Monthly Archives: January 2015

A hit to remember at the ’65 Pro Bowl

It’s been ages since a Pro Bowl could be called memorable. These days, “perfunctory” is the word that usually comes to mind (with “unwatchable” a close second).

The game had a bit more of an edge to it, though, in the ’50s and ’60s. The financial difference between winning and losing was more meaningful, salaries being what they were, and there was a rivalry between the conferences, Eastern and Western, that was a lot like baseball’s All-Star Game — only nastier, because this was, after all, football.

The Pro Bowl 50 years ago certainly caused a stir — the likes of which hasn’t been seen since and may never be again. In the third quarter, Browns quarterback Frank Ryan suffered a dislocated shoulder when he was slammed to the ground by Colts defensive end Gino Marchetti, and Ryan claimed it was retaliation for something that had happened in the NFL title game two weeks earlier.

The backstory: With 26 seconds left in the championship game — and Cleveland leading favored Baltimore 27-0 — Browns fans stormed the field and took down the goal posts. The officials were all for calling it a day at that point, and so were the badly beaten Colts. But Ryan wouldn’t go along. Cleveland had the ball at the Baltimore 16, and he wanted to score one more touchdown.

Naturally, this didn’t set well with Marchetti and his mates. When the Pro Bowl rolled around, Gino was still steaming about it — and was quoted in various newspapers as saying he wanted “one more shot” at Ryan.

In the second half he got it. On one play, the East’s pass protection completely broke down and the defensive line came pouring through. According to one account, “Ryan dropped back to pass, but before he could get the ball away [Rams tackle Merlin] Olsen grabbed him around the waist. Marchetti, blocked to the outside, swung in from behind and twisted Ryan to the turf with the same motion used to pop a cork out of a champagne bottle.” Here’s the best photo I’ve come across of the hit:

Marchetti Ryan tackle

Afterward, Ryan, somewhat groggy, shrugged it off as Just Football. Marchetti, meanwhile, seemed quite proud of the play. “Yes, sir, I was in on the tackle,” he said. “And I’d say it was a pretty good tackle.”

In the days that followed, though, Ryan was more talkative. “I don’t think the Colts had any reason to get upset” when he wanted to score again at the end of the title game, he said. “After all, they didn’t hold back in their 52-0 rout of the Chicago Bears earlier in the season. But no one heard the Bears complaining.

“Sure I wanted to call one [more] play. The object of the game is to score points. We’ve got a slot end named Johnny Brewer. He’s a fine player, but he hasn’t gotten much acclaim. I wanted to give him the opportunity to score in the championship game, but I guess the Colts interpreted it as an attempt to belittle or embarrass them.

“Marchetti . . . is supposed to be a good ballplayer. He didn’t get within breathing distance of me in the championship game. Maybe that had something to do with the way he felt.”

Gino chalked it up as “just one of those things,” adding: “I have never taken a cheap shot at anyone. More from The Associated Press: “Marchetti admitted that he had said before the game he would like to get a shot at Ryan because of the Browns’ 27-to-0 whipping of the Colts in the championship game. But he said this was just a natural feeling after such a defeat and was not meant to imply he wanted to deliberately rough Ryan.”

Ryan had another Pro Bowl season the next year, leading the Browns back to the title game (which they lost to the Packers). So clearly there were no lingering effects from The Hit. As for Marchetti, he retired after the ’65 Pro Bowl and never crossed paths with Ryan again (though he did unretire to play four games two years later).

Still, the Pro Bowl made for great copy for a few days in January 1965. Imagine that.Frank Ryan pops off story

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Sammy Baugh threw deflated footballs

Just dug out the transcript of an interview I did with Redskins Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh back in the ’90s. I remembered him talking at some point about manipulating the air pressure in footballs — which happens, of course, to be one of the topics du jour after Sunday’s AFC title game in New England.

We got off on this tangent when I asked Baugh about an old tale: That when the Steelers were playing at home, they’d use the fat, 1920s footballs instead of the slimmer, modern ones to make it harder for opponents to throw against them. (Those early Pittsburgh teams, you see, never placed much emphasis on the pass — indeed, they stuck with the single wing through the ’51 season — so the size of the ball didn’t really matter to them.)

“The home team supplied the balls back then,” Baugh told me, “and if they didn’t have a good passer you wouldn’t get that slim ball, you’d get the big fat one. The Steelers would do that. I Can see Goldsmith football laces better in this onethink Goldsmith used to make a ball with 10 laces instead of eight, and it was just fatter than everything. I don’t blame ’em. If I didn’t have a good passer on the team, I’d put that damn fat ball out there, too. You could throw it, but it was a different kind of ball.”

Sammy also volunteered this information, which fits in nicely with Deflate-gate:

“Kelly [Harry “Kelly” Miller], our clubhouse guy, would put the air in the balls we were going to use in the game. One day I asked him, ‘Kelly, how much air do you put in those damn balls?’ He said, ‘Thirteen pounds.’ I said, ‘Put in 11 today.’ So he did. And from then on, every time we played at home, we played with an 11-pound ball instead of 13. I liked the feel of it better. I knew what 13 felt like, and I had played with an 11-pound ball some in college, and it felt better to me.”

This would be fine except that the ball, according to the rules then and now, is supposed to be inflated with between 12.5 and 13.5 pounds of air. Here are the relevant paragraphs from the 1942 Record and Roster Manual:

Ball inflation guidelines, 1942

(I included the supplemental notes for your amusement, specifically the one about the white ball for night games.)

So, by his own admission, Sammy Baugh, one of the greatest passers in pro football history, played with an illegal ball whenever the Redskins were home, a ball he “liked the feel of” better and presumably made him more effective. I’m guessing this more than made up for his annual trips to Pittsburgh, where he’d have to throw that dang Goldsmith ball.

Just thought I’d mention this while the NFL is deciding what, if anything, to do about the Patriots’ situation. Maybe the Pats did deflate the balls, but they certainly aren’t the first to come up with the idea.

Redskins great Sammy Baugh looks to pass -- presumably with a deflated 11-pound ball (since this game was at Griffith Stadium).

Redskins great Sammy Baugh looks to pass — presumably with a deflated 11-pound ball. (This was a home game.)

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When the Super Bowl was affordable

The face value of a Super Bowl ticket runs anywhere from $800 to $1,900 these days, and prices on the secondary market reportedly range between an arm ($2,000) and a leg ($20,000).  So I thought you might be amused by what it used to cost to go to the game — from soup to nuts.

Here’s an ad that appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before Super Bowl II that offered air transportation (“via United and Eastern Air Lines”), three nights in a Miami hotel, six meals, a cocktail party, transfers and “other features” for — wait for it — the low, low price of $196 (tax included). You flew out the Friday before the game, which pitted the NFL’s Packers against the AFL’s Raiders, and returned the following Monday.

What a deal. Wonder if Wayne Travel Service is still offering it. (Or is it just the price of gas that’s dropping to nostalgic levels?)

1-1-68 Post-Gazette Super Bowl ad

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Tom Brady’s staying power

It’s not just that Tom Brady is getting ready to start in his sixth NFL title game, tying the record for quarterbacks shared by Otto Graham and Bart Starr. It’s that those Super Bowls have spanned 14 seasons, from 2001 to ’14 — the longest stretch for any QB. Pretty remarkable.

After all, if injuries don’t get you in the demolition derby of pro football, age usually will. Or maybe, later in your career, you won’t be surrounded by the same kind of talent you were earlier. But here Brady is, all these years later, still putting the Patriots in position to win championships. And at 37, he might not be done. I mean, it’s not like the Pats’ roster is a seniors community.

Here’s the list Brady now heads:

LONGEST SPAN OF SEASONS AS A STARTING QB IN THE NFL TITLE GAME

Quarterback, Team(s) First Title Game Last Title Game Span
Tom Brady, Patriots 2001 vs. Rams (W) 2014 vs. Seahawks   14
Johnny Unitas, Colts 1958 vs. Giants (W) 1970 vs. Cowboys (W)   13
John Elway, Broncos 1986 vs. Giants (L) 1998 vs. Falcons (W)   13
Norm Van Brocklin, Rams/Eagles 1950 vs. Browns (L) 1960 vs. Packers (W)   11
Arnie Herber, Packers/Giants 1936 vs. Redskins (W) 1944 vs. Packers (L)     9
Sammy Baugh, Redskins 1937 vs. Bears (W) 1945 vs. Rams (L)     9
Joe Montana, 49ers 1981 vs. Bengals (W) 1989 vs. Broncos (W)     9
Bart Starr, Packers 1960 vs. Eagles (L) 1967 vs. Raiders (W)     8
Roger Staubach, Cowboys 1971 vs. Dolphins (W) 1978 vs. Steelers (L)     8
Sid Luckman, Bears 1940 vs. Redskins (W) 1946 vs. Giants (W)     7
Bob Waterfield, Rams 1945 vs. Redskins (W) 1951 vs. Browns (W)     7

Note: Van Brocklin and Waterfield split the quarterbacking for the Rams in 1950 and ’51. So if you want to kick them off the list, go ahead. I included them because, well, they’re both Hall of Famers.

Also, if you want to get technical about it, Starr’s 1967 win over the Raiders wasn’t in the NFL title game, it was in the AFL-NFL title game. (The leagues hadn’t merged yet.) He beat the Cowboys for the NFL championship — in the storied Ice Bowl.

Graham’s name, by the way, is missing because he played his first four seasons in the rival All-America Conference. If you include those years, his Championship Span was exactly a decade (1946-55), which would put him just behind Van Brocklin.

As you can see, Unitas won titles in 1958 and ’70 — a span of 13 seasons. That’s the record for a quarterback . . . and one Brady would break if the Patriots knock off the defending champion Seahawks.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Arnie Herber lets fly with a jump pass for the '36 Packers.

Arnie Herber lets fly with a jump pass for the ’36 Packers.

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12-4 . . . and out the door

The Broncos and John Fox went their separate ways this week — despite 40 wins the past three seasons and a trip to the Super Bowl a year ago. What doomed the marriage, general manager John Elway said, is that “two years in a row, it didn’t feel like we went out kicking and screaming because of . . . the way we played the last game.”

Elway thinks the team was “right there,” that Fox had all the necessary ingredients to win a title. Of course, GMs tend to think like that. They’re the ones who gather the ingredients. He’s also disappointed, no doubt, that Fox couldn’t do with Peyton Manning what Mike Shanahan did with him late in his career: add a ring or two to his otherwise glowing resumé.

What Elway might be forgetting is that it’s much harder to win the AFC in the 2000s than it was in the ’80s and ’90s, when he played. Back then it was very much the junior conference, and its best teams often got manhandled in The Big Game by the 49ers, Redskins and the rest. (During the 16–year stretch from 1981 to 1996, the AFC won exactly one Super Bowl — and John’s Denver club lost three of them by an average of 32 points.)

It’s different now. The Patriots are on an historic 14-year run that has seen them win three championships and reach the conference title game nine times. The Steelers and Ravens, meanwhile, both have won two Super Bowls since 2000. Then there are the Colts, who knocked off the Broncos last week and might have several rings in their future as long as Andrew Luck remains ambulatory. Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Joe Flacco, Luck — it’s just a more treacherous course to navigate, even if you do have Manning on your side.

But Elway, in the NFL tradition, is convinced Denver should have done better. Just win, baby. If it makes Fox — who has already found a new job with the Bears — feel any better, he’s hardly the first coach this has happened to after a successful season. In fact, in the ’40s, two were fired after taking their teams to the title game (and losing). The details:

● Marty Schottenheimer, Chargers, 2006: Went an AFC-best 14-2 in his final season, but bombed out in the playoffs against the Patriots. Club president Dean Spanos initially said

Marty Schottenheimer during his Chargers days.

Marty Schottenheimer during his Chargers days.

Schottenheimer would return the next year, then changed his mind after Marty turned down a one-year contract extension — he still had a year left on his deal — and lost four assistant coaches (one of whom he wanted to replace with his brother Brian, which didn’t please management at all). Just as problematical, according to Spanos, was Schottenheimer’s “dysfunctional” relationship with general manager A.J. Smith.

Record with the Chargers: 47-35, .573 (0-2 in the playoffs). Replaced by Norv Turner, who took San Diego to the AFC championship game in his first season and had a 59-43 (.578) record in his six years with the Bolts.

● George Seifert, 49ers, 1996: Went 12-4 in his final season, 1-1 in the playoffs (losing to the eventual champion Packers in the second round). Resigned after the club told him it wouldn’t extend his contract beyond the next year, making him a lame duck.

Record with the 49ers: 108-35, .755 (10-5 in the playoffs), two titles (1989, ’94). Replaced by Steve Mariucci, who lasted six seasons (60-43, .583) and led the Niners to one NFC championship game.

● Ted Marchibroda, Colts, 1995: Went 9-7 in his final season, but came within a Hail Mary pass in the AFC title game of reaching the Super Bowl. (Jim Harbaugh threw it, wideout Aaron Bailey

Ted Marchibroda came this close to the Super Bowl in 1995.

Ted Marchibroda and the Colts came this close to the Super Bowl in 1995.

nearly caught it.) When the team offered Marchibroda only a one-year deal — he was 64 and at the end of his contract — he rejected it and opted to become the first coach of the Ravens (the transplanted Browns).

Record with the Colts (in his second tour of duty): 32-35, .478 (2-1 the playoffs). Replaced by offensive coordinator Lindy Infante, who was fired after just two seasons when Indianapolis nosedived to 3-13 in ’97.

● Bum Phillips, Oilers, 1980: Went 11-5 in his final season, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Raiders, who won it all. The previous two years, Houston had reached the NFC championship game but couldn’t get past the Steelers. Owner Bud Adams wanted Phillips to hire an offensive coordinator — he was the only coach in the league who didn’t have one — but Bum balked. His “adamant refusal to even consider that the offense needs some fresh blood and input weighed heavily in my decision,” Adams said. (And, truth be known, the Oilers’ attack was awfully conservative: pound away with Earl Campbell and throw to tight ends Mike Barber, Dave Casper and Rich Caster.)

Record with the Oilers: 59-38, .608 (4-3 in the playoffs). Replaced by defensive coordinator Ed Biles, who didn’t make it through his third season (8-23, .258).

● Chuck Knox, Rams, 1977: Went 10-4 in his final season, losing in the first round of the playoffs to the Vikings. This followed losses in three straight NFC title games. The year before, Knox had flirted with taking the Lions job, which didn’t exactly endear him to owner Dan Reeves. Both men were ready for a change, and Reeves was particularly interested in the Cardinals’ Don Coryell. But when St. Louis asked for a first-round pick as compensation, he decided to rehire George Allen, who had just left the Redskins. What a disaster. He ended up firing Allen during training camp — the players rebelled at his strict regimen — and promoting offensive coordinator Ray Malavasi.

Record with the Rams: 57-20-1, .737 (3-5 in the playoffs). Malavasi got the Rams to the Super Bowl in his second season — the Steelers beat them 31-19 — but was just 43-36 (.544) in his six years at the helm.

● George Allen, Rams, 1970: Went 9-4-1 in his final season, missing the playoffs (in the days before wild cards). Reeves talked about having philosophical differences with his coach, but it was more a matter of Allen’s postseason failures and the fact that neither man was easy to work with. “I was willing to cooperate with him,” George said, “but it is not my philosophy to be a ‘yes man.’”

Record with the Rams: 49-19-4, .708 (0-2 in the playoffs). Replaced by UCLA coach Tommy Prothro, who was gone two years later (14-12-2, .536).

● Clark Shaughnessy, Los Angeles Rams, 1949: Went 8-2-2 in his final season, losing in the title game to the defending champion Eagles. Reeves — there’s that name again — got rid of him the

Clark Shaughnessy, one of the fathers of the T formation.

Clark Shaughnessy, a father of the T formation.

following February, citing “internal friction between Shaughnessy and his assistants, players and others associated with the Rams.” Shag (as he was called) was stunned. “Inasmuch as this was the first time during my two years as a head coach that any expression of dissatisfaction relative to my services was made to me by any official of the Rams organization,” he said, “it leaves me at a loss for words.”

Record with the Rams: 14-8-3, .620 (0-1 in the playoffs). Replaced by line coach Joe Stydahar, who guided L.A. to the next two championship games, splitting them with the Browns (30-28 loss, 24-17 win). So maybe Reeves’ move wasn’t the worst in NFL history. But Stydahar (19-9, .679) wasn’t given much rope, either. The year after winning the title, he was dumped following a season-opening 37-7 defeat at Cleveland. As I said, his boss was a hard guy to satisfy.

● Dud DeGroot, Redskins, 1945: Went 8-2 in his final season, losing by a point (15-14) in the championship game to the Cleveland Rams (on a wickedly cold day by The Lake). George Preston Marshall, an owner not known for his patience, forced him out — DeGroot technically resigned — after just two years. The most interesting explanation I’ve come across is that Marshall wanted the Redskins to switch to sneakers during the ’45 title game because the field was frozen, but Dud refused because he and Rams coach Adam Walsh had agreed beforehand to stick with cleats. (I kid you not.)

Record with the Redskins: 14-6-1, .690 (0-1 in the playoffs). Replaced by line coach/Redskins legend Turk Edwards, who was axed at the end of his third season. (16-18-1, .471).

You can see the pattern here: Postseason misery, difficult owners, stubborn coaches and — in many cases, perhaps — unrealistic expectations. You also can see The Next Guy wasn’t usually much of an improvement over The Guy Who Preceded Him.

Anyway, John Fox, after four seasons of fine work in Denver, is off to Chicago to try to get the Bears’ house in order — and to find happiness where he can, fleeting as it is in pro football.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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A 6:40 kickoff in balmy Foxborough

One of these days, you figure, the NFL’s — and television’s — casual indifference to winter weather will catch up with them. By not giving themselves the flexibility to flip-flip the conference championship games — so that Sunday’s tilt in New England doesn’t kick off at 6:40 p.m. — they’ll get hit with the blizzard or ice storm they’ve been risking for years.

Or maybe that’s just a fantasy of mine. Maybe thermal wear is of such high quality now (read: NASA-level) that games can be played — and played well — in any conditions. If so, bully for pro football . . . and especially its TV ratings.

You wouldn’t want another situation, though, like you had after the Ice Bowl in 1967. So much nostalgia has grown up around that game between Vince Lombardi’s Packers and Tom Landry’s Cowboys that we tend to forget some of the comments that were made afterward. Those 60 frigid minutes might have been the definitive test of manhood, but they were far from the definitive test of football. And if you’re trying to determine your league champion, your Best Team, that’s a problem.

“It seems like I might be making excuses,” Dallas quarterback Don Meredith said, “but I just don’t think you can say this is a fair test of football or a football team in weather like this. It takes away all your diversification. We had a couple of things go wrong on us because we couldn’t use that quickness that we have.”

Cowboys president Tex Schramm could only shake his head. “When I saw the four bowl games [the next day],” he said, “which were truly beautiful and great tests of the relative strengths of the teams involved, it was sickening to me that the greatest game of all couldn’t have been played under the same circumstances.”

Later that week, Red Smith, following up on his original Ice Bowl column, wrote, “The Great North is no place to play outdoor games at this season and no place to watch ’em. . . . When the footing is treacherous and hands numb, the wide game is virtually eliminated, speed is neutralized, the passing attack is handicapped and every punt is fraught with suspense. . . . Except for the heroics at the end, it was a stinker.”

(Note: Red Smith, Green Bay born and bred, just called the Ice Bowl “a stinker”!)

More Red: “Human suffering aside, championships should be decided under championship conditions. Not even [commissioner] Pete Rozelle can command the seasons to turn backward, but he can insist that title contests be played where chances are best for playable conditions.”

Sure enough, Rozelle talked about that in the days that followed, told the Dallas Times Herald he’d been in favor of neutral-site championship games in warm climates “for several years.” He just hadn’t been able to gather the necessary 13 votes (out of 16 franchises). Too many owners were wedded to the old way of doing things, with one team having the home-field advantage and the game being accessible to the home team’s fans.

“I’ll work to get it moved,” Rozelle told the Times Herald. “Under the conditions it was played last Sunday, the game is unfair to both teams.”

Browns owner Art Modell, meanwhile, assured the newspaper the matter would “be discussed in no uncertain terms at our February meeting. I personally believe it should be moved to a neutral, warm-weather spot. It was zero today in Cleveland. I wouldn’t like to have the game [in] Cleveland at 5 degrees or 5 below.”

Modell said he planned to push for the next two NFL championship games to played in one of the league’s southern cities as “a two-year test.” But not enough owners could be swayed. The 1968 title game wound up in Cleveland (wind chill: 13 degrees) and the ’69 game in Bloomington, Minn. (wind chill: minus 6).

All this has been lost in the historical glow of the Ice Bowl. And here we are, decades later, awaiting a Jan. 18 game, with a 6:40 p.m. kickoff, in Foxborough, Mass. (Date of the Ice Bowl: Dec. 31.) You just hope the weather cooperates — there’s a chance of snow — and the Colts and Patriots can give us a reasonable facsimile of pro football. But if they can’t, and the conditions turn out to be better earlier in the day, well, you’ll know who to blame.

There's a chance of snow Sunday in New England, just like there was in the Tuck Rule Game in the 2001 playoffs.

There’s a chance of snow Sunday in New England, just like there was in the Tuck Rule Game in the 2001 playoffs.

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The Packers’ daunting odds

The defending NFL champions host the conference title game Sunday with a chance to go back to the Super Bowl. Which makes you wonder: Have the champs ever lost in this situation?

Answer: Once in 48 years.

It’s something for Wisconsinites to think about as the Packers head to Seattle for the NFC championship game. Yes, the Seahawks won it all last year, and yes, they have the home-field advantage. But a Green Bay victory wouldn’t be unprecedented — just almost.

Here are the nine previous times we’ve had this kind of matchup. Obviously, it isn’t easy to get the stars to align properly; that’s why it’s happened so seldom. You have to win the Super Bowl, of course, which is hard enough, but then you have to come back the next year and post the best record in your conference (except in one instance). In other words: no Super Bowl Hangover.

That’s why the teams on the following list are so recognizable. They were pretty special.

DEFENDING CHAMPIONS WHO HOSTED THE CONFERENCE TITLE GAME

Year Team (W-L) Conference Title Game Super Bowl
1998 Broncos (14-2) Beat Jets, 23-10 Beat Falcons, 34-19
1993 Cowboys (12-4) Beat 49ers, 38-21 Beat Bills, 30-13
1990 49ers (14-2) Lost to Giants, 15-13 DNA
1989 49ers (14-2) Beat Rams, 30-3 Beat Broncos, 55-10
1982 Redskins (14-2) Beat 49ers, 24-21 Lost to Raiders, 38-9
1978 Steelers (14-2) Beat Oilers, 34-5 Beat Cowboys, 35-31
1975 Steelers (12-2) Beat Raiders, 16-10 Beat Cowboys, 21-17
1973 Dolphins (12-2) Beat Raiders, 27-10 Beat Vikings, 24-7
1967 Packers (9-4-1) Beat Cowboys, 21-17 Beat Raiders, 33-14

(The 1967 Packers-Cowboys game — the celebrated Ice Bowl — was actually the NFL title game, the winner of which advanced to the Super Bowl against the AFL champ.)

As you can see, only the 1990 49ers failed to win — and they were going for a three-peat, so maybe we can cut them a little slack. In fact, seven of the other eight went on to take the Super Bowl, which bodes well for the Seahawks as they try to go back-to-back.

But again, you can’t rule out the Packers, historically speaking, because of this:

Here’s the longer version if you want to get the full flavor of the moment:

The moral: Difficult, but not impossible.

Postscript: Did you catch, by the way, that Lawrence Taylor was on the Giants’ field goal protection unit? Gotta love it.

LT FG protection unit

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Final Four quarterbacks

The NFL didn’t even have a Final Four until 1967, when it split the conferences into two divisions and added an extra playoff round. Before that, there was only a Final Two — the championship game. So when we talk about Final Four quarterbacks, we’re talking only about the Super Bowl era (which began in ’66).

In those 49 seasons, no QB has been to the Final Four more often than the Patriots’ Tom Brady, who’ll play in his ninth AFC title game Sunday against the Colts. In fact, Brady has gotten to the

Tom Brady

Tom Brady

Final Four as many times as Hall of Famers Dan Marino, Bob Griese and Fran Tarkenton (3 each) combined.

It’s been an incredible run for him and the Patriots, especially since there’s free agency now, which is supposed to make it harder to sustain success. Terry Bradshaw, Roger Staubach and Ken Stabler never had to worry about losing a key offensive player to another team. Brady, on the other hand, has seen receivers Deion Branch (Seahawks) and Wes Welker (Broncos) and linemen Damien Woody (Lions) and Logan Mankins (Bucs) either take the money and run or get traded for salary cap reasons. Yet here he is again, going for another AFC championship.

Granted, it’s easier to make the Final Four these days with so many more playoff spots available (12 instead of the original eight). If you can just sneak in as a sixth seed, you’ve got a shot. But that doesn’t really apply to Brady and the Pats. Every time they’ve qualified for the postseason, they’ve done it as the division champs.

Anyway, here’s the company Brady keeps:

QUARTERBACKS WHO REACHED THE MOST FINAL FOURS, 1966-2014

Quarterback, Team(s) Seasons W-L Total
Tom Brady, Patriots 2001*, ’03*, ’04*, ’06, ’07, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’14 5-3      9
Joe Montana, 49ers (6)/Chiefs (1) 1981*, ’83, ’84*, ’88*, ’89*, ’90, ’93 4-3      7
John Elway, Broncos 1986, ’87, ’89, ’91, ’97*, ’98* 5-1      6
Terry Bradshaw, Steelers 1972, ’74*, ’75*, ’76, ’78*, ’79* 4-2      6
Roger Staubach, Cowboys 1971*, ’72, ’73, ’75, ’77*, ’78 4-2      6
Brett Favre, Packers (4)/Vikings (1) 1995, ’96*, ’97, ’07, ’09 2-3      5
Donovan McNabb, Eagles 2001, ’02, ’03, ’04, ’08 1-4      5
Jim Kelly, Bills 1988, ’90, ’91, ’92, ’93 4-1      5
Ken Stabler, Raiders 1973, ’74, ’75, ’76*, ’77 1-4      5
Peyton Manning, Colts (3)/Broncos (1) 2003, ’06*, ’09, ’13 3-1      4
Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers 2004, ’05*, ’08*, ’10 3-1      4
Steve Young, 49ers 1992, ’93, ’94*, ’97 1-3      4
Troy Aikman, Cowboys 1992*, ’93*, ’94, ’95* 3-1      4
Daryle Lamonica, Raiders 1967, ’68, ’69, ’70 1-3      4

*Won Super Bowl.

Some other fun facts:

● Stabler played in the most consecutive Final Fours — five. This will be Brady’s fourth in a row, tying him with McNabb, Aikman, Kelly and Lamonica. Kelly played in five in six seasons;

Ken Stabler

Ken Stabler

Bradshaw and Staubach played in six in eight seasons.

● Brady’s nine Final Fours have come in a 14-year span (2001-14). That puts him second only to Favre, who played in five in a 15-year stretch (1995-2009).

● Griese (Dolphins) and Kurt Warner (Rams/Cardinals) were 3-0 in conference title games. Jim Plunkett (Raiders) and Len Dawson (Chiefs) were 2-0. (Dawson’s games, like most of Lamonica’s, were AFL championship games.) Elway was 5-1, Kelly 4-1.

● Aikman and Young faced each other in three straight Final Fours in the ’90s (1992-94). Troy won the first two games, Steve the last. Bradshaw and Stabler did the same in the ’70s (1974-76) — with the same result. Terry won the first two, Snake the finale. Finally, Elway and Bernie Kosar (Browns) squared off three times in four seasons in the ’80s (1986-87, ’89), with John taking all three games.

Footnote: As impressive as Bill Belichick’s Patriots have been in the 2000s, their nine conference title games in 14 seasons don’t quite measure up the 14 in 17 seasons by Tom Landry’s Cowboys (1966-82) or the nine in 11 seasons by Al Davis’ Raiders (1967-77). Of course, the Pats might not be through. Brady certainly doesn’t look like a quarterback who’s losing his edge, even if he is 37.

The last of Joe Montana's seven Final Fours was with the '93 Chiefs.

The last of Joe Montana’s seven Final Fours was with the ’93 Chiefs.

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The NFL’s all-time worst rules

Now it’s the Process Rule that has NFL fans in Mob Mode. Not so long ago it was the Tuck Rule, which was burned at the stake — before a cheering crowd — in 2013.

I won’t attempt to explain the Process Rule, or the league’s rationale for it, because, well, who can understand it? It’s what you’d get if Jibberish had a one-night stand with Claptrap. (I considered Mumbo Jumbo as the second partner, but I thought it would be funnier if “clap” were part of the equation.)

Naturally, the NFL says it correctly enforced this misbegotten rule on the pass to Dez Bryant late in the Packers-Cowboys game. I say: Whatever floats your boat, Roger. I also say — in a futile attempt to calm the masses — there have been far, far worse rules in pro football than the Process Rule (or even the Tuck Rule, which Mike Shanahan called “the worst rule in the history of the game”).

The NFL, after all, has had some real doozies over the decades, especially in the early years. Here, for your entertainment, are 5 Rules That Were Even More Ridiculous Than The Process Rule (for my money, at least):

● If a pass into the end zone — on any down — falls incomplete, it’s a touchback.

There would have been a lot more pressure on Santonio Holmes in the '20s.

If this pass had been incomplete in the ’20s . . .

In the ’20s, before pro football’s founding fathers opened up the game, there were a number of rules that discriminated against passing. This was probably the most egregious. Imagine if Santonio Holmes had dropped that second-and-6 throw in the back-right corner in the last minute of Super Bowl 43. Under the old rule, the Steelers would have lost possession and the Cardinals would have walked away with the Lombardi Trophy.

● The ball carrier can get up after being after being knocked to the ground and try to gain additional yardage as long as his forward progress hasn’t been stopped.

The he-man NFL was trying to distinguish itself from the colleges with this rule, and occasionally a ball carrier would pick himself up and scramble for more yards. But the rule also fostered late hitting, piling on and other forms of carnage. The league finally got rid of it after the Bears brutalized Hugh McElhenny, the 49ers’ Hall of Fame running back, in 1954 and caused him to miss the second half of the season.

● The defense can hit the quarterback until the play is over, even if he’s gotten rid of the ball.

It wasn’t until 1938 that there was a roughing-the-passer penalty. Sammy Baugh: “Coaches told their players, ‘When the passer throws the ball, you put his ass on the ground.’ If you have to

One of the 1939 rule changes.

One of the 1938 rule changes.

chase him for 20 yards, put him on the ground.’ Hell, they’d chase me back 25 yards or so. I’d complete a short pass, and the receiver would be running all the way downfield, 75 yards away from me, and I’d still be fighting [defenders] off. It looked so damn silly.”

● If the ball carrier runs out of bounds — or is deposited there by the defense — the ball will be spotted one yard from the sideline.

Before hashmarks were added in 1933, the ball was spotted where the previous play ended. Needless to say, this could put the offense in a real bind. It usually had to waste a down to move the ball back to the middle of the field so it would have more room to operate.

● A player who leaves the game can’t come back in until the next quarter.

Welcome to single-platoon football. During the war years, though, when manpower was scarce, the NFL began to experiment with unlimited substitution. The league permanently adopted it in 1949, paving the way for the highly specialized game we enjoy today.

● Dishonorable mention: A team taking an intentional safety retains possession of the ball.

Talk about a lousy rule. In 1925 the Giants were leading the Providence Steam Roller 13-10 with time running out when they decided to hand Providence two points rather than punt from their end zone. Who can blame them? According to the rule in those days, they didn’t have to free kick from the 20-yard line and sweat out the final seconds. Instead, they were given a new set of downs at their 30. They proceeded to run three more plays, kill the clock and lock up a 13-12 win.

I could go on, but you get the idea. As Jim Mora (the Elder) would put it: Process Rule? You kiddin’ me? Process Rule? There have been much more terrible rules than that.

This pass to the Cowboys' Dez Bryant was ruled incomplete because . . . oh, forget it.

This pass to the Cowboys’ Dez Bryant was ruled incomplete because . . . oh, forget it.

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Belichick-Harbaugh and other coaching rivalries

Saturday’s summit conference between Bill Belichick and John Harbaugh might have been the best of their eight. The top-seeded Patriots twice trailed by two touchdowns and didn’t lead until Tom Brady threw the 23-yard game-winner to Brandon LaFell with 5:13 left.

There was even some intrigue. Harbaugh howled about the Three-card Monte game the Patriots played in the second half, using only four offensive linemen on several plays and confusing the Ravens about which receivers were eligible. His cries of “deception” and “illegal” — the league cleared the Pats of any wrongdoing — will only add more intensity to the next New England-Baltimore get-together (not that it needs any).

The Belichick-Harbaugh rivalry has become one of the NFL’s jewels (and somewhat surprising since they aren’t in the same division). Belichick holds a 5-3 edge, but they’re even in the postseason — Patriots 2, Ravens 2 — and let’s not forget, six of the games have been in Foxborough.

This gets me thinking about other great coaching rivalries over the years — Hall of Famer vs. Hall of Famer matchups (though Harbaugh still has some work to do in that area). Here are some of the more notable ones, listed by the number of occasions the coaches squared off:

● George Halas (Bears) vs. Curly Lambeau (Packers/Cardinals/Redskins), 1921-53.

Edge: Halas, 31-17-3.

George Halas, hunkering down.

George Halas, hunkering down.

Comment: The only time they met in the postseason was in a 1941 playoff to decide the Western Division title. (They’d finished tied with 10-1 records.) The Bears won, 33-14. Rivalries don’t get any more bitter than this one. During its span, Lambeau won six NFL championships and Halas five. In other words, they were always getting in each other’s way.

● Hank Stram (Chiefs) vs. Sid Gillman (Chargers/Oilers), 1960-74.

Edge: Stram, 13-10-1.

Comment: Both coaches had terrific duels with the Raiders’ Al Davis, too, but Stram-Gillman was longer lasting. Sid won seven of the first nine (while guiding the Chargers to five of the first six AFL title games); Hank took 11 of the last 15 (and won championships in 1962, ’66 and ’69).

● Don Shula (Dolphins) vs. Marv Levy (Chiefs/Bills), 1978-95.

Edge: Levy, 17-7 (3-0 in playoffs).

● Comment: Though Shula had Dan Marino at quarterback, Levy’s Bills clubs were better balanced and dominated the series, going to four straight Super Bowls from 1990 to ’93. None of their three postseason games was very close. Buffalo cruised 37-22, 44-34 and 29-10

● Joe Gibbs (Redskins) vs. Bill Parcells (Giants/Cowboys), 1983-2006.

Edge: Parcells, 14-9 (1-0 in playoffs).

Comment: No defense gave Gibbs’ two-tight-end attack more trouble than Parcells’ (starring Hall of Fame linebackers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson). The big thing was, Tuna won most of the close ones. His Giants were 6-2 vs. the Redskins in games decided by a touchdown or less.

● Steve Owen (Giants) vs. Greasy Neale (Eagles), 1941-50.

Edge: Neale: 10-9-1.

Comment: Neale’s Eagles replaced Ray Flaherty’s Redskins as Owen’s primary competition in the latter ’40s. Stout Steve had the upper hand early in the rivalry, but by the end of the decade Greasy was reeling off six straight victories and winning back-to-back NFL titles.

● Vince Lombardi (Packers) vs. George Halas (Bears), 1959-67.

Edge: Lombardi, 13-5.

"What the hell is goin' on out there?"

“What the hell’s goin’ on out here?”

Comment: Lombardi made his NFL debut against Halas’ Bears — and beat them 9-6. The rest of their games went pretty much the same way. But in between Vince’s five championships, Chicago did win one last title for Papa Bear — his sixth as a coach — in 1963, when he was 68.

● Tom Landry (Cowboys) vs. George Allen (Rams/Redskins), 1966-77.

Edge: Allen, 9-8 (1-0 in playoffs).

Comment: What can you say? George was a fabulous regular-season coach — and by turning Dallas Week into such an obsession, he made the Redskins-Cowboys rivalry. His postseason win over Landry came in the 1972 NFC championship game, when Washington romped 26-3. Still, Dallas went to four Super Bowls in this period (1970, ’71, ’75 ,’77) and won two of them.

● Paul Brown (Browns) vs. Buddy Parker (Lions/Steelers), 1951-62.

Edge: Brown, 9-8. (Parker had a 2-1 advantage in the playoffs.)

Comment: I fudged a bit on this one because Parker isn’t in the Hall (though he belongs). Theirs was the premier rivalry of the ’50s, with Buddy’s Lions winning two of three title games against Paul’s Browns from 1952 to ’54. After Parker moved to the Steelers in 1957, Brown had more success against him, going 8-4.

● Steve Owen (Giants) vs. Ray Flaherty (Redskins), 1936-42.

Edge: Owen, 8-5-1.

Comment: Every year their teams battled it out for Eastern Division supremacy. What made it even more interesting was that Flaherty had played and coached under Owen. The Redskins won four of the seven division crowns in this stretch but, as you can see, The Master defeated The Pupil more often than not.

● Chuck Noll (Steelers) vs. Don Shula (Colts/Dolphins), 1969-91.

Edge: Shula, 9-5 (2-1 in playoffs).

Don Shula and Dan Marino confer.

Don Shula and Dan Marino confer.

Comment: Shula’s Dolphins edged Noll’s Steelers in the 1972 AFC championship game, the next-to-last step in their perfect season. That was easily the most memorable meeting of these two legends. When they crossed paths again in the ’84 conference title game, the crunching defense of the ’70s had been replaced by high-scoring passing attacks led by the likes of Marino (who threw for 421 yards and four touchdowns in Miami’s 45-28 victory over Pittsburgh).

● Bill Belichick (Browns/Patriots) vs. Bill Cowher (Steelers), 1992-2006.

Edge: Cowher, 8-6. (Belichick had a 2-0 advantage in the playoffs.)

Comment: Unlike Parker, Cowher probably isn’t Canton material (barring a comeback), but I’m including him because, well, 14 games is no small number. The breakdown goes like this: He was 7-2 vs. Belichick/Cleveland and 1-4 vs. Belichick/New England. The two playoff losses were particularly painful, coming as they did in Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game.

SOME OTHER HALL OF FAME COACHING RIVALRIES

Span Coaches (Teams) Overall Playoffs
1960-69 Vince Lombardi (Packers/Redskins) vs. Tom Landry (Cowboys) Lombardi, 5-2 Lombardi, 2-0
1963-69 Vince Lombardi (Packers/Redskins) vs. Don Shula (Colts) Lombardi, 7-4 Lombardi,1-0
1959-62 Vince Lombardi (Packers) vs. Weeb Ewbank (Colts) Tied, 4-4 None
1967-85 Tom Landry (Cowboys) vs. Bud Grant (Vikings) Landry, 7-5 Landry, 3-1
1969-88 Tom Landry (Cowboys) vs. Chuck Noll (Steelers) Noll, 6-3 Noll, 2-0
1969-78 Chuck Noll (Steelers) vs. John Madden (Raiders) Madden, 6-5 Noll, 3-2
1970-75 Chuck Noll (Steelers) vs. Paul Brown (Bengals) Noll, 8-4 None
1969-85 Chuck Noll (Steelers) vs. Bud Grant (Vikings) Tie, 3-3 Noll, 1-0
1970-78 Don Shula (Dolphins) vs. John Madden (Raiders) Madden, 4-3 Madden, 2-1
1983-88 Bill Walsh (49ers) vs. Bill Parcells (Giants) Walsh, 4-3 Parcells, 2-1
1981-88 Bill Walsh (49ers) vs. Joe Gibbs (Redskins) Walsh, 4-2 Gibbs, 1-0

What’s interesting is that only one of these pairings (Noll-Madden, 5) featured more postseason meetings than Belichick-Harbaugh (4). The big question is: How much longer will Bill, who’s almost 63, keep coaching? If he stays at it another, say, five years, the Belichick-Harbaugh rivalry might go down as one of the all-timers.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

John Harbaugh and Bill Belichick: a warm embrace after a cold AFC title game.

John Harbaugh and Bill Belichick: a warm embrace after a cold AFC title game in January 2012.

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