KRC

My wife and I have enjoyed watching the show. A few interesting theories. Several leaps in lahjik, though.

I have been pretty fortunate to have met and talked to a lot of people throughout the NFL (teams, league offices, NFL Films, HOF). This year alone, I have had several notable interviews: Ron Wolf, Don Shula, Gil Brandt, Bill Parcells, Mercury Morris, Marlin Briscoe, Bob Gain, Robert Brazile, Mike Holmgren and Ken Riley. But the biggest suprise was early this year. Every year, the PFRA keeps track of the players that have passed away and publish that list in our magazine. Jeff Nixon (former Bills player) asked me if he could publish the list on the Fourth and Goal blog (they help retired players). About an hour after he posted it on his blog, I receive a phone call. Sam Huff, HOF linebacker for the Giants called to thank me for keeping tabs on these players. We talked for a while. Later that day, Bills QB Joe Ferguson emailed me to talk about a former Bill. It was a pretty good day.

I think that you absolutely can compare across eras, as long as you look at the appropriate criteria. Sanders was awesome and could kill you in a multitude of ways (running, passing, receiving). His downside was his short career. The short career is also what is keeping Speedie out of the Hall. If they elect Davis, then there is no excuse not to look at Speedie. Parker was also a beast and could kill you in a variety of ways. Sammy Baugh referred to him as the greatest football player he ever saw, which is obviously high praise. Not a big guy, but extremely athletic. Side note: I was invited to Ace Parker's house last year and he is also an extremely generous person. A wonderful man. See my edit line from above, since I added comments at the same time you posted. Thank you for the quality discussion of what truly makes a HOF'er.

Better than Spec Sanders? Better than Ace Parker? Better than Marion Motley? Edit: Keep in mind that I may or may not be disagreeing with you. I just want to show the discussion that is needed to prove whether he belongs as a first-ballot HOF'er.

Why? Don't give me stats. Tell me why he was the greatest running back of all time and should be in the same category as Jim Brown.

Here is my list of the ones that are left. The fact that Ron Wolf is not on the list is a joke. Of course, Ron is a friend of mine, so I might be biased. Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers Dermontti Dawson, C – 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers Edward DeBartolo, Jr., Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers Richard Dent, DE – 1983-1993, 1995 Chicago Bears, 1994 San Francisco 49ers, 1996 Indianapolis Colts, 1997 Philadelphia Eagles Chris Doleman, DE/LB – 1985-1993, 1999 Minnesota Vikings, 1994-95 Atlanta Falcons, 1996-98 San Francisco 49ers Marshall Faulk, RB – 1994-98 Indianapolis Colts, 1999-2005 St. Louis Rams Ray Guy, P – 1973-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Charles Haley, DE/LB – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers, 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys Lester Hayes, CB – 1977-1986 Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders Cortez Kennedy, DT – 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks Willie Roaf, T – 1993-2001 New Orleans Saints, 2002-05 Kansas City Chiefs Ed Sabol, Contributor – 1964-1995 NFL Films Shannon Sharpe, TE – 1990-99, 2002-03 Denver Broncos, 2000-01 Baltimore Ravens Aeneas Williams, CB/S – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals, 2001-04 St. Louis Rams George Young, Contributor – 1968-1974 Baltimore Colts, 1975-78 Miami Dolphins, 1979-1997 New York Giants, 1998-2001 National Football League If TD gets in, then there is no excuse for not putting in Mac Speedie next year. Of this list, the five finalists should be: Don Coryell, Coach – 1973-77 St. Louis Cardinals, 1978-1986 San Diego Chargers Dermontti Dawson, C – 1988-2000 Pittsburgh Steelers Cortez Kennedy, DT – 1990-2000 Seattle Seahawks Willie Roaf, T – 1993-2001 New Orleans Saints, 2002-05 Kansas City Chiefs Ed Sabol, Contributor – 1964-1995 NFL Films Young should get in, but others should get in first. Same with DeBartolo and Guy.

An inside joke for some who know my issues with a certain contractor.

Who? Meh...I'll drink to it anyway. HFBD!!

I go three months every year without alcohol. Religious observances (Buddhism). Full moon in July through the full moon in October.

Some fun facts... Pro games played on a Tuesday: NFL: November 11, 1924 Milwaukee Badgers 3 @ Kansas City Blues 7 November 3, 1925 Buffalo Bisons 0 @ New York Giants 7 November 2, 1926 Canton Bulldogs 7 @ New York Giants 7 November 8, 1927 Chicago Bears 6 @ New York Yankees 26 November 8, 1927 Providence Steamroller 0 @ New York Giants 25 November 6, 1928 Pottsville Maroons 7 @ New York Giants 13 October 29, 1929 Orange Tornadoes 0 @ Boston Bulldogs 6 November 5, 1929 Providence Steamroller 7 @ Staten Island Stapletons 7 November 5, 1929 New York Giants 45 @ Buffalo Bisons 6 September 30, 1930 Frankford Yellowjackets 13 @ Orange Tornadoes 6 November 6, 1934 Chicago Cardinals 21 @ Brooklyn Dodgers November 6, 1934 Cincinnati Reds 0 @ Philadelphia Eagles 64 November 5, 1935 Brooklyn Dodgers 3 @ Philadelphia Eagles 0 November 19, 1935 Chicago Cardinals 12 @ Brooklyn Dodgers 14 September 21, 1937 Cleveland Rams 21 @ Philadelphia Eagles 3 September 16, 1941 Cleveland Rams 10 @ Chicago Cardinals 6 September 26, 1944 Philadelphia Eagles 28 @ Boston Yanks 7 September 25, 1945 Pittsburgh Steelers 7 @ Boston/Brooklyn Yanks/Tigers 28 October 1, 1946 New York Giants 17 @ Boston Yanks 0 AFL (1926): November 2, 1926 Rock Island Independents 0 @ New York Yankees 35 AAFC: October 8, 1946 San Francisco 49ers 34 @ Miami Seahawks 7 December 3, 1946 Cleveland Browns 34 @ Miami Seahawks 0 October 5, 1948 Cleveland Browns 14 @ Baltimore Colts 10 AFL (1960s): None Source: Professional Football Researchers Association

I cannot give out gamebooks to non-members. It is a special arrangement we have with the NFL and the various teams. As far as what your membership covers, you can visit the Coffin Corner section of the website to see what you would get with your magazine subscription (free downloads of all articles published between 1979 and 2005). With that subscription, you also get access to the Members Only section, which contains the following as of today: Gamebooks 1960-1969 AFL (Not Complete) 1960-1997 NFL (Not Complete) 1998-2009 NFL (Complete) Browns: 1961-1995, 1999 Buccaneers: 1976-1999 Chiefs: 1960-1983 Dolphins: 1966-1999 Eagles: 1956-1994 49ers: 1950-1999 Jets: 1969-1980 Patriots: 1960-2002 Raiders: 1960-1992 Seahawks: 1976-1982 Steelers: 1969-1983 Full Issues of The Coffin Corner: 2006-present Player Deaths (2010) Player Deaths During Military Service All-Pros 1920-1959 (Currently Being Edited) Linescores 1890-1919 (Not Complete) 1920-2008 NFL (Complete) 1926 AFL (Complete) 1946-1949 AAFC (Complete) 1960-1969 AFL (Complete) Pro Football Chronology (1869-1999) NFL Officials Historical Player Draft (1936-2009) Oral History Transcripts Bruce Alford Jesse Freitas Hal Herring Ron Marciniak Zeke OConnor Dan Rooney Don Schneider Bob Sneddon Al Vandeweghe Team Pages (1890-1919)(Not Complete) Uniforms of Past Teams 1933-1958 NFL 1946-1949 AAFC Miscellaneous Players Serving During World War I Players Serving During World War II Players Serving in the Korean War Players Serving in the Military AAFC Attendance Pacific Coast Pro Football League (1940-1948) You also get to vote in the Hall of Very Good elections and get to attend PFRA meetings (the next one will be at NFL Films). The membership fee is $25 for a one-year domestic membership (Canada slightly higher and other international slightly higher than that) if you sign up before December 31. After that, rates go up to $35 for a domestic membership (again, slight increases for addresses outside of the United States). If you have any questions on what you get with membership, please do not hesitate to PM me. Honestly, I do not know why they would even fight it. I checked the site today, and it looks like that have started to seperate the all-pro information. That is a good start. However, I have not checked the validity of their information. I am currently working with the two foremost authorities on all-pro information for a new book we are publishing through the PFRA. That information will make it into the Members Only section of the site. There is no question that the information we are publishing will be the most complete and accurate. Elias is the official keeper of the stats. Sometimes, it is easy to get them to update things, other times they refuse. Elias does use the gamebooks for their stats, but sometimes the gamebooks can be incorrect. Also, not all gamebooks exist for all games. In those cases, we have gone through game films to compile that stats ourselves (like the sack totals for players prior to it becoming an official stat). There are inconsistencies from team to team. You will generally see the home-team bias on items that are based on judgement (sacks, tackles, etc). We try changing things as we notice them, but we are not always successful.

You need to go to the Professional Football Researchers Association's website to get that information. Gamebooks consist of all stats and play-by-plays for the games. They are issues by the teams themselves after the game. In the Member's Only section, we have over 8500 gamebooks online (about 80% of all games played since 1960). This is the result of a lot of work by our members with the NFL and with individual teams. Not all of the gamebooks exist, however, but we are constantly adding more. The problem I have with the PFR site is the all-pro information. Granted, we have been working with them to improve it, but they are still fighting us. Anyone who made any all pro list (first team, second team or honorable mention, any source) is listed as an all-pro on that site. They really need to differentiate the team and the source. Some sources carry more weight than others. Second team or honorable mention is obviously not as impressive as first team. That is our issue. As I said, they are improving things, but it is not where it needs to be and is misleading to their visitors.

Dallas plays Arizona on Christmas Day.

Isaac Newton's in Newtown and Maggio's in Huntingdon Valley have excellent beer lists.

235

Sometimes, the pet will let you know when it is time. As mentioned previously, don't be selfish. If the quality of life is not there, do not prolong it to spare yourself/your family. As far as the body, think about donating it to science. It could help other pets in the future.

Happy Birthday, Lisa!!!

According to PFRA member John Turney, who went back to examine the official play-by-play accounts and game films, Jones had 173.5. Here is the top 15 according to John's research (from 2009): 1. Bruce Smith 200 2. Reggie White 198 3. Deacon Jones 173½ 4. Kevin Greene 160 5. Jack Youngblood 151½ 6. Chris Doleman 150½ 7. Alan Page 148½ 8. Lawrence Taylor 142 9. Michael Strahan 141½ 10. Richard Dent 137½ 10. John Randle 137½ 12. Rickey Jackson 136 13. Carl Eller 133 14. Leslie O'Neal 132½ 15. Coy Bacon 130

Watch the game films from that era. Hutson was definitely better than Rice. Rice was dominant. Hutson was more dominant. The offense also has the luxury of only being touched for the first five yards. After that...hands off. People only want to say "well, they couldn't play in today's game because it is different." The same can be said of taking today's players and putting them back in time. They would not have the luxury of having a 10-yard run, then taking a few plays off to get their wind back. They wouldn't have the luxury of not being on the field on a change of possession (only offense/defense and not playing in all three aspects of the game). They would be mugged on every play. They would be pounded from every direction. Breathing on QB gets you 15 yards? I don't think so. Bigger...stronger...faster... It would be completely negated. They absolutely could. Saying otherwise shows that you never watched them. Look, people say that you cannot compare across eras. That is BS. You absolutely can. You look at the relative dominance of the player against their contemporaries. Then you can compare the relative dominances across eras. Stats are great for fantasy geeks, but we are talking real football and not fantasy. Stats without context are meaningless. They also do not take into account the intangibles that make a player special. Take Otto Graham for example. He was awesome. You never saw him get flustered. He could methodically pick apart a defense at any time throughout the game. His team knew it. The opposition knew it. A true leader. Stuff like that does not show up in football encyclopedias. Not enough bandwidth to cover the issues.

The list is pretty much a joke. Jerry Rice is number one because he was just inducted into the HOF. If they would have done this list last year, Brown would have been number 1. Hutson was a better receiver. I won't even bother to go into the rest of the complaints I have with the list.

Here is the list for those who have not seen it... NFL Films' Top 100 of All-Time

Happy Birthday!!

Courtesy of the NFL Alumni... Linky Thingy

Charley Leo played for the 1960-1962 Boston Patriots before being on the 1963 Bills squad. Obit

Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife Mrs. KRC!!! Oh, and that Rubeo fellow, too.