'74-'76 Cardinals, '75-'77 Colts discussion

[74_75_78_79_]

’75 Colts ‘came out of nowhere’ more-so than the ’74 Cards did. Colts were 2-12 the year before with no real ‘hint’ of next year whereas Cards were 4-9-1 (for a third year in a row) but offered up such hints with the 2-0 start (beating Wash in Wk 2) and scalding a good Falcon team on the road, 32-10, penultimate week. The ’75 Colts still had more losing to do early on with that, like the ’93 Oilers, 1-4 start before winning-out rest of regular season. The ’74 Cards, on the other hand, started out real strong at 7-0.

Whereas the Colts suddenly went bad in ’78, the Coryell Cards died a slower death. The ’77 Cards actually started out 7-3 (with wins vs Chi and on the road vs both Min & Dal) before running into that buzz saw of a Bob Griese career-performance on Turkey Day which domino-effected into they losing their final three as well, thus ending Coryell’s time in StL. ’77 Cards were like the ’98 Steelers, good until Thanksgiving in which neither recovered from.

[BD Sullivan]

’75 Colts ‘came out of nowhere’ more-so than the ’74 Cards did. Colts were 2-12 the year before with no real ‘hint’ of next year whereas Cards were 4-9-1 (for a third year in a row) but offered up such hints with the 2-0 start (beating Wash in Wk 2) and scalding a good Falcon team on the road, 32-10, penultimate week. The ’75 Colts still had more losing to do early on with that, like the ’93 Oilers, 1-4 start before winning-out rest of regular season. The ’74 Cards, on the other hand, started out real strong at 7-0.

Whereas the Colts suddenly went bad in ’78, the Coryell Cards died a slower death. The ’77 Cards actually started out 7-3 (with wins vs Chi and on the road vs both Min & Dal) before running into that buzz saw of a Bob Griese career-performance on Turkey Day which domino-effected into they losing their final three as well, thus ending Coryell’s time in StL. ’77 Cards were like the ’98 Steelers, good until Thanksgiving in which neither recovered from.

78 Colts went bad when Bert Jones went down, but the latter stages of 77, they were starting to fade: they lost three straight games in Weeks 11-13, then needed a quick whistle to beat the Pats in the finale to get into the postseason.

[IrishJimmy]

I'm currently working on a book on the '75 Colts. D was decent great upfront, solid at LB, secondary they struggled some.

[Gary Najman]

I am puzzled why the Colts had to give a third-round pick to the Cardinals for 32-year old CB Norm Thompson in 1977. I know he was the first free agent in NFL history to sign with another team, but Thompson had never been All-Conference or All-Pro before (granted, he had two good seasons in 1974-1975). It's interesting that the Colts had Lloyd Mumphord and Nelson Munsey starting at CB in 1976, and Thompson replaced Mumphord (he missed nearly all the 1977 season), but in 1978 Mumphord and Thompson shared the LCB position, while Doug Nettles replaced Munsey at RCB.

[Jay Z]

I am puzzled why the Colts had to give a third-round pick to the Cardinals for 32-year old CB Norm Thompson in 1977. I know he was the first free agent in NFL history to sign with another team, but Thompson had never been All-Conference or All-Pro before (granted, he had two good seasons in 1974-1975). It's interesting that the Colts had Lloyd Mumphord and Nelson Munsey starting at CB in 1976, and Thompson replaced Mumphord (he missed nearly all the 1977 season), but in 1978 Mumphord and Thompson shared the LCB position, while Doug Nettles replaced Munsey at RCB.

That was based on the then-new CBA the players had signed.

After the Rozelle Rule was struck down, there was a brief period before the 1976 season where no compensation was required for free agents. For example, the Redskins signed John Riggins, Calvin Hill, and Jean Fugett with no compensation to their former teams. (Hill had spent a year in the WFL after leaving the Cowboys, but returning WFL vets required compensating the old NFL teams in other cases.)

The new CBA had a formula based on the new salary of the player and his years of experience. This formula restricted free agency into virtual non existence for more than a decade, until Plan B allowed some movement, at least for the lesser players.