We Have to Say Goodbye to Leroy "Too Much" Jones

 By John Turney 

Former Charger Hank Bauer Tweeted that his former teammate Leroy Jones passed away earlier today. Jones played 111 for the Chargers from 1976 through 1983 and 26 games in the CFL for the Edmonton franchise from 1973 through 1975. He'd been drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1975 in the Second-round and that is the highest any Norfolk State player has even been taken in the NFL Draft.

Jones graduated from Amanda Elzy High School in Mississippi and attended Norfolk State in Virginia. He is a member of Hampton Roads African-American Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 2013. 

Jones, born September 29, 1950, was 70. Bauer did not mention a cause of death. 

He was part of a fine defensive line that sacked quarterbacks 247 times (an average of 49.4 per season) from 1977 through 1981 when the most of the core group was together. 

The Chargers defensive line Jones (68), Dean (71), Kelcher (74), Johnson (79) 

In the Summer of 1976, Leroy Jones was wreaking havoc in the Los Angeles Rams training camp and in the preseason games as well. He even earned a nickname from the local media, a takeoff of "Too Tall Jones's name—they called him "Too Much" Jones.

The Rams drafted Jones in 1975, in the second round but he had been playing in the CFL for three seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos. 

Jones spent most of the 1973 CFL season on the taxi squad for the "Esks". At that time he was 6-7, 225 pounds but he was just 23 years old and still growing. By 1974 he was listed as 6-8, 240 pounds. He played well enough to be voted the team Rookie of the Year by the local Edmonton media, playing in 14 games. He also was the season leader in tackles and sacks for the Esks. 

He played in the 1974 Grey Cup Championship game and it was reported that he played well in that game though Edmonton lost to the Montreal Alouettes 20-7. 

Jones in the 1974 Grey Cup game

Jones in Canada

In 1975 Jones held out possibly thinking that since the Rams drafted him in January he was worthy of a raise. He eventually reported and played 12 games in the 1975 season and finished his CFL career with a season in which he was cut before the Grey Cup game—a game his team, Edmonton, won beating Montreal 9-8. Jones had been on the injury list late in the season and his coach didn't think he could help the team in the championship game so he was let go. 

In May of 1976, he signed with the Rams to give the NFL a try. As mentioned he'd been drafted in 1975, when his collegiate class had graduated. 

After high school, Jones played football and basketball at Norfolk State. He was an AP Little All-American in 1971 as a Sophomore in 1971 and was All-CIAA in both 1971 and 1972. In addition, he was chosen as a Black Sports All-American (1973); Sheridan Black College All-American, and a Pittsburgh Courier All-American.

Jones also got basketball honors as well (he was a good scorer and a dominant rebounder). However, because of poor grades, he dropped out and with the CFL in the Summer of 1973.

In Canada, Jones earned the nickname of "Bad Man" Jones. Here are a couple of examples of why, via the Los Angeles Times—

In his first couple of games in the '76 preseason, he was mention in the papers as having made an impact. After the Dallas game, the LA Times wrote, "Leroy Jones played a big game at defensive end, blocking a field goal and forcing Scot Laidlaw to fumble"

Against Seattle, it was yet another writeup for Jones. Bob Oates of the Times wrote "Jones is the tallest rams defensive end ever . . . and at 4.7 he's the fastest this year" and went on to mention that Jones had blocked two field goals in two weeks (one each versus Dallas and Seattle). 

A few days later in  August the Times did a five-column piece on Jones with five photos on the front page of the Sports section, rare for a rookie. 

Jones went on to impress the rest of preseason and one team that took notice was the San Diego Chargers—so much so they sent a Second-round draft pick plus $15,000 to the Rams for Jones' services. (The Rams took receiver Billy Waddy with the pick, so it seems the Chargers got the better of the deal). 

Johnson, Kelcher, Dean, and Jones, Credit: Facebook

In San Diego, he took over the right defensive end position vacated by Coy Bacon who had been traded to the Bengals for Charlie Joiner. He acquitted himself well register 53 tackles and five sacks and became the final piece of an excellent front four that included Fred Dean, Gary Johnson, and Louis Kelcher, all of whom arrived in 1975. 

The group became fan favorites and became known as the "Bruise Brothers" and they were marketed to a degree with T-shirts and posters and et al. 

In 1977 Jones (now about 255 pounds) moved to left defensive end, swapping with Dean. Jones had been a left end in Canada and when he was with the Rams. Dean, at 225 pounds or so, was better suited for the right side. The moves worked and the line became one of the NFL's best for the best four of five seasons. 

As previously mentioned—from 1977 through 1981 the Chargers sacked the quarterback 247 times, the most in the NFL over that span, and that is even with Dean being traded to the 49ers early in 1981. That total beat out Dallas (239 sacks) and the Rams (234), two teams know for their pass rush. 

From 1978 through 1981 Jones (now nicknamed "Velvet") averaged 8.5 sacks playing the strong side of the line but never got any post-season honors, though all of his linemates did. Kelcher was First- or Second-team All-Pro four times. So was Big Hands Johnson.  Fred Dean was All-Pro once with the Chargers and a Pro Bowler twice in San Diego. 

However, it could be fairly said that his 1980 season was Pro Bowl-worthy with his 55 tackles, 12 sacks, and 7 passes batted along with a pair of forced fumbles. He had a season at least on the same level as Julius Adams who was the AFC backup to Art Still and Dean. But, of course, that's speculation.

The Chargers knocked on the Super Bowl's door in 1980 and 1981, losing in the AFC Championship games and losing to Miami in the division round in the 1982 playoff tournament. 

In the January 2, 1982, 41-38 epic playoff game against Miami, Jones blocked a 35-yard field goal 11:27 into overtime, which allowed the Chargers to drive the game-winning field goal.

Jones' production declined each of those years after 1980 and in September 1983, Jones was re-signed to be strictly a backup, and played little—not recording a tackle or assisted tackle in what was his final season. 

Career stats—

In the Tweet, Bauer reported that Jones would often say, "I stand six foot eight and I'll set you straight!"  

Leroy set a few quarterbacks straight, that's for sure. 

1939-1940 NFL Promotional Films, Champions of the Gridiron

 LOOKING BACK
By Chris Willis, NFL Films

1940 Champions of the Gridiron title scene 

Throughout his tenure as NFL President from 1921 to 1939 Joe F. Carr used several promotional ideas to help the growth of the league. Besides using radio, the Official Guide of the National Football League, trading cards, Ladies Day coupons, and other ways of trying to promote the league in 1938 Carr came up with another idea to get the NFL product out to more fans. He wanted to have a promotional film produced to show what the NFL was about and how the game was played. The film would be shown in movie theaters all across the country and would give the NFL more publicity than ever before.

To get his film started Carr contacted Detroit Lions owner G. A. Richards, who had been living the past year out in Hollywood for health reasons, to see if he knew of a film company that could shoot and produce the documentary on the NFL. Richards suggested Industrial Pictures, Inc., located in his adopted hometown of Detroit. Industrial Pictures was a fairly new production company that had just completed an eight-minute film on the Bryce Canyon National Park sponsored by the Ford Motor Company. Ford showed off its newest vehicles that could get you around the vast Bryce Canyon Park for reasonable prices. Carr was intrigued with the novice company, plus they could give his “football film” all the attention it needed.

After Carr contacted Industrial Pictures, the film company agreed to join the project. Industrial hired Juett Box as director and Oscar Ahbe as cameraman for the entire shoot. Carr then went looking for a sponsor for the film and found the perfect partner. Wheaties breakfast cereal was founded in 1924 in Golden Valley, Minnesota, and used sports as a tool to promote its healthy product. In 1927 the company put up billboards advertising their cereal at Nicollet Park, the minor league baseball stadium located in Minneapolis. Soon the cereal was advertising itself as “the Breakfast of Champions.” In 1934 Lou Gehrig became the first athlete to appear on a box of Wheaties. In subsequent years, Babe Zaharies became the box’s first female athlete (1935), and Jesse Owens became the box’s first black athlete (1936).

Carr knew that Wheaties was the ideal sponsor for his film. The combination of the NFL’s good, clean sportsmanship reputation and the cereal’s clean, good-for-your-body product was perfect. Carr contacted the executives at General Mills, Inc., to see if they would want to sponsor the NFL film. It was an easy decision for General Mills as they gave Carr a yes and drew up a fifteen-page contract for Carr and the owners to sign. The contract claimed the film was being made as “it is the desire of the Clubs and the League to promote, advertise and popularize the game of professional football, particularly as played by the Clubs of the League, so as to increase the public following of the Clubs and the public interest in and attendance at League games . . . and the Clubs and the League are desirous of accomplishing said end by the media of [this] motion picture.”

The NFL and General Mills agreed to 16 main points in the contract, including the following:

I. Company [General Mills] will arrange and pay for the production of an educational sound motion picture film featuring the preparation, training, fundamentals and execution of professional football, as played by the Clubs of the League during the 1938 playing season. Said film shall be produced by such technique as Company in its discretion deems best, shall be from four to five thousand feet in length, shall be non-commercial but may contain implied or inferred references to Company’s product WHEATIES by such means as the appearance of WHEATIES advertising signs on practice fields and such means as Company, with the cooperation and relying upon the ingenuity of the Clubs, such devise.

II. Company’s responsibility shall be limited to the expenditure of Thirty-five Thousand Dollars ($35,000.00) in the production, editing and processing of the said film. Company agrees to furnish each member Club of the League with one print of such film as the Club’s own property and Company will maintain for its own use a print or the number of prints adequate for distribution to places where Company can produce exhibition without cost to itself.

III. The Clubs and the League will cooperate with Company, its agents and employees in making playing fields, practices, action and players available for the filming and will likewise cooperate in procuring appropriate endorsements from such of their players as use and are willing to endorse Company’s product WHEATIES…

THE UNDERSIGNED, As President of the NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE, hereby approves of the foregoing agreement on behalf of the League and hereby accepts for himself and his successors in office during the existence of this agreement all delegations and responsibilities therein outlined which apply to the President of the League in such capacity.

1938-1939 Contract between General Mills & NFL for promotional film. Cost of $35,000, to be signed by NFL Owners. (Source: Joe F. Carr Family) 

The contract was then signed by President Carr and all ten owners. The deal was now complete- the NFL would have its own promotional film - some twenty-six years before the league formed NFL Films.

Carr could see the NFL’s continued growth, and he wanted to use everything in his power to promote the game. By using film and the increasing popularity of movie theaters, he took another bold gamble in trying to get the NFL to a broader audience. None of the other owners objected to this new idea, and they let Carr’s media background take charge.

Now that the film was in motion, Carr got to putting the NFL schedule together for the 1938 season. While assembling the games Carr gave permission to a few teams to play games in non-NFL cities such as Buffalo, New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia, to help further the NFL’s potential fan base. Carr set up the Charleston game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Pirates mainly for the new NFL film. He wanted to show off the league to a new audience in front of the rolling cameras. On July 7 Carr released the NFL schedule and its fifty-five regular-season games. The season was to start on September 9, and the 1938 NFL Championship Game would be played on the home field of the Eastern Division winner.

As the summer began, Carr arranged for the film director hired by Industrial Pictures to shoot the training camp of the Detroit Lions. It would be the opening segment of the NFL promotional film. Lions head coach Dutch Clark agreed to be the technical advisor for the film. He allowed  the film company to shoot his team going through camp—starting with the players’ physicals and weigh-in and continuing onto the field where they filmed the players standing in their positions and running the plays of a typical NFL team. Clark was even asked to demonstrate the dropkick (he was the best in the league at drop-kicking), which was shot in super slow motion for added effect. Lions’ owner G. A. Richards made a surprise visit to camp and would be mentioned in the movie. Filming was also done at every other team’s training camps and would continue throughout the regular season with at least one league game shot for each team. The film would conclude with the season-ending 1938 NFL Championship Game.

Dutch Clark on set of Champions of Gridiron, he was the technical advisor. 

In the middle of November, the city of Charleston, West Virginia, prepared itself for the arrival of the NFL. During the summer Carr announced that several non-NFL cities would host a few league games to help showcase the sport. Local sports promoter Henderson Peebles thought his city of roughly 67,914 citizens (1940 federal census) would enjoy seeing the NFL up close and personal. Carr contacted Peebles and scheduled the game in Charleston between the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the league’s newest star Whizzer White, and the Philadelphia Eagles for Saturday, November 19. Peebles secured Laidley Field (capacity of roughly 10,000) and set ticket prices at $2.00 for general admission and $1.50 for reserve seats. He also blocked off a section of bleacher seats for students priced at fifty cents. As the game approached, Carr informed Peebles that the game would be part of the NFL’s promotional film. He wanted the game captured on film to show the increasing popularity of the pro game. “The pictures that are to be taken in Charleston will be part of a five-reel educational and entertaining picture on football which later will be shown in the theaters throughout the country and will be available for display in elementary and high schools, colleges, noon-day luncheons, clubs, and other groups,” Carr said.

In a letter to Peebles, he reiterated his attention of sending the film crew to Charleston.

Dear Mr. Peebles:

I sincerely hope you and your associates appreciate the unusual opportunity afforded Charleston—for national advertising purposes—by the visit of the newsreel and motion picture men this coming weekend. The mere scheduling of the Pittsburgh-Philadelphia National League professional game for Charleston has already brought your city considerable publicity, but that is a small item compared to the advantages offered by the picture men.

These films will be shown throughout the United States—wherever football is played and in addition to the action shots of Whizzer White, Dave Smukler [Eagles fullback] and other luminaries of the gridiron many views of the crowd and celebrities in attendance will be photographed.

 Charleston is the capital city of West Virginia and with such a marvelous chance to bring it to the attention of millions of people. . . . The importance of this motion picture invasion of your city cannot by over-emphasized.  

Get busy now and have your leading citizens dressed up and on parade Saturday. Motion picture fans and gridiron enthusiasts from coast to coast will be seeing them on screen a few months from now.

With best wishes and greetings to my many Charleston friends, I remain as ever, Sincerely your friend,

Joe F. Carr,

President

Cameraman Oscar Ahbe

The film crew from Industrial Pictures with director Juett Box and cameraman Oscar Ahbe traveled to Charleston to begin shooting. Arriving on Wednesday before the game, Box and Ahbe scouted the stadium to find the best angles to film the game. Box was impressed by the layout, and speaking to the Charleston Gazette, he talked about the experience of shooting the NFL’s first promotional film:

“This is certainly a great break for Charleston. When you consider we have only operated in Brooklyn, Cleveland, Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and it puts Charleston right up with the big boys. President Joe Carr, of the National League, told me nothing was too good for Charleston so we are going to “shoot the works!” Hundreds of fans hear and read of “spinner players,” “double wings backs,” “off tackle slants,” and “lateral passes” and not 10 percent of them know what they mean. We take pictures of these plays, in slow motion, as they are executed by the pros in practice. Later we take shots of the same plays as they are run off in a regular game. Tomorrow [Thursday] we expect to photograph the Eagles in action at Laidley Field. We’ll catch them in various offensive and defensive maneuvers and then Saturday we’ll film the same plays as they “try” to execute them against the Pirates. Present plans call for a reversal of this procedure on Pittsburgh, as we expect to make our shots of them Sunday afternoon here, the day after the game.

I hope you have a banner crowd and we want every celebrity in the state to be on hand when we start grinding. 

As the game approached the weather didn’t cooperate, as a rainstorm hit Charleston starting Friday afternoon, and it rained all day Saturday. Peebles conferred with owners Art Rooney and Bert Bell about postponing the game. They thought it was a good idea and told him to call Carr

to ask permission to move the game. Carr told Peebles that a lot had gone into putting on the game, and that postponing the game until Sunday was fine with him. The forecast for Sunday was much better. As the two teams took the field on Sunday, what the two owners saw didn’t make them happy. Only 6,500 fans came out to watch the NFL in Charleston. What a letdown. The small crowd did see an entertaining game - a 14–7 Eagles win - highlighted by Whizzer White’s seventy-nine-yard touchdown run.

Carr was disappointed with the attendance in Charleston but was happy the two teams played well. He was also pleased the film crew got a lot done in their time in West Virginia. The film was nearly complete with only the 1938 championship game and President Carr’s introductory stand-up to shoot.

On January 1, 1939  Carr announced that the NFL’s promotional movie titled Champions of the Gridiron would be released sometime in March. Produced by Industrial Pictures of Detroit, the nearly one-hour film was almost ready to be shown in theaters across the country. In the opening scene of the film, Carr is sitting at his desk in his Columbus office and introduces what the following movie is all about:

     “In presenting Champions of the Gridiron, the National Football League, in conjunction with General Mills Incorporated, has produced an entertaining and instructive picture that should appeal to every member of the family. In this picture you will see most of the outstanding college stars of the past few years. Many of whom are the greatest football players of all time, now playing postgraduate football. For those whose only interest in the game is that of a spectator, these experts will analyze and demonstrate intricate plays in order to make the enjoyment of watching football more complete. To perspective football players in elementary schools, high schools, and colleges, these champions will demonstrate how the game should be played to obtain the maximum of efficiency, with the greatest amount of safety. For this great fall sport has a minimum of hazards for personal injury if properly played.

     Above all, the object of this picture is to demonstrate to the people of America that clean, competitive athletics, combined with the proper nourishing food and good habits will develop healthy, rugged bodies and clean active minds. Such as have made the youth of America the finest in all the world.”

NFL President Joe F. Carr at desk for opening scene, Champions of Gridiron, 1939 version.

Carr was excited about the potential of the promotional movie. It would give the NFL more exposure as the film would play in movie houses from coast to coast. Carr started lining up premieres in NFL cities, as well as other parts of the country, including his hometown of Columbus.

Title Page for 1939 version of Champions of the Gridiron

In March of 1939 the NFL’s promotional film Champions of the Gridiron made its premiere in theaters across the country. It was also made available for free to colleges, schools, and athletic and fraternal clubs. After five months of shooting, the nearly one-hour film - which was produced from 300,000 feet of film, narrated by [Bob Hall] and the game action described by Harry Wismer of WJR radio in Detroit (owned by Lions owner G. A. Richards), and supervised by Dutch Clark - was released to glowing reviews. After a private showing Carr was extremely pleased with what he saw:

“This film displays the greatest numbers of star players ever gathered in football films. It not only provides exceptional entertainment but also makes simple, the games technique as played by the leading elevens in this country . . . contains more action, thrilling entertainment and instruction matter than any football film ever shown. This film is certain to be very popular with football fans, young and old and others who may be strangers to the gridiron spectacle.”

The five-reel film featured footage of all ten NFL teams in actual games and practices, as well as close-ups - shot in both slow-motion action and regular speed. NFL stars such as Sammy Baugh, Don Hutson, Mel Hein, Whizzer White, Ed Danowski, Ace Parker, Dutch Clark, and Jack Manders are predominately featured throughout the movie. The film concludes with the thrilling finish of the 1938 NFL Championship Game won by the New York Giants over the Green Bay Packers. Several NFL cities had free viewings including a showing in New York for 100 Big Apple sportswriters and radio personalities. In attendance was newly hired Navy football coach

Swede Larson, who was very impressed by the film: “The National Football League would be doing great public service to show this film in every high school in the country. It is the finest football movie I have ever seen.”

One report in the Green Bay Press-Gazette announced that a “total of 154,425 persons attended 237 showings of the National Football League’s official motion picture, ‘Champions of the Gridiron,’ during the month of April.” The promotional film was a hit.

1939 ad for Champions of the Gridiron (Source: Carbondale, IL Daily Free-Press, 12-13-1939) 

Viewers for Champions of the Gridiron (Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette, 5-16-1939) 

While sitting at his desk in Columbus, Carr wrote a letter to Bert Bell and talked to Art Rooney on the phone about having the 1939 summer meeting in Pittsburgh. He also made arrangements to premiere the film in his hometown. Cosponsored by the Ohio State Journal and the Agonis Club of Columbus, Champions of the Gridiron was set up to be shown at the RKO Palace Theater on Saturday May 13, just a block west from Carr’s office at 16 East Broad. At 9:30 a.m. “several thousand people” crammed into the Palace Theater to watch the NFL’s newest promotional idea. Attending the premiere were the OhioState Journal Quarterback Club, Agonis Club, Central Ohio Football Officials Association, and many coaches and players of Central Ohio colleges, universities, and high schools. One of the coaches watching was Ohio State head coach Francis Schmidt, who was also impressed by the film. “It was the most complete showing of its kind that I have ever seen.”

1939 Ohio State head coach Francis Schmidt at showing of COG (Source: Ohio State Journal, May 14, 1939) 

All the hard work of putting together the film was paying off for President Carr, as the movie was reaching a big audience. It had done what he thought it would do. Little did he know it would be the last presidential duty he would accomplish in office. A few days after the Saturday premiere of the film, Carr completed a long week of work at the NFL headquarters and looked forward to a quiet weekend at home. It had been a very productive off-season up to this point, and Carr had reached the pinnacle of his career. The vision he had for the NFL as a big-time, big-city sport was taking shape right in front of his own eyes. As Carr reflected on his nearly two decades as NFL president, he must have felt very proud of how the NFL had grown up from its small-town disorganized roots to having a prominent place in the sporting world. But suddenly the NFL family was about to have its world shattered.

On May 20, 1939 Joe Carr passed away from a heart attack. He was 59 years old.

His work was continued by Carl Storck, who was elected President to replace him, and the other NFL owners. During the 1939 NFL season, footage was shot of several games and the season ending Championship Game against the Packers and Giants. An updated version of Champions of the Gridiron was produced and sponsored by General Mills. Storck did the introduction speech from his desk in Dayton. Sportscaster Bob Kelley narrated the film and Red Barber replaced Harry Wismer to describe the game action, including the championship game. The film was released in 1940.

NFL President Carl Storck in opening scene of 1940 version of Champions of the Gridiron

Washington quarterback Sammy Baugh about to throw pass in COG film.

A year later the NFL office was turned upside down with the removal of Storck for Elmer Layden, one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, as NFL Commissioner, and the promotional film, Champions of the Gridiron, went away.

If Joe Carr hadn’t passed away promotional films like Champions of the Gridiron would have continued for the NFL. Who knows, maybe NFL Films would’ve started early.

More scenes from Champions of the Gridiron 

 

1951 Browns in a "Tampa-2" Zone with a Sam Blitz

 By John Turney 

This is 1951 in a Browns-Bears game in Chicago. The Bears on offense in dark jerseys, the Browns on defense in white jerseys. 

Of course, the Browns personnel is a bit different than the Bucs 4-3 defense—the Browns are in a 5-2 but the right defensive end is 6-5, 250/260-pound Len Ford in a 2-point stance. So, he looks like a linebacker. 

We can see the secondary is lined up with the safeties 2-deep and they take 1/2 the field. The corners take the flat. The far side linebacker dogs. 

Len Ford dogs then drops to the hook/curl zone in form of a zone blitz.  

The Mike is #74 and he drops in between the safeties, what is now called the "hole".  He does carry the end for a while which tells us it is zone and not Cover-2 latch where he'd play the end all over the field. "Latch" is usually the SAM taking the tight end anyway, here it's the Mike covering him short to the hole then letting him go to the safeties. 

Here is the play in slow motion action—

Sure looks like a Tampa-2 with a linebacker blitz. No?

Did Jerry Rice Really Run a 4.7 Forty?

 By John Turney  

Did Jerry Rice run a 4.7 forty?

Probably. 

And most definitely not. 

However, one anonymous Reddit posted put this together—

So, we looked into it some more because we posted tangentially on this before.

We found this, a 4.4 in college—

Private workouts of 4.44 to 4.5—

However, most intriguing was his time in the 1987 NFL's fastest man competition—

He ran a 6.344 in a 60-yard dash. In this competition, there are advantages and disadvantages to a football forty times. One advantage is that you start in blocks. You also have other racers to push you. 

The disadvantage is electronic timing that goes in on a gun start rather than your reaction. There is a slight reaction time on a gun start as opposed to a hand-timed test, going on your motions. And the hand-timer may be the one with an ever-so-slight lag in starting the clock.

So, how does a 6.3 60-yard dash translate to a 40? Hard to say, as we saw on the football field, Rice ran away from people in the open field, so he may not have been a fast starter and been very fast in the final 20 yards.

We just don't know without the tape. Some guys explode out of the blocks, think back to the juiced Ben Johnson in the 1988 Olympics. He just blew everyone away out of the blocks, but the long-legged Carl Lewis actually was gaining in that 100-meter race and set the then-world record ... but no doubt Johnson was faster out of the blocks, even though there were PEDs involved. We just use that as an example that folks can see on YouTube.

So, is it possible that Rice ran a 4.7 at some point with hand-timing perhaps or on a bad day? He's said he ran slower at times when he was younger. Could there have been a one-off during the run-up to the 1985 NFL Draft? Sure. But it would have countered by more believable times. There are reports that Bill Wlash timed him at 4.59. Gil Brandt, the Cowboys' scouting guru, said he timed him multiple times, none lower than 4.55.

Was the 4.7 a fair time for him? No way. That 60-yard time of 6.344 translates to roughly (at worst) a 4.6 forty and, at best a maybe a 4.45 or so.

Calling him a 4.7 forty guy is wrong. Saying he was a consistent 4.4 is saying a time that is probably too fast as well, though there is reporting for both. 

Let's call it 4.45 to 4.55ish—Rice could run. Especially on a football field where the only clock is on the scoreboard. 

The issue is more that the anecdote is used to discredit the value of a 40-yard dash time, as in "Rice plays faster than his forty time" narrative we still see and hear. We, yeah, because it was not "his forty time." Not really.

12 MIGHTY ORPHANS: Bringing Rusty Russell to Life

 By TJ Troup 

Coach TJ Troup

When Joe Horrigan of the Pro Football Hall of Fame recommended me to George Clooney's production company never dreamed that I would make not one, but two, period piece football movies as the football coordinator. 

While this story is about my time in Fort Worth Texas, there will be some compare and contrast to Leatherheads. Beginning with casting, worked with a real pro in Ms. Tona Dalhquist on Leatherheads, and her two very capable assistants; Kellie & Greg Smith. The producers and more specifically Clooney knew that without a background in movies,  I would need help, and boy oh boy, did George Aguilar come through. 

As the stunt coordinator, he taught and guided me, and learned my lessons well. We shot so many quality football scenes in Leatherheads that did not make the movie, and the main reason why those scenes worked so well was the dedication of the actors, and "my" football extras. So many fine athletes that were mature, and easy to work with made my life on set so much easier. 

Pictured below is the team photo of the Chicago Buffaloes right before filming the championship game. 

Troup (in flag rugby shirt) on the set of Leatherheads

Though could make statements about so many of these fine men----standing next to me in the photo is former Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Will Bouton. When told to "scrape the c-gap" and tackle Dodge Connelly, Will would do his assignment to perfection. How can you fail when you have that kind of background, skill, and knowledge? 

Clooney assigned Aguilar and me to choose six men to be on his team to fill the roster, and some of them are still friends to this day! Frank Kucinic, Donny Stamper, Bobby Jordan, and Zack Kay responded in whatever role Clooney asked of them. Sharing this brings about the two basic questions that needed to be answered to make 12 Mighty Orphans—would the young actors respond to my teaching, and be believable as Mighty Mites? and after so many outstanding football extras in Leatherheads, would I be fortunate enough to find young men willing to dedicate themselves to be the opponents of the Orphans? August of 2019 arrive in Fort Worth and begin this saga. 

Working with a quality group of folks with one HUGE exception in Texas would help on a daily basis. Being involved with so many people and learning who they are as people, and their dedication to their craft was a joy, and still remain in contact with some of them to this day. After reading a script that was just awesome,  just knew that this movie could be an all-time classic, but first things first------the logistics of training camp. 

Very fortunate to meet the head coach at All Saints Episcopal School; Mr. Aaron Beck, and were able to use his facilities. Coach Beck is pictured below as one of the referees in the movie, and in the photo are two of his former players Denver Bush and Mason Suitt. Not only does Coach Beck run a top notch program, he became a valued friend. 

Was informed that there would be a young man assisting me on a daily basis as my assistant/associate football coordinator, and Mr. Joshua Moody came through with flying colors.  Our age difference might have worked in our favor, as he was just damn outstanding in relating to the young actors, and football extras. Joshua had played ball, was a quality athlete, open-minded to learning 1938 football, and filled roles during filming that are just not my strength. He has a very bright future in the movie industry. 

Speaking of bright futures? The young actors during camp HAD to learn football stances, strategy, and how to begin to function as a team, so they could in fact BE the Mighty Mites. Not sure where their careers will take them, yet you just never know, maybe this film will be a springboard for a long successful career? Even Robert Duvall (Boo Radley), and Martin Sheen had to start somewhere? Camp over, and though the young actors demonstrated that they could look like a football team, they were leaving me to shoot a movie, and would be quite a while until we shot football, would they remember their lessons? 

During camp, the Orphans/Mighty Mites learned the strategy that separated Coach Rusty Russell from other coaches of that era. Was told and read that Rusty Russell was the "godfather" of the spread formation, but as a man who relishes defining terms—spread formation can mean many, MANY alignments. Is it doubles, or trips, and is there motion? 

This was my opportunity to separate myself from other so-called movie football coordinators who misalign their players due to the fact they don't know the strategy of the era they are filming or don't care. Producer Houston Hill was not only willing to help me, but he also introduced me to Russ Morton. Mr. Morton is Rusty Russell's grandson, and he had vintage quality film of Rusty Russell's offense from his days at SMU. 

Those three hours at Russ Morton's home remain treasured moments in my life. Not only easy to talk to, he understood the game and is a terrific Rusty Russell storyteller. Mission accomplished, and the plays are drawn up. Those of you who read my stories here at the Journal know how much learning strategies of the different eras mean to me. Rusty Russell used huge offensive line splits(that is where football begins), aligned his receivers and backs in a way to be able to run both inside and outside, and "flood" the field in a way that always gave his quarterbacks open receivers. 

Though the Masonic Orphanage had many fine players, this movie has two men that went on to outstanding NFL careers. Hard-hitting Hardy Brown, and Tex Coulter. Every young Mighty Mite was important to Rusty, yet he knew that he had to out coach his contemporaries to win. Would have loved to listen to Dutch Meyer of TCU fame sit down and discuss the passing game with Rusty Russell in the mid '30s—for a moment think of Slingin' Sammy Baugh, and his varied use of wing formations, and then picture C.D. Sealy under center using the Russell version of the t-formation. Having a daughter drawing up plays with crayons inspired Rusty, and wreaked havoc on opponents. Ok, the actors have learned techniques and plays, and away they go to film the movie scenes sans football, and now comes my greatest challenge. 

Was promised 61 candidates to be the football extras(the orphanage opponents), but only 46 show up in October for the try-out. They were told beforehand to show up in cleats, shorts, in a white t-shirt, with their name printed by a big sharpie on the front. How in the hell can I use you, if I don't know your damn name. Some of the 46 were flat-out pathetic—they just flat lied, they never played, and stunk at doing the drills, and a few were not dressed properly. They were warned that the final drill.....called the humiliation drill would be eye-opening. The drill is a simple passing drill based upon timing and the ability to throw accurately. 

Was concerned that none of the so-called "passers" would measure up, and my concerns, unfortunately, came true, thus the humiliation drill—where young men were embarrassed by a 68-year-old man who could throw the football more accurately than them. Thus in one of the key scenes in the movie, I am throwing the pigskin (as I also did in Leatherheads). Joshua and myself met for pizza, and he responded to my demand of a list of those he thought would help us as football extras. 

Amazingly his list and mine were almost identical, and we both believed we had about 15 young men who could do what we needed, and we would keep an additional seven to fill out the rosters. There is no way this movie could be made with just 15 quality football extras. My wife used to live in the Dallas- Fort Worth area and one of her friends had a grandson who as a senior in high school, and was an outstanding football player, thus Wyatt Gay came through with his one scene sacking the quarterback. There are times you just have to adapt, adjust, and persevere. 

Troup on the set of 12 Might Orphans

Earlier mentioned Coach Beck, and one of his former players Mason Suitt who was a godsend in being able to do whatever was needed. Since I have not seen the movie yet, cannot tell you how strong the quality is of the football scenes, but working with a cinematographer like David McFarland was a joy. McFarland and his crew demonstrated they know how to shoot a scene. 

Finally, the two men who might reap the benefits of this movie and are ultimately responsible for it. Lane Garrison shared with me how he viewed each scene should be shot, and we worked well together(plus he can actually run a decent slant pattern), and additionally, he is one of the actors in the movie and helped write the screenplay. Really, and truly believe that you do not tread into an area that is not your expertise, and there is no doubt I will never be a director, but Stephen Tyler Roberts is, and though just one man's opinion—he has a vision, and a future. Asking and answering questions of Ty was a goal that was achieved, and as such we now have a movie to go see.