Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Interesting topic. I echo the comment about Aaron Smith...he was extremely important to the overall success of the defense, and he played probably the least glamorous position (strongside 3-4 DE). The Steelers had a lot of guys who weren't really household names but were consistently good for sever...

King Kong wrote:The Broncos vs Raiders series featured three straight overtime games in 1984 and 1985.

Bills-Patriots had three straight games decided in OT in 1999-2000. '99: Bills 13-10. 2000: Bills 16-13, Patriots 13-10. The streak ended in 2001, but the second matchup also went to OT.

Ward I think will get in within 3-5 years. I completely forgot about him for some reason. He becomes the greatest WR in history if the forward pass never got legalized. (for his downfield blocking) Alan Faneca should definitely be considered. I checked PFR and was surprised to find he was an AP 1st...

I believe Coach Troup told a story on tte previous forum. Dr. Z told him he managed to view some NFL files on Layne and gambling. Apologies if I have misremembered. I do find it hard to believe that Layne would ever throw a game. The man seemed to cherish winning above all else. The stories abound L...

Surprised no mention of Drew Brees here. I think Brees had above average arm strength, which was particularly impressive considering the arm injury he suffered in his last game with San Diego. Tom Brady had success early in his career despite below average arm strength. But he bulked up and improve...

I would have to say Steve Walsh, who took the Bears and Saints to the playoffs. He lost his job to Erik Kramer in 1995, who proceeded to have a fantastic season, and the time off seemed to hurt his arm rather than help it. He never threw another TD pass in three games as a Rams starter and three yea...

I hate to say " I read somewhere " but I read somewhere that the 1951 and 1952 Lions were the last champions without a black player. In the '50s, I never paid much attention to the "other division" - especially at the end if the Giants were not involved. After all, in the first ...

One of my favorite Art Donovan stories was when the teams were coming out for the 2nd half, Donovan ran into Layne. I'll paraphrase the story.
I said "Bobby, how ya doin?" He breathed on me, I said "Jesus! Is that from last night?" He said, "Nah, I had a few at halftime."

There were also a number of rules changes in 1994. Sometimes it takes a year for teams to really take advantage of the new rules. Some of the 1994 rules aided offenses, but not necessarily passing offenses. The two point conversion was adopted, kickoffs were moved back to the 30, and placement of th...

Isaac Bruce, Cris Carter, and Herman Moore were all very good to great. The number of #2 WR's getting 1000 yards also increased; Jake Reed and Brett Perriman had 1000 yard seasons. Eric Metcalf switched from RB to WR, and he promptly had 100 catches. Bert Emanuel and Terence Mathis had 1,000 yard se...