Pro Football Weekly's 1982 NFL Players of the Week

THINGS YOU CAN NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON

Complete Lists
By John Turney

Beginning in 1978 Pro Football Weekly chose players of the week and were the only organization to do so. Here is the 1982 list:

Mark Moseley, the AP MVP in 1982 won the Golden Toe Award three times.

1980 Cincinnati Bengals: Last NFL Team to Add TV Numbers

UNIFORM ODDITY
By John Turney

The Bengals had a classic, clean uniform from 1968-80 and they remained mostly the same during that time. There were small changes in the width of pants stripes and in socks and a change in the color of facemasks but the most drastic change was in 1980 when they added TV numbers to the sleeves of their jerseys. They were the last NFL team to add them.

"TV numbers," are those placed on the sleeves or shoulders to assist announcers and viewers in identifying players from various camera angles.
Before:

After:

TV numbers were added to the sleeves of jerseys by NFL teams in 1956 when 8 of the 12 teams began the practice.  By 1962 all NFL and AFL teams had them on their uniforms and that continued until 1968 when the Bengals joined the AFL.

According to Bengals.com the NFL did not have a rule requiring teams to place TV numbers on uniforms until 1991, but it was really moot since by 1980 all teams had them.

Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch's Quintuple Crown

LOOKING BACK
By John Turney

In 1951 Elroy Hirsch became the only player before (or since) to lead the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, yards per catch and receiving touchdowns and the longest reception thus giving him not a triple crown, but a quintuple crown.

There have been a couple of receivers who led the league in four categories but lack that elusive fifth category. Here are Hirsch's career stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.com:

And here is that 1951 season's game-by-game statistics, again, courtesy of Pro Football Reference.com:

Source: Pro Football Reference.com

Also, throw in that Hirsch played some safety late in games to prevent deep passes and also was part of the NFL Championship season. It will take some doing for any receiver to ever equal Hirsch's 1951 season.

Pro Football Weekly's 1981 NFL Players of the Week

THINGS YOU CAN NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON

Complete Lists
By John Turney

Beginning in 1978 Pro Football Weekly chose players of the week and were the only organization to do so. Here is the 1981 list:

Pro Football Weekly's 1980 NFL Players of the Week

THINGS YOU CAN NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON
Complete Lists
By John Turney

Beginning in 1978 Pro Football Weekly chose players of the week and were the only organization to do so. Here is the 1980 list:

1980 Pro Football Weekly Players of the Week

Pro Football Weekly's 1979 NFL Players of the Week

THINGS YOU CAN NEVER LAY YOUR HANDS ON
Complete Lists
By John Turney

Beginning in 1978 Pro Football Weekly chose players of the week and were the only organization to do so. Here is the 1979 list, and not they added a defensive player of the week, something they did not do in 1978.

1979 Pro Football Weekly Players of the Week
         Offense                                  Defense                               Golden Toe
Week 1         A. Rashad, Min                       L. Alzado, Cle                            Cockroft, Cle
Week 2         Steve Grogan, NE                    Tom Beasley, Pit                     J. Evans, Cle
Week 3         C. Williams, SD                      M. Blair, Min                          T Franklin, Phi
Week 4         Jerry Butler, Buf                       A. Still, KC                             T. Fritsch, Hou
Week 5         Joe Ferguson, Buf                     J. Bunting, Phi                        M. Moseley, Wa
Week 6         Billy Taylor, NYG                   P. Thomas, LA                 L. Prestridge, Den
Week 7         Dan Fouts, SD                            Ken Stone, StL                    D. White, Dal
Week 8         Ricky Bell, TB                        Coy Bacon, Was                      J. West, SD
Week 9         Frank Lewis, Buf                     Jim Browner, Cin                    Ray Guy, Oak
Week 10       Terry Bradshaw, Pit                 Randy Gradishar, Den             R. Septien, Dal
Week 11       Chuck Muncie, NO                 V. Den Herder, Mia                 Mike Wood, SD
Week 12       Jim Zorn, Sea                          Bob Swenson, Den               N. Mike-Meyer, Buf
                                                                                                                                         T. Fritsch, Hou
Week 13        Terry Bradshaw, Pit                Jim Haslett, Buf                       Matt Bahr, Pit
                       Earl Campbell, Hou
Week 14         Joe Theismann, Was               Gary Fencik, Chi                   von Schamann, Mia
Week 15         Ottis Anderson, StL                Jerry Robinson, Phi                 Jim Breech, Oak
Week 16         Walter Payton, Chi                  Raymond Clayborn, NE         T. Birney, GB

Dennis Byrd's 1990 Season

LOOKING BACK

By John Turney

We posted Dennis Byrd's Career Stats yesterday but today we will focus on 1990, his breakout year in which he had 13 sacks in his Eagle/3-tecnique position.

Below is a list of the All-Pro selections by the major media and some less-than-major media organizations. The consensus All-Pro defensive tackles were Ray Childress and Michael Dean Perry but there were other tackles who were All-Pro. Jerome Brown was a First-team All-Pro by the AP,  and a couple of others also were All-Pro by those other organizations.

Click to enlarge:

Byrd was a Second-team selection by College & Pro Football Newsweekly but didn't get any other notice.

However, was this a case of someone who didn't get the honors they deserved? Hard to say, Byrd was in the New York market and his prowess was well known, but when reviewing that stats for the players who garnered at least honorable mention All-Pro, Byrd shows well.

In that era some of the All-Pro polls selection one defensive tackle and one nose tackle, others just picked two tackles. Also, some of the voters picked the nickel position for a player, as is the case for both Pierce Holt and Kevin Fagan. Both were starters in the 49ers base 3-4 defense but would play defensive tackle in the 49ers nickel defense which employed 4 linemen, with Charles Haley as one of the ends and Holt and Fagan were the tackles.

Another anomaly for 1990 is Bill Pickel got a vote in the AP poll, but that was odd since Pickel only started three games, all at defensive end for an injured Howie Long. His statistics show that he didn't play a lot of snaps that season and the vote he got seems a bit dubious.

Jerome Brown is an example of a player who may have gotton First-team All-Pro recognition in a year he didn't deserve it. In 1989 he had a monster year with 10.5 sacks and 17 stuffs, but in 1990 he had one sack and three stuffs. In 1989 he should have been All-Pro, not 1990.

Perry had 23 sacks and stuffs (stacks) while Childress had 18.5 plays behind the line. Byrd had the same as Childress. Henry Thomas had a fine season, one in which Gordon Forbes of USA Today chose him for All-Pro and Larry Felser of the Buffalo News selected him, along with Football News as All-NFC. 

Most of the rest are nose tackles and readers can see their stats, often not getting as many big plays often due to where they have to align. 

But it seems that among the 4-3 defensive tackles Byrd ranks among the top, and his season certainly ranks as All-Pro quality, if not in name.