NFL – Page 4 – The Sports Fan Project

The Fan Teaser: Special Thanksgiving Day Edition Solution

November 24, 2023November 22, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

**^{John Madden awarded a 6-legged turkey to the top}** **^{players from the Fox Sports’}**
**^{Thanksgiving Day game. Are you able to identify}** **^{these four victorious players?}**
**^{How about the year?}**

In the event you didn’t get your fill of turkey yesterday, here’s a bit extra for you.

Dating back to 1989, John Madden awarded turkey legs to the players of the game following his network’s Thanksgiving Day telecast.

In 1999, the bird was 6-legged (no idea how it walked;-) and was readily devoured by four Detroit Lions who made a 21-point first half hold up in a 21-17 victory over the Chicago Bears. (Boxscore found here.)

Detroit Lions and Turkey — **^{Gus Frerotte, Greg Hill, Johnnie Morton, and Robert Porcher all got a turkey leg following the 1999 Lions’ win.}**

The four Lions’ players grabbing a leg are quarterback Gus Frerotte, running back Greg Hill, wide receiver Johnnie Morton, and defensive end Robert Porcher. Beyond Frerotte, who threw for 309 yards and two touchdowns, none really had a breathtakingly great performance but in an otherwise middling season for the Lions (8-8 record and Wild Card loss to the Washington Redskins) it was enough to get some face time with Madden and Pat Summerall.

Madden also put the turducken on the map when he spoke of it during the 1997 Lions-Bears’ Thanksgiving Day tilt. Here’s an oral history of how the turducken rose to prominence from ESPN back in 2021.

“It’s turkey – you got the turkey on the outside. Then you stuff the turkey with the duck, then you stuff the duck with the chicken. ‘Tur’ for turkey. ‘Duck’ for duck. And ‘-en’ for chicken. Then you just mix it all up. I’ve been eating it all day. You can’t beat that. That’s good eating. That’s a turducken. It’s turkey, it’s duck and it’s chicken. All boneless. All stuffed into each other.”
John Madden, after eating his first turducken, December 1, 1996

Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo above 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 normally appears each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday. This week we’ll reveal the winner Friday morning.

The Fan Teaser: Week 52 Solution

October 22, 2023October 20, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

^{You know the cat in the middle, President}
^{Obama. But who’s those dogs he’s with?}

Those Champagne bottles you heard getting popped open last Sunday night were from the remaining members of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the NFL’s last undefeated and untied Super Bowl Champion. The Dolphins finished the season 14-0 and won Super Bowl VII, 14-7, over the Washington Redskins.

The White House visit with President Barack Obama occurred on August 20, 2013. The team did not receive a White House invitation after winning the Super Bowl VII because it was not a regular occurrence … and because President Richard Nixon was a fan of the hometown Redskins.

There’s a rumor that once the final NFL loses its first game of the season each year the surviving members of the 1972 Dolphins open bottles of Champagne to toast their continued history-making performance.

Fun Fact: Despite Miami being 12-0 at the time, the AFC Championship Game was played on the road in Pittsburgh because the host city was determined on a yearly rotational basis.

1972 Miiami Dolphins — **^{The Dolphins gather with President Obama at the White House 40 years after completing their historic 1972 season. Those in gold jackets are Pro Football Hall of Famers.}**

Just to review, The Fan Teaser comes courtesy of longtime buddy, Pat Schutte. The cropped photo below 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.

The Fan Teaser: Week 50 Solution

October 8, 2023October 7, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

**^{In honor of the hunt. May your shot be as sweet and true as this guy’s.}**

Chicago Bears’ Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton was an avid hunter when he wasn’t running around and through defenders on the football field while establishing the career rushing standard upon his retirement following the 1987 season. The photo above came from the Sportsman Guide and was discovered in this 2016 compilation of several NFL players who also enjoy hunting.

Do make sure you check out one of the weirdest Payton highlight videos ever, below. It’s of him and Missouri politician and outdoorsman LeRoy Braungardt turkey hunting.

^{One of the strangest Walter Payton highlight videos you will EVER see. Turkey hunting in 1987.}

The Fan Teaser: Week 48 Solution

September 24, 2023September 23, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

In the history of the NFL (which dates back to 1920) has had eight 2,000-yard single-season rushers.

The first two of whom are seen in this week’s Fan Teaser: Eric Dickerson and O.J. Simpson.

Simpson rushed for 2,003 yards in only 14 games (and 332 carries!) in 1973 for the Buffalo Bills.

It took 11 seasons for a running back to top 2,000 again. That was Dickerson in 1984 when he ran for 2,105 yards over 16 games and 379 carries.

Eric Dickerson and O.J. Simpson — **^{A pair of the NFL’s single-season 2,000-yard rushers clown around shorly after Dickerson broke Simpson’s single-season record in 1984.}**

During the ensuing 40 seasons, there have bee six more: Barry Sanders, 1997; Terrell Davis, 1998; Jamal Lewis, 2003; Chris Johnson, 2009; Adrian Peterson, 2012; and Derrick Henry, 2020.

^{O.J. Simpson’s NFL Films video.}

The Fan Teaser: Week 41 Solution

July 30, 2023July 30, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

**^{Now that’s a Big League facemask right there. Poor fella’s about to be}**
**^{looking out the ear hole. Need the facemasker & facemaskee.}**

One of our former “Conversations with Sports Fans” guests, Zach McClellan, played college baseball at Indiana University during quarterback Antwaan Randle El‘s era. McClellan called Randle El the best all-around athlete he’d ever seen. He played both football and basketball while at IU and also squeezed in a season of baseball in 2000 during his stay in Bloomington.

He was drafted as a wide receiver by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft and spent nine seasons playing for both the Steelers and the Washington Redskins.

This week’s photo comes from the January 5, 2003 Wildcard Playoff Game between the Steelers and Cleveland Browns. Brown Chris Akins did a fair number on Randle El’s upper spine with this tackle. The Steelers won the shootout, 36-33, thanks in part of Randle El’s 2-point conversion pass following the game’s final touchdown with under a minute left.

Antwaan Randle El and Chris Akins — **^{That’s former Pittsburgh Steelers’ wide receiver Antwaan Randle El getting a chinstrap check by Cleveland Brown Chris Akins. (Photo by Bob Rosato)}**

Today, Randel El is entering his third year as wide receivers’ coach for the Detroit Lions. Fitting, as one of his most memorable moments as a professional occurred in Detroit’s Ford Field when Randle El threw a 43-yard touchdown pass to Hines Ward in Super Bowl XL, February 5, 2006. (See video of the play below.)

The Fan Teaser: Week 37 Solution

July 2, 2023July 1, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

**^{This guy introduced Lester to it. … Who}**
**^{and to what?}**

Back in the day, NFL players used a material called Stickum to aid their ability to catch the ball. One of the earliest proponents of the substance was Oakland Raiders’ wide receiver, Fred Biletnikoff, whom we learned in this week’s episode of Conversations with Sports Fans, played high school football in Erie, PA, against our guest, Bill Pepicello.

Stickum was banned by the NFL in 1981 – thanks, primarily, to Biletnikoff’s teammate, Lester Hayes – but rumors persisted that other used it after the fact, including Jerry Rice.

**^{Oakland Raiders’ Hall of Famer, Fred Biletnikoff was a big fan of Stickum. Legend has}**
**^{it he introduced Raiders’ defensive back Lester Hayes to the tacky material.}**

Here are some of Biletknikoff’s longest touchdowns and, as a happy bonus, some John Facenda sound bytes.

NFL Draft Week Cometh (aka Lions Super Bowl Week)

April 24, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

Maybe, just maybe, the headline of this post is now antiquated?

Following decades of futility, the NFL franchise found in my area – the Detroit Lions – showed signs of promise last season. No, there was no promise in the beginning, what with the 1-6 start. But finishing the season by winning eight of their final 10 games, posting a winning record of 9-8, and eliminating the Green Bay Packers from the playoffs in primetime (at Lambeau Field, no less!) on the season’s final Sunday … well, that’s given the faithful reasons for optimism this off season.

And I suppose I count myself among them.

Though as I commented on a Tweet from the fellas over @ROTL_UK (Roar of the Lions UK) about this week’s NFL Draft in Kansas City:

“I find myself hopeful which, when it comes to the Lions, usually doesn’t end well. Here’s hoping Brad’s got himself a KC Masterpiece up his sleeve.
Doug Hill, April 2023

My hometown gridiron heroes have nine selections over the six round draft later this week, including four of the first 55 (Picks 6, 18, 48, and 55). Here’s hoping General Manager Brad Holmes and his team have a winning plan this week to build on what was an optimistic conclusion to the 2022 season.

The Fan Teaser: Week 18 Solution

February 12, 2023February 12, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

**^{This absolute flub of a pass rivaled 50 Cent’s}** **^classic**
**^{ceremonial first pitch in terms of comedic}** **^{levity …}**
**^{but at game speed.}**

Fifty years ago, during the fourth quarter of Super Bowl VII in the Los Angeles Coliseum, Miami Dolphins’ coach Don Shula dispatched his 5-foot-7 kicker, Garo Yepremian, out to put a wrap on a 17-0 season by kicking a field goal against the Washington Redskins to make the score 17-0.

To say things went a tad askew is an understatement.

**^{Miami Dolphins’ kicker, Gara Yepremian, had one career pass attempt and it went for}**
**^{touchdown – in the Super Bowl – to the opposition.}**

Yepremian’s kick was blocked by Bill Brundige and wound up back in the diminutive kicker’s hands. His ensuing attempt at a pass was truly dreadful and then, for reasons known only to Yepremian, he attempted to bat the pass out of bounds but rather it wound up in the hands of Washington’s Mike Bass who returned it 49 yards for a touchdown.

That Miami held on to win the game allows all parties (except Washington) to look back on this incident and laugh. Here is a terrific look at the life of Yepremian from Sports Illustrated‘s Jon Wertheim

We’d love to share the video of the sequence but, alas, the NFL has that baby on lockdown. The best we can do is provide this link to the footage.

We do have video of 50 Cent‘s errant first pitch, referenced in this week’s clue, before a 2014 New York Mets’ game.

How Long is 23 NFL Seasons?

February 6, 2023February 6, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

Tom Brady announced – for the second time in as many years – his retirement from the NFL last week.

I can’t say I was ever a big Tom Brady fan. Yeah, I know he played collegiately down the road from where I live, but geography does not always elicit allegiance.

What amazes about Brady, however, is the longevity of his career. His first season was 2000 and it got me thinking:

In September 2000, Bill Clinton was still the U.S. President.
By the end of his first season, we had the George W. Bush vs. Al Gore Presidential race and the whole hanging chad episode.
Brady’s career spanned five different presidential administrations.
The Patriots visit to metropolitan New York and their 20-19 loss to the New York Jets – on September 11, 2000 – meant that the Twin Towers were still standing sentry over lower Manhattan.
Brady attempted just three pass attempts that first season. That’s six less than some other rookie named Michael Bishop who never appeared in an NFL game again after that season.
Our son is now able to drink legally and has never known an NFL without Tom Brady.
In reviewing his rookie season, the New England Patriots played the Cleveland Browns whose starting quarterback was Doug Pederson who currently coaches Jacksonville Jaguars and coached the Philadelphia Eagles to its win Super Bowl LII – five seasons ago!
The Patriots also played the Kansas City Chiefs in 2000. A QB on the Chiefs roster was 44-year-old Warren Moon. Yes, Warren Moon is now 66 and eligible by April for full Social Security retirement benefits!
Twenty-three years from now, it will be 2046 and I will have long been eligible for full Social Security!
When the Patriots and Brady took the field for that first game in 2000, my father was the same age as me today.

Longevity is one of those statistics that’s always fascinated me. Perhaps, as much as anything, it’s why – though still not a Brady fan – I have a certain appreciation for what he was able to accomplish and for the littany of players who’ve come and gone during his time in the NFL.

Trade Deadline Variances

January 30, 2023DouglasTHillLeave a comment

Confession Time: This is the most random of posts and was instigated by an innocuous item on a local sports report I heard on my commute home from work today. The guy reading the sports noted the NHL’s trade deadline is March 3.

Hockey Player — **^{Random stock hockey photo.}**

I didn’t give it much thought initially, but the more I considered it, the more I began to wonder how much more of the regular season is even left on March 3? Talk about the ability to rent a player for the playoffs!

The answer, by the way, is six weeks. That’s how much time is left from March 3 until the NHL’s regular season ends on April 13. A shade over 20% of the regular season remains at that point.

And away I went looking up the trade deadlines for the other North American professional leagues.

The other fall/winter/spring sport – the NBA – by contrast, has its trade deadline February 9. The regular season ends April 9. Players in the Association who are traded have about 30% of the season to spend with their acquiring team.
This past season for the NFL the deadline fell on November 1, following the eighth week of an 18-week regular season. Trades are relatively uncommon in the NFL, but teams that do acquire players have them for about 55% of the season, in most cases.
In the MLB, the trade deadline is August 2 and the regular season ends this year October 1. That early August deadline leaves abourt 31% of the regular season remaining.

What’s the point, you ask?

Well, there really isn’t one. It was purely a wonder on my part and I’m fascinated at how far to both extremes the NHL and NFL are. I theorize some of the rationale on the part of the NHL’s date is to help prevent teams on the periphrey of the playoffs from tanking, but it still seems outlandish that an acquistion could – potentially – play more post-season games than regular-season games with their new team.

And speaking of NHL scheduling oddities, my hometown Red Wings played their final game before the All-Star Break on Friday on Long Island. Their next game is Tuesday, February 7. That’s 10 days off in the middle of the season??? Other teams have it the opposite way, the Boston Bruins play their final game before the break Wednesday in Toronto, but don’t play again until Saturday, February 11. Toronto, meanwhile, is back at it on Friday, February 10.

What makes the Wings’ lengthy idle stretch even more perplexing is that they currently have played the fewest games this season with 48. The Washington Capitals, by comparison, will have played 53 by the time they take their 10-day break.