by John Turney
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| Jack Youngblood at LDE, Isiah Robertson at LLB in the College All-Star Game in Chicago, 1971 |
Aaron Rodgers didn't make his New York Jets' debut in last week's Hall-of-Fame game, but that's no big deal. He hasn't played a preseason game since 2018 when he was with Green Bay. But when Rams' rookie defensive end Jack Youngblood suited up for the 1971 Hall-of-Fame contest, it was news.
The reason: He played the night before in the College All-Star Game in Chicago against the Super Bowl-champion Baltimore Colts.
Honest.
But he wasn't the only one. Teammate Isiah Robertson also played two games in consecutive days -- joining Youngblood to play the Houston Oilers at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.
The Rams won, 17-6, but that's not the story.
Youngblood and Robertson were.
That they even made it to Canton was impressive. They'd spent part of the previous evening on Chicago's Rush Street, joining teammates at the city's night spots after pushing the Colts to the finish line and falling to a 24-17 defeat.
The All-Stars were praised by some of the Colts' veterans, as well as the media, with Youngblood one of those cited. He played so well that he finished third in voting for the game's MVP. Also mentioned was Houston's rookie quarterback, Dan Pastorini.
But it was Youngblood's linemate, Richard Harris, who won the award. He and the rest of the Rams' defense spent most of the evening in the Colts' backfield, then hit the town afterward to enjoy their freedom and celebrate their performance.
"We went up one side of Rush Street and down the other," Youngblood said.
That should've been the end of the story. But it wasn't. After going to bed early that morning, Youngblood and Robertson were awakened by Rams' administrator and former player Tank Younger and hauled to the airport to meet the team in Canton.
" 'Butch' (Robertson) asked why we couldn't go directly to Los Angeles", recalled Youngblood, "He didn't see why we needed to go to Ohio for one day."
But they did.
The pair of first-round draft picks slept on the flight until they touched down in the Canton-Akron airport and were whisked to Fawcett Stadium. There, they were dropped off and told by rookie coach Tommy Prothro that they would play that day ... on special teams.
Two games in two days.
The bleary-eyed Youngblood and Robertson didn't play much --only on special teams to cover kicks and punts -- because Rams' coaches thought it was something they could do without practicing with the specialty units. Blocking on returns or for kick protections, however, might present problems.
"All 'Butch' and I did," said Youngblood, "was run down and try to tackle the guy with the ball."
They must have done all right. No kicks were returned for scores, and there were no major breakdowns in the 10 or so plays where they participated. By contrast, Pastorini -- who was the College All-Stars' leading rusher 24 hours earlier -- didn't play for Houston.
Jerry Rhome and Lynn Dickey did, handling all the snaps as Houston's quarterbacks.
Since the inception of the Hall-of-Fame game in 1962, there have been 188 Hall-of-Famers on rosters of teams that played in the annual event, though all didn't play in the game.
In 1971 there were six.
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| Youngblood (left) and Robertson (right) in their rookie season in Dallas |
On the Oilers' roster were Ken Houston and Charlie Joiner. The Rams' future Hall-of-Famers were Deacon Jones, Tom Mack, Merlin Olsen, and Jack Youngblood. Olsen, who was coming off postseason right knee surgery didn't play.
Youngblood, who was coming off a game and night on the town, did.
Prior to the contest, the Hall's Class of 1971 was inducted, and it was one of the strongest ever. Jim Brown and Vince Lombardi led a field that included Andy Robustelli, Y.A. Tittle, Norm Van Brocklin, Bill Hewitt and Frank “Bruiser” Kinard.
Legends all.
When Saturday's Class of 2023 is introduced, it will include seven inductees who participated in the Hall-of-Fame game --Ronde Barber, Chuck Howley, Joe Klecko, Ken Riley, Zach Thomas, DeMarcus Ware ... plus Don Coryell, who coached.
It will not, however, include anyone who played twice in two days.
Robertson was headed into the HOF when he collided with Earl Campbell. Still, many not remember that he played 4 more years with Buffalo and started every game with the Bills in that time. A very worthy member of the HOVG.
ReplyDeleteAlso, why Jack Youngblood took so long in being enshrined? He should have been selected in his first year eligible.