Tag Archives: Raiders

Former NFL quarterbacks as head coaches

The rumblings are getting louder that Jim Harbaugh is on the way out in San Francisco. Jerry Rice is the most recent member of the Niners Family to pipe up. “I have heard some complaints from some players that he likes to try to coach with the collegiate mentality,” the Hall of Fame wideout told Newsday’s Bob Glauber, “and that’s just not going to work in the NFL.”

Boy, that’s a tough crowd in the Bay Area. Harbaugh takes over a team that has missed the playoffs eight years running, guides it to three straight NFC title games and one Super Bowl, and folks are starting to dump on him because (a.) the 49ers are off to a 4-4 start, and (b.) his coaching style is unorthodox by NFL standards.

His “collegiate mentality” has worked just fine up to now — unless you’re going to argue that it was his “collegiate mentality” that caused Kyle Williams to mishandle punts in the 2011

Jim Harbaugh in full throat.

Jim Harbaugh in full throat.

conference championship game, or that it was his “collegiate mentality” that kept his offense from putting the ball in the end zone late in Super Bowl 47, or that it was his “collegiate mentality” that prevented the Niners from winning a fourth consecutive game on the road at the end of last season (formidable Arizona to finish the regular season, then Green Bay, Carolina and Seattle in the playoffs).

Yeah, that “collegiate mentality” is just a killer.

But that’s not the subject of this post. It’s just my way of beginning this post. The subject of this post is: former NFL quarterbacks who become head coaches in the league — and how Harbaugh is one of the few who have experienced much success. Going into Sunday’s game, he’s 45-18-1, postseason included. That’s a .711 winning percentage, far better than most ex-QBs have done.

If there’s anything we’ve learned over the years, it’s that former NFL QBs — despite their inherent genius, sixth sense, Pattonesque leadership ability and whatever other bouquets were tossed their way during their playing days — have no Special Insight into the game. They’re just as capable of turning out losing teams as the next guy, maybe more so.

Check out the regular-season records of the five modern Hall of Fame quarterbacks who have become head coaches in the league:

HALL OF FAME NFL QUARTERBACKS AS HEAD COACHES

Quarterback, Played For* Coached W-L-T Pct
Sammy Baugh, Redskins 1960-61 N.Y Titans, ’64 Oilers 18-24-0 .429
Bob Waterfield, Rams 1960-62 Rams 9-24-1 .279
Norm Van Brocklin, Rams 1961-66 Vikings, ’68-74 Falcons 66-100-7 .402
Otto Graham, Browns 1966-68 Redskins 17-22-3 .440
Bart Starr, Packers 1975-83 Packers 52-76-3 .408

*Team he played for longest.

I’ll say it for you: Yikes. Of these five, only Starr coached a club to the playoffs – in the nine-game ’82 strike season.

Lesser-known quarterbacks, it turns out, have done a lot better on the sideline — though, again, none has been Vince Lombardi. Their regular-season records look like this:

HOW OTHER FORMER NFL QUARTERBACKS HAVE FARED AS HEAD COACHES

Quarterback, Played For* Coached W-L-T Pct
Jim Harbaugh, Bears 2011-14 49ers 40-15-1 .723
John Rauch, N.Y. Bulldogs 1966-68 Raiders, ’69-70 Bills 40-28-2 .586
Frankie Albert, 49ers 1956-58 49ers 19-16-1 .542
Jason Garrett, Cowboys 2010-14 Cowboys 35-30-0 .538
Tom Flores, Raiders 1979-87 Raiders, ’92-94 Seahawks 97-87-0 .527
Allie Sherman, Eagles 1961-68 Giants 57-51-4 .527
Ted Marchibroda, Steelers 1975-79/’92-95 Colts,’96-98 Ravens 87-98-1 .470
Gary Kubiak, Broncos 2006-13 Texans 61-64-0 .488
Sam Wyche, Bengals 1984-91 Bengals, ’92-95 Bucs 84-107-0 .440
Harry Gilmer, Redskins 1965-66 Lions 10-16-2 .393
June Jones, Falcons 1994-96 Falcons, ’98 Chargers 22-36-0 .379
Steve Spurrier, 49ers 2002-03 Redskins 12-20-0 .375
Jim Zorn, Seahawks 2008-09 Redskins 12-20-0 .375
Kay Stephenson, Bills 1983-85 Bills 10-26-0 .278
Frank Filchock, Redskins 1960-61 Broncos 7-20-1 .268

*Team he played for longest.

If you want to add the Saints’ Sean Payton (77-43, .642), a replacement quarterback during the ’87 strike, to this list, be my guest. To me, he was a pseudo-NFL QB, but . . . whatever.

Anyway, this group at least has had its moments. Flores won two Super Bowls (1980/’83), Rauch (’67) and Wyche (’88) led teams to the Super Bowl, Sherman’s Giants went to three straight NFL title games (1961-63) and Marchibroda came within a Hail Mary of getting to the Super Bowl with the ’95 Colts (with — you’ve gotta love this — Harbaugh throwing the pass).

Obviously, this is a small sample size. Most former NFL quarterbacks, after all, don’t become coaches, don’t want to deal with the aggravation. They’d much rather pontificate about the game from a broadcast booth or TV studio — or cash in on their celebrity in the business world. And who’s to say that doesn’t make them smarter than the ones who so willingly hurl themselves back into the arena?

Still, Harbaugh, “collegiate mentality” and all, might be the best the league has seen. Does anybody really think, if he leaves the 49ers after this season to coach at his alma mater, Michigan, that pro football will be better for it?

Source: pro-football-reference.com

Harbaugh gets ready to uncork one for the Colts.

Harbaugh gets ready to uncork one for the Colts.

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Big Ben bumps Tom Flores out of the record book

What in the world has gotten into Ben Roethlisberger? It’s as if he’s entered another matrix these past two weeks. Throwing for six touchdowns in back-to-back games against the Colts and Ravens? Even nowadays, in the Flag Football Era, that’s extraordinary.

When Roethlisberger tossed No. 12 late Sunday night to Matt Spaeth, he broke the record of 11 TD passes over two games shared by Tom Brady (in his lustrous 2007 season for the Patriots) and Tom Flores (in his less sparkly 1963 season for the Raiders).

Let’s talk about the Other Tom — Flores — for a few paragraphs. That ’63 season, after all, was a turning point for the Oakland franchise. The year before, the Raiders had been by far the worst team in the AFL, going 1-13 under Marty Feldman (who lasted five games) and Red Conkright (who took over for the last nine). In the offseason, owner Wayne Valley tapped a Chargers assistant as his new coach, and that coach — Al Davis — transformed the Raiders into a pro football powerhouse.

In Davis’ first year, Oakland improved from 1-13 to 10-4, winning its last eight. It’s arguably the best turnaround in NFL/AFL history. It was in the final two games, vs. Denver and Houston, that Flores threw 11 TD passes. The final score in the latter was Raiders 52, Oilers 49. (Mike Mercer broke a 49-49 tie with a 39-yard field goal in the last few minutes.)

Here’s a great stat from that game, courtesy of The Associated Press: “All told, the Raiders gained 588 yards Sunday [not counting sack yardage] after going through the first quarter without a first down.” Let’s see somebody do that again (without the benefit of overtime).

But I’m getting off topic. What I wanted to tell you about was what preceded those two magical games for Flores. In 1962, you see, when the Raiders were scraping bottom, he didn’t suit up at all. He was on the Physically Unable to Perform list, or whatever they called it then, after contracting a disease “described as bronchiectasis, a chronic lung condition which requires rest,” the Oakland Tribune reported. “He was told the healing process will take only a few months.”

So Flores sat out the year and, to keep himself occupied, wrote a regular column for the Tribune sports section. And what did the paper call it? Monday Morning Quarterback. (Attention: Peter King.) Here’s the promo the Trib ran in August:

MMQB Announcement

This may well have been the first football X’s-and-O’s column to appear in a newspaper. (I haven’t found an earlier one, and I’ve done a lot of looking.) Up to then, there was a lot of mystery surrounding strategy and tactics. Every once in a while you’d see the diagram of a successful play in the sports pages – or of a new offensive or defensive wrinkle – but beyond that . . . .

Flores, to his everlasting credit, took his job seriously and wrote pieces that were very educational. He was – how shall I put this? – a really good explainer, which is one of the reasons, no doubt, he went on to win two Super Bowls as a coach.

His wheelhouse, of course, was the quarterback position. That’s where he was at his best. On an upcoming game between the 49ers and Johnny Unitas’ Baltimore Colts:

With receivers like [R.C.] Owens, Ray Berry, Jimmy Orr, Dee Mackey and, of course, the great All-Pro Lenny Moore, it’s no wonder most of Baltimore’s offense is through the air. I’d look for a lot of throwing Sunday with Owens and Berry on the short patterns – sidelines, hitches, hooks – and Moore and Orr used more on the longer throws such as sideline and ups, hook and goes, and posts.

This may sound pretty basic in 2014, but in 1962 it was virtually unheard of. You just didn’t get analysis like that. In an earlier column, Flores had discussed these various pass routes. The graphic that ran with it:

Pass routes chart

All I can say, again, is: not bad for 1962. “Oakland has to make its short passing game go in order to have a better balanced offense,” he wrote. “. . . The short passing game is vital to ball control. Passes like hitches, hooks, shallows, sidelines, swings, screens and flares get a lot of short yardage and help sustain drives.”

Sounds like the philosophy behind the West Coast Offense, doesn’t it?

“Don’t watch the ball so much,” he told his readers. “If you watch the patterns forming, you will see that almost every play has at least one deep receiver and at least one short one, spreading the defense and giving the thrower alternate targets. . . . Defensive linemen are too big and too quick nowadays to try to grind out yards along the ground all the time. The passing game is at least 50 percent of the offense of most teams, and more than that with some.”

It was a wonderfully experimental time for football. Coaches would try just about anything. The year before, the 49ers had used a shotgun offense in which the quarterback – Billy Kilmer in particular – often played much like a tailback in the single wing. In ’62, the Raiders unveiled their own version of it, the “Runnin’ Gun formation.” Here’s Flores column on the subject (complete with diagram):

Running Gun formation column

Flores: “From this set-up you’ll see several things develop. There will be men in motion to either side. Most of the time this will be Red [Conkright]’s so-called ‘runnin’ man.’ In situations where this man is in motion he will probably be involved in a pass pattern either as receiver or decoy.

“Another possibility this offense presents is the almost extinct ‘quick kick’ that was used so often with the old single wing. Since [Raiders quarterback Cotton] Davidson is also a fine punter, this play is a possibility.

“Standing back three yards the QB has an advantage in passing since he can now start looking immediately for receivers. Also, the ball can be centered to either of the deep backs, so they should be able to hit the line faster on running plays.”

Interesting we don’t see more of that today – direct snaps to the running back on quick-hitting plays. Coaches probably figure it’s enough to ask centers to just snap the ball to the quarterback, though centers in the old days would snap it to any of a number of players, including this one:

OK, I’ve had my fun. Anyway, Flores hung up his typewriter after that season and, his lungs improved, returned to the Raiders in ’63. He backed up Davidson for the first five games, then took over the offense and, in a two-week span, threw for 11 TDs. Fifty-one years later, in a much different landscape for quarterbacks, Ben Roethlisberger has thrown for 12. Wonder what kind of sports columnist he’d make.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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O as in Oakland

After Sunday’s 30-24 loss to the Seahawks, the Raiders are 0-8 for second time in franchise history. The first was in 1962, when their coach — for the first five games, anyway — was Marty Feldman (career record: 2-15) and their home was Frank Youell Field, which seated all of 22,000.

But lest you think these times are as bad as those for the Raiders, I thought I’d post the season-ticket order form that ran in the Oakland Tribune late that season. You could go to seven games the following year (1963) for the low, low price of $31.50 — plus a 30-cent mailing charge.

That might pay for parking — at one game — today.

1963 Raiders tickets ad

 

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College vs. pro

Someday I’ll write a post about Things College Football Players Can Do That Pro Players Can’t (such as throw for 734 yards in a game — only 180 more than Norm Van Brocklin’s 63-year-old record).

The idea dawned on me yesterday while reading about Oklahoma’s 59-14 steamrolling of Iowa State. One of the Sooners’ more impressive stats was this: “Trevor Knight became the first FBS player this season to throw three TD passes and rush for three touchdowns in a game.”*

This got me wondering about whether any NFL quarterbacks had accomplished such a feat. Had Michael Vick ever had a day like that? Randall Cunningham? Bobby Douglass?

A quick trip to pro-football-reference.com brought me the answer: No. Since 1960, at least, no QB has done that. More than a few have come close — 14 have passed for three scores and rushed for two (last: the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers vs. the Broncos in 2011), and two have passed for two and rushed for three (last: the Raiders’ Daunte Culpepper vs. the Dolphins in ’07), but there have been no 3/3 Guys.

Undeterred, I began spot-checking some running quarterbacks from earlier years. Tobin Rote? No. Bobby Layne? No. Otto Graham? Ah-hah. And here’s the kicker: The Browns’ Hall of Famer Graham and Daddid it in the 1954 championship game against Layne’s Lions. Otto threw for TDs of 35, 8 and 31 yards and ran for scores of 1, 5 and 1 as Cleveland clobbered Detroit, 56-10.

This is from Chuck Heaton’s game story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. (Heaton, by the way, was the father of Patricia Heaton, who played Ray Romano’s wife on “Everybody Loves Raymond.”)

Graham, who expects to wind up his grid activity with the Hula and Pro Bowl games next month, re-established himself as the No. 1 man at his position with his passing and running. Otto, an insurance man and part owner of a commercial sales business in the off-season, ran with all the enthusiasm of his collegiate days at Northwestern on his three scoring bursts.

The 33-year-old T-master sneaked a foot for Cleveland’s third touchdown, went five yards around his own right end on a bootleg for the fourth. He opened the second-half scoring with another plunge from the one-foot line, which killed off any slight hope remaining for the sizable Detroit aggregation on hand to see the Lions bid for an unprecedented third straight pro title.

That’s the other thing. This was supposed to be Graham’s last game. He’d already announced his intention to retire. But he changed his mind the following summer and led the Browns to one last title. In that championship game, against the Rams, he only passed for three touchdowns and rushed for two.

Anyway, it’s comforting to know an NFL quarterback has matched Knight’s feat, even if it was 60 years ago.

*Amazingly, by the end of the day, Notre Dame’s Everett Golson had done the same thing against Navy.

Graham running for TD

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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The shelf life of a QB

Tom Brady broached the subject a few days before the Patriots’ season opener. Asked when he planned to retire, he told a Boston radio station, WEEI: “When I suck. . . . But I don’t plan on sucking for a long time.”

And make no mistake, when Brady starts to suck, he’ll be the first to admit it — like he did after his no-touchdown, two-pick performance in the 2011 AFC title game:

Brady’s remark resonated with Peyton Manning. “That’s a pretty good line,” he said. “I’m kind of the same feel. I don’t have a set number. . . . Yeah, right until you suck — I think that’s a pretty good rule right there.”

With the Patriots and Broncos meeting in Foxboro on Sunday — Brady and Manning’s 16th get-together — it might be a good time to explore the idea of, well, quarterbacks sucking. Bill Simmons touched on it toward the end of his column the other day for Grantland.

“Could a quarterback really play at an All-Pro level at 40 and beyond?” he wrote. “Seems insane. Absolutely insane.

“But with the current rules, why not? Why couldn’t Manning AND Brady knock down that 40-and-over door?”

Actually, the 40-and-over door has already been knocked down. Five years ago, Brett Favre turned 40 in Week 5 and went on to lead the Vikings to the NFC championship game. In fact, he went on to lead them to overtime of the NFC championship game. That’s how close he came to the Super Bowl. It was arguably his greatest season, one that saw him throw 33 touchdown passes, a career-low seven interceptions and post a career-high 107.2 passer rating. And Favre, I’ll just remind you, was the most high-mileage 40-year-old quarterback in history. He’d never missed a start.

So for Manning, 38, and Brady, 37, the bar has already been set. And good luck to both of them trying to match those numbers, should they still be ambulatory at that age. Here’s the short list of quarterbacks who’ve had 30 TD passes, fewer than 10 picks and a 100 rating in a season.

Before Favre there was Warren Moon. In 1997 with the Seahawks, at the ages of 40/41, Moon threw for 25 touchdowns — fifth in the league — in 15 starts and was voted MVP of the Pro Bowl. He was four years older than anybody else in the game.

And let’s not forget the Geezer To End All Geezers. George Blanda was 43 when he put the Raiders on his back for five weeks in 1970 and carried them to four wins and tie — yes, ties

George Blanda, armed and dangerous.

George Blanda, armed and dangerous.

mattered in those days — with his passing and kicking. Granted, he wasn’t the regular quarterback, but three times he came off the bench and threw for crucial TDs. His heroics earned him the Bert Bell Award as the NFL’s Player of the Year.

(When he won POY award, by the way, George said he planned to continue playing “as long as I can contribute to the Raiders’ success and meet with the approval of coaches.” That was the ’70s version, I guess, of “until I suck.”)

Anyway, there you have it: Blanda, Moon, Favre. The “40-and-over door” has already ripped off its hinges. The only question is whether Brady and Manning can outperform these ageless wonders. (And even if they do, George can always say, “Yeah, but did either of them boot a 52-yard field goal with three seconds left to give his team the victory?”)

It is true, though, that, up to now, very few NFL quarterbacks have thrown a pass in their 40s — a mere 17. And just six of them have thrown as many as 100 (Favre, Moon, Vinny Testaverde, Vince Evans, Sonny Jurgensen and Len Dawson). So if Brady and/or Manning manage to have several productive seasons in their 40s, they’ll be breaking new ground.

Indeed, only 10 QBs have thrown as many as 100 passes at the age of 39. Here’s that list. (Note I said “at the age of 39,” not the year “the year they turned 39.” For some guys, “the age of 39” straddles two seasons.)

MOST PASSES THROWN AT THE AGE OF 39

Year(s) Quarterback, Team(s) Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int Rating
2008-09 Brett Favre, Jets/Vikings 523 341 65.2 3,374 18 19 79.6
1995-96 Warren Moon, Vikings 469 277 59.1 3,389 23 14 85.3
2001 Doug Flutie, Chargers 345 191 55.4 2,155 9 15 64.8
1974 Len Dawson, Chiefs 235 138 58.7 1,573 7 13 65.8
1993 Steve DeBerg, Bucs/Dolphins 227 136 59.9 1,707 7 10 75.3
1966-67 George Blanda, Oilers/Raiders 219 95 43.4 1,463 13 19 49.7
2002-03 Vinny Testaverde, Jets 199 124 62.3 1,399 7 2 90.8
1972 Johnny Unitas, Colts 157 88 56.1 1,111 4 6 70.8
1960-61 Charlie Conerly, Giants 155 75 48.4 1,029 8 9 63.1
1973 Sonny Jurgensen, Redskins 145 87 60.0 904 6 5 77.5

Manning, of course, will be 39 next season. Brady is two years away. It’s hard to believe, the way they’ve been playing, that they’ll suck by then. It’s more an issue of: Will they still be upright? In the NFL, even with all the safety measures in place, there are no guarantees.

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The latest Clash of the Titans

Spent the morning digging up some statistical stuff on Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, who bump facemasks again Sunday in Foxborough. There sure is plenty of stuff to dig up. Combined, these guys have completed passes for 67 miles, 386 yards. Just as a frame of reference: A marathon is 26 miles, 385 yards.

You know how they say that if a couple is married long enough, they start to look alike? Well, in their 30s, Brady and Manning have become practically the same quarterback. Take a look at their numbers since turning the Big Three-O:

BRADY AND MANNING IN THEIR 30S (REGULAR SEASON ONLY)

Years Win% Att Comp Pct Yds TD Int Y/A Rating
Brady 2007-14 .800 3,803 2,463 64.8 29,644 230 58 7.79 102.3
Manning 2006-14 .782 4,371 2,937 67.2 33,909 269 92 7.76 102.1

Those, by the way, are the two highest ratings in NFL history for QBs in their thirties (minimum: 1000 attempts).

Anyway, we’re talking about a difference of 2/10 of a ratings point. Not even worth discussing. Manning turned 30 a year earlier, so that explains why some of his gross numbers are higher. (Yes, he missed the 2011 season with an injury, but Brady’s 2008 was a virtual washout, too.)

What sticks out most to me about these stats is that Manning has thrown 39 more touchdown passes and Brady 34 fewer interceptions. The kind of confirms what I’ve always thought about Tom: not only is he great at winning games, he’s great at not losing them. He’s like the football version of Cy Young — a ton of wins, not many walks.

Which makes Manning, who, Walter Johnson? Maybe. Johnson’s strikeout totals in an era of contact hitting were as awe inspiring as Manning’s numbers in an era of profuse passing. (And Walter, let’s not forget, won three World Series games — his only three Series victories — at the ages of 36 and 37. Translation: Like Peyton, he was good as a geezer.)

Perhaps the greatest blessing, though — for fans, at least — is that Brady and Manning have gone up against each other so many times. This is their sixtee– . . . on second thought, let me rephrase that. For a matchup this momentous, you have to wheel out the Roman numerals. It’s not their 16th meeting, it’s Brady-Manning XVI (followed by a clash of cymbals).

(Of course, they wheeled out the Roman numerals for Rocky V, too, but this is different. For one thing, nobody’s pulling any punches.)

Speaking of boxing, you think of Jake LaMotta’s old line when you think of Brady-Manning. “I fought Sugar Ray Robinson so often,” Jake liked to say, “I almost got diabetes.” For Tom and Peyton it’s been much the same. They were matching spirals when they were in their early 20s, and they’re still matching them in their late 30s.

In fact, it’s almost mathematically impossible that they’ve intersected this often. They were, after all, in the same division for only one season (2001). The rest of the time, they’ve tended cross paths because of the NFL’s scheduling philosophy of pitting division champions against division champions. Tom’s Patriots (almost) always win the AFC East, and Peyton’s Colts and Broncos have (almost) always been champs of the AFC South and West. This, happily, has put them on a collision course their entire careers.

And now we’re getting ready for Brady-Manning XVI. Do you realize how rare that is? I could find only five other instances of a pair of Hall of Fame quarterbacks meeting even 10 times. The

Jim Kelly

Jim Kelly

details:

● Dan Marino vs. Jim Kelly, 1986-96. Meetings: 21. Edge: Kelly, 14-7 (2-0 in the playoffs).

● Johnny Unitas vs. Bart Starr, 1957-70. Meetings: 17. Edge: Unitas, 9-8 (no playoff games). Funny thing is, they would have met in the ’65 Western Conference playoff, but Johnny was out with an injury and Bart got hurt early in the game.

● Brady vs. Manning, 2001-13. Meetings: 15. Edge: Brady, 10-5 (2-2 in playoffs).

● Sammy Baugh vs. Sid Luckman, 1940-50. Meetings: 11. Edge: Luckman, 7-4 (2-1 in playoffs).

● Joe Namath vs. Len Dawson, 1965-75. Meetings: 10. Edge: Dawson, 7-3 (1-0 in playoffs).

Len Dawson

Len Dawson

● Len Dawson vs. George Blanda, 1962-66. Meetings: 10. Edge: Dawson, 7-3 (no playoff games).

Caveat: There might have been a couple of others in the ’50s, when Bobby Layne (Lions), Norm Van Brocklin (Rams) and Y.A. Tittle (49ers) were in the same conference and played twice a year. Unfortunately, pro-football-reference.com’s database have individual game statistics for those seasons. (I finessed Baugh-Luckman — and the early years of Unitas-Starr — other ways.)

About the only shortcoming of the Brady-Manning rivalry — if you want to nitpick — is that they’ve always been in the AFC, so they’ve never squared off in a Super Bowl. Baugh and Luckman met three times in the NFL title game (1940, ’42 and ’43). So did Layne and the Browns’ Otto Graham (1952-54). Tom and Peyton have met three times for the conference championship, though (2003, ’06, ’13), and they might not be done.

Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. It never gets old — mainly because, in defiance of medical science, they don’t.

Source: pro-football-reference.com, Baltimore Sun archives.

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Memorable midseason trades

Wish there were more trades like the one that sent Percy Harvin from the Seahawks to the Jets, if only to liven things up during non-game days. The NFL, unfortunately, is different from other sports. Baseball, basketball and hockey are veritable swap meets at times, but rarely is there a deal during the pro football season that attracts much attention — or has much impact, really.

Part of it is that the deadline falls so early (though it’s been pushed back to the Tuesday of Week 9 — October 28 this year). Another part is that the salary cap limits clubs’ ability to add and subtract players. Then, too, there’s a playbook to be learned. You can’t plug a quarterback into your lineup as easily as you can a right fielder.

The early deadline is an anachronism dating to the days when weaker teams would unload salaries late in the season to cut their losses (thus becoming even weaker teams, which did nothing for the young league’s image). The latter is no longer an issue, of course — it’s hard to lose money in the NFL — and the former, as I said, is problematical because of the cap. So why not extend the deadline to, say, December 1? It would enable contending clubs to address weaknesses created by injuries and help the also-rans stockpile draft picks for rebuilding. Win-win.

The only thing teams would have to do to create a more lively in-season trade market is hold some money back — that is, not spend to the cap. But I doubt there’ll ever be much support for a later deadline because, well, owners don’t think like you and I do.

The Harvin deal motivated me to compile a list of 10 notable midseason trades. I’m not going to suggest these are the 10 biggest midseason trades; I might have overlooked (or underestimated) a few. And if I have, please submit your own nominations. What’s interesting is that none of them took place later than 1990. Since the institution of free agency in 1993, clubs have essentially adopted the attitude of: Why pay for something today that you might be able to get for nothing (except, perhaps, millions of dollars) tomorrow?

10 NOTABLE IN-SEASON TRADES IN NFL HISTORY

● 1938 — TB/QB Frank Filchock from the Pirates (Steelers) to the Redskins for an undisclosed amount of money (and possibly a draft pick).

This was one of those Salary Dumps I referred to earlier. Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney had signed running back Whizzer White to a huge contract, and the team wasn’t winning. So in mid-Screen Shot 2014-10-25 at 5.56.41 PMOctober he got rid of several players, including Filchock, a promising single-wing tailback who had been the 14th pick in that year’s draft. Frankie had some fine years in Washington as Sammy Baugh’s alternate, then moved to the Giants in 1946 and led them to the championship game. (He’s also remembered for getting caught up in the attempt to fix that game, which caused him to be banned from the league for three seasons.)

● 1958 — QB Bobby Layne from the Lions to the Steelers for QB Earl Morrall, a 1959 No. 2 (OG Mike Rabold) and ’60 No. 4 (DT Roger Brown).

The deal reunited Layne with his old Lions coach, Buddy Parker, who had quit and taken the Pittsburgh job. Bobby played some of his best ball in the second half of that season, as the Steelers finished on a 6-0-1 tear to wind up third in the Eastern Conference. He also gave the perennially losing franchise some much-needed credibility in the late ’50s and early ’60s. His only failure was that he never got Pittsburgh to the title game. Brown, by the way, turned out to be a stud defensive tackle for the Lions, a 300-pounder who went to six Pro Bowls. And Morrall had some great moments with the ’68 Colts and undefeated ’72 Dolphins.

● 1974 — QB John Hadl from the Rams to the Packers for two No. 1s (both Top 10), two No. 2s and a No. 3 in the next two drafts.

Nowadays, three of the picks would be in the first round (8, 9, 28) and the other two in the second (39, 61). This was your basic desperate-for-a-quarterback move by Green Bay. Problem was, Hadl, who’d been a first-team all-pro the season before, was 34, and his best football was behind him. Two years later, the Packers dealt him to Houston for QB Lynn Dickey. Who the Rams drafted with the Hadl picks: DT Mike Fanning, CB Monte Jackson, C Geoff Reece, CB Pat Thomas, C Geoff Reece. Jackson and Thomas went to multiple Pro Bowls. The fifth pick from the deal, a ’76 No. 1, was sent to the Lions as compensation for signing free agent WR Ron Jessie, a Pro Bowler in his first season with L.A.

● 1980 — RB Chuck Muncie from the Saints to the Chargers for a 1982 No. 2.

Muncie was tremendously talented and equally troubled (read: drugs, alcohol), which is why his price was so reasonable. But Chargers coach Don Coryell was assembling a Super Offense

Chuck Muncie

Chuck Muncie

around Hall of Fame QB Dan Fouts and decided to take a chance on Chuck, who had already been to one Pro Bowl (and would go to two others). San Diego made it to the AFC title game in Muncie’s first two seasons, losing to the Raiders and Bengals, but then his demons undid him again and he was packed off to the Dolphins. Who the Saints drafted with the Chargers pick: LB Rickey Jackson, who’s now in Canton.

● 1981 — WR Wes Chandler from the Saints to the Chargers for Nos. 1 and 3 picks in 1982. Chandler was another of Coryell’s offensive additions (along with Muncie and TE Kellen Winslow, San Diego’s first-rounder in ’79). He went to three Pro Bowls with the Chargers, and in the nine-game ’82 strike season averaged 129 receiving yards a game, a record. Who the Saints drafted with the San Diego picks: WR Lindsay Scott (69 career receptions) and DB John Krimm (nine NFL games). In other words, not much.

● 1981 — DE Fred Dean from the Chargers to the 49ers for a 1982 No. 2 and the option to switch No. 1s in ’83.

For instant impact, you won’t find many better deals than this one. Strengthened by Dean’s Hall of Fame pass-rushing abilities, San Francisco went on to win the Super Bowl that season and again in ’84. What’s truly amazing, though, is what happened after San Diego chose to swap first-rounders in ’85 (moving up from 22 to 5 to take LB Billy Ray Smith). The Niners then traded the 22nd selection back to them for two No. 2s (36, 49) and turned them into Pro Bowl RBs Wendell Tyler (via a trade with the Rams) and Roger Craig (via the draft). To recap: Dynasty-bound San Francisco got Dean, Tyler and Craig, and the Chargers got Smith and CB Gil Byrd (the 22nd pick). Nice.

● 1983 — CB Mike Haynes from the Patriots to the Raiders for a 1984 No. 1 and ’85 No. 2.

Haynes, a holdout, didn’t want to re-sign with New England. And when Al Davis finally worked out a trade for him — a tad after the deadline — the league tried to disallow it. But Davis

Mike Haynes

Mike Haynes

ultimately prevailed, and the cornerback combination of Hall of Famer Haynes and Pro Bowler Lester Hayes turned the Raiders defense into a total monster, one that destroyed the Redskins, one of the highest-scoring teams in NFL history, in the Super Bowl later that season. Who the Patriots drafted with the Raiders picks: New England packaged the ’84 No. 1 (28th) with their own (16th) to get the first overall pick and selected WR Irving Fryar, who had a very good 17-year career (most of it with other clubs). The No. 2 brought DB Jim Bowman. Remember, though: The Pats went to the Super Bowl themselves in ’85 — and beat the Raiders in the playoffs to get there.

● 1987 — RB Eric Dickerson from the Rams to the Colts for three No. 1s and three No. 2s spread over the next two drafts, plus RBs Greg Bell and Owen Gill. The trade also involved the Bills, who came away with LB Cornelius Bennett, Indianapolis’ unsigned No. 1 pick that year (and the second overall selection).

What a blockbuster. Dickerson was one of the biggest names in game, a Hall of Famer whose 2,105-yard rushing season in 1984 is still the record. So why did the Rams deal him? Contract issues. In Indianapolis he rejoined his coach at SMU, Ron Meyer, who showcased him the way John Robinson had in Los Angeles. (In other words, this was the running back version of the Layne trade.) Backs tend to have shorter primes, though, and Eric rushed for more yards with the Rams (7,245) than with the Colts (5,194). Still, Indy made the playoffs in ’87 — for the first time since moving from Baltimore – so it’s not like Jim Irsay didn’t get anything out of the trade.

As for the Rams, Gill didn’t gain a single yard for them, but Bell was their leading rusher in 1988 and ’89, when they reached the postseason. Who they drafted with Colts’ and Bills’ picks: RB Gaston Green, WR Aaron Cox, RB Cleveland Gary, LB Fred Strickland, LB Frank Stams and CB Darryl Henley. Only Green ever made the Pro Bowl (once), and Henley wound up in prison for cocaine trafficking and other felonious activities.

● 1989 — RB Herschel Walker from the Cowboys to the Vikings for the kitchen sink.

There were enough picks and players involved in this trade – 18 in all, including three No. 1s and three No. 2s – to give you a headache. Dallas’ major acquisitions, through the draft, were RB Emmitt Smith, the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, and five-time Pro Bowl SS Darren Woodson. (The rest were pretty much role players.) As for Walker, he was a disappointment in Minnesota, though the Vikings also got a third-round selection in the deal that they turned into WR Jake Reed, who had four 1,000-yard seasons. With Smith, the Triplets (Troy Aikman-Michael Irvin-Emmitt) were complete, and the Cowboys became the team of the ’90s, winning three Super Bowls in four years.

● 1990 — QB Steve Walsh from the Cowboys to the Saints for Nos. 1 and 3 picks in 1991 and a No. 2 in ’92.

Once Jimmy Johnson decided on Aikman as his quarterback, he auctioned off Walsh, his former University of Miami QB, who he’d taken in the ’89 supplemental draft. The New Orleans first-rounder, which Johnson traded to the Lions, didn’t bring much in return, but the third-rounder, OT Erik Williams, was voted to four Pro Bowls. The second-rounder is the great What Might Have Been. Jimmy used it to move up and draft WR Jimmy Smith, who washed out in Dallas but had 11 tremendous seasons with the Jaguars, catching 862 passes and going to five Pro Bowls. Walsh quarterbacked Saints to the playoffs in ’90, going 6-5 as a starter, but didn’t have many more career highlights.

Sources: pro-football-reference.com, prosportstransactions.com, various Sporting News Football Registers.

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Friday Night Fights VIII: Charley Powell vs. Charlie Norkus, 1954

When Charley Powell died last month at 82, he was an all but forgotten sports figure — outside, that is, his hometown of San Diego, where his feats in football, baseball, basketball, track and boxing are legend. Jim Murray, the Los Angeles Times columnist, once wrote: “When the conversation veers around to all-around athletes, it gets to Charlie Powell in a hurry. There’s Jim Thorpe, Jackie Robinson, and, well, how about Charlie Powell?”

As a 20-year-old in 1952 — he passed up college in favor of a minor-league baseball fling — Powell was man enough to play defensive end for a 49ers club stacked with four Hall of Famers: quarterback Y.A. Tittle, running backs Joe Perry and Hugh McElhenny and tackle Leo Nomellini. A chiseled 6-foot-3, 226 pounds, he might have been one of the greats if he hadn’t gone into boxing, which paid better.

As he told Gay Talese of The New York Times late in his career: “Trouble was I’d have to take weight off in the summertime [for boxing] and put it back on in the wintertime for football. It

An ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

An ad in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

was off and on, off and on, and I couldn’t concentrate on either sport.”

Powell did have his moments in the squared circle, though. The biggest came in March 1959, when, as a 4-to-1 underdog, he TKO’d Nino Valdes, the No. 2-ranked heavyweight. The win moved Charley up to ninth in Ring Magazine’s ratings, as high as he ever got. From The Associated Press account:

“Valdes had gone down twice before in the [eighth] round [before referee Cy Gottfried stopped it], once following a left and a right to the jaw, . . . and once when the ex-pro football player draped him over the middle strand of the ring ropes. . . .

“[Valdes] suffered a gash over his right eye in the third [round] and thereafter presented a gory picture after he tried to ward off the aggressive Californian, who crowded in and refused to allow his bigger opponent to unlimber his heavy guns.”

After getting off to a 20-3-2 start, Powell settled for a final record of 25-11-3 with 17 knockouts. A succession of broken hands — along with a chin, I’m told, that may not have been made of granite — undermined his early promise. Toward the end, he served as a tuneup for a young Cassius Clay (soon to be known as Muhammad Ali) in 1963 and a dethroned Floyd Patterson in ’64. He was knocked out both times, but give the guy his due: He traded blows with two heavyweight champs.

The following is a clip from Powell’s 1954 bout against journeyman Charlie Norkus at San Francisco Civic Auditorium. You can watch all seven rounds if you want; I’m just focusing on the first one, when he . . .

Now that’s punching power.

Powell mixing it up with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali).

Powell mixing it up with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali).

 

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Running roughshod over Roethlisberger

Ben Roethlisberger was sacked three times for 16 yards Monday night in the Steelers’ 30-23 win over the Texans. In other words, it was a perfectly normal week for Roethlisberger, whose per-game average over 11 NFL seasons is 2.7 sacks for 17.7 yards, give or take an ammonia capsule.

Big Ben’s 406 career sackings are the 10th most since 1982, when the league began tracking the statistic. But if his 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame can withstand the pounding, he should eventually overtake Packers legend Brett Favre, who’s first with 525 (in more than twice as many games — 302 to Ben’s 150).

This made me wonder: How many first-round quarterbacks have had fewer passing yards, all told, than Roethisberger has sack yards (2,650)? There’s gotta be a few, right?

Actually, I count 29 — not including some young quarterbacks, like the current rookie crop, who haven’t played enough to be considered. Imagine: Ben has gone backward farther than these guys have gone forward (in terms of throwing the ball, anyway).

1st-Round QBs with Fewer Career Passing Yards than Big Ben Has Sack Yards (2,650)

[table width=”400px”]

Quarterback\, First Team,Pick\, Year,Pass Yds

Art Schlichter\, Colts,4th\, 1982,1\,006

Andre Ware\, Lions,7th\, 1990,1\,112

Todd Marinovich\, Raiders,24th\, 1991,1\,345

Akili Smith\, Bengals,3rd\, 1999,2\,212

Kelly Stouffer\, Seahawks*,6th\, 1987,2\,333

Tim Tebow\, Broncos,25th\, 2010,2\,422

[/table]

*Was drafted by the Cardinals, then traded.

Obviously, this is just a sampling. There are many more. And look who’s coming up on Roethlisberger’s radar screen:

[table width=”400px”]

Quarterback\, First Team,Pick\, Year,Pass Yds

Cade McNown\, Bears,12th\, 1999, 3\,111

Ryan Leaf\, Chargers,2nd\, 1998,3\,666

Heath Shuler\, Redskins,3rd\, 1994,3\,691

Matt Leinart\, Cardinals,10th\, 2006,4\,065

JaMarcus Russell\, Raiders,1st\, 2007,4\,083

[/table]

Leinart and Russell might be a bit out of reach for Big Ben, but the other three are certainly catchable.

If Roethlisberger does break Favre’s sack mark, by the way, I can hardly wait to see how the Steelers commemorate the occasion. Maybe they’ll give him Free MRIs for Life.

The Broncos' Von Miller corrals Big Ben

The Broncos’ Von Miller corrals Big Ben

Or maybe the offensive line — all in good fun, of course — will “open the gate” for the record-breaking sack. That’s a football term for letting the defense through unimpeded, something the line usually does only if it’s trying to, uh, communicate something to the quarterback.

Speaking of which, I heard a funny story once about the Packers opening the gate way back when on Curly Lambeau. In his younger days, Lambeau was their single-wing tailback and signal caller, but by this time — 1929, I think — he was essentially a full-time coach. Anyway, one afternoon at Comiskey Park, the Packers offense was struggling mightily against the Chicago Cardinals, and Curly put himself in the game to show these whippersnappers how it was done.

The whippersnappers weren’t amused. On the next play, they made like toreadors while the Cardinals flooded through and planted Curly in the infield dirt. The coach got the message and went back to being a coach.

Years later, the Packers were in Chicago to play the Cards again, and a bunch of players decided to go to Comiskey the day before to watch the White Sox game. In the umpiring crew was Cal Hubbard, one of the Green Bay linemen who’d opened the gate on Lambeau.

With his former teammates watching, Hubbard walked over to the spot between first and second base where Curly met his demise and drew a big X with his cleat. The Packers howled.

Source: pro-football-reference.com

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Russell Wilson, making some history

In today’s 28-26 loss to the Rams, the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson became the first NFL quarterback to throw for 300 yards and rush for 100 in the same game. Pretty cool (except for the defeat, of course).

You know what’s almost as cool? The QB who came closest before Wilson was Browns Hall of Famer Otto Graham, and the game Graham nearly did it in was the 1950 title game. Check out the box score for yourself. Otto had 298 yards passing and 99 rushing, which left him just 3 yards short.

This is from Harry Jones’ story in the Cleveland Plain Dealer the next day:

At a locker nearby, Graham was stripping off his jersey. It was plain to see that he had taken a physical beating from the huge Los Angeles linemen who had knocked him down repeatedly. His face displayed cuts and bruises, and he limped on a twisted knee.

“Somebody hit me in the back toward the end of the first half,” Otto said. “I thought I was going to fold up right there. My knee buckled, but luckily it didn’t stiffen up. It’s just getting stiff now. It’ll probably be plenty sore tomorrow.”

If you’re interested in a visual, here’s Graham scrambling for a 22-yard gain to the Rams 31:

Just a tremendous player — as is Wilson.

QBS WHO CAME CLOSEST TO 300 YARDS PASSING, 100 RUSHING IN SAME GAME

Date Quarterback, Team Opponent Pass Rush Missed By
12-24-50 Otto Graham, Browns Rams 298 99 3
12-18-89 Randall Cunningham, Eagles* Saints 306 92 8
10-9-11 Michael Vick, Eagles* Bills 315 90 10
12-9-12 Cam Newton, Panthers Falcons 287 116 13
10-8-00 Rich Gannon, Raiders 49ers 310 85 15
10-12-14 Cam Newton, Panthers Bengals 284 107 16
10-20-13 Robert Griffin III, Redskins Bears 298 84 18
11-3-13 Terrell Pryor, Raiders* Eagles 288 94 18
11-15-10 Michael Vick, Eagles Redskins 333 80 20

*Lost game.

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