Fran Tarkenton's Broken Leg Just as Grotesque as Theismann's

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

When Lawrence Taylor sacked Joe Theismann in 1985 and caused a compound fracture in Theismann's leg it was a major event. It was replayed over and over and really, it still is.

However, it shows what a stage the Monday Night Football provides for the great and the grotesque. In 1977 Gary Burley sacked Fran Tarkenton and it also resulted in the same type of fracture, but it didn't get nearly the airplay, likely due to it not occurring on MNF.

Under the player in the orange helmet is Tarkenton and you can see the terrible angle his lower leg takes as Burley's weight applies pressure.

To both, all we can say is, "Yikes!". 

Something We Didn't Remember 1975 MNF Highlights

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Something we didn't notice at the time. These are the Monday Night Football Highlights from the Dallas versus Kansas City game that season. They are the from the networks, NBC and CBS, not NFL Films. As we all (who are old enough) remember the MNF Highlights narrated by Howard Cosell were from NFL Films. However, we are looking into whether the whole 1975 season was like this or if it was an anomaly. Regardless, we thought you'd like a little taste of the 1970s

Enjoy:

At 2:55 Mel Blount makes a great intercetpion on his way to an NFL-leading 11 picks. At 3:55 Po James scores a touchdown and does the "roll six" touchdown celebration.

At the end of the highlights is the All-time All-Texas team.

The 1990s Had Some Good Posters. These are Fair

FUN STUFF
By John Turney

The cowboy motiff was popular among the NFL quarterback posters of the 1990s. However, among these three it is more of a Sesame Street theme of "One of the these things is not like the others, one of these things in not the same". Nonetheless, compared to some of the other silliness of some of the posters in this era, these are fair. We grade them a C to C+.

Did the 1968 Bengals Ever Intend to Wear Orange Jerseys?

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

One of Twitter's accounts that have among the best sports content is named Sports Paper with the address @SportsPaperInfo. If you are not following him, you should.

Today, he posted a piece of art that was released back in the late-1960s and he remarked, sarcastically, that he had never seen the Bengals in this uniform:

Since the Bengals never wore it, therin lied the humor. However, it reminded us of a piece of art done by Merv Corning, who was (in our view) the NFL's preeminant artist. He, too, depicted the Bengals in an orange jersey.

It begs the question, where did the artists get the idea the Bengals would wear orange? It is documented that the Bengals were very interested in using the tiger-stripe helmets in 1968, though they chose one with just the lettering "Bengals". They didn't use the striped helmets until 1981 and the orange jerseys until 2004.

Paul Brown with a handful of Bengals prototypes

1968 Bengals prototype. Credit: Helmet Hut

We are now wondering if the Bengals had intended to go with orange and when the above art was commissioned that the orange was going to be used, but changed after the art went to print.

It's just a possibility, but maybe with the question now posed there can be some answers found as to the jersey color like there was to the striped helmet that reappeared in 1981. Of course, both artists might have just decided to go with orange jerseys and this is a coincidence.

Uniform Oddities: LA Rams 1965-69

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Finishing the Rams trifecta, here is one oddity that we've seen on other teams from time to time. It is the different "1s" on a teams uniforms in the same year and/or other different fonts. In 1972 they had a few oddball jerseys, but the 1972 mesh white uniforms seemed to all match. However, the same is not true from 1965-69.

 In 1964, from all the photos we've seen (the team photo was in blue jerseys that season) the numerals all matched. It was a new color scheme and the jerseys would have been brand new and logic seems to suggest the mix-and-match of jerseys would not have occurred during that first year.

1965 Rams team photo
(Click to enlarge)

We count eleven players (how appropriate) that have a "1" in their uniform number. Using the Girdiron Uniform Database nomenclature, we count seven that are "pointy top" and four that are "box top".

1966 Rams team photo
(Click to enlarge)

Here Irv Cross #27 has an oddball "2" and Hank Gremminger #46 has an oddball 4. However, all the "1s" are the same.

1967 Rams team photo
(Click to enlarge)

In 1967 it seems only Merlin Olsen (74) has and oddball "4". Roger Brown (76) has and oddball "7" and the different "1s" returned. We count seven "1s" and four are pointy-top and three are box tops.

1968 Rams team photo
(Click to enlarge)

In this iteration, we see Pat Studstill (28) with an oddball "2" and rookie Mike Dennis (43) with the odd "4" sans serif. In 1968 there are 5 "1s" and three are box top and two are pointy tops.

1969 Rams team photo
(Click to enlarge)

Aside from Deacon Jones and Clancy Williams playing grabass, we see three oddball "7s" one on Merlin Olsen (74) and  Roger Brown (78) and Coy Bacon (79). Jack Snow (84) has an odd "4" as might Mike Lahood (64) but that one is hard to tell. The count for ones in 1969 is nine and the winner this season is pointy tops with six and box tops with three. We are not counting Karl Sweetan (10) who is on first row until we can get a better look to see which his is.

Gabriel wore a curved "1" versus the Eagles and Giants (perhaps others) meaning for at least two games there were three types of "1s" on field at same time.

1969 Rams team photo before playoffs
(Click to enlarge)

In the team photo taken late in season, after injuries, etc. the count is still nine for "1s" and the count here is six for pointy top and three for box top. This time we see that Sweetan is likely wearing a pointy top.

1970 Rams team photo 
(Click to enlarge)

In 1970 the Rams got new uniforms, though still Dureen with tackle-twill numbers, and these had a blue "V" collar and the numbers appeared to be, ahem . . uniform.

1971 Rams team photo 
(Click to enlarge)

Again, the Rams got new uniforms, these were polyester with iron-on Vinflex numbers and they, too, were uniform throughout the team. The numerals were sans serifs at the bottom.

1964 Roman Gabriel.

1965, 1966 or 1969 Merlin Olsen. Those seasons all had a serif on bottom of "7"

1968 Roger Brown

1966 Rosey Grier. The crotch snap indicates 1966, however the blue "V" collar does give me pause. 

2000 St. Louis Rams Team Colors: A Near Miss

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

Since it is kind of a Rams kind of day, here are two helmets which were considered for the Rams in 2000 but were not selected due to the Zodiac.

In 2000 the St. Louis Rams switched from a blue and gold scheme they had worn since 1973 to a navy and old gold (millennium blue new century gold is what Rams media guide called it). However, the color scheme Rams owner Georgia Frontiere liked best was powder blue and and gold,

In an interview with former Rams equipment manager Todd Hewitt,  Helmet Hut got the following information from Hewitt:

Said Hewitt, "When we changed our color scheme in 2000, we actually considered many different possibilities, 15-20 combinations or so. Mrs. Frontiere's favorite color was powder blue. . . She thought the Rams would look great in this color and wanted to see some examples.  So we made up some powder blue helmets with gold horns and gold helmets with powder blue horns, which she loved.

But being someone that was very much into astrology, Mrs. Frontiere agreed to the current color scheme because, actually, she liked the names of the colors we used: new century gold and millennium blue. She thought it made cosmic sense if you will, given the year was 2000."

Phew.

Uniform Oddity: 1972 Los Angeles Rams Blue Jerseys

LOOKING BACK

By John Turney

In 1972 the L.A. Rams switched to mesh jerseys for the first time. The maker of the uniforms, both blue and white (you couldn't call them home and road since Rams wore both blue and white at home in 1972) was Medalist Sand-Knit.

However, there was an oddity. A handful of players wore blue jerseys that were a slightly different hue of blue.

Look at the red arrows pointing to Larry Brooks (90), Phil Olsen (72), Harry Schuh (76) and Dick Gordon (5) all wore a jersey with different font for the numerals and a hue that was more of a process blue than the ever-so-slight purple hue of the rest of the team.

(Click to enlarge)

It was not only evident in the team photo, but also in the highlight films,especially those played in the Los Angeles Memorial Colesium where the late afternoon sun would bathe the uniforms in a light that would separate the color differences.

These are the jerseys worn by the vast majority of the team, in our view view is a bit to the purple side and the value (darkness) is lighter.

This is the Phil Olsen jersey, though harder to tell here, the color is slightly different that the three above. Also, the numerals are different here. Look at the team photo above and you can see both the "7" and the "2" are different than the same numerals on the other jerseys. (Additionally you can see the "5" on Dick Gordon's jersey is different than the other "5s" on the rest of the team

Here are a few examples in which you can see that the screencaps are consistent with the team photo: