RIP Ken Stabler

Never understood why watching Gronk catch an 8-yard flare pass is more "ex-citing" than watching Csonka break three tackles en route to an 8-yard gain.

 

I still hear a lot of Roethlisberger in the bathroom comments and Roethlisberger on motorcycle quips....of course, a lot of them, come on this site.

 

So Stabler was a perfect fit for the 1970s Raiders?

 

All day. He's one angry beast.

 

Great runs are still the most exciting plays in football in real time. Great catches take only a fraction of a second, then get replayed forever.

 

Zonk>Gronk?

 

Gronk's most memorable plays are significant runs after the catch.

 

Just to make sure that we are all perfectly clear: The 1970's NFL product in general sucks massive donkey dicks in comparison to today's NFL product, despite whatever posters remember from their childhood.

 

Errors in print remain forever. 36 years later, as I look at that Rome paper, I see the Willie Mays-Bill Stoneham story just to the right of the Stabler story, and notice it says "Stoneman" instead of Stoneham, in the headline.

 

Poin, that's a most debatable and unprovable assertion. The rules have been changed so much to facilitate the passing game, it's practically a different sport. I watched the NFL Films show on the Miami-Oakland playoff game in 1974 (hard to imagine a game much better than that one now or any other time and every pass play shown, complete or incomplete, would've drawn a flag today. No telling how today's players would perform under those rules and vice versa of course.

 

There were some great games, and great teams in the 1970's. And yes, I am pulling that proclamation out of my ass. In fact, those Raider teams were just a fantastic show. But, in general, the product today is so much better. For every Miami-Oakland playoff game (or Oak-Baltimore, or Oak-Pittsburgh playoff game), there was a Super Bowl involving the Minnesota Vikings

I watched the Dolphins-Skins Super Bowl in its entirety a couple of years ago. The Jacksonville Jags looked at that game and said, "THAT'S a bad product".

 

Yeah, that one was so dull I went for a walk with a girl I admired during the second half. Only Super Bowl action I ever missed in real time. That was back when it was felt the Super Bowl was almost always a dull game, first because defenses were so dominant in the late 60s and '70s, and then because the NFC teams won by about five touchdowns every year for 15 years. The first four Super Bowls I covered in person had a combined score of NFC 166-AFC 46.