Category Archives: Historic Writings

Articles on various games, players, and coaches from the past that had an impact on how the game is played today. Will highlight known and faded legends of the past to shed light on these forgotten contributors to the game.

Tacitly Different Negotiations – The Topic of Black Running Back Contract Negotiations

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Lets take you back… the Cowboys had just won Super Bowl XXVII and Emmitt Smith had led the NFL in rushing the last 2 seasons. He had to holdout, miss the preseason, the Cowboys started 0-2 and only after Charles Haley threw his helmet into the wall in Jerry Jones direction did they sign Smith to a $13 million contract.
Seven weeks later with no holdout, no tension in the media, no negative press to sway public attention about the greedy athlete “who should be grateful”… Troy Aikman gets his $50 million extension. Yup…right in the middle of the season!
Same team…both 1st round draft picks…same champion…same management…tacitly different negotiation tactics.
Didnt running backs get hurt and have inconsistent seasons later in their career then too?? Emmitt was going into year 4 and the avg career for a running back is 4 years. Didn’t Emmitt take a lot of hits?? So kill that noise about being scared the running back will get hurt. Emmitt led the league in rushing 2 of the next 3 seasons after signing this contract and they won 2 more Super Bowls.
Yet I keep hearing all these b.s. armchair GMs trying to justify this on television and social media but I know where the bodies have been buried. Keep your eye on the reasons why you keep hearing “Running backs devalued” over and over by corporate controlled media and the propaganda peppering of “Its a passing game” shoved down your throat. Think about what Kwame Brown was saying was the role of Stephen A Smith and to a degree what I think Emmanuel Acho is doing.
This is nefarious…and it runs deeper than you think….I love the x’s and o’s of football, the players, stories and life lessons. Its the business and racial /political dynamics that bring you back to reality and let you know its not “just a game”

Legend of The Fall: Weeb Ewbank

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I heard on a few occassions had the Super Bowl trophy not been named after Vince Lombardi it would have been named after Tom Landry. Uhhhhhh… no. Not when George Halas won 7 NFL Championships and then there was this man…. Weeb Ewbank. If you asked who is he don’t ever try to talk football history with authority again.
Weeb won the NFL’s two biggest landmark games in league history. The 1958 NFL Championship 23-17 win when his Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants in the 1st overtime championship game. Then returned a decade later to defeat the 13-1 Baltimore Colts 16-7 with the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
Weeb was fired in Baltimore and replaced by Don Shula as Head Coach. Then he was able to get revenge on his former assistant in the biggest game and upset that solidified the AFL/NFL merger.
Keep in mind his Colts went back to back winning in 58 and 59 when the media scoffed his Colts were ruining the league passing the way they did. Johnny Unitas in 59 threw for a league record 32TDs in a season then another becoming the 1st 3,000 yard passer in 1960. Joe Namath became the first to go over 4,000 yards in 1967 with his Jets. Are you getting the point??
These firsts and 3 NFL championships including a back to back set of titles…
In the annals of Pro Football very few figures held the importance Weeb Ewbank had and very few can top his impact. So the next time someone wants to talk greatest ever coaches, don’t forget the short pudgy guy with the funny hat on the sideline.
The league never would have been where it was without these two significant games. He doesn’t get his due….

Legendary Days: Barry Switzer’s 4th & 1 Nearly Sinks Dallas’ Season and Dynasty

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In the long history of the NFC East one of the most hated rivals are the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles. Their disdain has grown into a feud expressed by players and fans all year around and the advent of social media has taken it to absurd levels. Yet its fun to go back in time and wonder what social media would have been like had it existed at key moments in the rivalry.

One of which was an epic game that took place in 1995.

Dallas was in the 2nd season of the Barry Switzer era after Jerry Jones let go of Hall of Fame Coach Jimmy Johnson. In ’94 the Cowboys had just missed on their chance to threepeat when they lost the ’94 NFC Championship Game out in San Francisco. Switzer morphed into the goat not because he lost in that game, but more from incurring the 15 yard penalty that became the indelible mark ending Cowboys come back attempt.

Switzer had to answer questions about his shortcomings from 1994 during a contentious summer. Was he the right coach and could he win on the NFL level were what pundits were asking. Or in other words “Was a once retired Barry Switzer in over his head?”

For the 2nd straight season the team endured free agent defections that eroded the game’s most talented roster. FS James Washington, WR Alvin Harper were the most notable defections, yet once you lose offensive linemen Mark Stepnoski, Kevin Gogan, John Gesek, LB Ken Norton Jr & FS Thomas Everett before the team was changing. A 2nd straight awful draft signaled 1995 might be the last great year from the roster Jimmy Johnson originally constructed. They hadnt adequately filled all the holes and were a top heavy team that had played an additional half season more than the rest of the NFL over a 3 year period with the additional postseason games. They were running out of gas.

All was not lost as T Erik Williams returned from injuries stemming from an auto accident and they did draft future Hall of Fame lineman Larry Allen. When they plugged in a 300 plus pound C in veteran Ray Donaldson, Emmitt Smith would be behind a complete wall of 300 pounders. Troy Aikman still had a prime Michael Irvin and Jay Novacek to throw to but lost a dynamic physical athlete in 6’3 Alvin Harper signing with Tampa.

Diminutive former KR Kevin Williams would replace him but gone was a 1st rate athlete who could high point the football with the best the decade had to offer. This brought more to bear on the rushing attack and with a team who couldn’t back you off with the deep throw to Harper how would it affect their approach late in the season? Especially once the season wore on with an older team.

In Philadelphia, the Eagles were searching for an identity. The last few years had seen the Buddy Ryan/ Richie Kotite era players that were first rate performers leave the team. Reggie White, Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons, Keith Jackson, Keith Byars were the heart of that ball club. Couple their departure with the inability to replace 1st round and Pro Bowl DT Jerome Brown who died a few years before and you couldnt recognize the team anymore.

Needing a complete reboot the Eagles hired C Ray Rhodes from the Super Bowl champion 49ers. Not only had he been the DC who throttled Dallas twice in ’94 but he had a defensive approach and pedigree to build tough minded defenses. Since the Eagles were retooling on the fly they brought in a series of grizzled old veterans not only to their roster, but fit Rhodes no nosense street tough gritty approach to football.

In comes G Guy McIntyre, LB Bill Romanowski, LB Kurt Gouveia, DE William Fuller, S Greg Jackson, and CB Barry Wilburn. Barry Wilburn?? The corner who led the league in interceptions in 1987 helping the Redskins win the Super Bowl 8 years before?? The guy who picked off John Elway twice in Super Bowl XXII?? Yes… that Barry Wilburn. All but Fuller had played for previous Super Bowl champions and brought professionalism to a team trying to find itself.

Although Charlie Garner had emerged as a runner, Eagles brass pulled a coup and lured RB Rickey Watters away from the 49ers in free agency. It was this move that crippled the world champions 49ers and kept them from returning to the Super Bowl the rest of the decade. Even more than Dallas signing Deion Sanders away. Watters (1,273 yds 11 TDs) was eager to prove he could be the #1 offensive weapon was stepping out of the shadow cast by Jerry Rice, Steve Young and John Taylor. But both proved vital to the turnarounds of their new teams in 1995.

The season began with the Cowboys hellbent on returning to the winner’s circle exploding out of the blocks with an 8-1 start. But an inexplicable 38-20 loss to the 5-4 49ers sent their season off kilter. The game where they could have delivered the killing blow to San Francisco sapped some of their confidence and the 49ers went on to win 6 straight.

Dallas was then upset by the Washington Redskins and were 10-3 when they had to travel to cold Philadelphia to take on a surprising 8-5 battle hardened Eagle team. Randall Cunningham had been replaced by journeyman Rodney Peete at QB and no way they should be able to beat Dallas. This hodge podge Eagles team? No way…

Well Barry Switzer pulled the gaffe of the season with his dual 4th and 1 attempts and NFL shows were unmerciful the following weeks. The chasm between Jimmy Johnson running the Cowboys was never greater than it was at this time.  From his meltdown after the Deion Sanders non pass interference call in the previous championship game to these calls, pundits and fans had their doubts when it came down to Switzer’s decision making  in a close game. When you think back to his winning in Oklahoma, he just had the best athletes. He never outsmarted his competition or came up with great game plans. It was just “The Wishbone” with more superior athletes than his lesser opponents in an era of unlimited scholarships.

Then Switzer was thrown a life line when the 49ers lost homefield advantage losing to the Atlanta Falcons 27-24 after winning 6 straight. Dallas was able to regain homefield with a win in the season finale against Arizona.

Dallas went on to win Super Bowl XXX in Phoenix and that game mirrored their season. They came out of the blocks taking a 13-0 lead and held on for dear life winning it 27-17 thanks to 2 horrible Neil O’Donnell interceptions. The Cowboys set a Super Bowl record for fewest 2nd half yards for a team that won the Super Bowl with just 61 yards. They were older and the wear and tear caught up to them late in games as it did late in the season. Hell it happened in the upset loss to the Eagles when Aikman & Emmitt Smith combined for just 55 yards of offense in the 2nd half! In the midst of that he went for 4th and 1 twice at his own 30?? Inexplicable…

This kept Jerry Jones from having to eat his words “any of 500 coaches could have won Super Bowls with the rosters the Cowboys had.” Well he almost hand selected the coach that couldn’t. Had they not won the Super Bowl it would have opened the door to Denver, San Francisco or Green Bay being able to make a claim as Team of the 90s. The Cowboys won 1 playoff game the remaining 4 years of the decade. They were out of the playoffs and an NFL afterthought by the time we make it to 1999. Would John Elway have retired before 1999 had the Broncos the shot at 3peating and possibly becoming “Team of the Decade” as the only 3 time champion of the ’90s?? Something to think about…

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

 

Kevin Greene Belongs In The Pro Football Hall of Fame: War Damn Eagle!

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Originally Published 3, March 2011 w/ Postscript 10, August 2016 

Link to original: Here

There are players that come along and break the mold and there are those that totally destroy it.  Enter Kevin Greene, one of my personal favorite players and one of the reason I love football (all sports) in the first place.  He broke molds, stereotypes, changed perceptions as much as any player over the last 25 years.  What am I talking about? Do you realize that of all the outside linebackers, the player with the most sacks in a career is Kevin Greene?  Do you realize that Kevin Greene had double digit sacks for FOUR different pro football teams? Yet I digress…

As the 1980s beckoned, the 3-4 defense became the choice of many teams as the best way to attack NFL offenses.  All that changed with the 1985 Chicago Bears march to the Super Bowl. As teams started to revert back to the 4-3 defense as a staple, a lessor known talent started to lay his foundation out west with the Los Angeles Rams in 1986.

Kevin Greene started to rush as an outside linebacker in 1986 and recorded 7 sacks that year. Yet he didn’t gain notoriety until 1988 when he bested Lawrence Taylor with 16 1/2 sacks to 15 1/2 for the NFC lead at linebacker.  Whereas the majority of the modern age athletic linebackers were black, Kevin Greene was a white defensive player who broke that mold and with his crazy “War Eagle” Auburn attitude he was a great pass rusher from that season on.  A player that other Rams looked to on game day to lead them on and off the field.

Kevin in 1994 during his Blitzburgh days.

However by the time we move to 1993, very few teams employed the 3-4 defense. Then the Steelers went looking for a linebacker to match Greg Lloyd that would be more effective than Jerrol Williams.  Kevin Greene signed, and Pittsburgh became Blitzburgh.

The Steelers had two outstanding linebackers to crash the pocket.    The last bastion of 3-4 defense at the time and Greene was the impetus of a chaotic defense.  Who should blitz? Who should drop? Dick Lebeau, Dom Capers, and Bill Cowher tinkered with different zone blitzing schemes that became the scourge of the league.  He helped the ’94 and ’95 teams to the AFC Championship and Super Bowl XXX respectively.  During his 3 years in Pittsburgh he recorded 12.5 sacks in ’93,  14 sacks in ’94, and 9 sacks in ’95.  It was Kevin Greene’s arrival that made the Steelers defense lethal.

Even after outplaying the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX and poised to return to the title game from a personnel standpoint, the Steelers let Greene go for a younger Jason Gildon. He rejoined Dom Capers who moved on to become head coach of the expansion Carolina Panthers. There he tag teamed with Lamar Lathon, formerly of the Houston Oilers, to form a 1-2 linebacker punch equal to that of Blitzbugh.

In his single season in San Fran, Greene helped the ‘Niners to the 1997 NFC Championship against Green Bay.

He recorded his second highest career sack total, at the time, with 14.5 in Carolina. He led the league with Lathon coming in second in sacks with 13.5.  Again he was the impetus of a veteran laden defense that dethroned the champion Dallas Cowboys in a divisional playoff and made it to the 1996 NFC Championship Game where they lost to Green Bay.  The Carolina Panthers made it to the NFC Championship Game in only their second season.  Wow.

After a falling out with Carolina brass following that 1996 season, for which owner Jerry Richardson later apologized, he signed a 1 year deal in San Francisco where he was a pass rushing specialist and only started four games.  Yet amazingly he still compiled 10.5 sacks and helped the 49ers to the 1997 NFC Championship game where they fell to the Packers 23-10.  See a pattern here?  After the apology from Richardson, Greene re-signed with Carolina and played on for two more years for them recording 15 sacks in 1998 and 12 in 1999.

Kevin Greene was a street fighter tough player who brought that attitude to any team he played for.  He was a blood and guts player that teamed with Greg Lloyd and Lamar Lathon, each had their best years across from Greene.

What was the most puzzling aspect of Kevin Greene’s career was how teams kept thinking they’d replace him even though he was super productive and I wonder would he have moved around so much had he been a black outside linebacker.  I don’t think he would have.  You can’t tell me race had nothing to do with it either.  He was athletic, strong, tenacious and for the life of me can’t figure why teams  thought they’d replace him.  Do you realize that for 4 straight years, Kevin Greene was a defensive stalwart on 3 different teams that made it to the conference championship game?  Twice is a coincidence, four is a pattern.  He was a winner.

Greene, making his presence felt early in the 1994 AFC Championship Game.

How do you gauge impact?  The most sacks in NFL history for a linebacker with 160 and third all time behind Reggie White and Bruce Smith.  He was a 5 time Pro Bowl participant and made the All Pro team twice. He led the league in sacks twice during his career. If that’s not enough… Add the fact Greg Lloyd and Lamar Lathon’s best sack totals of their careers came when they teamed with Greene.  Lloyd had 10 sacks in 1994 and the aforementioned Lathon’s 1996 total of 13.5 in Carolina.

Each team he left had a defensive dropoff in production and wins.  The ’96 Steelers barely made the playoffs and were run out of town in New England when they got there, thanks to Curtis Martin’s 166 yards rushing, losing 28-3.  The 97 & 2000 Panthers didn’t make the playoffs. The 98 49ers were scored upon heavily even though they made it to the divisional round.  Even then they needed Steve Young’s miracle throw to T.O. to beat the Packers in the Wildcard Game to get there.

So if the greatest defensive player in NFL history is Lawrence Taylor, rightfully so, who finished with 132 sacks in his career, where does that put Kevin Greene and his 160?? Happened in the same era, so that can’t be argued.  Quite simply he belongs.

For induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I present to you, Kevin Greene.

EPILOGUE:  I am getting the greatest kick out of watching the growth of Clay Matthews III.  Its like watching some weird Frankenstein thats part Clay Matthews the father (Browns) and Kevin Greene.  The style of play and to watch them interact.

I was fortunate enough to be on the Ravens sideline pregame and front row seats behind the Baltimore Ravens bench when they played the Arizona Cardinals in 2003. I watched how Mike Singletary and Ray Lewis interacted and see much the same in Greene and Matthews.  When the television mic caught Greene conveying to Matthews during the 4th quarter of Super Bowl XLV that it was time for him to put his imprint on the game.  Then to watch him force the Mendenhall fumble two plays later gave me goosebumps.  To watch him so in tune with his protege’ is cool and can’t wait to watch their encore.

Greene and protege’ Clay Matthews III

Postscript August 10, 2016: Fast forward 5 years and here we are a couple days removed from Kevin’s enshrinement into The Pro Football Hall of Fame. I had the great opportunity to be there at both the Gold Jacket Ceremony and The Enshrinement as his guest. For the small role I had in advocating his candidacy may have been the sole reason for Taylor Blitz Times in the first place. It was an honor to do it and I am grateful to Kevin and his wife Tara for inviting me.

kev.ticketHowever they set a football fanatic loose on the unsuspecting city of Canton. I had the chance to meet with former teammates and coaches that have known him over his football life. His coaches from high school all the way through to the NFL. I jumped in and made sure to get down into where the fans were and wound up becoming the 1st person to pay for his authenticated by the Pro Football Hall of Fame autograph.

chancellor.kevTo watch him receive his Gold Jacket was an emotional moment as a big time fan. To hear his impassioned speech gave credence to all that I knew and heard over the last few days from his Auburn, Rams, and Steelers’ teammates, his father at the airport with Coach Vermeil, his high school freshman coach Nick Petrillo, to meeting Lamar Lathon at the after party who was recalling this very article with Thurman Thomas.

It was great to see Kevin take his rightful place and become one of the giants of the game and one of it’s great ambassadors. It’s been an unbelievable 5 year ride as you’ve taken your place as one of pro football’s immortals. Congratulations Pro Football Hall of Famer Kevin Greene!!

As for that ticket… he signed a white Steelers #91 Greene jersey. The whereabouts of the ticket?? I gave it to Kevin who put it in his Hall of Fame Gold Jacket interior pocket… Mission accomplished.

Thanks for reading and please share the article.

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Deion Sanders Makes It To Canton: Pro Football Hall of Fame

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*Reprint of original article on February 6, 2011*

Judging a book by its cover usually gets you in trouble.  There are so many players who have press clippings before they have done anything and I thought here was another one when I first heard of Deion Sanders.  He was still at Florida State and was “Neon”, “Prime Time”, etc…

Now being a Miami Hurricane fan I shouldn’t be turned off by the flash he displayed on and off the field yet I was.  I didn’t think the game was as important to him as being a winner.  That was my initial thought of Deion.  The comparisons to Bo Jackson for playing both baseball and football were not accurate. Bo was hit on every play being a runner compared to a cornerback who can go a whole game without being hit.  So went my opinion.

I remembered his first game in 1989, the first time he got on the field after being shuttled in from his baseball sojourn and took a punt back 68 yards for a TD against the Rams.  Now you have to give credit where credit was due, that was pretty big for one that hadn’t practiced or even got used to performing in those pads.  He would have flashes and I started to notice how great he played against great players.  He was the first one that “wanted” to line up against Jerry Rice in his prime.

In 1990 Rice scored 5TDs against Atlanta CB Charles Dimry in a game and Deion vowed that wouldn’t happen to him.  This started a series beginning in 1991 where Jerry Rice would battle tooth and nail with Sanders.  Deion shut Rice down in both games in 1991, which led to Atlanta wresting the NFC West division title from San Francisco that year.  You had to notice that Sanders was the spirit of that team and I started to become a fan. Yet this paled in comparison to the performance that turned me around completely.

No, I’m not talking of his ’94 season where he was NFL Defensive Player of the Year I’m talking about the best team transforming performance ever.  It was 1993 and Deion was still playing baseball and Jerry Glanville’s Atlanta Falcons were spiritless.  They had no fight and were 0-6 without him.  They were in the midst of being blown out on Monday Night Football by the Pittsburgh Steelers when the announcers turned their narration to things other than the game in front of them.  How could they turn their season around?  Would Glanville be on the chopping block?  What would happen with Deion Sanders coming back?  It was expressed his impact would be minimal being a cornerback to which I agreed.

Just like a little brother who perks up playing sports when he discovers his big brother and dad are watching, Atlanta completely changed their temperament with his arrival.  He came in and brought a moxie that had been missing.  He was smothering Lawrence Dawsey of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a huge fight broke out after a punt return where Deion was hit late. You saw the fight and the bench cleared to protect their best player and from that point on, the team that had been getting laughed at galvanized behind his brazen spirit.

A team that was being laughed out of their own stadium on a Monday night in October was playing the most spirited football this side of Buddy Ryan’s 46 defense led Houston Oilers and finished 6-4 over the final 10 games. One of those losses came to that Oiler team that finished with 11 straight wins.  Pundits and everyone noticed he was more than a shut down corner.  He had to be a great locker room teammate to pull that off.  That fight with Dawsey in a game that meant absolutely nothing showed that the game meant something to Sanders.  It was the year he garnered respect as a football player and galvanizing force as a teammate.

Later that year after his Pro Bowl selection, the media descended on Atlanta for Super Bowl XXVIII for Buffalo v. Dallas.  He enjoyed a celebrity that was borne of the respect he showed in turning around the Falcons that season. Folks wanted to know who he thought would win the game as much as be entertained by his personality.  He was the defacto master of ceremonies and everyone from Inside the NFL, ESPN, to NBC had specials with him talking football and showcasing great spots in Atlanta.

On the field before the game NBC asked a panel of current players about the Super Bowl.  There was speculation on would he return or not.  Deion elaborated “Here is the Super Bowl in Atlanta and I’m watching it. I want to play in one.”  You saw in his face that he meant it and felt it on live camera with the Super Bowl being minutes away.  He wanted to be recognized as a winner and not just the flashy corner / return man and he wouldn’t be back in Atlanta.  No season turned around the perception of Deion Sanders as a football player like 1993.

No season cemented his legacy like 1994.

The baseball strike relegated Deion to being slightly bored and needing something to do.  He had been a Cincinnati Red yet was being courted by New Orleans Saints and such as a free agent in football.  The Saints had the best free agent offer on the table for Sander’s services with a 4 year, $17 million contract.  He was going to be a Saint right? Wrong!  Remember that on field admission of wanting to be a champion before Super Bowl XXVIII in Atlanta? Well Carmen Policy convinced him to join the San Francisco 49ers for 1 year with a $1.1 million contract, the last $170,000 of which was Jerry Rice sacrificing his own money so they would sign him under the cap. What showed that the championship was more important than to sacrifice $15.8 million for a one year chance at the brass ring? That was a tremendous risk…..so what happened?

Deion joins the team in week 3 and displayed the cover corner prowess that allowed him to intercept 6 passes, returning 3 for touchdowns.  He set the records for return yards in an individual season; two 90 yard TD interception returns in a season…and ran away with NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award.  His complete smothering of Alvin Harper, then the NFL all time yardage per reception leader in the playoffs actually ruined Harper’s career.  Or at least the descent of Harper’s career can be traced to the 1994 NFC Championship Game and the first few series. Deion became a Super Bowl champion that year which cemented his legacy and he didn’t have to apologize for anything the rest of his career.

Sanders performance late in 3rd quarter of the 94 NFC Championship Game.

Deion Sanders, one of the all time great cornerbacks and now:  Pro Football Hall of Famer!!  Congrats on your selection!

The Soul of The Game: “Mad Dog” Mike Curtis

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Did you know Mike Curtis is NOT in the PFHOF? One of the first to be named All Pro at two different positions -OLB & MLB. When I think of this, I remember what former Chief Chris Burford wrote me in a comment about the ‘old guard writers and the NFL p.r. machine working against his AFL brethren’.

Which was true… those same NFL writers buried the legacy of the Baltimore Colts and players after losing Super Bowl III. Curtis was caught in that crossfire.

Think I’m kidding? If we stepped out of a time machine in 1971 to talk football, the record for fewest points in a season had the Colts at #2 140 points ’71 and #3 144 points ’68. The ’68 Colts had tied the record of 144. The only Hall of Famer from that defense is OLB Ted Hendricks. Yet his induction stems more from his years out in Oakland.

To that avail you’d tout the ’69 Vikings had the #1 slot with 133 points allowed. Carl Eller, Alan Page, and Paul Krause have made it to Canton but keep in mind the Colts did win Super Bowl V.

The Colts still hold the fewest points in a season record for all Super Bowl champions. Curtis was their best defender and All Pro / Pro Bowl performer.

Hell even NFL Films thought he’d be a Hall of Famer and you can hear John Facenda (voice of God) say it in the video inside my original article.

Just as the late Nick Buoniconti is in the PFHOF representing “the No Name Defense”, Curtis should be for the original “Bullies of Baltimore”.

The ashes of Super Bowl III…