Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Yeah, sorry, that’s ridiculous.

I don’t even see Curtis as HOF-level. Harold Jackson, Cliff Branch, and Drew Pearson are all more deserving wideouts from that era.

Riley is questionable at best, as has been discussed here many times.

Ken A. and Parrish do belong in, and I’d say Willie A. actually has a decent case, which deserves to be re-examined someday, at the very least.

In that discussions that follow that tweet, the originator talks about an Issac Curtis rule. What the heck is/was that?

Must be a Browns fan who's still scarred from watching Curtis in his four years against them:

33 receptions for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games

His total numbers in those four years:

160 receptions for 4,176 yards and 32 touchdowns in 56 games.

nicefellow31 wrote:In that discussions that follow that tweet, the originator talks about an Issac Curtis rule. What the heck is/was that?

"Paul Brown was never shy about drafting a player with unique backgrounds, and Isaac Curtis was one such pick. Curtis could run the 100-meter dash in 9.3 seconds at Cal, but only had one year of football under his belt when Brown thought that speed would translate to the NFL. So, Brown picked Curtis No. 15 overall in the 1973 draft.

And immediately, Curtis changed the game. He went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and averaged 18.7 yards per catch, and in the playoffs, Miami decided the only way to cover him was to tackle him. Brown went to the league and the "Isaac Curtis Rule" was born, meaning defensive backs could not touch a receiver after five yards."

What some others perhaps call the "Mel Blount rule" I suppose. That is what that poster is referring to, the passing in an article, I posted a small part of it, but oddly, it seems after 1978 when the rule came into effect his production kind of went down. His peak was 1973-76ish

Did Isaac Curtis change the game from the way Bob Hayes changed it?

BD Sullivan wrote:Must be a Browns fan who's still scarred from watching Curtis in his four years against them:

33 receptions for 739 yards and 11 touchdowns in eight games

His total numbers in those four years:

160 receptions for 4,176 yards and 32 touchdowns in 56 games.

The yardage total was actually 3,176 which is still impressive at just under 20 yards per reception. Paul Warfield type numbers.

Just a general observation. Looking at his numbers his best seasons were when he has Joiner and Trumpy on the team. Mid career decline due to injury and teams general decline. As stated earlier his numbers rebounded to close to previous levels but the added two games per season probably had more to do with that than anything else. As soon as Collinsworth showed up he was no longer the #1 option.

Not really a HOF caliber WR. In the same catagory as Ken Burrough, Haven Moses in my opinion.

JohnTurney wrote:

nicefellow31 wrote:In that discussions that follow that tweet, the originator talks about an Issac Curtis rule. What the heck is/was that?

"Paul Brown was never shy about drafting a player with unique backgrounds, and Isaac Curtis was one such pick. Curtis could run the 100-meter dash in 9.3 seconds at Cal, but only had one year of football under his belt when Brown thought that speed would translate to the NFL. So, Brown picked Curtis No. 15 overall in the 1973 draft.

And immediately, Curtis changed the game. He went to the Pro Bowl as a rookie and averaged 18.7 yards per catch, and in the playoffs, Miami decided the only way to cover him was to tackle him. Brown went to the league and the "Isaac Curtis Rule" was born, meaning defensive backs could not touch a receiver after five yards."

What some others perhaps call the "Mel Blount rule" I suppose. That is what that poster is referring to, the passing in an article, I posted a small part of it, but oddly, it seems after 1978 when the rule came into effect his production kind of went down. His peak was 1973-76ish

The "Mel Blount Rule" was a revision of the "Isaac Curtis Rule" that made it even stricter. The IC Rule was adopted in 1974, the MB Rule in 1978.

JohnTurney wrote:"Paul Brown was never shy about drafting a player with unique backgrounds, and Isaac Curtis was one such pick. Curtis could run the 100-meter dash in 9.3 seconds at Cal, but only had one year of football under his belt when Brown thought that speed would translate to the NFL. So, Brown picked Curtis No. 15 overall in the 1973 draft.

Not sure what that comment is based on. Curtis played two years at Cal before transferring to SDSU for his senior year, posting an NCAA top-10 statline of 44-832-18.9-7 TDs. He was a well established college player, and if the Bengals hadn't selected him at #15, it is more than likely that another NFL team would have drafted Curtis in the 1st round as four other WRs were subsequent 1st round selections in that draft. The above blurb makes Curtis sound like Renaldo Nehemiah.