Sports Then and Now

Bubba Smith was a towering figure as a member of the Baltimore Colts.

There are some athletes whose persona is greater than reality. For anyone who followed the NFL in the 1960s and 70s and movies over the following decades, Charles “Bubba” Smith was one such individual as his size and character made him a recognizable figure and a star beyond his performance on the field. Smith passed away on Wednesday, reportedly of natural causes, at the age of 66.

A towering figure at 6-foot-7 and 265 pounds, Smith came onto the national scene as a two-time All-American defensive lineman at Michigan State. In 1966 he was part of a Spartan’s squad that faced Notre Dame in the “Game of the Century.” The game ended in a 10-10 tie and MSU finished second in the final rankings.

Drafted by the Baltimore Colts with the first pick in the 1967 NFL Draft, Smith spent five seasons terrorizing quarterbacks on some premier Baltimore squads. The Colts went 11-1-2 during his rookie season and then in 1968 posted a 13-1 record and reached Super Bowl III.

In 1970, Smith was named to the Pro Bowl for the first time as the Colts went 11-2-1 and won Super Bowl V. The following year, Smith earned first team All-Pro honors and a second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance. Read the rest of this entry →

If any team can help Albert Haynesworth return to greatness on the football field it would seem to be the New England Patriots.

There is risk in any trade. And this trade is certainly full of many risks. Will he be in shape? Will he care to play? Would he even be an impact?

Albert Haynesworth was a force with the Tennessee Titans. This all changed when the Washington Redskins made him a $100 million dollar man. He did not get along with Daniel Snyder or Mike Shanahan. He was never going to work out in DC. For the New England Patriots, this deal makes sense.

With Ty Warren returning and Vince Wilfork, the Patriots have two solid defensive linemen. At the same time, it was Mike Wright who led the team in sacks. Yeah, that can’t be happening. Other than the unproven Jermaine Cunningham, New England did not have any pass rushers. Brandon Spikes and Jerod Mayo will be used more for stuffing the run. Adding Haynesworth can really help the defense.

At the same time, there are tons of risks. He has not had motivation and the Redskins are not a winning organization. If he plays and plays hard, Haynesworth can make the Patriots defensive line the best in the league. If not, they can cut him and just the $5 million they owe him. It is low risk and high reward, and if he works out he can give the Patriots a dangerous defense to go along with their dynamic offense.

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He didn't have a cape, but Walter Payton could leap over tall NFL players in a single bound.

The images of him flying through the air or high stepping across the end zone are so ingrained in the memories of football fans who had the pleasure of watching his amazing talents that it is hard to believe that it has been 24 years since Walter Payton completed his NFL career and nearly a dozen years since his premature passing.

On what would have been Payton’s 57th birthday (he was born on July 25, 1954 in Columbia, Mississippi), we remember the greatness of a football player who was simply sweet.

I know you hear it all the time, but God definitely broke the mold when he created Walter Payton.

Others are recognized as maybe being better NFL players, but I just don’t know that there was ever a better combination of desire, gracefulness, power and athleticism packed into a 5-foot-10 frame than the man they called “Sweetness.”

By all accounts, Payton never should have been as great as he was.

Given his physical stature, initial preference for playing the drums over playing football and that he played his college football at tiny Jackson State it is really quite amazing that Payton went on to achieve such lofty status.

However, heart and desire cannot be measured at a scouting combine and there is no question that Payton had those required tools in spades.

Payton’s career numbers: 16,726 rushing yards (second all-time), 21,264 yards from scrimmage (3rd), 125 touchdowns (11th) are beyond reproach, but his career was about so much more than mere statistics.

For more than a decade, Payton was the silent assassin of the NFL. His soft voice and quiet demeanor off the field masked his killer instinct on the field.

They also masked his reputation as a locker room prankster and cut-up. Read the rest of this entry →

The owners announced that an agreement had been reached in the NFL labor talks, but evidently the players didn't quite agree.

The general consensus during the five month long NFL lockout has been that if the two sides end up with a deal that doesn’t result in the loss of games, then there will be no lingering side effects and the two sides can go back to playing football and counting their billions in revenue.

After the shenanigans on both sides over the last 24 hours, that may have changed, at least for the short term.

We have been continuously told over the last week or more that the financial framework of a new deal had been agreed upon and the two sides and their lawyers were now just finalizing other secondary aspects of the deal.

The timeline consistently being presented through the media was that the players’ representatives (no longer known as a union) would vote on the agreement early in the week and the owners were to meet and agree on July 21st.

Then suddenly things started to get bogged down and pushed back.

Finally, on Thursday the owners met as expected and approved the agreement. Expectation originally was that the players would be doing the same thing, but that soon changed.

It still isn’t clear exactly what, if anything, is a real issue hanging up the final end to an off-season that no fan wants to ever again endure. However, it is starting to appear that egos and a last chance of one-upmanship is the reason that a final agreement hasn’t yet been approved by the players.

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