Fights, hard hits and cheap shots from 1973 are featured. Exciting players from this NFL season will bring back great memories for those that saw them play.
This is the real NFL, football teams playing in baseball stadiums filled with grass, dirt, mud, blood, rain, cold, sleet, snow and playing fourteen games a season, love the 1970's football, this is a super awesome video!!
Thank you, John! I agree - the '70's NFL is the best. I'm working on Part 2 which I think will be even better, so please check it out when it rolls out.
@@jamessimms415 I think it's less that today's NFL is soft and more that the league prioritizes profit/convenience over anything else. A lot of players have been vocal about how they would prefer to play on grass but the owners pick turf because it's easier/cheaper.
As a kid, i asked my dad why Pro Football is so much more violent then college football. He said "When you get paid and there is another waiting to take your place, you hit harder."
In those days I read that NFL players had second jobs. Raiders' players teaching school! And the city of Oakland would be better off if they were teaching now.
The 1970's was a bridge between the old and modern game. The players got stronger and faster. And the hits were more punishing than ever. Making the game as exciting as in any era.
Steve Sabol of NFL Films mentioned that the NFL would get final cut & would not allow any of the fights and cheap shots. He said they have hours of that footage on the cutting room floor. He wanted to make a separate video of some of “more amusing” violence but the NFL who obviously has final say, nixed it. Would be great to get some of video restored. unfortunately will never see the light of day. To be sure, games like the 1977 Dolphins-Cards Thanksgiving Day game which included a massive brawl started by Conrad Dobler have not seen the light of day. The game was up on RU-vid several years ago but taken down immediately by the league.
I would love to have that cutting room floor footage! To me, almost every NFL game pre-'80 is worth viewing. There is always something that stands out or is noteworthy. If nothing else, there's always the memories of the players that I grew up watching and the stories that go along with them. Thanks for the comments.....and for watching!
Correct you are, when I was into collecting NFL Films I used to write to Steve and correspond with him directly in the early days because he saw I was buying everything available and once I gained his friendship and trust I begged him for a copy of the Saints at Giants brawl game 1968 at Yankee Stadium which I attended and he told me he couldn't do it. I was able to get highlights and posted them on this channel on another video with other NFL fights.
@@markgardner9460 I had plenty of hand written letters from Steve and he would always send me brochures and catalogs with free NFL logo stickers and once did me a favor making me a copy of the Vikings-Giants opening day Webster game which is when I tried to get the Saints-Giants game and he declined. Otherwise, I bought all the NFL Films releases as they were released in their white clam shell cases and a couple of personal games I desired a copy of which they produced for me.
Sometimes, the toughest guys weren't the ones dishing out the hits, but instead, were the guys that'd actually get up from taking them and still compete at a high level. Let's face it, Pastorini, Manning, Domres, Bradshaw, and guys before them, like Bart Starr, or Unitas, were gutsy. They'd almost get killed on one play, then come back and kill the defense on the next play, or the next offensive series. They just wouldn't quit.
That's absolutely right! I heard Jim Parker say that Unitas, while in the huddle, stuck mud from the field up his nose to stop a bleeding nose that was dripping onto Parker's shoes. All of the QB's that you mentioned were beyond tough. Pastorini and Bradshaw, in particular, had so more serious injuries during their career that it's amazing they played as long as they did. Thanks for bringing this up, Tommy!
True, and there were many other examples - gotta add Billy Kilmer (17) to that list of gutsy QBs. I recall one game where he led the winning touchdown drive with a broken nose. In the postgame TV interview, he was holding a bloody towel to his face. I believe it was a playoff clinching game - Redskins vs Giants.
@@denisceballos9745 Yes Sir, I remember him giving an interview with the towel. Other gutsy QBs, Bobby Lane, Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Dick Shiner...man, you could go on, and on...
In those days, I was raised On these football games so later on in late 70s, I played that style of football kind of round on. Played in high school very rough in high school in the 80s. Was really crazy from 18 years old to 25 years old we would play every other Sunday or every Sunday on grass field all of the springs get together and play tackle football. And then after a while, I would go there. Nobody would be there. I would think what the hell I found out that they didn’t want to hit too hard elbow and things that wasn’t normal. Except when they tried to tackle me, they tried to kill me. I stopped hanging out with those dudes. 1970s with just the greatest video man very much.
I still have all of my cards, most still in NM condition from1971-1979. A collection I am very proud of. I need to make a youtube video showing them off. Thanks for the awesome videos. I can watch this stuff forever.@@markgardner9460
THIS IS GOLD! Thanks. Those weren't cheap shots. It's NFL football. I stopped watching the sissy NFL when they started proclaiming Baby Brady as the all time best QB.
Thank you!!! Seriously, how can any QB with a list of plays strapped to his wrist with an Offensive Coordinator speaking in his ear be considered the greatest? Of his era, maybe, but not even close of all-time. Thank you for watching and commenting!!
@@markgardner9460 LOL! Exactly. I feel like I'm in the twilight zone when I hear a group of guys saying how great he is. Brady wouldn't last a quarter if he was sent back to the 70's. Thanks again!
A lot of those hits were so blatant. Most often, no flag was thrown. But it was a part of the game. Some players (and some teams) had a reputation for delivering cheap shots more than others. But teams had to be able to dish it out - as well as take it, if they wanted to win.
"it was a part of the game", indeed. Players who were hit out of bounds or late just accepted it as such. No sense asking the refs to throw a flag cuz it's not going to happen.
Hi Denis, the NFL and NHL policed themselves back then, if you crossed the line there would be retribution and paybacks, they weren't so concerned about yardage, ha.
@@brotzmannsax Exactly, Good point. The NHL always had an “enforcer” on the team - ready to drop the gloves at the appropriate time. It was just part of the game. You had to be tough to play these sports - you had to enjoy the challenge. Often times the price was high.
I agree...field level or in some cases ground level views are just outstanding. Much better than views now which are too distant. Thank you for watching
In 1972 I was 12 and got interested in the NFL and was amazed at the athleticism. The rules were wide open and tactics got pretty nasty. Best decade of the NFL by far. The Darryl Stingley incident brought about some big changes.
Love seeing the NFL during the 70's, was a huge Ram fan. Side note---Merlin Olsen tackle had to have been before '73, that's when the Rams changed their team colors. Thanks for posting.
Dan Pastorini had a career of getting destroyed just like he did on this video. When he went to Oakland in 1980, he broke his leg early in the season, which led to the resurgence of Jim Plunkett. It is often forgotten that Pastorini also punted for a period in his career. Loved the Houston light blue helmet.....I never understood why they eventually went white.
That light blue helmet is one of my favorites! I have an 8 X 10 color photo of Bradshaw punting. Oddly, out of all of the positional players to have pulled double duty with their main position, as well as punter, the quarterback position is probably one of the most played positions (Bob Waterfield, Sammy Baugh, Norm Van Brocklin, John Hadl, etc)
Then you're gonna love the next video that I release. I will not give too much away, but the players depicted didn't play a glamorous position back then. Thanks for commenting!
How did Dan Pastorini survive all those shots to his head plus his head getting bounced off the concrete Astrodome field? The players endured all those head shots leading to CTE.
@@brotzmannsax His offensice line was porous. Defense was lousy...no rushing attack until Earl Campbell, so he had to pass and the opposing defense tee'd off on him big time.
I had season tickets at Yankee Stadium for the Giants from 1965-1973 and attended the Houston at Giants game shown here, the next to last game for the Giants at Yankee Stadium with the last game being a 23-23 tie against the Eagles midway thru the 1973 season before headed to the Yale Bowl.
@@markgardner9460 We had 4 tickets right on the 50 yard line about a dozen rows up right behind the Giants bench, my father had connections. He took me to most games from Brooklyn to the Bronx and later gave up on the poor team and I wound up going with my friends the last few seasons. The Eagles game was the last game I attended at Yankee Stadium and never went to the Yale Bowl or Shea Stadium in 1975. My father pulled off 4 more seats for relocation from the Stadium and we had season tickets at Giants Stadium from the first game against Dallas in 1976 to the end. I moved out of NY and never attended Met Life Stadium.
@@markgardner9460 Attending games at Yankee Stadium was exciting mostly in 1970 when we beat the Vikings opening day and went to the last home game hoping to make the playoffs only to lose to the Rams slaughter. In 1972 we beat our rival Eagles 62-10 which was fun as well as the last game ever there in the tie against Philly. My father was connected and we had great seats there although nobody believed we sat right on the 50 yard line. When we got the 4 tickets transferred to Giants Stadium we were in section 140 all those years around thee 15/20 yard line, not as good but at least we went. There my favorite games were beating SF in the 85 playoff game and the Redskins for the NFL Championship game the next season 17-0 in the coldest game I ever attended. I had a gam,e program for every Giants game I ever attended but eventually sold most of them on Ebay thru the years as they were starting to go, I had hundreds with home and away games but kept probably a dozen in my Giants collection including playoff games and the Super Bowls.
@@brotzmannsax I think that Tarkenton's Giants twice beat the heavily favored Vikings...once at each stadium. You must have had a bunch of programs...great stuff. Plus you are a super fan going to that many Giants games. I know that week 1 of 1980 was an away game, but I remenber Earnest Gray's 4 receiving td's in the Giants 41 to 35 win over the Cardinals. Thank you for your great comments!
In the Super Bowl between the Redskins and Dolphins, an upright came into play which most likely caused the Redskins a touchdown (Kilmer pass hit it when a receiver was open in the end zone). The score would most likely would have been 14 to 14 and the first overtime in Super Bowl history would have taken place. Time to move the goalposts to the end lines.
@@markgardner9460 Even the security and some plain clothes were getting some shots in, ha. I enjoy these videos and your commentary, nice work and great jerseys, I loved Czonka being a Giants fan now living in Miami.
@@markgardner9460 I was about 7 years old during this period of football. I remember my father got me the NFL 72 stamp book from DX/Sunoco and I studied it for hours on end so most of these players i recognize by name Thx again
Grew up watching John Brodie and Gene Washington, loved that team. Played HS football in the 70's, but watching this now, it's actually disturbing how violent it was back then. These guys left the game and were disabled.
For Part II, you gotta have Jack Tatum lighting up Riley Odoms at the Oakland Coliseum, plus Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson getting clobbered at Denver. Also Redskin cornerback Pat Fischer jumping up and giving 49er receiver Gene Washington an elbow to the head. Also in Week 14 in St. Louis, Staubach got clotheslined on one play and hit late in his back on another. And don't forget Bear cornerback Charlie Ford shoving Ram receiver Jack Snow in one of Soldier Field's dugout benches which they had until 1979. Also Part 5 of the "Lost Treasures Of NFL Films" series had another Bear defender yanking Chuck Foreman into one of those dugouts.
At 7:49, the player sacking Jim Del Gaizo is Jim Laslavic, who later played for the Air Coryell-era Chargers and later became a long time sports talk-radio host in San Diego.
Laslavic was one of those pretty good Penn State linebackers that every team seemed to have. The Lions had a special hatred for Jim Del Gaizo. One time he came in as a sub and completed a 4th-and-27 that helped the Packers steal a game from Detroit.
While teams and their players suffered from cheap shots the Bears also suffered from cheap thanks to Cheapo George Halas. From 1963 to 1983, the Bears saw the playoffs two times.
At 3:11, kinda surprised the ref actually threw a flag on that in 1973. Also pretty funny how the ref looked up, as if to admire how high he threw it.😄
Ha! I guessed you're an AFC guy even before the jersey reveal. Judging by your scene selections, maybe still a little bitter over SB VI.😉 Good quality footage though.
Thanks for watching and commenting. I placed whatever I thought the best footage was, regardless of the teams or players. I hope you check out Part 2 - it's a good video, too. Thanks again.
Two requests I have for you to consider, now that Conrad Dobler has passed perhaps dig up his famous interview and dirty highlights for a Dobler tribute video. Also, take all the clothes lines tackles from the 50's to the 80's and make a clothes line tackle video. Check out Night Train Lane and some of those vicious 50's games if possible.
That footage of the the LA Ram player is NOT from 1973. He was wearing the white pants which they wore up until 1972. From 1973 to 1999 the Rams wore sunflower gold pants.
Today's players wear biking shorts with napkins for pads and teeny tiny shoulder pads because tackling and hitting is being more and more legislated out of the game. Now it's mostly clutching, grabbing, pushing and holding up a runner's progress without him landing on the ground, so the official will whistle the play dead. Nobody gets hurt (including the feelings of fantasy football owners).
the good old days when defense was actually permitted, and offenses had to actually, you know, run, pass, game plan, etc, instead of dink n dunk, and or hope for a PI flag...like today's teams.
I can't stomach todays NFL. It's weak and its fixed. So, what I do now is watch college football, but mostle I watch SportsStatsNGad highlights from when I was a kid, say 1969-1978. Don't know how you got express written consent...LOL, don't care, just keep it coming, ah...but more Oilers please. This was back in the day when T.V. was free and the game was played by men!!
Thank you for watching and commenting! I will take into consideration your request for more Oilers-related videos. In the meantime, have you checked out "The Worst NFL Team Of All-Time(Non-Expansion)? and Part 2? They're located in the Special Features section of my Playlist. Thanks again.
Actually, I have and those are two more of the great videos or files or whatever, that you provide. Good stuff. 71 and 72 if I recall. I wasnt complaining about not enough Oilers stuff. I love your stuff. Keep up the good work and thank you@@markgardner9460
Thank you! I have a Pastorini video that I'd like to make, along with one for Burrough. Of course my list is long, but hopefully I'll get to it some day.
Those were the days...now...it's domed stadiums...RB's running out of bounds on almost every play...receivers falling down after they catch the ball...(so much for yards after the catch)...clean uniforms...it's become "touch football". Lousy tackling...no snow...no rain...no mud...no wind..(talk about INFLATED records)....and...I don't wanna say it...."DANCING!!!" The NFL is a clown show now!!!
One of the things that irks me the most is when a defender approaches a runner nearing the sideline...neither wants any contact, so they both gingerly step out of bounds
Looks like Lions played rough ball. Namath gets a separated shoulder getting pounded by the Colts. I dislocated a shoulder playing high school ball and that's some pretty horrific pain.
Yeah, the thing about dislocated shoulders is that it seems to me that they are more susceptible to further dislocations....at least it was with a friend of mine.
What about Boobie Clark's hit on the Denver safety with his forearm, which fractured some of the guy's neck vertebrae and led to a years-long lawsuit? I think it was in Clark's very first NFL game, opening day '73. Maybe the NFL has scrubbed that footage from the archives...
Oh yeah…..back when football was real. Not like today where you get penalized for just about everything. The team with the least amount of players hauled off the field would win! 😅
Owners told the NFL that they want their high priced ballplayers protected as much as possible against injury so they can get their monies worth......and the NFL complied. Now they have a "tackling zone" that is the size of a postage stamp which is why we see all the stiff arming going on which causes plays that should only go for 4 yards instead go for 12 because the players are chicken fighting all the way down the field,