1974 Topps football card of former NFL defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, a force for the Dallas Cowboys’ “Doomsday Defense” of the 1960s and ’70s. He played for 14 seasons, all with the Cowboys, and helped coach Tom Landry’s team win a pair of Super Bowls. After retiring as a player, he owned a number of western-themed gift shops at the Dallas airport, and also hosted a charity golf tournament. Pugh passed away in 2015 at the age of 70.
The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, who match up on this week’s NFL schedule, have played some memorable games over the years as AFC East rivals, but for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature game we’ll go back to September 21, 1986, when these 2 teams hooked up in a classic overtime shootout in which the Jets prevailed 51-45. The game saw two quarterbacks from the famous 1983 draft matched up against each other, Miami’s future Hall of Famer Dan Marino and the Jets’ Ken O’Brien, who didn’t have the Hall of Fame career that Marino and fellow ’83 draftees John Elway and Jim Kelly had but did have his moments in the sun over the years. This game was definitely one of those moments, as he matched Marino throw for throw in leading his Jets club to the OT win. The 2 teams combined for 1,066 yards of total offense in the game, mostly aerial yards as both had a pair of receivers go for over 100 yards receiving. Miami’s “Marks Brothers” duo of Mark Duper and Mark Clayton both had awesome days, with Duper catching 7 passes for 154 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Clayton snagging 8 for 174 yards and a score. Marino, in his usual style, ignored his running game and threw for 6 touchdowns on 30 of 50 passes for 448 yards. O’Brien threw less times for more yardage, connecting on 29 of 43 for 479 yards and 4 scores, all of which went to his star wideout, Wesley Walker, who had a career day with 6 catches for 194 yards and the 4 TDs. Fellow Jet receiver Al Toon also went for over 100 yards. The O’Brien to Walker vertical passing attack was something Miami’s defense never figured out all game long. The duo connected on scoring throws of 65, 50 and 21 yards in regulation, then hooked up on a 43 yarder in overtime to get the win.
The Jets also mixed in a semblance of a rushing attack, with Johnny Hector gaining 82 of his team’s 132 rushing yards while also scoring a pair of rushing touchdowns. The Jets went on to finish the season 10-6 to earn a wild card playoff berth. They defeated Kansas City in the wild card round but lost a double overtime heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round.
Jets’ QB Ken O’Brien eludes Dolphin defenders
Logo of a college football team that plays in the Big Sky Conference, the University of California, Davis Aggies. UC-Davis first fielded a team in 1915 and has won 30 conference titles, mostly in the Northern California Athletic Conference, which they were members of from 1925 until 1992. Former Aggies who’ve gone on to play pro football include Ken O’Brien, Rolf Benirschke, Mike Wise, Colton Schmidt, Casey Merrill, Mike Moroski and Daniel Fells.
1987 Topps football card of former NFL wide receiver Wesley Walker, who had an outstanding 12 year career in the league with the New York Jets. Although legally blind in his left eye, he became a top target of Jet quarterbacks in the 1980s and one of the top Jet pass-catchers of all time. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice. Walker is currently retired after a post-NFL career as a high school physical education teacher.
The surging Tampa Bay Buccaneers face the New Orleans Saints on this week’s NFL schedule, trying to keep their playoff hopes alive. There was a time when the Tampa Bay franchise couldn’t dream of making the playoffs, and that’s the subject of this week’s Throwback Thursday feature. It happened on December 11, 1977 – a game played between these 2 teams, the Bucs and the Saints. It was historic because it was Tampa’s first victory in franchise history. A team’s first win ever is always a memorable moment, but this day was even more historic, because the hapless Bucs went nearly 2 full seasons before finally breaking into the win column. The NFL played a 14 game schedule at the time, and the Bucs went winless, 0-14, in their inaugural season in 1976. They followed that up with 12 straight losses in ’77, before meeting up with the equally inept Saints on this day.
Tampa’s first 2 years in the league were so laughable that if you check out the old NFL films “blooper” features from the mid-’70s, you’ll find that they’re loaded with Buccaneer lowlights. Their head coach, John McKay, had been a highly-respected college coach at Southern California before taking the Bucs’ job, and luckily, for his own sanity, he had a great sense of humor. Once he was asked in a post-game press conference to comment on his offense’s execution. He answered “I’m in favor of it.” Another time, summing up his team’s performance in a game: “We didn’t tackle well today, but we made up for it by not blocking.” After a 42-0 loss to the Steelers, McKay was asked what his thoughts were during the game. He responded: “I felt like leaving the stadium and hitch-hiking home.” His joking manner and the team’s play earned the Bucs the nickname “The Yucks”.
Although they were a butt of all kinds of jokes in their early days, the Buccaneers’ defense had always been a decent unit, fighting hard in most games even though they had little chance of ever winning. Against the Saints on this day, however, they took matters into their own hands. On a day when the offense, led by journeyman quarterback Gary Huff, played with its’ usual ineptness, the defense hammered the Saints all day, forcing 7 turnovers, including 6 interceptions, 2 of which were returned for touchdowns by Mike Washington and Richard Wood. Also, Greg Johnson recovered a fumble in the end zone for a TD. That meant 3 of the Bucs’ 4 touchdowns that day were provided by the defense in a 33-14 thrashing. Huff pitched in with a short scoring pass to Morris Owens, but he threw for only 96 yards total on the day. In fact, the 2 teams combined for only 488 total yards on the day. In today’s game, the top-flight quarterbacks have passing yardage totals for a single game like that regularly. There were also 18 penalties called on the day against both teams, totaling 157 yards, another sign that it was a game played between 2 sad sack franchises.
All jokes aside, this was a day for the Tampa Bay franchise to celebrate, especially the defense, which was a proud unit despite all the losing and finally was rewarded for it’s efforts. Players like Washington, Wood, Johnson, LeeRoy and Dewey Selmon, Dave Lewis and Jeris White finally got a moment in the sun. Incidentally, the Bucs finished the ’77 season on a high note, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 17-7 in their finale to finish 2-12.
Tampa Bay’s first head coach, John McKay
This is a pair of classic logos of a major college football program, the Oklahoma State Cowboys. Both have been used since 1973, but the one on the left, with the orange-clad cowboy drawing his pistols, has been gradually phased out in the era of political correctness and replaced with the lasso-swinging one instead. The school’s gridiron program began in 1901, and they have won 1 national championship (in 1945) and had 1 Heisman Trophy winner (Barry Sanders). Besides Sanders, former OSU players who’ve gone on to pro football careers include Thurman Thomas, Jon Kolb, Dexter Manley, Jerry Sherk, Kevin Williams, R.W. McQuarters, Terry Miller, Russell Okung and current players Dez Bryant and Dan Bailey.
It was such a huge event that it had to be given it’s own special football card. This 1978 Topps “Highlight” card signifies the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first ever win as a franchise. It took almost 2 full seasons, and after 26 consecutive losses to begin their existence, quarterback Gary Huff led the Bucs to a win over the equally hapless New Orleans Saints. Huff played 7 years in the NFL, and was a classic journeyman. After retiring, he served in various coaching capacities and is currently the senior associate athletic director at his alma mater, Florida State.
The Oakland Raiders, one of 2016’s surprise teams, host the Buffalo Bills this Sunday in a game with massive playoff implications for both teams. For this week’s Throwback Thursday feature game, we’ll travel back to opening weekend of the 1974 season for a matchup between these two old AFL clubs. Played on September 16, 1974, it was the opening Monday Night Football game of that season, and featured the powerhouse Raider club of coach John Madden against the Bills and their record-breaking running back, O.J. Simpson, who had eclipsed the 2,000 yard rushing mark the previous season. “The Juice” was the featured player in the Bills’ offense, which was a classic ground and pound rushing attack that relied on the elusive running style of Simpson and the blocking and bruising running style of his backfield mate, fullback Jim Braxton. The other member of Buffalo’s backfield was a young second year quarterback, Joe Ferguson, who had been a rookie third round draft pick out of Arkansas in 1973 and was coach Lou Saban’s choice to become the team’s starter in his rookie campaign. Despite being an inexperienced first year player, Ferguson didn’t have to worry much about carrying his team on his shoulders in ’73, as his main job was to turn around and hand the ball off to Simpson, and occasionally Braxton. The plan entering the ’74 campaign was pretty much the same, and on this opening nationally televised Monday Night game, the Bills attacked the rough and tumble Raider defense with a steady diet of their running backs. Ferguson completed a short scoring pass to J.D. Hill for the only touchdown of the first half, with the Raiders countering with a George Blanda field goal.
The Bills entered halftime with a 7-3 lead, but shortly before the mid-game break, something happened that changed the course of this contest – O.J. suffered a sprained ankle and would not return in the second half, putting a ton of unexpected pressure on Ferguson’s shoulders to produce some offense with his arm in the second half. Getting an obvious lift from Simpson’s absence, the Raiders scored on a 15 yard Clarence Davis run and added another Blanda field goal to surge ahead 17-13 going into the final quarter. Ferguson came of age in that final stanza, however. He drove his club downfield and hit wideout Ahmad Rashad with an eight yard TD toss to regain the lead. Then Oakland’s Art Thoms picked up a Buffalo fumble and ran 29 yards to paydirt to give the Raiders a 20-14 lead. Fergy responded again, driving the Bills downfield, without the aid of Simpson’s running, and capping the drive with another scoring pass to Rashad, this time from 13 yards out, as the Bills captured a hard-fought 21-20 win. Ferguson would go on to prove his worth as a solid NFL signal caller, playing 12 seasons with Buffalo and 17 total years in the league.
Buffalo Bills’ QB Joe Ferguson
We recently featured the logo of the Temple University Owls, and here’s another Owl logo, that of the Rice Owls, another college football team. Rice’s football program began in 1912, they have been members of the old Southwest Conference and the Western Athletic Conference, and currently play in Conference USA. Former Owls who have gone on to play pro football include Buddy Dial, Tobin Rote, Billy Howton, King Hill, Don Maynard, J.D. Smith, Tommy Kramer, Frank Ryan, O.J. Brigance, Earl Cooper, Darryl Grant, Larry Izzo and Bert Emanuel.
1974 Topps football card of former wide receiver Ahmad Rashad, who played 10 seasons in the NFL. Born Bobby Moore, he changed his name in 1972 after converting to a small sect that practices unorthodox Islam. Rashad began his pro career with the St. Louis Cardinals, was traded to Buffalo for quarterback Dennis Shaw in 1974 and after playing only one season there, signed with the Minnesota Vikings, where he had his most success, making the Pro Bowl 4 times. After retiring, he became a successful sports broadcaster with NBC and ABC, covering basketball, football and baseball.