Three NFL Games You Need To Know

In the 80-year history of the NFL, there are countless memorable games. In my lifetime, there was the '85 Super Bowl, my favorite Super Bowl of all-time with players such as Jim McMahon, Walter Payton and Richard Dent.

Then there was the January 3, 1993 playoff game between the Bills and the Oilers. Known as "The Comeback," this game was over at halftime. Or so I thought when I decided to take a nap. When I woke up, the Bills were driving down the field with a chance to win it. Backup quarterback Frank Reich, subbing for the injured Jim Kelly, brought the Bills back from a 35-3 deficit early in the second half to win the game 41-38 in overtime. It remains the largest comeback in a playoff game in NFL history.

Again, these are my most memorable games. But the NFL legacy was cemented well before I was even born. And so, out of those 80 years, I have whittled the NFL's greatest games down to three:

1. The Greatest Game Ever Played -- the 1958 NFL Championship
2. The Ice Bowl, the NFL Championship (second year of the merger), what is now known as the NFC Championship Game
3. Super Bowl III

That's it. Three games. Know them and you'll understand why football today is America's game.

So, you ask...Why these games? I could write for hours about each one (I have read 3 books on the '58 game itself). However, I will keep the reasons brief, and will give you three reasons to know each game.

1. The Greatest Game Ever Played
Reason #1: Overtime. This was the first overtime game in NFL history, pitting the Baltimore Colts against the New York Giants.

Reason #2: The players. The game featured 17 future Hall of Famers including Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry and Sam Huff playing, and Weeb Ewbank, Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi coaching.

Reason #3: The audience. The game crept into prime time, and 40 million television sets eventually tuned in to see Unitas lead his team to victory. Unitas-to-Berry is a phrase that still haunts New York, as the two superstars were brilliant late in the game.

Summary: The game marked the birth of the "new" NFL -- one that brought the game to living rooms around the country and helped convert America from a baseball-loving public to one that began to adore football.

2. The Ice Bowl -- Dallas Cowboys at Green Bay Packers, 1967

Reason #1: The conditions. The official game-time temperature was −13°F / −25°C, with a wind chill around −48°F / −44°C. The weather was too much for Lambeau Field's turf heating system, leaving the field a hard sheet of ice.

Reason #2: The coaches. This game pitted the two coaches on the New York sidelines for the Greatest Game Ever Played -- Lombardi as head man for the Pack, Landry in charge of the Cowboys.

Reason #3: The end. Trailing 17-14 with 16 seconds left and the ball on the one yard line, Green Bay could have played it safe, kicked a field goal and settled for overtime. But because of the cold, Lombardi wanted the game over -- for himself, the fans and the players. So, with no timeouts remaining, Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr called his own number, opting for a QB sneak on third down. If stopped, the Pack lose. If he scores, Green Bay goes to Super Bowl II. Starr scored and the Packers escaped with a 21-17 win.

3. Super Bowl III -- New York Jets versus Baltimore Colts, 1969

Reason #1: The Guarantee. Jets quarterback Joe Namath "guaranteed" victory over the favorite Colts while speaking at the Miami Touchdown Club three days before the game. The Colts were favored by 18 points, a ridiculous point spread then and now, making the guarantee that much more memorable.

Reason #2: The merger. This was the third and last time the NFL and AFL squared off in a championship game -- the last contest before the official merger of the two leagues. During the first two Super Bowls, the Green Bay Packers handed it to the so-called "Mickey Mouse League," winning both contests easily (over Kansas City and Oakland). The AFL teams needed credibility, but the 18-point spread showed what little respect the American League had.

Reason #3: The result. The Jets won the game 16-7, one of the greatest upsets in sports history. Namath, despite not throwing a TD pass, won the MVP.

Personally, the '58 Championship is my favorite historical sports moment. So, expect more to come on that topic in future blogs.

The Birth of the 4-3 Defense

This is one of those facts that you can pull out of your brain when you really need to impress someone. It's easy enough, too. Next time you're sitting with your buddies and the announcer mentions a team playing the 4-3 defense (4 down lineman with 3 linebackers), drop this question on them: "Do you know who invented the 4-3 defense?" Follow it up with, "Who was the first-ever middle linebacker?" and you'll be the toast of the party. Or something like that.

The answer is Tom Landry. You know him and love him from his days as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, where he led America's Team to victories in Super Bowls VI and X11. However, prior to joining the 'boys, Landry was the other half of the dreamiest football coaching team ever. Jim Lee Howell was hired as "head coach" of the New York Giants in 1954, and he hired two assistants to help him out. Those two assistants turned out to be Hall of Fame head coaches in their own right -- Landry as the defensive coordinator, and a guy named Vince Lombardi running the offense.

During his tenure, Landry started experimenting with what he called the 4-3 -- a defense that was designed to counteract the changing NFL. At this time, teams were starting to move away from the run-run-run mentality, mixing in more flanker passes and motion offenses. Landry also felt the 4-3 would help to stop legendary Cleveland Browns RB Jim Brown.

The trick was, he needed a middle linebacker. The first one to tackle the job? Hall-of-Famer Sam Huff, a converted lineman.

So much more I could write about this...but I said I'd keep these short. So, you have your knowledge bombs. Deploy appropriately.

Ochocinco: Death at Tiger Stadium (and other deaths)

Sure, when watching the Detroit Lions I am known to say, "C'mon! You guys are killing me!" This is different.

To this day, Chuck Hughes, a wide receiver for the 1971 Detroit Lions, is the only NFL player to die on the field of play. Hughes suffered a fatal heart attack during a game against the Chicago Bears at Tiger Stadium on October 24 of that year.

In a sport as brutal as football, it's amazing that we've only had one fatality in NFL history. The Lions honored Hughes by retiring his #85 (the original Ocho Cinco?) and also named the "Most Improved Lion" award in his name. (Do the Lions ever improve?)

MLB
In baseball's long history, no player has ever died on the field. Ray Chapman, a shortstop for Cleveland, was the closest -- he died the day after being struck in the head by Yankees pitcher Carl Mays during a game in 1920. Helmets were not required until 30 years later.

NHL
The NHL death history is similar to MLB -- no one ever died on the ice. Two players -- Bill Masterston and Howie Morenz - died after incidents on the ice. Masterton is actually listed as the only player in NHL history to be killed as a direct result of an on-ice incident during a game.

Playing for the Minnesota North Stars, Masterson was checked and fell backwards on the ice, sustaining a massive brain hemorrhage. He died two days later. The NHL's Bill Masterson Trophy is named in his honor. The trophy is awarded for dedication, sportsmanship, and perseverance.

Howie Morenz died a couple months after sustaining a broken leg in a game while playing for Montreal.

NBA
No player has ever died on the court or as the result of a game injury.

Integrating the Tigers

In a city that is now 82% African-American, it's hard to believe that the Detroit Tigers were the one of the last Major League Baseball teams to integrate.

So, your answer to a trivia question today: Ozzie Virgil

Virgil was the man who broke the Tigers color barrier. The year was 1958, 11 long years after Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Until recently, I assumed Virgil was a black ballplayer -- not so. He was actually the first Dominican player in MLB, breaking in with the New York Giants in 1956. He joined the Tigers in '58 and promptly went 5 for 5 in his first game.

Now, the second piece of trivia for today. The first African-American player to put on a Tigers uniform was Larry Doby. Yes, the same Larry Doby that was the first black player in the American League. Doby joined the Cleveland Indians a mere 11 weeks after Jackie, was a seven-time All Star and is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, Doby only played 18 games with the Tigers in 1959, batting .218.

Thanks to Terry Foster's new book for bringing this information to light.

The Heisman

Did a bit more research after the Jay Berwanger post on why the Heisman was named the Heisman the year after Berwanger won it. Well, it was named after John Heisman, the athletic director of the Downtown Athletic Club, the venue where the award originated. One year after Berwanger won the first trophy, Heisman died, and the trophy was named in his honor.

Heisman himself was also quite the player and coach back in the day. Actually, back many days, as he played during the turn of the century -- LAST century. Heisman pioneered such things as the shift, along with that wacky fad called the "forward pass."

Other Heisman fast facts:

• Only one player -- Archie Griffin (Ohio State) -- has won the award twice (1974 and 1975)
• Only eight winners of the Heisman (it has been awarded 74 times) are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame: OJ, Roger Staubach, Doak Walker, Paul Hornung, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Barry Sanders and Marcus Allen. (No, not Joe Theisman, who never won it despite changing his name's pronunciation to mimic "Heisman.")

Source for today: Wikipedia

Tiger Stadium More Important Than You Think

For today's entry, I toyed with the idea of detailing the creation of the modern NFL. You know, the AFL-NFL merger, the defunct All American Football Conference (that's where the 49ers came from), all that. It's truly a fascinating story, but also a really long, in-depth one. So, we'll save that for another day.

For now, a short but important fact. Did you realize that every Lions and Tigers championship occured at the corner of Michigan and Trumbull?

How about the fact that Lou Gehrig played 2,130 straight games...the last of which was played at The Corner. Babe Ruth once hit a 600 foot home run there, along with the 700th of his career. It was truly a historic venue, one that was taken for granted by the city of Detroit. We have the money to tear down a place that brought joy, success and relationships to a war-torn city, but we don't have the money to tear down a small crack house on Warren Avenue.

One last Tiger question for the night: Who is the winningest Tiger pitcher in history? One might think McLain, Lolich, Morris or Newhouser. But in fact, Hooks Dauss won 222 games as a Tiger during the early 1920s. Jack Morris is a distant 5th with 182. McLain? Not in the top 5.

Thanks to Terry Foster's book, "100 Things Tigers Fans Should Know" for teaching me these trivia answers.

Tomorrow, we'll begin to dissect the importance of "The Greatest Game Ever Played," the 1958 NFL Championship between the Colts and the Giants. That one will teach you something about the NFL.

You Should Know Jay Berwanger

Do you ever run across an interesting fact and try to burn it in your memory? I frequently see or hear something and think, "I'm going to need that someday." And then I forget to write it down and away it goes. And then somebody says it again and I'm like, "When you say it, I know it." And they don't believe me.

I hate not knowing about sports...especially something or someone as important as Jay Berwanger. And so begins our journey.

Jay Berwanger happens to be the answer to TWO important trivia questions:

• Who won the inaugural Heisman Trophy, awarded annually to the most outstanding player in collegiate football?
• Who was the #1 pick in the very first NFL draft?

Answer? Jay frickin' Berwanger. Playing running back (and many other positions) for the University of Chicago, he won the trophy in 1935.

Interesting fact about the Heisman -- the award actually wasn't called the Heisman when he won it -- it was called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy. However, he is recognized as the "first winner of the Heisman."

Okay, flash forward to February 1936, the first year the NFL decided to hold a draft that would would give underperforming teams first crack at available college players. The best player available? Obviously Berwanger, since he won the Heisman for his play during the '35 season.

So, with the first pick in the 1936 draft, the Philadelphia Eagles selected the award-winning back out of U of C (which was in the Big Ten Conference at the time).

You can write the rest, right? Berwanger goes on to be a big star, a hall-of-fame player that turned around a poor Eagles franchise? Wrong. No one actually talked to Berwanger about his post-collegiate goals, which didn't involve football. The Eagles couldn't sign him, so they dealt him to the Chicago Bears, which encountered the same situation as Philly.

Berwanger would never play a down in the NFL, choosing instead to sell foam-rubber before enrolling in the Navy’s flight-training program during WWII. After the war, he started his own business and lived until the age of 88.

Store it away. You'll need it someday.