1971 NFL season tidbits

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Bryan
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1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by Bryan »

Some weird/interesting items from 1971 that I found while reading up on that season:

*Norm Bulaich broke his helmet in Week 1 game against Jets, used backup OG Cornelius Johnson's helmet the rest of the game, and set a franchise record with 198 yards rushing.

*The rookie class for the Atlanta Falcons wore a small "X" in adhesive tape on their helmets to represent them being called the "Brand X" draft...a group of unknowns that produced Tom Hayes, Wes Chesson & Ken Burrow.

*In a big Week 7 game, the Raiders were trailing 20-17 late in the game facing a 4th and goal from Kansas City's 1 yard line. Madden elected to kick an 8-yard FG and take a 20-20 tie...the Raiders could have eventually won the division with a win in Week 7 but finished 1.5 games back from KC.

*Toni Fritsch arrived in Dallas for a week 8 game, kicked 3 FGs including the game winner, didn't wear a facemask, continued kicking more FGs in Week 9 before getting injured and being done for the year. Fritsch produced 17 points in a game and a half.

*In possibly the biggest upset of the season, the Jets were missing multiple starters on defense, Bob Davis was the QB, yet New York defeated Kansas City 13-10. Bob Davis completed 3 passes for 19 yards...Buddy Ryan concocted a 4-4-3 defensive alignment that befuddled Len Dawson and the Chiefs offense.

*Going in to week 10, the leading WR in the NFL was rookie Billy Parks of San Diego. Parks had 41 catches for 609 yards, broke his arm in week 10, and was done for the year.

*Midway through the year, Tom Dempsey replaced Happy Feller as the kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles. Although he only played in 5 games, the Eagles went 4-1 with Dempsey, who kicked 13 XPs, 12 FGs (with a league leading 70.6%) and set the franchise record with a 54 yarder.

*The Vikings gave up only 9.9 ppg, yet in a Week 12 game the 4-7 Chargers scored 20 points in the 4th period to earn a come-from-behind win, 30-14.

*In a pivotal Week 14 game with playoff implications, the Lions led Niners 27-24 late in the game. Late in the game, Lions HC Joe Schmidt elected to go for it on 4th and 1 from his own 40. Greg Landry was stopped short on a QB sneak, and the Niners went on to score the winning TD (10 yard run by John Brodie) to also earn a playoff spot.

*The Saints won only 4 games, but three of them were upsets over the Rams, Cowboys & Niners.

*The Rams defeated the Niners twice in 1971, yet still finished 0.5 games back in the division. The first game was a 20-13 Rams win, featuring -18 net passing yards from Rams QB Jerry Rhome on two completed passes. The second game was a 17-6 Rams victory, with the Rams being outgained 3 to 1 (382 to 173) but benefiting from 4 SF turnovers (including an INT return TD).
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GameBeforeTheMoney
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by GameBeforeTheMoney »

This is all really great stuff, Bryan. Thanks for posting!

To add a tidbit to one of the tidbits: the Eagles cut Mark Moseley in favor of Happy Feller before the 1971 season. Oddly enough, Moseley then tried out for the Saints, Tom Dempsey's former team. Moseley ended up on the Oilers in 1971.
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RRMarshall
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by RRMarshall »

In Week #7 at Chicago Dallas HC Tom Landry tried to solve his QB problem by alternating Roger Staubach and Craig Morton on every play. Dallas lost 23-19. The following week Staubach was named as the starter and the Cowboys went undefeated the rest of the way to their first World Title in SB VI.
vikingsfan1963
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by vikingsfan1963 »

That's some interesting info. Might you be able to do ones for each of the 1970s seasons?
Citizen
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by Citizen »

Bryan wrote: *The Saints won only 4 games, but three of them were upsets over the Rams, Cowboys & Niners.
And in their fourth win, over Green Bay, the Saints were eight-point underdogs.
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by Citizen »

1971 was also the only year (so far) that an NFL player died during a game.
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Retro Rider
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by Retro Rider »

Some great stuff, thanks Bryan for an interesting thread. 1971 was the first year that I followed an NFL season from start to finish. I clearly remember watching several exhibition games, including the Hall of Fame game (Rams vs. Oilers) which was played on a Saturday afternoon as part of ABC's Wide World of Sports. Optimism for my favorite team faded quickly when Joe Namath suffered a knee injury while attempting to tackle Mike Lucci in the Jets first exhibition game on August 7. Namath finally returned on November 28 and nearly led New York to a comeback win over the 49ers.

Rookie of the Year Jim Plunkett had a fine debut in Week 1 as the Patriots shocked Oakland, 20-6. Seattle's NBC affiliate (KING TV) aired the Raiders at Patriots as part one of a doubleheader. That game was followed by the Chargers upset over the Chiefs, 21-14. Archie Manning had a splashing debut for the Saints in their last second win over the Rams.

Chicago's 16-15 win over the Redskins in Week 9 was memorable for the Bears botched 4th quarter extra point attempt. Bobby Douglass recovered a high snap from center and found Dick Butkus in the endzone for what proved to be the winning extra point. The Bears then lost 5 in a row after a promising 6-3 start.

1971 turned out to be the final playoff seasons for Hank Stram's Chiefs and the Unitas era Colts. The emergence of Roger Staubach and George Allen's Over the Hill Gang were a couple other notable developments. The Denver Broncos wore their white jerseys for all home games, as did the Browns, Cowboys, Chargers, Eagles, Rams and Saints.

I loved watching This Week in Pro Football back in those days.
RichardBak
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by RichardBak »

Retro Rider wrote: I loved watching This Week in Pro Football back in those days.
Me too. Think it aired Saturday afternoons here in Detroit. My brother and I used to watch it in the basement on this incredibly old (circa 1954) B/W TV. That was the family's "second" TV (Dad wasn't a sports fan). Blond-wood cabinet and the screen was about the size of postage stamp. Also remember getting Football Digest every month in the mail. I know we've all become spoiled by the immediacy today's technology brings us, but I really miss those days. Wasn't wall-to-wall 24/7 coverage of sports and every other damn thing in the universe back then. You actually looked forward to things. Half the joy of anything is the anticipation. Oh well, back to Old Farts Central for me....
sheajets
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by sheajets »

RichardBak wrote:
Retro Rider wrote: I loved watching This Week in Pro Football back in those days.
Me too. Think it aired Saturday afternoons here in Detroit. My brother and I used to watch it in the basement on this incredibly old (circa 1954) B/W TV. That was the family's "second" TV (Dad wasn't a sports fan). Blond-wood cabinet and the screen was about the size of postage stamp. Also remember getting Football Digest every month in the mail. I know we've all become spoiled by the immediacy today's technology brings us, but I really miss those days. Wasn't wall-to-wall 24/7 coverage of sports and every other damn thing in the universe back then. You actually looked forward to things. Half the joy of anything is the anticipation. Oh well, back to Old Farts Central for me....
LOVED Football Digest, especially The Game I'll Never Forget feature where they'd talk to ex players about the most memorable game they played in. In the pre social media world it was a good source of information regarding what it's like to play in the NFL
Gary Najman
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Re: 1971 NFL season tidbits

Post by Gary Najman »

A few years I read in the old forum that 1971 was the year that had the (evntually) most players enshrined into the PFHOF. Can anybody confirm that?
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