Sport Magazine's 1976 NFL Players of the Week

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

In 1976 Sport Magazine chose NFL Players of the Week, the only publication we know of that did so. They were announced on the weekly NFL Films show "Pro Football Playback" with the exception of week one.  The winners were given a small crystal award designed by Tiffany & Co in the shape of a rectangle embossed with "Sport MVP" on the base:

1976 NFL Players of the Week

Week  1-No selection

Week  2-Steve Grogan (Patriots)

Week  3- Dan Fouts (Chargers)

Week  4- James Harris (Rams)

Week  5- Roger Staubach (Cowboys)

Week  6- Jack Lambert (Steelers)

Week  7-Chuck Foreman (Vikings)

Week  8- Delvin Williams (49ers)

Week  9- Fran Tarkenton (Vikings)

Week 10-Fran Tarkenton (Vikings)

Week 11-Mike Thomas (Redskins)

Week 12- O.J. Simpson (Bills)

Week 13-Walter Payton (Bears)

Week 14-Ed Podolak (Chiefs)

A Public Service Announcement from the Pittsburgh Steelers and Lynn Swann

Vote this election day!

THIEVES: A Baker's Dozen

LOOKING BACK
By T.J. Troup

On September 26, 2016, Matt Derrick of Chiefs.com wrote a story detailing Marcus Peters and his interception total.

While it was an interesting article with an excellent premise; his research was very lazy in that he wrote, "Prior to 1960, game-by-game statistics are more ragged and the NFL game considerably different. Only two players recorded more than 12 interceptions as a rookie, Dick “Night Train” Lane (14) for Los Angeles in 1952 and Dan Sandifer (13) with Washington in 1948. Further research would have shown that plenty of information is available for that pre-1960 era.

That said, let's look at the criteria and finally give credit to the best "thieves". Who holds the record for most interceptions in their first 24 games as a player?

Entering his 24th game today Peters has 13 interceptions, and he may add to his total, yet he would not be at the top of the list.

Let's start with technically a man who is not on the list. Milt Davis played one game for Detroit in '56, but in his first 24 games as a Baltimore Colt he intercepted 14 (he tied for the league lead in 1957).

Howie Livingston was a Navy frogman in WWII, and played football at Fullerton Junior College before joining the Giants. In his first 24 games Howie recorded 14 interceptions from 1944 into 1946 (he led the league in 1944).

Next up is one of the most under appreciated right corners as pro football entered into the modern era. James Robert Smith; alias "Tulsa Bob" intercepted 14 for the Lions in '49 and '50.



The last man to intercept 14 is Austin "Goose" Gonsoulin of the Broncos in 1960-61 (he led the AFL in '60).

Earning a Pro Bowl berth his rookie season of 1959 was hard-hitting left safety Dave Baker. Baker set a record in 1960 that will likely never be broken in that he intercepted 9 passes over the course of three games. Baker recorded 15 interceptions in his first 24 games (he tied for the league lead in 1960).

Paul Krause was an instinctive ballhawk as a rookie in 1964 (led the league in picks), and continued on for the first 10 games in '65 to record 16 interceptions.

In the late 60's and into the 70's when Minnesota played Detroit you had two of the men on our list playing against each other, Krause and  Lem Barney.  Barney "jumped" routes, and stole 16 passes in 1967 and the first 10 games of 1968.

There are three men tied at 17 interceptions  for the next spot on our list. They are Hall of Fame safety Emlen Tunnell in 1948-49 (he actually pilfered 17 in his first 20 games), Richard "Night Train" Lane in 1952-53 (his total of 14 in the last nine games of 1952 will never be broken), and the third member - left corner of the Cowboys Everson Walls in 1981-82. Walls may not have been the fastest, but he played the ball in flight like a savvy veteran and displayed excellent hands.

We have now reached the last two on our list. Dan Sandifer played for a handful of teams after he left the Redskins, but his first two years were magnificent as he intercepted 18 passes (leading the  league in 1948).

Topping the list with an amazing total of 23 interceptions in his first 24 games as a pro is Don Doll. The Lions used Doll as both a corner and a safety, and he terrorized "triggermen" around the league. There you have it. The Baker's dozen of interceptors.

Marcus Peters has some excellent company on this COMPLETE list.

The Yucks: Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History

BOOK REVIEW
By John Turney

One of my favorite baseball books is Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and "The Worst Baseball Team in History"—the 1973-1975 Texas Rangers. Why? Because sometimes when things are going wrong for a franchise it makes for a great read.

The same is true for Jason Vuic's new book  The Yucks: Two Years in Tampa with the Losingest Team in NFL History. It is a well-written volume documenting the twenty-six game losing streak the Buccaneers established in 1976 and 1977.

I enjoyed the read of this well-footnoted book and the anecdotes within. As a fan of those teams it gave some insight I didn't have about the foundation of the team and it's establishment. It has lots of quotes from players on that team and from the coach, John McKay. The team in 1976 had a talented defensive line composed of Council Rudolph, Lee Roy Selmon, Dave Pear and Pat Toomay and there are good stories about them and the power struggle between Steve Spurrier and McKay because of Spurrier's reluctance to throw to McKay's son, J.K. McKay.

The book chronicles the ten weeks of two-a-day practices (McKay quote "Football players don't like two-a-day practices, calisthenics or  coaches.  They like ice cream and dances"), the losing streak and the day-to-day struggles of the franchise.

As someone who has over a thousand volumes in his football book collection, this one ranks above most.

Ken Stabler HOF Ring and Jacket Controversy

OPINION
By John Turney

Apparently, it has been the Pro Football Hall of Fame policy to not give the personal items of a Hall of Fame Ring and Hall of Fame Gold Jacket to persons elected to the Hall of Fame after they have passed away.

And apparently, it is not sitting well with the Stabler family and some media and fans. Here are some of the titles of the articles from a Google search:

"Hall of Fame won't give a jacket or a ring to Ken Stabler"

"Ken Stabler was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year"

"Pro Football Hall of Fame won't give ring or jacket to Ken Stabler's family"

"Ken Stabler family denied Hall of Fame jacket, ring"

My question is what size would the ring and jacket be? What purpose would it serve?

The ring's purpose is for the HOF inductee to be able to wear it with pride for his personal achievement. The jacket is usually for the inductee to wear at  Hall of Fame functions but they often wear them to autograph signings and other things as well. The Hall of Fame would be better suited to describe when and where they prefer the HOF inductees to wear the gold jackets, but my understanding is they are preferred to be  saved for functions like the Merlin Olsen Luncheon, which takes place in the Super Bowl cities prior to the big game, and functions such as those.

So, if given to the Stabler family what function would they serve? Would someone wear that ring and jacket, if given? Would a framed wall hanging next to the already given replica of the HOF bust satisfy? Or maybe there will be a new lot to supplement this that includes a ring and jacket.

My second question is did the Len Ford family feel similarly, i.e. did they feel shorted? The Seau family? The Stanfel family? Any others? Maybe they did, maybe social media didn't pick up on those issues, but it has this time.

As one who follows the Hall of Fame and the process fairly closely, it seems there are, perhaps, a few things the HOF could do better but one would have to look awfully hard to find such things. From my observations, the Hall of Fame does a good job in how they treat the inductees and their families in terms of lodging, meals, and travel and many, many other items of a keepsake nature. Adding a jacket and ring that would not serve their intended purpose from jump street would add to that largesse.

So, greater minds than mine will make a decision regarding awarding rings and jackets to HOF players who passed before they were inducted, but the whole episode is very off-putting to me in that Stabler was voted into the Hall of Fame, the highest personal honor a player can receive in the NFL and it seems that the good will, efforts and hard work of the Hall of Fame that made that and the celebration afterwards is dismissed, in a reactionary way, by some in the media. The tone of the articles from the link above smack of the view that the Hall of Fame being less than sensitive to the Stabler family.

Trying to paint the Hall of Fame as insensitive or cheap (charges made by social media commenters) will not, in my view, pass muster. In over twenty years of seeing how  things work at the Hall of Fame, nothing could be further from the truth. It seems to me the replica of the Hall of Fame bust is the item that should be more than satisfactory. Most of them are done by master sculptor Blair Buswell and are a work of art, worthy of being an heirloom. Buswell and the other sculptors do a tremendous job for the Hall of Fame in creating the busts and perhaps folks would look into how renowned their work is. Perhaps if they did, they would realize this is a wonderful gift to have in their homes and will last generations.

However, if complaints (of the media) win the day, and these days they often do, the Hall of Fame will have to call their sponsors Kay Jewelers and Haggar Clothing and ask that they make some rings and jackets, but this time, off-the-rack will be fine.

Gold Jacket Video

Pro Football Weekly's 1984 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 1984 list:

Eric Dickerson and Dan Marino were the only repeaters on offense, and Donnie Shell won the award in back-to-back weeks at the end of the season. Paul McFadden won the Golden Toe twice.

Which Offensive Tackles are Hall of Fame Worthy?

In-Depth
By John Turney

Recently, the Talk of Fame Network has been interviewing and writing posts on Hall of Fame candidates who are worthy in many ways but have yet to be in the discussion by making the Final 15 list or even the Final 25 semi-finalist list.

We decided to put up some numbers of the Hall of Fame tackles and compare them to those who are waiting for their chance to perhaps be inducted.

On this list we show the tackles who have been inducted and the games they played, started and their honors. We've excluded Lou Groza in that he was exclusively a kicker for the 1960s, but we could add him in if folks were to object, we don't think it makes much of a difference for the purposes of this exercise. We also include inducted and the games they played, started and their honors. We've excluded Lou Groza in that he was exclusively a kicker for the 1960s, but we could add him in if folks were to object, we don't think it makes much of a difference for the purposes of this exercise. We also include Jim Parker among the Hall of Fame guards though he split time between guard and tackle, but when he was included on many all-time teams it was almost always at guard.

Ron Mix sits atop the list but there should be an explanation. It wasn't until 1967 or so that combined All-AFL-NFL teams were selected, so many of Mix's selections are All-AFLs. In most of his seasons he wasn't competing with Rosey Brown or Forrest Gregg for an All-Pro slot. But, it is also very likely his numbers would have been excellent regardless of how All-Pro, All-AFL, and All-NFL teams were selected. The 1960s are an era where historians need to be accurate in selections to be neither biased against the AFL or for it. In this case we just listed his selections but we are not suggesting he's the best offensive tackle of All-time by being atop this list, just that he was honored many times. Maybe he was the best, but numbers alone wouldn't make that determination in our view.

Click to enlarge:

Note: Jim Parker split his career between tackle and guard, we put him with guards. He was a guard on the NFL 75th Anniversary team, so we let him there, though he could also be on this list as it is a close call.

The final category is one we think should be included in any analysis for linemen and it's the Offensive Lineman of the Year Awards. From the mid-1960s through the mid-2000s there were several groups, including the NFLPA and the NFL Alumni and a couple of others selected, through a vote of players, former players or writers who the best offensive linemen in the league or conference was, regardless of position. Anthony Munoz won one of those awards in six different seasons and we think these awards, along with the consensus All-Pro selections and other factors shed light on players and who may be a cut above, in a group of great players.

Tony Boselli had career-ending injuries and as a result, ranks very low in the longevity part of this table. However, he was a consensus All-Pro three times and was an NFL/AFC Lineman of the Year those same three seasons.

Mike Kenn ranks highest in the longevity portion and in the All-pro portion. His Pro Bowltotal is five, but in one of those oddities that sometimes occur, in 1991 he was a consensus All-Pro but was only a first alternate to the Pro Bowl, so his Pro Bowl number would be higher if not for that.

George Kunz, Lomas Brown and Chris Hinton ranked high in Pro Bowls but were not All-Decade and only Kunz was ever a Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year. Hinton's best position was guard but ended up playing far more as a tackle in the NFL.

We do not envy the position the Hall of Fame voters are in, they have piles of excellent players and when they are compared to those in the Hall they see that sometimes the separation between those in and some of those out is very small.

This chart it shows that the average HOF tackle played 13 years and started 86% of the games they could have in their career. The averaged four consensus All-Pros and six First-team All-Pro selections to go with an average of 8 Pro Bowls. Those not in do have lower numbers, albeit it's a matter of opinion how great the separations.

We fully understand there is more to selecting Hall of Famer than numbers, there are intangibles, the "what they said" type of things where opposing defensive ends may have a comment about who was the toughest they faces, there is team success, the "rings" and other things, but this, we feel gives some perspective for the votes and fans.

We welcome your comments.