Obscure sports trivia

How about Greg Bell?

 

You're warm, but not quite. He led the league in TDs twice (1988 and '89) but was well over 1,000 yards both times.

 

Cleveland Gary? Maybe tied with Fenner?

 

That is correct. Cleveland Gary had 808 yards in 1990, and tied with Fenner for the touchdown lead.
One more. A hint: This guy actually did it twice, but once was in the 1982 strike-shortened season.

 

Can’t be Marcus Allen, could it?

 

We have a winner. Allen led the NFL with 12 touchdowns in 1993, while rushing for only 764 yards. Oddly, only two of the top eight rushing TD leaders that year (Emmitt Smith and the Cardinals' Ronald Moore) had more than 1,000 yards even though there were 11 players who had more than 1,000 yards.
Allen also led the NFL with 11 TDs in 1982, although since everybody only played nine games there were no 1,000-yard rushers that season.

So our six guys since 1978 to lead the NFL in rushing TDs, or tie for the lead, without gaining 1,000 yards are:
• David Sims (Seahawks, 1978)
• Johnny Hector (Jets, 1987)
• Derrick Fenner (Seahawks) and Cleveland Gary (Rams), both in 1990
• Marcus Allen (Chiefs, 1993)
• Karim Abdul-Jabaar (Dolphins, 1997)

I was going to go back to the merger, but before 1978 — or really 1976 — it seems to have happened quite a bit. It happened four times in six seasons from 1970-75, and in 1972 Mercury Morris led the league in TDs while rushing for exactly 1,000 yards. OJ in his 2,000-yard season in 1973 was the only guy in that stretch to be both a big-yardage and big-touchdown guy.

 

Who is the only pitcher in the top 10 all-time in both wins and ERA?

 

Don Sutton?

 

Not Steve Garvey’s good buddy.

 

Christy Mathewson had a 2.13 ERA; Walter Johnson's was 2.17. If it's not one of them, it's probably some guy from the 19th century, when baseball bore little resemblance to the post-1900 game.

 

Who are the 10 players who won the Heisman Trophy and are in Pro Football Hall of Fame?

 

I'll start with O.J. Simpson, Roger Staubach, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders.