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The National Football League’s week four schedule includes a match between the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons, and so this week’s edition of Throwback Thursday returns to 1998, one of the most successful seasons in Vikings’ history. That is, right up until January 17, 1999, the date of the NFC title game that season between the Vikings and Falcons. The game was a match between the conference’s 2 best teams, with the Vikings finishing 15-1 and the Falcons 14-2. In a fact that made it perhaps a true “modern era” title game, it was the first conference championship game in NFL history played between two teams who played their home games in domed stadiums. Coach Dennis Green’s Viking squad featured a high-scoring passing attack led by quarterback Randall Cunningham throwing to his dynamic receivers – Chris Carter and Randy Moss. Their offense set an NFL record by scoring 556 points, and the team was undefeated at home. The Falcons, under coach Dan Reeves, were led by a journeyman QB, Chris Chandler, and behind young running back Jamal Anderson, were affectionately known to their fans as the “Dirty Birds”, after a winged touchdown dance the players did when they scored. The Vikings had been so dominant that year, with 10 Pro Bowlers on their roster and having won their home games by an average of 23 points, that Atlanta came into the title game as 11-point underdogs despite losing only twice all season.   It turned out to be one of the league’s most exciting title games of all time, as Minnesota, as expected, jumped out to an early lead only to see the Falcons rally to overcome a 13 point deficit. Still, the Vikings pulled ahead 27-20 and drove into field goal position with the chance to go ahead by a pretty much insurmountable 10 points. Old pro Gary Anderson was the Vikings’ kicker, and had completed a “perfect” regular season, having made all his extra point and field goal attempts. However, he sent a 38 yard attempt wide left, his first miss of the year, leaving an opening for Atlanta with just over 2 minutes left. Chandler drove his club down the field and hit Terance Mathis on a 16 yard TD pass to tie the game and send it into overtime.   The teams traded punts in the extra session before Atlanta’s kicker,Morten Andersen, another seasoned vet, hit the game winning field goal from 38 yards to send the underdog Falcons on to the Super Bowl. Chandler’s performance was memorable, as he threw for 340 yards and 3 touchdowns while limping around on an injured ankle. It was an unfortunate ending to a sensational season for the Vikings, but it should be noted that they lost 5 starters to injury during the game. The bottom line was that the franchise that had four Super Bowl losses on its’ resume, this time found a way to come up short in the conference championship, with probably the most talented roster in team history.

Falcons’ kicker Morten Andersen celebrates his game-winning kick (photo courtesy of petemyersrules.com)

The Kansas City Chiefs meet the Miami Dolphins in one of the week 3 matchups on the NFL schedule, and that will make the “Throwback Thursday” feature for this week a game played between these two franchises on Christmas Day, December 25, 1971, that became the longest game played in league history. The game was played in the era prior to regular season overtime being implemented, but because it was a playoff game it had to be played until a winner was determined, and wound up going into double overtime. The Chiefs, under coach Hank Stram, had won the Super Bowl 2 seasons earlier, having shocked the Minnesota Vikings to give the upstart AFL their second straight title before the merger took full effect and the AFL was dissolved. It was the last game played at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, as the Chiefs would move into their new home, Arrowhead Stadium, the following year. Both coaches, Stram and Miami’s Don Shula, would go on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as would 12 other players involved in the game. The game was a see-saw affair, as K.C. jumped out to a 10-0 lead, only to see the Dolphins come back to tie. The teams traded scores and Chief quarterback Len Dawson then engineered a classic 91 yard scoring drive, with unsung back Ed Podolak supplying much of the yardage and capping off the drive with a three yard TD run. Miami’s Bob Griese then matched Dawson by guiding the Fish to a tying score, hitting tight end Marv Fleming with a short touchdown pass to cap it off. When Podolak returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the Dolphins 22 yard line, it looked like the Chiefs were a lock to win, especially since their field goal kicker was Jan Stenerud, arguably the best kicker of the era and still the only pure placekicker to make it into the Hall of Fame. Stenerud, however, sent his game-winning 31 yard attempt sailing wide right, and suffered his own personal Scott Norwood moment 20 years before the Bills’ kicker’s failed attempt. The game then went on long into the night, before the Dolphins’ Garo Yepremian finally won it with a field goal after 82 minutes and 40 seconds of playing time. It became the longest game in pro football history, surpassing the 1962 AFL title game between the Houston Oilers and Dallas Texans. The Texans won that game, and ironically the coach and quarterback of that Texan team were Stram and Dawson, as the Chiefs began their AFL lives in Dallas as the Texans before moving to Kansas City.

Podolak had a game for the ages in a losing cause for the Chiefs. He rushed for 85 yards on 17 carries, caught 8 passes for another 110 yards, returned 3 kickoffs for an amazing 153 yards, and with an additional few yards on punt returns, set an NFL record with 350 all-purpose yards in a single game, a mark that still stands today, some 40+ years later. Miami fullback Larry Csonka was quoted as saying afterwards that the game was going to be played until “somebody won, or died.” The win was the first playoff victory in Miami franchise history, and they would go on to advance to the Super Bowl, where they lost to Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.

 Chiefs’ LB Willie Lanier takes on Miami FB Larry Csonka (photo courtesy of Spokeo.com)

This week’s Throwback Thursday featured story was an easy one to pick, once I saw that the Chicago Bears and San Francisco 49ers were scheduled to meet. That matchup immediately brought me back to a game etched in the memory of any NFL fan who followed the game in the 1960s. It happened on a muddy field, on December 12, 1965, at Wrigley Field in Chicago, where the Bears played their home games at that time. The Bears had three first round draft picks in the college draft of 1965, and two of their choices, linebacker Dick Butkus and halfback Gale Sayers, were destined to become Hall of Famers. On this particular day, Sayers put an exclamation point on a sensational, record-breaking rookie season, scoring six touchdowns to lead his team to a 61-20 rout of the 49ers. My apologies to the San Francisco franchise, since I’ve now started this year’s “Throwback Thursday” posts by featuring two of the most crushing losses in the team’s history, but this game was memorable. Sayers was spectacular, scoring four rushing TDs, from 1, 7, 21 and 50 yards out, on an 80 yard pass from quarterback Rudy Bukich, and also on an 85 yard punt return. His record-breaking day overshadowed a terrific performance by Bukich, who threw for 347 yards (a huge single-game amount in the NFL of the 1960s) and three TDs on only 16 completions. Sayers would end the 1965 season with an NFL rookie record 22 touchdowns, and although knee injuries shortened his brilliant career, he still managed to do enough in the six seasons he played to become the youngest player ever inducted into Canton when he was voted in, in his first year of eligibility in 1977.  Having played his college ball at Kansas, Sayers would come to be known, as his career progressed, as the “Kansas Comet”, a moniker that described his speed and ability to elude defenders, but having only played full time for a little under five seasons, it might also be fitting to say that, like a comet, he flashed across the NFL landscape for a short period, yet his likes will never be seen again.

Bears RB Gale Sayers torments the 49er defense

The 2014 National Football League season opens tonight, which means it’s time for the season’s first “Throwback Thursday” post of 2014, which highlights a game of the past that was played between two of the teams scheduled to play each other that week. The Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers open the 2014 campaign against each other on Sunday, and the obvious choice for a “throwback” game between these 2 franchises would be the 1981 NFC Championship game which became forever known as “The Catch”, as Dwight Clark caught a touchdown pass from Joe Montana in the back of the end zone to launch the Niners into a decade of domination. However, we’ll go back to an earlier playoff contest between the two teams, an NFC Divisional playoff game in 1972.

To set the stage for this game, these teams were fast becoming playoff rivals. The Cowboys had eliminated the Niners in 1970 and ’71, and this was a third chance for San Francisco to get revenge. Coach Dick Nolan’s 49ers came out flying, as Vic Washington returned the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. When Larry Schreiber scored on a pair of one yard plunges to give the 49ers a commanding 21-6 lead, it looked like Dallas’ past dominance was about to end. Cowboy quarterback Craig Morton hit Lance Alworth for a touchdown to bring the Cowboys closer at the half, but when Schreiber scored from a yard out again in the third quarter to up San Fran’s lead to 28-13, it looked like a lost cause. That’s when Dallas coach Tom Landry made the decision to bench Morton, who had struggled all day, in favor of Roger Staubach. At this point, the 49er players figured the game was theirs, and began taunting the Cowboys, but little did they know that Staubach was about to write the first chapter of what would become a string of come-from-behind performances that would earn him the nickname “Captain Comeback”. Staubach proceeded to lead his team on three fourth quarter scoring drives, culminating in a Toni Fritsch field goal and touchdown passes to Billy Parks and Ron Sellers. When the dust settled, Dallas came away with a 30-28 victory, and the San Francisco players who had done the taunting slithered away with their tails between their legs.

 Dallas QB Roger “The Dodger” Staubach leads a stunning comeback

One of the highlights of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s induction ceremony weekend, for me, is touring the Hall itself. In fact, it’s probably better to check out the Hall on a visit that doesn’t include the inductions, since the crowd for the enshrinement is large. The Saturday of the ceremony this year was rainy during the daytime, so the crowd inside the Hall was even bigger than normal. You had to be patient to get to see one of the main attractions, the gallery of Hall of Fame busts, this year. Since I’ve seen the gallery on a few occasions already, I decided to skip it this year, but there were a lot of displays that caught my eye throughout the rest of the building. That’s the thing that makes Canton a special place to me. One of the guides working there once said that at any given time they are only displaying a small percentage of the artifacts they have on hand, and because of that there is always something new to check out that you hadn’t seen before. It is truly a lively, ever-changing  fluid museum that is worth the trip. Here are a few things I discovered on this most recent trip that are worth noting:

I was surprised to discover that the very first player transaction in league history involved a Buffalo franchise, the Buffalo All Americans, who acquired a tackle named Nasty Nash in 1920 from Akron for $300. I had no idea Buffalo had a pro football franchise way back then.

On display at the Hall is a football presented to Washington Redskins receiver Bobby Mitchell in 1962 for leading the league in receptions that year. The Redskins were owned at the time by a confirmed racist, George Preston Marshall, who swore he would never have a black player on his team, and only traded for Mitchell after being pressured by the government (they threatened to revoke his lease on D.C. Stadium). Although respected in the locker room (the ball presented to him was autographed by all his teammates), Mitchell wasn’t necessarily greeted with a warm welcome by the front office. He went on to complete a Hall of Fame career in Washington, and is one player who earned his bust in Canton for more than just his stellar play on the field.

This shiny new building on the Hall’s grounds is the Ralph C. Wilson Research and Preservation Center, which houses archives and artifacts for the museum and was made possible due to a donation from the late Bills’ owner. Wilson’s legacy as an NFL owner is that he always put the good of the game ahead of personal team interests, so the center is a fitting tribute to him. It wasn’t open to the public during enshrinement weekend since it was hosting private parties, but being able to tour it is a reason for a future visit.

Sections of the Hall are dotted with murals of Hall of Fame players, including large ones in the entrance, surrounding a statue of Jim Thorpe, of Jim Taylor, Dick Butkus and Bruce Smith, among others. This one caught my eye. Was Mike Ditka really ever this young?

Standing in front of a wall of paintings of former great players, from left to right, “Mean” Joe Greene, Deacon Jones, Jim Brown and the back end of Dick “Night Train” Lane.

This is an old down marker called the “boxman”. A box with four sides, numbered one through four, would swing on a dowel to mark the down. Technology for marking downs has changed some over the years, but not that much really.

When an injured Joe Namath showed up on the Jets’ bench wearing a fur coat it caused quite a stir. But how about the fancy, self-promoting sideline jacket Ernie Nevers of the Duluth Eskimos wore in the 1920s? I’ve really only scratched the surface as far as all the things there are to do inside the Hall. There are also interactive helmets that you can put on to simulate hearing a play being called in to you from the coach, artifacts and videos from all different eras of the game, a display of all the Super Bowl rings from every year that the game has been played, and the Super Bowl theater that plays NFL Films videos. It’s a can’t-miss trip for any true football fan.

Bills’ fans in Canton (photo courtesy of fansided.com)

The Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio held its’ 51st annual induction ceremony over this past weekend, and with former Buffalo receiver Andre Reed among the inductees, the Hall’s grounds and the ceremony inside the stadium basically turned into what resembled a Bills’ home game. Rain dampened the afternoon of the day of the induction, but it didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the many Bills’ fans roaming the party area around the Hall. There was a sprinkling of team jerseys of the Giants, Buccaneers, Raiders and Seahawks among the party crowd, and even a couple of Cardinal jerseys, but the number of fans representing the Bills was overwhelming. The ceremony itself was clearly a Buffalo event. The crowd made it overwhelmingly a Bills’ event, as they came to honor one of the stars of the team’s glory years in Reed. It’s been a tough off-season for the Buffalo fan base, with the passing of long-time owner Ralph Wilson and the uncertainty of the team’s future with the franchise up for sale, the cancer struggles of another glory years hero, Jim Kelly, and the season-ending injury to one of the current team’s young stars, Kiko Alonso. It was almost as if the team’s fans needed the ceremony as a therapy session, to grab onto something positive to offset all the negative happenings surrounding the club. ESPN’s Chris Berman helped flame the Buffalo celebration by leading a “nobody circles the wagons…” cheer with the crowd, and totally amping things up when it came time to induct Reed. The night’s biggest cheers involved Buffalo moments that included Reed’s induction and speech, and the introduction of Kelly at the start of the ceremony. There were over 100 Hall members present, and they were introduced alphabetically at the beginning of the night. Kelly was given a long standing ovation when he was introduced. The guy I felt most sorry for was one of my childhood heroes, former Browns’ running back Leroy Kelly. His introduction following Jim Kelly’s was almost an afterthought, and was lost in the emotion of the fans still cheering for the former Bills’ quarterback.

When Ralph Wilson started the Bills’ franchise back in 1959, he was a businessman looking to own his own team, after serving as a minority owner of his hometown Detroit Lions for awhile. I’m sure he had little inkling of the monster his franchise would grow into as part of the country’s favorite pastime these days. His $25,000 investment is soon to be sold for probably over a billion dollars. I’m also pretty sure he never envisioned that the team would become so much more to the city than just a sports franchise. Over time, his Bills became a family, with an enduring bond among the fans, among the players and between the owner, players and fans. There’s a common thread of love for the team that spans generations. The love and emotion the fans have for their team shows when the entire Hall weekend is dotted with “Bon Jovi-Free Zone” signs and t-shirts. Fans from other cities may have been scratching their heads over the meaning of those signs, but all Bills’ fans present know what they’re all about. Sure, the Pittsburgh Steelers, fans and former players, would argue that their franchise is tops when it comes to support for their team, but it’s easy to love a team that’s won six Super Bowl titles. Bills’ fans and former players share a bond that’s endured many long periods of losing. Even in the glory years there’s the spectre of four Super Bowl losses, but the players from those teams seem to share a bond of love and loyalty like no other. Probably the closest thing to the special bond Bills’ fans have is the long-suffering fan base of baseball’s Chicago Cubs. Bills’ fans approach every coming season with optimism, and more times than not the optimism is crushed by another year of mediocrity or worse. But like those teams of the 1990s that never gave up, the fans come back re-energized and enthusiastic the following year. Like Berman said, nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills, and their fans.

Pro football history is littered with players that have interesting nicknames, so it was really difficult to trim this list down to a top ten. Here are some that didn’t make the cut: “Mean” Joe Greene, BenJarvus Green-Ellis “The Law Firm”, Craig “Ironhead” Heyward, Deion “Prime Time” Sanders, Christian Okoye “The Nigerian Nightmare”, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, “Broadway” Joe Namath, “Slingin'” Sammy Baugh, Jack Tatum “The Assassin”. All of these are classics, but here are my top ten:

1. Red Grange “The Galloping Ghost” – Grange played in the 1920s and ’30s for the Chicago Bears, in an era when sportswriters created nicknames for star players to enhance their stories about the games. He was probably the NFL’s most important star player in the league’s formative years, and was well known nationally at a time when pro football was considered a second-class, savage sport. Grange was the first football player to appear on a Wheaties box.

2. Reggie White “The Minister of Defense” – just like David “Deacon” Jones was dubbed “The Secretary of Defense” a generation before him, White earned his nickname by being the dominant defensive lineman of the 1980s and ’90s. A thirteen time Pro Bowler in his 15 year career, White was the cornerstone of Buddy Ryan’s dominant Philadelphia Eagle defenses of the time, then moved on to Green Bay, where he helped the Packers win a Super Bowl.

3. Bucky Pope “The Catawba Claw” – he has to be one of the most obscure players in NFL history, but his nickname is a classic. A product of tiny Catawba College, Pope had a sensational rookie year with the Los Angeles Rams in 1964, averaging over 31 yards a reception and scoring 10 touchdowns. He suffered a serious knee injury in the 1965 preseason, however, which basically ended his career.

4. George “Papa Bear” Halas – is there a more fitting nickname in all of sports than this one? Halas was the founder of the Chicago Bears’ franchise (originally the Decatur Staleys) and was the iconic face of that franchise, as coach and owner, until his death in 1983, a span of 63 years. He was one of the original class inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and the trophy awarded to the NFC champion each year is named after him.

5. Ted Hendricks “The Mad Stork” – Hendricks’ nickname was a product of two factors – his frantic style of play, and his tall, lean build. He was an early pioneer of the NFL’s free agency experiments, moving from the Baltimore Colts to the Green Bay Packers to the Oakland Raiders, while maintaining a level of play that ultimately got him elected to the Hall of Fame.

6. Billy “White Shoes” Johnson – always a fan favorite, this guy was the NFL’s original self-promoter. His white cleats set him apart from all other players (other than Joe Namath), while he was also the first guy to celebrate his touchdowns with an elaborate dance, which he called “The Funky Chicken”. Johnson wasn’t just a dancer, however, he was one of his era’s most feared kick returners.

7. Walter Payton “Sweetness” – the origin of his nickname is uncertain. Some say it came from his personality, or his grace as an athlete. Others claim it’s a sarcastic nod to his tough, aggressive playing style. Either way, it seemed to fit him perfectly. The NFL gives out an award in his name annually to a player for his contributions to the community.

8. William “The Refrigerator” Perry – there’s no ambiguity at all to Perry’s nickname – it came from his large size. He was also known, in abbreviated form, as “The Fridge”. Perry was one of the most popular players among Chicago Bear fans in the club’s dominant era in the mid-1980s, and became a national phenomenon. His legend grew when Bears’ coach Mike Ditka became using him as a blocking back on offense, and he even wound up scoring a touchdown in the Super Bowl.

9. Dick “Night Train” Lane – one of the greatest defensive backs in NFL history, Lane’s single season interception record (14 in a 12 game season) has stood for over 60 years. He got his nickname because of his fear of flying, as he chose to take night trains home from away games. He wore an unusual jersey number (81) for a defensive back, but it was because he started his career with the Rams as a receiver. Two future Hall of Famers – Tom Fears and Elroy Hirsch – were ahead of him on the depth chart, so he was switched to defense.

10. Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch – speaking of Hirsch, he also makes the top ten list for his classic nickname, “Crazy Legs”. A star split end for the Los Angeles Rams, the funny name stuck after a sportswriter described his running style this way: “His crazy legs were gyrating in six different directions, all at the same time. He looked like a demented duck.”