Question for You Old-Timers: No Effort "Tackle" Attempts

Creeper

Well-Known Member
Messages
13,829
Reaction score
17,538
40 years ago? No. Guys who would run away from contact wouldn't last long. But the league was different. Fewer teams meant more competition for starting positions. The rules didn't punish violent blows. Contracts were not as lucrative and there was no free agency to worry about.
 

Bobhaze

Staff member
Messages
16,412
Reaction score
62,474
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
lawyers are to blame for the changes to the game that changed how we can tackle, etc. i'm 72, but think the younger generation is as tough as ever. operation desert storm, Afghanistan prove that. just as proud of the younger generation as any other.
Well said brother. IMO, the “millennial” generation of young people today are outstanding. Including the football players!

I never agree with the negativity that too often is floated out there about “kids today being lazy” or “not as ____ as we were.” I remember negative old timers saying that about us when we were kids. I never buy into the idea that the world is going to Hell in a hand basket because of the youngsters because it’s simply not true. There are always a few bad apples, but the orchard is full of good ones.
 

jwooten15

Well-Known Member
Messages
16,715
Reaction score
39,969
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
Google Jake Tatum you will have your answer.
Jack Tatum?

Oh yeah, that dude laid the lumber.

I think it's smart that the NFL is worried about player safety, but I miss even the Roy Williams-type plays.

Running in like a guided missile and absolutely destroying someone!
 

glimmerman

Well-Known Member
Messages
29,956
Reaction score
29,842
I’m an “old timer” and I definitely believe football players today are tough. Just as they were 50 years ago. My dad played on a high school state championship team in 1951 and those kids were really tough. No face masks, lol. But he would never say that players today are soft. The game has changed, but toughness is still a requirement.
They are still tough but they are not as tough as they once were. There bodies couldn’t handle the abuse of the old days because they aren’t conditioned for it. They barely practice in pads and the training camps now are joke compared to the older days. The games at the beginning of the year are sloppy because there bodies aren’t acclimated to the contact.
 

Montanalo

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,246
Reaction score
11,173
CowboysZone DIEHARD Fan
My Old-timer memory (which generally serves me well) tells me that tackling was much more robust back in the day. More than a business decision, I think the biggest change in today's game is tackling doesn't appear to be emphasized and practiced today as much as it was a generation ago.

This is a great question for @Ranching.
 

droopdog7

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,504
Reaction score
5,281
Your premise is false IMO, as your examples cover nearly 30 years. That’s not a trend.
 

INCowboysFan

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,963
Reaction score
2,640
Worst example this year was on Derrick Henry's 99 yd TD run against Jax. Jax defense, including the beloved Myles Jack, wanted to part of actually trying to tackle Henry.
 

MRV52

rat2k8
Messages
8,682
Reaction score
9,774
Clotheslines were allowed. So many vicious hits and tackles back in the day, today's NFL is a cupcake.
 

Whyjerry

Well-Known Member
Messages
15,949
Reaction score
24,814
Avoiding collisions. Letting ball-carriers run right by you without even attempting a tackle. It seems to be happening more and more.

There are the obvious examples from guys like Mike Jenkins, Deion, Curtis Riley of the Giants on the Jarwin TD, etc etc etc.

My question is for the long-time fans (who watched the NFL in the 70s-80s):

Is this a new evolution of making business decisions/ showing outright laziness? Or did similar things happen in the "old days" also? Seems to me like a lot of guys in the modern-NFL are in it purely for the $$ and couldn't care less about the outcome of games.

I think it is more prevalent today - especially in the secondary. For some reason many CBs don't think they need to tackle as long as they are good cover guys. Deion got that started. It is such a passing league that you would think these receivers would get lit up. The league rules have changed that. A good solid tackle is usually followed by a flag. I think the league is softer for sure.

Last point - The WRs are huge these days. When I was a kid I used to fly fish out on Long Island. The park we went to was also frequented by Wesley Walker who was a good receiver for the NY Jets. I met him many times. He wasn't known as a big receiver but I remember being surprised at how big he was. His hands were huge. Good angler too. Fast forward years ago I met Michael Westbrook who played for the Commanders. Now an MMA guy. I was older and bigger myself but again was struck by how big that guy was. He made Wesley Walker look tiny. Some of these modern WRs are monsters. Who would want to tackle them? Mel Blount would for sure.
 

Ranching

Well-Known Member
Messages
42,802
Reaction score
107,040
CowboysZone ULTIMATE Fan
My Old-timer memory (which generally serves me well) tells me that tackling was much more robust back in the day. More than a business decision, I think the biggest change in today's game is tackling doesn't appear to be emphasized and practiced today as much as it was a generation ago.

This is a great question for @Ranching.
We actually practice it a bit more, because of all the new rules and safety. Diffence is, we don't do nearly as much as full contact as we did back in the day. Most for form and technique. No more bull in the ring or full blown tackling.
 

GenoT

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,985
Reaction score
8,739
Avoiding collisions. Letting ball-carriers run right by you without even attempting a tackle. It seems to be happening more and more.

There are the obvious examples from guys like Mike Jenkins, Deion, Curtis Riley of the Giants on the Jarwin TD, etc etc etc.

My question is for the long-time fans (who watched the NFL in the 70s-80s):

Is this a new evolution of making business decisions/ showing outright laziness? Or did similar things happen in the "old days" also? Seems to me like a lot of guys in the modern-NFL are in it purely for the $$ and couldn't care less about the outcome of games.
First off, the only real “business decision” players had to make 30-40yrs ago was, am I gonna try to play another year or retire?

Free agency existed, but the process was heavily weighted against player movement. Also, only a relative handful of stars had any kind of real guaranteed money. Basically, if you didn’t put out 100% on the field, you wouldn’t have a job.

By the same token, although not as brutal as the 1960s and earlier, there was a lot more leeway given in how a defender chose to tackle a player.

Leading with the helmet? No problem. Helmet-to-helmet hits? Fine. Horse-collar tackles? Sure. Late hits or hitting a guy out-of-bounds? If it’s not too blatant, okay. Throwing the QB into the ground like a spear after he’s released the ball? Acceptable, within reason.

Definitely a rougher game back then, with virtually no job guarantee or financial safety-net for most players. You either put out or you were put out.
 

Vtwin

Safety third
Messages
8,079
Reaction score
10,959
I think it's more prevalent today than in the olden times. More accepted too. You didn't want to get labeled as a coward. Deion could get away with it because he was Deion.

Even he though took enough heat that he actually made somewhat of an effort to change the perception.
 

JD_KaPow

jimnabby
Messages
11,035
Reaction score
10,803
40 years ago? No. Guys who would run away from contact wouldn't last long. But the league was different. Fewer teams meant more competition for starting positions. The rules didn't punish violent blows. Contracts were not as lucrative and there was no free agency to worry about.
The league is much much much more competitive now for playing spots than it ever was before.

1. Forty years ago, there were 28 teams. Today, there are 32. Meanwhile, the US population has increased by 1/3, by over 100 million people. In 1968, there were only 16 teams, so the population ratio was more similar to today, but that's just one factor.
2. There is vastly more money in the game, between free agency and the booming popularity of the NFL over the decades. The chance to make millions in the NFL is the single biggest driver for competition.
3. The league is hungry for talent. Recruiting operations are vast and no stone is left unturned to find players. The NFL hasn't gone into international recruiting to the extent MLB or the NBA has, but I imagine that's next.

I'm not going to bother trying to find old articles now, but one thing I know has never changed in sports. Everybody always thinks that the players from the previous generation were tougher than players today.
 

csirl

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,693
Reaction score
3,989
Remember the 2 step rule? You could hit a QB as hard as you want so long as you were within 2 steps when the ball is released. Today, if you dont try to stop the minute the ball goes its a penalty. Back then players would speed up when with 2 steps as they knew any hit was legal!

Anyone who started playing football in the 80s or before would be familiar with preseasons where players didnt even see a ball, yet alone practise any plays for the first few sessions. It was all about tackling and getting used to contact. The type of player who ducks tackles today would not have got through this phase of camp in the past. If they couldnt handle contact, they wouldnt get the chance to show off their skills. Back then, there were a lot of good athletes who did not survive early training camp as they couldnt handle contact.
 

LACowboysFan1

Well-Known Member
Messages
10,996
Reaction score
7,145
More "business decisions" today, but I can't fault a lot of them. For one, the salaries are so much higher, you hit too hard too much and shorten your career, you've missed millions of dollars. Years ago guys had off season jobs they would go back to after they played, which paid just as well as or near to NFL salaries.

Also, in the old days there were two a day practices, with hitting. Guys were used to being hit a lot in practices, now with the new practice rules there's limited hitting, so the players aren't used to it.

And let's face it, life is easier overall today, 50 years ago if you got just about any kind of cancer, that was a death sentence, people didn't live that long either. You get beat up and crippled, you've got decades of life with debilitating pain and not being able to walk and do other things.

There's a bit too much of it, I have seen guys get close to a runner and just grab at them, where they could at least put a shoulder into them and try to knock them back, now if the guy gets another yard or two or three, it's okay unless it's a goal line stand or 4th down stop to win the game, e.g...
 

eyedoc

Well-Known Member
Messages
233
Reaction score
291
Avoiding collisions. Letting ball-carriers run right by you without even attempting a tackle. It seems to be happening more and more.

There are the obvious examples from guys like Mike Jenkins, Deion, Curtis Riley of the Giants on the Jarwin TD, etc etc etc.

My question is for the long-time fans (who watched the NFL in the 70s-80s):

Is this a new evolution of making business decisions/ showing outright laziness? Or did similar things happen in the "old days" also? Seems to me like a lot of guys in the modern-NFL are in it purely for the $$ and couldn't care less about the outcome of games.
I’m sixty seven. Do I qualify as an old timer??
 

Brax

Well-Known Member
Messages
6,355
Reaction score
6,991
Good question- It happened occasionally but not as much as today. But I think the problem with tackling today can attributed more to the rules changes regarding how you can legally hit. The art of tackling has dramatically changed.

If you went back and watched a game from the 70s, it was brutal. QBs were thrown around like a rag doll and pile driven into the ground and it was totally legal. The great HOF DE David “Deacon” Jones made a career out of his famous head slap on OL that is not legal today. In the “old days”, defenders had more physical advantages than today. It’s one reason defense is much harder to play in today’s game.

The so-called “business decision” that is often referred to about players would really more appropriately be tagged to the NFL owners. They literally made a business decision a few years ago that the game is not sustainable with the level of violent hits that were allowable in the rules. The game is evolving.
Randy White used the head slap till banned, to me just a better football, I liked a level playing field. People came to watch the hits, not dancing in the end zone.
 

Redball Express

All Aboard!!!
Messages
16,253
Reaction score
12,758
Avoiding collisions. Letting ball-carriers run right by you without even attempting a tackle. It seems to be happening more and more.

There are the obvious examples from guys like Mike Jenkins, Deion, Curtis Riley of the Giants on the Jarwin TD, etc etc etc.

My question is for the long-time fans (who watched the NFL in the 70s-80s):

Is this a new evolution of making business decisions/ showing outright laziness? Or did similar things happen in the "old days" also? Seems to me like a lot of guys in the modern-NFL are in it purely for the $$ and couldn't care less about the outcome of games.
Oldtimers..

Heard my name called.

Hmm..this is a provacative question.

I think it was more physical back then becuz of the rules.

There was not all this flags against helmet spears..

QB hits

WR hands off..

etc.

I think more about fines and suspensions for aggressive play.

The NFL owners want their high priced players protected.

Not back then.

My favorite quote came from the Pittsburg LBer who said..

"If you want to protect them..put a dress on them."

I see dresses on a lot of players if you ask me.

Best answer I can muster.
 
Top