What's new
Fantasy Football - Footballguys Forums

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Which NFL Player Was Your Childhood Hero? (1 Viewer)

S

sm8680

Footballguy
Every football fan has that one player the one who made Sundays special maybe even Saturdays, who kept you glued to the screen, or had you practicing their moves in the backyard. Maybe it was a superstar quarterback, a hard-hitting linebacker, or even a kicker who thrived in the clutch. Who was the first NFL player that truly captured your attention and made you fall in love with the game? Let’s hear your stories!
 
Define childhood. Prior to 1971 it was John Unitas, Bubba Smith, Mike Curtis Then from 1973 through the 70s, it was Bert jones, Roger Carr, Lydell Mitchell, Joe Washington, Glenn Doughty, Raymond Chester.
Click to expand...
 
When I was a little kid it was probably Fred Biletnikoff. My Niners stunk, and the only team I ever really saw regularly besides them was the Raiders.

Fred was a phenomenal talent. He wasn’t the biggest dude, he wasn’t the fastest or the most athletic, but if the ball was anywhere near him, he hovered it up. I honestly can’t remember him dropping a pass, though I know it happened.

Kenny Stabler was a close second.
 
Mean Joe Greene. Loved how dominating the defense was when I was a kid. Intercepted Fran Tarkenton and recovered a fumble in Super Bowl IX Vikings only score came off a blocked punt. D was suffocating.

Coke commercial was pretty cool too.

I used to draw pictures of the defense clobbering the Browns. Mean Joe was featured making the QB turn green in panic.

As a 110 lb high school kid, I was small fast and shifty. Had a pick 6 in over half the games I played. Wasn’t in the cards to be disruptive in the trenches like my childhood idol, but smart enough to know even Joe couldn’t get a hand on me in space.
 
For my team (Jets), Wesley Walker, Freeman McNeil, and the NY Sack Exchange. From the NFL in general, Earl Campbell and Ken Stabler. But I didn't get to watch them as much.
 
Hot Sauce Guy said:
When I was a little kid it was probably Fred Biletnikoff. My Niners stunk, and the only team I ever really saw regularly besides them was the Raiders.

Fred was a phenomenal talent. He wasn’t the biggest dude, he wasn’t the fastest or the most athletic, but if the ball was anywhere near him, he hovered it up. I honestly can’t remember him dropping a pass, though I know it happened.

Kenny Stabler was a close second.
Click to expand...
It’s like I don’t even know you 😡
 
Hot Sauce Guy said:
When I was a little kid it was probably Fred Biletnikoff. My Niners stunk, and the only team I ever really saw regularly besides them was the Raiders.

Fred was a phenomenal talent. He wasn’t the biggest dude, he wasn’t the fastest or the most athletic, but if the ball was anywhere near him, he hovered it up. I honestly can’t remember him dropping a pass, though I know it happened.

Kenny Stabler was a close second.
Click to expand...
He was a Nole!
 
I’ll name 3. Sorry.

I was on the Dave Casper/Todd Christensen border when I started following the raiders in the late 70s. Love them both and loved the TE’s involvement in key plays in the early Raiders dynasty days.

Lester Hayes….LOVED playing DB in sidewalk 2 hand touch football after school, and there was no better feeling than the Pick 6. Lester was the man.
 
Del Shofner, WR, NY Giants

I grew up in PA with 1 TV station and another one that came in half the time and football wasn't on TV yet. My grandpa and grandma live in NYC so my dad rooted for the Giants and the Yankees. And since my dad did it, I rooted for the Giants and the Yankees. Del Shofner and Charlie Connerly were the first 2 names I learned to recognize from my dad reading recaps of the games to me from the Monday paper.

And the player I feared and hated, because my dad definitely feared and hated him, was Johnny Uninas.
(Yes, I misspelled his name -- it's Unitas. But it sounded like Uninas to me as a kid. )
 
Grid71 said:
Mean Joe Greene. Loved how dominating the defense was when I was a kid. Intercepted Fran Tarkenton and recovered a fumble in Super Bowl IX Vikings only score came off a blocked punt. D was suffocating.

Coke commercial was pretty cool too.
Click to expand...
That Coke commercial was my one son's favorite commercial.
The problem was, son thought we controlled what came on the TV and that anything could be seen at any time. So he'd ask us to play that commercial, and when we'd explain again that we couldn't make it come on he'd get really irate: "YES YOU CAN. YOU JUST WON'T PLAY IT TO MAKE ME ANGRY". There was a reason that among extended family he was known for a year or 2 as Little Hitler.
 
zed2283 said:
My very first was Lynn Swann, and forever after I was a WR.
Click to expand...

Mean Joe Greene got me hooked on the Steelers, but it was Lynn Swann that was my favorite in the end. I thought he was someone that was just at a different level than everybody else, and he played with so much grace but effectiveness that he allowed me to see football's potential beauty, which I think was really important to a shy six or seven year-old who wasn't very aggressive nor attracted to physical violence in sports or anything else. Then it was Wesley Walker of the Jets a bit later in life. O'Brien to Walker was huge in the eighties and the Jets were pretty good back then.
 
As a teen, I got the privilege of watching Air Coryell. Fouts was the yardage leader 4 straight years, but my favorite player is the one in my avatar - Kellen Winslow. Who else remembers the Chargers/Dolphins playoff game in 1982 when Winslow had to be carried off the field due to dehydration? BEST GAME EVER!
 
JohnnyU said:
Define childhood. Prior to 1971 it was John Unitas, Bubba Smith, Mike Curtis Then from 1973 through the 70s, it was Bert jones, Roger Carr, Lydell Mitchell, Joe Washington, Glenn Doughty, Raymond Chester.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
This is pretty much me. Unitas and Smith were already legends by the time I became sports-aware enough, so they were baked into my DNA. Those mid-70s Colts teams were fun to watch. They were kind of stuck behind the Steelers/Raiders juggernauts, though.
 
Uruk-Hai said:
JohnnyU said:
Define childhood. Prior to 1971 it was John Unitas, Bubba Smith, Mike Curtis Then from 1973 through the 70s, it was Bert jones, Roger Carr, Lydell Mitchell, Joe Washington, Glenn Doughty, Raymond Chester.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
This is pretty much me. Unitas and Smith were already legends by the time I became sports-aware enough, so they were baked into my DNA. Those mid-70s Colts teams were fun to watch. They were kind of stuck behind the Steelers/Raiders juggernauts, though.
Click to expand...
I agree about the Steelers, but the Colts should have won the “Ghost to the post” game. That 1977 Colts team was Bert Jones best chance at playing in a Super Bowl. If Raymond Chester catches that pass the Colts win. Jones just missed him.
 
Webster Melvin Slaughter, for the name alone! To think of the lost movie opportunities of this name laying carnage in a theater near you.

I’m positive the 1st game I ever watched he scored a TD on a fake FG, for someone outside of US this seemed unpossible.

Loved him from that day forward
 
Dallas Cowboy MLB Randy White
Met him as a teenager as he went to local high school in Delaware
He appeared at a local football camp I was attending (I was a LB myself so I was very interested in his words).
Polite & respectful man who became a pastor later in life.

My father was a big sales contact and we went to many Philly sports games and private events - I met Dr J, Barkley, Mike Schmidt, Larry Bowa, Greg Luzinski, Steve Carlton, Walter Montgomery, Harold Carmichael, but the most intimidating person I ever met was Wilt Chamberlain - he was a MONSTER compared to me (my whole body was the size of 1 of his legs).
 
TheWinz said:
As a teen, I got the privilege of watching Air Coryell. Fouts was the yardage leader 4 straight years, but my favorite player is the one in my avatar - Kellen Winslow. Who else remembers the Chargers/Dolphins playoff game in 1982 when Winslow had to be carried off the field due to dehydration? BEST GAME EVER!
Click to expand...

What an unforgettable game. I was 15 and deep into the NFL. Air Coryell was fun - Fouts, Jefferson, Joiner, Chandler...
 
I started playing tackle football when I was in middle school and continued to varsity. I probably only ever watched 1-2 games before I was in my 20's though. No heros.

Weird :ph34r:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Yogibear
Joe Schmidt passes away at age 92
Replies
1
Views
307
JohnnyU
JohnnyU
TheDirtyWord
Can we talk about SuperFlex? Why isn't this the default now...?
2
Replies
57
Views
903
pinkstapler
P
Hot Sauce Guy
What Player Was Your Biggest Reach in Rookie Drafts This Year?
2
Replies
68
Views
3K
Gally
G

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top