Latest news with #NFLChampionshipGame
NBC Sports
15-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Former NFL offensive lineman Roger Shoals dies at 86
Roger Shoals, an offensive lineman who spent a total of nine seasons in the NFL with the Browns, Lions and Broncos, has died at the age of 86. Shoals played his college football at Maryland and was a 16th round pick of the Browns in the 1961 NFL draft as well as a 34th round pick of the Dallas Texans in the 1962 AFL draft. It wasn't until 1963 that he chose to turn pro and picked the Browns and the NFL, and with that choice he became a member of one of the best teams in the league. In his second season, the Browns won the 1964 NFL Championship Game, and half a century later he still considered that his career highlight. 'That was heaven. The league sent us our rings. I still wear mine all the time even though people look at this old man and think 'What the hell is he doing with a diamond?'' Shoals told the Baltimore Sun in 2014. After two years in Cleveland, Shoals was traded to Detroit, where he became a starter on the Lions' offensive line. He spent six years with the Lions before he was traded again to the Broncos, retiring after one year in Denver in 1971.
USA Today
29-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
2 Colts' QBs make ranking of top 25 players in NFL history
Two former Colts quarterbacks would make a recent list that ranked the top 25 players in NFL history. Two former Indianapolis Colts quarterbacks would make a recent list that ranked the top 25 players in NFL history. Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports recently put these rankings together, and representing the Colts were quarterbacks Johnny Unitas and Peyton Manning. Unitas came in at No. 13 in DeArdo's rankings while Manning was at No. 6. "The NFL's best quarterback during the league's first 50 years," DeArdo wrote. "Johnny U" led the Colts to NFL titles in 1958 and '59 and a Super Bowl title in 1970. He was the winning quarterback in what many consider the greatest game in NFL history: the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Colts and Giants that was the first overtime contest in league history. "His record of 47 straight games with at least one touchdown pass stood from 1960 until Drew Brees passed him in 2012." Unitas played 18 seasons with the Baltimore Colts. Over his career, he was a 10-time Pro Bowler, a five-time All-Pro, a three-time MVP, a three-time NFL Champion, and a one-time Super Bowl champion. Unitas would throw for 40,239 yards with 290 touchdowns, and he's a member of the Hall of Fame. Manning, meanwhile, played 13 seasons with the Colts, which included winning a Super Bowl, making 11 Pro Bowls, five first-team All-Pros, and being named the league MVP four times. Manning would throw for 54,828 yards while with the Colts, along with 399 touchdown passes. He is also in the NFL's Hall of Fame. "If Brady is Jack Nicklaus, Manning is Arnold Palmer in this epic QB rivalry," DeArdo wrote. "Brady has more titles, but Manning has his own unique legacy that includes a record five league MVPs as well as being the first starting quarterback to win Super Bowls with two different clubs. And like Palmer did with golf, Manning has served as a significant ambassador for the NFL, both during his playing days and in retirement."
NBC Sports
30-05-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Dave Klein, who covered the first 54 Super Bowls, dies at 85
Dave Klein, one of only two sportswriters to attend the first 54 Super Bowls, died Wednesday, Steve Politi of NJ Advance Media reports. Klein was 85. Klein began his career at the Star-Ledger in 1961, following in the footsteps of his father, Willie, who was the longtime sports editor at the time. His brother, Moss, joined the staff in 1972 and became the Yankees beat writer four years later. For all the big events Klein covered, he was most known for his coverage of the Giants. 'We are saddened to hear of Dave's passing,' the Giants said in a statement. 'He devoted much of his professional life to covering our organization and keeping our fans informed. Our thoughts are with Dave's family, friends and readers.' Klein was one of only 338 media members credentialed for Super Bowl I on Jan. 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The league honored Klein, longtime Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg and Detroit News columnist Jerry Green, n 2016 as the only three writers to cover every one of the first 50 Super Bowls. Klein finally missed a Super Bowl during the COVID season of 2020 when the Bucs beat the Chiefs in Tampa, Florida. Klein wrote 35 books, including 'The Game of Their Lives' about the 1958 NFL Championship Game.
USA Today
15-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
What was the Rams best NFL draft class? Analyst says it happened in the 1940s
What was the Rams best NFL draft class? Analyst says it happened in the 1940s The Los Angeles Rams have had a lot of good draft classes in their franchise's history. The 2024 group is among the best of the most recent NFL classes, while the 2023 class of Puka Nacua, Byron Young and Kobie Turner is also elite. The Rams also had a ton of incredible classes in the 1970s, 80s and 90s that shepherded in successful eras in the team's history. But Sports Illustrated's Gilberto Manzano went back even further to find the Rams' top class. He picked the team's 1945 class as the franchise's best group ever because of the two Hall-of-Famers taken: Elroy Hirsch in the first round and Tom Fears in the 11th round. "The then-Cleveland Rams used a first-round pick on Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch, who led the NFL with 66 receptions, 1,495 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns in 1951," Manzano wrote. "Hirsch, a Wisconsin native, quickly turned Hollywood after the team moved to Los Angeles, becoming an actor and starring in his own biopic, the '53 film 'Crazylegs.' In the 11th round, the Rams took Tom Fears, who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, before his family moved to Southern California." While the Rams have drafted a lot of Hall of Fame players during the history of the franchise, this is the only one with two players in Canton. The Rams went 9-1 that season and won the NFL Championship Game. The group went to three consecutive championship starting in 1949 and won again in 1951. Here is the full list of drafted players from 1945:
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Bob Long, member of Packers teams that won Super Bowls I and II, dies at 83
Bob Long, a wide receiver who was on the Packers' teams that won the first two Super Bowls, has died at the age of 83. Long went to Wichita State to play basketball, but after finishing his basketball eligibility he decided to give football a try, and in one year of college football he led the NCAA in touchdown catches. That two-sport athletic talent caught Vince Lombardi's eye, and the Packers took him with the 44th overall pick in the 1964 NFL draft. Long played four seasons in Green Bay and the Packers won the championship in three of them, winning the NFL Championship Game after the 1965 season and then winning Super Bowls I and II in the 1966 and 1967 seasons. After Super Bowl II the Packers traded Long to the Falcons, where he was the team's leading receiver through nine games in 1968 before his season ended because of injuries sustained in a car accident. The following offseason, Lombardi became the head coach and general manager in Washington, and he called Long to tell him he'd be trading for him to bring him to Washington. "Vince had Bobby Mitchell and Charley Taylor in Washington, but he called me up and said, 'Do you still have your basketball hands?'" Long recalled years later in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "I said, 'yes, but I'm not as fast after I was in a bad car wreck in Atlanta.' He said, 'You still don't make mental mistakes, do you?' I said, 'No.' "He said, 'Bobby Mitchell is retiring, and I need a veteran.' You don't turn down Vince Lombardi, so I went to Washington." Long started all 14 games in Washington that season. Lombardi died the following offseason, and Long's tenure in Washington ended as well. Long concluded his NFL career with a brief stint playing for the Rams. In retirement, Long returned to Wisconsin and lived there the rest of his life, saying he loved being around Packers fans.
