Tim Walker, at left, his mate Ali, and I, during the River Plate-San Martin match in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on August 31, 2025. (Photo by Tim Parker)
One of the many enjoyable aspects of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project is the ability to meet and interact with various folks along the way.
Sure, I’m traveling or attending events with people I have longstanding relationships with, but the individuals I’ve been able to meet along the way are vital characters in any film that’s being created in my own mind;-)
I first met Tim over an empanada, a couple slices of pizza, and a glass of Malbec at Buenos Aires’ El Cuartito before he and I attended the Argentine Primera Divison soccer match between River Plate and San Martin.
The more I spoke to Tim and his mate, Ali, the more intrigued I was with his story. A native Englander, he relocated to the Denver area over 20 years ago and now resides in St. Petersburg, FL. In addition to traveling to far-flung locales for soccer matches, I was able to learn he was a fan of the San Francisco 49ers and the LSU Tigers and rode his bicycle to Tampa Bay Rays games when Tropicana Field was still a thing.
What I did not know during that brief interaction was how widely he’d traveled and how many absolutely stellar sports fan experiences he’d had.
Have I got some wonderful news for you … Tim joins me this week on Conversations and in addition to enjoying his British accent, he shares many of those stories with us.
An ultra-talented prep star at Indianapolis Warren Central, George was named the first-ever recipient of the Gatorade National Player of the Year Award following his senior season in 1985. He matriculated to Purdue University just up I-65 in West Lafayette where he played all 11 games as a freshman, posting a 3-8 record and throwing a Big Ten-high 15 interceptions against only four touchdowns.
Boilermakers head coach Leon Burtnett resigned following the season and George was trying to move to the University of Miami but then-Coach Jimmie Johnson would not guarantee him the starting spot. Instead, he transferred to the University of Illinois and played a total of 22 games over his two seasons in Champaign-Urbana where he led the Fighting Illini to a 10-2 record and a Citrus Bowl victory over the University of Virginia. The Illini finished the season ranked No. 10 in the nation.
Jeff George spent three seasons quarterbacking Big Ten football teams. He played at Purdue University as a freshman before transferring to the University of Illinois for his final two seasons. (Purdue photo by George Gojkovich/Getting Images; Illinois photo by Bernstein Associates/Getty Images)
After learning he was guaranteed to be a top five draft selection, George gave up his final year of eligibility and was the first overall draft pick by the Indianapolis Colts in 1990. The Colts traded two draft picks, offensive tackle Chris Hinton and wide receiver Andre Rison to Atlanta for the right to draft George first overall. Indianapolis signed him to a then-record $15 million deal.
From there, it was an adventure for George. He lasted four seasons in Indianapolis before the Colts moved him – ironically – to Atlanta in a trade for three draft picks including one that became Marvin Harrison. Before his 12-year career ended, he also took snaps for the Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings, and Washington Redskins and also spent time on the rosters of the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears.
He had a dynamite arm but the head did not always seem to be calibrated accordingly.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Why I haven’t been doing it all along … who knows!?!
This week I’m rejoined by Dr. Nick Elam of basketball’s Elam Ending fame. Not only do we spend a moment or two learning what’s knew in Elam Ending land, but we also discuss his myriad other sports-related roles: Groundskeeper at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park, stats team member for the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever, and part of the scoreboard crew at Lucas Oil Stadium. Did I mention the Winnipeg Sea Bears? Yeah, he does work for them too.
Don’t fumble this week’s easy Fan Teaser conversion.
In celebration of the USA’s Independence Day, we figured why not use the nation’s most-celebrated Patriot (at least on the athletic field)?
Say hello to what might have been, if only future Pro Football Hall of Famer Tom Brady had taken the Montreal Expos up on their generous offer to an 18th round draft pick in 1995. (The club was rumored to have offered him a signing bonus similar to that of a late second or early third-round draft choice.)
Tom Brady – yes, that Tom Brady – was an 18th round selection by the Montreal Expos in the 1995 MLB Draft.
Brady, of course, chose to attend the University of Michigan on a football scholarship and things worked out OK for the 7-time Super Bowl champion quarterback.
The photo used today is from a Bowman Chrome baseball card produced by the Topps Company in 2023. The story, however, gets better. Because Brady never signed with the Expos and never, so far as anyone is aware, even tried on a cap, this image on the card is, understandably, Photoshopped.
After some sleuthing by eagle-eyed trading card afficianados, it is now presumed Brady’s face was placed on the body of 14-season Major League catcher, Darrin Fletcher. Check out the video below from “Junk Wax Hero” to see who actually might be standing next to Brady when his image was repurposed from a separate photo. As for the picture of Fletcher pounding his catcher’s glove, it seems to have been taken prior to a game played April 10, 1993, against the Colorado Rockies at Mile High Stadium (the second-ever home game for the Rockies); Fletcher did not play.
Two other fun facts about Brady, the Expos, and his card:
First, Brady signed a limited edition 1/1 of this card that sold at auction for $158,600. The highest price ever recorded at auction for an Expos uniformed player. A figure, by the way, that’s just over $10,000 less than what Darrin Fletcher earned for the 1993 season ($170,000).
Second, when Brady retired a second time from the NFL in 2023, he became the final Montreal Expos draft pick to retire from a professional playing career.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Today, I offer apologies to regular Sports Fan Project readers.
I’ve tried – mightily – to provide at least one post (beyond The Fan Teaser) each week. Alas, upon returning from Event No. 10 of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project (a pair of SEC football rivalry games: the Egg Bowl and the Iron Bowl), I began to feel progressively worse with each passing day.
Without getting into too much detail, suffice to say that overnight coughing fits were making it difficult for me to sleep, drove my wife across the hall into another bedroom, and, generally, made me feel lousy for the better part of a week.
A tele-health visit to my doctor’s office elicited a round of Azythromycin, some Codeine-infused cough syrup, and my first-ever inhaler to open up the bronchi should I encounter any more coughing fits.
Mercifully, after 10 days of feeling no better than meh, I believe I’ve turned a corner.
With that, and a knowing nod to the 1995 film “While You Were Sleeping” here’s a few things that transpired in the world of sports while I was in an altered state along with my thoughts.
The Legendary Bill Belichick is Returning to the Sidelines … at the University of North Carolina?!?
Bill Belichick holds his father’s North Carolina sweatshirt during his introductory press conference. (Photo University of North Carolina)
No headline during my convalescence made me question the amount of Codeine in that cough syrup more than this one.
Bill Belichick, the curmudgeonly 72-year-old ex-head coach of one of the NFL’s most successful modern-day dynasties is ending his 1-year sabbatical away from coaching by heading back to school (please, cue Rodney Dangerfield’s triple-lindy from the 1986 film of the same name) for the first time ever?
What could possibly go wrong?
Or … right?
Clearly the Tar Heels have no issue hiring an older coach (shoot, Belichick’s a year younger than the man he’s replacing, Mack Brown!) and as I began to listen to the punditry go deeper on this decision, it’s not as outlandish as it seems on the surface.
NCAA football, at this level, has never been more like the professional game. See the transfer portal; name, image, and likeness payments; the actual payments coming from schools thanks to recent court settlements; programs hiring general managers; etc. So I suppose the hire – and Belichick’s willingness dive in – makes some sense.
Of course, there’s also the family connection. His father, Steve, was an assistant there from 1953-55, and his son, also named Steve, is expected to join him in Chapel Hill after serving as defensive coordinator at the University of Washington this season.
Schools Upset About Being Left Out of Expanded College Football Playoff
The 2024-25 CFP Bracket.
Who could have seen this coming?
The College Football Playoff expands from four to 12 teams this season and teams ranked No. 13 (and even No. 14) feel they were given the screwgie by the selection committee.
Sorry – not sorry – University of Alabama faithful.
I understand the Southeastern Conference is probably – from top to bottom – the most challenging conference in all of college football. Heck, I saw firsthand six of the 16 teams compete in person this year. One of those was Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl against Texas and they looked like a high school team against the Longhorns during this year’s Red River Rivalry (Event No. 8 of Around the World).
You know what? Alabama lost to the Sooners, 24-3. Didn’t score a touchdown against the Sooners!
The Crimson Tide also lost to Vanderbilt, 40-35, when ‘Bama was the top-ranked team in the nation, the first time in 40 years Alabama lost to the Commodores.
Do either of those outcomes seem playoff worthy?
The team catching the Tide’s ire is Southern Methodist University because, presumably, it has the misfortune of playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference which, from top to bottom, is nowhere near as competitive as the SEC.
My Take: Schools should not be punished for the conference they compete in. Beyond the non-conference games, schools have no control over who’s on the schedule or how good (or bad) those teams might be. SMU played Nevada (which played for the Mountain West championship) and Texas Christian (of the Big 12) as part of their 3-game non-conference slate. The ACC, it should be noted, played nine conference games while the SEC plays but eight (that extra non-league game Alabama played … Football Championship Subdivision semifinalist, Mercer).
Furthermore, much of the teeth gnashing could be mitigated if, rather than a 12-team playoff, it was 16. Sure, Team No. 17 will now be the one that’s aggrieved, but as articulated above, by the time we get to the 16th, 17th, and 18th-ranked teams in the country, we’ll find plenty of flaws and limited chances at success in such a tournament. It’d also eliminate the first-round byes which should mute some of the whining about less-deserving teams such as Arizona State and Boise State from receiving the significant competitive advantage of an extra week of rest.
Allen & Parker Get the Hall Call but Where’s John?
Pitcher Tommy John while with the Los Angeles Dodgers. (Getty Sports Photo)
The National Baseball Hall of Fame‘s 16-member Classic Era Committee voted Dick Allen and Dave Parker into the hallowed hall, it was announced last weekend. The voting panel consisted of Hall of Famers Ozzie Smith, Paul Molitor, Eddie Murray, Tony Perez, Lee Smith, Joe Torre, five current or former executives (Sandy Alderson, Terry McGuirk, Dayton Moore, Arte Moreno, and Brian Sabean), and five historians/media members (Bob Elliott, Leslie Heaphy, Steve Hirdt, Dick Kaegel and Larry Lester).
For those interested, Larry Lester – co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum – was a guest earlier this season on Conversations with Sports Fans. You’re able to find a link to his episode here.
Not that my opinion matters much, but I’m fine with both Allen and Parker heading to Cooperstown.
My real emotion (which is anger) lies with one of the six other finalists who didn’t make it: Tommy John.
John received just seven votes from the panel (12 are required for enshrinement) and, for the life of me, I don’t understand why over 50% of the panelists left him off their ballots.
He pitched for 26 seasons, amassed 288 wins, had a career earned run average of 3.34, went 6-3 in 14 post-season appearances for both the Dodgers, Yankees, and Angels, and had a playoff ERA of 2.65. For you analytic lovers, he had a career Wins Above Replacement (WAR) of 61.6.
And, oh yeah, he was the first pitcher to undergo, you know, Tommy John Surgery which has impacted, I don’t know, just about every pitcher this century!!!
Here are a few comparisons of current Hall of Famers:
Sandy Koufax – 12 seasons, 165 wins, a 2.76 ERA, and a career WAR of 48.9. Playoffs: 4-3 with a 0.95 ERA in eight appearances.
Bert Blyleven – 22 seasons, 287 wins, a 3.31 ERA, and a career WAR of 94.5. Playoffs: 3-1 with a 2.47 ERA in eight appearances.
Jim Kaat – 25 seasons, 283 wins, a 3.45 ERA, and a career WAR of 50.5. Playoffs: 1-3 with a 4.03 ERA in nine appearances
Jack Morris – 18 seasons, 254 wins, a 3.90 ERA, and a career WAR of 43.5. Playoffs: 7-4 with a 3.80 ERA in 13 appearances
It’s worth noting, that Kaat and Morris were voted in by some version of a Hall of Fame veterans committee that determines John’s fate.
The Detroit Lions are 12-1 … and Have Not Distanced Themselves from their Pursuers
The Detroit Lions are off to the best start in franchise history. (Detroit Lions Photo)
Go figure, my hometown Detroit Lions – long the laughingstock of professional football – are having a season for the ages, but despite being 12-1 for the first time in franchise history they’re still just a game clear of the divisional rival, Minnesota Vikings, and the NFC East’s Philadelphia Eagles.
Despite recent success and a different feel about this year’s team, you’ll forgive us long-suffering Lions’ fans if their Pavlovian response to this amazing start is that they’re just a couple of ill-timed miscues away from not winning the NFC North and having to battle through Wild Card Weekend as a 14-3 road team and thus, deprive the fan base of home playoff action.
Related: Lions Fans Upset by 2025 Ticket Price Increases
Color me surprised that the Lions will, for the second consecutive year, notably increase the cost of tickets. (Read about it here.)
Did we think a heretofore moribund franchise that was in the bottom quartile of NFL ticket prices would – out of sheer benevolence – just keep everything the same!?!
Folks, this is a elementary school economics. When demand increases and supply cannot be increased similarly (there’s only so many seats in Ford Field, right?), prices are going to increase. It’s the price fans pay to have a 12-1 team that seems to have a realistic shot for a lengthy advancement in the playoffs.
If you’re harkening for the days when tickets were plentiful (and cheap!) then you’re also harkening for that 2008 season when the Honolulu Blue and Silver finished 0-16.
And, remember, as my friend John U. Bacon is fond of saying: “Greed remains undefeated.”
What aptly named football player belongs to the hands seen in this image?
Was there ever a player – before or after – who seemed to epitomize being a football player more than Chicago Bears’ Pro Football Hall of Famer Dick Butkus?
Drafted by the Bears with the third pick in the first round out of the University of Illinois (one spot ahead of the Bears’ selecting University of Kansas All-American, Gale Sayers), Butkus (a Chicago native) spent his entire 9-year career with the Bears before a knee injury prematurely ended his time in the league.
Sports Illustrated annointed Dick Butkus as the “Most Feared Man in the Game.” He’s captured here by legendary SI photographer Neil Leifer in a 1969 game against the St. Louis Cardinals.
This image, framed perfectly with the official visible in the background, was taken by one of the most notable sports photographers in history, Neil Leifer, during a September 1969, 20-17 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Butkus died at 80 in October 2023. This video tribute comes courtesty of the Chicago Bears.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
A 3-part Teaser today: What Pro Football Hall of Famer is lying prone? What Hall of Famer is standing over him? And on what hallowed field did this all occur?
The Philadelphia Eagles (7-1) visited the New York Giants (5-2-1) on a chilly November 1960 Sunday afternoon.
With the Eagles trailing 10-0 in the second quarter, Giants quarterback George Shaw hit running back Frank Gifford on a swing pass and, before you know it, Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik put a fierce (but legal at the time) hit on Gifford, dislodging the ball, and rendering the Giant unconscious. Eagles’ teammate Jimmy Carr fell on the ball to thwart the drive. Philadelphia went on to claim a 17-10 victory.
Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker and offensive lineman, Chuck Bednarik, stands over the prone body of New York Giants’ halfback, Frank Gifford, at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by John G. Zimmerman/Sports Illustrated)
It was a massive hit and Gifford was so severely concussed (he said later he believed it was due to his head smacking the semi-frozen Yankee Stadium turf) that he missed the remainder of the 1960 season and the entirety of the 1961 campaign.
The NFL later named it as 44th on its list of top 100 Greatest Plays of All-Time (Philadelphia went on to win the NFL Championship that season).
The image above, captured by Sports Illustrated‘s John G. Zimmerman, seems to portray Bednarik celebrating the hit on Gifford, but he says he was actually celebrating Carr’s scoop and score. The video clip below (the only footage of the play we could find, seems to confirm Bedarnik’s take).
The hit was so significant History.com gave it the treatment with a full write up on the event (find it here).
Both Bednarik (1967) and Gifford (1977) were enshrined in Canton’s Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Footage of the Bednarik hit on Gifford.
This short trailer of the NFL’s 44th Greatest Play of All Time features remarks from Bednarik and, curiously, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Two Pro Football Hall of Famers in one image. Who do you think they are?
Two NFL luminaries squared off in this image captured in Metropolitan Stadium (Bloomington, MN) on October 18, 1970, by Walter Iooss Jr.
Minnesota Vikings’ defensive lineman. Alan Page, was part of the famed “Purple People Eaters” defense. During a 15-season career, Page amassed 173 sacks and appeared in nine consecutive Pro Bowls. In 1970 he was one year away from becoming the first defensive player to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award. Following his playing days, Page practiced law before eventually being elected to Minnesota’s Supreme Court.
While Page served the public following his playing days, Dallas Cowboys’ quarterback, Roger Staubach, served it prior to ever suiting up for the Cowboys. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Staubach was the 1963 Heisman Trophy winner before serving his required four years active duty assignment – including serving in Vietnam – with the Navy. His rookie season was 1969 with the Cowboys and it wasn’t until 1971 that he became the Cowboys’ regular starting quarterback.The Philadelphia Eagles visited the New York Giants on a cold
Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach finds a way over the Minnesota Vikings’ Alan Page at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN on October 18, 1970. (Photo by Walter Iooss Jr.)
Page’s Vikings got the best of Staubach’s Cowboys in this game, 54-13. It was one of only eight games Staubach started that season and it was not likley part of any highlight reels. He finished 9-for-16 passing for 109 yards with no touchdowns and three interceptions. He was also sacked seven times. For his part Page picked off Staubach once (one of his two career interceptions) and returned it 27 yards. Though sacks were not found in the boxscore, one must assume he was in on Staubach sack party.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
Full disclosure: The Detroit Lions at Dallas Cowboys game of the Texas Football Trifecta portion of my Around the World in 80 Sporting Events project was not part of the original plan. It was simply going to be Friday Night Lights and the Red River Rivalry. A daily double, if you will;-) But then the NFL schedule makers revealed the 2024-25 schedule in May and there it was, Lions-Cowboys the Sunday following Oklahoma-Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Suddenly, we were scooping up Standing Room Only tickets as soon as they hit the market to ensure we were in the building for a rematch from last year’s muffed call by the officials. Yes, Decker reported!
Like most things in Texas, AT&T Stadium is oversized.
As I’ve noted several times in this space since I began The Sports Fan Project, my relationship with my hometown NFL franchise – the Detroit Lions – is of the love/hate variety. And, until a year ago, it leaned more heavily on the hate side of the ledger. For as long as I can remember, the Lions would figure out innovative ways to lose games. Sometimes with the help of officials (see that 2023 Cowboys’ game, for example) but more often than not it was simply due to ineptitude on the playing field, the sidelines, or the board room.
It should suprise no one, then, when I say that the last time I saw the Lions play in person was almost 18 years ago in Glendale, AZ, during a yawner of a 17-10 loss to the Neil Leinart-led Cardinals; one of just eight games Leinart won as a starting quarterback during his 6-season NFL career.
I’ve still not seen the Lions play a game in Ford Field, which debuted during the 2002 season, but in the name of sports fandom research and experiencing Texas football at all three levels, I’ll absolutely subject myself to whatever product the Honolulu Blue and Silver put on the field at AT&T Stadium.
Jerry’s House
The stadium is visible for miles in all directions.
I’m sure if I was a Dallas Metroplex native I’d be more tolerant of Dallas Cowboys’ owner/president/general manager Jerry Jones. Afterall, following his purchase of the franchise in 1989, the Cowboys have been to the playoffs 18 times, appeared in three Super Bowls, and won each of them. Granted, an entire generation (or three!) of Cowboys’ fans has been born since their last Super Bowl win in 1995 which makes fans of Dallas’ pro football team not too dissimilar from Lions’ fans, I suppose.
One of his more recent successes was convincing the City of Arlington and its residents to go all in on constructing a new home for his team (and other events). That became AT&T Stadium alternatively known as Jerry World and/or the Death Star. It opened in 2009.
It. Is. Massive.
With a capacity of over 100,000 (including standing room guests) it is the largest NFL venue by capacity. Sitting in a wide clearing among Arlington’s Entertainment District, it does have a the look of a massive spaceship that’s been moored in metro-Dallas.
My friend Rob, whom I was paired with for this event, has a goal of seeing the Lions play in all opposing venues. AT&T Stadium was his 16th and he wanted to give it a thorough walk through so he and I arrived shortly after the gates opened.
There’s plenty to see and do even without a game ticket, which I’m sure was part of the plan. We entered from the West and it features a massive outdoor plaza known as the Miller Litehouse which includes a mini football field (ala the green space adjacent to the high school football field all the little kids play ball on during games), food trucks, beverage service, merchandise stands, and plenty of screens to watch any and all of the NFL action. Following the game there was even a band performing on a small stage.
Clockwise from upper left, the West plaza included plenty for fans of all ages; Rob and I just outside the plaza; the East plaza as seen from inside AT&T Stadium; the West plaza post-game was still rollicking close to an hour after the game ended; the decision to stay in a house within walking distance to the stadium more than paid for itself with these parking rates in private lots adjacent to the venue.
It was more of the same inside.
There was plenty of largese, from the massive video boards over the field to the spacious concourses to the luxury suites at virtually ever level of the stadium.
Much later, I noticed one thing that was lacking: public restrooms. Rob and I set up shop on the East end Standing Room Only area between the third and fourth levels of seating. Unless you had access to the suites on the level we were standing you either needed to go up or down two flights of stairs to get to a public restroom. For a place that routinely tops 90,000 spectators (93,644 for this game) and claims to have room for over 20,000 standing room only patrons, this seems a massive oversight in the construction plans.
Clockwise from upper left, we had a encounter with the famous Dallas Cowboys’ cheerleaders as they entered the stadium following a pregame peformance at the Miller Litehouse; me and Rob on the fourth level; a view from the lower level; the view from my vantage point near the end of the game; the look at the East stadium plaza, the building on the right is Globe LIfe Field, home of MLB’s Texas Rangers.
Not the Lions of My Younger Years
Yeah, I watched most the game on the big screen or over and around the heads of dozens of others, mainly Lions’ fans, from my endzone perch.
As noted above, me attending Lions’ road games does not have a solid track record. In addition to the aforementioned Cardinals game, my previous two Lions games were also road losses: a 2003, 20-16, setback in Denver; and a 2001, 28-6, season-opening loss in Green Bay.
To say I was a bit nervous before kickoff was an understatement.
This was, after all, the only game on this Texas gridiron triology where I had a dog in the fight. Sure, Wayne’s son Macker – part of our traveling party – was a University of Oklahoma graduate, but beyond that I had no connection to the Red River Rivalry and certainly none for our Friday Night Lights experience in Odessa on Friday.
Wayne, an ardent Lions’ fan, was confident, and Rob, a longtime Detroit season-ticket holder, was predicting an easy Lions’ win.
Still, when the Cowboys showd an ability to move the ball on their opening drive, appeared to be an functioning NFL team, and took a 3-0 lead on a field goal, I was not yet feeling as comfortable as my traveling companions.
Then, as some Detroit players said during post-game comments, the Lions got the ball and “unloaded the clip” (a handgun reference) on Dallas.
The Lions did not punt during their 47-9 rout of the Cowboys. They did not allow a touchdown. They forced five Dallas turnovers. They targeted Taylor Decker on a tackle-eligible pass. They ran a hook-and-lateral play with another tackle, Penei Sewell, that was waived off due to a penalty.
It was an absolute a$$-whooping … and it was glorious! Especially after learning that it was Jerry Jones’ 82nd birthday.
Clockwise from left, the irony was not lost on me that Ford Motor Company (with a plant in Arlington, TX) had advertising all over the stadium but is also the eponymous company of the Detroit Lions’ ownership; the Standing Room Only area was expansive, though views of actual field are minimal (there are big screens in the areas as well as the video boards over the field); me and some of the other Lions’ faithful.
The best part, however, might have been the number of Lions’ fans who made the trip. Though there is no way to know for sure, I’d place the number of Detroit fans in AT&T Stadium between 15,000 and 20,000 and, due to the way the game was going, they made their presence known.
On more than one occasion, Rob remarked at how quiet (Lions’ fans aside) the stadium was. It was almost eerie.
Lions’ fans bust out a rendition of “Gridiron Heroes” in AT&T Stadium after an early Detroit touchdown.
All Silent
My view of the Lions gathered around the injured Aidan Hutchinson.
AT&T Stadium did take on an even eerier silence midway through the third quarter when Detroit’s All-Pro defensive end, Aidan Hutchinson, lay on the turf writhing in pain.
There was but one replay of the incident on the video boards – rightly so – but it didn’t take long for the throng of Lions’ fans around us to view the play and injury on social media and ascertain it was not good.
When the cart came out to carry Hutchinson off the field, well, everyone else in the facility knew what most of Detroit did in that moment.
Easy like Sunday morning. Who belongs to those knees and feet?
Walter Payton made a habit of going airborne whenever the Chicago Bears were anywhere near the goal line or in a short yardage situation. He does so in this image from nearly 40 years ago (October 7, 1984) when the host Bears beat the New Orleans Saints, 20-7. It was Payton’s only score that day, though he did rush for 154 yards on 32 carries.
Most significantly, perhaps, is that this was the game when Payton moved past fellow Pro Hall of Fame running back, Jim Brown, for the all-time rushing lead among NFL players. Payton went on to finish his career with 16,726 yards rushing over 190 games (Brown had 12,312 yards over 118 games). Emmitt Smith is the current record holder with 18,355 yards over 226 games.
Chicago Bears’ running backWalter Payton goes up and over against the New Orleans Saints in the game in which he broke Jim Brown’s career rushing record. (Photo by Andy Hayt)
Here’s a compilation of some of Payton’s airborne moments.
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.
