Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
Curtis Brown, an RB for the Bills from 1977-82 (and Oilers in '83) has died at the age of 60:
I have vivid memories of him when I was growing up watching the Bills. He was a decent backup to Terry Miller and then Joe Cribbs.
He had one of the most bizarre TD catches I ever seen: in 1977 at Baltimore Memorial Stadium, Joe Ferguson threw the ball to a WR and hit him, and the ball appeared to go out of the endzone, but Colt LB Tom MacLeod tipped the ball at the end of the endzone and the ball went up in the air, and Brown and Nelson Munsey fought to the ball, and Brown prevailed.
I remember Mel Farr, one of the better known players of the late 60's. I recall a newspaper article about him leading the NFL in rushing (ahead of Sayers and Kelly) after six games. In the next game, he tore up a knee. His other knee was injured in 1969 and Farr's potential was mostly canceled out by injuries.
Farr did have a Pro Bowl season in 1970. I remember him having a big day when the Lions beat the Raiders on Thanksgiving Day, holding off George Blanda in the fourth quarter. That was the year of Blanda's "miracle season."
1977 HOF inductee who changed the game because of his grit and versatility. Played RB, Flanker, DB, and a little bit of QB.
34 Career Rushing TDs
43 Career Receiving TDs
14 career passing TDs (The most of all-time for a non-QB)
8x pro-bowler
6x NFL All-Pro
1956 NFL Champion
1956 league MVP.
#16 is retired with the New York Giants.
Mel and Miller Farr came from an area of Texas known as the "Golden Triangle" (Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur). It produced some great football talent: Jerry Ball, Vance Bedford, Buck Buchannan, Jamaal Charles, Jimmy Johnson, Ernie Ladd, Jerry LeVias, Bum Phillips, Bubba Smith, Earl Thomas, and Warren Wells, among others. This article is about the region and some of the guys listed above:
Citizen wrote:Yesterday morning I put up a notice of Gordy Holz' death, along with a reply about Gaechter....by afternoon both were gone.
LOL, this place is awesome.
There was a DNS change to a new server yesterday. There is a possibility that some posts were lost in the transition. My apologies. If you could re-post, that would be great. Thank you.
