Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

What are games in which the play was called and it worked? Games when it didn't work?

Does anyone, by chance, have an exact list of all the times it was ever tried (and the success/failure tally)?

Thanks in-advance for the knowledge/info!

That's a great idea for a project. I don't think game sheets would give that information, so a deep dive into newspaper articles would seem to be the way to go for anyone who wanted to undertake the mission.

Having been fortunate to have seen the Nov 3 '57 Lions game film, I was surprised to see an earlier Alley-Oop TD pass that day called back when SF was penalized.

Something else R.C. Owens did in football that is noteworthy... A famous picture of him was shot at the goal post crossbar with Owens using his amazing leaping ability to block a long field goal that would have just cleared the bar had Owens not leapt up and got it at the last second. I believe this was in 1962 and Owens was playing for the Baltimore Colts. I recall seeing Hank Stram send his 6'8" tight end Morris Stroud out on the field for the Chiefs to attempt this same sort of block. (IDR if Stroud was ever able to get one. PFR gives no evidence either way.)

The NFL has since made this play illegal; and this is one of a few other rules that I'd like to see brought back. If you are there (at the crossbar) and you can do it, and the ball is going to be good but it's low enough to be gettable, why should you have to stand there and watch the opponent rack 3 against your team helplessly? JMHO.

EDIT: I recall announcers back in the day saying Stroud was 6'8" but PFR has him at 6'10".

I found a few specific mentions in Y.A. Tittle's autobiography, "I Pass."

Oct. 6, 1957, vs the Rams. The Alley Oop play was born during a practice that week, and Tittle says he completed two of them to Owens in this game. The first was a 46-yard TD pass with less than a minute to go in the first half. The second was the game-winner in the last minute or two, this time an 11-yarder.

Oct. 20, 1957, vs the Packers. Tittle says he threw one to Owens for the 49ers' final score in a 24-14 victory, but the box score says Tittle scored that TD from a yard out. My guess is that Owens was stopped or went out of bounds on the 1 and Tittle took it in from there.

Nov. 3, 1957, vs the Lions. Tittle threw an Alley Oop to Owens for a 41-yard TD with 19 seconds left to give the 49ers a 35-31 win.

Dec. 22, 1957, vs the Lions. This was the western division playoff game. The first score came on an Alley Oop pass to Owens from the Detroit 34-yard line.

It's possible that this is the entire list, because a few pages later Tittle says, "In 1958, the year after the Alley Oop pass," which implies that it was used just for that one season. And he never mentions Owens again after the 1957 playoff game.

One other thing from Tittle's book: Talking about the Alley Oop, he says, "The only defense against it was a defensive back who could out-leap R.C. Owens, and there was no such animal in the National Football League." Makes you wonder why they dropped it after that one season, if in fact that's what happened.

Maybe injuries to Owens in 58 and 59 reduced his chances at catching more jump ball TDs? Billy Wilson was Tittle's favorite target anyway and ironically, Owens didnt get his first 1000 yrd season till after Tittle left. Wilson never had a 1000 yard season but may have made the HOF had he caught more TD passes, I believe ...

Cali_Eagle wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:56 pm Something else R.C. Owens did in football that is noteworthy... A famous picture of him was shot at the goal post crossbar with Owens using his amazing leaping ability to block a long field goal that would have just cleared the bar had Owens not leapt up and got it at the last second. I believe this was in 1962 and Owens was playing for the Baltimore Colts. I recall seeing Hank Stram send his 6'8" tight end Morris Stroud out on the field for the Chiefs to attempt this same sort of block. (IDR if Stroud was ever able to get one. PFR gives no evidence either way.)

The NFL has since made this play illegal; and this is one of a few other rules that I'd like to see brought back. If you are there (at the crossbar) and you can do it, and the ball is going to be good but it's low enough to be gettable, why should you have to stand there and watch the opponent rack 3 against your team helplessly? JMHO.

EDIT: I recall announcers back in the day saying Stroud was 6'8" but PFR has him at 6'10".

I first saw the photo of R.C. Owens leaping to block a field goal in Sport Magazine. I think it was in the Sport Talk section before you got to that month's articles.

Cali_Eagle wrote: ↑Mon Sep 25, 2023 7:56 pm Something else R.C. Owens did in football that is noteworthy... A famous picture of him was shot at the goal post crossbar with Owens using his amazing leaping ability to block a long field goal that would have just cleared the bar had Owens not leapt up and got it at the last second. I believe this was in 1962 and Owens was playing for the Baltimore Colts. I recall seeing Hank Stram send his 6'8" tight end Morris Stroud out on the field for the Chiefs to attempt this same sort of block. (IDR if Stroud was ever able to get one. PFR gives no evidence either way.)

The NFL has since made this play illegal; and this is one of a few other rules that I'd like to see brought back. If you are there (at the crossbar) and you can do it, and the ball is going to be good but it's low enough to be gettable, why should you have to stand there and watch the opponent rack 3 against your team helplessly? JMHO.

EDIT: I recall announcers back in the day saying Stroud was 6'8" but PFR has him at 6'10".

The Packers used to station Willie Wood at the crossbar on long field goal attempts. He never blocked one but the thought was there.
Wood was only 5-10 but he kept Lombardi's eye when he chinned himself on the crossbar en route to the dressing room after a practice.