Monthly Archives: December 2014

Richard Sherman: Pick of the litter

Richard Sherman, the Seahawks’ ballhawk/cornerback, intercepted another pass in Sunday night’s 35-6 win over the Cardinals. That gives him 24 in his first four seasons (with a game to go), tying him for third most since the 1970 merger. Here’s where he falls on the list:

MOST INTERCEPTIONS, FIRST FOUR SEASONS (SINCE 1970)

Years Defensive back, Team Int
1977-80 Lester Hayes, Raiders 25
1981-84 Everson Walls, Cowboys 25
1981-84 Kenny Easley, Seahawks 24
2011-14 Richard Sherman, Seahawks 24
1978-81 John Harris, Seahawks 22
1976-79 Mike Haynes, Patriots 22
1994-97 Keith Lyle, Rams 22
1988-91 Erik McMillan, Jets 22
2002-05 Ed Reed, Ravens 22

Sherman’s total is even more impressive when you consider how much lower interception rates are now (largely because of all the “adjustments” the NFL has made in the rules). In Lester Hayes’ first four seasons, 5.03 percent of all passes were picked off. In Sherman’s first four, 2.71 percent have been. Big difference.

When you look at it that way, Sherman has had the best first four seasons, interception-wise, of any defensive back in the last 45 years. His 24 INTs represent 1.26 percent of all picks from 2011 to 2014:

BEST INTERCEPTION PERCENTAGE, FIRST FOUR SEASONS (SINCE 1970)

Years Defensive back, Team Int League INT %
2011-14 Richard Sherman, Seahawks 24       1,899 1.26
1981-84 Everson Walls, Cowboys 25       2,162 1.16
1981-84 Kenny Easley, Seahawks 24       2,162 1.11
1994-97 Keith Lyle, Rams 22       2,007 1.10
1992-95 Darren Perry, Steelers 21       1,974 1.06
1988-91 Erik McMillan, Jets 22       2,080 1.06
2002-05 Ed Reed, Ravens 22       2,096 1.05
1977-80 Lester Hayes, Raiders 25       2,425 1.03
1991-94 Aeneas Williams, Cardinals 20       1,950 1.03
1988-91 Eric Allen, Eagles 21       2,080 1.01
1997-00 Sam Madison, Dolphins 21       2,081 1.01

It might seem like we’re splitting hairs here, but note the gap between first (Sherman) and second (Walls) — 0.1 percent — is the biggest of all. (Next biggest: .05 percent between second and third.) The gap between top and bottom, meanwhile, is .25 percent. That’s a pretty sizable separation.

In other words, receivers may not be able to separate themselves from Sherman, but Sherman sure can separate himself from other DBs.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman does this to opposing receivers, too.

Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman does this to opposing receivers, too.

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At least Russell Wilson was sober

Late in Sunday night’s game, with the Seahawks on their way to 596 yards, NBC informed us it had been 56 years since the Cardinals had allowed so many. You’d have to go all the way back, the graphic on the screen said, to their 1958 season finale in Pittsburgh, when they were Chicago Cardinals and the Steelers played at Pitt Stadium.

Bobby Layne and Co. racked up 683 yards that frigid December day — 472 passing, 211 rushing. It was so ridiculous that a running back, Tom “The Bomb” Tracy, threw a 72-yard touchdown pass. But here’s the best part, the part no one remembers: Layne played with a wicked hangover. World class. On national television, no less.

“Bobby drank, no doubt about that,” Art Rooney says in Ray Didinger’s book, Pittsburgh Steelers.

“The greatest day Layne ever had with the Steelers came the last day of one season at Pitt Stadium against the Cardinals. It was snowing like crazy. There couldn’t have been more than 5,000 people at the game because you had to be an athlete to get up the hill to that park on a dry day, let alone in snow and ice.

“Well, anyway, Bob Drum [a local sportswriter] came in the press box and said, ‘Your quarterback’s not gonna make it today.’ I knew what Drum meant because he and Layne were running mates around town at night. I said, ‘Don’t worry, he’ll be here.’

“Drum said, ‘I’m telling you, I was with him last night, and there’s no way he’ll even make it to the ballpark, let alone play.’

“This was unusual for Bobby, but it was the last game of the season, and he was blowing off steam. Bobby showed up at the stadium, and he looked awful. Well, Bobby went out and had himself a day you had to see to believe. The footing on the field was so bad everybody on both sides was falling down except Bobby. He was staggering all over the field and picking up unbelievable yardage. I never saw him have another day like it.”

Layne never did have another day like it. His 409 passing yards were the high for his 15-year Hall of Fame career. Indeed, it was just the eighth time an NFL quarterback had thrown for 400. (Layne also ran 17 yards for a score. That might have been his “staggering all over the field” moment.)

“Darkness almost overtook the athletes in the longest pro game ever played here,” Jack Sell wrote in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It required 2:57 and took up 213 plays, 54 in the first period, 61 in the second, 60 in the third and 38 in the fourth.”

(The “213 plays” seems off. I count 93 snaps for the Steelers, 60 for the Cardinals, plus 15 penalties, 11 kickoffs, 6 punts and 2 sacks – a max of 187. Which raises the question: Was Sell out drinking with Layne and Drum, too?)

More from his story:

The season’s farewell ran exactly as Coach Frank (Pop) Ivy of the Cardinals predicted on Friday afternoon. He took his squad to the snow-covered Pitt practice field for a tune-up, then visited the stadium where workmen had removed the tarpaulin and were using a flame thrower to remove icy spots.

Ivy asked Horse Czarniecki to keep the tarp off the grid Friday night [the Steelers and Cardinals played on Saturday], a request which was refused.

“If it snows we will at least be able to get a bit of traction,” Ivy insisted. “But on that skating rink my team will never be able to stop Bobby Layne’s long passes.”

It turned out they couldn’t.

So take heart, Arizona Cardinals. You may have given up 596 yards Sunday night, the most you’ve allowed in nearly six decades, but at least you weren’t victimized by a hung-over quarterback. The Seahawks’ Russell Wilson seemed in complete command of his faculties in the postgame interviews. Happy? Sure. But in a non-alcoholic, I-could-pass-any-breathalyzer-test kind of way.

Steelers quarterback Bobby Layne, facemaskless as always, seen here fleeing Giants linebacker Sam Huff.

Steelers quarterback Bobby Layne, facemaskless as always, seen here fleeing Giants linebacker Sam Huff.

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Quarterbacks: To run or not to run?

It’s nice if an NFL quarterback can move around a bit, but being able to take off and run has never been a high priority. The position has always been, first and foremost, about throwing the ball.

The game evolves, though. And it’s reasonable to wonder, with the recent influx of several mobile quarterbacks, whether the definition of The Perfect QB will eventually change, too. A decade from now, will the paradigm be more of a hybrid player, a combination passer-runner who can throw darts and also operate the read-option?

The instant success of the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick and the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III, all of whom made the playoffs in their first season as a starter, gave even more momentum to the 21st Century Quarterback idea. And last year Cam Newton, another dual threat, guided the Panthers to a 12-4 record and the NFC South title.

But in 2014 only Wilson has escaped the barbs of critics and the wrath of his fan base. Defenses have gotten better at dealing with some of the college-y stuff these quarterbacks do, and now it’s up to the QBs (and their coordinators) to adjust. Adapt or die.

The jury is very much out on whether they can . . . or even — as far as some coaches are concerned — want to. One of the problems with having a quarterback with unusual talents is that if you build a special offense for him, what happens if he gets hurt? Do you have a second QB with unusual talents who can step in, or do you have to go back to a more conventional attack? And can a team be successful switching gears like that?

You might be interested to know that the five running-est quarterbacks in modern history — I’m going by rushing yards per game — are all active, as you can see in this chart:

MOST RUSHING YARDS PER GAME BY A QB (SINCE 1945)

Years Quarterback Team(s) Yds YPG
2001-14 Michael Vick Falcons, Eagles, Jets 6,010 43.9
2011-14 Cam Newton Panthers 2,457 41.0
2012-14 Robert Griffin III Redskins 1,461 40.6
2012-14 Russell Wilson Seahawks 1,782 38.7
2011-14 Colin Kaepernick 49ers 1,513 32.2
1985-01 Randall Cunningham Eagles, Vikings, 2 others 4,928 30.6
1969-78 Bobby Douglass Bears, Chargers, 2 others 2,654 29.2
1999-09 Daunte Culpepper Vikings, Dolphins, 2 others 2,652 25.3
1985-99 Steve Young Bucs, 49ers 4,239 25.1
2006-11 Vince Young Titans, Eagles 1,459 24.3

(Minimum: 32 starts.)

Granted, these averages usually decline as the quarterbacks get older, but they’re worth noting nonetheless.

Still, there’s no getting around the fact that 12 of the 14 Super Bowls in the 2000s have been won by QBs who weren’t much of a running threat at all. Only Wilson (2013) and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers (2010) have had wheels worth worrying about (or as I like to refer to them, WWWAs).

RUSHING YARDS PER GAME BY SUPER BOWL-WINNING QBS (2000S)

Years QB (Super Bowl Wins) Team Yds YPG
1999-14 Peyton Manning (1) Colts, Broncos 678 2.7
2004-14 Eli Manning (2) Giants 465 2.8
2001-14 Drew Brees (1) Chargers, Saints 684 3.4
2000-14 Tom Brady (3) Patriots 804 3.9
1994-08 Brad Johnson (1) Vikings, Redskins, 2 others 657 3.7
2008-14 Joe Flacco (1) Ravens 625 5.7
1994-07 Trent Dilfer (1) Bucs, Ravens, 3 others 853 6.6
2004-14 Ben Roethlisberger (2) Steelers 1,163 7.4
2005-14 Aaron Rodgers (1) Packers 1,817 16.8

Note: Figures don’t include today’s games.

When you scan down these charts, you can understand why some coaches look at Wilson and the other passer-runners and say, “Who needs ’em?” The ones who don’t, though, the more open-minded types like Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh, have a chance to take pro football in a new direction. This is a healthy thing, of course. Without it, offenses would still be running the single wing and punting on first down.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Colin Kaepernick leaves the Chargers behind en route to a 151-yard rushing night Saturday.

The 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick leaves the Chargers behind en route to a 151-yard rushing night Saturday.

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“Stump the Football Stars”

Sportscaster Dick Enberg was in the news recently as the winner of baseball’s Ford Frick Award. He’s also done some fine football work, of course, calling eight Super Bowls and serving as the radio voice of the Los Angeles Rams. (He’s already, in fact, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)

Since we’re closing in on Christmas, I thought I’d post these clips from his syndicated game show, Sports Challenge. This episode pitted three Kansas City Chiefs (quarterback Len Dawson, linebacker Willie Lanier and wide receiver Otis Taylor) against a trio of Miami Dolphins (fullback Larry Csonka, halfback Jim Kiick and wide receiver Paul Warfield) — the year after the teams played their classic Christmas Day playoff game, won by the Dolphins in double overtime, 27-24.

Four of these six guys are now in Canton (Dawson, Lanier, Csonka, Warfield), and another (Taylor) probably belongs there. It’s always surprised me that ESPN hasn’t tried to revive Sports Challenge, just for fun. Who doesn’t enjoy seeing pro athletes stumped by relatively easy questions about their game’s history? Check this out:

Nobody knew the answer – not even Dawson, who at the time of the alleged Greatest Game Ever Played was a third-string quarterback for the Steelers. (The others had yet to play pro ball.) That’s almost — almost — like players not knowing that Adam Vinatieri won Super Bowls XXXVI and XXXVIII for the Patriots. (You know what would have been a great follow-up question, by the way? “For 10 points, what is the correct spelling of Myhra?”)

As I said, though, many of the questions on Sports Challenge weren’t very, well, challenging. Like this one, also about the NFL:

Come on! Do we have to dumb things down that much?

I’ll finish with this clip from earlier in the show. Enberg talks about Garo Yepremian ending the Chiefs-Dolphins overtime thriller with a field goal and asks Csonka, “Where were you at that time?” You’ll love the response:

The players weren’t always well-versed in their game’s history, but at least some of them had a sense of humor.

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100-0

Even if you’re not an NFL history buff, you’re probably familiar with the score of the 1940 title game: 73-0 (the Bears nipping the Redskins). Well, I’ve got a blowout that’s even bigger than that. It just didn’t happen in a league game. It happened during a postseason barnstorming tour in December 1936, when the Brooklyn Dodgers “shellacked” the semipro St. Louis Terriers, 100-0.

Such tours were fairly common in those Depression times. Before teams broke up for the season, they’d squeeze in a few more games — and paydays — against non-league clubs in warmer parts of the country. They didn’t always win them, either. The same afternoon the Dodgers trounced the Terriers in Wichita, the Chicago Cardinals lost to the Pacific Coast League’s Los Angeles Bulldogs in L.A., 13-10.

You know what else was played that day? The NFL championship game between the Packers and Redskins. Here’s your scoreboard for Dec. 13, 1936:

Results in 12-14-36 Eagle

The ’36 Dodgers weren’t very good at all. They finished 3-8-1 and scored a grand total of 92 points. In other words, they scored more points in 60 minutes against the St. Louis Terriers than in 12 regular-season games.

Fortunately for them, their competition in Wichita was a scraggly bunch. In fact, it came out afterward that their opponents bore only a slight resemblance to the real St. Louis Terriers. One of the Terriers’ promoters, Jack Lally, told The Associated Press, “The scheduling of a National [Football] League team was ‘football suicide’ and a financially unsound idea this late in the season. And reports a St. Louis team was beaten so badly may hurt the sport here next year. Our objection is that we were not considered when plans for the game at Wichita were being drawn up — and Yates [James Yates, the promoter] represents only one-third of the team.”

According to the AP, “only three regular Terrier players were in the lineup.” Yates did supplement the St. Louis roster, though, with All-American back Ozzie Simmons, who had just finished his college career at Iowa. Simmons never played in the NFL because the league wasn’t hiring blacks then, but he managed to make his presence felt even in a 100-0 loss. He “turned in one run of 50 yards and completed one pass before leaving the game in the third period,” the wire service reported.

A sampling of the headlines that appeared over The 100-0 Story (in case you’re curious):

The New York Times:

NYT 100-0 head The Boston Globe:

Globe 100-0 head

The Milwaukee Journal:

Milwaukee headline

And finally, The San Antonio Light:

San Antonio Light headline

Now that’s the spirit. At least the Light grasped the utter ridiculousness of the game — one that was certainly worth an exclamation point or two. It’s also the only paper I’ve come across that provided much detail (courtesy of the wires):

Running wild, the Dodgers rang up 21 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second, 34 in the third and 33 in the fourth. The St. Louisans, led by the dark flash, Oze Simmons of the University of Iowa, were completely helpless, cowed and pulverized.

The 15 Brooklyn touchdowns were made by [Jeff] Barrett (5), [Joe] Maniaci (4), [Tony] Kaska (2), [John] Yezerski (1) and [Paul] Riblett (1). The Dodgers gained 274 yards by rushing and 300 on passes. In the last period, they bewildered the fans – and the Terriers more so – with seven laterals on one play.

Seven laterals on one play. Clearly, the Dodgers were enjoying themselves after the long slog of the NFL season. Yezerski, after all, was a tackle. (Wonder if he was the recipient of The Seventh Lateral — or if they threw him a touchdown pass on a tackle-eligible play.) Barrett and Riblett, for that matter, were ends. Which raises the question: Did Barrett actually have five TD receptions? Because that would match the NFL record shared by Jerry Rice, Kellen Winslow Sr. and Bob Shaw.

The game, by the way, attracted a crowd of 4,000. It figures out to 40 people per point, for those of you scoring at home.

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Slingin’ Antonio Brown

The Steelers’ Antonio Brown has done something this season that hasn’t been done in a decade — and has been accomplished by only 10 receivers in NFL history. Care to guess what it is?

Answer: He’s racked up 1,000 receiving yards and thrown a touchdown pass in the same year.

Obviously, it’s much more common for a 1,000-yard running back to throw for a TD. For one thing, backs get their hands on the ball more than wideouts do. But with the Jet Sweep so popular these days, we might begin to see more scoring passes tossed by golden-armed receivers. Let’s hope so, anyway.

Here’s the short list of wideouts Brown has joined. Note that a couple of them — Randy Moss and Marty Booker — had two of these seasons.

1,000 RECEIVING YARDS AND A TOUCHDOWN PASS IN THE SAME SEASON

Year Receiver, Team Yds TD Pass Details
2014 Antonio Brown, Steelers 1,498 3 yards to WR Lance Moore vs. Texans
2004 Drew Bennett, Titans 1,247 26 yards to WR Derrick Mason vs. Packers
2002 Randy Moss, Vikings 1,347 13 yards to WR D’Wayne Bates vs. Dolphins
2002 Marty Booker, Bears 1,189 44 yards to WR Marcus Robinson vs. Patriots
2001 Marty Booker, Bears 1,071 34 yards to WR Marcus Robinson vs. Falcons
1999 Randy Moss, Vikings 1,413 27 yards to WR Cris Carter vs. Giants
1996 Curtis Conway, Bears 1,049 33 yards to RB Raymont Harris vs. Cowboys
1995 Jerry Rice, 49ers 1,848* 41 yards to WR J.J. Stokes vs. Falcons
1983 Carlos Carson, Chiefs 1,351 48 yards to WR Henry Marshall vs. Chargers
1974 Drew Pearson, Cowboys 1,087 46 yards to WR Golden Richards vs. Giants
1962 Tommy McDonald, Eagles 1,146 10 yards to RB Timmy Brown vs. Redskins
1960 Bill Groman, Oilers (AFL) 1,473* 3 yards to E Al Wicher vs. Patriots

*led league

(Brown, by the way, leads the league in receiving yards with two games to go.)

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Steelers wideout Antonio Brown gets ready to uncork one against the Texans.

Steelers wideout Antonio Brown gets ready to show off his arm against the Texans.

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“The Thing with Two Heads”

Happened upon this the other day while nosing around the Internet. It’s gotta be, by at least five touchdowns, the worst movie that ever featured a former pro football player — in this case Rosey Grier, the Pro Bowl defensive tackle with the Giants and Rams in the ’50s and ’60s. (And believe me, there are a lot of candidates for this honor.)

For those of you who aren’t movie buffs, Ray Milland, Grier’s co-star in The Thing With Two Heads (1972), won the Best Actor Oscar in 1945 for The Lost Weekend, a film about a drunk who goes on a four-day bender. It might also have been during this “lost weekend” that the plot for The Thing With Two Heads was conceived. Here’s the trailer (and it’s perfectly all right if, at some point, you want to cover your eyes):

I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the inspiration for Stuck on You, the Farrelly brothers’ 2003 take on conjoined twins. Unfortunately, neither Matt Damon nor Greg Kinnear ever played in the NFL . . . though they did play some high school ball:

Stuck on You football photo

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What to do about the Snyderskins

After another season with double-digit losses, their fifth in six years, the Redskins need more than just a rebuild. In a perfect world, there would be a knock on the door in Ashburn, Dan Snyder would look nervously through the peephole, and Harvey Keitel would be standing there, ready to Do What He Does. The scene would go something like this:

A cleaner! That’s what the Redskins could use. Because, let’s face it, much of this “organization” is beyond saving, beyond even donating. Better to just dissolve it in hydrochloric acid — or whatever Harvey’s chosen solvent is — and start over.

It’s all a pipe dream, of course. The Redskins never really start over. They just change the curtains on the Titanic and head off in search of another iceberg. Fire the coach? Bring in a genuine general manager? Turn over two-thirds of the roster? What difference does it make unless you can also find a way to lock the owner in a broom closet? The team, after all, is Snyder’s toy. If he wants to leave it out in the rain, there’s only so much anyone can do about it.

A better question is: How can an owner like this even exist? Snyder, you see, is only part of the problem. The other part is the league itself, an enterprise so profitable that even a stumblebum like Dan can make money — and see the value of his franchise go up and up.

In the real world, a business that has been run as cluelessly and soullessly as the Redskins would end up filing for Chapter XI — or else be absorbed by a less clueless, less soulless competitor. But here we are, 16 years later, and Snyder is still behind the wheel, just like Jim Backus in It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World:

(Bruce Allen, meet Buddy Hackett.)

That’s Dan Snyder’s true genius. He sank his fortune into a venture that’s 100 percent Dan Snyder-proof! Well, maybe not 100 percent. The occasional miracle does happen in the NFL (as fans in the Music City can attest). That’s pretty much what it would take, though, for anyone other than Daniel M. Snyder to be signing the Redskins’ checks in the foreseeable future.

Which brings us back to Harvey Keitel. Are you with me on this?

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RG3 and The Noise

Statistics are hardly all-telling, but they can help quiet some of the noise surrounding a player. By “noise,” I mean the chatter that’s based more on impressions, gut feelings and personal biases than anything factual.

These days, Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III is one of the league leaders in noise. Coach Jay Gruden practically held his nose the other day when he announced that Griffin would start Saturday’s game against the Eagles (after Colt McCoy had been put on injured reserve). Gruden has made no secret of his displeasure with just about everything Griffin does — from holding the ball too long in the pocket to being inattentive to the finer points of “his craft” to staying on the ground too long after a sack (which made the coach wonder whether his quarterback was too hurt to run a Real Play in the closing minutes).

Others have chimed in as well, such as Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. One of the more curious things Scramblin’ Fran said was: “He is a terrible passer, has no accuracy.”

Griffin may not have textbook mechanics, but he somehow — miraculously — gets the ball to his target. See for yourself:

TOP 5 UNDER-25 QBS FOR COMPLETION % (MINIMUM: 750 ATTEMPTS)

Years Quarterback, Team Pct
2012-14 Robert Griffin, Redskins 63.66
1999-01 Daunte Culpepper, Vikings 63.33
2004-06 Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers 62.40
1991-94 Brett Favre, Packers* 61.86
2008-09 Joe Flacco, Ravens 61.70

*Also threw four passes with the Falcons as a rookie.

Maybe we just misunderstood Tarkenton. Maybe what he meant was: RG3 isn’t as incredible(!) as Tiger Woods was at the age of 5. (I think we can all agree with that.)

By the way, before anybody scoffs at Griffin’s completion percentage and says, “All he does is dink and dunk,” take a look at this:

ADJUSTED YARDS PER ATTEMPT FOR UNDER-25 QBS (MINIMUM: 750 ATTEMPTS)

Years Quarterback, Team AYPA
1983-86 Dan Marino, Dolphins 8.04
2012-14 Robert Griffin III, Redskins 7.43
2004-06 Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers 7.39
1999-01 Daunte Culpepper, Vikings 7.36
2011-13 Cam Newton, Panthers 7.25

So regardless of how long the ball is in the air, Griffin is getting good yardage out of his throws — more than any quarterback except Marino. (Note: I’m looking only at QBs since 1960. And yes, I realize that, with all the passer-friendly rule changes, these rankings are going to be tilted toward the present.) In terms of unadjusted yards per attempt, in case you’re wondering, he’s seventh at 7.55 (three spots behind Our Friend Fran, who comes in at 7.76.)

Two more things. RG3 is the least interception-prone under-25 passer ever. Doesn’t that count for something? Isn’t ball security part of being a good QB?

LOWEST INTERCEPTION % BY AN UNDER-25 QB (MINIMUM: 750 ATTEMPTS)

Years Quarterback, Team Att Int Pct
2012-14 Robert Griffin III, Redskins 999 20 2.00
2012-14 Andrew Luck, Colts 1,250 29 2.32
1999-01 Donovan McNabb, Eagles 1,074 25 2.33
2010-12 Sam Bradford, Rams 1,196 28 2.34
1985-88 Bernie Kosar, Browns 1,334 32 2.40

Last chart. File this one under: It Takes a Village. You can grouse about Griffin’s play all you want, but one of the biggest reasons he hasn’t won more is that his defense hasn’t exactly been the Steel Curtain.

FEWEST POINTS ALLOWED SINCE 2012

Rank Team Pts
1. Russell Wilson’s Seahawks 718
2. Colin Kaepernick’s 49ers 830
29. Robert Griffin’s Redskins 1,236

OK, I’ve made my case – not for RG3’s impending greatness but for not giving up on him like Gruden (and others) seem inclined to do. “He will never make it,” Tarkenton said. “He will be out of football. He will be in the same graveyard as JaMarcus Russell and Vince Young.”

“He” is still 24. Aren’t we being a bit hasty?

Or to put it another way: In a decade, Griffin will be four years younger than Peyton Manning is now.

Source; pro-football-reference.com

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Last-minute gift ideas

With the holiday season upon us — and Festivus just a week away — I thought I’d throw out a few gift suggestions for That Special Someone (who also happens to be a pro football fanatic). Some of these items might be hard to come by but, trust me, it would be well worth the effort.

● A pair of Frenchy Fuqua’s fiberglass clogs with three-inch heels — complete with goldfish in the heels (air pump included).

Fuqua, a running back with the Giants and Steelers and the ’60s and ’70s, is remembered less for his ball carrying than for his cutting-edge fashion. His bright-red “caveman outfit” was a real head-turner. How he described it to the Pittsburgh Press in 1976: “It had a strap over one shoulder, and one leg was a bell bottom and the other had fringes on it. But the greatest thing about it was the purse. It was a white fur purse that was shaped like a club.”

Frenchy’s signature accessory, though, was the aforementioned shoes. They looked something like this:

Fuqua shoe

Problem was, the fish lasted only a couple of hours before suffocating. “I was getting’ so much pub because of the goldfish, I hated to stop wearing the shoes,” he said. “But I’ll tell you, you kick up some dead goldfish at a banquet, and pretty soon you get a real foul odor. You start feeling terrible about it, too. When some people found out they were dyin’, they got on me about bein’ cruel to animals. I thought about running a tube down my leg with an air pump that would supply constant fresh water to the fish.”

The shoes also were potentially hazardous to the wearer’s health. As he once told The New York Times, they “were a little slippery to walk in, being glass, so you’d have to hold on to a rail when you went down stairs.”

● The Joe Namath Butter-Up Corn Popper. Namath hawked everything from shaving cream to pantyhose to this, which was popular in college dorms in the ’70s:

Namath popper

● A VHS tape of Sammy Baugh’s 12-part serial, “King of the Texas Rangers.” Slingin’ Sam could do more than just throw touchdown passes. Being a Texan, he also could ride horses, shoot guns and beat up bad guys.

Baugh movie 2

● Rosey Grier’s “Committed” album (1986).

Screen Shot 2014-12-16 at 3.20.55 PMGrier, one of the tackles on the Rams’ legendary Fearsome Foursome defensive front in the ’60s, could sing a little. In 1965 he and the rest of the Foursome appeared on the TV show Shindig! (with the other three, as you’ll see, doing little more calisthenics behind him):

A year earlier, Rosey had sung solo on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. Here’s that clip:

(I ask you: How did we get from that great musical moment to Redskins owner Dan Snyder buying Dick Clark Productions?)

● A Bronko Nagurski, Jr. football. (You’ve gotta like the 1937 price.)

Nagurski Jr. football

● And finally, if you’re looking a stocking stuffer, there’s always the Red Grange candy bar.

Red Grange candy bar

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