NFL Off Season

[Jerry Shugart]

Ricky Watters had nearly ten yds receiving average and was good for a few hundred yds in a year. At the end of his career he put up 1,242 rushing, 613 passing (his 10th and next to the last year in the league :shocked Another reason why he's a guy who could find himself in Canton and likely should at some point.

Yes, Watters deserves to be in the Hall. So do two Cowboy players who were voted as First Team on the 70's All Decade Team--WR Drew Pearson and S Cliff Harris. They are the ONLY members of that First Team who are not in the Hall of Fame.

In a ten-year career, Harris made six straight Pro Bowls (1974-1979) and was named All-Pro at his position three times.

Because of his intense play and reckless abandon, Harris’ teammates nicknamed him ‘Captain Crash.’ Cowboys nemesis, Hall of Fame Washington Redskins coach George Allen, once described Harris as a “rolling ball of butcher knives.”

Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Larry Wilson said of Harris, “I feel Harris is the finest free safety in the business today. He changed the way the position is being played. You see other teams modeling their free safeties around the way Harris plays the pass, and striking fear in everyone on the field because he hits so hard.”. The Cowboys’ defense ranked in the top 10 every year with him in the lineup.​

http://silverandblueblood.com/cliff...test-of-all-the-dc-dynamic-duos#axzz4l7QrsVUN​

 

[Nick M]

I go Brown, Sanders and then it's impossible. Dickerson, LT, Peterson, Smith, Peyton, Sayers. So many truly great backs so very close together.

Dickerson is certainly all that and then some. But I don't think he was a physical as OJ, Brown, and Jackson. Or even Sanders. Not that he wasn't physical, I just think the others are on another level. Yes, Adrian Peterson has those same skills. And lets not forget who good OJ was, just because he is a double murderer. I am only referencing his football play. But his best run might be the Rose Bowl run. Besides being tough, he had great speed. Maybe Bo Jackson speed.

 

[tetelestai]

S Cliff Harris.

Harris had 29 career interceptions.

That puts him tied at 225th all time.

Being ranked 225th isn't going to get you into the HOF.

Ed Reed played one more season than Harris, but had 64 career INT's. That puts him 7th all-time, and that's why Reed will be in the HOF, and Harris never will.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Harris had 29 career interceptions.

So what? Captain Crash was on the First Team 70's All Decade Team. And Pro Football Hall of Fame safety Larry Wilson said of Harris, “I feel Harris is the finest free safety in the business today. He changed the way the position is being played. You see other teams modeling their free safeties around the way Harris plays the pass, and striking fear in everyone on the field because he hits so hard.”

He changed the way the position was played and he was voted on to the '70s All Decade Team but you think he should be excluded because he didn't have enough interceptions!

 

[tetelestai]

you think he should be excluded because he didn't have enough interceptions!

Yep.

Interceptions is pretty much the benchmark for safeties and DB's

29 is extremely low for a career. A 2.9 INT's per year average is extremely low also.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Interceptions is pretty much the benchmark for safeties and DB's

29 is extremely low for a career. A 2.9 INT's per year average is extremely low also.

Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli, who played in the same era as Captain Crash, also had a 2.9 INT's per year average.

But you say that Harris doesn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame!

“When a ball is thrown to a pass receiver,” Harris said, “there is always one moment when the receiver is in tune with the ball, one moment when he's unable to protect himself. If you remember those old western movies, John Wayne would always throw something at the bad guy and then punch him when he's catching it. That's my philosophy. It's all within the rules, but I want to make a receiver aware that I'm there. I want him to he looking for me or thinking about me. When his quarterback calls a pattern over the middle I want him to be thinking, ‘Oh, no.’ Sometimes when a receiver comes out of the huddle he's looking at me in a different way, and then I know it's a pass over the middle.”

Interceptions are nice but Harris put serious hurts on a lot of wide receivers and they were ineffective for the rest of the game!

 

[tetelestai]

Hall of Famer Roger Wehrli, who played in the same era as Captain Crash, also had a 2.9 INT's per year average. And Harris was voted first team All Decade Team and Wehrli was not even first team or second team!

Wehrli had 40 career INT's, and had six seasons with 4 or more INT's. Harris had one season with 4 INT's and another with 5 INT's. Other than those two seasons, Harris never had more than 3 in a season, and had four seasons with just 2 INT's.

Interceptions are nice but Harris put serious hurts on a lot of wide receivers and they were ineffective for the rest of the game!

Maybe you Cowboy's fans thought Harris was tough, but the rest of the world saw Jack Lambert throw Cliff Harris to the ground like a little rag doll in Super Bowl X.

Also, if Harris was on the 70's Steelers, he wouldn't have been a starter.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Maybe you Cowboy's fans thought Harris was tough, but the rest of the world saw Jack Lambert throw Cliff Harris to the ground like a little rag doll in Super Bowl X.

Of course Lambert came at Harris from the back and Harris didn't even see him coming! Big deal! Lambert had been ejected from the game like he was ejected against the Browns. You Pittsburgh fans just adore your cheap shot artists!

Also, if Harris was on the 70's Steelers, he wouldn't have been a starter.

So even though he was named to the First Team of the '70s All Decade Team he would even start for the Steelers!

You are delusional.

 

[tetelestai]

So even though he was named to the First Team of the '70s All Decade Team he would even start for the Steelers!

You are delusional.

Nope

The Steelers had Glenn Edwards, Mike Wagner, and Donnie Shell.

Edwards had 39 career INTs

Wagner had 36 career INTs

Shell had 51 career INTs

They all had more than Cliff Harris' 29 career INTs

As I said, if Harris was on that Steelers team, he wouldn't have started.

However, if he were on that team, he'd have twice as many Super Bowl rings than what he got with the Cowboys


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[Jerry Shugart]

The Steelers had Glenn Edwards, Mike Wagner, and Donnie Shell.

Were any of them voted to either the First Team or the Second Team All Decade Team of the '70s?

Of course none of them were! And even though Harris was named First Team you still throw your reason to the wind and say that Harris wouldn't even start for the Steelers!

 

[tetelestai]

Were any of them voted to either the First Team or the Second Team All Decade Team of the '70s?

That list is subjective.

Any list that doesn't have Mel Blount on it as first team for the 70's is a flawed list.

Mel Blount is a first or second team all-time DB.

They had to change the rules because of Mel Blount. The rule is known as "The Mel Blount Rule".

Blount had 57 INT's for his career (1 shy of doubling Cliff Harris' INT total)

You do remember that interception Blount had in Super Bowl XIII?

In the two Super Bowls; Mel Blount, Glenn Edwards, Mike Wagner, and J.T. Thomas all had one interception each off of Staubach.

Cliff Harris had ZERO. In fact the Cowboys only had 1 INT for both games combined. Cliff Harris was too busy getting thrown around like a little rag doll by Jack Lambert.

Bradshaw threw 6 TD's, and 1 INT.

Staubach threw 5 TD's, and 4 INT's (most of Staubach's TD's came during garbage time)

Of course none of them were! And even though Harris was named First Team you still throw your reason to the wind and say that Harris wouldn't even start for the Steelers!

Cliff Harris would have been lucky to make it past cut day, had he played for the Steelers in the 70's.

 

[tetelestai]

Jack Lambert sons Cliff Harris:

 

[Nick M]

Yep.

Interceptions is pretty much the benchmark for safeties and DB's

29 is extremely low for a career. A 2.9 INT's per year average is extremely low also.

Reading the draft boards.....Your Browns drafted a first round safety with no career picks. It was pointed out he did catch one tipped pass. Browns be browns....a first round pick?

 

[Jerry Shugart]

Bradshaw threw 6 TD's, and 1 INT.

Bradshaw was not named the starting quarterback for the '70s All Decade Team.

Staubach was! Staubach got 13 votes and Bradshaw only got 3.

There is only one America's Team and it's not the Steelers!

 

[tetelestai]

There is only one America's Team and it's not the Steelers!

The Steelers didn't want to be America's Team. They turned it down after they beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X

 

[Nick M]

Dave Wannstedt is a regular on the Big Ten Network during football season. I like his takes.

 

[Jerry Shugart]

The Steelers didn't want to be America's Team. They turned it down after they beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X

Sure! They turned it down only in Art Rooney's dreams!

Only a fool would believe that the Cowboys are the most popular team and the most followed team in the NFL only because Art Rooney declined an imagined offer to be America's Team.

 

[tetelestai]

Only a fool would believe that the Cowboys are the most popular team and the most followed team in the NFL only because Art Rooney declined an imagined offer to be America's Team.

Try to pay attention Jerry.

Back in the 70's, after the season was over, a lot of teams would release a highlight film narrated by John Facenda.

After the Steelers beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X, the NFL wanted to title the Steeler's film "America's Team". Art Rooney didn't like it, and turned it down.

Then when the Cowboys beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XII, the NFL asked the Cowboys if they could call their film "America's Team". Tex Schramm said, yes, and the rest is history.

I know it bothers you, but it was offered to the Steelers first, and the Steelers didn't want it. I'm glad Rooney turned it down, it's stupid. The Steelers are Pittsburgh's team, not Americas.

Speaking of NFL videos, the 1979 Steelers video was called "A Cut Above". It begins....."there are 27 teams in the NFL, and then there are the Pittsburgh Steelers....."

Also, remember that Charlie Daniels song "In America" from 1980? In the song it goes....."You just go and lay your hand on a Pittsburgh Steelers' fan and I think you're gonna finally understand..."

Notice Charlie Daniels didn't say Dallas Cowboy's fan?

 

[Jerry Shugart]

After the Steelers beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl X, the NFL wanted to title the Steeler's film "America's Team". Art Rooney didn't like it, and turned it down.

The only so-called evidence that that happened was that Art said it really happened. Here is the true history of what happened:

Bob Ryan, now Vice President and editor-in-chief of NFL Films, coined this for the Cowboys while preparing and editing the team’s 1978 season highlight film. He was quoted as saying:

I wanted to come up with a different twist on their team highlight film. I noticed then, and had noticed earlier, that wherever the Cowboys played, you saw people in the stands with Cowboys jerseys and hats and pennants. Plus, they were always the national game on television.

Ryan told the NFL Network for their Top Ten Nicknames show:

I saw all these fans in away stadiums. Hey, they're the most popular team in the country. How can I use that? Why don't we call them "America's Team"?

During the Cowboys' first game of the 1979 season, a nationally televised game against the St. Louis Cardinals (Dallas won 22-21), the television announcer for CBS introduced the Cowboys as America’s Team and the name just stuck.​

 

[Nick M]

I go Brown, Sanders and then it's impossible. Dickerson, LT, Peterson, Smith, Peyton, Sayers. So many truly great backs so very close together.

Speaking of the Bus and a predictable offense...that didn't slow down Barry Sanders. So to me he is a tier behind. Do I want to tackle him? Hell no.