NorthHawk wrote:Intimidation was a big part of the game back then. It still is part of the game today, but much less so.
Receivers used to get clotheslined just for running across the middle of the field. It was beautifully brutal in those times but it had to change for the players sake.
Watching the bone jarring hits certainly had its appeal, but if the sport were to survive, it had to change. Alot of people think that boxing's demise dated back to when Bennie Paret was killed in the ring....or died a few days later.
If we were to play word association and you were to say to me
"middle linebacker", my first thought would be Dick Butkus. He played during a time when I was first starting to get really interested in football.