| There have been a whole load of people who have put on the suit and taken to the field, but only a few who’ve distinguished themselves as the greats of the game. These are the people whose records and achievements will be remembered by every football enthusiast.
Red Grange called ‘Galloping Ghost’ for his extremely express running, was a player who truly symbolized football during its ‘Golden Age’ (1920s). The Illinois University boy’s decision to become pro by appearing for the Chicago Bears was splashed across the front pages of all newspapers, and served to bring the first ever sellout crowd for a pro football match to Chicago’s Wrigley Field.
There are others like Bronko Nagurski who served to keep interest in the game high during the years of the ‘Great Depression’. His name brings back memories of the intensely physical style of football during the 1930s. It’s said that when someone asked his coach whether he had a plan to stop Nagurski, with a shrug, he said “with a shotgun as he’s leaving the locker room”!
As football started to mature, great passers came about, and it’s no secret that Sammy Baugh was responsible for making football the exciting game it is today. As ‘Slinging Sammy’ was busy throwing the ball in the air, there has been no better receiver than the Green Bay’s Don Hutson, whose 488 catches were 200 in excess of the next best player at that time!
Come the 1950s and 60s, Joe Schmidt, Dick Butkus, and Ray Nitschke come to mind as the ‘macho boys’ of those times. They were truly the game’s intimidators, and anyone who took to field against them can vouch for this!.
As well as field greatness, some players are associated with a particular event or era. Once such person is Joe Namath. ‘Broadway’ Joe’s guarantee of victory even before the Super Bowl III is one of the most widely acknowledged “impact statements’ in football history.
Namath, in addition to talking the talk, did much more than walked the walk too! Namath was the first professional player to run over 4000 yards a season, and was the AFL’s hope, in addition to being the NY Jets’ star!
However, success, as many of you would know, can’t be understood only on stats. There are those intangible factors, which really separate the good from the great! Johnny Unitas’ rise from the bottom of semi-pro football to hero-cult status, the luck-by-chance finding of Deacon Jones via a talent scout, and Don Maynard’s chance for a second career with a different league are just a few examples of unusual events that changed the careers of some great players.
We also shouldn’t forget the on-field relationships shared between teammates. Would Deacon Jones have been effective in rushing the quarterback if Merlin Olsen didn’t tie the middle up? Could Joe Montana have achieved so many passing feats if Jerry Rice wasn’t as reliable as he was?
Anecdotes which show that men like Vince Lombardi are also humans also have their importance. Lombardi once looked back on his poor handling of all-time great Herb Adderlev "I was too stubborn to switch him to defense until I had to," he said. "Now when I think of what Adderlev means to our defense, it scares me to think of how I almost mishandled him." |
