Century Spotlight: Charlie Sanders 1969 Detroit Lions

Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders played all 10 seasons of his NFL career with the Detroit Lions. In 1969, Sanders' 2nd year, he was selected to the 1st Team All-Pro, after making the Pro Bowl his rookie year. That season Sanders caught a career high and team high 42 passes for a career high and team high 656 yards with 3 touchdowns.

Sanders took no time at all to catch onto the the NFL's high speed game, his rookie season he caught 40 passes for 533 yards and a single touchdown. In 1970 Sanders led his team in touchdowns with 6, he also led his team with 40 receptions and 544 yards that season.

Sanders was drafted in the 3rd round of the 1968 NFL draft, pick number 74 overall. He finished his career after the 1977 season after a dissappointing 14 receptions for 170 yards and 1 touchdown. In 2007, Sanders was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Reference:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SandCh01.htm
http://www.profootballhof.com/photos/gallery.aspx?galleryId=475

Century Spotlight: Hugh McElhenny 1958 San Francisco 49ers

It's not surprising that a player who was nicknamed "The King" made a huge impact for his team every time he stepped onto the field. In 1958, McElhenny's last season with the San Francisco 49ers, he recorded 451 yards on 113 carries while scoring 6 touchdowns, he also caught 31 passes for 366 yards while adding 2 more touchdowns. He played special teams as well, returning the ball 124 yards on 26 returns.

McElhenny was drafted by the 49ers #9 overall in the 1952 Draft, after 2 Hall of Famers, running back Ollie Matson and linebacker Les Richter. McElhenny took the field by storm in his rookie season, ranking 4th in rushing yards with 684, but 1st in yards per carry, with 7. He had the longest run of the season at 89 yards, and the longest punt return at 94 yards. He also led the league in all purpose yards with 1731 yards, and was 2nd in yards from scrimmage with 1051.

After 9 seasons with the 49ers McElhenny spent 2 years with the Minnesota Vikings, and one year each with the New York Giants and the Detroit Lions. In 1970 McElhenny was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame with a grand total of 8,528 yards from scrimmage, and 60 total touchdowns.

Reference:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/M/McElHu00/touchdowns/
http://www.sikids.com/photos/26934/joe-posnanskis-top-32-all-time-rbs/27

Legendary Games: Super Bowl IX

Super Bowl IX would end up being the final professional football game to ever be played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, LA. The game was a match up between two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Terry Bradshaw and Fran Tarkenton. It was also a match up between two unforgettable defenses in Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" and Minnesota's "Purple People Eaters."

Even though both of these quarterbacks would later be Hall of Fame legends, you wouldn't know it by watching the game. Bradshaw finished with 1 touchdown and only 96 yards on just 14 attempts. Tarkenton struggled terribly, throwing 3 interceptions while only completing  42% of his passes for a 14.1 quarterback rating.

Even though neither of the quarterbacks made a big impact in the game, both of the teams defenses showed up for some key plays. The Vikings held Terry Bradshaw to 96 yards, making Super Bowl IX the only Super Bowl in which Bradshaw threw for less than 200 yards. On another big defensive play, the Steelers fell on Tarkenton in his own end zone after a fumbled pitch to score the first safety in NFL history. 

Special teams made an impact in the game as well. The Vikings' only scoring play came when linebacker Matt Blair blocked a punt in the Steelers' end zone and safety Terry Brown covered the ball for a touchdown, however kicker Fred Cox was unable to kick the make the PAT. That would be the 2nd, and last time a team would be held to under 7 points in a Super Bowl.

Hall of Fame running back Franco Harris was named Super Bowl MVP, carrying the ball 34 times for 158 yards and a touchdown.

References:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/super-bowl/ix.htm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1151048/2/20/index.htm

Century Spotlight: Billy Johnson 1977 Houston Oilers

Billy Johnson was only 5' 9" but he still found a way to make a big impression on the field. In 1977 Johnson was selected to go the the Pro Bowl, it would be his 2nd of three appearances. This was the same season he was selected to the 1st All Pro team by the Associated Press.

1977 was by far Johnson's most successful season, he returned 35 punts for 539 yards and 2 touchdowns, he also returned 25 kickoffs for 630 yards and 1 touchdown. Johnson wasn't just utilized on special teams however, in that same season Johnson had 20 receptions for 412 yards and 3 touchdowns, he rushed for another 102 yards on 6 carries, gaining one last touchdown. Johnson finished that season with 1,683 all purpose yards and 7 touchdowns.

Johnson ended his 13 year career with 10,785 all purpose yards, over 4,500 which were gained from scrimmage. He had 25 receiving touchdowns and 2 rushing touchdowns, he gained 6 more touchdowns on punt returns and 2 on kick returns.

Johnson is known for being a pioneer in the touchdown celebration. Johnson's "Funky Chicken Dance" was one of the first touchdowns celebrations seen in the NFL.

Video of Billy Johnson: #3 of All Time Return Aces:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0EVm7fi0iQ

References:

http://www.signedautographed.com/Billy-Johnson-Autographs.php

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/J/JohnBi01.htm

Century Spotlight: MacArthur Lane 1976 Kansas City Chiefs

In 1976, Chiefs running back MacArthur Lane led the league in receptions with 66. Lane racked up 686 receiving yards on those receptions with another 542 yards on the ground, carrying the ball 162 times. Lane had 6 touchdowns in 1976, 5 of those came while rushing the ball, and a lone receiving touchdown in a game against the Oakland Raiders, the team that would later win that seasons Super Bowl.

Lane was drafted #13 overall by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1968. In his 3rd season with the Cardinals, Lane rushed for 977 yards and gained 365 yards receiving. Lane scored 13 touchdowns that season with a league leading 11 rushing touchdowns, which bought him a ticket to his one and only Pro Bowl.

Lane played a total of 11 seasons, 4 of those were with the Cardinals, then he played 3 seasons with the Green Bay Packers, and he finished his career after 4 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Lane totaled 4,656 yard rushing, carrying the ball 1,206 times, and another 2,786 yards receiving on 287 receptions. He finished his career with 37 touchdowns, 30 on the ground, and 7 receiving touchdowns.

References:

http://packerville.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LaneMa00/touchdowns/

Century Spotlight: Clarence Scott 1973 Cleveland Browns

One of the only highlights of the 1973 Cleveland Browns team was 3rd year cornerback Clarence Scott, who the Browns had selected #14 overall in the 1971 draft. Scott started his rookie season, but he didn't start a single game his 2nd season, in his 3rd season he was given an opportunity to start again. Scott finished the season with 5 interceptions returned for a total of 71 yards and one touchdown. 1973 was also the one and only year that Scott made a Pro Bowl appearance.

Scott moved from cornerback, to strong safety in his 9th season. He stayed at strong safety for 3 years before taking over free safety for a single season, he eventually returned to strong safety for his 13th, and final season.

Scott finished his career with 39 interceptions returned 407 yards for 2 touchdowns in 186 games. He started 152 games throughout his 13 year career, all with the Cleveland Browns.

References:

http://www.fanbase.com/Clarence-R-Scott/photo/339511?n=2

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/ScotCl00.htm

Overlooked or Under Appreciated: Dave Krieg

Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, John Elway, Boomer Esiason, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon. The mid to late 80’s was a great time for NFL quarterbacks, and with names like this, it isn’t surprising that other quarterbacks who put together some pretty solid seasons during this time are often overlooked.

Dave Kreig wasn’t exactly what you were looking for in an NFL quarterback, he was a little small, and he did things a little different, not Tarkenton different, but different in his own way. One of Krieg’s most memorable moments came on a broken play against the Los Angeles Rams. Krieg fumbled the snap, and ended up chasing a bouncing ball backwards, weaving around Rams linemen who were after the same ball. After several attempts to gain control of the ball Krieg was able to scoop it up, and find Danny Green in the back of the endzone for a Seahawks touchdown.

Krieg may be ashamed to admit he was the NFL’s fumble leader at one point (since surpassed by Warren Moon and Brett Favre) but there are other aspects of his career that are anything but laughable.

Krieg ranks 11th in passing touchdowns with 261, behind the likes of Favre, Marino, Manning, Tarkenton, Elway, Moon, Unitas, Brady, Testaverde, and Montana. He has thrown 199 interceptions, only Manning, Brady, and Montana have thrown more touchdowns and less interceptions than Krieg, however Brady and Manning are still in the NFL and could end up finishing higher than Krieg in the interception department. This is likely for Manning, who is currently sitting at 198 interceptions.

Kreig has taken his team down the field for a game winning drives 25 times and he has led his team to a comeback victory 23 times. He holds 17th and 11th places for those stats respectively.

Kreig made the Pro Bowl 3 times, in 1984, 1988, and 1989. He also ranks 109th on the NFL all time most valuable player list.

Krieg is often overlooked, but his well above average career will have him ranked with the NFL greats, forever.

Video of Krieg's fumble to touchdown pass:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujsONj1xa9U#t=4m03s

References:

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/leaders/av_career.htm

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KrieDa00.htm