ok, so 2 championships over Otto Graham and Cleveland. That's still impressive. it does suck but I believe the current team still has a chance to make a playoff run in a weakened AFC. I think 9 wins will do it, can we finish 6-2? Not likely but not impossible.
I thank you for it, I made a mistake. On that note I think Don Hutson is the greatest WR to play the game, obviouisly athletically Jerry Rice and a million other guys destroy him but no WR dominated his era like Hutson and I never saw Hutson play but I can make that claim and back it up(if you want me to).
I don't compare players from the pre 50's to the players of the "modern era". Hutson was by far the greatest pass catcher of his day and revolutionized the game. But to say he's better than Rice is an impossible comparison.
This thread is a joke. If Namath played under todays rules, the sky would have been the limit. He had a cannon for an arm, and he was a team player. For those that say he was to small, Drew Brees seems to be just fine. Talent is talent, regardless of the era. I suggest watching HBO's documentery Namath, to really see his greatness. As one who was there, I know what I witnessed, he was a great QB.
he dominated his era much moe than Rice dominasted his. obviously side by side Rice would be the much better player but you have to compare how players did against their eras and Hutson was better against his.
we can say that about any QBs, he played int he era he played and was injury prone. The rules protect QBs better today but the players are so much bigger, stronger, faster that how do we know he'd hold up to legal hits today?
That is a very simplistic view. Pass catching was very new at that time so of course Hutson dominated his era more than Rice did his.
Ok. I'm not disputing that. but it's a simplistic view to determine whether he was the best WR ever to play and is not proof of such a statement.
it's the only way to judge players from different eras. Obviously the position was very different back then but the man dominated his position like no other.
Like I said, I don't compare players from the Pre-50's era to the modern era because it's impossible. There are no metric that works. Utilizing your metric does not work because Hutson didn't have contemporaries like Cris Carter, Tim Brown, Andre Reed, Art Monk, Michael Irvin etc. There weren't QB's like Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, John Elway etc. and there weren't offensive systems like Air Coryell or the West Coast offense.
I would say that all the current advances in training, diet, etc., would have been available for Namath too. He was injury-prone, however I believe much of that had to do with the rules that were in place. His size would have been a moot point, Brees comes to mind. His feel for the game, and his arm were second to none.
If you really watched the hits that Namath took that were Legal then you wouldn't say that. Watch the first 40 seconds of this clip, the pre-season game that cost Namath most of the 71 season. There was no flag on the play. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pOe41DubSw I'm going to include this video as well. It doesn't show any hits on QB's but it does show several hits that would clearly be penalties in todays game, notably players down on the ground getting speared late after the play was over, These are the types of hits QB's often took back in the day as well, they were not a protected species. Just watch games, don't care what games, just games or highlights of the NFL from the years prior to 1978. Doesnt' matter the year, see how many times you scream illegal hit! Face Mask, Personal foul spearing! or any number of other things. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apsSW6UbLlo&feature=related So to say Namath in todays game would be just as injury prone is a ridiculous statement, Namath missed no games during his first 5 seasons in the NFL. It wasn't until the knees got wrecked from behing hit high, low, late and often that he became injury prone. yes todays players are faster and stronger, but not bigger necessarily, there were some very big guys who played back in those days, they just weren't as conditioned as todays athletes. But today In todays games QB's are protected, padding is much better, surgery techniques are MUCH better. But all that aside, consider that head tackles, pile driving, puches to the head, horse collar tackles, face mask tackles. Watch the films from the period and see how many times guys helmets are on sidewise after a play. Yes guys are faster and better conditioned today, overall. But watch players like Butkus, Deacon Jones, Jack Lambert (admittedly in the later period of the unprotected days), or any others. Just watch.
Nope, he was far and away the most dominant at his position though. it wasn't a violent hit and the Lion player missed Namath anyway. The rules protect players now b/c the players are so damn big, strong and fast. They would kill other players if they played by the old rules. The level of athlete in today's game cannot be compared to the 60s and 70s. Sure there were some great athletes back then but nothing close to today's game. I have seen plenty of clips to understand what went on int he old days but guys hit much harder today b/c they are bigger, stronger, faster. They didn't have to tackle 270 lb RBs or 250 lb QBs. It's a different game, Joe played in his era and couldn't maintain good health, to say he would in this era is hard to believe. Maybe he would have? but he played in his era and that is all we have to go on.
I'm not arguing your "facts". The thread title is asking for an opinion, not facts. You want facts? Namath led the NY Jets to their one & only super Bowl win. Did I get that wrong?
But is not evidence of him being the greatest WR ever to play. Only that he was the greatest of his era.
