The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former NFL wide receiver know as “Mr. Clutch” for his penchant for making big receptions at crucial moments of the game. After waiting for more than 30 years, he is finally earning his rightful place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the 2021 Hall of Fame Class.
During his decade with the Dallas Cowboys, Drew Pearson had a habit of making the big catch at the right moment to help the Cowboys time and again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The favorite target of Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, Pearson was widely recognized as one of the great receivers of his era. Though at the time of his retirement many expected Pearson to easily breeze into the Hall of Fame, his enshrinement was derailed by changes to the game which artificially inflated receiver stats and made the numbers he produced during a time when wide receivers weren’t catching 100 passes a season seem inferior.
The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month was the
ace of the Boston Red Sox staff when they reached the 1975 World Series and is
considered by many to be someone worthy of induction in the Baseball Hall of
Fame.
Luis Tiant, known as “El Tiante”, spent 19 years in the
majors between 1964 and 1982.
Though he was 75-64 with a 2.84 ERA in six seasons with the
Cleveland Indians and then helped the Minnesota Twins reach the playoffs in
1970, it appeared that Tiant’s career might be over following the 1970 season.
As the 2021 hockey season heats up, we recognize as the
Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month one of the all-time greats in
Chicago Black Hawks history.
Spending his entire 22-year career with the Chicago Black
Hawks, Stan Mikita was one of the best centers of his generation.
Mikita joined the Black Hawks for the 1959-60 season and by
the following season was a key player on a squad destined to win the Stanley
Cup. He scored a team-high six goals during the playoffs as Chicago won their
most recent cup championship.
After waiting for 45 years after his retirement, the Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is finally taking his rightful place as a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Before injuries cut short his Hall of Fame worthy career, Tony Oliva was one of the best hitters in baseball and combined with Hall of Famers Rod Carew and Harmen Killebrew to make the Minnesota Twins a perennial American League contender during the late 1960s.
Discovered on the baseball fields of Cuba by a Minnesota Twin scout, Oliva came to the United States in 1961 and within three years the American League Rookie of the Year. There have been many great MLB players from Cuba, including a new generation of stars today, but it is hard to argue that there has been a better player from the island in MLB than Oliva.
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