The Jets-Colts Super Bowl - a tangent

Paul Horning ran a 5.0 40 yard dash.

Today, he'd be equipment manager.

 

And a nickle back in today's game.

 

Which is why Dallas would have defeated the Jets by at least two scores. The Cowboys had a roster of players who could have played -- and excelled -- in any era. Hayes changed the game with his speed, Renfro was a burner with lockdown skills, Cornell Green was Mel Blount, Version 1.0. Bob Lilly would have been a beast and then some in today's game had his size prorated into 2011 requirements for DTs.

 

Why couldn't they beat Cleveland?

 

Has any major sport had fewer rule changes through the years than MLB?

 

Exactly my thought when I was reading these tripleoption posts.

Can't say I'd ever heard this passionate account of the mighty 68 Cowboys before now. The prevailing narrative has always been how dominant that Colts team was until they ran into Broadway Joe. But it does beg the question, if Dallas was so great that year that they undoubtedly would've crushed the Jets, then why'd Cleveland knock em out in the first round?

 

keep in mind that if they played today guys like oscar and dave d. would've been in much better condition, well-toned, etc., than players were back then, for a large variety of reasons.

but these fantasy-land discussions are always great fun!

 

My favorite NFL highlight from that era is Bob Hayes running routes with his hands in his pockets during the Ice Bowl.

 

And, even if Dubusschere was sculpted and in consummate condition, he'd still be stuck with the fact that he was a (barely) 6'6" pure power forward who couldn't jump. Even with modern conditioning, still can't picture him in today's NBA.

Robertson's a different story, though, he's one of the few that could. But anyone who thinks he'd be racking up nightly triple doubles like he was back has been sprinkling too much crack on their Cheerios. He'd be more along the lines of "average" in today's NBA.

 

One more point about comparing football eras, which came to me when I saw Poin's post. Roster size. When Hornung played, it was 33 a side. When Namath played, it was 40. To make an NFL roster, your ability to do more than one thing and to measure up to physical pounding mattered more than today. There were way fewer specialists with a physical gift at one aspect of the game. Starters, all of them except the quarterback, played on at least one special team. Kickers kicked and punted (and Hornung was the Packers' kicker in his salad days). With fewer specialists or one-down players on a roster, naturally offenses and defenses were different. There weren't enough wideouts and DBs on the roster to allow for today's passing game.
Stoney, you are wrong. Pure and simple. DeBusschere MADE the major leagues (he sucked, but still). He was a superior athlete. Oscar Robertson would be an All-Star today, same as he was then. I'd hate to have you in charge of my scouting department.

 

oh, i agree with debusschere being 'sized out' by the evolution of the game, which i believe i acknowledged straight up at the beginning of the thread. i was just responding to the slap at his body-type. he'd be a 2-guard today, i guess. would a more sculpted dave d. had enough quickness afoot? impossible to know. but he sure could shoot well enough; he would've loved a chance to be a 3-point bomber...

interestingly, due to the paucity. seeming extinction of 'pure centers,' the 7-footers from that era are probably the stars who would be most successful if they time-warped into today's nba.

 

Looks like Don Meredith shit the bed in that Browns-Cowboys playoff game.

http://www.cleveland.com/ohio-sports-blog/index.ssf/2010/12/post_149.html