Crazy plays, long passes, spectacular runs and catches are part of this MUST WATCH video. Exciting game footage from the 1980 NFL regular season are featured.
"This "compilation"..was well "worth" the "hype" and "beyond "..."30 minutes" ..of "beautiful" " power runs" explosive"stylish moves".."off the line..."receptions"and much"more..."Fantastic"!!
That's awesome! Thank you - I'm glad that you enjoyed it. 1980 was the last year that I played football. I stopped growing and continuing to play would have been extremely hazardous to my health. If anything, all that did was take my fever pitch of the NFL to the next level.
So much talent and athleticism back then. All sports back then was exciting. Nothing better than playing football with your friends on Sunday morning and then watching football all afternoon, then Monday Night Football with the halftime highlights. Our football heroes were Gods!
I couldn't wait for Howard Cosell's halftime highlights! Then it was off to bed cuz it was a school night, but we'd talk about the highlights the next day at school.
I loved reading the football box scores on Monday morning in the Syracuse Post Standard, but not waiting until Wednesday's paper for the stats from Monday night!
@@markgardner9460 so many people hatred Howard but when that Monday Night Football intro started up & Howards voice came booming through I would get goosebumps. He knew how to entertain- something that after growing up On announcer like Howard Cosell, Pat Sumerall, Tom Brookshier, John Madden Hank Stram all who had great voices. great personalities. And all knew how to call a game announcer actually in all sports is a lost art.
Our old pal Vince Evans had a few nice plays in 1980. He was kind of a QB tease I guess. Loved the Billy Sims glide into the end zone. He certainly had style. Nice compilation of exciting action Mark!
Evans had a live arm. It's too bad that he wasn't more accurate on the short to medium deep passes. Sims is still my favorite RB of all-time and that will never change.
Billy was much more of a team running back than Barry Sanders. And I don’t have a bias against either of them. I love them both as Barry I watched since his Freshman year at Oklahoma State as I was and am a Thurman Thomas fan (My 2nd all-time fave Runner next to Montgomery)And Billy was Wilbert’s workout partner as they both tried to get back to the Lions after Simms injury in week 8 of 1984 n Wilbert’s brief stay with Detroit in his 1 year out of Philly getting injured in week 7 of 1985. Thomas was my favorite since he was a Sophomore a year b4 Barry played.So I got to watch Barry all 3 years at Oklahoma State. Barry would get a long run then sometimes lose 10 yards on his next 2 carries and Detroit would walk away without even a FG to show for Sanders run sometimes. As Sanders is by far number 1 in NFL history in getting stuffed. Sanders had 336 Att for minus 952 Yards in stuffs. While Billy would get 3 to 5 yards on every run. And nothing better than a back that moves the chains. But both awesome in their own very different ways.
As a life-long Chargers fan since the days of Air Coryell, THANK YOU so much for posting those catches by JJ! I haven't seen those highlights in years! John Jefferson was my favorite Charger and still is! Whew, what a human highlight reel! - Todd C (Creek Sider1)
Glad you enjoyed it. JJ has been my favorite WR since 1980 and that has not and will not change. There are so many Chargers players whom I really like from that era. Hard-nosed Hank Bauer was one of 'em, along with Big Louie Kelcher - what a mountain he was, as was Mt Washington at Tackle.
Spectacular catches - and when you consider two of those TDs were against Lester Hayes (37) who is probably the best man-to-man cover DB I’ve seen (and should be in the NFL HOF). Lester was probably talking to himself after those!
This was a great year for football. I was 12yrs old! One my favorite games was the Thanksgiving game between the Bears and Lions where the Bears won on a kickoff return in OT. Not a Cowboys fan but the game winning playoff touchdown Drew Pearson made against the Falcons in the divisional round.
I remember that '80 Thanksgiving Day game in which Dave Williams returned the opening overtime kick-off for a touchdown. It was the shortest overtime game (at least at the time - for all I know it still is)
@@markgardner9460 Any chance on making a George Blanda video from 1970? And this might seem offbeat the 1967 NFC Central coaches Halas and Lombardi departing and Grant and Joe Schmidt arriving!
I checked into that, but there seems to be quite a bit of footage that is copyrighted for Blanda from '70. Regarding the coaches, that is definitely something to ponder. Thanks for the ideas!
Indeed. I always like the Cardinals helmet logo, but now they've trimmed it and changed it to where I don't care for it at all. The Lions have tinkered with theirs, too. I prefer the '70's version so much more.
Great era. Jefferson JJ, Joiner & Winslow what receivers! Did you notice JJ burning Lester "the molester" Hayes. The era of great backs. Sims, arguably the goat. Payton, loved his "dead leg" juke. Thanks brother I enjoyed it, you're appreciated.
The hook and ladder from Sensor to Ted Brown was a huge play! The Vikings had the ball with 14 seconds left trailing 23-22 and no time outs! Brown got to the Cleveland 46 with,5 seconds left setting the stage for Tommy Kramer's heave down the right sidelines in which about 6 players were trying to make a play and of course it was deflected by I believe Thom Darden of Cleveland and Ahmad Rashad caught the ball and fell into the end zone, giving Minnesota a stunning 28-23 win as time expired.."Miracle at the Met!' Bud Grant and Matt Blair were joyous... I don't think I ever saw Grant show that much emotion..the play clinched the division for the Vikings.
One of my friends' Dad went to that game and had seats in either the first or second row directly behind where Rashad caught the ball. He said that he heard Rashad yelling "I caught it! I caught it!"
The 1970s & 80s had the best looking uniforms. The crap color schemes they have now are terrible and don't even get me started on the helmet shapes. They look like Gary Busey's Helmet Protector.
I agree with you big time. One of my friends says that they should go back to wearing leather helmets, then they'll think twice before leading with their heads.
29:41 the true power of Earl Campbell is on display at the expense of Mike Hartenstine, who was certainly no weakling. It was during this season that Hartenstine absolutely leveled Ron Jaworski when the Bears played the Eagles at the Vet. It was the first time I recalled watching a player de-cleated!
He couldn't get the starting gig away from Anderson, who ended up being the NFL MVP in '81, but then he got his shot in Tampa in '83 and that team was woeful.
@@markgardner9460 I absolutely remember Kurt Knoff in fact both of them are in your video!Knoff only scored one career touchdown himself so this video has both players only touchdown is in the video!
I always got their names/numbers mixed up when watching the Vikes. Their secondary around that time was not good at all. Bryant and Krause were about finished and Joey Browner and Carl Lee hadn't been drafted yet. Willie Teal, John Turner and Rufus Bess.....how 'bout those guys?
The Chester Marcol TD on the blocked field goal was stunning ! I saw the replay and I couldn't believe it!He had a checkered life after football suffered from a number of addictions, and tried to commit suicide by drinking battery acid antifreeze and vodka!. Amazingly he survived severely damaging his esophagus but doctors stretched it and he slowly recovered and got away from his addictions even though he now has heart issues,but he became a drug and alcohol addiction counselor...
@@markgardner9460 Sorry, I missed it. Y'all were extolling the virtues of Charlie, but less than two years later Largent had eclipsed all them records, under craptastic QB's like Zorn and Krieg. Imagine his career arc under Fouts. And don't forget those crappy Seattle teams messed up the AFC West big time. in this era, just ask the Raidahs, the Broncs (Elway), and Dan the Man,
When a injury caused Wilbert Montgomery to miss a full game or more he only missed 1 game while on the road and that was on his 27th attempt on a week 3 Thursday night 127 rushing yard game vs Buffalo in 1981 at home caused him to miss 18 official full games and 2 more where he was only able to play as a 3rd down back on a couple of downs and didn’t carry the ball at all in 1983. And in 1978 he was leading the NFL in rushing in 1978(his first year as a starter) vs the cardinals at home got hurt on his 3rd attempt at home which caused him to miss the next 2 games so really that crap veterans stadium Turf cost him 3 games not 2 and a NFL rushing title, possibly taken from Earl Campbell.
To continue on from my last post post (Along with his cousin Walter Payton both in 1996 becoming the first two players in college football history to make the college football Hall of Fame while not playing for division one colleges) for Wilbert held the record for most touchdowns in a season and career both for about 20 years those records held while at Abilene Christian the season record he did as a freshman 37 td’s his only healthy year and scored 76 career college TD’s while missing 11 full college games, and many partial games while hampered by injuries his sophomore through senior year. Cost him well over 100 college td’s. And that’s why he was a six round draft choice despite his amazing college career. For had very bad calcium deposits on his knees. And by 1983 the Eagles offensive line was dead so that really hurt him in 1984 as that line gave up 60 sacks the worst in the NFL.But as he showed with his 60 receptions when he was able to get in the open field it was the offensive lines disability to block at all but but he could still run. Then was traded to the other worst offensive line of the mid 80s the lions for his last year in 1985 he played 4 full games (using Vermeil’s commentary as a announcer in a Lions-Cowboy game ) “he was only at 33%” and in week 7 was hit by Ronnie Lott and he never played another down again. But despite all the injuries and the 1982 strike in his prime. Wilbert still retired in 1985 as the 15th all-time leading rusher only 14 yards behind Hall of Famer, John Henry Johnson for number 14 on the all-time list. Had there been no 1982 7 game strike he would’ve finished very probable number 12 in front of Leroy Kelly. There were 3 running backs from The 1977 draft who finished in the top 21 all-time leading rushers at the end of their careers. As I said Wilbert Montgomery at #15 Tony Dorsett retired at # 2 and Wendell Tyler number 21 how’s that for small back power!
@@markgardner9460I hope your able to read all my posts (I’m Sorry for the typos I’ve been writing about this video & things that have to do with it all night and yesterday so once I start I can’t stop with stats especially. And I have Sjogren’s disease among other autoimmune diseases unfortunately. so after about a hour I can’t see the screen at all cause my eyes don’t produce tears at all. But thank you as always for the platform brother.
@@markgardner9460 I went digging.3 interception returns 2 fumble recoveries 1 on a lateral after a blocked field goal and the 1 reception on this video
When I think of great plays of 1980, 2 big ones come to mind. The 1st I call the play of the year. Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad with 5 seconds left to beat the Browns at The Met. The Vikings won their Division. It would be the last under Bud Grant. And the last Division Title while playing in Bloomington. They would move into the Metrodome two years later. The other big play was Danny White to Drew Pearson for a 23 yard TD to beat Atlanta in the Playoffs. The TD capped a 20 point 4th quarter. And one of the most amazing comebacks in Cowboys History.
I remember and saw both of those games. I caught the 4th qtr of the Browns-Vikings coming in from church. It was a Noon(Central time) game and the Browns were up 23-9. The Vikings won the tiebraker over the Lions to win the division. The Dallas-Atl game was Sunday afternoon and the Falcons were up 27-14 with about 3 minutes to play. Not a Cowboys fan but that was a hell of a game. It was poetic justice when the Eagles beat them the next Sunday in the NFC championship game.🏈🏈
@@markgardner9460 Actually it wasn't such a surprise. Dick Vermeil took over a bad team a couple years prior. That got Jaws from the Rams. And started improving. Wilbert Montgomery was one tough SOB to deal with. They finished in 2nd place in 1978 and 1979. So they were on the upswing.
Those 2 plays are great calls on your part! Being a Viking fan the Kramer to Rashad pass immediately comes to mind but the Danny White touchdown pass to best Atlanta was huge..I hated the Cowboys ( respected their tradition and Landry)and I thought the Falcons had them all but finished..but Dallas and Danny White came through! I remember thinking " Damn Cowboys did it again!' White was a very good quarterback and punter and had a good career but he could never live up to Staubach ( but who could have?)
@@markgardner9460That game turned my mom into a hockey fan! The Soviet Union was considered the best in the world hadn't lost since 1968. They were a juggernaut! And they had 4 players who would make the HOF including Vladslav Tretiak considered the world's best goalie at the time!. The Soviet Union dominated play and led 2-1 late in the first period when Dave Christian fired a slap shot and Tretiak gave up a uncharacteristic rebound and Mark Johnson scored with 1 second left in the first period.. Soviet Union coach Tikhonov replaced Tretiak with backup goalie Vladimir Myskin which he later said was the biggest mistake of his career! Nonetheless the Soviet Union dominated play and took a 3-2 lead into the third period.It would have been worse but Goalie Jim Craig was playing exceptionally well!The third period started and about 7 minutes in the USA got a power play they had a couple of chances Myskin made a good save Mike Eruzione fired a shot wide and after Dave Silk was knocked off the puck a alert Mark Johnson scored late in the power play tying the game and sending Lake Placid into a frenzy! We were spellbound at home! The amateur USA team was tied with the best team in the world so they said! A couple of shifts later Mike Eruzione took a pass in the high slot and buried the puck past Myskin giving the USA their first lead 4-3 the USA players and coach Herb Brooks said it was the longest 10 years of their hockey career.The desperate Soviet Union stepped up the pressure and even hit a couple of goalposts but couldn't find the net!The Soviet Union got more and more desperate, especially since they almost never lost and their play got a bit ragged ,a Soviet Union player admitted that they were panicking, Brooks kept imploring "Play your game play your game!" This game made many of the team and especially Brooks almost legendary! Anyway the clock was inside a minute , Craig made a save on a slap shot with about 33 seconds left the Soviets shot wide and after a scramble Ken Morrow carried the puck out of the zone with just seconds left and the crowd was going berserk counting the seconds off and of course one of the most iconic calls of all time...Al Michaels "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" That was considered the best Olympic game ever and I still get goosebumps over Michaels call That was absolutely amazing!
I don't think that gadget plays in general take place because the Head Coaches worry about how social media will react if they backfire. "Why did you do this? Why did you do that?" Then they make calls for the team to fire them, which is utterly ridiculous.
I’m just gonna make a comment or two and share some memories why the 1980 NFL season was so special to me. Mark (GREAT job again.) I know it’s been a few months since I commented but I still watch all of your videos. They’re all terrific and every time you do a running back, it’s always seems you feature one of my all-time favorite runners. As you know, I love and study running backs for over 40 years and particularly admire the smaller, running backs with break away speed. And on the topic of running backs I would like to say thank you too you for putting in my all-time favorite in this video “Wilbert Montgomery” Even though he missed four full games and when he came back, he missed large parts of everyone of his last six games from week 11 through week 16, and because of that he had only half the yards he had the previous year in 1979, with 1512 rushing yards and leading the NFL in 79 with 2006 yards from scrimmage. And cause of constant injuries mostly created from that horrid veterans stadium turf he only had only 778 yards (but still 50 receptions in 1980) playing about only half the snaps of the previous year) so I thank you for showing that 72 yard run he got in week 2 vs the Vikings, which was the second longest run in the NFL that season which happened three weeks before he got injured. And now why I’m writing this and that is because the 1980 NFL season means so much to me and that is cause the 1980 NFC Championship game Philadelphia vs Dallas is still & will always be the greatest sports memory of my life. And Montgomery redeemed himself for all his injuries that year and then some with his 194 yards rushing in the 1980 NFC championship when coming into the game when the offensive starting lineups were announced to the Veterans stadium crowed he was not announced and he did not come out as he was doubtful and he do not come in until the 2nd offensive play of the game for the Eagles after Jaws got sacked & on a sack he got his bell rung & got a concussion so Montgomery ran out on the field and called the play coach Vermeil gave him for Jaws still couldn’t talk after the sack the call was (“I Right Slot Split 46 Slant.") and that’s when Jaworski gave Monty the ball n in a flash Wilbert, on a Quick slight move to the left which got the whole Dallas team to move to there right and then with that Monty cut quickly to the Right faking out the whole Dallas defense and easily alowed him to take that 9.3 100 yard speed to coast in 42 yards easily into the end zone to put us up 7-0. And every old timer Eagle From that time will tell you we all knew we were going to the Super Bowl after that touchdown.on the Eagles 2nd offensive play. Coming into that game Monty had 7 seperate injuries he could barely walk b4 the game (even Steve Van Buren commented he himself would never be able to play in the condition Wilbert was in.) In his 2nd long run of the game a (55 yard romp) in the Championship you can see he was clearly gone for daylight but as you can see his if you watch it his leg gave out on him which allowed the Cowboys safety Dennis Thurman who had a angle on him which allowed him to cut him Off and tackle Monty at the 27. If it wasn’t for that Wilbert would’ve had 221 yards rushing, which to this day would still be one more yard than Raheem Mostert for the second most in a playoff game ever, second only to Eric Dickerson‘s 248 yards in the 1985 season vs the same team the Cowboys. Actually back In 1980 it was the 2nd most yards ever in the playoffs next to another Eagle Steve Van Buren. Italian still is the 11th most now after both Mostert & D.Henry surpassed it in 2019. Ok Mark Keep up the great work!
Thank you. I love being providing these great details. With statistics, there are always stories/reasons as to why the numbers are what they are. I'm glad that you brought up Steve Van Buren - what a tremendous RB he was! I have always preferred the smaller scatback RB's, starting as a kid. Mack Herron was perhaps the smallest of those that I viewed back in the day. Thank you so much for your comments; I really appreciate it!
@@markgardner9460 Thank you Mark besides conversing with you through TH-cam. I can tell from your videos that we you like the same shiftier smaller cut back running backs with break away speed as I do
Good point about the Bengals finally having "TV" numbers on their jerseys for the first time in '80. The next season would introduce Cincy's "Yikes Stripes" which are now a franchise staple (especially the recently added "zebra" look).
@@markgardner9460 I welcomed the change. Watching the Bengals play those years was a bit annoying because they looked like the Browns (all because of the great Paul Brown, of course). Their twice-a-year meetings always looked like a scrimmage game!
I think I prefer the Bengals old uniform but I agree...when they played Cleveland it almost looked like a scrimmage!.Why did Paul Brown pick a uniform so closely aligned with his previous team?
i remember Brent turning to the Greek and asking him for the line between SD and OAK. The Greek smirked and then said the Chargers will definitely be favored but the Raiders will DEFINITELY win!! (he was buddies with Al Davis btw) and the music cut i was interested in begins in the Directors Cut segment. Great work MG!
You are correct - that is what exactly happened. The song at the start of the Director's Cut is by Craig MacArthur entitled The Delong Incident. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Mark it’s funny you mention Herron because he was 1 of my first running backs I ever got into probably cause I got so many of his football cards from the 1974 season-1975 Topps football card set. And it’s a great card that shows him in action what a terrific picture taken. And as a 5 year old kid I remember looking on the back & seeing he was only 5.5 (At the time he was the shortest RB ever) which I don’t think I knew exactly how short he was at that young age but knew he was shorter than every other NFL player on the back of my cards. He had a few very solid years as a Kick-Punt Returner for the Pats. And combined with some solid running and recieving In 1974 he led the NFL WITH 2,444 yards which was a NFL record back then. It’s strange to think back how we can start liking players. I remember rooting for Mini Mack while watching him with my dad vs the Jets as a 5 year old or so kid & always thinking of that great 1975 Topps card. He is probably 1 of the reasons why I started rooting for smaller RB’s. (I usually like to use the word “short” rather than small for many so called “small” RB’s are so put together) I guess you can best put it as I follow the 200 n under pound running backs as my preferred) But with Mack I have to say he was both short n small. Isn’t it amazing how the smaller or shorter running backs are almost always good receivers also as Mac did have good hands, but really only had one year to show it off with his receiving in his 1 year as a starter. I guess because at their size growing up smaller-shorter backs have to learn to do everything well and do it better than the bigger guys in order to make it to the elite or to just make as smaller at any level . And the mis matches for defenses the smaller shiftier backs create like a Darren Sproles or a Greg Pruitt can create for defenses when catching the ball. Mac never made the Falcons as a 6th round draft choice so he dominated a few seasons in the Canadian football league, and then made it to the NFL in 1973. Since I was a little kid I have been rooting for the under 200 pound back. As they are almost always are the shiftier,have the better vision, and better cut back ability and were definitely better runners and receivers than there taller heavier teamstes at RB. And finally just in the last couple of years (it only took the scouts and coaches 100 years since 1921 to know what I knew since I was at oldest 10 and that the shorter backs are better. After finally in my own words the NFL scouts & coaches started saber-metrically looking at the running back position and seeing how it is more often the shorter backs when given the chance are better than there taller mates. In Less than a decade ago the average RB was 6,0 tall to now in 2023 the average RB height is 5,10. There Was Always a stigma on the 200 pound and under guys after only 103 NFL seasons, they’re finally looking like they’re finally seeing the light. With the average height now being 5’10 at RB. And With a 4.5 league aversge per carry in 2022 (the highest APC in NFL history) Aldo now with a league average per carry of 4.3 overall in the last 6 seasons combined the highest by far in any period of time (before the new millennium the highest YPC in a single season was 4.2. and the highest in a decade was 4.0. A big reason for the runners averages going up is the smaller runners. The Philadelphia Eagles made a big mistake when they had a Rookie in 2015 by the name of Raheem Mostert (there 1st season McCoy was gone) and at 5’10 and about 195 at the time the Eagles let him go despite leading the NFL in the 2015 preseason in both yards from scrimmage and all purpose yards. I fell in love with the guy right there. At the same height and weight as Wilbert Montgomery and had his speed and was so similar in style as Monty. So I couldn’t believe the Eagles let him go but it was because they thought he wasn’t big enough despite the fact that they just trading away a guy in Lesean (the 2013 rushing champ) who was about the same size maybe smaller than Mostert they should of know little guys could do it. But Raheem had to go through 6 teams in 2 years to finally find a spot on the 49ers.
Thank you for your comments. I think one of the reasons that shorter RB's can excel in running the ball is that they get hidden behind the huge wall of offensive linemen. Defenders simply can not locate them. They also have a lower center of gravity which is definitely aided when artificial turf is in play. I really appreciate your in-depth take of this topic!
1980 was an amazing year for NFL fans. I like the tunes accompanying the action - funk/disco, reminiscent of that year. Fastest 30 minutes on You Tube. Thanks, Mark! 👏🏼
The clip of the Bucs @ Bengals on the wet artificial turf at Riverfront was after the thunderstorm rolled through. The lightning and thunder scared both Curt Gowdy and Hank Stram calling the game on CBS. Not only were the Bengals the last team to add TV numbers on the jerseys, this was the last year of the lame 'BENGALS' wordmark on their helmets to be replaced with what they still have today. Boy do I miss old school NFL Primetime with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. Especially seeing the Tom Jackson Broncos clip against Cleveland. Ted Thompson?? The same one who was the Packers GM? 23:46 - How often do you get to see an NFL clip and a Montreal Expos pennant in the background. Gotta love watching football at Shea. Hard to believe that Vince Ferragamo left LA for Montreal. Same with Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson too leaving Houston for Montreal. The Alouettes lost more games than they won and made the playoffs. They lost to a 5-11 Ottawa Rough Rider team with future congressman J.C. Watts at QB in a mud bowl at Lansdowne Park.
Yes, that's the same Ted Thompson. I loved watching games at Shea - that scoreboard was huge. I also enjoyed watching J.C. Watt play college ball. Thank you for providing the CFL info! Love it.
6:18-Cincinnati's Ray Griffin was running hard and thinking fast like a rabbit on how to bring down the superior power and speed of "The Tyler Rose" Earl Campbell. Like most defenders, nothing worked at stopping the legendary Houston Oiler.
No never saw free kick returned for TD...but in Miami-Cincy saw Shula call for an onside punt after a safety in 4th Q which worked! Dolphins came back from 9 down to eke out 17-16 win! It paid to know the arcane rules! P.S. what's the name of the upbeat jazzy tune you use on many of your videos?
I have footage of that play somewhere. Shula was a genius. I don't know offhand what that song title is. Do you know about when it starts? Early, mid or late?
In your prior video week 9 1967 it plays during the PIT-STL clip. in this 1980 video it plays during the ATL clip. Very catchy! I'm sure you recall the intentional safety Shula took against PIT on MNF back in 73. Even Cosell was flummoxed by it!
Mark you obviously hit a good nerve because I can’t stop writing I’m going to change gears a bit my next comment on the 1980 season mostly writing about the players you more heavily featured in another great video. First of all Steve Bartkowski what an arm he had. Maybe in the top 3 best arms in NFL back then along with the other Polish Rifle Ron Jaworski but both were behind the best arm which was the often injured by 1980 Bert Jones (Bert had Hall of Fame talent) had the best arm in the NFL still in 1980. To bad injuries kept him from becoming possibly the best quarterback of his generation, getting injured too often after his MVP year in 1976. And talking about looking like a future Hall of Famer, John Jefferson in 1980 was then considered by most everyone as the best wide receiver in the NFL by 1980. And 1980 the New Orleans Aints possibly the worst Run Defense of the Super Bowl era as they gave up 3,106 yards and 28 TD’s!(Damn The Eagles game vs the Saint’s in 1980 was one of the 4 full games Wilbert Montgomery missed that year.)You can check and see all the huge games the big time runners had vs them that year including some not so big time RB’s. One example of that was My Eagle’s teams 3rd string Half Back (Dick Vermeil’s nephew) Louie Giammona had 71 yards on 10 carries with a career high by far 44 yard run. He had a career 3.4 average per carry. Ok I’m all my posts I wrote about a 50 page book SO I’m OUT. small replies only now.
@@markgardner9460 Ugggg drafting a punter. Yes at least he was a decent punter lol, if that’s any consolation? Well not nearly as bad but The Eagles drafted a kicker in 1979 in Tony Franklin in the third round after there 2 horrible kickers cost them the 14-13 loss to the Falcons in the 1978 wildcard game, yes 1 missed a extra point in the 1st quarter Mike Michel and our other Nick Mike-Mayer missed a 34Y Fg with 17 seconds left and the Eagles lost 14-13 But yes you know you have a poor franchise when you’re drafting a punter not named Ray Guy in the 1st round. By the way after the Eagles two kickers cost them the 78 wildcard after the game coach Vermeil said a kicker will never cost us a playoff game again so he drafted Franklin in the 3rd round in 79 and Tony kicked the second longest FG (a 59 yarder) in NFL HISTORY THAT YEAr. AND IN THE DIVISIONAL ROUND GAME PLAYOFFS IN 1979 AT THE BUCCANEERS (IT’S A LONG STORY) but to make it short TONY FRANKLIN MOST LIKELY COST the Eagles there 2nd straight year in which a kicker cost us To move on in the playoffs. With five minutes left, it had to do with an onside kick that Tony Franklin went against what Coach V told him to do & probably cost us the game. Actually there’s a smart young TH-camr (named JaguarGator9) who did a video on that whole 1978-1979 Eagles kicker playoffs losses situation and if I wasn’t an Eagle fan, it would be a little comical maybe. I would explain the whole thing if you don’t already know it.But I can’t see my phone at all now. I HAVE SJOGREN’S DISEASE, SO MY EYES DON’T PRODUCE TEARS at all anymore after 21 years with it and the lyrica i have to take for my neuropathy Makes my eyes blurry as heck. YES aging with auto immune diseases is not very fun, yes plural.Autoimmune diseases. So gonna chill now. But Mark bro yiu continue to impress not only on the videos but you know your stuff! Mark-not many people I know would know the Saints taking a punter 1st in 79. Possibly The only reason I might remember it is because of the Eagles 1979 kicking situation.
In 1978, the Cardinals panicked and drafted Kicker/Punter Steve Little out of Arkansas with the 15th overall selection. Erxleben kicked a NCAA record 67 yard field goal in '77 and Little matched it two weeks later! Little had been an All-State Quarterback in high school. In his short three year NFL career, he missed 10 out of 51 extra point attempts!
@@markgardner9460 I didn’t know that. I know I tend to write too long sometimes, but this thread believe me is worth the read. This is very long Mark but believe me you being a fellow NFL researcher will love this thread and story. This is similar in the kickers we’re talking about & full of impossible coincidences. In both natural coincidences and what we are talking about in kickers. It’s about the man who owns the record for the longest field goal ever at any level for known high school-any college level or any Pro football level to this day. Way back in 1976 yes senior Wilbert Montgomery’s teamate at Abilene, Christian Texas Wildcats division 2 Swedish college kicker Ove JOHANSSON kicked a 69 Yard FG in there homecoming game In a win vs East Texas State in the first quarter in only his 6th college game in the 1st quarter as the 28-year-old and I quote “Johansson’s kick sailed through the goalposts on the south end of Shotwell Stadium with several yards to spare, setting off a wild celebration by teammates and a sold out crowd of 13,000” who were there to see Wilbert break another record and the next quarter Wilbert Montgomery broke his cousins (still very little known that there cousins) Walter Payton’s all-time collegiate career touchdown record (which he did a quarter later in the 2nd quarter) on the day before the game the Sweedish Ove walked into his coach’s office to ask for a chance at the mark.and I quote a book Ove predicted he would break the record for the longest kick ever he said as he said to coach Wally Bullington “Coach, on Saturday, Wilbert will set a national record for touchdowns in a career,” Johansson said, brimming with his typical fjord full of self-confidence. “And if you give me the opportunity, I will kick a world-record field goal.” Yes he overshadowed Montgomery After he kicked that 69 yard FG he said to the ref “well there it is go and get it” it’s still a record at any level high school college or any pro level 47 years later! Coincidences well as teammates with Wilbert in college (he also briefly was teammates with him the next year in Philly. And Who carried the ball for 5 yards a play b4 that FG yes Wilbert. Who had the collegiate record at any level for the longest field goal fellow Texas college player and future Wilbert Montgomery’s Eagle teamate named Tony Franklin. Something to huge of a coincidence for it not to be fate, and that is that Ove JOHANSSON 69 yarder that same afternoon was sandwiched in time just in between NCAA Division I record field goals Tony kicked of both 64 and 65 yards in College Station, Texas, by the Texas A&M sophomore kicker in a game versus Baylor 250 miles away!! Yes Franklins 2 record kicks Tony’s record 64 yarder was just before the division 2 Ove JOHANSSON’s 69 yarder and the 65 yarder was just after the same afternoon. And of course Tony ended up as an Eagle with Wilbert kicking the second longest field goal at the time a 59 yarder in his rookie year of 1979. Another coincidence was who also went to college in the late 70’s in Texas yes the man we talked about yesterday “Russell Erxleben”. And just like who you just mentioned Steve Little, Ove JOHANSSON was horrid in his 2 games in the NFL but way worse. Hence in 1977 in his only 2 NFL games for poor Vermeil’s (I CANT I GET A DAMN KICKER!) as I talked about yesterday his kicking problems. Ove in Those two games for the Eagles he was way worse than Little, as he was 1 for 3 in field goals making only a 32 yarder and worse (here again is the Eagles extra point problems) was 1 for 4 in extra points!! Ove obviously had the leg to maybe be the greatest ever, but he was drafted by the Oilers (at 29 years old (at the time, the oldest person to be drafted and is still the 2nd oldest man ever drafted to this day ) and he got injured in a college game so that’s why he was never successful again after that 69 yarder in college. Maybe even more amazing before the start of that 69 yard FG game (and I quote from a book on the Abilene Christian Wildcats) “as amazing as he was in that game before that game Ove was just as amazing and I quote “coach Wally Bullington was not suprised as Ove irritated the Lions by booting two 70-yarders while he and holder Dean Low briefly interrupted the visiting team’s workouts on the north end of the field before the opening kickoff! Later, the coach told a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer he thought the 69-yarder would be easy based on Johansson’s hard-to-believe pregame performance.” By the way You can see that FG on the internet. And I’m Quoting “In 2001, on the 25th anniversary of his record kick, the irrepressible Johansson booted another jaw-dropping field goal during an exhibition he planned at halftime of yet another ACU Wildcat Homecoming game: a 53-yarder at age 53.” He never made it successfully as a NFL kicker and he passed away September 30th 2023- but he had a very successful life as the Swedish kicker married and settled down and in Texas and was successful in business also and not long before he died less than 6 months ago he was quoting as, saying, he lived the American dream! Ok my 1 long thread for day I think I just wrote my next book! And Mark I think you will be the only one to read it lol being I am only writing this as a reply, two days after the video was put up.
Great stuff!! It should be mentioned that prior to 1989, college kickers could kick field goals with the aid of a kicking tee which I think most pundits would say is an advantage over not using one. I hadn't heard about 'ole Ove! Thank you for providing his story and supporting information - always appreciated!
Doug Williams, Tampa in 1980, had a losing record as a QB, but won Super Bowl MVP with 4 TD passes. But how did Jim Hart play 18 years for the Cardinals with a just under .500 record? Great clips, again. Sweetness, Campbell, OJ Anderson - and John Jefferson made all those catches against Oakland, the first Wild Card Super Bowl winner. Would have like seeing some of Lester Hayes' 13 interceptions, plus 5 in the postseason.
Yes, I should have included some Lester Hayes footage. I had enough select footage to add another 10 minutes to the video, but I needed to draw the line somewhere. The Cardinals had to contend with playing the Cowboys and Redskins twice each year, then Philly got tough in '79, so I can see how Jim Hart's career winning percentage wasn't the greatest...especially considering how perenially weak the Cardinals defense was.
Joe Sensor made a sensational catch at 11.25 as did Jimmie Giles shortly after that.I think Sensor would have been the best tight end in Vikes history... and in the same division it's obvious that Billy Sims ( a member of the Lions #20 trio..Lem Barney ,Sims and of course the great Barry Sanders!) would have been HOF bound if not for his knee injury! .
Great video/ production. You really spliced together the best moments of the entire 80 season. One of my favorites was Billy Sims’ introduction at LA. Right out of the gate he was a phenomenon. 153 yards and 3 TD’s. Two plays I’m not sure you added. Billy Sims’ 87 yard receiving TD week 2 at Green Bay. It’s a beauty. And my personal favorite moment: regular season finale Philly @ Dallas. Dennis Thurman KO’s Carmichael and knocks him out of the game breaking Harold’s 127 games w/ a catch streak. He planned to try and end it and he did. Hehe anyways, outstanding video of a very memorable season.
Always look forward to your vids. Very well done. 1980 was my favorite season. The Falcons Wallace Francis and the Saints Wes Chandler were such smooth receivers. I was happy Chandler had some great seasons in San Diego
I don't think that a receiver could be any more athletic and talented as Chandler; he was just incredible. To think that the Chargers were able to replace Jefferson with Chandler is astounding, too.
15:05 unquestionably the catch of the year. The following catch vs Oakland and Lester Hayes is well documented and understandably so but the one hand grab at Cincinnati is a truly insane one hander that is a great as any you’ll ever see.
"This "compilation"..was well "worth" the "hype" and "beyond "..."30 minutes" ..of "beautiful" " power runs" explosive"stylish moves".."off the line..."receptions"and much"more..."Fantastic"!!
That's awesome! Thank you - I'm glad that you enjoyed it. 1980 was the last year that I played football. I stopped growing and continuing to play would have been extremely hazardous to my health. If anything, all that did was take my fever pitch of the NFL to the next level.
So much talent and athleticism back then. All sports back then was exciting. Nothing better than playing football with your friends on Sunday morning and then watching football all afternoon, then Monday Night Football with the halftime highlights. Our football heroes were Gods!
I couldn't wait for Howard Cosell's halftime highlights! Then it was off to bed cuz it was a school night, but we'd talk about the highlights the next day at school.
@@markgardner9460 I absolutely couldn't wait for the halftime highlights with Cosell!
I loved reading the football box scores on Monday morning in the Syracuse Post Standard, but not waiting until Wednesday's paper for the stats from Monday night!
Isn't that something? Everything wasn't instant back then.
@@markgardner9460 so many people hatred Howard but when that Monday Night Football intro started up & Howards voice came booming through I would get goosebumps. He knew how to entertain- something that after growing up
On announcer like Howard Cosell, Pat Sumerall, Tom Brookshier, John Madden Hank Stram all who had great voices. great personalities. And all knew how to call a game announcer actually in all sports is a lost art.
🏈😎👍🏼
I went from boot camp at Parris Island to school in Norfolk during the 1980 NFL season.
I missed some great football.
Thanks for sharing.
1980 was an exciting year for football. Thank you for your service.
Our old pal Vince Evans had a few nice plays in 1980. He was kind of a QB tease I guess. Loved the Billy Sims glide into the end zone. He certainly had style. Nice compilation of exciting action Mark!
Evans had a live arm. It's too bad that he wasn't more accurate on the short to medium deep passes.
Sims is still my favorite RB of all-time and that will never change.
Billy was much more of a team running back than Barry Sanders. And I don’t have a bias against either of them. I love them both as Barry I watched since his Freshman year at Oklahoma State as I was and am a Thurman Thomas fan (My 2nd all-time fave Runner next to Montgomery)And Billy was Wilbert’s workout partner as they both tried to get back to the Lions after Simms injury in week 8 of 1984 n Wilbert’s brief stay with Detroit in his 1 year out of Philly getting injured in week 7 of 1985.
Thomas was my favorite since he was a Sophomore a year b4 Barry played.So
I got to watch Barry all 3 years at Oklahoma State. Barry would get a long run then sometimes lose 10 yards on his next 2 carries and Detroit would walk away without even a FG to show for Sanders run sometimes. As Sanders is by far number 1 in NFL history in getting stuffed. Sanders had 336 Att for minus 952 Yards in stuffs. While Billy would get 3 to 5 yards on every run. And nothing better than a back that moves the chains. But both awesome in their own very different ways.
As a life-long Chargers fan since the days of Air Coryell, THANK YOU so much for posting those catches by JJ! I haven't seen those highlights in years! John Jefferson was my favorite Charger and still is! Whew, what a human highlight reel! - Todd C (Creek Sider1)
Glad you enjoyed it. JJ has been my favorite WR since 1980 and that has not and will not change. There are so many Chargers players whom I really like from that era. Hard-nosed Hank Bauer was one of 'em, along with Big Louie Kelcher - what a mountain he was, as was Mt Washington at Tackle.
Spectacular catches - and when you consider two of those TDs were against Lester Hayes (37) who is probably the best man-to-man cover DB I’ve seen (and should be in the NFL HOF). Lester was probably talking to himself after those!
He played him snugly, but the pass was thrown to where on JJ had a shot. Fouts' receivers, like Bradshaw's, made him look really good.
This was a great year for football. I was 12yrs old! One my favorite games was the Thanksgiving game between the Bears and Lions where the Bears won on a kickoff return in OT. Not a Cowboys fan but the game winning playoff touchdown Drew Pearson made against the Falcons in the divisional round.
I remember that '80 Thanksgiving Day game in which Dave Williams returned the opening overtime kick-off for a touchdown. It was the shortest overtime game (at least at the time - for all I know it still is)
The Falcons were 12-4 that year. I’d always get confused by Alfred Jenkins and Alfred Jackson.
@@markgardner9460 Thanks!! I forgot about the name of the player(Williams)who returned that kick.✌🏾🏈.
Yep I remember watching that kick off return for a TD in OT on Thanksgiving. I have seen it on YT too. 🏈
Great footage compilation Mark!
Thank you! It was a lot of fun putting it together.
I am sure it was. Thank you always sir!
Excellent video as usual !!!!! Keep up the good work !!!!! brings back lot of memories ......
Thank you - I appreciate it. Is there any types of NFL videos from the '70's that you'd like to see?
@@markgardner9460 Top ten positions groups ... wr .. o line ... D line ... etc
I like that! It's got the gears in my brain turnin'. Thank you.
@@markgardner9460 Any chance on making a George Blanda video from 1970? And this might seem offbeat the 1967 NFC Central coaches Halas and Lombardi departing and Grant and Joe Schmidt arriving!
I checked into that, but there seems to be quite a bit of footage that is copyrighted for Blanda from '70. Regarding the coaches, that is definitely something to ponder. Thanks for the ideas!
Great stuff. I wish Atlanta would go back to those uniforms.
And the helmet, too. Those were one of the best!
@@markgardner9460 Yes, I consider the helmet to be part of the uniform.
Indeed. I always like the Cardinals helmet logo, but now they've trimmed it and changed it to where I don't care for it at all. The Lions have tinkered with theirs, too. I prefer the '70's version so much more.
Great era. Jefferson JJ, Joiner & Winslow what receivers! Did you notice JJ burning Lester "the molester" Hayes. The era of great backs. Sims, arguably the goat. Payton, loved his "dead leg" juke. Thanks brother I enjoyed it, you're appreciated.
I got a "kick" out of Payton's dead leg juke! Nobody has ran like him and I doubt that anyone will ever.
@@markgardner9460 Nope, one of a kind. So was Sims.
The hook and ladder from Sensor to Ted Brown was a huge play! The Vikings had the ball with 14 seconds left trailing 23-22 and no time outs! Brown got to the Cleveland 46 with,5 seconds left setting the stage for Tommy Kramer's heave down the right sidelines in which about 6 players were trying to make a play and of course it was deflected by I believe Thom Darden of Cleveland and Ahmad Rashad caught the ball and fell into the end zone, giving Minnesota a stunning 28-23 win as time expired.."Miracle at the Met!' Bud Grant and Matt Blair were joyous... I don't think I ever saw Grant show that much emotion..the play clinched the division for the Vikings.
One of my friends' Dad went to that game and had seats in either the first or second row directly behind where Rashad caught the ball. He said that he heard Rashad yelling "I caught it! I caught it!"
@@markgardner9460 Nice memory!
The Earl Campbell TD pass wasn't pretty but effective
The 1970s & 80s had the best looking uniforms. The crap color schemes they have now are terrible and don't even get me started on the helmet shapes. They look like Gary Busey's Helmet Protector.
I agree with you big time. One of my friends says that they should go back to wearing leather helmets, then they'll think twice before leading with their heads.
@@markgardner9460it didn’t stop them back then 😂
Rams uniforms were better then the ones they wear nowadays.
By a long shot!!
29:41 the true power of Earl Campbell is on display at the expense of Mike Hartenstine, who was certainly no weakling. It was during this season that Hartenstine absolutely leveled Ron Jaworski when the Bears played the Eagles at the Vet. It was the first time I recalled watching a player de-cleated!
The hit from the defender was bad enough, but the second hit resulting from the turf was probably worse.
A Jack Thompson sighting,!28:15 and 30 seconds later I thought it was kinda cool that both the Browns and Steelers players jumped on top of the hedges
The Throwin' Samoan!
@@markgardner9460 Turned out to be a bust
He couldn't get the starting gig away from Anderson, who ended up being the NFL MVP in '81, but then he got his shot in Tampa in '83 and that team was woeful.
@@markgardner9460 Thompson couldn't hold a candle to Anderson!
On the free kick that happens to be Keith Nord's only career touchdown
I always confused him with Kurt Knoff - remember him?
@@markgardner9460 I absolutely remember Kurt Knoff in fact both of them are in your video!Knoff only scored one career touchdown himself so this video has both players only touchdown is in the video!
I always got their names/numbers mixed up when watching the Vikes. Their secondary around that time was not good at all. Bryant and Krause were about finished and Joey Browner and Carl Lee hadn't been drafted yet. Willie Teal, John Turner and Rufus Bess.....how 'bout those guys?
@@markgardner9460 Teal,Turner Bess and Hannon weren't terrible but they were pedestrian at best
Hannon was a very hard hitter, but he didn't have enough speed to make up for when the Cornerbacks were beaten.
Chandler's spike was indeed creative!
The Chester Marcol TD on the blocked field goal was stunning ! I saw the replay and I couldn't believe it!He had a checkered life after football suffered from a number of addictions, and tried to commit suicide by drinking battery acid antifreeze and vodka!. Amazingly he survived severely damaging his esophagus but doctors stretched it and he slowly recovered and got away from his addictions even though he now has heart issues,but he became a drug and alcohol addiction counselor...
Remember Cosell narrating that play on the next day’s MNF Halftime Highlights.
Wow! I did not know the extent of his addiction. That's flat out crazy!
WHAT? No Largent?
He's depicted - in the "Director's Cut" section at the end of the video. He makes a great catch in the back of the end zone.
@@markgardner9460 Sorry, I missed it.
Y'all were extolling the virtues of Charlie, but less than two years later Largent had eclipsed all them records, under craptastic QB's like Zorn and Krieg. Imagine his career arc under Fouts. And don't forget those crappy Seattle teams messed up the AFC West big time. in this era, just ask the Raidahs, the Broncs (Elway), and Dan the Man,
Hi Mark watching Wilbert Montgomery eagles green jersey as he busts off a long one in the video
Excellent. Montgomery is so underrated, I think. He put up big rushing & receiving totals, but he was on the smallish side and got worn out.
@@markgardner9460 in fact-you have a half dozen guys in this video I have Jerseys....B. Jones, D. Williams, Sipe, Fouts, etc.
When a injury caused Wilbert Montgomery to miss a full game or more he only missed 1 game while on the road and that was on his 27th attempt on a week 3 Thursday night 127 rushing yard game vs Buffalo in 1981 at home caused him to miss 18 official full games and 2 more where he was only able to play as a 3rd down back on a couple of downs and didn’t carry the ball at all in 1983. And in 1978 he was leading the NFL in rushing in 1978(his first year as a starter) vs the cardinals at home got hurt on his 3rd attempt at home which caused him to miss the next 2 games so really that crap veterans stadium
Turf cost him 3 games not 2 and a NFL rushing title, possibly taken from Earl Campbell.
To continue on from my last post post (Along with his cousin Walter Payton both in 1996 becoming the first two players in college football history to make the college football Hall of Fame while not playing for division one colleges) for Wilbert held the record for most touchdowns in a season and career both for about 20 years those records held while at Abilene Christian the season record he did as a freshman 37 td’s his only healthy year and scored 76 career college TD’s while missing 11 full college games, and many partial games while hampered by injuries his sophomore through senior year. Cost him well over 100 college td’s. And that’s why he was a six round draft choice despite his amazing college career. For had very bad calcium deposits on his knees.
And by 1983 the Eagles offensive line was dead so that really hurt him in 1984 as that line gave up 60 sacks the worst in the NFL.But as he showed with his 60 receptions when he was able to get in the open field it was the offensive lines disability to block at all but but he could still run. Then was traded to the other worst offensive line of the mid 80s the lions for his last year in 1985 he played 4 full games (using Vermeil’s commentary as a announcer in a Lions-Cowboy game ) “he was only at 33%” and in week 7 was hit by Ronnie Lott and he never played another down again. But despite all the injuries and the 1982 strike in his prime. Wilbert still retired in 1985 as the 15th all-time leading rusher only 14 yards behind Hall of Famer, John Henry Johnson for number 14 on the all-time list. Had there been no 1982 7 game strike he would’ve finished very probable number 12 in front of Leroy Kelly. There were 3 running backs from
The 1977 draft who finished in the top 21 all-time leading rushers at the end of their careers. As I said Wilbert Montgomery at #15 Tony Dorsett retired at # 2 and Wendell Tyler number 21 how’s that for small back power!
@@markgardner9460I hope your able to read all my posts (I’m
Sorry for the typos I’ve been writing about this video & things that have to do with it all night and yesterday so once I start I can’t stop with stats especially. And I have Sjogren’s disease among other autoimmune diseases unfortunately. so after about a hour I can’t see the screen at all cause my eyes don’t produce tears at all. But thank you as always for the platform brother.
Who had the cooler specs, Chuck Muncie or John Jefferson?
Muncie was paid for endorsing his. They may have been more dorky than JJ's, but I'll take Muncie's. You?
@@markgardner9460 Muncie's
Another excellent production Mark!
I’ll take Muncie’s too. But J.J did look good on the cover of S.I “The Touchdown Man.”
I have that issue! He does look cool.
George Martin scored 7 touchdowns in his career amazing for a defensive lineman!
Is that right? All via reception?
@@markgardner9460 I went digging.3 interception returns 2 fumble recoveries 1 on a lateral after a blocked field goal and the 1 reception on this video
One thing I like about your videos is I like to dig into them and try to provide a nugget now and then
@@stevenzimmerman4057great nugget. Good job
@@Tony-r7v thank you!
Herrera almost blocked someone!😅
Yeah, he was fortunate that the hole was already made!
Cowboys really wore those gorgeous blue jerseys a lot that year. Too bad they did away with them after they lost the NFC Championship game.
Those were great uniforms!
The Eagles jersey (Carmichael) was possibly their best one and certainly much better than today's Eagles unis
I really like the one in the video. It's unique, with all of the arm bands....and of course the color is awesome.
Brian Sipe was NFL MVP in '80 but Sam Rutiglliano had zero faith in aging Cockroft which wound up costing them the game against OAK
And the Raiders would go on to win the Super Bowl as the first wild card team to do iit
When I think of great plays of 1980, 2 big ones come to mind. The 1st I call the play of the year. Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad with 5 seconds left to beat the Browns at The Met. The Vikings won their Division. It would be the last under Bud Grant. And the last Division Title while playing in Bloomington. They would move into the Metrodome two years later.
The other big play was Danny White to Drew Pearson for a 23 yard TD to beat Atlanta in the Playoffs. The TD capped a 20 point 4th quarter. And one of the most amazing comebacks in Cowboys History.
...and even though the Eagles were on their way up, who thought that they would make it to the Super Bowl?
I remember and saw both of those games. I caught the 4th qtr of the Browns-Vikings coming in from church. It was a Noon(Central time) game and the Browns were up 23-9. The Vikings won the tiebraker over the Lions to win the division. The Dallas-Atl game was Sunday afternoon and the Falcons were up 27-14 with about 3 minutes to play. Not a Cowboys fan but that was a hell of a game. It was poetic justice when the Eagles beat them the next Sunday in the NFC championship game.🏈🏈
@@markgardner9460 Actually it wasn't such a surprise. Dick Vermeil took over a bad team a couple years prior. That got Jaws from the Rams. And started improving. Wilbert Montgomery was one tough SOB to deal with. They finished in 2nd place in 1978 and 1979. So they were on the upswing.
@@elwin38 that 20-7 loss was tough to deal with for a bit. That division became very crowded that whole decade. And into the next.
Those 2 plays are great calls on your part! Being a Viking fan the Kramer to Rashad pass immediately comes to mind but the Danny White touchdown pass to best Atlanta was huge..I hated the Cowboys ( respected their tradition and Landry)and I thought the Falcons had them all but finished..but Dallas and Danny White came through! I remember thinking " Damn Cowboys did it again!' White was a very good quarterback and punter and had a good career but he could never live up to Staubach ( but who could have?)
Great year for football and most every sport! I loved the 80 Winter Olympics so much!
I have a LOT of great memories of the '80 Winter Olympics! Thank you for bringing that up.
@@markgardner9460That game turned my mom into a hockey fan! The Soviet Union was considered the best in the world hadn't lost since 1968. They were a juggernaut! And they had 4 players who would make the HOF including Vladslav Tretiak considered the world's best goalie at the time!. The Soviet Union dominated play and led 2-1 late in the first period when Dave Christian fired a slap shot and Tretiak gave up a uncharacteristic rebound and Mark Johnson scored with 1 second left in the first period.. Soviet Union coach Tikhonov replaced Tretiak with backup goalie Vladimir Myskin which he later said was the biggest mistake of his career! Nonetheless the Soviet Union dominated play and took a 3-2 lead into the third period.It would have been worse but Goalie Jim Craig was playing exceptionally well!The third period started and about 7 minutes in the USA got a power play they had a couple of chances Myskin made a good save Mike Eruzione fired a shot wide and after Dave Silk was knocked off the puck a alert Mark Johnson scored late in the power play tying the game and sending Lake Placid into a frenzy! We were spellbound at home! The amateur USA team was tied with the best team in the world so they said! A couple of shifts later Mike Eruzione took a pass in the high slot and buried the puck past Myskin giving the USA their first lead 4-3 the USA players and coach Herb Brooks said it was the longest 10 years of their hockey career.The desperate Soviet Union stepped up the pressure and even hit a couple of goalposts but couldn't find the net!The Soviet Union got more and more desperate, especially since they almost never lost and their play got a bit ragged ,a Soviet Union player admitted that they were panicking, Brooks kept imploring "Play your game play your game!" This game made many of the team and especially Brooks almost legendary! Anyway the clock was inside a minute , Craig made a save on a slap shot with about 33 seconds left the Soviets shot wide and after a scramble Ken Morrow carried the puck out of the zone with just seconds left and the crowd was going berserk counting the seconds off and of course one of the most iconic calls of all time...Al Michaels "Do you believe in miracles? YES!" That was considered the best Olympic game ever and I still get goosebumps over Michaels call That was absolutely amazing!
Is it just me,or does it seem like double reverses aren't called as much now?The speed of the players perhaps?
I don't think that gadget plays in general take place because the Head Coaches worry about how social media will react if they backfire. "Why did you do this? Why did you do that?" Then they make calls for the team to fire them, which is utterly ridiculous.
@@markgardner9460 Social media is way more negative than positive
Bradshaw was still very strong as him eluding several Oilers on the heave to Stallworth showed
That's one of the things that I really enjoy about slow motion - we get to see how powerful players were.
I’m just gonna make a comment or two and share some memories why the 1980 NFL season was so special to me.
Mark (GREAT job again.) I know it’s been a few months since I commented but I still watch all of your videos. They’re all terrific and every time you do a running back, it’s always seems you feature one of my all-time favorite runners. As you know, I love and study running backs for over 40 years and particularly admire the smaller, running backs with break away speed. And on the topic of running backs I would like to say thank you too you for putting in my all-time favorite in this video “Wilbert Montgomery” Even though he missed four full games and when he came back, he missed large parts of everyone of his last six games from week 11 through week 16, and because of that he had only half the yards he had the previous year in 1979, with 1512 rushing yards and leading the NFL in 79 with 2006 yards from scrimmage. And cause of constant injuries mostly created from that horrid veterans stadium turf he only had only 778 yards (but still 50 receptions in 1980) playing about only half the snaps of the previous year) so I thank you for showing that 72 yard run he got in week 2 vs the Vikings, which was the second longest run in the NFL that season which happened three weeks before he got injured. And now why I’m writing this and that is because the 1980 NFL season means so much to me
and that is cause the 1980 NFC Championship game Philadelphia vs Dallas is still & will always be the greatest sports memory of my life. And Montgomery redeemed himself for all his injuries that year and then some with his 194 yards rushing in the 1980 NFC championship when coming into the game when the offensive starting lineups were announced to the Veterans stadium crowed he was not announced and he did not come out as he was doubtful and he do not come in until the 2nd offensive play of the game for the Eagles after Jaws got sacked & on a sack he got his bell rung & got a concussion so Montgomery ran out on the field and called the play coach Vermeil gave him for Jaws still couldn’t talk after the sack the call was (“I Right Slot Split 46 Slant.") and that’s when Jaworski gave Monty the ball n in a flash Wilbert, on a Quick slight move to the left which got the whole Dallas team to move to there right and then with that Monty cut quickly to the Right faking out the whole Dallas defense and easily alowed him to take that 9.3 100 yard speed to coast in 42 yards easily into the end zone to put us up 7-0. And every old timer Eagle From that time will tell you we all knew we were going to the Super Bowl after that touchdown.on the Eagles 2nd offensive play. Coming into that game Monty had 7 seperate injuries he could barely walk b4 the game (even Steve Van Buren commented he himself would never be able to play in the condition Wilbert was in.) In his 2nd long run of the game a (55 yard romp) in the Championship you can see he was clearly gone for daylight but as you can see his if you watch it his leg gave out on him which allowed the Cowboys safety Dennis Thurman who had a angle on him which allowed him to cut him
Off and tackle Monty at the 27. If it wasn’t for that Wilbert would’ve had 221 yards rushing, which to this day would still be one more yard than Raheem Mostert for the second most in a playoff game ever, second only to Eric Dickerson‘s 248 yards in the 1985 season vs the same team the Cowboys. Actually back In 1980 it was the 2nd most yards ever in the playoffs next to another Eagle Steve Van Buren. Italian still is the 11th most now after both Mostert & D.Henry surpassed it in 2019. Ok Mark Keep up the great work!
Thank you. I love being providing these great details. With statistics, there are always stories/reasons as to why the numbers are what they are. I'm glad that you brought up Steve Van Buren - what a tremendous RB he was! I have always preferred the smaller scatback RB's, starting as a kid. Mack Herron was perhaps the smallest of those that I viewed back in the day. Thank you so much for your comments; I really appreciate it!
@@markgardner9460 Thank you Mark besides conversing with you through TH-cam. I can tell from your videos that we you like the same shiftier smaller cut back running backs with break away speed as I do
I sure do. I've made videos on Metcalf, Pruitt and Foreman (2) and hopefully there will be more to come.
Is the hook-and-ladder play at 16:45 is the play before the infamous "Miracle at the Met"
Yes it was. The td catch was copyrighted, so I couldn't show that.
Good point about the Bengals finally having "TV" numbers on their jerseys for the first time in '80. The next season would introduce Cincy's "Yikes Stripes" which are now a franchise staple (especially the recently added "zebra" look).
I prefer the "Bengals" simplistic logo style on the helmet, but that's just me.
@@markgardner9460 I welcomed the change. Watching the Bengals play those years was a bit annoying because they looked like the Browns (all because of the great Paul Brown, of course). Their twice-a-year meetings always looked like a scrimmage game!
The two teams color schemes were much too alike.
I think I prefer the Bengals old uniform but I agree...when they played Cleveland it almost looked like a scrimmage!.Why did Paul Brown pick a uniform so closely aligned with his previous team?
Danny White was so great, his athleticism @3:10 with the fake punt and bad snap-turned 40 yard bomb are exciting!
You're right. Having a QB do their punting had a markedly significant advantage over their opponents.
Steve Grogan was a very underrated Quarterback!
Indeed. Also, very few QB's can boast of being on the same team for 16 consecutive years. That's impressive in any era.
👍👍👍
Thsnk you - I'm glad that you liked it!
That was a very dark year for us Saints fans (and music fans as well).
The Lions liked "Another One Bites the Dust", however.
fantastic video. the RBs never stop, and Sims could have been the best of the bunch if he stayed healthy. as a Bears fan, love Evans to Scott.
Thank you! Sims is my favorite RB and that's not ever gonna change. Vince Evans had an absolute cannon for an arm.
i remember Brent turning to the Greek and asking him for the line between SD and OAK. The Greek smirked and then said the Chargers will definitely be favored but the Raiders will DEFINITELY win!! (he was buddies with Al Davis btw) and the music cut i was interested in begins in the Directors Cut segment. Great work MG!
You are correct - that is what exactly happened.
The song at the start of the Director's Cut is by Craig MacArthur entitled The Delong Incident.
Thank you for watching and commenting.
thanks for the info. great tune. keep up the great work. still advocating for worst 5 qbs to start SB! Woodley Eason Grossman Morrall and......CAM!
Mark it’s funny you mention Herron because he was 1 of my first running backs I ever got into probably cause I got so many of his football cards from the 1974 season-1975 Topps football card set. And it’s a great card that shows him in action what a terrific picture taken. And as a 5 year old kid I remember looking on the back & seeing he was only 5.5 (At the time he was the shortest RB ever) which I don’t think I knew exactly how short he was at that young age but knew he was shorter than every other NFL player on the back of my cards. He had a few very solid years as a Kick-Punt Returner for the Pats. And combined with some solid running and recieving In 1974 he led the NFL WITH 2,444 yards which was a NFL record back then. It’s strange to think back how we can start liking players. I remember rooting for Mini Mack while watching him with my dad vs the Jets as a 5 year old or so kid & always thinking of that great 1975 Topps card. He is probably 1 of the reasons why I started rooting for smaller RB’s. (I usually like to use the word “short” rather than small for many so called “small” RB’s are so put together) I guess you can best put it as I follow the 200 n under pound running backs as my preferred) But with Mack I have to say he was both short n small. Isn’t it amazing how the smaller or shorter running backs are almost always good receivers also as Mac did have good hands, but really only had one year to show it off with his receiving in his 1 year as a starter. I guess because at their size growing up smaller-shorter backs have to learn to do everything well and do it better than the bigger guys in order to make it to the elite or to just make as smaller at any level . And the mis matches for defenses the smaller shiftier backs create like a Darren Sproles or a Greg Pruitt can create for defenses when catching the ball. Mac never made the Falcons as a 6th round draft choice so he dominated a few seasons in the Canadian football league, and then made it to the NFL in 1973.
Since I was a little kid I have been rooting for the under 200 pound back. As they are almost always are the shiftier,have the better vision, and better cut back ability and were definitely better runners and receivers than there taller heavier teamstes at RB. And finally just in the last couple of years (it only took the scouts and coaches 100 years since 1921 to know what I knew since I was at oldest 10 and that the shorter backs are better.
After finally in my own words the NFL scouts & coaches started saber-metrically looking at the running back position and seeing how it is more often the shorter backs when given the chance are better than there taller mates. In
Less than a decade ago the average RB was 6,0 tall to now in 2023 the average RB height is 5,10.
There Was Always a stigma on the 200 pound and under guys after only 103 NFL seasons, they’re finally looking like they’re finally seeing the light. With the average height now being 5’10 at RB. And With a 4.5 league aversge per carry in 2022 (the highest APC in NFL history) Aldo now with a league average per carry of 4.3 overall in the last 6 seasons combined the highest by far in any period of time (before the new millennium the highest YPC in a single season was 4.2. and the highest in a decade was 4.0. A big reason for the runners averages going up is the smaller runners.
The Philadelphia Eagles made a big mistake when they had a Rookie in 2015 by the name of Raheem Mostert (there 1st season McCoy was gone) and at 5’10 and about 195 at the time the Eagles let him go despite leading the NFL in the 2015 preseason in both yards from scrimmage and all purpose yards. I fell in love with the guy right there. At the same height and weight as Wilbert Montgomery and had his speed and was so similar in style as Monty. So I couldn’t believe the Eagles let him go but it was because they thought he wasn’t big enough despite the fact that they just trading away a guy in Lesean (the 2013 rushing champ) who was about the same size maybe smaller than Mostert they should of know little guys could do it. But Raheem had to go through 6 teams in 2 years to finally find a spot on the 49ers.
Thank you for your comments. I think one of the reasons that shorter RB's can excel in running the ball is that they get hidden behind the huge wall of offensive linemen. Defenders simply can not locate them. They also have a lower center of gravity which is definitely aided when artificial turf is in play.
I really appreciate your in-depth take of this topic!
I absolutely agree and you know if I didn’t write so much today I would have so much more to say on that lol.
1980 was an amazing year for NFL fans. I like the tunes accompanying the action - funk/disco, reminiscent of that year. Fastest 30 minutes on You Tube. Thanks, Mark! 👏🏼
Thank you, Denis! 1980 was the year when my disposable income allocation ratio towards the purchase of football cards was nearing 1.0
The clip of the Bucs @ Bengals on the wet artificial turf at Riverfront was after the thunderstorm rolled through. The lightning and thunder scared both Curt Gowdy and Hank Stram calling the game on CBS.
Not only were the Bengals the last team to add TV numbers on the jerseys, this was the last year of the lame 'BENGALS' wordmark on their helmets to be replaced with what they still have today.
Boy do I miss old school NFL Primetime with Chris Berman and Tom Jackson. Especially seeing the Tom Jackson Broncos clip against Cleveland.
Ted Thompson?? The same one who was the Packers GM?
23:46 - How often do you get to see an NFL clip and a Montreal Expos pennant in the background. Gotta love watching football at Shea.
Hard to believe that Vince Ferragamo left LA for Montreal. Same with Billy 'White Shoes' Johnson too leaving Houston for Montreal. The Alouettes lost more games than they won and made the playoffs. They lost to a 5-11 Ottawa Rough Rider team with future congressman J.C. Watts at QB in a mud bowl at Lansdowne Park.
Yes, that's the same Ted Thompson.
I loved watching games at Shea - that scoreboard was huge. I also enjoyed watching J.C. Watt play college ball. Thank you for providing the CFL info! Love it.
I remember in North Dakota in the late 1960s that they televised the CFL game of the week!
Wow. That's cool to hear. I wonder if there were other states that televised.
6:18-Cincinnati's Ray Griffin was running hard and thinking fast like a rabbit on how to bring down the superior power and speed of "The Tyler Rose" Earl Campbell. Like most defenders, nothing worked at stopping the legendary Houston Oiler.
When I was watching that clip, I was thinking "How is he gonna be able to take Earl down?"
@@markgardner9460 it's one of my favorite Campbell runs! Did you see the pile of Bengals defenders behind him? Crazy!!!
The guy knocked 'em over like bowling pins!
No never saw free kick returned for TD...but in Miami-Cincy saw Shula call for an onside punt after a safety in 4th Q which worked! Dolphins came back from 9 down to eke out 17-16 win! It paid to know the arcane rules! P.S. what's the name of the upbeat jazzy tune you use on many of your videos?
I have footage of that play somewhere. Shula was a genius. I don't know offhand what that song title is. Do you know about when it starts? Early, mid or late?
In your prior video week 9 1967 it plays during the PIT-STL clip. in this 1980 video it plays during the ATL clip. Very catchy! I'm sure you recall the intentional safety Shula took against PIT on MNF back in 73. Even Cosell was flummoxed by it!
I do recall that. Cosell first criticized Shula, until he figured it out later.
@markgardner9460 let me know if you figure out the music. and try do a worst 5 QBs to start a SB!
Mark you obviously hit a good nerve because I can’t stop writing
I’m going to change gears a bit my next comment on the 1980 season mostly writing about the players you more heavily featured in another great video.
First of all Steve Bartkowski what an arm he had. Maybe in the top 3 best arms in NFL back then along with the other Polish Rifle Ron Jaworski but both were behind the best arm which was the often injured by 1980 Bert Jones (Bert had Hall of Fame talent) had the best arm in the NFL still in 1980. To bad injuries kept him from becoming possibly the best quarterback of his generation, getting injured too often after his MVP year in 1976.
And talking about looking like a future Hall of Famer, John Jefferson in 1980 was then considered by most everyone as the best wide receiver in the NFL by 1980.
And 1980 the New Orleans Aints possibly the worst Run Defense of the Super Bowl era as they gave up 3,106 yards and 28 TD’s!(Damn The Eagles game vs the Saint’s in 1980 was one of the 4 full games Wilbert Montgomery missed that year.)You can check and see all the huge games the big time runners had vs them that year including some not so big time RB’s. One example of that was My Eagle’s teams 3rd string Half Back (Dick Vermeil’s nephew) Louie Giammona had 71 yards on 10 carries with a career high by far 44 yard run. He had a career 3.4 average per carry.
Ok I’m all my posts I wrote about a 50 page book SO I’m OUT. small replies only now.
Drafting players in the 1st round like Punter Russell Erxleben in 1979 certainly did not aid their ailing defense.
@@markgardner9460 Ugggg drafting a punter. Yes at least he was a decent punter lol, if that’s any consolation? Well not nearly as bad but The Eagles drafted a kicker in 1979 in Tony Franklin in the third round after there 2 horrible kickers cost them the 14-13 loss to the Falcons in the 1978 wildcard game, yes 1 missed a extra point in the 1st quarter Mike Michel
and our other Nick Mike-Mayer missed a 34Y Fg with 17 seconds left and the Eagles lost 14-13
But yes you know you have a poor franchise when you’re drafting a punter not named Ray Guy in the 1st round. By the way after the Eagles two kickers cost them the 78 wildcard after the game coach Vermeil said a kicker will never cost us a playoff game again so he drafted Franklin in the 3rd round in 79 and Tony kicked the second longest FG (a 59 yarder) in NFL HISTORY THAT YEAr. AND IN THE DIVISIONAL ROUND GAME PLAYOFFS IN 1979 AT THE BUCCANEERS (IT’S A LONG STORY) but to make it short TONY FRANKLIN MOST LIKELY COST the Eagles there 2nd straight year in which a kicker cost us To move on in the playoffs. With five minutes left, it had to do with an onside kick that Tony Franklin went against what Coach V told him to do & probably cost us the game. Actually there’s a smart young TH-camr (named JaguarGator9) who did a video on that whole 1978-1979 Eagles kicker playoffs losses situation and if I wasn’t an Eagle fan, it would be a little comical maybe.
I would explain the whole thing if you don’t already know it.But I can’t see my phone at all now. I HAVE SJOGREN’S DISEASE, SO MY EYES DON’T PRODUCE TEARS at all anymore after 21 years with it and the lyrica i have to take for my neuropathy Makes my eyes blurry as heck. YES aging with auto immune diseases is not very fun, yes plural.Autoimmune diseases. So gonna chill now. But Mark bro yiu continue to impress not only on the videos but you know your stuff! Mark-not many people I know would know the Saints taking a punter 1st in 79. Possibly The only reason I might remember it is because of the Eagles 1979 kicking situation.
In 1978, the Cardinals panicked and drafted Kicker/Punter Steve Little out of Arkansas with the 15th overall selection. Erxleben kicked a NCAA record 67 yard field goal in '77 and Little matched it two weeks later! Little had been an All-State Quarterback in high school. In his short three year NFL career, he missed 10 out of 51 extra point attempts!
@@markgardner9460 I didn’t know that. I know I tend to write too long sometimes, but this thread believe me is worth the read. This is very long Mark but believe me you being a fellow NFL researcher will love this thread and story. This is similar in the kickers we’re talking about & full of impossible coincidences. In both natural coincidences and what we are talking about in kickers. It’s about the man who owns the record for the longest field goal ever at any level for known high school-any college level or any Pro football level to this day. Way back in 1976 yes senior Wilbert Montgomery’s teamate at Abilene, Christian Texas Wildcats division 2 Swedish college kicker Ove JOHANSSON kicked a 69 Yard FG in there homecoming game In a win vs East Texas State in the first quarter in only his 6th college game in the 1st quarter as the 28-year-old and I quote “Johansson’s kick sailed through the goalposts on the south end of Shotwell Stadium with several yards to spare, setting off a wild celebration by teammates and a sold out crowd of 13,000” who were there to see Wilbert break another record and the next quarter Wilbert Montgomery broke his cousins (still very little known that there cousins) Walter Payton’s all-time collegiate career touchdown record (which he did a quarter later in the 2nd quarter) on the day before the game the Sweedish Ove walked into his coach’s office to ask for a chance at the mark.and I quote a book Ove predicted he would break the record for the longest kick ever he said as he said to coach Wally Bullington
“Coach, on Saturday, Wilbert will set a national record for touchdowns in a career,” Johansson said, brimming with his typical fjord full of self-confidence. “And if you give me the opportunity, I will kick a world-record field goal.” Yes he overshadowed Montgomery
After he kicked that 69 yard FG he said to the ref “well there it is go and get it” it’s still a record at any level high school college or any pro level 47 years later! Coincidences well as teammates with Wilbert in college (he also briefly was teammates with him the next year in Philly. And Who carried the ball for 5 yards a play b4 that FG yes Wilbert. Who had the collegiate record at any level for the longest field goal fellow Texas college player and future Wilbert Montgomery’s Eagle teamate named Tony Franklin. Something to huge of a coincidence for it not to be fate, and that is that Ove JOHANSSON 69 yarder that same afternoon was sandwiched in time just in between NCAA Division I record field goals Tony kicked of both 64 and 65 yards in College Station, Texas, by the Texas A&M sophomore kicker in a game versus Baylor 250 miles away!! Yes Franklins 2 record kicks Tony’s record 64 yarder was just before the division 2 Ove JOHANSSON’s 69 yarder and the 65 yarder was just after the same afternoon.
And of course Tony ended up as an Eagle with Wilbert kicking the second longest field goal at the time a 59 yarder in his rookie year of 1979. Another coincidence was who also went to college in the late 70’s in Texas yes the man we talked about yesterday “Russell Erxleben”. And just like who you just mentioned Steve Little, Ove JOHANSSON was horrid in his 2 games in the NFL but way worse. Hence in 1977 in his only 2 NFL games for poor Vermeil’s (I CANT I GET A DAMN KICKER!) as I talked about yesterday his kicking problems. Ove in Those two games for the Eagles he was way worse than Little, as he was 1 for 3 in field goals making only a 32 yarder and worse (here again is the Eagles extra point problems) was 1 for 4 in extra points!!
Ove obviously had the leg to maybe be the greatest ever, but he was drafted by the Oilers (at 29 years old (at the time, the oldest person to be drafted and is still the 2nd oldest man ever drafted to this day ) and he got injured in a college game so that’s why he was never successful again after that 69 yarder in college.
Maybe even more amazing before the start of that 69 yard FG game (and I quote from a book on the Abilene Christian Wildcats)
“as amazing as he was in that game before that game Ove was just as amazing and I quote “coach Wally Bullington was not suprised as Ove irritated the Lions by booting two 70-yarders while he and holder Dean Low briefly interrupted the visiting team’s workouts on the north end of the field before the opening kickoff! Later, the coach told a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer he thought the 69-yarder would be easy based on Johansson’s hard-to-believe pregame performance.”
By the way You can see that FG on the internet. And I’m Quoting “In 2001, on the 25th anniversary of his record kick, the irrepressible Johansson booted another jaw-dropping field goal during an exhibition he planned at halftime of yet another ACU Wildcat Homecoming game: a 53-yarder at age 53.”
He never made it successfully as a NFL kicker and he passed away September 30th 2023- but he had a very successful life as the Swedish kicker married and settled down and in Texas and was successful in business also and not long before he died less than 6 months ago he was quoting as, saying, he lived the American dream!
Ok my 1 long thread for day I think I just wrote my next book! And Mark I think you will be the only one to read it lol being I am only writing this as a reply, two days after the video was put up.
Great stuff!! It should be mentioned that prior to 1989, college kickers could kick field goals with the aid of a kicking tee which I think most pundits would say is an advantage over not using one.
I hadn't heard about 'ole Ove! Thank you for providing his story and supporting information - always appreciated!
Doug Williams, Tampa in 1980, had a losing record as a QB, but won Super Bowl MVP with 4 TD passes. But how did Jim Hart play 18 years for the Cardinals with a just under .500 record?
Great clips, again. Sweetness, Campbell, OJ Anderson - and John Jefferson made all those catches against Oakland, the first Wild Card Super Bowl winner. Would have like seeing some of Lester Hayes' 13 interceptions, plus 5 in the postseason.
Yes, I should have included some Lester Hayes footage. I had enough select footage to add another 10 minutes to the video, but I needed to draw the line somewhere.
The Cardinals had to contend with playing the Cowboys and Redskins twice each year, then Philly got tough in '79, so I can see how Jim Hart's career winning percentage wasn't the greatest...especially considering how perenially weak the Cardinals defense was.
Joe Sensor made a sensational catch at 11.25 as did Jimmie Giles shortly after that.I think Sensor would have been the best tight end in Vikes history... and in the same division it's obvious that Billy Sims ( a member of the Lions #20 trio..Lem Barney ,Sims and of course the great Barry Sanders!) would have been HOF bound if not for his knee injury!
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The tv announcers used to state that Sensor's basketball skills aided him in his receiving. He went to a small college in PA, I think.
Great video/ production. You really spliced together the best moments of the entire 80 season. One of my favorites was Billy Sims’ introduction at LA. Right out of the gate he was a phenomenon. 153 yards and 3 TD’s. Two plays I’m not sure you added. Billy Sims’ 87 yard receiving TD week 2 at Green Bay. It’s a beauty. And my personal favorite moment: regular season finale Philly @ Dallas. Dennis Thurman KO’s Carmichael and knocks him out of the game breaking Harold’s 127 games w/ a catch streak. He planned to try and end it and he did. Hehe anyways, outstanding video of a very memorable season.
Thank you! There was a lot of footage that I wanted to feature, but if I had the video would have been too long, in my opinion.
The last 2 John Jefferson catches in the end zone were mind-blowing even though I had seen both of them on various highlight shows!
The Chargers home games were normally the 2nd slate of games in the Mid-West during that era, so I fell in love with JJ.
Can’t you just hear Dick Enberg on the call? “To Jefferson, Oh My!”
It’s a shame his career went the way of Alvin Harper’s after he changed teams.
@@markgardner9460 They had a lot of Raiders games as well
@@johnm8096 Enburg was a excellent announcer!
Lyle Blackwood! 🤦♀️ 🤦♂️ 🤦
Brother Glenn is ashamed, too.
Great year for the Falcons until they blew a 10 point lead with about 5 minutes left in the playoff game against the Cowboys (at home no less).
I was shocked that the Cowboys were able to do that without Roger Staubach at the helm, but they did.
Damn! That catch made at 15:08 is amazing given the velocity Fouts put on the ball.
That ball was "hot".
I remember when that behind the head spike was in vogue. Think it may have originated with Lynn Swann.
Perhaps. Isaac Curtis used to do it a lot, too.
Always look forward to your vids. Very well done. 1980 was my favorite season. The Falcons Wallace Francis and the Saints Wes Chandler were such smooth receivers. I was happy Chandler had some great seasons in San Diego
I don't think that a receiver could be any more athletic and talented as Chandler; he was just incredible. To think that the Chargers were able to replace Jefferson with Chandler is astounding, too.
@@markgardner9460 Yes, the Chargers didn't miss a step when they brought in Chandler
I don't remember Sipe usually panicking like that but Gradishar definitely was in the right place
I'm so glad that Gradishar finally made it into the HOF. He was a first ballot HOF'er, in my opinion.
@@markgardner9460 Totally agree!
Put him on the Steelers and he gets ranked as high as Jack Lambert does.
Geez these guys got into spiking the ball. Mercury Morris used to put as much effort into spiking the ball as he did running it. 😉
Merc used to put his entire body weight into spiking. He'd lose his balance.
@@markgardner9460 LOL, yes he certainly did!
15:05 unquestionably the catch of the year. The following catch vs Oakland and Lester Hayes is well documented and understandably so but the one hand grab at Cincinnati is a truly insane one hander that is a great as any you’ll ever see.
...and it was done without gloves or stick 'em