Chuck Knox came to the Rams in 1973 and immediately put the team in the playoffs. In 1974, he went one step further and reached the NFC Championship Game. The good news about the 1975 Los Angeles Rams is that they continued their success and returned to the NFC title game. The bad news is […]
Oklahoma was seeking their first national championship since 1956, when they were still under the direction of the great Bud Wilkinson. Chuck Fairbanks became the head coach in 1967, promptly won an Orange Bowl and finished #3 in the nation. But a 20-12-1 record over the next three years cooled the momentum. The 1971 Oklahoma […]
In the first year of Chuck Knox’s coaching tenure, the Rams jumped into contention behind a trade for veteran quarterback John Hadl. The 1974 Los Angeles Rams followed the opposite path—after a slow start, Knox traded Hadl in midseason, and the Rams still reached the NFC Championship Game. Regardless of who was playing quarterback, Hadl […]
In 1965, the NFL expanded to have four teams per conference make the playoffs. They retained that format after merging with the AFL in 1970. But in spite of the more generous playoff standards (albeit still stingy by the standards of our own day), the Rams only sniffed postseason play twice over the ensuing eight […]
Tom Landry’s Cowboys ended several years of postseason frustration in 1971, when they won the franchise’s first Super Bowl. That championship season was keyed by Landry’s settling on Roger Staubach as his quarterback midway through. The bid for a repeat title took a big hit when Staubach was injured in the preseason. But the 1972 […]
The proud Packer franchise had fallen on hard times since the departure of the great Vince Lombardi following the 1967 season. A team that had dominated the 1960s had now gone ten years with just one playoff appearance and only two winning seasons. Bart Starr, the quarterback for the Lombardi Dynasty, had been brought back […]
After a splendid rookie season as head coach in 1969, John Madden’s second year on the Raider sidelines didn’t go as smoothly. But the young coach had a veteran asset up his sleeve—the great George Blanda. The 43-year-old was still the regular placekicker and was now a backup quarterback. And for a few magical weeks, […]
For a generation of football fans, John Madden was the face of the NFL. He was the visible game analyst for CBS, Fox and later on Monday Night Football. He routinely called the biggest games of the year. His name was on the legendary video game. But before all that, he was an awfully good […]
The University of Houston’s football program had operated as an independent for much of its history. Prior to the 1976 season, the old Southwest Conference, led up by Texas and Arkansas, opened its doors and let Houston in. The Cougars were anything but timid new arrivals. The 1976 Houston football team not only won a […]
The Washington Redskins had entered a new era just one year earlier—that of Daniel Synder’s ownership. And that era had gotten off to a splendid start. In 1999, the Redskins had won their first division title since the great Super Bowl year of 1991, and reached the playoffs for the first time since 1992. It […]
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a playoff mainstay in our own day. But in 1974, they were in the postseason for the first time since 1966, and the first time since the leagues split into divisions. In our own day, the Pittsburgh Pirates are a small-market underdog. But in 1974, the Pirates were one of […]
The Oakland A’s were the defending champions and looking to repeat. The New York Mets had a recent title themselves, from 1969, but had also been in last place as recently as August. These two teams, taking different routes to get here, played an exciting Fall Classic. The A’s ultimately prevailed in seven games. You […]
