Old School Football

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Im watching the Red River Rivalry and im missing the days of old school football. The physicality is gone , WRs running around like its a walk through, no one runs the ball anymore and there are few sacks and fewer sack artists. 

 

I know the head shots needed go away but you can still hit a guy hard and tackle hard (to which tackling is absolutely atrocious) by proper form tackling.

 

Dont get me wrong, I'm loving the Josh Allen show but i want to see all aspects of the game.

 

 

[Augie]

If you love Old School Football, you are probably looking for it in THE WORST place possible! 

 

I hear ya though, the times have changed. 

[wjag]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

Im watching the Red River Rivalry and im missing the days of old school football. The physicality is gone , WRs running around like its a walk through, no one runs the ball anymore and there are few sacks and fewer sack artists. 

 

I know the head shots needed go away but you can still hit a guy hard and tackle hard (to which tackling is absolutely atrocious) by proper form tackling.

 

Dont get me wrong, I'm loving the Josh Allen show but i want to see all aspects of the game.

 

 

Agreed.  The game is getting unrecognizable.   I wish Kelly, Marino, Montana and a Young could play with today’s rules.  Tom Brady may be the GOAT, but if he was subjected to the pounding Kelly took, he would not be playing in all those Superbowls and into his 40s.  

[Buffalo Barbarian]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

If you love Old School Football, you are probably looking for it in THE WORST place possible! 

 

I hear ya though, the times have changed. 

 

 

What would be the best way? Big 10 is close but no what it used to be.

 

 

1 minute ago, wjag said:

Agreed.  The game is getting unrecognizable.   I wish Kelly, Marino, Montana and a Young could play with today’s rules.  Tom Brady may be the GOAT, but if he was subjected to the pounding Kelly took, he would not be playing in all those Superbowls and into his 40s.  

 

I like the longevity of today but would rather have smash mouth. Definitely miss the days of Thurman, Bruce and Paup.

 

 

[Augie]

Just now, Buffalo Barbarian said:

 

 

What would be the best way? Big 10 is close but no what it used to be.

 

 

 

 

Big 10 and SEC probably the best bet other than Slippery Rock. I hear they are fierce!  

[4_kidd_4]

Back then, ‘twas all orange groves through here...

[Buffalo Barbarian]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

 

Big 10 and SEC probably the best bet other than Slippery Rock. I hear they are fierce!  

 

Cant say iv watched much slippery walk

 

 

5 minutes ago, 4_kidd_4 said:

Back then, ‘twas all orange groves through here...

 

Must be some reference im unaware of .

 

 

[bobobonators]

Ive always been a huge fan of an outstanding defense. You can imagine how i feel. Scoring is exciting but there’s nothing like a hard-nosed game with guys beating the crap out of e/o at the LOS

[TroutDog]

I loved those days, too, but the permanent damage done to those guys really has to be measured. Some of the hits of old were unreal. 
 

On top of that, injecting people so they can get back on the field...that’s not really medicine. 
 

It was all tons of fun for us to watch but these guys only play this game for a few years and then they’re left with the remainder of their lives with their broken bodies. Just my opinion. 

[SirAndrew]

I miss how football was the ultimate team game. Football remains so, but the QB position has taken precedence over all else. Football is edging into basketball territory where one guy makes or breaks the entire team. I remember those 90’s juggernauts like the Bills, 49ers, and Cowboys. It was never just Young, Kelly, or Aikman who were solely responsible for the team’s success. Those teams all had talent to win elsewhere. A running back, wide receiver, or pass rusher could win games for teams back in that era. Obviously, that still holds true, but now you need the QB as well. Teams like the 2000 Ravens will never exist again. They dominated based on talent outside of the QB position.

 

With that said, let’s give today’s QB’s credit for being top notch. The training and physical abilities of these guys dominate any previous era of QB’s. I know this won’t be popular, but Josh Allen’s physical ability is superior to someone like Steve Young, while Patrick Mahomes arm is ten times that of Montana’s. I’m not putting those legends down, but it’s an apples to oranges comparison. The defense could play much tougher back then, but these modern guys are also very gifted. The old era was about grit and toughness, those are traits someone like Montana had plenty of while running Walsh’s cutting edge offense that caught opponents off guard. Today’s QB’s don’t have to be quite as tough, but their physical abilities are out of this world. 

Edited October 10, 2020 by SirAndrew

[Ya Digg?]

Unpopular take-I understand the sentiment behind the post, but I also think that people think of old school football with rose colored glasses on. When you watch highlights from old games, just look at all of the blatantly obvious late or dirty hits, poor quality play, and generally “football” that wasn’t really football. The game is still football, it’s not “unrecognizable” but the reality is these guys are a lot more athletic than most of the players from the old school time. Yes I do think that quarterbacks are catered to too much, yes I there are things that have been changed that I don’t think needed to be changed, but I think in general the people clamoring for old school football are a little to “get off my lawn” for me

 

It’s the same argument about how amazing Michael Jordan was and how he would never do the things the Lebron does. Now this is coming from a guy who idolized MJ, but he was not a good guy. Great player, not a great guy. Michael needed great players with him just like Lebron does.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

1 hour ago, bobobonators said:

Ive always been a huge fan of an outstanding defense. You can imagine how i feel. Scoring is exciting but there’s nothing like a hard-nosed game with guys beating the crap out of e/o at the LOS

 

I like scoring but i want those points earned.

 

 

56 minutes ago, Ya Digg? said:

Unpopular take-I understand the sentiment behind the post, but I also think that people think of old school football with rose colored glasses on. When you watch highlights from old games, just look at all of the blatantly obvious late or dirty hits, poor quality play, and generally “football” that wasn’t really football. The game is still football, it’s not “unrecognizable” but the reality is these guys are a lot more athletic than most of the players from the old school time. Yes I do think that quarterbacks are catered to too much, yes I there are things that have been changed that I don’t think needed to be changed, but I think in general the people clamoring for old school football are a little to “get off my lawn” for me

 

It’s the same argument about how amazing Michael Jordan was and how he would never do the things the Lebron does. Now this is coming from a guy who idolized MJ, but he was not a good guy. Great player, not a great guy. Michael needed great players with him just like Lebron does.

 

Get off my lawn 😜

 

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Texas made a nell of a 4th quarter comeback so that was exciting.

 

 

[SirAndrew]

2 hours ago, Ya Digg? said:

Unpopular take-I understand the sentiment behind the post, but I also think that people think of old school football with rose colored glasses on. When you watch highlights from old games, just look at all of the blatantly obvious late or dirty hits, poor quality play, and generally “football” that wasn’t really football. The game is still football, it’s not “unrecognizable” but the reality is these guys are a lot more athletic than most of the players from the old school time. Yes I do think that quarterbacks are catered to too much, yes I there are things that have been changed that I don’t think needed to be changed, but I think in general the people clamoring for old school football are a little to “get off my lawn” for me

 

It’s the same argument about how amazing Michael Jordan was and how he would never do the things the Lebron does. Now this is coming from a guy who idolized MJ, but he was not a good guy. Great player, not a great guy. Michael needed great players with him just like Lebron does.

I see both sides of the argument. I miss how the QB position didn’t seem to be as overly important in the past. However, I agree with you about the quality of play. It’s amazing how bad QB play was thirty years ago, even the greats often looked average by today’s standards. 

[Gen2]

1 hour ago, SirAndrew said:

I miss how football was the ultimate team game. Football remains so, but the QB position has taken precedence over all else. Football is edging into basketball territory where one guy makes or breaks the entire team.

 

I don't know if I necessarily agree with that statement. IMHO, if you took Josh's QB draft class coming out of college, based purely on the traditional QB skill set, I would have ranked them Mayfield #1, Rosen & Darnold as #s 2 & 3 depending on my mood that day, and Allen & Jackson as #s 4 & 5 being more athletes than QBs. Mayfield went to an organization whose coaching staff at the time was pretty much a clown show, Rosen and Darnold both went to dumpster fires of an organization, and Allen & Jackson go to organizations who were "all in" as far as developing them as well as forming a team around their strengths. I think Baltimore always figured they were going to end up with Jackson so they started to form the team in his image before they even drafted him giving him a bit of a head start on Allen. If you look at those same QBs today, I think you'd have to list them as Allen & Jackson 1 & 2 with Allen being the slightly better "traditional" QB but less of an athlete than Jackson, so depending on your preference on style of play they fall in whatever order you want. Mayfield (once the old coaching regime was ousted) in my opinion is #3 but he may be able catch up with Allen & Jackson. Darnold comes in a distant 4th,the Jets organization is a dumpster fire and I really don't see them righting the ship in the near future. And Rosen, poor poor Rosen, I don't think the Cards knew what they wanted to do to develop him from the get go, then their new coach brings in "his guy" Rosen gets traded to Miami to be their third string QB ... poor guy ... we may never get to see what he could have done.

 

To make a long story short, football is not only STILL the ultimate team sport but the front office has become an important part of that team. With the salary cap and free agency the organization has to be adept in gathering talent and KEEPING them together. Gone are the days when a rich owner can open his wallet, amass the most talented team in the league, and those players were bound to that team until the owner wanted them gone.

 

If Josh Allen continues on his current trajectory, and has a long and illustrious career, nobody will remember his first two years of "growth", Darnold and Rosen may NEVER get two stable years to grow.      

[SirAndrew]

4 minutes ago, Gen2 said:

 

I don't know if I necessarily agree with that statement. IMHO, if you took Josh's QB draft class coming out of college, based purely on the traditional QB skill set, I would have ranked them Mayfield #1, Rosen & Darnold as #s 2 & 3 depending on my mood that day, and Allen & Jackson as #s 4 & 5 being more athletes than QBs. Mayfield went to an organization whose coaching staff at the time was pretty much a clown show, Rosen and Darnold both went to dumpster fires of an organization, and Allen & Jackson go to organizations who were "all in" as far as developing them as well as forming a team around their strengths. I think Baltimore always figured they were going to end up with Jackson so they started to form the team in his image before they even drafted him giving him a bit of a head start on Allen. If you look at those same QBs today, I think you'd have to list them as Allen & Jackson 1 & 2 with Allen being the slightly better "traditional" QB but less of an athlete than Jackson, so depending on your preference on style of play they fall in whatever order you want. Mayfield (once the old coaching regime was ousted) in my opinion is #3 but he may be able catch up with Allen & Jackson. Darnold comes in a distant 4th,the Jets organization is a dumpster fire and I really don't see them righting the ship in the near future. And Rosen, poor poor Rosen, I don't think the Cards knew what they wanted to do to develop him from the get go, then their new coach brings in "his guy" Rosen gets traded to Miami to be their third string QB ... poor guy ... we may never get to see what he could have done.

 

To make a long story short, football is not only STILL the ultimate team sport but the front office has become an important part of that team. With the salary cap and free agency the organization has to be adept in gathering talent and KEEPING them together. Gone are the days when a rich owner can open his wallet, amass the most talented team in the league, and those players were bound to that team until the owner wanted them gone.

 

If Josh Allen continues on his current trajectory, and has a long and illustrious career, nobody will remember his first two years of "growth", Darnold and Rosen may NEVER get two stable years to grow.      

Good post, I absolutely agree with your statement. QB’s need talent around them and a competent front office to succeed. You can’t develop a QB without everything being in place. I don’t want to dismiss the importance of the team as a whole. Football remains the ultimate team sport. What has changed is the fact you can’t win without a QB in today’s football. That’s where I say the importance of the QB has been inflated. There will never be a Trent Dilfer type Super Bowl winner again imo. This is where my basketball analogy comes in, you can’t win NBA titles without the Jordan’s, Bryant’s, James’ of the world. NFL QB’s have become a similar entity. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

32 minutes ago, SirAndrew said:

Good post, I absolutely agree with your statement. QB’s need talent around them and a competent front office to succeed. You can’t develop a QB without everything being in place. I don’t want to dismiss the importance of the team as a whole. Football remains the ultimate team sport. What has changed is the fact you can’t win without a QB in today’s football. That’s where I say the importance of the QB has been inflated. There will never be a Trent Dilfer type Super Bowl winner again imo. This is where my basketball analogy comes in, you can’t win NBA titles without the Jordan’s, Bryant’s, James’ of the world. NFL QB’s have become a similar entity. 

Have you wathced the last several SuperBowls?

Denver, Seattle, and the most recent Patriots win were all won by the defense with a game manager at QB.  Manning was a shell of himself and couldn't throw 20 yards downfield. Wilson was inexperienced and while Brady is Brady he had no weapons and put up only 13 points.  

There are all kinds of ways to win the SuperBowl.  A star QB makes it much easier but is not the only way.  

[Ethan in Cleveland]

If I could reframe the OP's point, I think football both college and NFL needs more balance.  There are too many advantages given to the offense now.  

I would offer a handful of suggestions that would not radically change the game but bring more balance.

 

1. Enforce offensive holding - it's gotten a bit ridiculous as to what the refs are letting linemen get away with now.  If they started calling the game more fairly the pass rush would be more effective, and create more negative plays which is just as exciting as scoring.

2. Defensive pass interference - make it a max of 15 yards

3. Call more OPI.  WRs are still getting away with creating separation at the point the ball is arriving.  

 

[KD in CA]

5 hours ago, wjag said:

Agreed.  The game is getting unrecognizable.   I wish Kelly, Marino, Montana and a Young could play with today’s rules.  Tom Brady may be the GOAT, but if he was subjected to the pounding Kelly took, he would not be playing in all those Superbowls and into his 40s.  

That’s why Brady’s NOT the ‘GOAT’.  He wouldn’t have lasted ten years playing in Kelly’s era.

[YoloinOhio]

The Big 12 is the last place you want to look for old school football