Your favorite episode of "A Football Life"

[SixtiesFan]

Episodes I would like to see:

-George Halas, which is kind of an oversight that they haven't already covered him.

-Art Rooney, as he was from all accounts one of the finest gamblers in the country, but parlayed that success into buying a football team that were perpetual losers for 40 years. It wasn't until his son took over the reins of the franchise that their fortunes began to change.

I would like to see both of those, but the problem is finding people who actually knew them in their prime.

You could have actual football historians offer their insights, but then NFL Network seems to think radio talk show idiots qualify in that category.

That's something I've noticed.

[JeffreyMiller]

That's something I've noticed.

Yes! That is what drives me crazy about the NFL Network Top Ten episodes … bunch of smart alecky pundits who are more interested in saying something witty than something insightful.

[JohnTurney]

Episodes I would like to see:

-George Halas, which is kind of an oversight that they haven't already covered him.

-Art Rooney, as he was from all accounts one of the finest gamblers in the country, but parlayed that success into buying a football team that were perpetual losers for 40 years. It wasn't until his son took over the reins of the franchise that their fortunes began to change.

There were inital plans to do Bud Grant. NFL Films wanted to do it, but top people at NFL Network nixed it, said "No one cares about Bud Grant"

My guess is they feel similarly about Halas and Rooney and anyone outside the recent past

[JohnH19]

There were inital plans to do Bud Grant. NFL Films wanted to do it, but top people at NFL Network nixed it, said "No one cares about Bud Grant"

My guess is they feel similarly about Halas and Rooney and anyone outside the recent past

Ugh. Steve Sabol is turning over in his grave.

[Bryan]

I think this has been a strong series overall, which is surprising to me because the debut episode(s) on Belichick were terrible...basically Belichick mumbling while aimlessly wandering around an old practice field. My favorite episode was the Lyle Alzado one. When they had his siblings on and they were talking about how Lyle would beat up their dad for them...that was a powerful moment. Dexter Manley was one of my favorite players as a kid and I really liked his episode, too. Steve Sabol is near the top as well.

I agree that the problem with highlighting people from the distant past is that those with first-hand knowledge are no longer with us. But I would gladly watch an episode even if its just Ray Didinger and Joe Horrigan giving their thoughts (I don't need to hear what some comedian thinks or getting Mike Tanier's retrofit 'historical perspective'). I think NFL Films could dig up old interview footage if they really had to.

A Norm Van Brocklin episode would be fantastic, but the odds of that happening are probably 0.1%. I think a focus on the front office people would be interesting on several levels. They can talk about themselves, how their teams operated, what factored into their personnel decisions. Not sure if they've already done one on Gil Brandt (now that he's a HOFer), but I would watch that and Ron Wolf, Bill Polian, Jim Finks, etc. would be neat.

I would be on board with a Howard Cosell episode, too.

[JWL]

Re: Tanier

He may be trying to become the next Skip Bayless.

He wrote humorous articles for Football Outsiders. Once he left that, I never regularly read his articles. I do see him on Twitter poking fun at just about every team in the league. To me, his stuff comes across more as nasty than funny.

He has appeared on those Top 10 shows on NFL Network, so he has some television experience. If he is comfortable debating things on television, then he very well could become the next troll.

[sheajets]

There were inital plans to do Bud Grant. NFL Films wanted to do it, but top people at NFL Network nixed it, said "No one cares about Bud Grant"

My guess is they feel similarly about Halas and Rooney and anyone outside the recent past

Ugh. Steve Sabol is turning over in his grave.

It will get worse too. This is going to happen in every institution as the plague of millennials begin to move in

[JWL]

^ Yeah, a millenial Giants fan called WFAN yesterday to whine about the Odell Beckham, Jr. trade. During the course of the call, Mike Francesa mentioned Mark Bavaro. The fan said he doesn't know who Mark Bavaro is and also that he doesn't care.

[sheajets]

^ Yeah, a millenial Giants fan called WFAN yesterday to whine about the Odell Beckham, Jr. trade. During the course of the call, Mike Francesa mentioned Mark Bavaro. The fan said he doesn't know who Mark Bavaro is and also that he doesn't care.

I just can't wrap my head around that. Always had a deep interest/appreciation of history (not just football but all history) so many nowadays are willfully ignorant of it. Or want to outright destroy it

[JeffreyMiller]

^ Yeah, a millenial Giants fan called WFAN yesterday to whine about the Odell Beckham, Jr. trade. During the course of the call, Mike Francesa mentioned Mark Bavaro. The fan said he doesn't know who Mark Bavaro is and also that he doesn't care.

It's weird isn't it that I care about football events that happened forty or fifty years before I was born, but these kids don't care about anything that happened prior to the Obama administration...