown. His first pass was intercepted
by the Bears’ J.C. Caroline, and returned for a touchdown. The
Bears ran away with the game, 58-27. But the next week, Unitas
led the club to a 28-21 win over the Packers, and there was
evidence to suggest that the team was rallying around him.”
[Michael MacCambridge]
By mid-November, there was talk Shaw might be able to return
from his injury, but defensive end Gino Marchetti told anyone
who’d listen, “He’s never going to be the quarterback again.
Unitas is the quarterback.”
There was no one tougher in the history of the sport than John
Unitas. Sports Illustrated’s Frank Deford gave an illustration
from Alex Hawkins’s book “My Story” in Deford’s September
2002 piece. Hawkins, a colorful running back and receiver
for the Colts who played from 1959-68, described one event that
helped turn Unitas into a legend:
“The Bears were in front 20-17, and the Colts had the ball inside
the 40-yard line, with just seconds remaining in the game. On
third down, Unitas called a deep pattern to Lenny Moore. He
told me to stay in and block. The Bears were blitzing, and Bill
George managed to get hold of one of John’s legs. George held
him long enough for Doug Atkins to get free and finish him
off…
“John was slow getting up; we knew he was hurt. The trainers
and doctors were running onto the field as Doug stood towering
over John’s limp body. Doug just stared down at him for a
second, and then he spoke: ‘Well, kid, that’s about it for you
today.’
“John propped himself up on one hand and replied, ‘Not just yet
it ain’t.’ When I saw John’s face, I almost threw up. His nose
was slashed and mangled, and his face was covered with blood.
It was as if he had been hit with an ax.
“Have you ever noticed how deathly quiet things get when a
great player goes down? A hush settled over Wrigley Field as
they took John to the sideline…After packing his nose full of
cotton, he trotted back on the field. When he reached the huddle;
his nose had already swollen to twice its normal size, and both
eyes were almost swollen shut. On fourth down, with no
timeouts and only 19 seconds left on the clock, John called the
identical deep pattern to Moore. Lenny beat his defender as
Unitas uncorked a perfect 39-yard scoring strike to win it 24-20.
“It was the most dramatic finish and the damnedest spectacle I
had ever seen. Things like this don’t just happen; they’re caused.
The man who caused this one, John Unitas, just walked off the
field as if it were an everyday occurrence. No high fives, no
dancing or celebrating, no fingers pointed upward designating
‘We’re Number 1.’ Here was the greatest quarterback who ever
played the game, walking casually off the field, having just
finished a day of work. This was what he was paid to do. How
often do you see that kind of dignity anywhere?”
Next chat, the 1958 title game that helped make the NFL what it
is today.
Ben Franklin
I hope to get down to Philadelphia in the next few months to
study Franklin and the Founding Fathers, but for now, here are a
few snippets on Franklin’s life from Paul Johnson’s “A History
of the American People” as we celebrate Franklin’s birthday, 300
years ago.
Born in Boston, Franklin was the youngest of 17 children. His
parents lived to be 84 and 87, “and all this was typical of the way
America’s population was exploding with natural growth – in
Philadelphia Franklin met Hannah Miller, who died at 100 in
1769, leaving fourteen children, eighty-two grandchildren and
110 great-grandchildren.”
Franklin taught himself French, Latin, Italian, Spanish, math and
science at an early age and had as his mentors two other
geniuses, Daniel Defoe and Cotton Mather.
By 1724, Philadelphia was effectively the capital of the colonies
and bigger than Boston. That year the governor of Pennsylvania
sent 18-year-old Ben to England for study and upon his return 18
months later, Franklin was full of ideas.
“By the age of twenty-four he was the most successful printer in
America’s boom-city, owner of the Pennsylvania Gazette, and
currency-printer to the Assembly…Franklin worked hard at
improving his adopted city. He helped set up its first police or
watch. He became president of its first fire-insurance company
and its chief actuary, working out the premiums. He took a
leading part in paving, cleaning, and especially lighting the
streets, designing a four-sided Ventilated Lamp and putting up
whale-oil street-lights. With others, he founded the American
Philosophical Society, equivalent of England’s famous Royal
Society, the city’s first hospital, and, not least, the Academy for
the Education of Youth, which became the great University of
Pennsylvania….
“Franklin fathered two illegitimate children, took on a common-
law wife…became postmaster, and, from 1733, made himself a
national figure with his ‘Poor Richard’s Almanac’…
“The Almanac sold 10,000 copies a year, one for every 100
inhabitants, and a quarter-million over its lifespan, becoming the
most popular book in the colonies after the Bible….
“His activities now multiplied. He crossed the Atlantic eight
times, discovered the Gulf Stream, met leading scientists and
engineers, invented the damper and various smokeless chimneys
– a vexed topic which continued to occupy him till the end of his
life – designed two new stoves, but refused to patent them from
humanitarian principles, invented a new hearth called a
Pennsylvania Fireplace, manufactured a new whale-oil candle,
studied geology, farming, archeology, eclipses, sunspots,
whirlwinds, earthquakes, ants, alphabets, and lightning
conductors. He made himself one of the earliest experts on
electricity…”
Of course there is so much more. But in perusing Paul Johnson’s
history of America, for now we conclude with this passage of
his:
“Right at the end of his life, Benjamin Franklin wrote a pamphlet
giving advice to Europeans planning to come to America. He
said it was a good place for those who wanted to become rich.
But, he said, it was above all a haven for the industrious poor, for
‘nowhere else are the laboring poor so well fed, well lodged, well
clothed and well paid as in the United States of America.’ It was
a country, he concluded, where ‘a general happy mediocrity
prevails.’ It is important for those who wish to understand
American history to remember this point about ‘happy
mediocrity.’ The historian is bound to bring out the high points
and crises of the national story, to record the doings of the great,
the battles, elections, epic debates, and laws passed. But the
everyday lives of simple citizens must not be ignored simply
because they were uneventful. This is particularly true of
America, a country specifically created by and for ordinary men
and women, where the system of government was deliberately
designed to interfere in their lives as little as possible. The fact
that, unless we investigate closely, we hear so little about the
mass of the population is itself a historical point of great
importance, because it testifies by its eloquent silence to the
success of the republican experiment.”
Amen.
Stuff
–Boy, I cut Peyton Manning too much slack following Sunday’s
performance. But now I’m throwing him in the candidate file for
“Jerk of the Year” after he slammed his offensive line for their
efforts in Indy’s loss to the Steelers. Sure, the line sucked, but
it’s a team game, Peyton, and you looked like a Pop Warner
rookie out there. Plus you have a 3-6 career mark in the playoffs.
But now, your exclusive NFC / AFC Championship Game final
scores.
Denver 20 Pittsburgh 13
Seattle 16 Carolina 10
And for the archives, the National Football League admitted
officials screwed up the interception call in the Steelers’ 21-18
win over the Colts.
Initially Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu was said to have
intercepted a Manning pass, but referee Pete Morelli reversed it,
explaining that as Polamalu was getting up, he knocked the ball
out with his leg, thus the pass was incomplete.
In a rare move to publicly disclose a ruling such as this, the NFL
said:
“The definition of a catch – or in this case an interception – states
that in the process of making the catch, a player must maintain
possession of the ball after he contacts the ground. The initial
call on the field was that Troy Polamalu intercepted the pass
because he maintained possession of the ball after hitting the
ground. The replay showed that Polamalu had rolled over and
was rising to his feet when the ball came loose. He maintained
possession long enough to establish a catch. Therefore, the
replay review should have upheld the call on the field that it was
a catch and fumble.”
Many, including Pittsburgh linebacker Joey Porter, “accused the
officials of trying to steal the game from the Steelers because
they wanted Manning to win the Super Bowl.” [Judy Battista /
New York Times]
Well, as I noted above, Manning is no longer a loveable loser.
He’s a jerk. And no Johnny U., that’s for sure!!!!
🙂 _]
–How about that Pittsburgh fan who suffered a heart attack after
Jerome Bettis fumbled at the 2-yard line? Terry O’Neill, 50, was
watching the game at a bar when his hero coughed up the
football.
“I wasn’t upset that the Steelers might lose. I was upset because
I didn’t want to see him end his career like that….I guess it was a
little too much for me to handle.”
O’Neill will need a pacemaker. Reader Jeff B., another Steelers
fanatic, tells me he almost joined O’Neill in the hospital that day.
–AP Men’s College Basketball Top Ten
1. Duke
2. Florida
3. UConn
4. Memphis
5. Texas…nice recovery from its two-game swoon
6. Gonzaga
7. Illinois
8. Villanova
9. Pittsburgh…yeah Pitt, sock it to ‘em! [Circa 1940s cheer, as
my parents, Pitt alums, tell me.]
10. Washington
*Bucknell received more votes than Wake Forest this week. I’m
just waiting for a kid to call from the alumni office, asking for a
donation. It won’t be a pretty response from yours truly, sports
fans.
–There was yet another shark attack in Australian waters. On
Sunday, 52-year-old Brian Williams (no relation to the NBC
News anchor, or the psycho former NBA player of the same
name) was diving for lobsters near Perth when a 10-foot great
white shark chomped down on his left arm.
Williams said “he wrenched his arm from the shark’s mouth as it
opened its jaws to take a second bite and escaped to a seabed
crevice where he hid until his friends came to his rescue five
minutes later with a fish-repelling electrical prod.”
“I just felt like I’d been hit by a truck on the side…and there was
a very large shark head hanging off my arm, trying to chew it,”
Mr. Williams told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
Then the shark dragged him for a “bit of a ride” before trying to
take a second bite.
“He said the shark lunged at him several times as he cowered on
the seabed before his companions arrived with the prod. The
shark then disappeared without the prod being used. But yes,
Williams said ‘I’ll definitely be investing in a shark prod’
himself.” [Associated Press / South China Morning Post]
Could be next year’s hot Christmas gift…..time to get the
exclusive licensing agreement in the U.S.
–So if you happen to have a Charles Willson (sic) Peale portrait
of George Washington lying around, you may want to think
about selling it. I see where Christie’s is holding an auction on
Jan. 21 and one of the items is Peale’s work of a life size
Washington at Princeton. The anticipated price is $10,000,000 –
$15,000,000. [These auction sites are pretty cool if you’re
looking for good, mindless entertainment on the Web that won’t
set off alarm bells at the National Security Agency or the FBI.]
–And in a separate item from the art world, five paintings of
Gustav Klimt (an early 20th century artist) that were stolen by the
Nazis are now being returned by the Austrian government to
descendants of the former Jewish owner. Boy, I’m no fan of
Klimt’s work, but the five are valued at $150 million – $200
million. Goodness gracious.
–Back to Peale, I just looked up his name in a little encyclopedia
I keep handy and I didn’t know he opened the first U.S. art
gallery, in Philadelphia, which he later expanded into the
country’s first natural history museum. Try that one on with the
guys, next time you’re sitting at your favorite tavern watching
some football.
[Then again, maybe you should keep this info to yourself,
especially around strangers.]
–The following story is too much.
“A parrot owner was alerted to his girlfriend’s infidelity when
his talkative pet let the cat out of the bag by squawking ‘I love
you Gary.’
“Suzy Collins had been meeting ex-work colleague ‘Gary’ for
four months in the Leeds flat she shared with her partner Chris
Taylor, according to reports.
“Mr. Taylor apparently became suspicious after Ziggy croaked
‘Hiya Gary’ when Ms. Collins answered her mobile phone.
“The parrot also made smooching sounds whenever the name
Gary was said on TV.”
Taylor confronted Suzy who admitted the affair and moved out,
several newspapers reported.
“He also gave up his 8-year-old African Grey parrot after the
bird continued to call out Gary’s name and refused to stop
squawking the phrases in his ex-girlfriend’s voice.”
“ ‘I love him to bits,’ said Taylor, ‘but it was torture hearing him
repeat that name over and over again.’”
I hear ya, dude.
–“Jerk of the Year” candidate Steve Francis of the Orlando
Magic apologized to his teammates and fans following his two-
game suspension for insubordination. Not enough for us here at
Bar Chat; his name remains in the file.
–Nice game for Andrei Kirilenko of the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in
a win over Toronto. 18 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists, plus
four blocks.
–Years ago, Trader George used to regale me with tales of the
great muskellunge of the St. Lawrence Seaway and other
northern waters.
Well, take note, TG, for I just saw this note in USA Today.
“The muskellunge that northern Wisconsin fishing great Louis
Spray caught in 1949 can keep its title of world’s largest, the
National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame decided Monday.
“The Hall of Fame’s board of directors rejected an Illinois
fishing group’s challenge to the record, saying the group used
flawed science in trying to prove Spray’s muskie was smaller
than he claimed.
“The World Record Muskie Alliance contended that the muskie,
listed at 69 pounds, 11 ounces, couldn’t have weighed that much
and said Spray – whom some call the Babe Ruth of muskie
anglers – ‘perpetrated a fraud of historic proportions.’
“The alliance hired a company to analyze pictures of Spray’s
muskie because the mount of it was destroyed in a 1959 fire.
The study, which compared Spray’s height and the fish’s
reported 63 ½-inch length, concluded the fish weighed no more
than 55 pounds, suggesting Spray filled it before it was weighed.
“Rich Delaney, president of the World Record Muskie Alliance,
said, ‘I really believe there are very few people outside the
people in that room today who believe in the fish.’”
Do you get the impression that members of both the National
Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and the World Record Muskie
Alliance just sit around and drink a lot of beer?
–The average size of whale sharks, the world’s largest fish, is
getting smaller according to Australian researchers, probably
because they are being fished to satisfy Asian diets. The gentle
giants normally average 21 feet and are now more like 15 feet on
average. [Some reach a final length of 60 feet]
But did you know these fish live up to 150 years?! [BBC News]
–We note the passing of former NFL receiver Ron Jessie, 57.
Jessie caught 265 passes for a 16.1 avg. while playing for
Detroit, Los Angeles and Buffalo from 1971-81.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/21/78: #1 “Baby Come Back”
(Player) #2 “How Deep Is Your Love” (Bee Gees) #3 “Here
You Come Again” (Dolly Parton)…and…#4 “You’re In My
Heart” (Rod Stewart) #5 “Short People” (Randy Newman) #8
“We Are The Champions” (Queen) #10 “Stayin’ Alive” (Bee
Gees)
Super Bowl Quiz Answers:
1) MVPs that were not QBs, RBs, or WRs:
1971 – Chuck Howley, LB, Dallas
1973 – Jake Scott, S, Miami
1978 – Randy White, DT, and Harvey Martin, DE, Dallas
1986 – Richard Dent, DE, Chicago
1996 – Larry Brown, CB, Dallas
1997 – Desmond Howard, KR, Green Bay
2001 – Ray Lewis, LB, Baltimore
2003 – Dexter Jackson, FS, Tampa Bay
2) Scores: There have been two contests where the final was
27-10 and two that ended 27-17.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. More on Johnny U., Franklin, and
another big birthday….Mozart’s…if you keep it where it is.
