"The Greatest NFL Players of All Time" - 3 of 22 from Baltimore

[AirFlacco]

One last story and this is one of the funniest about the time Rosey hired a midget and hid him in the ventalator shaft.

The players were complaining about theft from their lockers. There was a thief on the team and Johnny Sample was the suspect. So Rosey puts this midget in the shaft with a camera taking pics and caught him red handed taking stuff out of lockers - money, watches, everything.

So Rosey has a meeting with the team captains and Weeb to decide what to do. Neither Weeb or Rosey wanted to get rid of them. Rosey was afraid of him haunting him later on which is exactly what happened in SB 3.

So Rosey said ok, we will release him but it's not on us. It's on the players and Gino said the hell it is. It's on whomever makes the decision so they cut him.

Several years later Weeb is fired and hired by the Jets and one of the first players he signs is DB Johnny Sample. He came back to haunt us in SB 3. Sample saw John before the game and said not today big guy. You're not pulling the game out today and Johnny said, do you still have my gold watch you took out of my locker. LOL

They had an touch football anniversary game of SB 3 in Central Park and Sample walked over to Unitas and he flipped him the ball and said you're back on the team and Sample cried. It meant a lot to him, however he would go to prison for stealing social security checks and once again he denied doing it.

Another great book is CONFESSIONS OF A DIRTY FOOTBALL PLAYER by Johnny Sample - again must reading for old Colts fans.

Another great football book is THE ASSASSIN by Tatum who played for Oakland. he was the dirtiest of all football players and popularized spearing, hitting with the head. Woody Hayes once said I have a freshman that the seniors are afraid of.

He once speared John Mackey in the ribs and broke them all and taunted him as he squirmed on the ground yelling in pain. Mackey had said that Tatum isn't so rough. Mackey went out and Tatum had him covered but waited for him to touch the ball. Then he speared him in the ribs. He paralyzed a NE Patriot spearing him in the spinal chord and never once apologized or showed any remorse.

The book said when the Raiders rode into town where they practiced during the summer like Westminster all the mothers pulled their little kids in from the front yard and pulled their curtains shut.

Another great football book is NORTH DALLAS FORTY made into a first rate movie with Nick Nolte and Mac Davis. It's a parody of he Dallas Cowboys and really funny. The movie has some brutal hits in it and shows how the Cowboys deliberately broke players legs. Of course the team has a different name in the movie but you know it's the Cowboys.

[CincyCat]

One last story and this is one of the funniest about the time Rosey hired a midget and hid him in the ventalator shaft.

The players were complaining about theft from their lockers. There was a thief on the team and Johnny Sample was the suspect. So Rosey puts this midget in the shaft with a camera taking pics and caught him red handed taking stuff out of lockers - money, watches, everything.

So Rosey has a meeting with the team captains and Weeb to decide what to do. Neither Weeb or Rosey wanted to get rid of them. Rosey was afraid of him haunting him later on which is exactly what happened in SB 3.

So Rosey said ok, we will release him but it's not on us. It's on the players and Gino said the hell it is. It's on whomever makes the decision so they cut him.

Several years later Weeb is fired and hired by the Jets and one of the first players he signs is DB Johnny Sample. He came back to haunt us in SB 3. Sample saw John before the game and said not today big guy. You're not pulling the game out today and Johnny said, do you still have my gold watch you took out of my locker. LOL

They had an touch football anniversary game of SB 3 in Central Park and Sample walked over to Unitas and he flipped him the ball and said you're back on the team and Sample cried. It meant a lot to him, however he would go to prison for stealing social security checks and once again he denied doing it.

Another great book is CONFESSIONS OF A DIRTY FOOTBALL PLAYER by Johnny Sample - again must reading for old Colts fans.

Another great football book is THE ASSASSIN by Tatum who played for Oakland. he was the dirtiest of all football players and popularized spearing, hitting with the head. Woody Hayes once said I have a freshman that the seniors are afraid of.

He once speared John Mackey in the ribs and broke them all and taunted him as he squirmed on the ground yelling in pain. Mackey had said that Tatum isn't so rough. Mackey went out and Tatum had him covered but waited for him to touch the ball. Then he speared him in the ribs. He paralyzed a NE Patriot spearing him in the spinal chord and never once apologized or showed any remorse.

The book said when the Raiders rode into town where they practiced during the summer like Westminster all the mothers pulled their little kids in from the front yard and pulled their curtains shut.

Another great football book is NORTH DALLAS FORTY made into a first rate movie with Nick Nolte and Mack Davis. It's a parody of he Dallas Cowboys and really funny. The movie has some brutal hits in it and shows how the Cowboys deliberately broke players legs. Of course the team has a different name but
you know it's the Cowboys.

Great story. I remember that movie.

[Mista T]

That's not what you said the last time. You said your dad ran busses to the game when you were a kid and you anxiously waited to hear the stories when he got home. You said you never went to any games til the 70s and that was after college and you had a good job and could pay for the tickets.

I did attend a few Colts games in the 50s, and routinely went to Colts games in the 60s, whenever my Dad had extra tickets. He retired for the last time in the late 60s, and I was a poor newlywed/college grad into the early 70s, only attending sporadic Colts games at $10 a ticket. But we did climb out of debt (we built and paid off our first house in three years), attended a few single Colts games in early 70s, then bought Colts season tickets in the mid-70s, all three seasons the Colts won the AFC East 1975-77. Moved to New Orleans, back to Annapolis area, then Huntsville over the next decade, so I only saw a few live Colts games thereafter, until buying season tickets for all of the Stallions era. I did attend most Saints home games during the Archie Manning era. I still haven't been to a better NFL stadium than the Superdome, nor participated in a better game-day experience than the pre-game and post-game revelry on Bourbon Street.

I have owned Ravens season tickets since 1996.

btw Trap: similar to the good advice that you give me about not posting here while drinking Ouzo, I have some advice for you: please don't post unless you are current on your meds!

[Greg]

Ted, the Superdome is alright but those concourses are so small it is difficult to move if 3 people get up from a section to take a piss.

[AirFlacco]

I heard the seats were really tight too. My friend's knees were up in his chest sitting down
and it was a bitch getting up and down when people left to get a beer or go to the bathroom.

They can have that piece of shit but I bet it has escalators to the top. ;)


BTW: Im not on any MEDs. Not sick. I'm not the one who was in the hospital for 90 days
after open heart surgery. Nevery been in the hospital except for a broken leg 10 yrs ago.

[Baltravens]

The Greatest NFL Players of All Time, by Position. Three from Baltimore teams:






Not bad ratings, considering that Baltimore is represented on this list by 3 of 22 players but just one of 31 NFL cities.

The obvious error was favoring Joe Montana over the divine Johnny Unitas. Omitting Colts' Jim Parker was also debatable.

It would be hard to argue against Lewis and Reed on this list. TE is more debatable: Ditka, Casper, Gonzalez wre all pretty good players.

What do you think?

Here's my top 5 NFL quarterbacks:

1. Joe Montana
2. Peyton Manning
3. Johnny Unitas
4. Otto Graham
5. Tom Brady

Tell me what'cha think.

[Mista T]

Here's my top 5 NFL quarterbacks:


2. Peyton Manning
3. Johnny Unitas


Tell me what'cha think.

OK, here's what I think:

blasphemy!

btw: please recite all the NFL Championships won by teams which were led by Archie's over-hyped son.

[Captain Silver]

Here's my top 5 NFL quarterbacks:

1. Joe Montana
2. Peyton Manning
3. Johnny Unitas
4. Otto Graham
5. Tom Brady

Tell me what'cha think.

No way Peyton is above Unitas or Brady. Dude choked too much in playoffs and in a Super Bowl. His pick 6 against the Saints keeps him out of the top 5 for he was largely responsible for why they lost, unlike his brother who balled out and won two Super Bowls. Even Brady never really cost them the games they lost, the pass rush kicked his ass and he doesn't play defense.

[AirFlacco]

Even Jimmy Irsay blasted Manning for only winning 1 SB. He thought there should have
been at least 3. Manning was offended by it. His little brother Eli has 2 SBs.

Yesterday, Scott and Jeremy were arguing this and Jeremy was pimping Manning big time
and I had to turn him off. Said he was the greatest now next to Rodgers but hes a bandwagon jumper rooting for Indy all those years and now Denver because Manning is there.

Somebody argued above that Montana is the only one that has 3 SB MVPs but
Unitas has 3 MVPs from the regular season. He was old when the SB came and beat up
with a sore arm but still started SB 5 two years later and won as a really old man in addition to all those other championships.

Montana also played in the zone defenses while Unitas played man to man in the 50s and 60s when he was young. The Colts were pioneers in the zone in the 60s but most AFL teams used it too.

By the time Montana came it was all zone defense with different blitz packages that were advanced even more with the Squeelers and Ravens but the zone did keep Unitas in longer as an old QB with a sore arm. He had lost 80% off his fast ball from 68 on but with the zones he beat everyone with his brain.

He didnt need the long bombs anymore to beat teams. He found the short dead spots that prolonged his career. I was there for his last TD which was a short pass and run for the TD and the guy ran on a broken toe.

Montana isn't even mentioned in this stat. Look who is.


He threw for four or more touchdowns in a game 17 times and that remains second on the all-time list behind Dan Marino's 21.

[Captain Silver]

I'm not arguing Unitas and his greatness. I just watched Joe Montana from a kid like you watch Unitas. Dude was chill, a surgeon, never got rattled and usually the way to beat him was knock him out of the game. You and I can argue 1a and 1b till the cows come home, but one thing we can agree on.

Manning isn't top 5. Great regular season and outstanding record when feasting on the AFC South with their shitty teams most of his career. Playoffs show Manning's weakness. He's a fantasy player who had rules in place to assist him that most of the great QB's besides Unitas and Montana - Moon, Kelly, Marino, Elway never had the benefit of.

[BcRaven]

Even Jimmy Irsay blasted Manning for only winning 1 SB. He thought there should have been at least 3. Manning was offended by it.

At least Peyton got to three Super Bowls (2 w/Colts and 1 w/Broncos - winning one).
Meanwhile Marino played 17 (?) years, made it to one SB, and lost.
It's not easy to get to/win a Super Bowl... Bc

[Terpsfan82]

I'm not arguing Unitas and his greatness. I just watched Joe Montana from a kid like you watch Unitas. Dude was chill, a surgeon, never got rattled and usually the way to beat him was knock him out of the game. You and I can argue 1a and 1b till the cows come home, but one thing we can agree on.

Manning isn't top 5. Great regular season and outstanding record when feasting on the AFC South with their shitty teams most of his career. Playoffs show Manning's weakness. He's a fantasy player who had rules in place to assist him that most of the great QB's besides Unitas and Montana - Moon, Kelly, Marino, Elway never had the benefit of.

In a dome, no less. I would venture to guess he would have never survived the '70's with the Steelers and the Raiders mauling him every chance they got. Personally, I think Bert Jones was a better qb.