Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

75th Anniversary team:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_
http://www.nfl.com/history/legends/75th

Just like the QB thread: I'll list the 75th Anniversary Team selections and we'll assume +1 spot per position (WR and TE) for the next 25 years.
I am also assuming (though you need not) that the players chosen for the 75th Anniversary Team are the best representatives for the game's first 75 years... so I won't be trading off Ray Berry for Mac Speedie... but if I felt the need to add two receivers of the last 25 years I would have to remove one from the previous 75.

WRs: Rice, Hutson, Alworth, Berry
+1: I'm torn.... so many good ones! T.O. will not be getting my vote.

TEs: Ditka, Winslow
+1: Tony Gonzalez
(Personally, I might remove Winslow and go for a second "old school" Tight End. Mackey has always been a favorite)

Going on the assumption that the 100 year team would be "+1" over the 75 year team, I have no problem adding Gonzalez to Ditka and Winslow.
WR is where it gets weird... I cringe when I hear about "There's going to be such a backlog of HOF worthy WRs in the coming years." When teams are throwing on 75% of their plays nowadays stats are going to be inflated and it creates the illusion that these WRs are better than they are. Not that most are BAD, just that guys that probably should be HOVG level are being talked about on the HOF level. If I were to add one more to the 75 year WR group, I think I would go with Steve Largent. If it HAD to be someone from the last 25 years I'd go with Marvin Harrison. Although I don't think he'd be in my top 8 of WRs of all time.

Randy Moss

JohnH19 wrote:Randy Moss

That's my initial selection, too.
He certainly passed the "eyeball-test" for me.

But there are many fine candidates at the position in the last 25 years...
Of all the possible positions I wouldn't be surprised to see this one get two more slots.

ChrisBabcock wrote:When teams are throwing on 75% of their plays nowadays stats are going to be inflated and it creates the illusion that these WRs are better than they are.

They said the same thing about QBs and the forward pass back in the 40's. "Back in my day, a touchdown MEANT something! These young whippersnappers, throwing it this way, throwing it that way, pretty soon you'll have teams scoring two, maybe even three touchdowns a game! THEN where will we be?"

Jeremy Crowhurst wrote: They said the same thing about QBs and the forward pass back in the 40's. "Back in my day, a touchdown MEANT something! These young whippersnappers, throwing it this way, throwing it that way, pretty soon you'll have teams scoring two, maybe even three touchdowns a game! THEN where will we be?"

That's funny.
I remember reading something similar in Will Durant's The Story of Civilization.
It seems the ancient Egyptians, faced with the proliferation of writing, feared that without having to memorize everything their mental capacity might deteriorate.
The more things change the more they stay the same.

I'm not sure why Ditka made the original team, but Tony Gonzalez IMO is easily the best TE in NFL history. His production and longevity at that position are unmatched. I would have Gonzalez as the first-team TE, and maybe either Winslow or Mackey as the 2nd team TE.

I also think Raymond Berry's inclusion on the original team was somewhat questionable. I would replace him with Randy Moss. But I also find it interesting that Moss never led the league in receiving yards or receptions in a given season, so maybe I am underselling Berry.

Bryan wrote:I'm not sure why Ditka made the original team.

Because he was still prominent in 1994, as opposed to Mackey, who had been essentially blackballed for his union activities for two decades.

Bryan wrote:I also think Raymond Berry's inclusion on the original team was somewhat questionable. I would replace him with Randy Moss. But I also find it interesting that Moss never led the league in receiving yards or receptions in a given season, so maybe I am underselling Berry.

Just a bit.

BD Sullivan wrote:

Bryan wrote:I'm not sure why Ditka made the original team.

Because he was still prominent in 1994, as opposed to Mackey, who had been essentially blackballed for his union activities for two decades.

Bryan wrote:I also think Raymond Berry's inclusion on the original team was somewhat questionable. I would replace him with Randy Moss. But I also find it interesting that Moss never led the league in receiving yards or receptions in a given season, so maybe I am underselling Berry.

Just a bit.

When Ditka was inducted into the HOF, he asked during his induction speech why John Mackey wasn't there already.