-
That's a very good point! And I agree with you. Many players lend their name and time to good organizations. We tend to focus on the few trouble maker players and forget about all the good being done by so many in the league. Jay Cutler has not only turned down high paying endorsements (you can make a ton of money in Chicago as a sports figure) but he also does a ton of charity work. He does it the right way too. No publicity, all done very quietly. One of the many reasons I like Jay so much. Too bad so much of the media want to portray him to be something he is not. All that BS about him "quitting" when he was injured in the playoff game still bothers me. Not only were they wrong but it was a poor job of "reporting" to just jump onto a story without the facts. -
True. I remember reading a superstar of the Redskins wanted a $200 a year raise and the owner let him leave the team (I know $200 was a lot of money back then) but really not an outrageous amount to ask.You're right. That pros vs college all star game always brought in big money comparatively! I think you and I could run an entire section on the NFL especially as it pertains to the history of the league and the teams.
I always guessed that the college players were better because they were more focused. They trained and practiced much more often. The pro game paid very little so those guys had other jobs and didn't train like they do now. It was so much different back then.
I'm pretty sure the NFC East and NFC North are the teams of the early NFL. Redskins, Eagles, Giants, Bears, Packers, and Lions. The Cardinals have been around since the beginning and I was even surprised to find that the Steelers are one of the oldest teams around.Leave a comment:
-
I think the NFL of today is a class act. They really invest a lot in communities and try to make a difference. And the thing is, they don't have to. Fans are going to be there no matter what. The fact the league cares enough to take that extra step makes me love the sport that much more.Leave a comment:
-
You're right. That pros vs college all star game always brought in big money comparatively! I think you and I could run an entire section on the NFL especially as it pertains to the history of the league and the teams.
I always guessed that the college players were better because they were more focused. They trained and practiced much more often. The pro game paid very little so those guys had other jobs and didn't train like they do now. It was so much different back then.Leave a comment:
-
I always see old football programs where the previous NFL World Champions would play an exhibition game against College All-Stars and think "Is this really a competitive game?" I guess so. The Redskins have their own embarassing past (forget about the name). For decades, they were the furthest South of any NFL team and basically had a fan base that stretched all the way down to Florida and across the entire South. The original owner refused to sign a black football player until he was forced to in the 1960's That's how the Redskins ended up with Bobby Mitchell who went on to become a HOF player. I have heard him talk about the way he was treated by fans when he first joined the team and it is an embarassing piece of NFL history that often gets buried but is the unfortunate truth.Leave a comment:
-
You are correct. The Packer's also have an interesting history. They were first owned by the Indian Packing Company (hence the name) which was bought out by the Acme Packing Company, based in Illinois. The company was bought the same year the Pack joined the NFL which was 1921 so technically the Packers as far as the NFL goes were owned by an Illinois business and their plant was in Chicago. Lot's of irony there.
The Packers were caught using college players under assumed names. Back then college players were viewed as better players then the pros. The NFL pulled their franchise. I remember the name John Clair as the original owner of the team and the person the league took the team away from. I also read that George Halas was adamant about keeping the team in Green Bay as he already saw what the rivalry could be (he was a true visionist) and helped make sure that the league awarded the team to Curly Lambeau. The fee was $50 which Curly didn't have but they still awarded him the team and I believe he payed the fee at a later time possibly with help from some financial backers.
Then in the 1930s a fan fell at the original City Stadium and sued. He won $5000 which put the team into receivership. There were two prominent businessman who put up some of the money and rally(s) raised the rest to buy back the team. The team was then put into a trust held by the local American Legion group which is what made them into a community owned team. I also believe that the initial team colors were blue and gold taken from the colors of Notre Dame since that was where Curly went to college.
The funny thing is that some of this has been "whitewashed" if you try and read about the teams history. Some internet sites only mention that they "ran into financial trouble" rather then that they were caught cheating. I read most of this a long time ago in a book about the Packers that my good friend owned and let me read. He is a big Packer fan and it was a fan type of book with a lot of history. So my apologies if some of the info is incorrect but that is what I remember reading. Either way the history of the NFL is very interesting.
Leave a comment:
-
Most early NFL teams picked names from the local baseball teams. Chicago Bears/Cubs, Detroit Lions/Tigers, Boston Braves (now the Redskins)/Boston Braves, Pittsburgh Steelers (they were origninally called the Pirates). There has been some controversy as to whether the Redskins were an original team or not. They started off as the Duluth Eskimos, then became the Orange/Newark Tornadoes (they changed names but can't remember which one was first). George Preston Marshall bought the franchise and moved them to Boston as the Boston Braves, then moved to Fenway Park and changed their name to Boston Redskins (a combo of wanting to keep the Indian theme, associate themselves with the Boston Red Sox, and Boston being Beantown). The owner was fed up with poor attendance and moved them to Washington in 1937. I don't think they have been acknowledged as an original team because there was a one year break between the Tornadoes removing themselves from the NFL and the now Redskins buying the franchise one year later. Interesting stuff. I think the Green Packers joined the NFL in 1921 and are the oldest team of not changing their name or city. That old NFL stuff is pretty interesting.Leave a comment:
-
You and I have discussed that before. I think since the team is still owned by the same family that it keeps the lineage. They actually moved to Chicago in 1921 then changed the name the following year since part of the deal of giving the team to George Halas was keeping the Staley name for one year as advertising for the Staley Starch Company. Halas choose the name Bears in hopes of working off the success of the Cubs who actually won a game or two back then.
Halas also went to the University of Illinois which is where the Bears navy and orange colors came from. And as an FYI the Cardinals were actually the Racine Cardinals in 1920 when they joined the league. They officially became the Chicago cardinals in 1922 when they moved their home games to Comiskey Park.Leave a comment:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I'm sure River's has noticed
Leave a comment: