The NFL Loses a Special Teams Demon and Great Special Teams Coach—Rusty Tillman

 By John Turney 

Word passed over the Internet transom today that Rusty Tillman passed away on March 14 at age 75.

"The Seahawks website issued the following statement, “The Seahawks family is saddened to hear about the sudden passing of Rusty Tillman. We send our condolences and warm thoughts to Rusty’s family and friends during this time. Following an eight-year NFL playing career, Rusty joined Seattle’s coaching staff in 1979 and helped Seattle form its football identity for 16 years through the 1994 season, serving on the staffs of Jack Patera, Chuck Knox, and Tom Flores."

Tillman played linebacker for Washington from 1970-77 and was named as one of the top 70 Washington players of all-time and according to WashingtonFootball.com he was "nicknamed “The King” for his special teams mastery. He played seven different special teams positions and served as special teams captain from 1974 to 1977. He was a member of Washington’s 1972 NFC Championship squad."

Tillman was named by Dan Daley as the 1970s Special Teamer on his All-Decade team in his book Pro Football Chronicle. In 1974 Tillman had 15 tackles and 42 successful blocks on potential tackles and scored an 88.8 grade by George Allen. In 1975 he graded even higher with a 90.6 with 10 tackles and 55 blocks.

In 2018 we named Tillman our retroactive NFL Special Teams Player of the Year in 1974 and the NFC Special Teams Player of the Year in 1973 and 1974 (and we considered him for Second-team All-NFC for 1975). 

In 1974 Tillman had 15 tackles and 42 successful blocks on potential tackles and scored an 88.8 grade by George Allen. In 1975 he graded even higher with a 90.6 with 10 tackles and 55 blocks.

After retiring from football, Tillman was a special teams coach for the Seattle Seahawks from 1979 to 1991 and then a defensive coordinator. Under Tillman, the Seahawks were among the best, often THE best special teams units in the NFL. His teams featured Pro Bowl players like Fredd Young and Rufus Porter who went to two Pro Bowls each as core special teams players. 

Tillman's special team units led the league in punt coverage three times (1981, 1983, and 1985) and led in kickoff coverage twice (in 1982 and 1983) and once in punt return average (1985).

Tillman moved on to be the Seahawks defensive coordinator from 1992-94. He also was a defensive coordinator for Tampa Bay in 1995 and as special teams coordinator for the Raiders in 1997 and again he was a defensive coordinator for the Colts in 1998 and then from 2003 to 2005 he was a special teams coordinator once again from 2003-05. 

He also spent time as a head coach for the New Jersey Hitman of the XFL. 

Timman was a Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Arizona) Lumberjack and is a member of that school Hall of Fame in 1984. Tillman was a collegiate walk-on twice from 1966-69. He began in Tucson with the University of Arizona, where he played for two seasons. He transferred to NAU where he played defensive end, linebacker, tight end, and also punted—setting an Axer record for punting average (44.5 yards a punt). Students who went to school with him remember him as an outgoing student-athlete, the proverbial "Big Man on Campus" if you will.

Tillman, a native of Beloit, Wisconsin, but attended  Agua Fria High school in Avondale, Arizona. He 

He is survived by his ex-wife Lorri, daughters Rachael and Emily, and sons Joshua, Jason  Jacob.

Filling out Lawrence Taylor's Career Stats

 By John Turney 

In the 1994 New York Giants Media Information Guide there was a page dedicated to the great Lawrence Taylor's career stats. We've posted a still of it plus our version of his career stats

right below it—

As can be seen, there are some differences. The tackles we use are from the gamebooks, not the coaching stats but we've posted on that before. We just prefer using the gamebooks where possible to be able to be consistent for all teams. 

We also pulled the passes defended from the gamebooks and also used highlights from game tapes to increase LT's forced fumbles from 33 to 48. We think that 48 is a more accurate figure. Seven of those forces we found from the line-by-line text of the gamebooks and eight were from game tapes highlights to break it down more specifically. 

Enjoy. 

The (Seemingly) Forgotten Albert Lewis

 By John Turney

Riddle me this Batman, why doesn't Albert Lewis get mentioned more often in the discussion of great cornerbacks?

Lewis was someone who did it all as a corner—and more.

he began his career as a nickel back and was (in our view) one of the top 2 in the NFL that season and after starter Gary Green was traded to the Rams, Lewis took over the left corner spot though he would often still move inside in nickel. 

The mid-1980s were kind of a golden age for corners and it was tough to get All-Pro honors, though he got some—he was "above the line" five times from 1986-80, though 1985 and 1993 were "above the line worthy" if you will.

He was tall, one of the last great tall corners, 6-2, maybe even a bigger, taller one with long arms and good hips (rare for a taller corner). He was studious once saying " “My focus is hypnotic. I put myself in a trance. When I’m in total focus – absolutely there – I can meet my fears head-on and defeat them.”

In addition to his height and long arms, Lewis could run, reported a 4.4 forty guy coming out of Grambling—said Joel Buchsbaum "Excellent in man-to-man coverage and can run with the racehorses."

Moreover, from the slot, Lewis could blitz (12.5 career sacks) and be a force in the run game (33.5 tackles for losses, aside from sacks. He could also pop a ball out of a receiver's hands (14 forced fumbles) and had 205 passes defended to go with his 42 picks—and that's with fellow Chiefs CB Kevin Ross getting "most of the business" as former Chiefs coach Hank Stram would day—teams avoided Lewis if at all possible. 

After eleven seasons in Kansas City and the new free agency opportunities afforded to NFL players Lewis spent his final five seasons with the Raiders, a typical Al Davis signing... boy did he love corners who could cover and pass rushers. He was obsessed with them and Lewis fit that mold.

The thing that separates Lewis from his peers though is his value as a special teams player. 

Simply put he's on the shortlist for the best punt blocker in NFL history. Not only did he block ten he deflected a pair of others and tackle a punter as well (the same thing as a block, really) and he affected countless others. 

If you were to pick a corner that had complete value, Lewis has to be one near the top of your list, cover man or zone, run support, blitzing, outside or slot, and high value as a special teamer. He was a guy who sure checked a lot of boxes. A lot.

Raiders to Sign Yannick Ngakoue

 By John Turney 

Published reports state that defensive end  Yannick Ngakoue will sign with the Las Vegas Raiders as a free agent. This will be Ngakoue's fourth team in three years. 

He's an interesting player in that he fits his times. He's small (6-2, 246-252 or so pounds) but can get to the quarterback (45.5 sacks in 5 seasons) and when he gets there can separate the ball from the passer (18 forced fumbles since he entered the NFL in 2016, only Khalil Mack has more). 

Heck, in 2019 he had 8 run stuffs. 

Ngakoue will be a good fit with the Raiders. They need an edge presence and can limit his snaps to keep him from wearing down. Though there have been some questionable moves by Mike Mayock and Jon Gruden, this one seems solid. It's a talent fit and a scheme fit.  

1967 Pro Football Hall of Fame Candidates

 By John Turney

Steve Hartman 

We caught up with Steve Hartman in the last couple of months and realized he's still a monumentally busy man. He does TV in Los Angeles and Radio in San Diego, often on the same day. 

He does research that envelops him for years and it's really the kind of guy you'd want as a lifeline if they ever had "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" on television again. In fact, he once was. And not just for sports—for Academy Awards as well. He can tell you the winners for that, who's in the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame and when (high school friend Jane Wiedlin's band the Go-Gos are up this year) and so on.

Then comes sports Halls of Fame, few, if anyone knows them better than Hartman. One of his research finds was the preliminary list for 1967 which included 77 people, including 15 coaches and contributors. 

Way back when Bob Carroll published Steve's list in the Coffin Corner the magazine published by the Pro Football Researchers Association and Hartman bolded those on the list who had been elected to the Hall of Fame.

In speaking to Hartman we asked if we could update his article and he said that was fine so here it is with those elected since also bolded but also underlined. As can be seen, only five of this 1967 list have been added in the last twenty or so years but there are some names that we think should have at least made it with the Centennial Class, namely Wistert and Lewellen and some who were not on this list as well. 

Here is what he wrote a couple of decades ago—

**********

"We're all used to seeing the Pro Football Hall of Fame's "Final 15" at election time each year. In 1967, the entire list of nominees was published. Eventually, 34 of the 78 nominees would be enshrined. (They are marked in bold type.)

1920-32
          BACKS                              LINEMEN             
          Heinie Benkert                     Francis "Jug" Earpe 
          Benny Friedman                     Luke Johnsos        
          Verne Lewellen                     Jim McMillen        
          Fritz Pollard                      George Murtagh      
          Glenn Presnell                     Bob "Nasty" Nash    
          George "Wildcat" Wilson            Al Nesser           
                                             Duke Osborn         
                                             Duke Slater         
                                             Herb Stein          

1933-1943
          BACKS                              LINEMEN
          Cliff Battles                      Charley Brock
          Ward Cuff                          George Christensen
          Beattie Feathers                   Glenn "Turk" Edwards  
          Marshall Goldberg                  Bill Hewitt          
          Alphonse "Tuffy" Leemans           Jim Lee Howell
          Clarence "Ace" Parker              Frank "Bruiser" Kinard
          Ken Strong                         Wayne Millner 
          Byron "Whizzer" White              Joe Stydahar

1944-1963
          OFFENSIVE BACKS               OFFENSIVE ENDS         
          Frankie Albert                Tom Fears
          Tony Canadeo                  Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch
          Charley Conerly               Dante Lavelli
          Pat Harder                    Pete Pihos
          Bobby Layne
          Marion Motley                 OFFENSIVE LINEMEN
          Joe Perry                     Frank Gatski
          Charley Trippi                Abe Gibron
          Norm Van Brocklin             Lin Houston
          Doak Walker                   Al Wistert
               
          DEFENSIVE BACKS               DEFENSIVE LINEMEN    
          Jack Butler                   Chuck Bednarik
          Jack Christiansen             Gene Brito
          Tommy James                   George Connor 
          Warren Lahr                   Art Donovan
          Emlen Tunnell                 Len Ford
                                        Leo Nomellini
                                        Ernie Stautner
                                        Bill Willis
                                        Alex Wojciechowicz

FOUNDERS-COACHES-OFFICIALS 
Charley Bidwill-St. Louis Cardinals owner, 1933-47
Paul Brown-Cleveland Browns head coach and general manager, 1946-62
Potsy Clark-coach, Portsmouth Spartans, Detroit Lions, Brooklyn Dodgers, 1931-40
Jack Cusack-Canton Bulldogs manager, 1911-17
Ralph Hay-Canton Bulldogs owner 1919-22
Lee Joannes-founder, Green Bay Packers, 1933-66
Ralph Jones-coach, Chicago Bears, 1930-32
Earle "Greasy" Neale-coach, Philadelphia Eagles, 1941-50 
Dan Reeves-Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams owner, 1941-66
Harry Robb- game official, 1925-45
Clark Shaughnessy-coach, Los Angeles Rams, 1948-49
Buck Shaw-coach, San Francisco 49ers, 1946-54; Philadelphia Eagles, 1958-60
Jock Sutherland-coach, Brooklyn Dodgers 1940-41; Pittsburgh Steelers, 1946-47
Andrew Turnbull-Green Bay Packers owner, 1923-28
Arch Ward-founder College All-Star Game, 1934 and AAFC, 1944"

**********

Colorization of the Day—1936 NFL Title Game

 By John Turney 

Most Defensive Scores—All-Time

 By John Turney 

Here is a simple chart listing all defensive scores—pick 6s, scoop and scores, safeties, and also an addendum of the same thing in the playoffs for completeness.

Rod Woodson, Darren Sharper,  Charles Woodson, and Ronde Barber sit atop the list. 

However, if you count playoffs Barber and Aeneas Williams take the crown.