Parker's 58 yard run reminds me of Nottingham

[TC in St. Louis]

Most of you are probably too young to remember this, but there was a game against Miami in the 70's...the Bills were in the middle of a furious comeback, had cut a 24-0 lead to 24-21, and had forced a Mercury Morris fumble. The DB had Morris upside down, and he dropped the ball before any part of his body hit the ground. The Bills recovered. But the refs called "down by contact," and gave Miami an additional 15 because Pat Toomay bumped the ref on his way to recovering the fumble. The place was in total uproar. I threw a shoe so hard it stuck in the wall of my dorm at Geneseo. The next play, Don Nottingham ran up the middle for about 60 to the Bills 1. The game was over.

 

I thought about that after Lindell missed that field goal, that the defense was caught off guard, or was emotionally unfocused or something, and a rookie runs up the middle for 58.

 

The guy had 102 yards on 14 carries, but take away the 58 and he had 44 on 13. Solid, but not Hall of Fame material.

 

Although it would've helped had the Bills chosen to tackle him on occasion during that 9 minute drive.

[stuckincincy]

Nottingham - the "Human Bowling Ball"!

[Mark VI]

Most of you are probably too young to remember this, but there was a game against Miami in the 70's...the Bills were in the middle of a furious comeback, had cut a 24-0 lead to 24-21, and had forced a Mercury Morris fumble.  The DB had Morris upside down, and he dropped the ball before any part of his body hit the ground.  The Bills recovered.  But the refs called "down by contact," and gave Miami an additional 15 because Pat Toomay bumped the ref on his way to recovering the fumble.  The place was in total uproar.  I threw a shoe so hard it stuck in the wall of my dorm at Geneseo.  The next play, Don Nottingham ran up the middle for about 60 to the Bills 1.  The game was over.

 

I thought about that after Lindell missed that field goal, that the defense was caught off guard, or was emotionally unfocused or something, and a rookie runs up the middle for 58. 

 

The guy had 102 yards on 14 carries, but take away the 58 and he had 44 on 13.  Solid, but not Hall of Fame material.

 

Although it would've helped had the Bills chosen to tackle him on occasion during that 9 minute drive.

190451[/snapback]

 

I've mentioned that Morris fumble a few times here. He was in mid-air, about 3-4 feet off the ground when the ball came out. Would be reviewed and corrected today. Just a horrible call.

 

And people wonder why the fans became unglued when we finally beat the Dolphins in Sept. 1980. The ultimate " The witch is dead ! " win. Showed a few highlights from that game on the scoreboard yesterday. One of my all time favorite games to be at.

[Greybeard]

Most of you are probably too young to remember this, but there was a game against Miami in the 70's...the Bills were in the middle of a furious comeback, had cut a 24-0 lead to 24-21, and had forced a Mercury Morris fumble.  The DB had Morris upside down, and he dropped the ball before any part of his body hit the ground.  The Bills recovered.  But the refs called "down by contact," and gave Miami an additional 15 because Pat Toomay bumped the ref on his way to recovering the fumble.  The place was in total uproar.  I threw a shoe so hard it stuck in the wall of my dorm at Geneseo.  The next play, Don Nottingham ran up the middle for about 60 to the Bills 1.  The game was over.

 

I thought about that after Lindell missed that field goal, that the defense was caught off guard, or was emotionally unfocused or something, and a rookie runs up the middle for 58. 

 

The guy had 102 yards on 14 carries, but take away the 58 and he had 44 on 13.  Solid, but not Hall of Fame material.

 

Although it would've helped had the Bills chosen to tackle him on occasion during that 9 minute drive.

190451[/snapback]

 

I had mercifully forgotten that, my only memory of Bills-Fins from the 70's being the direct handoff to Manny Fernadez when the Bills were leading. However, as soon as you said Nottingham 60 yards, the vision of that fireplug waddling down the field came vividly back.

 

I really hate the Fins, I do.

 

Whatever agony this year caused, it pales in comparison to the 70's. I doubt if most here could withstand anything like it.

[TC in St. Louis]

I had mercifully forgotten that, my only memory of Bills-Fins from the 70's being the direct handoff to Manny Fernadez with the Bills winning.  However, as soon as you said Nottingham 60 yards, the vision of that fireplug waddling down the field came vividly back.

 

I really hate the Fins, I do. 

 

Whatever agony this year caused, it pales in comparison to the 70's.  I doubt if most here could withstand anything like it.

190467[/snapback]

 

 

Ah, but the Bills went the entire 70's without beating those Bastages!!!

 

To make matters worse, to add to the humiliation, our very best player of that era turns out to be a knife-wielding spouse killer.

[BuffOrange]

I am too young for that, but it sounds a lot like the "helmet out of bounds" OT game vs. NE in 2001 as well.

Another horrible replay ruling, followed by a big Antowain Smith run.

[Greybeard]

Ah, but the Bills went the entire 70's without beating those Bastages!!!

 

To make matters worse, to add to the humiliation, our very best player of that era turns out to be a knife-wielding spouse killer.

190473[/snapback]

 

You are correct I meant to say they were winning "at the moment."

[Ned Flanders]

Was that the game where NFL Films had Lou Saban miked? I remember seeing a clip on "The Super Seventies," which BTW is a great NFL Films piece, where Nottingham (I think) rumbles up the middle for a big gainer and Saban yells, "GOD ALMIGHTY!!! WHY DO WE DO THAT?!?!"

 

Before the game, Saban addresses the Bills in the locker room: "You can get it done...you can get it done...what's more ya GOTTA get it done!"

 

From the looks of the uniforms, it's a 1974 game in Miami...I'm thinking the Toomay game might have been 1975?

[UncleChewy]

I remember the Mercury Morris fumble and will never forget my anger at the refs call. As stated previously, he was in mid-air when the ball came out. The fumble was more than confirmed by the instant replay. I think that may have been the Miami unbeaten season in 1972 (24 to 23 loss)which would make that even more difficult to swallow. It was so long ago, it's hard to remember.

 

Back then I was only around 10 years old, but my father used to tell me that Shula had the refs in his pocket because he was the head of the NFL competition comittee which the refs reported to. This made sense because during those years, Miami always had a huge edge over the rest of the league in total penalties. Most analysts claimed that Shula just had a better disciplined team. Maybe.

 

The seeds of my hatred toward the dolphins had been planted with the Morris play and reinforced with other controversial calls during the 70's. Does anyone remember when Roland Hooks caught a low pass from Ferguson against Miami when we were driving for a late go ahead score. I can't remember the year, but I think it was around 75. A replay was shown on MNF halftime highlights showing the critical call. That was another gem. It always seemed that we would get a flag on critical plays.

 

My feeling of conspiracy theories has lessened a lot since then, but you have to wonder about the call on Reed and the no call on Clements against the Steelers.