So enjoyable to watch this footage. This is when I fell head over heels for the game. Jim Hart could wing a football! Thanks for the video, more please🙂
@@markgardner9460 That was quite a haul the Rams got for Gabriel. For that one year 1973, Eagles fans ( me included as a teenager) thought it was worth it. Then 1974 was back to reality.
The Craig Morton situation was one of those "What could've been" careers. Craig was a 1st round pick in 1965. An outstanding back-up to Dandy Don for 4 seasons. Morton had a rocket arm perfectly suited for bombs to Bob Hayes. Then came 3 problems. 1-Defenses changed to take away the deep pass,2- The Cowboys OL was good but not great. Morton took so many big hits, he was a walking mash unit. 3- Roger. Coach Landry liked Craig, but Roger was something special. And better suited to running Landry's new run-oriented attack. Tom felt bad for Morton. Felt he was too good and seasoned to be holding a clipboard. I think Landry was glad to see Craig find a second career with Denver.
Landry was also worried about facing him in the Super Bowl in 77. Morton was fully capable of beating Dallas, but the Denver defense was a different matter. Dallas just had too many offensive weapons for Denver to handle. The Doomsday defense also was a burden to any NFL team's offense. Dallas, Doomsday, Dorsett. I don't think Dallas was giving up too many points, or any comeback attempts from the Broncos. Denver had the horses, but Dallas always got the head start on the defenses of football. Including Super Bowl twelve!
@@tomodonovan5931 For many reasons SB XII remains my favorite. I was a fan of Ed Too Tall Jones. But I also like watching the Orange Crush. There were so many hard hits in that game. But Doomsday was not going to be denied. 8 turnovers, and only 35 yards passing allowed. It was the game that made me a Cowboys fan. A special game.
I watched that game as a kid and it reminded me of how the Steel Curtain manhandled the Vikings just three years earlier. Both games were complete defensive domination.
@@markgardner9460 After Super Bowl V, Craig healed up and was ready to lead. problem was Roger was also ready to get going. Tom Landry had quite a problem to deal with. So he altered the QB's for the first half of the season. Both performed well. So Tom used the Chicago game to switch them on each play. I think he had Morton finish the game for a reason. In the back of his mind he knew Roger was what he needed for his new offense. But it was lucky they kept Morton for a couple seasons. When Roger got hurt in '72, it was Craig that kept the team together.
Mark, thank you for your fantastic videos. I watched my first Pro Football game in 1968 at the age of 7 and instantly fell in love with the sport. In my opinion, the NFL has for decades become unwatchable. The present day players may generally be bigger, stronger and faster, but they aren't better football players than the ones we watched in the 70's - they were much more disciplined, tougher and had great fundamentals. And WAY better uniforms!
Thank you - I really appreciate that! I agree with you regarding the downfall over the decades. It's more entertainment than sport, in my opinion. The two staples of football - blocking and tackling - absolutely bear no resemblence to that of our beloved sport circa 1968 that you noted. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Could watch every game during one week and be surprised if there was even one textbook tackle...like the one #62 Ed White made on Lem Barney in this vudeo. That was so sweet!
I have to say that Joe Thiesmann has to be one of the most underrated QB’s ever. He had to work his butt off upon returning to the US after his stint up here in the CFL Even though my hometown Calgary Stampeders defeated his Toronto Argonauts in the 1971 Grey Cup you could see he was going to be good. It’s ironic that both he and a fellow QB featured in this footage named Jim Plunkett faced each other in a Super Bowl matchup late in their careers.
I have always thought that Theismann deserved more credit. He had a very live arm and was a terrific runner. It's too bad that he didn't get to be a NFL full-time starter earlier - he may have had a shot at the hall of fame.
Great video, but I believe the biggest trade was Carroll Rosenblum and Robert Irsay trading franchises in 1972. In college (University of Kansas), I worked in a restaurant that hosted the KU caches show. John Hadl was a 24 hour a day ambassador for KU. He would always ask his server where they went to school (several smaller schools were in the area) and what they liked about it. If the server went to KU, he would always ask "what can we do to make it better". He was a great person as well as a great athlete.
Hadl was ab All-American as both a QB and a RB, so he was definitely talented as you stated. This video addresses only big QB trades. I hope to publish a video that covers other big trades from the '70's like the one you mentioned. Thank you for watching and commenting!
The yards per completion in this era was incredible (note: NOT yards per attempt). They didn't complete a lot of passes compared to today's NFL, but when they did they were LONG.
That's exactly right. Generally speaking, they didn't dink 'n dunk back then. Even though zone defenses were designed in an attempt to take away the long pass, if a team had a speed burner at Wide Receiver (like Cliff Branch or Mel Gray), then there is no zone defense that can adequately defend against the bomb.
Thank you - I'm glad you do. I can't get enough of old school football either - and that goes for college football, too. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@markgardner9460 Speaking of college football,the old time match ups of Notre Dame -USC, Oklahoma -Nebraska, Alabama -Auburn, Michigan -OSU, Army -Navy.so many great rivalries!I lived in Nebraska in 1971 and Nebraska with Johnny Rodgers and Oklahoma with Greg Pruitt was must see viewing ! Great game won by Nebraska 35-31 with Jeff Kinney of all people scored 4 touchdowns! To be fair, Kinney was a excellent college player.
Head scratcher's back in those days could mean a lot of things, Eagles traded Sonny Jurgensen for Norm Snead of the Redskins. Rumors around Philly were that Jurgensen needed to get out of town because of a trist with a minor. They shipped him out.
0:56: Jim Plunkett hurt running on what like an option play. With the wishbone offense, featuring the triple option, running rampant in the college game at that time, some NFL teams, including the Bears with Bobby Douglass, were trying it on occasion. But Plunkett was a passing Heisman Trophy winner. Why were the Patriots having him run this play???? Hint: The Patriots coach was Chuck Fairbanks, who took the Oklahoma Sooners to a near national championship in 1971, running the wishbone.
Thank you for providing that great insight. I wonder if Fairbanks called the play or Plunkett because QB's used to call their own plays for the most part back then. What do you think?
@@markgardner9460 Good question.😀 I wonder though why either would run that play when Plunkett had already had a serious shoulder injury earlier in the season.
He must have had a false sense of security - too much bravado. I could see if it was a play-off game or if the game had play-off implications, but it certainly did not.
It's mind-blowing what the Pats got for Plunkett and every Vikings fan thinks that trade back to Minnesota was absolutely worth it!yes Van Pelt was very good..
Die-hard Vikes fans would say that if they threw in even more draft picks it would have been worth it. Just think of what that offense would have been without Fran. Ugh. It's unnerving.
Totally worth it. They already wasted 2 years with their present QB situation and they were starting to age. Without Tarkenton, they would be gone nowhere.
How come John Hadl looks 55 yrs old on his football card?? He played for 4 teams, came into the league in 62 but what year did Hadl retire?? As always the work on here is uncontested and unique , please keep'em coming.
He balded prematurely and had a bit of a gut, so he definitely looked 55. He retired after the '77 season when he was 37. Thank you for your kind comments, Kevin!
3:12 Bob Tucker # 38 A Bloomsburg (PA) State University Huskie. He had a pretty good NFL career with the Giant and the Vikings. I think he followed Fran Tarkenton to Minnesota when the Giants traded him. I love seeing when you've posted a new video . Keep 'em coming !!
Bob may not have been a terrific blockibg Tight End, but he more than made up for it with his terrific receiving skills. He could break free on medium-deep pass patterns as well as most Tight Ends.
I had a teacher in 9th grade who played with Bob Tucker at Bloomsburg State. he was a defensive lineman and he said Tucker flattened his ass every day in practice. I really enjoy your videos and subscribed to your channel. Your old school videos and commentary are top notch.@@markgardner9460
The rams unees back then were outstanding ......... the redskins ..... UGH !.............. These clips and comments during the videos are just terrific ......... THANK U !!!
Then it got ridiculous. Receivers would get breathed on and the refs would throw a flag, but receivers like Michael Irvin could interfere all they wanted and there were no flags to be seen. It's a joke.
I don't think that he was much of a deep threat, but rather a possession-type receiver. If the zebras would have thrown the laundry for all of his pushing off, his numbers wouldn't be what they are.
@@markgardner9460 He was 30th all time in reception( tied with Joiner) 21st in yards but liked to push off a lot and I don't think he has those stats on another team with a weak offensive line and Without Emmitt Smith that alone opened up play-action he did average 15.9 a catch... very good numbers he did make big plays but I think in his case the team he played for helped to enhance his performance! And, fairly or not,his off the field issues put a lot of folks off.
Complete head scratcher the trade that sent WR John Gilliam (44) to Minnesota for QB Gary Cuozzo (15). Gilliam is seen catching 3 TDs vs Cleveland in one game - the last one coming with 40 seconds left to tie the game at 21 all. Cleveland had that game won, but could not stop Johnson-to-Gilliam. Minnesota won the lottery with that trade.
It's absolutely stunning how players like Plunkett and Hadl fetched so many draft picks and players in trades! The 1970s were indeed different! It's like scouting was lackadaisical at best and terrible at worst!
Love the Oilers uniforms from the era! It seems like the Cardinals took a long time to settle on a quarterback! Beathard, Charley Johnson, Cuozzo,etc A quarterback Merry -go-round! Pretty bizarre to throw 6 TD pass in a game and still lose, especially to the Saints!
The New England area is as bigoted as anywhere in America. Always has been. Even to this very day.. Plunkett should be in the Hall of Fame for his two Super Bowl victories, if not a thing more.
a afterthought a washed up Joe Nameth was traded to the Rams . a washed up O.J Simpson was traded to the 49ers . Nameth and Simpson had multiple knee surgeries
Plunkett failed with two teams before leading the Raiders to the SB. Tarkington was a very good QB. Giants just didn't have good players. Lem Barney was a good player. Roman Gabriel was a good player too. Think the Rams traded him to the Eagles and he did well with them. Didn't Hadl get traded to the Packers?
John Hannah and Leon Gray!! My first game as a kid was 1974 Schaefer stadium Plunkett v Namath. Never will forget walking into the stadium for the first time.
@@markgardner9460 The first pro football game I attended was Minnesota at Tampa Bay in 1977 ,a slugfest won by the Vikings 9-3 .It was 3-2 Tampa Bay at the half Vikings points were a safety by Carl Eller who sacked Randy Hedburg(Minot State) the end zone! We knew about Hedburg because we lived in Minot North Dakota 67-70…and we knew people who were distant relatives of him..that being said, I obviously was not rooting for Tampa Bay!
My first pro game was a November 1971 game between the Oilers and Bengals at Riverfront Stadium. I was 10 years old. I don't remember very much about it other than thinking the players were the size of monsters. Loved the uniforms of both teams. A neighborhood friend went to the game with us, didn't dress appropriately for the cold weather. He ended up getting sick and upchucking. Good guy though. Always had a smile on his face, even after blowing chunks all over the floor of Riverfront Stadium. @@markgardner9460
THIS IS WHEN FOOTBALL WAS FOOTBALL, I WAS A PLUNKETT FAN… He won TWO SUPER BOWLS Perfect Example of PEOPLE not knowing what they have… It’s like that now in FOOTBALL… THE NFL IS RIGGED……..
Even though i was a Viking homer, i always liked Plunkett even from his college days, he got punished dang near every game with the Patriots, just like Joe Kapp did before him. I think cause they were big tough men the ref's let the defense get away with a little extra against Plunkett, Bradshaw and a few others.
I think yer onto something, Hammer. I definately think that was the case in the NBA with Wilt and Kareem. Those guys got abused on a regular basis, but the refs would swallow their whistles.
Just missing the cut (because it happened in 1980): Ken Stabler traded to the Oilers in exchange for Dan Pastorini. A very rare exchange of starting QBs.
So good, mang! Another delight. Well, except for being reminded of the stupidity (Eagles) involved in making the Roman Gabriel deal. My grandpa bemoaned the loss of Harold Jackson.
Well done Mark! 1974 - the year I got hooked on football and the year of the in season QB trade… didn’t Snead get traded to the 49ers when the Giants acquired Morton as well?
I’m pretty young being born in 04 i have so much admiration for this era of football and even before. I could watch videos on it for days and it makes me confused when people try to hate on these eras saying the players aren’t skilled like today. These players are tough as hell and are extremely fast and agile.
Thank you for commenting. Players at the skilled positions (RB, WR and DB's) were just as fast then as they are now. Today, all of the other positional players are faster than the era depicted in thus video. Wide Receiver Cliff Branch ran a 9.1 100 yard dash in '71. If players have been getting faster every decade from the one before, then why aren't players running 8.5 100 yard dashes. It's been a perpetuating falsehood for decades that needs to stop. Is there anyone today who is faster than "Bullet" Bob Hayes of the Cowboys - the World's Fastest Man who won 2 Gold Medals in the 1964 olympic games? It's doubtful.
Another good video I tell you thy really played football 🏈 back in the 70s my ear they didn’t pass as much as they do today but the play that was football man I really miss and appreciate that game and how they played it much respect to those men that played in that time.
Tarkenton wanted out from Minnesota because the head coach was old school (Norm Van Brocklin) and he scrambled to avoid getting killed. Tarkenton was traded and shortly after, van Brocklin was fired.
1980 offseason. Stabler gets traded straight up for Pastorini. Pastorini breaks his leg in week 5 and Plunkett takes over the 2-3 Raiders and leads them to a Super Bowl XV trophy. Plunkett does again in 83. He gets bench and replaced by Mark Wilson who suffers a season ending injury and Plunkett leads the Raiders to a SB XVIII trophy. We all thought he was going to do it again in 86 after Wilson was benched after an 0-3 start. The Raiders were 8-4 before Marcus Allen fumbled in OT vs the Eagles while the Raiders were setting up for a chip shot FG to win the game. Andrew Watters returned the fumble to the Raiders 2 yard line and the Raiders Dynasty as we know it ended that day. The Raiders never recovered and lost their final 4 games. It was the beginning of the Al Davis and Marcus Allen feud. Al Davis never forgave Marcus for this and he drafted Bo Jackson in the 7th Round of the 87 draft
I wanted so badly to include this trade in the video, but alas, it didn't happen in the '70's. Allen lead the NFL in fumbles with 14 in '83, but never came close to that number again. Unfortunately, one of his 7 fumbles in '86 was the one to which you alluded.
Al Davis was a prick. Same as his son. Marcus may have been the greatest raider of all time. But davis ran him out of town. Madden retired early and I believe it was due to Al Davis. Al Davis is much like Jerry Jones in a sense he's breathing down his coaches and players backs all the time. And he was a carpetbagger. Taking that team out of Oakland where they had such a loyal fanbase.
Cards Head Coach Bob Holloway liked Cuozzo from his days at a Vikings Assistant Coach, but he liked him far too much for what he actually accomplished - before and after the trade.
Packers got robbed in 73 as well as Shula filled the front office's heads with good things about Jim Del Grazio and the Packers coughed up 2 second round picks for a guy who had thrown 9 career passes.
Thank you for bringing this up! The Dolphins signed Del Gaizo as a free agent, so he didn't cost them much, but they parlayed that transaction into Tight End Andre Tillman and WR Freddie Scott! Incredible.
Mark, you must be reading my mind. I was looking at my 70's ball cards and I have Snead on the Eagles, Vikings Giants and 49ers. Hadl on the Chargers, Rams and Oilers, and Pastorini traded for Stabler and I was going to comment that you should do a video on this and I look you up and...wadda you know! I have a question though. Did Roman Gabriel go back to the Rams after his stint in Philly. I have a 1978 football card with him on the Rams. I love reading the comments of your shows. Very interesting stuff, like the comments about Craig Morton below. SportsStatsNGab should do a part two. Thanks. Keep the great videos coming.
Thank you! While Gabriel had the '78 Topps card with the Rams, he never played for them again after being traded from them to the Eagles. He was a member of CBS' broadcasting crew in 1978 and 1979.
Kudos for the excellent videos. The Tarkenton trade is a head scratcher. Why wasn’t there a bidding war for his services in 72? I could see teams like Chicago, Green Bay, Atlanta, Denver at least having an interest in trading for him. NFL history could’ve been completely different had the Gmen traded him anywhere other than Minnesota. I was shocked when I saw a 1975 highlight saying matter of factly that Jim Plunkett was PLAYING on a separated shoulder. That would contribute greatly to sub par performance. The Plunkett trade really vaulted NE into contender status. I think Steve Grogan was a Bobby Douglass type that developed into maybe an average to slightly above average passer later on in his career. I was at a game in 1990 Dolphins/Patriots where Grogan was completely immobile wearing a neck brace and shouldn’t have been out there playing. The Packers traded for Jim Del Gazp in 1973, for John Hadl in 1974 and for Lynn Dickey in 1976 all the while the team was just getting worse. None of the trades worked well for GB. The Rams were endless beneficiaries of trading away QBs, Gabriel in 1973, Jaworski in 1976, Harris in 1977. The rich just getting richer. I wish a QB like Joe Ferguson could’ve been traded out of Buffalo to let’s say Chicago in the late 70s
The Vikings gave up quite a bit to land Tarkenton, so that may be indicative of other teams trading interest in him. I know that Tarkenton had a preference for playing in Minnesota again, so I think that more than anything was the reason that he ended up again as a Viking. I remember that timeframe when Grogan wore that neck brace. He was a true gamer. Bert Jones was another. I published a video about his courageous performance on a late 1970's Monday Night Football telecast. Why the Packers traded so much for those QB's that you mentioned is dizzying to ponder because they weren't even close to being contenders. They didn't have quality receivers or a quality defense. There was no way that they were going to un-seed the Vikings as division winners and their record was not going to be good enough to land the one wild card playoff spot - not with the Redskins, Cardinals and Cowboys in the NFC East all having solid records. A viewer recently stated that Bears GM Jim Finks was not a proponent of needing to have a quality QB in order to win. He was fond of having a hard-nosed defense and a solid running game. Thank you for providing quality comments - I appreciate it!
Is there any question that the uniforms teams wore back then were about 10 times better than the ones they have now? Patriots, Cardinals, Vikings, Rams, Redsk, er, Washingtons. The only ones that are close are the Giants and Browns because they basically went back to what you see (Giants Tarkenton clips) here and the Raiders and Cowboys because they never went away from these classic duds. (Though Dallas has ruined their rarely worn dark jersey look.)
Mark, another great video. Seems GM’s didn’t value draft picks in the 70’s as much. A lot of rookies sat their first couple of years so they could learn from the veterans. George Allen was a case in point. Gave up two first round picks as well as a second to sign Dave Butz.
As always, you're very kind and I appreciate it. These big trades can not happen today due to salary cap considerations, contract guarantees, and bonus payments. Heck, a lot of teams can't effectively manage their salary cap as it is, let alone trying to fit in a trade of the magnitude of most of these depicted in this video.
Morton looks like a poor mans Neil Diamond on his trading card. I think you listed the big trades. I might have thrown in Bill Munson to the Lions, but he wasn’t able to really pry the job away from Greg Landry. Not a truly huge trade. The Cuozzo trade was a Grade A turkey of a deal. Good work Mr. Gardner. Thank you for this content and your devotion to this growing channel.
I had Munson on my list originally, but then noticed that the trade went down in the '60's. Yeah, Morton did look a little like Diamond, didn't he? Thank you for your fine comments and continued viewership!
@@markgardner9460 I absolutely agree! I mean Fran Tarkenton held every meaningful passing record when he retired, and even now 45 years after he retired,he is still ranked #12 in all time touchdown passes!
Plus he started out on an expansion team (strike 1) and played with the Giants who had a terrible defense, so he had to throw a lot and opposing defenses knew that (strike 2), but he overcame those things (along with a less than ideal Head Coach for Fran's character - Norm Van Brocklin).
One of the biggest trades of its day was when the Raiders traded away an aging Ken Stabler to the Houston Oilers for Dan Pastorini. Pastorini had lead them to 2 straight afc c games where they lost to the Steelers both times. They thought trading for Stabler would get them over the hump. Stabler did lead Houston back to the playoffs. But they lost badly to you guessed it the eventual super bowl champions the Raiders. But Pastorini broke his leg early in the season. Jim plunkett lead them to the super bowl. Would have Stabler lead this same Raiders team to the super bowl had he not been traded? I have my doubts. He was coming off 2 subpar seasons where he lead the league in interceptions and the raiders missed the playoffs both years. Stabler played 4 more years with oilers and saints. Never returned to his glory days with the Raiders. Pastorini played another year with the Rams then retired. Plunkett lead the Raiders to another super bowl win after the 1983 season. Not bad for a heisman trophy bust. Stabler is in the hof, plunkett still is not.
In preparation for the video, I wrote down this trade, but then had to scratch it since it occurred in 1980, but it was a whopper at the time. Stabler was constantly complaining about wanting more money which wasn't in line with his then decreased production with the Raiders. Al Davis preferred strong armed QB's and Pastorini definitely fit that fold, so everything was ripe for the trade to occur. Like you said, Pastorini couldn't get the Oilers over the hump and Stabler already had a Super Bowl win, so it seemed to make sense.
@markgardner9460 Stabler also didn't believe in practice or training camp. He said he was a vet and didn't need these things. 30 ints in 1978. From 1973-77 Stabler was one of the best qbs in the NFL. The Raiders got a little long in the tooth by 1978. But it didn't take them long to get back to the super bowl. They added some youth along with the vets still on the team. I also think bum and kenny were a match made in heaven. Two good Ole boys. Why Stabler followed Bum to new orleans.
The relationship between the Giants and Vikings in the 1970s appeared much the same as the relationship between the Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics in the 1950s, except in this case the New York team was the farm team. The Vikings sent people to the Giants who they had no use for, and then could call them back when they decided they needed them. Fran Takenton, Bob Grim, Bob Tucker and others went back and forth. Or maybe the trades just appeared one-sided because the Giants used the draft picks they got on guys like Larry Jacobson. And yeah, Van Pelt worked out pretty well.
I like your analogy, John. Plus, Vince Clements was drafted in the 4th round by the Vikings in 1971, but did not play, so they had no use for him and packaged him in the trade. He scored only 2 td's for the Giants over two years, then was done. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Fran should have played his whole career with the Vikings. Maybe they win a super bowl if he did. Norm van Brocklin traded him because he didn't like Frans scrambling style. Van Brocklin was a horrible head coach and his players hated him.
He went where the money was. Five different teams including 2 stints with the Saints as well as 2 WFL teams....all in 12 years. Had he stayed put, certainly had the potential for an HOF career.
@@stevenzimmerman4057 I don't think so. Although Gilliam was about 30 years old, he was coming off 4 straight pro bowl years. The trade for Rashad is a bit more grey area type . Not exact;y sure if this was the case, but it appeared once Rashad was available then Jim Lash became expendable.. Both he and Steve Lawson plus a few draft picks were traded to the 49ers for Sammy Johnson, Nate Allen and Winland Hall......this happened very early in the 76' season. I keep forgetting the exact sequence ,(. Pretty sure Jim Lash was still with the team in early 76'. Once Rashad became available ( suppose attitude problems) they went after they him. If Gilliam stays, maybe non of those players , who contributed greatly, end up with the Vikings.
@@stevenzimmerman4057 He really was. Even with the fire power of Gilliam, I guess they ended up in 76 with better receivers. They even brought back Bob Grim , the other WR was rookie Leonard Willis, highy toughted speedster who never really did anything even as a return man.
8:25: Some back story on Gary Cuozzo. The Cardinals coach, Bob Holloway, was on the Vikings staff before he left to go to St Louis in 1971 Apparently he didn't like Jim Hart so he thought Cuozzo was a better option. NOT. Cuozzo was gone by the end of 1972 as was Holloway. Don Coryell came in 1973 and we know where he and Hart went after that. Cuozzo was also a two time Team Who Traded For Him Was a Loser honorary. He was traded by the Baltimore Colts to the New Orleans Saints in 1967 for Bill Curry ( who became an All Pro center) and several drafts picks, one of which was first round draft pick BUBBA SMITH.
Scoreboards across the league began working much harder when Coryell and Hart teamed up with sensational rookie Running Back Terry Metcalf, sizzling Wide Receiver Mel Gray and Hall of Fame bound Tight End Jackie Smith.
Jack Pardee was a pretty good coach after he left the playing ranks. Love how he just handed the ball to the ref after registering that pick-6 against Tarkenton's Giants. I think the one player responsible for "ratcheting up" TD celebrations in this era was the Houston Oilers' Billy "White Shoes" Johnson. He had a pretty long NFL career as a "utility guy" -- on special teams and on offense as a WR. You had some great special teams players in this era also -- I remember Rick Upchurch of the Denver Broncos being a Devin Hester type before there was a Devin Hester!
Pardee retired as a player after the '72 seadob, then became the WFL's Florida Blazers Head Coach in '64, so that's being on the coaching fast track. I published a video of Upchurch; it's entitled "Does This NFL Special Teams Star Belong In The Hall Of Fame?". Check it out in my playlist if you'd like. Thanks for watching and commenting.
As usual, great job with the video and highlights. Re the comment regarding the Cuozzo trade for Gilliam.. the Cardinals always seemed to underachieve in the late 60's--early 70's, and there was a big reason why that wasn't a secret at the time but has kind of been forgotten today. Racial tensions were a factor in many cites in all the major American sports at the time, but none more so than in St. Louis. It's long out of print, but Dave Meggesy's book was a big deal at the time, and he wrote about the difficulties that black players faced in St. Louis, how they were not valued and viewed as troublemakers, and how many of the established players on the team at the time would rather lose with white guys than win with an integrated team. Off the cuff, there were a lot of players in this time frame (Johnny Roland, Cid Edwards, Macarthur Lane, Gilliam, Miller Farr, Ahmad Rashad, Nate Wright) that seemed to have short leashes and were traded away or given up on very early. All of them were black. Almost all of them of were traded for white guys nowhere near as good as they were. And when you look at the roster of the Cardinals at the time, the other thing you see are white guys with long careers whose achievements didn't seem to merit that kind of longevity, and guys like Meggasey, Lane, and Rashad have been quite open about what the atmosphere in St Louis was at that time frame. It didn't really start to change until Coryell became coach.
I think that you made some excellent points. Washington's team had some issues, too, in the '60's. I need to add that book to my want list. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Washington didn't start to put that behind them until Edward Bennett Williams took over the team in mid-60's. And rightly or wrongly, Otto Graham was seen as not enthusiastic about having black players on his team, either. It took Lombardi coming to town to start the real change out of the Marshall mindset, and George Allen to finish it. Jerry Kramer's book about Lombardi and the 1969 Redskins addressed Lombardi and the fact that black players finally felt comfortable in Washington after he took over. Larry Brown, to name one example, never would have made it out of training camp under the old regime.
I believe the reason the St Louis Cardinals acquired Gary Cuozzo was because they had traded their other quarterback Charley Johnson to the Houston Oilers so they needed Gary Cuozzo to be a backup to Jim Hart. The Cardinals acquired Miller Farr from the Oilers in Exchange for Charley Johnson. Miller Farr a defensive back was the brother of Lions Running Back Mel Farr
Helmets, like Charlie Johnson had, early in his career with the Cardinals, were laughed at and referred to as, "Suicide Helmets," back in the early 70s when I played in high school. Johnson really did help the Broncos, though. They'd been through lots of QBs - Ramsey, Steve Tensi, Pete Lisk, Don Horn...
Johnson was a quality veteran that Denver needed, just like when they landed Morton. I played with one of those "Suicide Helmets". It was soooo tight. It was hard to get on and off. I had to pry the helmet from the ear holes to get it wide enough to get my head into it. There was no way that helmet was going to be knocked off.
Gabriel was 3 for 16 with 4 interceptions by halftime !! Wow that is atrocious even for 1972. I wonder if we could have had a chance at QB in the 70's. Joking aside my favorite footage of any Quarterback when it comes to pure beautiful arm motion is Sammy Bough ! Now I'm only 50 so obviously I'm going off of like 3 throws ever by him but it looks like it stands the rest of time.
It's amazing that guys like Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, Archie Manning, Terry Bradshaw, Brian Sipe, Steve Grogan, Ken Anderdon and others plaued as many games in the 70s as they did. They passed alot, and Staubach, Tarkenton, and Grogan ran a lot as part of the game plan.
After watching those “Highlights” of John Hadl from his time with Chargers that were in video, I’m “surprised Dan Devine didn’t trade 1st and second rounds pick in 1977, 1978, 1979 too…”those picks in 1975 and 1976 probably would have helped Packers defense when offense started clicking in early 80’s, but than again Bart Starr wasn’t a very good General Manager either.
Really great film. Hadl, with a losing record in 1972, chosen above Bradshaw (11-3) and Len Dawson (8-5). Both Gabriel and Jaworski traded to Philly Niners released Plunkett, he sat for 78 and 79, and then...just wish he had gone to Cal. Gracias!
Plunkett was active in '78 but did not play and in '79 he only got into 4 games while throwing only 15 times, so he essentially sat as you stated. L.A. got the best of Philly in their first QB trade, but it was the other way around in the second. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I thought Cam Newton in the Super Bowl was the worst attempt ever at a QB trying to recover a fumble until I saw Hadl at 14:40 here. Guy dropped the ball and basically just walked away.
He did hop on Lyle Alzado's back, throw his arms around his neck and tackle him on one of his fumbles, so I'll give him a lot of credit there. Brady would have ran towards the sidelines.
As bad as Boryla was, he went to the Pro Bowl in '76 even though he only had 6 td passes & 12 interceptions. Much like this year, with so many NFC QB's skipping the Pro Bowl for a variety of reasons (grocery shopping, getting truck tires rotated, etc), a lot of NFC QB's skipped it in '76.
You can see why good teams/organizations stayed good and bad teams stayed bad in the 70’s and 80’s. Bad front offices and and shrewd trades by the good teams
The Cowboys and Rams seemed to come out far ahead on most of the trades in the 1970's, along with the Patriots (with the exception of the Joe Kapp trade).
Yes, I did not include that in this video because the "future consideration" that the Colts were to receive was fuzzy, so I elected to not include it. Thank you for bringing that up.
As former Head Coach Bruce Arians was fond of saying, "No risk it, no biscuit". To your point, yes, a lot of interceptions were thrown back then. QB's didn't utilize the ultra-short passing game like they do now and they couldn't throw the ball away if outside of the Tackles without getting a penalty.
Just yesterday I watched Joe Theismann's interview with Joe Buck. When Joe graduated from college, he never hired an agent to represent him. So when he negotiated with the Dolphins, he was only asking for 35K a year. But the Argonauts offered 50k a year to sign him. During Joe's time in Canada the Dolphins went to three Super Bowls. Just imagine if Joe had signed with Miami. He would have been in line to replace Bob Griese during their perfect season in '72. But instead he was traded to Washington and ended up sitting behind Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer until 1978.
I saw a small portion of tgat interview. Griese was Miami's starting QB through '79, so Joe would have most likely played second fiddle just like he did in Washington...only he would have had 2 Super Bowl rings instead of 1. Thank you for watching and commenting!
@@markgardner9460 But it sure makes you wonder if Theismann could have beaten out Morrall in being Greise's backup. And even further down the road, could Joe be the starter leading up to Super Bowl XVII.
I think it's probable that Joe could have beaten out Morrall and then been the starter instead of David Woodley. Who knows, maybe they don't even draft Marino (but I'm guessing they still would have because Joe would have been getting long in the tooth by then)
I tried to think of a big QB trade in the ‘70’s that you didn’t mention. How ‘bout; the 1971 trade by New Orleans of QB Billy Kilmer (17) to Washington for LB Tom Roussel (54) and two draft picks. Kilmer would lead the Redskins to an NFC title in ‘72.
I had him on my list, but it didn't make the cut because I think the draft picks were a 4th and a 6th plus the player isn't a household name. Thanks for bringing him up though, as I may publish a sequel to this video.
With the '71 4th round pick, the Saints selected Wimpy Winther (really, that's his name), a Center from Mississippi and with the '71 8th round pick, they selected James Elders, a Defensive Back from Southern. Neither player played in the NFL.
Gary Cuozzo left pro football to continue his dental practice. I mentioned that on other videos where he and Billy Cannon appeared on a syndicated episode of 'What's My Line' to mention that not only were they football players, but they were also dentists. 15:52 - More parked cars behind the end zone. Not the greatest location for them in my opinion. That Hadl trade to Green Bay had to be the worst, most lopsided trade ever. The cheap facemask that closely resembled the ones that came with those gum machine helmets at the supermarket
I didn't know that Cannon was a dentist. I think Ray Nitschke was on "What's My Line", too. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I wore one of those "monkey helmets" in 7th grade. I had to pull the helmet out from the ear "flaps" in order to get it on or off. That's how tightly those helmets fit. Today's helmets go off and on like a baseball cap......and they're concerned about player safety.
@@markgardner9460 I had the NFL 75th Anniversary VHS cassette (narrated by John Mahoney) and it showed the 'What's My Line' clip with Ray Nitschke appearing to stump the panel. Always found it interesting to see him off the field wearing glasses. Even the Packers Hall of Fame Museum recreated his locker and his glasses were placed on the top shelf.
Fran was The Man when I was a kid in MN. I don't think that there's been a QB who was any more entertaining than Tarkenton with all of his amazing scrambling and passing exploits.
Joe Theiseman could've won 10 rings he'll only be remembered for one tragic thing and I'm a New Yorker not a Giants fan they hang their hats on that second to their SB wins
I was impressed that despite Joe's smallish stature he was able to really fire the ball. Footage in this video doesn't do him justice in that regard, in my opinion.
When Morton played for the Giants in 1974 and 1975, it was the Yale Bowl in New Haven, CT. Giants Stadium was being built at the time (it opened in 1976), and the Giants could not use Yankee Stadium anymore as it was under renovation. In fact, the Yankees played their home games in 1974 and 1975 at Shea Stadium in Queens. Yankee Stadium reopened in 1976, and the Giants continued to play their home games at Giants Stadium until the 2009 season. They moved into Met Life Stadium along with the Jets for the 2010 NFL season. The Jets left Shea Stadium in 1983 and began playing their home games at the "old" Giants Stadium in 1984 after then Jets owner Leon Hess (where you could get your toy truck in the 70s at his gas stations!) could not get the financing to renovate Shea for football purposes.@@markgardner9460
