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Dining In The 80’s…
It’s time to throw on a frilly fop shirt, liberally apply the eye liner and slick back that quiff as the Diner gets all (new) romantic about the lives and times of NFL football back in the 80’s…
 
Dining In The 80’s:
The Other 49ers
Throughout their domination of the decade the 49ers offered us a galaxy of stars with which we feasted our eyes upon. If Joe Montana wasn’t hitting the incomparable Jerry Rice he was handing the ball off to the ultra-versatile Roger Craig, and if the defense was on the field Ronnie Lott would be making the middle of a field a no-go area. Whilst those players deserve their top billing there were plenty of other reasons the 49ers enjoyed their consistent success. Here, we take a trip down memory lane to remember the “other” 49ers … ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
The Cards Are Stacked On Offense
It’s no secret that the Cardinals have been one of the more unsuccessful franchises in NFL history but in the 70’s under the direction of offensive guru Don Coryell and behind the arm of the teams all time passing leader – Jim Hart – the Cardinals had at least tasted some success with three double digit winning seasons and two post season appearances. Success soon faded back to normality though and several coaching changes followed before the appointment of Jim Hanifan in 1980… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
Booming Busts II
In part two of our look at some of the busts from the NFL draft through the 80’s we visit the second half of the decade which features the Lions missing on a QB (don’t act surprised!) and the Cleveland Browns making one of the most surprising moves in draft history… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
Booming Busts I
The 80’s were a time of economic growth but along with the massive expansion in things like the service industry and the stock market – where governments sold off the family jewels of gas, electricity and oil – there were also times of struggle and recession early and late in the decade. For NFL teams, they meet up once ever April to try and “boom” whilst hoping to avoid the “busts” but the lottery of the draft system means they’ll always be some misses and drafting high after a recession hit previous season doesn’t always guarantee the results will be rewarding… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
The First Show On Turf
In the 1980’s there was a lot going on in the city of Los Angeles. The Olympics came to the city in 1984, a large subway system was completed, glam metal was a rising force in music from the club scene and of course, Los Angeles had two NFL teams. This story is about when the Rams were still in LA and featured an offense that could be just as explosive as the “Greatest Show on Turf” that would materialise later in the franchise’s history but in a different city… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
Trading Places
1989 would feature two trades for running backs that would help both the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins go on to taste the ultimate success. What’s interesting about both trades is that they are subtly linked but come from totally different ends of the spectrum in terms of their size, hype and projected impact at the time… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together
Pour yourself a glass of milk (I promise it doesn’t having a sleeping agent in it), prepare to be thrown over a car bonnet in slow motion after being rescued from the local asylum as the Diner takes you back to a time of labour disputes and dramatic change on the player movement landscape… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
Mardi Gras Finally Arrives In New Orleans
Until 1987 the Saints were as bad as it gets. Entering their 20th season in 1986 under new Head Coach Jim Mora the team had only ever managed to go .500 once in their entire existence; and of the remaining 19 seasons had managed to post nine double digit loss records. The post season was a myth in New Orleans… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
Defending The Airwaves
The need for speed via the air was often to be found in the old AFC West, where attacking through the skies was the favoured option. If it wasn’t the rocket arm of John Elway and his Three Amigos (Vance Johnson, Mark Jackson and Ricky Nattiel) flying through the thin vapour of Mile High Stadium it was the Raiders – whether they had the personnel or not – throwing bombs… ( full article )
 
Dining In The 80’s:
A Line That Didn’t Hog The Limelight
The fact is whilst “The Hogs” got the press there was another line in Washington that was just as in strumental in winning the team’s three Super Bowl titles. It too had its share of personalities and rags to riches stories the defensive line… ( full article )
 

Number Crunching…
Football Diner offers its version of a Chinese takeaway menu as we go through player jersey numbers from 00 all the way to 99, but instead of tasty tucker we serve up the greatest player to ever have worn the honourable digits…
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#25
Fred Biletnikoff is a player who just had “it”. You can’t always explain it but when you look at the scruffy Raiders wide receiver you wonder how he could have been any good but he was more than just good, he was one of the best! The son of Russian immigrants, Biletnikoff made his mark in his home town of Erie, Pennsylvania where he attended Technical Memorial High School. As the biggest product in the school’s history they now play on a field named in his honour … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#24
It’s a number littered with Hall of Famers, NFL Champions, All Decade team members and players who have produced some of the NFL’s most endearing memories. It even has a current player who is worthy of nomination based on his career thus far but with this a series for retired players we step back to the 50’s and 60’s to find our selection, a versatile player who stands out in any era and wades through the many great defensive backs we also had to consider to become our all-time number 24 … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#23
Number 23, a number made famous in basketball by Michael Jordan and in soccer by David Beckham (once he couldn’t wear number 7). In the NFL meanwhile we find a player who had a long and storied career and who continues to be involved in the moving and shaking of the NFL today with his recent appointment to the post of Vice President of Player Development by the NFL after spending four years up until 2008 as the President of the Players Union. That means in these times of CBA negotiation he is a rare being in that he has now sat on both sides of the fence and it will be interesting to see if he has any influence in finding a compromise for both sides or if he will act as a wound that won’t heal because of his switching of sides … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#22
After a couple of visits to the more recent past we take a leap back to the middle of the last century for our next all-time great. A player who was so successful his old team is still feeling the after-effects of his departure. A player who won championships for his team but in modern times, as fans, players and coaches suffer through many a losing season, is blamed for the franchises failure. He is the man in possession of one of pro football’s most infamous curses. Read on to find out more about our all-time #22 and his curse over the Detroit Lions … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#21
As we move along to number 21 we visit the golden top five of the 1989 draft for the second straight time in this series. If that wasn’t enough our all-time #20 and #21 didn’t even have the decency to have different surnames. However, they were vastly different players in terms of their style and ego but both were so exciting to watch and two of the best ever at their respective positions. Whilst Barry Sanders starred on offense we turn our attention to (mainly) defense this time around. Read on to find out more about the Diner’s all-time #21 … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#20
For such a mild mannered character, Sanders actually started his career with a bit of a controversy as he (and 25 other underclassmen) challenged the traditional system for the NFL draft of only allowing seniors into the draft. Granted a special hardship clause for the 1989 draft, Sanders was able to leave school a year early and his superb numbers, dazzling running style and the Heisman Trophy tucked under his arm seen him get drafted third overall in the 1989 draft by the Detroit Lions … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#19
Just like a young adult, we prepare to leave our teenage numbers with a sense of regret and excitement but before we go and head into the roaring twenties we head back to the middle of the last century to go over the story of one of the greatest players in NFL history and a man who will always have the word “legend” closely associated with his name … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#18
The story of Charlie Joiner begins in the old AFL and stretches all the way into the later part of the 1980’s. It all began in 1969, drafted in the fourth round from Grambling State by the Houston Oilers of the then AFL, Joiner was considered to be a better defensive prospect because of his outstanding speed and athletic ability so he was briefly tried on defense as a rookie whilst also seeing some time as a kick returner
… ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#17
Many players are considered ahead of their time, either in terms of their talent or just in just because they appear to be a freak of nature. As we reach number 17 we find a player who in his era was a giant and even if he played now, he’d still be noticeable purely because of his height. Read on to find out all there is to know about the Diner’s all-time number 17
… ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#16
The San Francisco 49ers can point to many players as key in their dominance of the 1980’s but no one was as important as Joe Montana, a player plucked by head coach Bill Walsh to come in and run his new west coast offense which would lead the way for how teams went about passing the football in the NFL in the future
… ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#15
In many of the previous articles on this subject we have been able to tell the tale of players who have stretched the game and record books through the air. Now, for the first time, we get to run the rule over a player who pushed the boundaries of his era on the ground and is arguably the greatest player in Philadelphia Eagles history … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#14
In the first few decades of pro football running the football and defense was king. Striking through the air was a trick or desperation play but the arrival of two players into the league in the 1930’s seen the pass become a genuine part of any quality offense. Don Hutson was one of those players (the other will be a player we will come to later in this series) and he took catching the football to a level that may never be surpassed in many ways … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#13
In the 1983 draft the landscape of the NFL got a massive push towards its future direction. The league was evolving from the defensive domination of the 1970’s into the offensively energized game led by passing that we know today. That draft contained the Quarterback Class of 1983 which would see six quarterbacks taken in the first round and four of those six would play in a Super Bowl … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#12
In the 1970’s there were two dominant teams the Steelers and the Cowboys. Whilst there is no doubt that ultimately the Steelers are fairly and squarely the team of that decade there is also little doubt the Cowboys were the most entertaining team of the decade as each week it seemed, Roger Staubach would have to prove his ability in the clutch to rescue America’s Team from the savages trying to knock them off their perch … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#11
Number 10 brought us a prolific quarterback. Number 11 follows with another great quarterback who spent his years after playing coaching our all time number 10. This Hall of Fame quarterback known as “The Dutchman” tasted a lot of success but at times must have felt frustrated as he was held up behind other talented players or not didn’t fit in with his coaches. Given an unhindered path we can only wonder what more he may have achieved … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#10
He quite simply was the most prolific passer of his era. He began his career in the 1960’s when the NFL was undergoing plenty of change and then enjoyed great success in the dead ball era of the 1970’s. He helped a brand new franchise establish itself before returning after a hiatus to lead it to three conference championships. By the time it was all said and done Fran Tarkenton was the NFL’s all time leading passer and regarded as one of the best to ever play the position … ( full article )
 
Number Crunching:
#9
In the 1960’s the Redskins acquired themselves a quarterback who would go on to light up scoreboards and zip tight spirals through the air for over a decade. Christian Adolph “Sonny” Jurgensen was one of the great pure passers of football who would win three individual passing titles but like Dan Marino a couple of decades later, had little help on the opposite side of the ball to give the balance that is needed to win in a team game … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#8
When you think of the free safety position in football, you think of defending the pass. Larry Wilson was a master of that, but he was also a safety so adept at blitzing that he stopped many a pass ever happening. After a successful two way career at the University of Utah, the pro game beckoned for Larry Wilson but he dropped all the way to the 7th round of the 1960 NFL draft. … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#7
Although designated a quarterback Earl ‘Dutch’ Clark was really a single-wing tail back but because of his smarts and ability to throw in an era when passing the ball was still uncommon he was allowed to call signals instead of the normal practice of the lead blocking back doing it. Clark had a natural feel for the game and knew how to make the right calls at the right time … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#6
Continuing with Football Diner’s Number Cruching series Chris Brophy takes a look at #6, and this time he remembers a Chargers kicker who overcame serious illness to have a successful career. Benirschke was drafted in the 12th round of the 1977 draft by the Oakland Raiders but was dealt to the Chargers later that off-season. He won the kicking job and at one point made 12 consecutive field goals to reward the team’s faith in him … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#5
Hornung’s talent was evident in college as he became the first and so far only winner of the Heisman Trophy for a team with a losing record (Notre Dame went 2-8 that season) in 1956. His college performances led to him being taken #1 overall in the 1957 draft by the Packers where he would spend his entire career and win four world championships before it was all said and done … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching:
#4
After looking way back into the NFL’s past with number three last time out we find ourselves right back at the present day with the number four as we recall one of the great players and characters of modern times.
Favre was originally drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2nd round of the 1991 draft out of Southern Mississippi. However Falcon HC Jerry Glanville did not approve of the drafting of Favre at the time and never warmed to him … ( full article )
 
Number Crunching:
#3
Football in the early days of its professional history is full of legends and myths. One of the many surrounding Bronko is his recruitment to the Golden Gophers where the story told is that Minnesota’s head coach Clarence Spears had gotten lost and stopped by a field to ask for directions. The man he asked was Nagurski who was ploughing a field without a horse. He was signed to a football scholarship on the spot … ( full article )
 
Number Crunching:
#1 – #2
Number one is a very apt number for Warren Moon because his career achievements feature a list of him being the first to make certain marks in pro football history. He is the first Canadian Hall Of Famer, first undrafted quarterback and first African-American quarterback to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame and he did that at the first time of asking in 2006 … ( full article )
 
Number Crunching:
#00 – #0
Having taken many trips back in time already in the Diner’s Tardis – whether it is to recall an individual or to visit a certain point in time we felt it was time to spice up the menu and go for a historical angle that can provide long term interest and visit many points within the same course. So, it is with great pleasure that Football Diner offers its version of a Chinese takeaway menu as we go through player jersey numbers from 00 all the way to 99 … ( full article )
 

Historic Figures…
To know where you’re going, you need to know where you’ve been. The Diner logs important times, players and historical figures charting the history of football over the years…
 
Andy Ayrton
The Curse of Bobby Layne?
Feature
October 2nd 2011
September 25th 2011. Minnesota 20, Detroit 0. Half time. The Detroit Lions were, as usual, getting another beating. One of the NFL`s oldest franchises – founded in 1934 – the Lions had been the league’s whipping boys for nearly three generations. Apart from three division titles won in the eighties and early nineties, the Lions have won nothing but wooden spoons since they roared over the NFL in the fifties… ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
Number Crunching Draft Special
Resident Football Diner history officionado Chris Brophy turns his Number Crunching eye to the tricky matter of the NFL Draft. The biggest day in the NFL spring diary is a fine art that has no guarantees at best. Settle back with a coffee and an after-dinner mint to read a few of the little stories that I found whilst gathering my information … ( full article )
 
Chris Brophy
The Number One Pick Blessing or Curse?
This evening NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will step up to the podium and start the 2010 NFL draft by announcing the number one overall selection. Over the 75 years of the NFL draft the number one pick has brought the league a very mixed bag and despite having the choice of anyone leaving the college ranks to join the professional game it is certainly no guarantee of success. Here, the Diner takes a look at the good, bad, ugly, unlucky and strange that the top choice has brought over the years … ( full article )
 
Ed English
No Place Like Home
There’s no place like home. The Giants should know. During their long history the team has had 5 stadiums to call home. The Polo Grounds (1925-1955), Yankee Stadium (1956 – 1973), Yale Bowl (1973-1974), Shea Stadium (1975) and Giants Stadium 1976 – present. The Diner takes a tour of these historic stadiums … ( full article )
 
Sam Monson
Bert Bell
This season the NFL is marking the 50th Anniversary of the AFL The American Football League the rival league that fought a bitter war with the NFL for most of the decade of the 1960s, and ultimately succeeded in forcing a merger between the two leagues. This season also marks 50 years since the death of the man that guided the NFL through a war with another league, 14 seasons before the AFL ever existed, a war definitively won by the NFL. Bert Bell, perhaps more than any other man, is responsible for the NFL that we know and love today, yet he remains forgotten in the mists of time, and his 50th anniversary went largely unnoticed … ( full article )
 
Micheal Kavanagh
Steve DeBerg
Steven Leroy DeBerg had a 21 year NFL career spanning three decades, six teams and a record 11 Head Coaches. His reputation is that of a journeyman having never playing more than 64 games for any one team, that coming in two spells with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers five years apart. His longest continuous service with any one team was a 57 game streak with the Kansas City Chiefs. There is however more to Steve DeBerg than just the “Journeyman” tag … ( full article )
 
Micheal Kavanagh
The American Experiment
At the end of the 1992 season the NFL suspended the two-year old World League of American Football due to a lack of interest in the States. Then Canadian Football League commissioner Larry Smith had a dream of a 20 team CFL league with 10 Canadian & 10 American based teams. The suspension of the WLAF gave him his start … ( full article )
 
Micheal Kavanagh
Rolf Benirschke
Rolf Benirshke is one of life’s winners. On the football field he was a winner as a former San Diego Charger Pro Bowl kicker, who kicked the winning points in one of the NFL’s greatest ever games. Off the field he is a winner as a succesful businessman, author and charity donor. However all this success and quite possibly his life was very nearly taken away from him … ( full article )
 
Micheal Kavanagh
The Good, The Bad & The Very Ugly
Dan Hampton on a recent Hamp & Holmes Radio show said that in the thirty years since he was drafted the Bears have had 30 different starting quarterbacks. Undrafted free agents (Tomczak), high draft picks (McNown), low draft picks (Moreno), & trades (Mirer). All have come and gone without leaving the desired stability. Now with the capital BOLD trade for Jay Cutler the Bears are hoping they’ve slammed that revolving door shut for the next decade or so … ( full article )
 
Gary Clark
Art Monk will head to the Hall Of Fame later this year. Gary Clark may well never receive that same honour, but he has a case that deserves hearing. Not that it matters too much to the majority of Redskins fans’ that saw him play. For them, Clark won games, trophies and their hearts… ( full article )
 
Jacob Green, Seattle
For a lot of New York Giant fans, if you mention the team of the Seattle Seahawks they’ll think of one particularly heart breaking memory – or rather three particularly heart breaking memories… ( full article )
 
Bob Hayes, Dallas
In September 2002 one of the game’s all-time greats died. He left behind him another story of athletic triumph and personal tragedy. Bob Hayes remains one of the most dominant players to ever step onto an NFL playing field…
( full article )
 
John Heisman
Bill Belichick might like to rub his opponents’ noses in defeat, and he runs up the score like nobody in the modern game, but he has a long way to go if he’s going to be remembered in the same light as John Heisman, the man who once put up 222 points, because he could… ( full article )
 
Jerry Kramer, Green Bay
Jerry Kramer is a man who dominated the gridiron for a decade, fighting through a multitude of injuries to do so, refusing to quit when the Godfather of NFL coaches told him to do so… ( full article )
 
The Pottsville Maroons
A Forgotten Icon
The Pottsville Maroons are a forgotten icon, a team from the anthracite leagues that took on the NFL and won, and in doing so became the most dominant team ever assembled.
This is a team that earned the right to be remembered, and recognised for what it achieved… ( full article )
 
Ken Riley, Cincinnati
In 1976 Riley led the Bengals & the AFC with 9 Interceptionsbut he was ignored for the Pro Bowl. Instead his flashy partner in the Bengals Defensive backfield, Lemar Parrish, who recorded only 2 interceptions was selected…
( full article )
 
Barry Sanders, Detroit
Barry Sanders is the greatest running back ever to play professional football. That’s it said, done, over. All too often we get caught up in the conversation regarding who is the greatest and we settle on a committee compromise of Jim Brown, Walter Payton and Barry Sanders. A trio, designed to appease everybody and give an answer without actually committing to an informed decision. Well this is different, we’re not going to water down the truth… ( full article )
 
Jimmy Smith, Jacksonville
“Jimmy might not have the national recognition of Jerry Rice at the WR position, but every defensive back that has played in the 1990’s to current, and every defensive coach in the league knows exactly who he is” noted Deion Sanders… ( full article )
 
Lionel Taylor, Denver
Before the days of alligator arms, and receivers hearing footsteps across the middle, one man once said: “If you catch the ball, it only hurts half as much when you get hit”… ( full article )
 
Andre Tippett, New England
When we think Pass-rushing outside linebackers in the NFL today we think of guys like Shawne Merriman, Joey Porter and Damarcus Ware. What many people don’t know is these guys owe just as much to Andre Tippett the AFC’s answer to Lawrence Taylor for a decade…
( full article )
 
Doug Williams, Wash, TB
One of the NFL’s favourite trivia questions is: ‘who is the only black QB to win the SuperBowl?’, and most people know the answer is Doug Williams, but is that all people should remember about him, or did Doug Williams actually have a lot more to his career than anybody remembers?…
( full article )
 

 
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