Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Been watching some 1984 NFL action...a few things stand out:

Neil Lomax - Kind of had a miserable supporting cast and wasn't very athletic, but he was so accurate, especially deep. I don't think Roy Green was an extraordinary WR, but Lomax's deep accuracy really helped make Green a superstar for a couple years. I think he ended up having to retire early because of a hip injury, but had he been on a better team with better protection Lomax could have had a HOF career.

Billy Sims - we already had a thread on Sims, but even just watching him in the 1st half of 1984 is incredible. What stands out to me is how consistently terrible the Lions offense was, and how many yards Sims had to gain virtually on his own. For his entire career, the Lions never could do better at QB than a Hipple/Danielson 'controversy', and their best WR was Leonard Thompson with none of the O-line being anything better than average. Not a surprise that he had a severe injury considering his workload and the amount of punishment he took.

Wendell Tyler - a really tough guy who wasn't very big, yet the Niners had him running inside most of the time. He took some tremendous beatings yet never really slowed down. Tyler had a tendency to carry the ball in one hand, even on those inside running plays. He had 13 fumbles in 1984...in comparison, Joe Montana had only 10 INTs. I am surprised that Walsh put up with Tyler's fumbling considering how much he valued ball control. But you can't argue with the results.

Good post Bryan, yet I disagree on Roy Green. I thought he was an explosive weapon for the Cards, though he could drop some passes. He was tough too, having been a former defensive back. That hard turf in St Louis made it tough on Lomax, Green and Anderson but the 1985 season was a disaster with injuries to Green and Anderson. I feel both could have had HOF careers had they maintained their 83-84 momentum.

Sims was on his way as well as a dual threat but did fumble alot trying to explode through tacklers.
Like I mentioned on another post, The Rams were idiots giving Tyler to the Niners, where he ran very well until his fumbles drove Walsh crazy ...

1984 was a great season for the Marks Brothers in Miami with Clayton breaking out but Nat Moore going over the middle helped the entire offense.

Always liked Lomax...his short(ish) career and playing mostly in St. Louis (not a strong NFL market) and a bit in Phoenix is not going to raise a players profile. Also didn't get much publicity coming out of Portland State. Plus only 1 playoff game.

1984 I had him as the 3rd best QB in all of football behind only Marino and Montana. And Lomax didn't exactly have a quality line giving him all the time in the world either. He operated under duress a lot more than Marino and Montana.