in 1970 i was 10 years old and had 2 shoeboxes filled with football cards, the linemen were about 240lbs. and the back of the cards would often say, "Joe has great speed and is a carpenter in the off season"
I used to work with a guy who had a friend who played in the NFL in the 60's. He asked him what he did to stay in shape in the off season. He said two things; pizza and beer.
Watch Packers' Henry Jordan, 74, catch Vikings' Hugh McElhenny from behind after a long, winding chase. Jordan was undersized for a DT but very fast, and this play shows his speed. No wonder he as all-pro several times.
This was an era when true "impact" tackling was rare. It looks like bad tackling but it was an era of tacklers grabbing ball carriers. Another change is that receivers did not wear tacky gloves. Consequentially, a catch was not done with arms extended, using only the hands as is the practice today. (18:43)
There were some great teams in the NFL east but the best were the New York Giants, who were thought to be washed up in 1961. However when they traded for the also thought to be washed up Y A Tittle they won their 1st of 3 straight and 5 of 6 division titles. I still remember when the Giants brought in DB Erich Barnes for one play and connected with YA for a long TD on route to crushing their hated rivals and defending NFL champions Philadelphia "Beagles".
I saw my first Giants game in person in 61. I can still remember sitting in low level seats in old Yankee Stadium and trying to see the game over the heads of people and players on the field. It didn't matter though, just being there was so special. No wildcard, no playoffs, you won the conference and you go to the NFL Championship game....great stars, great football. When every team had two or three QB's who were good. How interesting no celebrating for just making a tackle or first down or sometimes even touchdowns in those days. Just play the game!
Those ads were part of the pre-VHS/DVR reality of watching everything on TV. The term "fast forward" didn't enter the public vocabulary until the 1970s, and didn't apply to watching TV until the late 1970s. You can fast forward through them on this platform if you choose.
True, and the players had an entirely useless union, just like the United Mine Workers. Their job security was equally bad, and it took three NFL strikes (1974 [preseason], 1982, 1987) and another six seasons before the players were given true free agency in 1993. All those nostalgic fans who yearn for the good old days of pro football forget, or are most likely ignorant of, the ridiculous working conditions and salaries for even the best players. Jim Brown was the first player in the modern, post-1950 NFL to earn $100,000 per year in 1964, the equivalent of about $1 million today (highest paid RB in 2024 is Christian McCaffrey at $16 million). By comparison, Dak Prescott takes in $60 million annually, and the players receive 48% of all league revenue (except for the entirety of team merchandise and a few other revenue streams).
@@courylanders4142 I should have mentioned the TV contracts the NFL had in the 1950s were worth next to nothing, with no network showing the games of every team until 1959. From the wiki "History of the NFL on TV:" "By 1959, big-market teams such as the Bears and Giants had all their games televised, but small-market ones like the Packers and 49ers still did not." It was this favoritism for large-market teams that gave Lamar Hunt much of the motivation to form the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. Even then, the AFL didn't get a league-wide TV contract until 1964. Fortunately for me, our family moved to Miami in 1966. I hated the city but loved the brand new Dolphins, in part because owner Joe Robbie and his family lived a few blocks away. My mother became friends and bridge partner with Liz Robbie, Joe's wife. This coincided with my love affair with the NFL, but soon found Joe was a cheap bastard who refused to offer contracts proportional to the skills of his best players. Just search on "Miami Dolphins WFL" if you're not already aware of the Csonka, Kiick and Warfield debacle of the Dolphins 1974 season. Players could not reap the benefits of the league's growing revenue streams until true free agency was legally forced upon the NFL in 1993. The owners had to agree to collective bargaining with the NFLPA if it wanted to retain its antitrust exemption. That exemption just ran headlong into a DOJ with some backbone. A jury granted $4.7 billion in fines for restricting access to its Sunday Ticket programming to DirectTV alone: www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/nfl-violated-antitrust-laws-and-must-pay-nearly-4-7-billion-in-damages-jury-rules It will likely go all the way up the legal ladder to a Supreme Court that wants to pull America back to the 19th century. The likelihood this judgment will stand is slim, IMO.
They even had cheerleaders on the sidelines back then.And they say the game has changed.Also they had a semi championship game that year,The Playoff Bowl.The two teams with the second best records.Lasted only 1 year.
MAN THAT IS REAL FOOTBALL 🏈 👍
in 1970 i was 10 years old and had 2 shoeboxes filled with football cards, the linemen were about 240lbs. and the back of the cards would often say, "Joe has great speed and is a carpenter in the off season"
I used to work with a guy who had a friend who played in the NFL in the 60's. He asked him what he did to stay in shape in the off season. He said two things; pizza and beer.
Watch Packers' Henry Jordan, 74, catch Vikings' Hugh McElhenny from behind after a long, winding chase. Jordan was undersized for a DT but very fast, and this play shows his speed. No wonder he as all-pro several times.
And no dancing in the end zone either.
This was an era when true "impact" tackling was rare. It looks like bad tackling but it was an era of tacklers grabbing ball carriers. Another change is that receivers did not wear tacky gloves. Consequentially, a catch was not done with arms extended, using only the hands as is the practice today. (18:43)
These guys were slower and smaller than todays guys but these players were waay tougher !
There were some great teams in the NFL east but the best were the New York Giants, who were thought to be washed up in 1961. However when they traded for the also thought to be washed up Y A Tittle they won their 1st of 3 straight and 5 of 6 division titles. I still remember when the Giants brought in DB Erich Barnes for one play and connected with YA for a long TD on route to crushing their hated rivals and defending NFL champions Philadelphia "Beagles".
I saw my first Giants game in person in 61. I can still remember sitting in low level seats in old Yankee Stadium and trying to see the game over the heads of people and players on the field. It didn't matter though, just being there was so special. No wildcard, no playoffs, you won the conference and you go to the NFL Championship game....great stars, great football. When every team had two or three QB's who were good. How interesting no celebrating for just making a tackle or first down or sometimes even touchdowns in those days. Just play the game!
This is so cool
'Professional' football at its finest!
Each stadium had differently designed goal posts. It was like hey, let’s build some goal posts for the stadium!
Those ads were part of the pre-VHS/DVR reality of watching everything on TV. The term "fast forward" didn't enter the public vocabulary until the 1970s, and didn't apply to watching TV until the late 1970s. You can fast forward through them on this platform if you choose.
I guess the audio for the Colts season was flagged by RUclips
These guys got paid like mill workers
True, and the players had an entirely useless union, just like the United Mine Workers. Their job security was equally bad, and it took three NFL strikes (1974 [preseason], 1982, 1987) and another six seasons before the players were given true free agency in 1993. All those nostalgic fans who yearn for the good old days of pro football forget, or are most likely ignorant of, the ridiculous working conditions and salaries for even the best players. Jim Brown was the first player in the modern, post-1950 NFL to earn $100,000 per year in 1964, the equivalent of about $1 million today (highest paid RB in 2024 is Christian McCaffrey at $16 million). By comparison, Dak Prescott takes in $60 million annually, and the players receive 48% of all league revenue (except for the entirety of team merchandise and a few other revenue streams).
The players would work a job during the off-season.
@@courylanders4142 I should have mentioned the TV contracts the NFL had in the 1950s were worth next to nothing, with no network showing the games of every team until 1959. From the wiki "History of the NFL on TV:"
"By 1959, big-market teams such as the Bears and Giants had all their games televised, but small-market ones like the Packers and 49ers still did not."
It was this favoritism for large-market teams that gave Lamar Hunt much of the motivation to form the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. Even then, the AFL didn't get a league-wide TV contract until 1964. Fortunately for me, our family moved to Miami in 1966. I hated the city but loved the brand new Dolphins, in part because owner Joe Robbie and his family lived a few blocks away. My mother became friends and bridge partner with Liz Robbie, Joe's wife. This coincided with my love affair with the NFL, but soon found Joe was a cheap bastard who refused to offer contracts proportional to the skills of his best players. Just search on "Miami Dolphins WFL" if you're not already aware of the Csonka, Kiick and Warfield debacle of the Dolphins 1974 season.
Players could not reap the benefits of the league's growing revenue streams until true free agency was legally forced upon the NFL in 1993. The owners had to agree to collective bargaining with the NFLPA if it wanted to retain its antitrust exemption. That exemption just ran headlong into a DOJ with some backbone. A jury granted $4.7 billion in fines for restricting access to its Sunday Ticket programming to DirectTV alone: www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/nfl-violated-antitrust-laws-and-must-pay-nearly-4-7-billion-in-damages-jury-rules
It will likely go all the way up the legal ladder to a Supreme Court that wants to pull America back to the 19th century. The likelihood this judgment will stand is slim, IMO.
Some great names here. And maybe the most missed tackles in history!
Everything but the championship game. Awesome though
They even had cheerleaders on the sidelines back then.And they say the game has changed.Also they had a semi championship game that year,The Playoff Bowl.The two teams with the second best records.Lasted only 1 year.
The game was played like a aport.
Ollie Matson looked pretty nimble in '61, seeing as how he had 8 years of wear of tear on his frame.
Damn I was 2 !
And no spiking the football BEFORE they cross the goal line!
9:33 "Shotgun"? wow i thought that came much much later.
That was great except for the excessive advertisements. Thumbs down.
Nothing on the Detroit Lions?
Have a look at 19:46. From a Bill's fan. 🙂
Uh-gainst
A gain st