NINETEEN EIGHTY pre-season predictions, expectations, etc

[74_75_78_79_]

Just pulled out my practically mint 'Street & Smith's Official Yearbook 1980' out the plastic bag. Bradshaw, in black-jersey, on the cover dropping back. Not sure against who. Just see Kolb dropping back in front of him; sun is out, very likely a home-game of course. Was given to me by my best-friend (a Dallas-fan) about 15 years ago. He just got married last week and I was his best-man. He got it, and some other souvenirs, from a flea market I believe. He gave it to me knowing that I'm a Steeler-fan but not knowing at the time that '80 is my first season ever following along with '80 being my favorite since following (we were 4th-grade classmates that very year; he rooted for Raiders in XV because he was mad that Birds beat Boys).

He also later hooked me up with a vintage 1980 white Earl Campbell jersey - the 'Ace of Spades' of football cards that very year, when I would buy quite a few bubblegum packs. Cribbs, Fergie, Klecko, Todd, Joe Fields, Guy Morriss, Rob Carpenter, Leon Gray, Archie, Ken Anderson, Terry, Franco, Colquitt, etc, etc, etc...Me nor none of my neighborhood friends/classmates seemed to have the Esteemed #34 - was there such a card?? Another, at the time, neighborhood friend was an Oiler-fan. He always sang the "Houston Oilers..." song. He had this cool miniature all-white figure/(Columbia blue/Scarlet colors) paint-set of #00 himself, Ken Burrough. By sheer coincidence, he became a Dallas-fan instead sometime between '81 and '82!

Anyways, here are the expected order of finish in each division...

AFC
East - Jets, Dolphins, Patriots, Bills, Colts
Central - Steelers, Oilers, Browns, Bengals
West - Broncos, Chargers, Seahawks, Raiders, Chiefs (but, along w Levy, given quite the respect in their review)

Walt Michaels was predicted to be 'Coach of the Year' a year early. QB-contro completely over! Richard Todd now 'the man'. And his former competition?...Robinson would be the reason for Denver being even-better. A strange, bad 'island' year those very Broncos turned out to have. It led to Red's dismissal but then led to Denver right on back to goodness the following (Dan Reeves' first) year. Chargers were expected to have a 'short' division reign, "one that doesn't extend beyond 1979". Reasons given...(besides Oilers beating them w/out Dante and Earl, and they 'stealing' their signals)...27th-best run-game in '79, "contrary to popular opinion, the Chargers are not a young team"; guards White and Wilkerson each 33, the former suffering a Pro Bowl knee injury, OT Washington and TE Klein also that age (all four "the guts" of the OL), top-3 draft choices all traded away, and...Matt Robinson now in their division!

Raiders/Davis given so much gruff! Basically due to their quest to move to LA. Running game ranked 24th in '79. Stabler, despite great rebound year was traded anyway. Pastorini "...younger and stronger. Can throw the long ball." But who do Raiders have who can catch that long ball anymore, the question. How will Pastorini do in current double-TE set-up which helped Stabler greatly in '79? Casper still on roster, of course, but not Plunkett. Newly drafted Marc Wilson is mentioned. Matt Millen is mentioned but in a not-so-optimistic way - "He is a terrific player, but there are handicaps. He had a bad back his senior year, restricting his effectiveness. He never has played linebacker. He is much shorter than the normal NFL down line-man." Yes, only the Raiders and their mystique can fly under radar like that!

Noll & Steelers...were already being, arguably at least, considered 'best of all-time'. "The Cowboys appear ready to crumble as Minnesota did last year, but the Steelers go on, and on, and..." Very, very much stock was put into Stabler joining Houston for he was S&S's voted QB for their All AFC Team, 1980. Pretty cool seeing Jim Haslett being pictured in the Bills section along with Fred Smerlas - such a shame he barely missed playing in a SB. Recent ('79) LB acquisition, Isiah, also pictured.

NFC
East - Redskins, Eagles, Cowboys, Cardinals, Giants (Tony Dungy, their new safety)
Central - Bears, Buccaneers, Vikings, Packers, Lions ("have the benefit of Billy Sims, a mouth-watering fifth-place schedule, and the convenience of playing in a division with no powerhouse")
West - Rams (REAL-HIGH optimism), Saints, Falcons, Forty Niners

Archie Manning, "I'm excited. This whole team is excited. We're tired of being home every Christmas and watching the other teams in the play-offs". Ouch!!

Immediately changing that sore subject, Redskins expected to do better than Philly, simply, due to Theismann being better than Jaws. Dallas, as popularly mentioned many times before, were expected to have that 'rebuilding' year in 'Year One' after Roger. Ottis Anderson quite mentioned in this mag! Starr being mentioned along with Landry as worst win-%age coaches after 5 years who were allowed back for a sixth year; but Bart quoted of his gratefulness of Packers' support/loyalty.


CFL preview as well! Pics of Ron Lancaster as Rough Riders' HC and Argos' Terry Metcalf. During that 1980 season I did have, and laser-ed through many a-time, another NFL preview mag that belonged to my Dad. I think it was 'NFL Digest' but not sure. One thing that mag and this S&S had in common, were the ads of different weekly team mags you could order online - oops, I meant by MAIL! Bear Report, Viking Report, Dolphin Digest, Seahawk Report, Chargers Football Weekly, Pittsburgh Steelers Weekly, Football News, etc, etc, etc. And, of course, all the betting advertisements to "pick-em like the 'experts'"! Kyle Rote's Revolutionary Formula Predetermines Winners!

[ChrisBabcock]

Interesting! I'd love to get my hands on a copy of that. Jets in first? Hmmmmmm. Also, in regards to their prediction of Redskins in first, was this published before riggins' holdout/retirement? Not sure of the timing of everything surrounding him that off-season.

[Jay Z]

It's gotta be hard to predict every division winner wrong, but S&S managed it. Though Browns, Vikings, Falcons, and Bills were not in 1979 playoffs, so that makes some sense.

[Rupert Patrick]

Interesting! I'd love to get my hands on a copy of that. Jets in first? Hmmmmmm. Also, in regards to their prediction of Redskins in first, was this published before riggins' holdout/retirement? Not sure of the timing of everything surrounding him that off-season.

There's a 1980 S&S pro football yearbook going on Ebay right now for 13 bucks and 4 shipping. They always had multiple covers for regional releases and the bigger stars on the cover usually cost more these days. I collect old football magazines from the 70's and 80's, and have all of the Street and Smiths for the 70's, not sure about 1980. I always found the annual Football Action magazines to be pretty comprehensive as they covered pro and college.

[7DnBrnc53]

For 1980, I have the Gridiron News issue and the Complete Handbook of Pro Football (the same one Schenley would sponsor in 81).

GRIDIRON NEWS:

AFC
East: Dolphins, Jets*, Pats, Bills, Colts
Central: Steelers, Oilers*, Browns, Bengals
West: Broncos, Chargers, Seahawks, Raiders, Chiefs
AFC Champ: Steelers

The author (Frank Ross) basically wrote that the Oilers have to get home field for them to to to the SB. He doesn't have them getting it here, so he is basically indicating that the Steelers will go back to the SB. He also praised Denver for Matt Robinson , and he wrote that Pastorini could keep the Raiders in the thick of things at least as long as Stabler did the year before.

NFC
East: Eagles, Cowboys*, Redskins, Cardinals, Giants
Central: Lions, Bears, Buccaneers, Packers, Vikings
West: Rams, Saints*, Falcons, 49ers
NFC Champ: Rams

I can't believe that Ross went with the Lions here, even with their 5th place schedule and the addition of Sims. I would have picked Chicago that year. I agree with the Eagles and Rams picks for the East and West, though, and I agree with the pick of the Rams to come out of the NFC. I also don't have anything against the Saints pick for WC. They seemed like a team on the rise. Not many knew that cocaine was a big problem in their locker room, and the loss to the Raiders on MNF the year before also had an affect on them. After the 80 season, Bum should have cleaned house more than he did (trading Archie Manning away). Then, he should have given QB Guy Benjamin a chance instead of trading him to SF and drafting Dave Wilson in the Supp draft.

COMPLETE BOOK OF PRO FOOTBALL

AFC
East: Patriots, Dolphins, Jets, Bills, Colts
Central: Steelers, Oilers, Browns, Bengals
West: Chargers, Broncos, Seahawks, Chiefs, Raiders
AFC Champ: Steelers

The author (Dave Newhouse) has the Steelers winning a fifth Lombardi Trophy. He also thought that the Raiders would finish in dead last because Al Davis was more concerned with moving to LA than his football team.

NFC
East: Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys, Giants, Cardinals
Central: Buccaneers, Bears, Lions, Vikings, Packers
West: Rams, Saints, 49ers, Falcons
NFC Champ: Eagles

Finally, someone (Paul Attner in this case) picks the Eagles to go to the SB. He also downgrades the Cowboys (they may learn something about humility) and he is positive about Washington (they may be the surprise team of the league).

[TanksAndSpartans]

Earl Campbell only ever appeared in one football card set as an active player - the 1979 Topps set. Apparently players negotiated individually at that time and Campbell could never reach another agreement with Topps - I don't recall hearing a similar story about any other player.

So if you were buying packs in 1980, you wouldn't have been able to pull a Campbell

[Retro Rider]

Earl Campbell only ever appeared in one football card set as an active player - the 1979 Topps set. Apparently players negotiated individually at that time and Campbell could never reach another agreement with Topps - I don't recall hearing a similar story about any other player.

So if you were buying packs in 1980, you wouldn't have been able to pull a Campbell

I remember Joe Namath having an issue with Topps back in 1974. 1973 was the last year that they printed cards of him and as a young Jets fan I was devastated.

Some nice looking Earl Campbell retro cards for those interested:

http://www.thecowboysguide.com/RetroCards-Campbell.html

[Todd Pence]

THE POCKET BOOK OF PRO FOOTBALL (Herbert Furlow)

AFC East: Patriots, Dolphins*, Jets, Bills, Colts
AFC Central: Steelers, Oilers*, Browns, Bengals
AFC West: Chargers, Raiders, Broncos, Seahawks, Chiefs
NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles*, Redskins, Cardinals, Giants
NFC Central: Bears, Buccaneers*, Packers, Vikings, Lions
NFC West: Rams, Saints, Falcons, 49ers
SUPER BOWL: Chargers vs. Cowboys