Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

https://theathletic.com/2685622/2021/08 ... l-history/

Thoughts?

THey make you pay to read. No thanks.

Agreed.
Might've been an interesting read but it's behind a pay wall.

Nuff Said ...

To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

conace21 wrote:To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

People also didn't have a monthly internet bill back then either. If they did and they were used to being able to just pop online and find info they would likely feel the same. Only thing I am really willing to pay additional money for from the internet are movies.

conace21 wrote:To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

And if the Athletic sent a kid on a bike to my door to collect my monthly payment I would subscribe.
But I won't use my debit card on the internet.
I even snail mail in my dues here...

But what about the article?
Anything interesting to share?

lastcat3 wrote:

conace21 wrote:To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

People also didn't have a monthly internet bill back then either. If they did and they were used to being able to just pop online and find info they would likely feel the same. Only thing I am really willing to pay additional money for from the internet are movies.

Yes, I relied on ESPN and SI's websites for years to get my sports content. Rick Reilly, Peter King's MMQB, and Dr. Z were my favorites..And over the last 10-15 years, I found the quality of the journalism on both sites was consistently declining. I finally made the jump to the Athletic, partially because former Buffalo News reporter Tim Graham had done the same, and he had a habit of coming up with stories and interviews nobody else did: OJ Simpson, Bjorn Nittmo.... etc.

JuggernautJ wrote:

conace21 wrote:To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

And if the Athletic sent a kid on a bike to my door to collect my monthly payment I would subscribe.
But I won't use my debit card on the internet.
I even snail mail in my dues here...

But what about the article?
Anything interesting to share?

It's actually 100 articles, not 1. The Athletic's Joe Posnanski did this with the 100 greatest baseball players a few years ago, and I was hooked. The rankings themselves weren't designed to be exact (Joe DiMaggio was #56, Jackie Robinson was #42, and Oscar Charleston was in the top 5.) But each article was fascinating, and while I consider myself fairly well versed in baseball history, I learned something (or a lot of somethings) new in each story.

With the Football 100, I have rarely learned anything new, but I've still enjoyed them. From the historical perspective, they're not quite up to the level of a Coffin Corner article, but are much more balanced and nuanced that most stuff you'll find on the web (or TV). This series recognizes that NFL history did not start in 1970.

The rankings are decent, though I seriously questioned having Elroy Hirsch on the list. But, Crazy Legs made the NFL Network's Top 100 list in 2011, and the 100th Anniversary Team, so the Athletic is hardly alone in overrating Hirsch.

conace21 wrote:

JuggernautJ wrote:

conace21 wrote:To each their own, but people do remember having to pay for a newspaper subscription, right?

And if the Athletic sent a kid on a bike to my door to collect my monthly payment I would subscribe.
But I won't use my debit card on the internet.
I even snail mail in my dues here...

But what about the article?
Anything interesting to share?

It's actually 100 articles, not 1. The Athletic's Joe Posnanski did this with the 100 greatest baseball players a few years ago, and I was hooked. The rankings themselves weren't designed to be exact (Joe DiMaggio was #56, Jackie Robinson was #42, and Oscar Charleston was in the top 5.) But each article was fascinating, and while I consider myself fairly well versed in baseball history, I learned something (or a lot of somethings) new in each story.

With the Football 100, I have rarely learned anything new, but I've still enjoyed them. From the historical perspective, they're not quite up to the level of a Coffin Corner article, but are much more balanced and nuanced that most stuff you'll find on the web (or TV). This series recognizes that NFL history did not start in 1970.

The rankings are decent, though I seriously questioned having Elroy Hirsch on the list. But, Crazy Legs made the NFL Network's Top 100 list in 2011, and the 100th Anniversary Team, so the Athletic is hardly alone in overrating Hirsch.

Given that he's on three fairly authoritative lists, could it be that you're underrating Hirsch?