American Football Guide

Joe Montana

noreply@blogger.com (tutorial) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:24:00 +0000

Joe Montana was born on June 11, 1956 in New Eagle, Pennsylvania. It was evident early on that Montana was going to be a great football player thanks to his athletic prowess as well as his above average intelligence. And standing at 6 foot 2 inches and weighing 200 pounds, Montana also had the perfect body for a top of the line quarterback.

Montana played his high school football at Ringgold High School in the Pittsburgh Steel Valley. In high school Montana was a standout athlete not only on the football field, but also in the games of baseball and basketball. He started two years for the Ringgold football team, and after his senior season he was named to the Parade All American Team.

After high school Montana decided to take his football game to the University of Notre Dame despite receiving several basketball scholarship offers. Although Montana put together a solid career at Notre Dame, he did not put up big enough numbers to make everybody notice. But one thing that he did do during his college career is establish himself as one of the greatest come from behind quarterbacks of all time.

Montana was selected by the San Francisco 49ers with the 82nd overall pick in the 1979 NFL Draft. Although he did not play a lot his rookie season, by the end of his second year he had become the full time starting quarterback. In 1981 Montana led his team to the first of four Super Bowl victories. In all but one of these Super Bowl wins he was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. For his career Montana passed for 35,124 yards. He also was named to the Pro Bowl team eight times.

It is safe to say that Joe Montana will always be known as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

Lawrence Taylor

noreply@blogger.com (tutorial) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:18:00 +0000

In our "Where are They Now" series we will focus on #56 Lawrence Taylor, without a doubt the best linebacker who has ever played in the NFL. Many consider him the best defensive player in the history of the game others even go as far as mentioning his name with the greatest players regardless of position.

L.T. revolutionized the linebacker position in the early 1980's with his speed, strength and intelligence. He made it common practice to swat at the ball in order to create turnovers by opposing players who feared him. He not only changed how defense was played but also how offenses would approach playing him. They had to account for #56 and adjust their game plans and alignments.

L.T. played his college ball at The University of North Carolina where he was an All American, he was drafted by the NY Giants as the second overall pick in the 1981 NFL Draft. His years with New York were full of success both as an individual but also as part of great Giants teams which won Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV under his leadership. He was named as the NFL MVP in 1986 after recording 20.5 sacks. He was also named Defensive Player of the Year three times.

His life on and off the field is full of accomplishments but also controversy. Lawrence has had a very published and talked about addiction with narcotics, specifically cocaine. His battle has been well documented but this in no way has affected or tarnished his place in NFL history, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999. A well liked player during and after his career, Taylor has moved from the field to the big screen starring in featured films and TV shows.

He was a big hit on Dancing with the Stars along side his beautiful dance partner Edyta Sliwinska, unfortunately L.T. was eliminated in week seven. When it comes to being in front of the camera Lawrence has had appearances in films such as "Any Given Sunday", "Shaft" and "The Waterboy". Television appearances include a spot on "The Sopranos" where he played himself and he has also worked as a commentator for TNT Sunday Night Football which never took off. Taylor also appeared in Wrestle Mania where he fought and defeated Bam Bam Bigalow and hosted a show called "Toughman" on FX. He is in the process of furthering his acting career and has some undisclosed projects coming up to a big or small screen near you.

After his playing career L.T. started a company called All-Pro Products which instantly became profitable after going public, the stock tripled within the very first month. The initial value was in the millions but the stock then plummeted and it was later discovered that LT had been defrauded by Hanover Sterling & Company a penny stock firm who short sold the stock and lead the company to its demise.

Lawrence Taylor has lived a wild live during and after his NFL career, he admitted to having affairs with prostitutes and even admitted to sending prostitutes to opposing players during his career in order to get them tired for the next days game. These days it seems this great former NFL star has toned it down more than a bit and has successfully over come his addiction to cocaine. He has been clean since 1998 and has remarried for a third time. When he isn't working you can find #56 at the golf course perfecting his favorite hobby.

Many players have been compared to L.T., Ray Lewis for example plays with the same intensity, others like Ladainian Tomlinson bare his initials and nick name but there will never be another Lawrence Taylor!

Jim Brown

noreply@blogger.com (tutorial) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:10:00 +0000

Whenever a debate arises about who the best running back of all time in the NFL is, you often hear names mentioned such as Barry Sanders, Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith, and Bo Jackson, just to name a few. One of the most overlooked players in all of this discussion is none other than Long Island's Jim Brown. What makes it even worse for Brown is that his statistics are better than those of his counterparts, which leads you to believe that off the field drama has led to people overlooking Brown and his accomplishments.

Jim Brown was born in Georgia, but moved to Manhasset, New York shortly following his birth. Brown eventually attended high school at Manhasset High School, earning thirteen varsity letters in football, baseball, basketball, lacrosse, and track. After his high school career, he attended Syracuse University and earned All-American status in football and lacrosse. Not only was Brown an excellent football player in his earlier years, but he was also an overall tremendous athlete. Brown began his career with the Cleveland Browns rushing for 942 yards, and 9 TD's, which earned him the Rookie of The Year honors. Brown continued to dominate the NFL for 8 more seasons, accumulating career totals of 12,312 rushing yards, 15,459 combined total yards for a combined 126 TD's, statistics which easily eclipsed the current records of the time.

Brown qualified for the Pro Bowl team in every single season of his career, nine times. Top ten statistics were only kept after the 1960 season, which leaves Brown with six seasons to qualify for top ten numbers. He led the NFL in rushes four of those seasons, led the NFL in rushing yards in five seasons, led in TD's twice and was third four other times. He was also the leader in total yards four separate times. To sum it up for Jim Brown, in each of the six seasons after 1960, he was in the top four of every rushing category for every single season. Jim Brown is the all-time leader in YPC (yards per carry) with 5.2 YPC; in 1963, he rushed for an absolutely ridiculous 6.4 yardsper carry, which is practically unheard of in pro football. With a perfect combination of finesse and power, Jim Brown had the ability to run past or juke his defenders, but still had the strength to bulldoze his opponents.

The only other running back in the NFL's history that compares to Jim Brown is Barry Sanders. In 35 fewer games played in his career, Jim Brown had 7 more rushing TD's than Barry, and 10 more receiving TD's. Jim Brown played every single game of his career, never missing a start for the Cleveland Browns. While Barry Sanders didn't miss all that much time as a RB, he did completely miss seven games of action in his career. Brown reached the 17 TD plateau twice in his career, once in a 12 game season, and once in a 14 game season. The closest Sanders reached to that mark was 16 TD's in a 16 game season. Also, in one of those 17 touchdown seasons, Jim Brown averaged 5.9 YPC, while Sanders was only able to average 4.5 YPC, which is a half-yard lower than his career average.

Jim Brown was able to increase his output in TD's, as well as sustain an incredibly high yards per carry; the same can not be said about other rushers. Despite playing in much fewer games than his predecessors, Brown still holds the career record for yards per carry (5.2), and total seasons leading the NFL in all-purpose yards. (five seasons, 1958-1961, 1964) Jim Brown from Georgia, but most notably Manhasset, NY, set milestones that are hard to reach today, even with the increase in number of games, as well as an increase in technology and medicine that allows players to play longer than ever. While some may remember him for his off the field antics, such as his centerfold debut in Playgirl magazine, let's not overlook the unbelievable achievements of the greatest running back of all time, growing up right in our own backyard.

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Jerry Rice

noreply@blogger.com (tutorial) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:46:00 +0000

Jerry Rice was born on October 13, 1962 in Crawford, Mississippi. Although Rice never had the physical abilities of some other great athletes, he always had the work ethic and determination to get the job done. For this reason, Rice is widely regarded as the best wide receivers to ever play the game. And many people feel that he is the greatest football player of all time regardless of position.

In high school Rice played on the defensive side of the football, and was good enough to make the All State team. But although he accomplished a lot in high school, no NCAA Division I football programs offered him a scholarship.

With no other options, Rice decided to attend Mississippi Valley State University, an NCAA Division I-AA program. In 1983 Rice had a great season, and set many records along the way. He had 102 receptions, 1,450 yards, and was named to several All American teams. He followed this up with an equally good season as a senior in 1984. All of his college football accomplishments led him to being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in August of 2006.

Rice was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers with the 16th pick of the first round in the 1985 NFL Draft. Although Rice struggled with drops during his first year in the NFL, he turned some heads. He finished the season with 927 yards on 49 catches. And ever since that first season Rice was off and running. At the time of his retirement he held many NFL records including receptions, receiving yards, touchdown receptions, touchdowns, all purpose yards, and many more.

It is safe to say that Jerry Rice is the best wide receiver to ever play the game of football. In addition to his great football skills he had the heart of a champion, and the work ethic to match.