R.I.P. Franco Harris
- Thread starter DesotoCountyDawg
- Start date
A Football Life on NFL Network is doing Franco and the Immaculate Reception on Friday, it's 50th anniversary.
That was back when guys were tough as nails and hit each other and were allowed to.
And get penalized for it.
Maybe we should go back to everything is legal so these guys can continue to not be able to wipe their asses in their 50's.
?? I've never heard anyone question that famous play. At any rate, Was Franco struggling with illness? Was this kinda expected or no?
Or maybe you could be less dramatic. Yes, improvements have been made and will continue to be made, but blocking and tackling in today's game has completely gone to $h!t. You say that they still hit each other hard, but most of the time now when they do, a flag is thrown for blind side block or targeting.
I understand the need to protect players because when I rewatch footage of the games back in the 60's and 70's, it's just plain brutal. I agree that a lot of the rules put into place have helped, but some of the kneejerk reaction rules that are completely subjective like targeting hurt the game as well.
I understand the need to protect players because when I rewatch footage of the games back in the 60's and 70's, it's just plain brutal. I agree that a lot of the rules put into place have helped, but some of the kneejerk reaction rules that are completely subjective like targeting hurt the game as well.
I went back and watched an NFL Films video I used to rent all the time as a kid that had big hits in it. Every single one of them would be illegal now but when you look at how violent they are it’s easy to see why they started outlawing it.
No matter how big the hits were, Franco was best known for running out of bounds to avoid them.
I loved those Steelers teams, and I had a Franco's Italian Army t shirt. RIP big guy.
I won a sports bar trivia contest in the 90s by answering this question:
In the famous Steelers play known as the Immaculate Reception, who was the intended target of Terry Bradshaw's pass?
Anyone can look it up these days, but I just knew the answer, and how to pronounce his name.. It wasn't Swann or Stallworth.
I loved those Steelers teams, and I had a Franco's Italian Army t shirt. RIP big guy.
I won a sports bar trivia contest in the 90s by answering this question:
In the famous Steelers play known as the Immaculate Reception, who was the intended target of Terry Bradshaw's pass?
Anyone can look it up these days, but I just knew the answer, and how to pronounce his name.. It wasn't Swann or Stallworth.
To some degree, playing football is violence.
We can't eliminate violence from football, can we?
In my opinion, we've gone too far with today's rules.
i absolutely could not stand the Steelers. I WAS a Cowboy fan when i was little, but i loved Franco Harris. he also had one of the best football names of all time.
Do you have any disputable video evidence, or are you a Cowboy's fan too?
RaidersDo you have any disputable video evidence, or are you a Cowboy's fan too?
Gotcha. Those games between the Steelers and Raiders in the 70's weren't really games, they were more like battles.
Aaron Donald would have about 10 sacks a game if he played 50 years ago. Conversely, Jack Ham and other LB/DL wouldn't get past the line of scrimmage in today's game.
Some people thought it hit the ground when he grabbed it. It’s very close but he does grab it before hitting the ground.
The other issue is at the time in the NFL there was the Double Touch Rule. If a ball was touched or tipped by an offensive player another offensive player couldn’t catch the ball. Some thought it hit the Steelers receiver and then came to him. I have no idea if it did or not.
Violence was a poor choice of wording.
I do think the QB sack rules are too far but as physically imposing as players are now with incredible speed and strength something had to be done to eliminate some of the hitting. As strong as these guys are they would be literally killing each other if they played the same style as pre 1990s.
WTF is dramatic about not wanting guys I enjoy watching play a game, pay for that play basically with their lives beyond 45 or 50?
I enjoy the game more today than I did then. Skill is much more at a premium than raw brutality and it makes the game more interesting.
Sure, **** needs fixing here and there, but it always does. And they are much faster and bigger on average now. The hits would be frequently catastrophic. You'd have a lot more Tatum-Stingley incidents without controls in place.
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