Remember When…Week Two Edition – High Flying Aerial Attack
The 2011 NFL Kickoff Weekend is in the books. From the first kickoff on Thursday night to the final play from Monday’s doubleheader the excitement was at an all-time high. There were multiple individual and team records set. During the 2011 season’s first week there were 14 quarterbacks who passed for 300 or more yards in a game, four of whom eclipsed the 400-yard mark and one, New England Patriots’ QB Tom Brady, who passed for 517 yards. Brady’s passing yardage was the second most ever on Kickoff Weekend.
Most certainly football’s passing game has evolved in a big way. The ruling on January 12, 1906 forever changed the game. For it was on that day that football legalized the forward pass. The first pass attempt in the pro game came on a Thursday night game on Oct. 25, 1906.
George “Peggy” Parratt of the Massillon (Ohio) Tigers threw the first authenticated pass completion in a professional game when he hooked up with end Dan “Bullet” Riley against the combined Benwood-Moundsville, W. Va. team. The game was a 61-0 blowout by the Tigers and the historic pass was overshadowed in the game account by the fact that Parratt also had a 65-yard run from scrimmage and a 100-yard kickoff return. But nevertheless the pass was completed and the evolution of the game had begun. It took another 10 years or so before the pass became more popular in the game.
The forward pass has come a long way from its modest beginnings 105 years ago. Year after year it becomes more and more integral to the strategy of the game while captivating fans interest from every screen pass and check down to every long bomb and “Hail Mary.” The NFL has seen passing yardage soar in every decade of its existence. From the 69,444 passing yards that were gained from 1933-39 (Note: the NFL didn’t start officially compiling statistics until 1933) to the 1,135,331 yards gained 2000-09.
As Hall of Famer and Green Bay Packer founder, player and coach “Curly” Lambeau once said, “I’d rather pass. I figured it was the easiest way to pick up yards.”
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Remember When...archived
Week 1 Sept. 10, 2011
Kickoff Weekend is upon us and year after year players work tirelessly in the offseason to put themselves in the best possible situations to succeed in Week One. The results vary, but in the end the hope for every team is a breakout game to start a breakthrough season for a future National Football League star.
Remember when, in 1955, the Baltimore Colts opened the season against the Chicago Bears at Memorial Stadium? Baltimore's fullback Alan Ameche, the third overall selection in that year's NFL draft, recorded a memorable pro debut. Ameche or "The Horse" as he was affectionately known carried the Colts to an upset victory over the favored Bears 23-17 on September 25, 1955.Ameche, an All-American and Heisman Trophy winner out of Wisconsin, wasted no time in making his mark in the NFL. On his very first carry of his career he broke through Chicago's defensive line, cut to the sideline and raced 79 yards for a touchdown. "The Horse" displayed his excellent speed, power and agility and finished the game with 194 yards rushing on 21 attempts for a 9.2 yards-per-carry average and one TD.
He and the Colts continued their stellar play the following week in another upset win over the Detroit Lions 28-13. Alan ran like a seasoned veteran as he gained 153 yards on 21 carries and scored two rushing touchdowns (2, 57 yards). The quick start to his rookie season paved the way for Ameche to become the first player in Colts' history to win the NFL rushing title and the first rookie to do so since the New York Giants' Bill Paschal in 1944.
In all, Ameche amassed 961 rushing yards on 213 carries and scored nine touchdowns in his first season. His three-game total of 410 rushing yards to begin a career was an NFL mark that stood for 50 years until Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Carnell "Cadillac" Williams broke it in 2005. Williams recorded three consecutive 100-yard performances to amass 434 yards to begin his career.
Changing the rules...
The two-point conversion was adopted by the NFL in 1994. A record number of tries and conversions occurred that first season and there’s been a downward trend ever since.
“Broadway” Joe returns to Beaver Falls
Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath was honored in his hometown.