COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

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George Bozeka
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COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by George Bozeka »

The latest issue of the Coffin Corner is now available for immediate download from the PFRA website. The issue contains the following:

PFRA-ternizing. An announcement on three speakers added to the 2023 Pittsburgh Convention and an update on The Official PFRA Podcast.

The Trade That Kept On Giving: Tarkenton to Giants Built a Powerhouse by Stew Thornley.
The Viking odyssey of Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton, who was selected by Minnesota in 1961 in its inaugural NFL season, traded away to New York in 1967, only to return to Minneapolis in 1972 to find a much better team than the one he left. The reason they were much improved? The two trades of Tarkenton himself.

1972 Through the Eyes of This Week in Pro Football by Jeff Eby.
A week-by-week chronology of the 1972 NFL regular season as witnessed by TWIPF co-hosts Tom Brookshier and Pat Summerall, TV viewers from fifty years ago, and our very own time-traveling author, who covers the historical, the trivial and other random moments from that year.

Warren Heller and the Reading Keystones by Gordon Dedman.
Warren Heller was a unanimous All-American halfback at the University of Pittsburgh who held all the Panthers rushing records until Tony Dorsett came along. Heller would eventually go on to play for the NFL’s Pirates (as the Steelers were known as then) for three mostly uneventful seasons. Between those two stints, he would star for the Reading (PA) Keystones of the Interstate League.

No Bark and No Bite: The 1949 New York Bulldogs by Matthew Keddie.
New York City. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere, or so they say. If you can’t, well, you may be the Bulldogs, quite possibly the worst pro football team to call the Big Apple home. This is the story of their ignoble 1949 season, after they were the Boston Yanks, and before they became the New York Yanks, where they managed a 1–10–1 record, worst in the NFL.
7DnBrnc53
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by 7DnBrnc53 »

There was a video from NFL Films where Tarkenton said that the West Coast Offense started with him in New York in 1967.
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TanksAndSpartans
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by TanksAndSpartans »

Looks like a good issue. Heller is one of just 36 players depicted in the first football card set that featured primarily pro players (1935). 35/36 cards were NFLers with one card of Knute Rockne.
ChrisBabcock
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by ChrisBabcock »

Looking forward to the Tarkenton article.
RichardBak
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by RichardBak »

7DnBrnc53 wrote:There was a video from NFL Films where Tarkenton said that the West Coast Offense started with him in New York in 1967.
Shouldn't that have been the East Coast Offense then?
7DnBrnc53
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by 7DnBrnc53 »

RichardBak wrote:
7DnBrnc53 wrote:There was a video from NFL Films where Tarkenton said that the West Coast Offense started with him in New York in 1967.
Shouldn't that have been the East Coast Offense then?
Probably. The Gillman-Coryell offense is the actual WCO.
RichardBak
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by RichardBak »

7DnBrnc53 wrote:
RichardBak wrote:
7DnBrnc53 wrote:There was a video from NFL Films where Tarkenton said that the West Coast Offense started with him in New York in 1967.
Shouldn't that have been the East Coast Offense then?
Probably. The Gillman-Coryell offense is the actual WCO.
That's what I always thought.
lehotskys80
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by lehotskys80 »

[quote="George Bozeka"]The latest issue of the Coffin Corner is now available for immediate download from the PFRA website. The issue contains the following:

1972 Through the Eyes of This Week in Pro Football by Jeff Eby.
A week-by-week chronology of the 1972 NFL regular season as witnessed by TWIPF co-hosts Tom Brookshier and Pat Summerall, TV viewers from fifty years ago, and our very own time-traveling author, who covers the historical, the trivial and other random moments from that year.

Great write up! With regard to Ken Lee's 4th week interception record, he had 6 INTs which led the team and was tied for 7th in the league. That's amazing because you have to go to #25 (Mike Curtis) for the next LB - the other 23 players on the list were DBs. Surprising the Bills would've let him go given how bad their defense was.
Brian wolf
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by Brian wolf »

After reading my copy of the issue, the writers--Thornley, Ebly, Dedman, and Keddie--did a great job as usual ...

*Tarkenton and the Vikings ... still hard to believe Finks couldn't work out a contract for Kapp in 1970 after two successive playoff appearances and an official NFL Championship that is unfairly and justifiably, overshadowed by the SB loss. It's also hard to believe Tarkenton would want to leave the Vikings AFTER Brocklin had already left. Why not stay for his teammates, but the end of the 1966 season had to be devastating for him. Still, HOF election or not, Finks is responsible for two team legends walking out the Vikings door. Somewhat inexcusable in my opinion but as much a part of Vikings lore as the legendary coach that helped build a great team during that period and passed away this past week.

*1972 This Week In Pro Football ... Fun opinions and observations of many episodes of weekly NFL Film Highlights.

Getting Warfield from the Browns may have been the single greatest football day for Don Shula other than winning the SB on Sunday, Jan 14, 1973. The first true, superstar receiver for Shula and the Dolphins since Berry with the Colts in 1963, the Browns definitely lost that trade but had good arguments for doing it - a first-round draft pick from a player about to begin his 7th NFL season - good replacement potential in Fair Hooker, a young talented, but green receiver and a huge deep threat in Homer Jones who could have made the HOF had he stayed healthy and prospered in Cleveland, and finally, a possible replacement for Bill Nelson, who held off Phipps for two years without Warfield and Kelly wearing down.

That 3rd down 22-yard pass to Mandich from former Broncos QB Marlin Briscoe allowed Garo Roman Gabriel Ya'premium to hit a clutch, desperate 51yd FG that allowed the fired-up No-name Miami defense to get the ball back as Griese led his teammates to victory down 14-6 with under six minutes remaining. The pass play from Briscoe easily one of the greatest plays in reflective NFL Football history, brought up by other historian, researchers on this forum, site ...
Last edited by Brian wolf on Wed Mar 15, 2023 10:30 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Brian wolf
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Re: COFFIN CORNER VOLUME 44 NUMBER 6

Post by Brian wolf »

*1949 NY Bulldogs Season ... a disaster, where the Bears traded their future championship history by dealing a young, learning Bobby Layne to the game clutches of desperate, pass rushers who tried to maim him but gave valuable lessons to the future Lions QB, who kept Halas and the Bears from winning another championship during the 1950s' while another hard lucked QB, John Rauch, would have an unsuccessful pro career but enter the coaching ranks, helping an AFL team go from laughingstock to league champion.
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