NFL: Remembering Hall of Famer Frank Gifford: A Giant Living Legend

A Giant Legend

Source:The New Democrat 

Frank Gifford, was truly one of a kind. I don’t believe we’ve had another Hall Fame football player and Hall of Fame sportscaster in one person. Frank Gifford, was the voice of Monday Night Football. Howard Cosell, was the comedian of that show, but Frank made that show with deep knowledge of the game. As a Hall of Fame player for the New York Giants, his intelligence and his great voice. He was both an announcer and an analyst and did both jobs at the same time. His main role was as the announcer, but the way he would call what he was seeing was from an analyst’s perspective. Because he knew exactly what he was seeing and why he was seeing it.

Growing up as a kid, I couldn’t wait for ABC’s Monday Night Football. Still the best football show on TV, at least prime time show. I couldn’t wait to hear Frank do the intro for that show. Because he brought such passion, intelligence and humor to that show and brought the audience into the show as if you were going to a football party at someone’s house. With the host welcoming you in as you were at home. That’s what it was like listening to Frank call games. It was like as if you were there with him. The only NFL announcer I would take over Frank Gifford would be Pat Summerall and maybe be Al Michaels. But Frank is in the same class as both of those men.

As far Frank Gifford the NFL player, when you talk about hybrid players today, guys who could play running back, or wide receiver and are so good at both you have to use them at both positions, Frank Gifford was the first great hybrid NFL player on offense. He would’ve been a great running back, or receiver. Because he had great hands, quickness, footwork and size. He could’ve played quarterback as well. Very similar to a Paul Hournung with the Green Bay Packers. Frank, was the leader of those great Giants teams of the 1950s that went to five straight NFL Championship’s. But he was also the leader of ABC’s Monday Night Football the best prime time NFL show of all-time.

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ABC Sports: NFL 1976-MNF-Pittsburgh Steelers @ Minnesota Vikings

Source: This piece was originally posted at The New Democrat Plus

1976 was the Vikings last Super Bowl season, meaning their last trip to the Super Bowl. An aging team that was no longer dominant on defense, at least as dominant as they were in the past. And became more of an offensive oriented team, especially in the passing game, with a great all around running back in Chuck Foreman. That also had a very good, but veteran and aging defense.

The Steelers in 1976, had the best all around defense at least pre-1978 rule changes in during a fourteen game schedule. And they had to be, with all the injuries that they had on offense. Their whole backfield including quarterback Terry Bradshaw was beat up in 1976. So they had to be dominant on defense, because their offense wasn’t much help for them in 76.

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CBS News: Sunday Morning: ‘Take Our Poll- Should Pete Rose be in the Hall of Fame’

Source:CBS News– Pete Rose, when he was with the Cincinnati Reds.

Source:The New Democrat

“The Reds’ announcement came after MLB commissioner Rob Manfred last month rejected Rose’s application for reinstatement. Manfred concluded that baseball’s career hits leader continued to gamble even while seeking to end the lifetime ban imposed in 1989 for betting on numerous Reds games while playing for and managing the team.
The Reds’ team hall of fame induction is planned for the weekend of June 24-26 in the 74-year-old longtime Reds’ hometown.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991 adopted a rule keeping anyone on the permanently ineligible list off the ballot. Rose said after Manfred’s decision that he still held out hope he would one day be inducted into the national hall.”

From CBS News

The only reason why Pete Rose is not in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame and he would’ve gone in I believe 1992 which I believe would’ve been is first year of eligibility, but the only reason he’s not there has to do with his gambling on Major League Baseball games. Which he gambled on even as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and even betted on Reds games. Pete being out of the Hall of Fame has nothing to do with his playing career and nothing to do with his playing career is keeping him out of the Hall of Fame.

I could understand banning Pete from ever being a MLB manager, coach or executive for life. Because betting on your own team’s games is a pretty bad offense. Especially if you are betting that they lose and have a say in the outcome of their games. But to keep him out of the Hall of Fame in general, when he’s arguably the best all around player of his era and generation and we are talking about a career that covers twenty-four seasons from 1963-86, makes no sense from a Hall of Fame perspective.

Keeping Pete out of the Hall of Fame also does more damage to Reds fans and the Cincinnati Reds organization than Pete. Because of all the respect and luster that comes from not just seeing one of your own players in the Hall of Fame, but having that person in the Hall of Fame. “That player was not just a great player, but he played for us and we won a lot of games with him and he’s in the Hall of Fame as one of us”. Things that the Reds organization and the Reds fans can’t say right now because they are denied of seeing Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame.

We are not talking about whether Pete Rose should be in the Hall of Fame as a manager or even as a human being. He would never make it to the Hall of Fame based on that criteria. We are talking about Pete Rose the player and based on his playing career and because of the facts that he’s the best player who’s been retired for at least five years from playing, not in the Hall of Fame. And of course what he did as a player would’ve put him in the Hall of Fame over twenty-years ago. Pete Rose should definitely be in the Hall of Fame. Just don’t allow him to manage or be an executive.

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Howard Cosell Fan: Outside the Lines- Robert Lypsite: Interviews Howard Cosell (1991)

Source:Howard Cosell– Former ABC Sportscaster Howard Cosell, being interviewed by Robert Lipsyte in 1991.

Source:The New Democrat

“Howard Cosell: His Life and Times” aired on August 29, 1991 on ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” series. This episode on Cosell was hosted by Robert Lipsyte, a New York Times sports columnist. The title is sometimes incorrectly cited as ‘The Life and Times of Howard Cosell.”

Lipsyte examines Howard Cosell’s impact on sports television in a way that hasn’t been done previously, and in a way that clarifies Cosell’s primary target, i.e. the listener. It was with the listeners that Cosell managed to transform sports. He coupled an attorney’s gift for debate with a cutting-edge voice that made listeners believe there was nothing more important than the sporting event they were watching.

Former ABC News chairman Roone Arledge said of Howard Cosell “He’s the garlic that makes the stew work.”

From Howard Cosell Fan

Howard Cosell was more than a great sportscaster, and he was at least to a certain extent, which I will get into later. But he was a great entertainer and a very intelligent and funny man as well. And those things tend to go together.

He had a great ability to see things immediately for what they were and quickly give an intelligent insight about them in a way that everyone could understand and even do it in a humorous way as well.

Howard was sort of the fan’s voice when it came to sportscasting. Not a pure play by-play man or a true expert analyst, someone who would not only watch the game, but give you an expert analysis of what happened and what it means and what to look for.

But what he would give you is a voice for the fans and what fans are seeing and what they may be thinking about it. But could put it in ways that most people couldn’t and put in a way where people would think: “Wow, that is what I was thinking, I just wish I could’ve said it like that.”

Those old ABC’s Monday Night Football games from the 1970s you had Frank Gifford as the play by-play man and I think he did a great job of that. But again he was also a former NFL player who was a Hall of Fame player who wasn’t just a play by play man, but someone who knew exactly what it meant and what he was seeing because he use to play the game professionally. And Don Meredith as the expert analyst who of course use to be the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys in the 1960s.

But they also had Howard Cosell, who gave the viewers and fans an expert fans perspective of what was going on in the game. What fans may have been thinking and many times we’re thinking, but couldn’t phrase those things in a way that only he could. Because they didn’t have Howard’s intelligence and sense of humor. Howard Cosell is the genuine article of sportscasting. There wasn’t a Howard Cosell before Howard Cosell and there hasn’t been someone like him since.

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ESPN: SportsCentury- Greatest Head Coaches, Vince Lombardi

This post was originally posted at FRS Daily Press

On this Thanksgiving and by the way Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there, I thought it would be a great time to blog about Vince Lombardi, the greatest head coach of all-time, not just in football, but perhaps in team sports period. I think you’ll have a hard time finding a better head coach because football is not just a huge part of our Thanksgiving holiday and Vince Lombardi is a big part of football. And the Green Bay Packers are a big part of our Thanksgiving football tradition. The Packers have played a lot on Thanksgiving and Coach Lombardi coached a lot of those games.

When I think of Vince Lombardi, I think of what a head coach should be when they are at their best and when they are the best at they are. Someone who constantly strives at making his team the best that they can, at getting the best effort and performance out of his team all of his players at the same time in the same game.

I mean if you look at it that’s what the job of a head coach is, of course they want to win and the head coaches that do win are the successful head coaches, that is win more than they lose and a lot more than they lose. But really the job is to get the best performance out of your players that they can deliver. There have been teams that were 7-9, 8-8, 9-7 and of course missed the playoffs, but their head coach had a good year or a great year. They even had a great record that year because of the team that they had and the players that had to play.

The level of talent that they had to work with and there been teams that were 10-6, 11-5 but they didn’t have very good seasons and didn’t win championships even though they had the talent to, because their players didn’t play very well as a team. They didn’t work very well together, their head coach didn’t get them to play as well as they could’ve. And they ended up basically having a mediocre or even a bad season because their head coach didn’t get them to play as well as they could’ve. The job of the head coach is to get his team and all of his players to play as well as they can at the same time as one team and if he has a good team or a great team, like Chuck Knoll had with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1970s to use as an example, then that will lead to a lot of wins and championships.

The Green Bay Packers of the 1960s didn’t have a dynasty in that decade and were the team of the 60s Because they were loaded with talent and great players, they had some of those. And some Hall of Famers, they won five NFL Championships in seven years from 1961-67, because they had the best teams and the best head coach. Best team and best talent are two different things, best talent has to do with athletic ability and skills. Best team has to do with the team that plays the best together and plays the best as a team.

I’ll give you an example, Super Bowl 36 between the New England Patriots and St. Louis Rams one of the biggest upsets in Super Bowl history, the Rams I believe were a 10-12 point favorite they still had that great Vertical Spread offense (as I call it) with Kurt Warner, Marshal Faulk and all of those WRs. The Patriots were 5-11 the year before, snuck into the playoffs in 2001, winning their division. Beat the Raiders in a blizzard in the famous tuck game and then upset a very good Steelers team in the AFC Final. They had to beat two better teams just to make to the Super Bowl.

The Rams clearly had batter talent in that Super Bowl, but the Patriots had a better team and played better together and of course they had head coach Bill Belichick, perhaps still the best head coach in the NFL. Thats what Vince Lombardi had in Green Bay in the 1960s, he had the best teams, not exactly the best talent when he won those championships. So to use my definition of the job of a head coach, then no one is better than Vince Lombardi at getting his teams and players to play the best that they can at the same time. And he is the best head coach of all-time, because he was the best motivator and perhaps the best motivator ever as well.

And he would put it simple, “you want to play for the Packers, you’re going to give me everything you have, or find another job or team to play for”. He knew when to ride someone and when to pride someone and do both of those things in a way that showed the player that he’s just trying to get the best out of him, kinda like a great father would be. Thats what made Vince Lombardi the best ever at what he did.

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ESPN: Video: First Take: Jay Gruden To Become Redskins Head Coach

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This post was originally posted at The New Democrat on Blogger

I’m not crazy about the Jay Gruden hire as the next Redskins head coach. He is obviously a talented offensive mind and QB Andy Dalton has played well for him and head coach Marvin Lewis at times for the Cincinnati Bengals. But that alone plus the fact he has such a thin NFL resume and not much of a pro football resume at all. Unless you want to include the arenaball league which is the Arena Football League. Which I don’t because it is a very different league and a different sport as well.

I don’t see Jay Gruden as ready to go from only one NFL assistant coach job to be head coach of the Washington Redskins. One of the most storied franchises in the NFL and also one of the most historically successful franchises as well. Especially when there are other people out there who could’ve been the Redskins head coach with much more of a proven NFL resume. Like Jim Caldwell the Ravens offensive coordinator, Perry Fewell the New York Giants defensive coordinator. And Darryl Bevell the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator.

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ABC Sports: NFL 1983- Monday Night Football – Dallas Cowboys @ Washington Redskins: Highlights

Source:ABC Sports– Redskins QB Joe Theisman and kicker Mark Moseley, congratulating Cowboys QB Danny White.

Source:The New Democrat

“This is one of the all-time great classic NFL games, and a classic rivalry game between the Cowboys and Redskins on September 5, 1983.

This Monday Night Football opener rates up there with the 1999 Dallas at Washington opener and others when it comes to Dallas Cowboys comeback games. At this time, Redskins were the defending Super Bowl Champs. The Cowboys had won every opening game from 1965-1981 Although they did lose the 1982 opener the previous year, it looked as if they were going to lose another here in 1983.

The Cowboys looked bad. They had one reception in the first half. They had one great play with a Tony Dorsett 77 yard run as this is more well-known for the Redskins Darryl Green catching up to Dorsett and making the tackle. It was 23-3 Redskins at the half. Even Frank Gifford said Landry has problems, and Howard Cosell said the team is in disarray. Fans started yelling, “we want Dallas, we want Dallas”. Well, they got Dallas, but not as they had hoped.

The two half’s were like two completely different games, with the opposing team not showing up to play. In the 3rd quarter, QB Danny White connected with WR Tony Hill immediately for a 76 yard TD pass, then a short time later another TD for 51 yards. At that time, Frank Gifford says “the Redskins are starting to get nervous” By 2:25 left in the game, Dallas was ahead 31-23.
Final result: Dallas 31 Washington 30.

This is from ESPN. I wanted to post the full game as well but it has been blocked. 😦

For the record, the Cowboys started the season 7-0 and were eliminated in the playoffs and the Redskins did return to the Super Bowl but lost to the Raiders.

Danny White was a fine QB, he had several great comeback games. Check out other comeback games:
– 1981 Atlanta Falcons playoff game
– 1982 vs Miami Dolphins
– 1984 vs New Orleans Saints”

From ROG

“1983 – Week 1 – Cowboys at Redskins – Monday Night Memory”

Source:Dave Volsky– Cowboys QB Danny White against the Redskins defense.

From Dave Volsky

“In a game that will be dissected and cursed for days to come in Washington, the Dallas Cowboys rallied from a 23-3 halftime deficit last night to defeat the Redskins, 31-30, in a nationally televised season opener before a sellout of 55,045 at RFK Stadium.

The Redskins were so competent in every way in the first half, but the walls of their Jericho came crashing down in the second half.

After quarterback Danny White, held to one measly completion in the first half, threw touchdown passes of 75 and 51 yards to wide receiver Tony Hill, closing Dallas within 23-17 with 6:35 left in the third quarter, the Redskins’ trouble multiplied again and again.

That’s when, fittingly enough, Dallas became Dallas.

The Redskins missed a chance to take a 26-17 lead when Mark Moseley, good on three first-half field goal attempts, missed wide right on a 31-yarder with 9:24 left.”

Source:The Washington Post– The Paper of Record.

From The Washington Post

“Summary: The defending Super Bowl Champions thought they had Opening Day in the bag. By halftime, they had limited their archrivals from Dallas to three points. But in the second half, the Cowboys ignored the feats of rookie cornerback Darrell Green and stormed out of the gate. Four touchdowns pushed Dallas to a 31-30 comeback win, avenging their defeat to Washington in the 1982 NFC Championship game.”

Source: META Critic– Redskins vs Cowboys at it’s best.

From META Critic

Interesting matchup in 1983 between the Cowboys and Redskins in this great rivalry and when at least it was a great rivalry. Perhaps the best in the NFL at the time. How times have changed in the last twenty-years or so as the Redskins has become at best a mediocre franchise, with Cowboys being a consistent playoff contender, but even when they make the NFC Playoffs, they don’t tend to do much in the playoffs.

But what I believe made this Cowboys-Redskins matchup even more interesting, is that the shoe was on the other foot. (So to speak) Pre-1983 when they played the Cowboys were either the defending NFC or Super Bowl champions if not both, or they lost the NFC Final the year before. With the Redskins trying to either get back to the NFC Playoffs, or lost in the first round the year before. In 1983 the Redskins were the Super Bowl champions and beat the Cowboys in the NFC Final the year before

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ABC Sports: MLB 1982-NLCS Game 3-St. Louis Cardinals @ Atlanta Braves: Full Game

Source:ABC Sports– Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner.

“1982 NLCS Game 3 Cardinals @ Braves”

From Classic MLB

You can also see this post on Blogger.

An interesting matchup for a championship series with two teams that were almost nothing like.

The St. Louis Cardinals as a team hit less than 100 home runs that season. George Hendrick who was a solid power hitter for a lot of his career, led the Cardinals with eighteen home runs. This was a team that would get on base by walking and slapping singles and the occasional double. And then stealing a lot of bases and stretching singles to doubles, doubles triples, scoring from first base. Playing great defense and getting great pitching. This was known as Whiteyball named after the great Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog.

The Atlanta Braves in 1982 were a power hitting team led by Dale Murphy and Bob Horner with Chris Chambliss as well. So this was a matchup between a speed team in the Cardinals both on offense and defense. Vs a power hitting team that pitched and defended well enough to win the AL West in 1982.

You can also see this post at FRS FreeState, on Blogger.

You can also see this post at FRS FreeState, on WordPress.

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ABC Sports: MLB 1978- NLCS Game 4- Philadelphia Phillies @ Los Angeles Dodgers: Full Game

Source:ABC Sports– with the 1978 NLCS at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Al Michaels, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Bench with the call of the game.

Source:The New Democrat

“1978 NLCS Game 4 – Phillies vs Dodgers @mrodsports”

From Classic Phillies TV

This was a very good matchup for an NLCS between the Phillies and Dodgers because you had a more power-hitting offensive oriented team in the Phillies, going up against a pitching and defensive oriented team in the Dodgers that also had a very good lineup, with hitters like Steve Garvey, Reggie Smith, Ron Cey, Dusty Baker and others. And I think that was the difference in this series. The teams were fairly even, but the Dodgers had more pitching and I believe a more complete team than the Phillies.

On paper anyway, I think the Dodgers were better than the New York Yankees in 1978. I think they had more offensively and had just as must pitching. But the Yankees got better pitching and clutch hitting in the 1978 World Series and that was the difference.

You can’t really afford any off games in a World Series or a championship series. Which is what happened to the Phillies in the first two games of the NLCS losing both of them at home. And having to win three-straight at Dodger stadium to win the series.

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ABC Sports: MLB 1986-SAB-6/01/86- San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets: Full Game

Source:ABC Sports– San Francisco Giants manager Roger Craig.

“1986 06 01 ABC Sunday Afternoon Baseball – Giants at Mets”

From Classic SF Giants

The Giants becoming contenders again in 1986 but coming up short in the NL West race. And the Mets putting it all together offensively, pitching and defense and of course winning one of the best World Series of all time against the Boston Red Sox.

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