A Tip of My Cowboys Cap to Commanders Great George Allen

[Hostile]

I know from Walt Garrison's book these guys where a couple of wild characters

Some of the best stories in that book are about them. I loved Don Talbert's nickname from Meredith. They called him Rotten. The stories about crazy stuff Rotten did are legendary and hilarious.

 

[Doomsday101]

Some of the best stories in that book are about them. I loved Don Talbert's nickname from Meredith. They called him Rotten. The stories about crazy stuff Rotten did are legendary and hilarious.

Most of these guys whould get suspended in todays NFL. :laugh2:

I think to a large extent it was still a game then now it is more of a business and with big money came more responsibility by players on and off the field.

 

[Hostile]

Most of these guys whould get suspended in todays NFL. :laugh2:

I think to a large extent it was still a game then now it is more of a business and with big money came more responsibility by players on and off the field.

You want to hear what I think is one of the all time great Commanders stories? John Riggins and the O-line had what they called the "5 O'clock Club." At the end of every day they got together to down cold beer and shoot the breeze. Gibbs felt it was a problem and went to Riggins who told him he would handle it. He moved the Club 100 yards off of Commanders property and continued right on with their "meetings."

You can find stories about great characters from almost any team. One of my favorites has always been the story of Gil Brandt and his fancy alligator shoes. Everyone loved them and he had them custom made. When they were signing their contracts he made sure to wear them and if a player admired his shoes he said he could get them a pair for part of their signing bonus. The players almost always agreed. Then they'd get their check and the cost of the shoes was deducted.

:laugh2:

There is so much greatness to this game beyond scores and stats.

 

[Sammy Baugh]

You want to hear what I think is one of the all time great Commanders stories? John Riggins and the O-line had what they called the "5 O'clock Club." At the end of every day they got together to down cold beer and shoot the breeze. Gibbs felt it was a problem and went to Riggins who told him he would handle it. He moved the Club 100 yards off of Commanders property and continued right on with their "meetings."

You can find stories about great characters from almost any team. One of my favorites has always been the story of Gil Brandt and his fancy alligator shoes. Everyone loved them and he had them custom made. When they were signing their contracts he made sure to wear them and if a player admired his shoes he said he could get them a pair for part of their signing bonus. The players almost always agreed. Then they'd get their check and the cost of the shoes was deducted.

:laugh2:

There is so much greatness to this game beyond scores and stats.

Excellent post. You tell fine stories.

The USA would be a lesser place without the Cowboys-Commanders rivalry, no matter what side of the rivalry one is on.

 

[Hostile]

Excellent post. You tell fine stories.

The USA would be a lesser place without the Cowboys-Commanders rivalry, no matter what side of the rivalry one is on.

I love the NFL. There are more great stories behind the scenes than any of us will ever know. Occasionally we stumble upon them and it makes things even more fun.

One of my all time favorite is about the hardest hit in NFL history. Here's the picture after the hit.

​

The man on the ground in the prone position is New York Giants Hall of Famer Frank Gifford. #60 standing above him is Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Famer Chuck Bednarik.

Bednarik is a certified bad ***. A man I have nothing but respect for. He is the last man to play all time on Offense and all time on Defense and he did both on the lines. Center and Linebacker. They called him Concrete Charlie because in the off season, he sold concrete and he was one mean son of a gun on the football field. 8 times that man above was All Pro. He only missed 3 games in 14 seasons. That despite playing both Lines.

The picture you see above is the final play of a game. He hit Gifford so hard that Gifford missed the rest of the season and all of the next season with a concussion injury.

In his own words here is Bednarik's description of the play.

It was one of those typically tough games between the Giants and Eagles in the middle of November. I had just hit Gifford when that picture was taken. He was doing a down-and-in pattern, and I saw him coming; I just hit him high in the chest about as hard as I could. His head snapped, and he went flying one way and the ball went flying another. Since I was following the ball, I didn't know where Gifford had gone. One of our linebackers, Chuck Weber, was scrambling to get the ball.

My eyes were closed and my hands clenched, and I just happened to turn around. Unbeknownst to me, Gifford was laying on the ground, unconscious. I had no idea he was there. There's another photo in which I'm crouching down to make sure he is all right.


But, anyhow, someone snapped that picture of me standing over Gifford. At a card show, someone once asked me, "Mr. Bednarik, what were you saying right there?" I replied, "I was saying, `This [bleeping] game is over.'" So now at shows, they want me to write that on the photo, but I won't. I'll just write "This f -- game is over" and then sign it.

Bednarik is asked to speak or do card shows and one thing everyone always wants to talk about is this hit. I have seen footage of the actual hit but I can never find it on youtube when I search. One time I heard that Bednarik was asked to speak and he had a signal to a staff member that as soon as he got to the podium he was to turn out the lights leaving the ballroom in total darkness.


Bednarik growled into the microphone, "and this is exactly what Gifford saw."


I love it.

 

[Doomsday101]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taEs9NpqLW4&feature=related

I think many will enjoy this

 

[Hostile]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taEs9NpqLW4&feature=related

I think many will enjoy this

Post of the day. That was awesome.

 

[THUMPER]

Two of my favorite old-time players to see in an interview are Chuck Bednarik and Art Donovan. I would have loved have played era of the mid 40s through late 60s. It just seemed like they LOVED the game and had a blast playing it. None of those guys made a lot of money and they all had jobs in the offseason (except for maybe the top paid QBs).

Just tough, hard-hitting guys, who took no crap from anyone and played for the love of the game. Almost everyone played multiple positions back then and I would have liked playing without a facemask. "Damn things block my vision" is what Tommy McDonald said. You gotta love it!

People get all gooey over Ronnie Lott having the tip of his finger cut off but that would not have been very unusual back then. You see some of those older players and they are missing all kinds of body parts or stuff pointing in the wrong directions, but still laugh about how it happened and wouldn't change a thing.

Another guy I like to see in old interviews is Sammy Baugh. What a crusty old cuss! For a skinny guy he was one tough dude and he could do it all! An All-Pro at QB, DB, & Punter!

I love that era! I think the best football was played in the 70s but the most fun time was from 1946-1969.

 

[THUMPER]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taEs9NpqLW4&feature=related

I think many will enjoy this

I've always loved that clip. Thanks for sharing.

Is there anyone Cowboys fans hate more than Joey Theesmann? :skins:

 

[Alexander]

"I wanted to strangle George Allen." - Danny White.

Amen, Danny. Amen.

 

[cowboys#1]

he hated the cowboys so i hate him


sorry

 

[Hostile]

"I wanted to strangle George Allen." - Danny White.

Amen, Danny. Amen.

My favorite part was Randy White talking about his Mom having a blackjack in her purse.

:laugh2:

 

[Hostile]

he hated the cowboys so i hate him


sorry

So did we all in our own ways. I can still respect the man for his contribution to the game, and I do.

 

[Hostile]

I've always loved that clip. Thanks for sharing.

Is there anyone Cowboys fans hate more than Joey Theesmann? :skins:

Truthfully, yes. Diron Talbert.

 

[THUMPER]

Truthfully, yes. Diron Talbert.

I used to but after he retired and I didn't see him anymore, I didn't think about him much. Out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

Theesmann's nails-on-the-chalkboard voice was heard for many years after he left the game. I'm just thankful that he is finally off the air and not doing games anymore. Anytime I see his ugly, smug face I just want to push a fist through it.

 

[Hostile]

I used to but after he retired and I didn't see him anymore, I didn't think about him much. Out-of-sight-out-of-mind.

Theesmann's nails-on-the-chalkboard voice was heard for many years after he left the game. I'm just thankful that he is finally off the air and not doing games anymore. Anytime I see his ugly, smug face I just want to push a fist through it.

I hated Andre Waters pretty bad too. Bill Bergey as well. Man, that bearded fool could play though.

 

[THUMPER]

I hated Andre Waters pretty bad too. Bill Bergey as well. Man, that bearded fool could play though.

GRRRRRRR!!!!!! Man I hated both of those guys!

I liked Bergey when he was with the Bengals but when he went to Philly I hated his guts.

That defensive backfield the Eagles had in the late 80s-early 90s with:
Izel Jenkins, Eric Allen, Andre Waters, & Wes Hopkins was probably the most hated group of players I've ever seen. :eagles:

 

[fgoodwin]

Some of the best stories in that book are about them. I loved Don Talbert's nickname from Meredith. They called him Rotten. The stories about crazy stuff Rotten did are legendary and hilarious.

I thought "Rotten" was the nickname for Ralph Neely?