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1934 NFL MVP Retroactive
LOOKING BACK
(Part four of an ongoing series)
By Chris Willis, NFL Films

John, thanks for sharing - I was happy to see another one of these - reminds me why the 30s is my favorite decade.

TanksAndSpartans wrote:John, thanks for sharing - I was happy to see another one of these - reminds me why the 30s is my favorite decade.

Thanks for posting the link to the article. LOVED IT! The 1930's is my favorite decade as well, TanksAndSpartans.

Why do you guys like the 1930s the most? (There is nothing wrong with it, I'm just curious).

JWL wrote:Why do you guys like the 1930s the most? (There is nothing wrong with it, I'm just curious).

You know, I don't know exactly. To me, anyway, it seems that's how the game was meant to be played, at least to me. You also had some great players, Mel Hein, Nagurski, Clarke Hinkle, Dutch Clark, Ox Emerson, Don Hutson, to name a few. The 1938 Championship Game was one of the all-time great games, pre and post Super Bowl eras, 1934 Championship "Sneakers" Game was in that era. I'm sorry if I'm rambling, don't quite know how to answer.

I like history, so the 20s were a natural starting point, but once I got to the 30s the stories and the players just grabbed me - I would say my main interest is early NFL history so its not like I don't like the 20s - that decade is a close second. A couple things that put the 30s out in front for me that James didn't mention: 1) I like football cards and there was a 1935 set issued and 2) you can actually see some video. I've seen Bronko Nagurski run. I don't have much idea at all how Fritz Pollard, Paddy Driscoll, Tony Latone , Benny Friedman played. At least for the guys who played in the 30s you can see some scraps.

On another note:

It took a few days for this to register in my brain, but I wonder why passing was down in 34? I think they had recently put in some new rules (no need to be 5 yards behind the line, moving the ball in from the sidelines when plays go out of bounds etc.) The article says:

"With the below average passing stats in 1934 no receiver separated himself that season. Eagles end Joe Carter was the best of the bunch finishing second in the NFL in receiving yards (238) and first in catches (16 tied with Red Badgro of the Giants) and receiving touchdowns with 4. Not numbers or play worthy of a MVP discussion."


Just taking a quick look at some of the unofficial receiving statistics from the 20s, they were putting up better numbers back then:

1925
Berry, Pot 33-650
Bomar, NY 19-352

1926
Berry, Pot 29-330
Lewellen, GB 2l-299

1927
Rogers, Fra 38-541
Conzelman, Pro 34-478
Blood, Dul 21-371
Kenneally, Pot 19-308
C.Rooney, Dul 19-299
Lewellen, GB-NYY 17-299

1928
Kotal, GB 25-508
Welch, NYY 17-379
Oden, Pro 19-349

TanksAndSpartans wrote: A couple things that put the 30s out in front for me that James didn't mention: 1) I like football cards and there was a 1935 set issued and 2) you can actually see some video. I've seen Bronko Nagurski run. I don't have much idea at all how Fritz Pollard, Paddy Driscoll, Tony Latone , Benny Friedman played. At least for the guys who played in the 30s you can see some scraps.

Yeah, that is the problem for me. Football is a very visual sport, so the 1920s are out for me. I have seen some footage from the 1930s but not much.