Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
Some of the comments below the photo were darn entertaining.
"Bud said the cold does not affect the game. Ya sure. Did Bud stay awake and watch this game?"
"He drafted for James "Duck" White just because of his nickname....."
"When Bub moved to MN he lived with Sid Heartman. Bud used Sid's car to go hunting. The next day Sid is driving to work. He hears a sound from the glove box, he opens it and a squirrel jumps out and the squirrel is running around in his car. Bud had a great sense of humor." - Not sure what's funnier here. The story, or this gentleman's spelling.
"he was one of the biggest chokers in NFL history. The Vikes would have won two super bowls if they had a real coach. He's a bad luck charm." - Obviously, the bitterness still lingers.
"That clanking sound you hear when he walks? Yeah, they're made of iron." - To others, he apparently still commands respect.
"Doesn't anyone else think this was a little stupid?"
"You must be a young whipersnapper that missed out on the purple people eater phase of the 70s Vikings, otherwise you would know that this was normal behavior for Bud Grant."
You sure get a cross section of America when you read article comments like this.
LJP wrote:
I thought it was strange that while Zimmer stalled out his offense and played for the FG, he also ended up having the ball on the left hashmark for the short FG attempt. That's probably the worst angle to have for a right-footed kicker...I would guess that if the ball had been in the middle of the field, Walsh doesn't miss that kick. Perhaps it was Walsh's preference to have the ball on the left hash for the FG attempt, but I doubt it. Seemed like Zimmer idiocy to me.
Blair Walsh missed 4 XP's this season (only 89% made !) - because he CHOOSES TO KICK THEM FROM THE LEFT HASH! As a fellow kicker, I know it's personal preference, but kicks have to be taken from the middle whenever possible - so as to give the Kicker a margin of error BOTH left and right. They could have just easily put the ball in the middle of the field for him. His miss yesterday and all of his missed XP's show that as good and as talented as he is, he's not as good from the left as he thinks he is, or at least not under the pressure of a playoff game-deciding kick. Why wouldn't you want to put it in the middle whenever you could?!?
Maybe it's because 90% of NFL FG attempts come from a hash, as most 3rd down plays end outside the hash marks. So maybe K's are used to kick from a hash. But I am sorry, it has to be taken from the middle whenever possible to allow for the greatest margin or error. Coaches have to not listen to their own K's anymore and place it in the center whenever they can for a big kick.
Lions Matt Prater kicks his XP's from the left hash and missed 2 in the last Packers game and almost cost them that one!
I am sick that Walsh missed such an easy chance to knock out the Seahawks.
To Bryan (and anyone else interested)
Re: the Hill incident
I rewatched and it was exactly how I remembered it.
It is impossible for the home viewer to know how the incident started. The Shazier hit on Bernard was being replayed when Nantz said that Hill was about to take on four Steelers. By the time CBS showed it there were five Steelers by Hill.
What were those Steelers doing near midfield?
There was no good reason for those Steelers or Hill to be on that particular part of the field at that time.
JWL wrote:To Bryan (and anyone else interested)
Re: the Hill incident
I rewatched and it was exactly how I remembered it.
It is impossible for the home viewer to know how the incident started. The Shazier hit on Bernard was being replayed when Nantz said that Hill was about to take on four Steelers. By the time CBS showed it there were five Steelers by Hill.
What were those Steelers doing near midfield?
There was no good reason for those Steelers or Hill to be on that particular part of the field at that time.
I can't imagine that a gang of ruffian Steeler players went over to the Bengals sideline and dragged Jeremy Hill out to the middle of the field, against his will, with Hill desperately fighting and clawing to remain on the Bengals sideline. But as you said, we don't really know for sure because its not explicitly shown in the TV footage.
JWL wrote:To Bryan (and anyone else interested)
Re: the Hill incident
I rewatched and it was exactly how I remembered it.
It is impossible for the home viewer to know how the incident started. The Shazier hit on Bernard was being replayed when Nantz said that Hill was about to take on four Steelers. By the time CBS showed it there were five Steelers by Hill.
What were those Steelers doing near midfield?
There was no good reason for those Steelers or Hill to be on that particular part of the field at that time.
I can't imagine that a gang of ruffian Steeler players went over to the Bengals sideline and dragged Jeremy Hill out to the middle of the field, against his will, with Hill desperately fighting and clawing to remain on the Bengals sideline. But as you said, we don't really know for sure because its not explicitly shown in the TV footage.
I am also quite sure Hill did not grab five Steelers off their bench and pulled them to the middle of the field.
Look, I am not absolving the Bengals or Vontaze Burfict of wrongdoing here. All I have been trying to say is the Steelers were guilty here too. To a lesser degree? Sure, I can say that. What is annoying me is this idea that Marvin Lewis had no control of his team but Mike Tomlin had control of his team and the Bengals are insane and the Steelers are a bunch of choir boys just playing a delightful brand of football.
I initially showed my disgust with Nantz with one word. Reaser did a more expansive report of the crap he was spewing. Even the Hill incident was said by Nantz in a way that the viewer was led to believe Hill wanted to be starting something. Did Hill gesture to the Steelers bench? If so, then why did Steelers players come off their bench? Were the Steelers already on the field looking for trouble? The hit on Bernard was closer to an end zone than midfield. The Steelers vs Hill incident occurred on the other side of the 50. There was no reason for any of the players to be on the field. I have no idea who to blame there.
Agree that the Steelers/Bengals game was the most out of control NFL Game I've ever seen.
One of these days someone is going to get hurt in an incident (ref or player, coach or fan) and then the NFL will have a real problem on its hands... and then it will scramble to deal with it and claim they never saw it coming.
More in the spirit of the Original Post:
Perhaps I've been affected by the minimalists here but this is the firs time I've ever felt the vast majority of the play-offs to be nonsense.
It seems obvious to me there were four teams, two per Conference,who were clearly the best the NFL had to offer in 2015.
The play-offs this year should plainly be (if we want the best teams in the SB) Cardinals Vs Panthers (NFC) and Broncos Vs Patriots (AFC) for the right to vie for the Championship.
It will seem "wrong" if any teams other than those play in SB 50.
"...It seems obvious to me there were four teams, two per Conference,who were clearly the best the NFL had to offer in 2015.
The play-offs this year should plainly be (if we want the best teams in the SB) Cardinals Vs Panthers (NFC) and Broncos Vs Patriots (AFC) for the right to vie for the Championship.
It will seem "wrong" if any teams other than those play in SB 50."
It is already wrong - just as so much else is wrong and needs correcting.
Isn't it disgusting when a major network posts a "crime watch" for the nfl counting the numer of days without an arrest.
November was the only month in 2015 without a "bust" but the rest of the months more than made up for it.
(Also speaks to the thread re "integrity" - of which there is none visible in the league of today.)
"It was a different game when I played.
When a player made a good play, he didn't jump up and down.
Those kinds of plays were expected."
~ Arnie Weinmeister
JuggernautJ wrote:Agree that the Steelers/Bengals game was the most out of control NFL Game I've ever seen.
One of these days someone is going to get hurt in an incident (ref or player, coach or fan) and then the NFL will have a real problem on its hands... and then it will scramble to deal with it and claim they never saw it coming.
More in the spirit of the Original Post:
Perhaps I've been affected by the minimalists here but this is the firs time I've ever felt the vast majority of the play-offs to be nonsense.
It seems obvious to me there were four teams, two per Conference,who were clearly the best the NFL had to offer in 2015.
The play-offs this year should plainly be (if we want the best teams in the SB) Cardinals Vs Panthers (NFC) and Broncos Vs Patriots (AFC) for the right to vie for the Championship.
It will seem "wrong" if any teams other than those play in SB 50.
I'll argue in favor of the Chiefs, who are riding an 11-game winning streak into New England, which included a win over the Broncos by 16 points in Denver. I also think they are amongst the best in the league in 2015 and can win it all.
"Every time you lose, you die a little bit. You die inside. Not all your organs, maybe just your liver." - George Allen
Rupert Patrick wrote:
I'll argue in favor of the Chiefs, who are riding an 11-game winning streak into New England, which included a win over the Broncos by 16 points in Denver. I also think they are amongst the best in the league in 2015 and can win it all.
Ah, but since when did being one of the best mean you will be the last man standing? The tight-sphinctered Andy Reid isn't playing anything but percentage ball in a big game. If he manages to pull off the impossible and reach the Super Bowl, assuming he meets the high powered offenses of the Cardinals or Panthers, Marty Ball won't cut it. The only question at that point is how bad will the damage be and will anyone outside of Boresville care?
Apologies to the Packers and Seahawks, who *could* pull upsets this weekend.
