George Allen called him the best safety to ever play the game. He calls himself the “reluctant” player who was not highly recruited by colleges after graduating high school and who was a member of the “others”, a group of back up players who didn’t often get on the field.
Author: Robert Janis
Whatever Happened to …. Lem Barney
Lem Barney may be most remembered as the Hall of Fame defensive back for the Detroit Lions but he has also been involved in a number of ministries and has sung on church choirs and college glee clubs as well as background for Marvin Gaye on the album “What’s Going On.” He played for his high school’s marching band wearing his football uniform during halftime of the football games because he also played for the school’s football team as a quarterback and safety.
Is It Time to Tweak the Rules
The highlight of a career for a professional athlete is to be inducted into his or her sport’s hall of fame. One of the most distinguished Halls of Fame is the Pro Football shrine in Canton, Ohio.
The best of the best who ever played professional football are enshrined there. A day walking through the hallowed halls there will put one face-to-face with the busts of Red Grange, Ernie Nevers, Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Sonny Jurgensen, Jim Thorpe, et al.
Football fans remember Dale Hackbart as a defensive back who played for the Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, St. Louis Cardinals, and Denver Broncos from 1960 through 1973. However, things could have been extremely different. He could have been known today as a prominent major league baseball player. Hackbart spent a season playing baseball for the Grand Forks, North Dakota Chiefs, a Class C minor league team in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
He wore number 88 and he played wide receiver and tight end and also punted for the Washington Redskins from 1963 through 1970. However, Pat Richter could have very easily ended up playing baseball for the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Braves, Baltimore Orioles or Houston Colt 45s.
The best word to describe Jim Steffen is tenacious. Steffen was a defensive back for the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins during an NFL career that lasted seven seasons.
When a casual Redskins fan is asked to name former running backs with the team he would probably call out Larry Brown, John Riggins, Earnest Byner, Steven Davis. Many may not remember A.D. Whitfield.
Three Washington Redskins’ quarterbacks hold the record for the longest touchdown pass (99 yards) in National Football League history: Andy Farkas on October 15, 1939; Sonny Jurgensen on September 15, 1968; and George Izo on September 15, 1963.
What Ever Happen To…. Billy Kilmer
by
Robert Janis
(I interviewed Billy Kilmer by phone on May 6, 2004)
If it wasn’t for his mother, he may have been known today as a Major League baseball player. His toughness proved doctors wrong when they said he would never walk again. And his stubbornness was instrumental in embarrassing a Dallas Cowboys head coach when that coach questioned his athletic skills just before the 1972 NFC Championship game.
What Ever Happen To…. Larry Brown
by
Robert Janis
The Washington Redskins have built a legacy of good running backs. That legacy begins with Larry Brown. Brown was the first Redskins running back to gain more than 1,000 yards in a single season. He achieved that feat twice in a career that ran from 1969 to 1976.