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Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 8:17 am
by Bryan
Miami Pound Machine - 1990 Dolphin defense of Offerdahl and Jeff Cross that lasted all of one season

I've seen the late 1970's Packers secondary called SWAT, but I've only seen that reference once. Can anyone else confirm this nickname?

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 4:10 pm
by single wing
Late 1960's Minnesota Vikings

Carl Eller, Allen Page, Jim Marshall, Gary Larsen--

Purple People Eaters

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 4:36 pm
by Retro Rider
- Denver's Orange Crush Defense (1977-81)

- Miami's Killer Bees (1982)
https://247sports.com/nfl/miami-dolphin ... -74988343/

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 4:56 pm
by JohnTurney
Bryan wrote:Miami Pound Machine - 1990 Dolphin defense of Offerdahl and Jeff Cross that lasted all of one season

I've seen the late 1970's Packers secondary called SWAT, but I've only seen that reference once. Can anyone else confirm this nickname?
Yes, it's accurate. Never caught on nationally but you can see references to it in GB Papers thorough 1980...as a kid remember a story
in Football Digest about Steve Luke and it had the name. FD may have taken it from a Green Bay paper, don't have the issue
anymore.

But IMO it's a legit nickname

Dwight Hicks and the Hot Licks

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 4:57 pm
by JohnTurney
Dwight Hicks and the Hot Licks - early 1980s 49ers secondary

Crunch Bunch-same era, NYG Linebackers

Dome Patrol, Saints late 1980s linebackers

I never remember Crunch Bunch but there is a poster of it
with a young-looking LT and Van Pelt, and Carson etc

Dome Patrol I did hear and read...but still not all that
well-known

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 5:04 pm
by 7DnBrnc53
Two early-90's Charger ones:

1992: SD's defense was referred to as the Boltergeist defense.

1994: I refer to their D-Tackles (Shawn Lee, Reuben Davis) as the Border Patrol (taken from a sound byte on an NFL on NBC pre-game).

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Mon May 01, 2023 9:49 pm
by JohnR
Raider secondary in the mid-'70s was the "Soul Patrol". Not sure if anyone outside of the actual membership used the name.

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 12:00 am
by JohnTurney
7DnBrnc53 wrote:Two early-90's Charger ones:

1992: SD's defense was referred to as the Boltergeist defense.

1994: I refer to their D-Tackles (Shawn Lee, Reuben Davis) as the Border Patrol (taken from a sound byte on an NFL on NBC pre-game).
Also heard "Two Tons of Fun" for those two - Junior Seau supposedly dubbed them that


in 1970s Denver - 2010s "No Fly Zone"

The Big Blue Wrecking Crew - Giants

Ones I looked up--Sacksonville, not that I read it do recall it vaguely- 2017 Jacksonville, lasted about ten minutes.

In 1978 an LA Times article wrote that a "local reporter" tried to give Rams D a nickname---and the two examples
are cringeworthy . . . laughable. Too rediculous to post.

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Tue May 02, 2023 9:47 am
by 7DnBrnc53
Another Charger one was for their D-line in the early-80's (I think they called them the Bruise Brothers).

Re: Nicknames of Defensive Teams

Posted: Fri May 05, 2023 12:01 pm
by Todd Pence
During the 1984 season, with the old guard of the Orange Crush pretty much phased out, a Denver radio station held a contest to provide a new moniker for the Broncos' defense. The winning entry was "Sack, Tackle and Pop" - but it never caught on.