Question/Thoughts

[Steeldude]

this applies more to the older football fans.

i was watching some old games from the 70's to early 80's and there is one thing that i have always noticed about them. weren't the games much better back then? i could watch any football game and enjoy it. the players were team oriented and the goal was to win. nowadays football seems to be a group of players working on dance steps and talking trash. whatever happened to the good old days?

you had the steelers with bradshaw, lambert, webster...
the cowboys with staubach, danny white, dorsett, randy white...
miami with marino, griese, morris, csonka...
oakland with stabler, branch, allen, john matuszak...
washington with theismann, monk, riggins, green...
vikings with rashad, kramer, tarkenton, marshall...
charger with fouts, winslow, joiner...
and lesser teams like the cardinals with neil lomax, hart, roy green, otis anderson, dobler.

remember bert jones, lynn dickey, eric hipple, brian sipe, steve grogan, richard todd, jim zorn, dan pastorini, steve bartkowski, steve deberg?

the list goes on and on.

i know there are players of today that will be regarded as classy, great, respected, skilled..., but it's just not the same feeling as watching players from the 80's and before, IMO.

this has nothing to do with the steelers being a dominant force in the 70's. yes, it was exciting to see the steel curtain, but i enjoyed them in the 80's(and now of course) also. back then it was football being played by football players, not punks with jewelery. players would play hurt. they weren't afraid to go all out each and every play. sure they had their share of flashy players like namath and so forth. but it seems players today strive for some image to get noticed by the camera/media.

when i hear players today it's usually about money or being in the spotlight. rarely do i see players concerned with the team and the main purpose of being a football team in the NFL.

oh well, just me babbling in the early, early morning

[Galax Steeler]

That was back when football was football they played hard and with an instinct to hurt someone you didn't have all these sissy rules back when they played now you touch someone and you get penalized.I have to agree it has changed alot from then til now.

[RoethlisBURGHer]

Part of the reason is that it was pure back then. There wasn't all the sissy rules as there are now. Back then, you could actually hit the damn quarterback. The second a receiver had the hands on the ball he was fair game to get obliterated, none of this "defensless position" garbage.

Back then the players did talk trash, but they did it on the field instead of through the media. Trash was talked to someone's face, they didn't find out about it in the morning paper.

[millwalldavey]

I never watxh the retro games unles they are from the 50's - 70's... sometimes 80s.

Same applies for the NHL retro games.

Best thing I ever saw was a replay IN ITS ENTIRETY of Texas v. Oklahoma 1969. Wishbone BOTH WAYS!

[missedgehead]

I agree with all your sentiments. :) Back then, you were allowed to touch the QBs. Now, and no offense, the QBs may as well be princesses in cleats. To quote Urlacher one time, "you can't hit them." "You can't hit them here. You can't hit them there." You can't hit them." You may as well put a glass fence around the pocket in today's game, there are so many stupid rules protecting the danged QB. Are they part of the game or not? I thought the QB was a member of the team. If you have the ball, in my mind, you are fair game to be hit. Back then, you were allowed to go after him. Not now. Too much money invested in these guys.

Too many rules with pass interference and all this nonsense as well. Much better in the old days, but it is what it is.

[HughC]

As fans, there were some advantages to watching teams play prior to free agency. The players were hungrier and more commited to winning now. Teams kept players together longer, which allowed for them to be more in synch, rather than having to get used to new teammates and a new playbook. Good teams were more able to keep not just their besy players but also role players. Rivalries developed because the same few teams - with the same players - kept battling each other for a chance to go to the super bowl.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not against free agency. Players deserve an opportunity to work for whomever will pay them the best, just like you and me. I just think as a fan that free agency has diluted the quality of play a little bit.

[RodWoodsonwasprettycool]

Originally Posted by Steeldude

nowadays football seems to be a group of players working on dance steps and talking trash. whatever happened to the good old days?

Before Super Bowl XIII, a Steelers-Cowboys rematch, Cowboys linebacker Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson famously ridiculed Bradshaw by saying, "He couldn't spell 'Cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 't'." Bradshaw got his revenge by winning the Most Valuable Player award, completing 17 of 30 passes for a then-record 318 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-31 win. Years later, Henderson, who struggled for years to conquer drug addiction, admitted he was high on cocaine at the time of the interview. Bradshaw has in later years made light of the ridicule with quips such as "it's football, not rocket science."

That stuff has auctually been there for a while. But, I see what you mean..it has gotten a bit ridicolous. I really hope someone knocks TO into next week so he can finally shut up.