Rolland Lawrence's name came up today in an email exchange with some friends of mine. It also came up in a terrific New York Times blog entry in January.
Here are three things I've read about Rolland Lawrence:
--He had 13 siblings, including a brother, Roland.
-- He dedicated the 1977 season to his mom, who had died, and then led the NFC in interceptions.
-- His 1979 football card said that he never dreamed he’d get a sack and that, therefore, once sacking Bears quarterback Bob Avelinni had been the highlight of his career.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The 1970 draft, the Steelers and the Falcons
On the eve of the 1969 NFL draft, the Steelers heeded Don Shula's and others' recommendations and hired Chuck Noll as head coach.
"Noll arrived in Pittsburgh, and we went right to our draft boards," Art Rooney Jr., the Steelers' director of player personnel and vice president from 1964 through 1986, says in an interview with Tom Danyluk published in Vol. 28, No. 3 of The Coffin Corner, The Official Newsletter-Magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association. "We reviewed every single guy on there. All that was listed was the player's name, rating, height, weight, speed and school."
Rooney compared thoughts with Noll, and "there was immediate agreement over whom to take in the first round."
Joe Greene.
After a 1-13 season, Pittsburgh was at the top of the 1970 draft and fielded a variety of trade offers for the choice. Noll was willing to listen, Rooney says, as was his dad, the team's owner. One of the most compelling proposals was a package of players and draft picks from Atlanta, but the Falcons, Danyluk reported, were unwilling to include defensive end Claude Humphrey, whom the Steelers hoped to play next to Greene.
Instead, the Steelers picked Terry Bradshaw. Selecting 12th in the first round, the Falcons chose John Small, a linebacker from the Citadel whom Coach Norm Van Brocklin converted to defensive tackle. Small lasted three seasons in Atlanta, then finished his career in 1974 after playing 14 games over two seasons with the Detroit Lions.
"Noll arrived in Pittsburgh, and we went right to our draft boards," Art Rooney Jr., the Steelers' director of player personnel and vice president from 1964 through 1986, says in an interview with Tom Danyluk published in Vol. 28, No. 3 of The Coffin Corner, The Official Newsletter-Magazine of the Professional Football Researchers Association. "We reviewed every single guy on there. All that was listed was the player's name, rating, height, weight, speed and school."
Rooney compared thoughts with Noll, and "there was immediate agreement over whom to take in the first round."
Joe Greene.
After a 1-13 season, Pittsburgh was at the top of the 1970 draft and fielded a variety of trade offers for the choice. Noll was willing to listen, Rooney says, as was his dad, the team's owner. One of the most compelling proposals was a package of players and draft picks from Atlanta, but the Falcons, Danyluk reported, were unwilling to include defensive end Claude Humphrey, whom the Steelers hoped to play next to Greene.
Instead, the Steelers picked Terry Bradshaw. Selecting 12th in the first round, the Falcons chose John Small, a linebacker from the Citadel whom Coach Norm Van Brocklin converted to defensive tackle. Small lasted three seasons in Atlanta, then finished his career in 1974 after playing 14 games over two seasons with the Detroit Lions.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Good day
On. Sept. 11, 2005, the Miami Dolphins clobbered the Denver Broncos, 34-10, to open the first regular season of Nick Saban’s coaching reign. Knowing that it turned out to be the first of only two seasons before two more resets for the team makes the following bittersweet reading. But being a Dolphins fan my whole life has taught me to enjoy the victories whenever they come. I try my best not to appreciate them only in context of living up to the past or building toward a brighter future but to remember that a good day is a good day and that is enough and a lot.
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: dolphins' radio team
of course, they're incurable homers, but i love the dolphins' new broadcast team: Jimmy Cefalo for play-by-play, Joe Rose for commentary and Nat Moore on the sidelines. all three of these guys played on the same early and mid '80s dolphins teams, and, toward the end of the first half yesterday, as they considered denver's options of what to do on offense, they veered into this conversation about the hook-and-ladder play. "i still don't know how that worked for us." they never referenced the game to which they were referring. also, they had Don Shula in studio for a little while, and he gushed about how much he has always loved Zach Thomas. he actually used the word “love.”
also, before the game, Cefalo and Rose pointed out that all the former dolphins call Larry Little, "Chicken." Cefalo didn't know the origin of the nickname, but he knew that some guys figured it was based on the character "Chicken Little." others thought it was because Little's legs are as skinny as a chicken's. Rose, though, said, no, no, no, it's because Little can eat so many chicken wings in one setting.
i can't wait to hear what they say next week about Larry Csonka.
it was a very happy day to be a long-time dolphins fan.
Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 10:09 AM
Subject: Re: dolphins' radio team
of course, they're incurable homers, but i love the dolphins' new broadcast team: Jimmy Cefalo for play-by-play, Joe Rose for commentary and Nat Moore on the sidelines. all three of these guys played on the same early and mid '80s dolphins teams, and, toward the end of the first half yesterday, as they considered denver's options of what to do on offense, they veered into this conversation about the hook-and-ladder play. "i still don't know how that worked for us." they never referenced the game to which they were referring. also, they had Don Shula in studio for a little while, and he gushed about how much he has always loved Zach Thomas. he actually used the word “love.”
also, before the game, Cefalo and Rose pointed out that all the former dolphins call Larry Little, "Chicken." Cefalo didn't know the origin of the nickname, but he knew that some guys figured it was based on the character "Chicken Little." others thought it was because Little's legs are as skinny as a chicken's. Rose, though, said, no, no, no, it's because Little can eat so many chicken wings in one setting.
i can't wait to hear what they say next week about Larry Csonka.
it was a very happy day to be a long-time dolphins fan.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Everything about Carl Eller is just bigger, more severe
There will never be a movie made of my life; there could be a dozen made from Carl Eller’s:
-- I’ve enjoyed playing but more often watching football since I was a boy. Eller was a college and professional football star.
-- At 5-foot-11, I'm the biggest member of my family. Eller’s a giant man (6-feet-6, according to his 1970s Topps football cards). Here's part of what Dan Dierdorf said about Eller in his 2004 "Welcoming Committee" address at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "... I'm sure that when I get to know you, you're a nice man and very gentle soul. But, I'm sorry, when I lined up against you as young player in the NFL, you were about the scariest-looking guy I've ever been around. ..."
-- The neighborhood I grew up in, in the racially mingled outskirts of Paducah, Ky., appears to have never been any too prosperous. The neighborhood Eller grew up in, in formerly segregated urban Winston-Salem, N.C., appears to once have been that town’s most affluent black neighborhood.
-- The houses in my old neighborhood are about as OK as they were when I was growing up there; the very small community of businesses, about as vibrant. When I visited there in 2005, the homes in Eller’s old neighborhood were alternately well-kept-and-charming grandparents' homes or falling-apart, abandoned eyesores. It appears to have once had a full spectrum of businesses that you'd need to exist within your own neighborhood (grocery, gas station, bank, etc.) By 2005, though, most were boarded-over and plastered with handbills; there appeared to be only two operational businesses: a beauty salon and a convenience store.
-- The high school I attended is going to close in a few years as part of a county-consolidation plan. There's a historical marker in front of Eller’s former Atkins High School, now a community center: "Constructed with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic organization devoted to building schools for African Americans. First use of Rosenwald Fund in North Carolina."
-- I have a drink or two a week. Eller has reportedly admitted to abusing alcohol and cocaine in the past.
-- I’ve participated in various anti-drug events through school, church and work. Eller operated a rehab facility and helped spur the NFL's anti-drug policies.
-- I've gotten speeding tickets and parking violations. As of last week, Eller's locked up in the Hennepin County, Minn., workhouse, serving a 60-day sentence after conviction on charges of fourth-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree refusal to submit to chemical testing.
Everything about Eller is just bigger, more severe. Bigger things—good and bad—happen to him, and he does bigger things—good and bad. And so, while I very much hope this latest episode in his life ultimately comes out well (and actually believe it could because unlikely redemption is the sort of thing that happens to a remarkable individual like Eller), there’s no experience in my life I can use to imagine what that outcome might be. My softer circumstances, choices and consequences are irrelevant in forecasting his. I hope and pray for the best.
-- I’ve enjoyed playing but more often watching football since I was a boy. Eller was a college and professional football star.
-- At 5-foot-11, I'm the biggest member of my family. Eller’s a giant man (6-feet-6, according to his 1970s Topps football cards). Here's part of what Dan Dierdorf said about Eller in his 2004 "Welcoming Committee" address at the Pro Football Hall of Fame: "... I'm sure that when I get to know you, you're a nice man and very gentle soul. But, I'm sorry, when I lined up against you as young player in the NFL, you were about the scariest-looking guy I've ever been around. ..."
-- The neighborhood I grew up in, in the racially mingled outskirts of Paducah, Ky., appears to have never been any too prosperous. The neighborhood Eller grew up in, in formerly segregated urban Winston-Salem, N.C., appears to once have been that town’s most affluent black neighborhood.
-- The houses in my old neighborhood are about as OK as they were when I was growing up there; the very small community of businesses, about as vibrant. When I visited there in 2005, the homes in Eller’s old neighborhood were alternately well-kept-and-charming grandparents' homes or falling-apart, abandoned eyesores. It appears to have once had a full spectrum of businesses that you'd need to exist within your own neighborhood (grocery, gas station, bank, etc.) By 2005, though, most were boarded-over and plastered with handbills; there appeared to be only two operational businesses: a beauty salon and a convenience store.
-- The high school I attended is going to close in a few years as part of a county-consolidation plan. There's a historical marker in front of Eller’s former Atkins High School, now a community center: "Constructed with the assistance of the Rosenwald Fund, a philanthropic organization devoted to building schools for African Americans. First use of Rosenwald Fund in North Carolina."
-- I have a drink or two a week. Eller has reportedly admitted to abusing alcohol and cocaine in the past.
-- I’ve participated in various anti-drug events through school, church and work. Eller operated a rehab facility and helped spur the NFL's anti-drug policies.
-- I've gotten speeding tickets and parking violations. As of last week, Eller's locked up in the Hennepin County, Minn., workhouse, serving a 60-day sentence after conviction on charges of fourth-degree assault of a police officer and second-degree refusal to submit to chemical testing.
Everything about Eller is just bigger, more severe. Bigger things—good and bad—happen to him, and he does bigger things—good and bad. And so, while I very much hope this latest episode in his life ultimately comes out well (and actually believe it could because unlikely redemption is the sort of thing that happens to a remarkable individual like Eller), there’s no experience in my life I can use to imagine what that outcome might be. My softer circumstances, choices and consequences are irrelevant in forecasting his. I hope and pray for the best.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
A bitter end for the '68 Rams
The Los Angeles Rams lost to the Chicago Bears, 17-16, on Dec. 8, 1968. Quarterback Roman Gabriel and the rest of the Rams offense got possession with 22 seconds remaining but were unable to move the ball and, with 5 seconds left, turned the ball back over to the Bears on downs—three downs. Neither Los Angeles coach George Allen, who said he was focused on the clock and when to send in his field-goal unit, nor Gabriel, still dazed after being knocked briefly unconscious in the second quarter, noticed when the sideline down marker was mistakenly advanced to “2” after a Rams first-down penalty, and none of the six officials caught the error. The loss eliminated 10-2-1 Los Angeles from playoff contention, and NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended all six officials from working games for the remainder of the season.
“… (E)ach member of the officiating team is required to count the plays,” wrote Bob Oates in a Dec. 21, 1968, Sporting News article. “This is ‘too important’ to entrust to any one official. Each of the six uses the same method—a rubber band wich is moved progressively on one hand from the index finger (first down) to the middle finger (second) then the ring finger (third) and finally the little finger (fourth down). … The rubber band system had been infallible—until the day of the Bear game in Los Angeles.”[1]
[1] Oates, Bob “NFL west” The Sporting News (Dec. 21, 1968; 166:23) 8.
“… (E)ach member of the officiating team is required to count the plays,” wrote Bob Oates in a Dec. 21, 1968, Sporting News article. “This is ‘too important’ to entrust to any one official. Each of the six uses the same method—a rubber band wich is moved progressively on one hand from the index finger (first down) to the middle finger (second) then the ring finger (third) and finally the little finger (fourth down). … The rubber band system had been infallible—until the day of the Bear game in Los Angeles.”[1]
[1] Oates, Bob “NFL west” The Sporting News (Dec. 21, 1968; 166:23) 8.
The 1966 Buffalo Bills
There's a very recent NFL Films where Steve Sabol and Bob Ryan (the NFL Films editor, not the Boston Globe columnist) joke about how the early films always had to have a plug for United Airlines. In this one, about the 1966 Buffalo Bills, there's footage of all the guys, in suits, boarding a plane from the tarmac.
"The road will be hard, but Bills like offensive lineman Joe O'Donnell and defensive lineman Tom Sestak relax, enjoy a good meal and try not to worry about the upcoming schedule."
This is said over footage of a tight-skirted flight attendant pouring coffee for the two players. Then they cut to Sestak dawdling over some type of salisbury-steak dinner with a pumpkin tart.
From 1964 through '66, no professional team won as many games as the Buffalo Bills. The first two of those seasons, Lou Saban had led the Bills to AFL championship. In '66, Saban had left to become head coach at the University of Maryland, and the Bills fell to Saban's former assistant, Joe Collier. The Bills open with losses to the Chargers and Chiefs but kick off a three-game win streak with a 58-24 thrashing of the Dolphins. After a 20-10 loss to the Patriots and 17-17 tie with the Chargers, Buffalo win five straight. A second loss to Boston leaves the Bills a half game behind the Patriots for the Eastern Division title going into the season's last weekend, but the Jets upset the Patriots. Before a visit from the 4-9 Broncos, two Bills fans hoist a banner in War Memorial Stadium that reads, "Thank You Joe Namath Bring On Dallas" (the Cowboys are leading the NFL's Eastern Division, and the season will end with the first AFL-NFL championship), and Buffalo socks Denver, 38-21, to return to the AFL title game.
The Bills and Chiefs had split their regular-season series. It's 14-7, Kansas City, late in the first half, and Buffalo is driving. Jack Kemp throws for a score, but Johnny Robinson intercepts in the end zone and returns 72 yards to set up a field goal. The Chiefs win, 31-7, to advance to the Super Bowl.
Some interesting things from this film:
-- The Bills have a barrel-chested defensive lineman, Jim Dunaway, who blocks a field goal in one game and returns it for a touchdown. This play earns him the great nickname, "Runaway" Dunaway.
-- Buffalo's backup quarterback, behind Kemp, is Daryle Lamonica.
-- Buffalo's first-string linebackers (Harry Jacobs, Mike Stratton and John Tracey) made a record 57th consecutive start together during the 1966 season. Their backups include Paul Maguire and Marty Schottenheimer.
-- The AFL officials wore red stripes, not black.
Jacobs was one of several integral Bills injured during the 1967 season, and Buffalo slumps to 4-10. In 1968, the Bills' veteran quarterbacks, Kemp and Tom Flores, are both injured before the regular season, leaving the job to untested Dan Darragh and Kay Stephenson. When both of those quarterbacks are injured, the job goes to Ed Rutkowski, a veteran wide receiver who had played quarterback six years before at Notre Dame. (Teammates ultimately voted Rutkowski the Bills’ 1968 offensive MVP.) Buffalo goes 1-12-1, and Collier is replaced in 1969 by Johnny Rauch, 25-3 in his last two head seasons as head coach of the Raiders (who will now be taken over by John Madden). With the first choice in the 1969 draft, Buffalo selects O.J. Simpson.
"The road will be hard, but Bills like offensive lineman Joe O'Donnell and defensive lineman Tom Sestak relax, enjoy a good meal and try not to worry about the upcoming schedule."
This is said over footage of a tight-skirted flight attendant pouring coffee for the two players. Then they cut to Sestak dawdling over some type of salisbury-steak dinner with a pumpkin tart.
From 1964 through '66, no professional team won as many games as the Buffalo Bills. The first two of those seasons, Lou Saban had led the Bills to AFL championship. In '66, Saban had left to become head coach at the University of Maryland, and the Bills fell to Saban's former assistant, Joe Collier. The Bills open with losses to the Chargers and Chiefs but kick off a three-game win streak with a 58-24 thrashing of the Dolphins. After a 20-10 loss to the Patriots and 17-17 tie with the Chargers, Buffalo win five straight. A second loss to Boston leaves the Bills a half game behind the Patriots for the Eastern Division title going into the season's last weekend, but the Jets upset the Patriots. Before a visit from the 4-9 Broncos, two Bills fans hoist a banner in War Memorial Stadium that reads, "Thank You Joe Namath Bring On Dallas" (the Cowboys are leading the NFL's Eastern Division, and the season will end with the first AFL-NFL championship), and Buffalo socks Denver, 38-21, to return to the AFL title game.
The Bills and Chiefs had split their regular-season series. It's 14-7, Kansas City, late in the first half, and Buffalo is driving. Jack Kemp throws for a score, but Johnny Robinson intercepts in the end zone and returns 72 yards to set up a field goal. The Chiefs win, 31-7, to advance to the Super Bowl.
Some interesting things from this film:
-- The Bills have a barrel-chested defensive lineman, Jim Dunaway, who blocks a field goal in one game and returns it for a touchdown. This play earns him the great nickname, "Runaway" Dunaway.
-- Buffalo's backup quarterback, behind Kemp, is Daryle Lamonica.
-- Buffalo's first-string linebackers (Harry Jacobs, Mike Stratton and John Tracey) made a record 57th consecutive start together during the 1966 season. Their backups include Paul Maguire and Marty Schottenheimer.
-- The AFL officials wore red stripes, not black.
Jacobs was one of several integral Bills injured during the 1967 season, and Buffalo slumps to 4-10. In 1968, the Bills' veteran quarterbacks, Kemp and Tom Flores, are both injured before the regular season, leaving the job to untested Dan Darragh and Kay Stephenson. When both of those quarterbacks are injured, the job goes to Ed Rutkowski, a veteran wide receiver who had played quarterback six years before at Notre Dame. (Teammates ultimately voted Rutkowski the Bills’ 1968 offensive MVP.) Buffalo goes 1-12-1, and Collier is replaced in 1969 by Johnny Rauch, 25-3 in his last two head seasons as head coach of the Raiders (who will now be taken over by John Madden). With the first choice in the 1969 draft, Buffalo selects O.J. Simpson.
Media ...
A snippet from Bob Curran’s very fun, 1969 The $400,000 Quarteback Or: The League That Came in from the Cold: "As it is now told, Vince Lombardi, the Packers coach, sneered and said that there were three or four teams in the NFL better than the Chiefs. Here is what actually happened.
"One writer, desperate for an angle, kept interrupting to ask Vince if the Chiefs were not a good as many of the teams in the NFL. Finally Vince turned to him and said, 'All right. Maybe there are three or four teams in our league that are better teams than the Chiefs. Now is that what you wanted me to say?'
"It was, and the writer wrote the story without the byplay. And as time went by it was reported that Vince had offered the opinion gratuitously."[1]
[1] Curran, Bob. The $400,000 Quarteback Or: The League That Came in from the Cold (New York: Signet, 1969) 232.
"One writer, desperate for an angle, kept interrupting to ask Vince if the Chiefs were not a good as many of the teams in the NFL. Finally Vince turned to him and said, 'All right. Maybe there are three or four teams in our league that are better teams than the Chiefs. Now is that what you wanted me to say?'
"It was, and the writer wrote the story without the byplay. And as time went by it was reported that Vince had offered the opinion gratuitously."[1]
[1] Curran, Bob. The $400,000 Quarteback Or: The League That Came in from the Cold (New York: Signet, 1969) 232.
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