I understand a lot about football, but not everything. One thing I will NEVER understand is how people say that, unless you win a Super Bowl ring, you are NOT a great quarterback. Wait. What? I mean, how does that POSSIBLY define a great quarterback?
Let's look at this. If that's how you define a "Great Quarterback", THINK about WHO you have to ADD and SUBTRACT from "The Great QuarterBack" list.
Here are the ADDITIONS:
Jim McMahon - Chicago Bears - Super Bowl XX
Doug Williams - Washington Redskins - Super Bowl XXII
Mark Rypien - Washington Redskins - Super Bowl XXVI
Kurt Warner - St. Louis Rams - Super Bowl XXXIV
Trent Dilfer - Baltimore Ravens - Super Bowl XXXV
Brad Johnson - Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Super Bowl XXXVII
I'll be willing to make an exception for Kurt Warner, but he didn't put up the best numbers in the NFL.
And these are the HALL OF FAME QBs you have to TAKE OFF the list, since NONE of them have ANY Super Bowl rings:
Dan Marino - Miami Dolphins
Warren Moon - Houston Oilers
George Blanda - Chicago Bears/Los Angeles (Oakland) Raiders
Sonny Jurgensen - Philadelphia Eagles/Washington Redskins
Y.A. Tittle - New York Giants
Dan Fouts - San Diego Chargers
Fran Tarkenton - Minnesota Vikings
Norm Van Brocklin - Philadelphia Eagles
Are YOU really willing to tell those Hall of Famers that they're NOT great QBs because they have NO rings? I don't think so. Then think of Ernier Herber, Otto Graham, Sid Luckman, Paddy Hall, Sammy Baugh, Earl Clark, Jim Conzelman, - these Hall of Famers don't have Super Bowl rings either. Sure, the Super Bowl that we know came after they retired, but still...NO SUPER BOWL rings. If that's the mark of a GREAT QB, than that list, plus Luckman, Graham, Herber, Hall, Clark, Baugh, and Conzelman aren't and McMahon, Williams, Johnson, Dilfer, Warner, and Rypien are. There is something drastically wrong there.
So, think again: Is the true mark of a great QB REALLY a Super Bowl ring? Because if so, there are some average at best QBs that MUST be added and some great QBs that MUST be removed.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Legend Status
We all wish we were legends in one fashion or another. Like me. I wish I was a legendary Blog writer, writing fantastic entries on football (or fashion, depending on which blog I'm writing on). I wish my blog would be read by NFL players and become quite controversial (Please, let me dream!)
But, mention the word "LEGEND" in Chicago and three names come to the front of the Bears' fans minds: Walter Payton, Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus.
Dick Butkus. The name alone drives a stake of fear into people's hearts today. Here was a guy who had Fried QuarterBack with a side of Mashed Running Back for lunch, followed by Flambayed (I know the spelling is possibly wrong here!) Wide Receiver for desert.
He is quite possibly Chicago's most revered player. He is also quite possibly football's most feared Middle Linebacker to this day. Most try to emulate him, but all fail.
Let's talk about Butkus for a moment. The man. The myth. The Legend. He was all three, wrapped into one package.
Off the field, fans knew Dick Butkus was a teddy bear. No pun intended. He may not have had the soft sweet personality of Gayle Sayers, but he was a rather charming and decent human. Put on the Bears Blue and Orange and Dick Butkus, Offense Nightmare, came out.
Butkus was quoted as saying that he loved the movie "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and there is a scene in the movie where a head comes rolling down the stairs. That's how he played the game. Of course, it never happened to him or his teammates; just to the other guy. He often said that when he hit a player, he wanted that guy to know who hit him and not ask who it was.
Here is a video of some of Butkus' highlights. It's an NFL Films production and, as he had for many years, John Facenda is narrating. It's rather quite fitting.
There is a great comment that someone left that states, quite simply, "i love how this guy gets so many haters almost 40 years after he stopped playing......that is TRUE LEGEND STATUS" That is absolutely true. How many players today will have that type of legend, 40 years after they retire? Not many, that's for sure.
But, Dick Butkus? The most revered MLB in Chicago. Ever. Always. Even those born well after he retired and never got to witness the man playing, wear the number 51 in honor of him and speak of him as the legend he is. They love and revere him.
I've a feeling that, the day Butkus dies, it will become a city holiday in Chicago, so that everyone can mourn. Let's just hope that day is a long way away.
But, let us mourn that football no longer allows players like Butkus to play like this. While I am all for player safety, I can not help but miss this time of football life. The picture of him with taped knuckles and the blood and dirt on them is one of the most iconic pictures of him, but sadly, I can not locate it on google or bing.
But, this picture (below) is more well known by the players who faced him. If only we can get Brian Urlacher (who is a mini Dick Butkus, so to speak) to make the growling noises that Butkus did. Maybe our team could learn to once again intimidate other teams before stepping out on the field. (I'll write another blog entry on that in letter form, I think, later.)
The man. The myth. The legend. The one and only Dick Butkus.
But, mention the word "LEGEND" in Chicago and three names come to the front of the Bears' fans minds: Walter Payton, Gayle Sayers and Dick Butkus.
Dick Butkus. The name alone drives a stake of fear into people's hearts today. Here was a guy who had Fried QuarterBack with a side of Mashed Running Back for lunch, followed by Flambayed (I know the spelling is possibly wrong here!) Wide Receiver for desert.
He is quite possibly Chicago's most revered player. He is also quite possibly football's most feared Middle Linebacker to this day. Most try to emulate him, but all fail.
Let's talk about Butkus for a moment. The man. The myth. The Legend. He was all three, wrapped into one package.
Off the field, fans knew Dick Butkus was a teddy bear. No pun intended. He may not have had the soft sweet personality of Gayle Sayers, but he was a rather charming and decent human. Put on the Bears Blue and Orange and Dick Butkus, Offense Nightmare, came out.
Butkus was quoted as saying that he loved the movie "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" and there is a scene in the movie where a head comes rolling down the stairs. That's how he played the game. Of course, it never happened to him or his teammates; just to the other guy. He often said that when he hit a player, he wanted that guy to know who hit him and not ask who it was.
Here is a video of some of Butkus' highlights. It's an NFL Films production and, as he had for many years, John Facenda is narrating. It's rather quite fitting.
There is a great comment that someone left that states, quite simply, "i love how this guy gets so many haters almost 40 years after he stopped playing......that is TRUE LEGEND STATUS" That is absolutely true. How many players today will have that type of legend, 40 years after they retire? Not many, that's for sure.
But, Dick Butkus? The most revered MLB in Chicago. Ever. Always. Even those born well after he retired and never got to witness the man playing, wear the number 51 in honor of him and speak of him as the legend he is. They love and revere him.
I've a feeling that, the day Butkus dies, it will become a city holiday in Chicago, so that everyone can mourn. Let's just hope that day is a long way away.
But, let us mourn that football no longer allows players like Butkus to play like this. While I am all for player safety, I can not help but miss this time of football life. The picture of him with taped knuckles and the blood and dirt on them is one of the most iconic pictures of him, but sadly, I can not locate it on google or bing.
But, this picture (below) is more well known by the players who faced him. If only we can get Brian Urlacher (who is a mini Dick Butkus, so to speak) to make the growling noises that Butkus did. Maybe our team could learn to once again intimidate other teams before stepping out on the field. (I'll write another blog entry on that in letter form, I think, later.)
The man. The myth. The legend. The one and only Dick Butkus.
*No Real Title*
Maybe it was the era I grew up in. Not just as a person, but as a football fan. The 70s and 80s were full of tough guys playing the game. If you were a back up, you didn't complain about it to the public. You never talked about it in an interview. You did your back up duties and learned so that when (and if) the time came for you to be the starter, you could easily pick up where the starter left off.
It wasn't easy being the back up to greats. Ask Neal Anderson how easy it was to back up Walter Payton or LeRoy Kelly how easy it was to back up Jim Brown. We all know the difficulty Steve Young had backing up Joe Montana.
But, they never complained. They went on with the game. They studied and they not only did it the way the starter did it, but they did it their own way as well.
I am writing this because I was thinking about a lot of things the other day as I watched the Bears play the Giants (I know. I was a little late, but life got in the way) and once again, the whole Giants/Patriots rivalry (is there really one outside of the Super Bowl?) came up.
And, of course, my feelings about Tom Brady and how much of a wimp he is as compared to QBs of the past (and compared to some of today's QBs). And, I'm sorry. I don't think you should cry because you were lower on the draft chart than you think you should have been (Did Aaron Rodgers cry? No. He manned up.) and you shouldn't have to see a sports psychologist because you're the back up's back up's back up. That's weakness.
This isn't a complete bash on Brady. It's a complete bash on the game today.
Tom Brady would never have stood a chance against some of the toughest defenses in the history of the NFL. Like I said: There is maybe one who could.
Today's rules have changed. In watching NFL Network's "NFL's Top 10" of the top 10 defenses of all time. (I still don't understand why "The Grits Blitz" was on the list, but not "Gang-Green" or "The No-Name" defense.)
I know that the rules have changed to protect the players, but in doing so, we have created a generation of wimpy players, both on offense and defense.
I will be honest in saying that I miss the days when it was "Anything goes" defenses and "Just try and stop us" offenses.
While I want player safety, I want to see Chris Conte knock the living crap out of Calvin Johnson and to see Matt Forte stiff arm Clay Matthews and gain yardage.
But, those days, I fear, are far behind us. *Please insert a sad face here*
It wasn't easy being the back up to greats. Ask Neal Anderson how easy it was to back up Walter Payton or LeRoy Kelly how easy it was to back up Jim Brown. We all know the difficulty Steve Young had backing up Joe Montana.
But, they never complained. They went on with the game. They studied and they not only did it the way the starter did it, but they did it their own way as well.
I am writing this because I was thinking about a lot of things the other day as I watched the Bears play the Giants (I know. I was a little late, but life got in the way) and once again, the whole Giants/Patriots rivalry (is there really one outside of the Super Bowl?) came up.
And, of course, my feelings about Tom Brady and how much of a wimp he is as compared to QBs of the past (and compared to some of today's QBs). And, I'm sorry. I don't think you should cry because you were lower on the draft chart than you think you should have been (Did Aaron Rodgers cry? No. He manned up.) and you shouldn't have to see a sports psychologist because you're the back up's back up's back up. That's weakness.
This isn't a complete bash on Brady. It's a complete bash on the game today.
Tom Brady would never have stood a chance against some of the toughest defenses in the history of the NFL. Like I said: There is maybe one who could.
Today's rules have changed. In watching NFL Network's "NFL's Top 10" of the top 10 defenses of all time. (I still don't understand why "The Grits Blitz" was on the list, but not "Gang-Green" or "The No-Name" defense.)
I know that the rules have changed to protect the players, but in doing so, we have created a generation of wimpy players, both on offense and defense.
I will be honest in saying that I miss the days when it was "Anything goes" defenses and "Just try and stop us" offenses.
While I want player safety, I want to see Chris Conte knock the living crap out of Calvin Johnson and to see Matt Forte stiff arm Clay Matthews and gain yardage.
But, those days, I fear, are far behind us. *Please insert a sad face here*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)