Undrafted Legends: Taking the Night Train to the Moon

Today’s post was inspired by the story of Alex Tanney, quarterback from Monmouth College (a Division III school) who was not drafted in last month’s NFL draft.  Tanney has become a bit of an Internet sensation because of a five-minute YouTube video (below) showing him perform all sorts of trick shots throwing a football.  These feats of accuracy may have been the deciding point in convincing Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey to invite him for the team’s rookie minicamp. 

Whether Alex Tanney will make the Bills squad (which, incidentally includes recently-signed QB Vince Young, a former NFL golden boy), only time will tell.  But, his story reminded me that there have been a lot of player’s in Alex’s shoes—undrafted free agents (UFAs)—who have overcome the odds and managed to stand out from the literally thousands of undrafted players in the country to earn roster spots.  One current UFA who has made the most of his opportunity is Arian Foster (right), the versatile running back for the Houston Texans who won the league rushing title in 2010, his second year in the pros. 

Our look at some more stand-out UFA examples throughout NFL history will span two posts—today, we examine players from earlier days.  With both posts, one player from each period in history is profiled, and others from the same era, if any (with the year they went undrafted noted), are also listed.

DICK “NIGHT TRAIN” LANE

Los Angeles Rams, 1952-1953

Chicago Cardinals, 1954-1960

Detroit Lions, 1960-1965

Regular Naptime Huddle readers should remember Dick “Night Train” Lane from the “Reading Huddle” selection Paper Lion, which chronicled author George Plimpton’s “participatory journalism” experience as the “last-string” quarterback for the Detroit Lions.  Plimpton was the recipient of a great deal of advice and anecdotes from Lane, who was often playing records of his then-wife Dinah Washington.  Music wasn’t only an influence in Lane’s personal life; he earned the nickname “Night Train” from a hit record by Jimmy Forest in 1952, the year he began his NFL career.

After serving in the U.S. Army, Dick Lane tried out as a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams when he became dissatisfied with his job at an aircraft factory.  He made the team, but because the Rams were stacked with talent at wide receiver, he was converted to a defensive back.  This turned out to be a masterful stroke of fate—in his rookie season, Lane set the record for most interceptions in a single season, at 14.  That record still stands, which is remarkable because there were the seasons consisted of only 12 games at the time.  Over his 14-year career, Lane caught 69 interceptions for 1,207 yards and five touchdowns; he was selected to seven Pro Bowls and named an All-Pro six times. 


His ability to pick off so many quarterbacks may have been due to receivers’ fears of being hit by him--that, and his ability to play off receivers so that they looked open.  Lane was known for his devastatingly hard hits, which you can see in the below clip from the NFL’s “Top Ten Most Feared Tacklers” piece (of course, most of these hits would probably get you a fine and/or suspension today).  Night Train Lane was enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame in 1974; he died of a heart attack in January 2002 at the age of 74.

Other Notable UFAs of the 1940s-1960s: 

Marion Motley, Running Back and Linebacker, Cleveland Browns (1946-1953) (right)

Larry Little, Guard, San Diego Chargers (1967-1968) and Miami Dolphins (1969-1980)

WARREN MOON 

Edmonton Eskimos, 1978-1983

Houston Oilers, 1984-1993

Minnesota Vikings, 1994-1996

Seattle Seahawks, 1997-1998

Kansas City Chiefs, 1999-2000

Warren Moon's career is one that makes you scratch your head and wonder if the NFL Draft is more a product of luck than in-depth analysis of athletic skill.  Moon had an average career at the University of Washington until his senior year--undoubtedly the best time for a college athlete to peak--when he led the Huskies to a victory in the 1978 Rose Bowl over the highly-favored Michigan Wolverines. 

Most teams wanted to convert Moon to tight end, a typical response to a black quarterback at the time, but he refused to change positions; this may have been the main reason that he went undrafted in 1978.  However, he was able to hone his QB skills further in the Canadian Football League, and he played for the Edmonton Eskimos from 1978 through the 1983 season, leading the team to an incredible 5 consecutive league championships (known as the Grey Cup in the CFL).

When Moon decided it was time to move south of the border to the NFL, he found a home way south, in Houston, where he played for the Oilers for ten years.  While with the Oilers, he won 70 games, a team record that stood for over ten years, won multiple passing titles and set several passing related-records.  His biggest career moment may have been when he engineered the biggest comeback in NFL history to that point.  In the first round of the AFC Playoffs at the end of the 1992 season, he led the Oilers to overtime over the Buffalo Bills, after they had trailed the Bills 28-3 at halftime.  The Bills ended up winning on a Steve Christie field goal in overtime, but the game has since been known as The Comeback.

Warren’s time with the Oilers would be his longest tenure with any team; he later played for the Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks and the Kansas City Chiefs.  Over his NFL career, Moon was named to nine Pro Bowls and his records for passing yards (combined with the CFL and NFL careers), most passing touchdowns and pass completions were held until 2006 and 2007.  Moon is only one of two people to be enshrined in both the Canadian Hall of Fame (in 2001) and the Pro Football Hall of Fame (in 2006).

Stay tuned to this space for some more stories about these “who woulda thought” personalities in the NFL…

Recipe Time Out: Stuffed Pork a la Popeye

For loyal readers of Naptime Huddle, today’s recipe may seem quite familiar.  Back in September, I posted a recipe for Grecian Stuffed Chicken, from the vault of a cousin of mine.  Recently I discovered that the stuffing from that recipe also works in pork.  I made some adjustments in the base recipe to prepare the pork, so I wanted to share the new dish with you.

Ingredients:

6 pork chops (bone-in or boneless variety)

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil (unless you'd rather use Olive Oyl)

10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed (hence the "a la Popeye")

8 oz. feta cheese, crumbled

½ cup mayonnaise

1 clove garlic, minced

¼ cup all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon paprika

6 strips of bacon

 Instructions:

 

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut a pocket into each pork chop (if bone-in, cut pocket toward the bone).  Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Drain spinach and squeeze out any additional liquid.  Combine with feta cheese, mayonnaise and garlic.  Stuff mixture into pork chops.

Combine flour and paprika and lightly coat stuffed chops.  Wrap one piece of bacon around each.

Heat canola oil in skillet over medium heat.  Cook pork in oil about 5-8 minutes, turning once, until each is light brown on both sides.

Place the pork chops into an ungreased baking dish measuring 13” x 9” x 2”.  Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minute; uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes or until the pork is slightly pink in the center. 

Serves 6

A gah gah gah gah gah!

Sorry, that's my best rendering of Popeye's trademark laugh:

Home is Where... the Luxury Seats Are (cont'd)

Well, it’s good news for Vikings fans:  the bill to fund a new stadium in Minneapolis survived its final hurdle, passing in the State Senate, ensuring that the Vikings will stay put for years to come.  Under the final bill, the share of construction costs for the Vikings and the NFL will be $447 million; $348 million will come from the state and the City of Minneapolis will pony up $150 million.

The proposed new stadium's interior

Now that Minnesota, and the rest of us, can move on, let’s jump back to where we left off yesterday with our look at stadium financing.  You’ll recall that we covered the first mean to finance construction of new venues—100% public funds through the sale of bonds—and then we looked at how Cowboys Stadium was paid for—with a mix of public and private funds.  Today, we examine a second example of the latter, and move on to our third means of financing…

Santa Clara Stadium:

The San Francisco 49ers have called Candlestick Park home since 1971.  Originally built as the stadium for the MLB San Francisco Giants, it continued to be a multi-use park until the Giants moved to their new home, AT&T Park in 2000.  Situated Candlestick Point on the western side of the San Francisco Bay, fans, players and the media have long complained about the cold and windy conditions that, though not too extreme for football, made attending baseball games almost unbearable, particularly in the early years of the stadium (which first opened in 1960).  Adapting the seating for football has resulted in an unusual arrangement, leaving a large portion of the seats that are in right field territory hidden behind a sideline grandstand during football games.

In sharp contrast to the process that located, financed and built Cowboys Stadium, the journey toward Santa Clara Stadium was longer and had some hairpin turns.  In 2006—nine years after a first failed attempt to get a new stadium plan off the ground—the 49ers put forward a plan to build a new stadium at the same site, Candlestick Point, at an estimated cost of a little over $900 million.  However, as in previous discussions over the previous decade, disputes with the San Francisco officials arose concerning the precise location of the venue, which was to include retail space and housing.  Much of the dispute centered on the team’s concern over traffic to and from the new stadium, especially given the additional traffic for the retail and housing developments; the city simply failed to provide an adequate solution beyond the existing two-lane road that was the only route between the stadium and the freeway. 

It's not that far

Instead of slogging through further negotiations, the team decided to look to the community of Santa Clara, located 40 miles to the south, which is where the 49ers’ offices and training facilities have been for the past 25 years.  Unfortunately, withdrawing the stadium proposal was not a cut-and-dried affair; San Francisco had positioned the proposed stadium as the centerpiece for its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.  When the team abandoned its Candlestick plans for Santa Clara, San Francisco had to withdraw its bid.  This, and the anger over its beloved team leaving the city, inflamed the passions of both San Francisco citizens and public officials, to such an extent that a California State Senator introduced a bill prohibiting the 49ers from building a stadium within 100 miles of the San Francisco if they did not build within city limits.

The club’s dealings with the City of Santa Clara has been much less contentious by comparison, and the terms of the financing for the stadium seem more than fair.  Under a voter-approved proposal, called “Measure J,” the city owns the property on which the stadium will be built, and will lease the land to the team for the stadium.  The city has secured an $850 million loan for construction, and the team will be responsible for any construction costs exceeding that amount.  The city’s stake will also be paid for with a hotel tax and funds (capped) from the city’s Redevelopment Agency.

A rendering of the new stadium

Remember from the last post how Jerry Jones and the Cowboys received a $150 million loan from the NFL through the league’s “G-3” program?  Well, in February, the NFL approved a $200 million loan to the Niners in the next generation of the program, “G-4”.  In case you were wondering, loans taken from these programs are paid back through certain types of receipts from ticket sales.


UPDATE:  A dark, but small, cloud is threatening the sunny outlook on the development of the Santa Clara stadium.  In late June 2012, the Santa Clara County Oversight Board voted to withdraw $30 million, which had been approved by Santa Clara voters, from funding of the new stadium.  The Oversight Board is a newly created body that determines how property taxes from redevelopment zones, the source of the earmarked funds, are spent.  The explanation?  Officials said that they wanted to use the money to pay teachers--a version of the guns vs. books debate.  This move came as a surprise to the officials in the city of Santa Clara as well as the 49ers, who quickly filed a lawsuit to keep the county from taking back the money.  However, if the team loses the battle, they will simply absorb the cost, which amounts to less than 3% of the stadium's total cost.

100% Private Funding   

Now we come to third, and most rare, form of stadium financing (at least in the NFL)—all-private funds.  The latest football mecca to be built purely with private money is the new Met Life Stadium—home to both the New York Jets and the New York Giants.

As is the case with other stadiums, Met Life Stadium is, on paper, owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, and the teams are in a lease with the Authority to use it.  Built in East Rutherford, New Jersey, right next to the former Giants Stadium, the complex is the first project representing a 50/50 partnership between two teams.  The only real hitch in the deal is that, under the terms of the lease, if one team decides to move out, the other team has to stay for the remainder of the lease.  Time will only tell if this creates any New York-caliber drama in the years to come.  You know how roommates can be…

When the Jets proposed a new stadium plan for a location in Manhattan, it fell through because of the amount of public funding that would be required.  Once they decided to partner with the Giants, there was no real drama on determining location—they just opted to build next to Giants Stadium.  I guess things just go more smoothly when you don’t need the government to foot the bill (perhaps a model for how things should work in other aspects of life? Hmmm…).  Good thing for local authorities, too, as the total construction cost came to $1.6 billion, the most expensive NFL venue ever built.  Opening private wallets did not give builders a blank check, however.  One sacrifice that had to be made was leaving off a dome, which meant saying “fuggedaboutit” to indoor events, like the Final Four—one major event developers had been hoping to host at the new place.

Met Life Stadium does, however, boast the largest permanent seating capacity for football games, at 82,566.  It’s most striking feature is its outer layer of aluminum that has interior lighting so that the stadium’s colors can be changed depending on which team is playing at home.

The stadium for a Jets home game...

...and for a Giants game.  Cool, huh?

Unlike other stadiums that had to accommodate additional teams, or even other sports, after construction, Met Life Stadium can be easily converted from the home field for the Jets to the home field for the Giants.  The FieldTurf in each end zone is rolled up by ground crews and replaced with different FieldTurf bearing the other team’s name and logo.  The NFL logo appears a midfield, instead of team logos, so that’s one less thing that needs changing.  And the stadium sports four locker rooms, two at each end—one for the Giants, one for the Jets, and two for visitors.  Since the visiting team is housed at the locker room at the opposite end of the home team, the home team can use the visitor’s locker room at its side on game day.

So, did you ever think that so much went into building big donuts of concrete filled with hard seats?

Home is Where...the Luxury Suites Are

This off season in the NFL has been far from boring.  From the Lebronesque frenzy over Peyton Manning’s football future, to draft intrigue, to the Saints bounty scandal, football fans and the media have had plenty to talk about.  The biggest news of the moment is the drama unfolding in Minnesota over the efforts to fund a new stadium for the Vikings.  A lot is riding on the outcome of the negotiations in St. Paul, and it seemed like a good time to give you some background, plus a primer on stadium financing!

THE METRODOME: HOME OF THE MINNESOTA VIKINGS 

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, known simply as "the Metrodome," was once the home of the MLB Minnesota Twins and University of Minnesota’s football team in addition to serving as the home field of the Vikings.  Each organization has long felt that the arena was past its prime, however:  the Twins vacated in 2010 and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers beat their retreat back to campus in 2009. 

For their part, the Vikings have been pushing the state and Minneapolis officials for a new stadium deal for years; the discussions have been heated at times.  While progress has certainly been made (as of Thursday morning, the Vikings owners agreed to pony up $50 million more of the over $400 million they've agreed to pay and the deal had required approval by the Minnesota State Senate), there is a heightened sense of urgency as the Vikings’ lease for the use of the Metrodome expired in 2011.  With the future of the Vikings’ venue undecided, talk of the Vikings being sold and/or relocated to another city—with Los Angeles being one possibility—persists. 

(By the way, see if you can say “Minnesota State Senate” five times fast.)

STADIUM FINANCING BASICS

Generally speaking, there are three ways to finance a stadium:  (1) sale of bonds to the public; (2) a combination of state and private money; and (3) paying entirely with private funds.  Let's examine some examples of NFL stadiums built under each method:

All Public:  Sale of Bonds

Hmm, I wonder why they called him "Curly"?

Iconic Lambeau Field, situated only blocks from the shores of Green Bay, has been home to the Packers since 1957.  Originally named City Stadium, it was renamed in 1965 to honor Curly Lambeau, the team’s founder, player and long-time head coach.  Lambeau Field was the first stadium built just for an NFL franchise.  Under threat from the NFL to move the team to larger Milwaukee, the citizens of Green Bay voted overwhelmingly (70%) for the issuance of bonds to pay for the new stadium.  The cost was $960,000, and the bonds have been paid off since 1978.  Isn’t that quaint?

The Packers have an ownership structure that is not only one of its kind in the NFL, but is unique to all of professional sports in the U.S.  It is a publicly owned nonprofit corporation owned by the Green Bay community.  Stocks were first sold in 1923, and have been sold only five times over the teams history when additional funding was needed; most recently for a renovation of Lambeau Field that took place in the early 2000s.  Under the team’s Articles of Incorporation, the number of shares an individual may own is limited, and shares can neither be sold nor traded, ensuring that no one person or entity can acquire controlling interest in the team.  In fact, the Articles of Incorporation state that if the team is ever sold that the proceeds from the sale, exclusive of expenses, will go to the Green Bay Packers Foundation, a nonprofit that supports various charities and other institutions in the state.

Not only is this form of ownership unique in the NFL, but it can never be duplicated; the league forbids this type of structure, but the Packers were grandfathered in when the rule went into effect.

Combination of Private and Public Funding 

Concocting a mix of public and private funds is the most typical path to football stadium construction, yet it is by far the most controversial to take—just like sausage, no one wants to know how the deals get done.  Just look at the situation in Minnesota:  nobody wants to see the Vikings move, but the main sticking point is how much of the cost should be borne by the public (through taxes and gambling revenues, which come with their own issues) and how much the team should have to pony up. 

Just how easy or difficult the process is will depend, in part, on the tolerance of the community for public spending on the venture—which is influenced, no doubt, by the passion that particular community has for its team.  To illustrate the point, let’s look at two contrasting cases:  Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas and Santa Clara Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

 Cowboys Stadium (a.k.a. “The House That Jerry Built”):  Originally budgeted for a construction cost of $650 million, the final tally when the 2,100-inch hi def jumbotron was plugged in was $1.15 billion.  The retractable-roofed stadium is a temple to gridiron glory generously fed by the passion the Dallas area has for its 'Boys.  Aside from the largest hi def screen in the world, the facility boasts more than 3,000 LCD displays throughout the stadium.  The area behind the stands at each end zone is framed by 120-foot high glass doors that can be opened; the tallest movable glass walls in the world.  The stadium’s most interesting feature, in my opinion, is the presence of luxury suites at field level.   All of the luxury suites have the latest amenities and plush surroundings, but these suites are positioned eighteen inches below field level, to maximize the feeling of being part of the action.

The view from a corner field level suite



Once the site in Arlington, Texas was established (Dallas County officials didn’t want to ask the taxpayers for approval to foot the bill for $425 million public share), the local officials and residents jumped on board relatively quickly.  In July of 2004, Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones, announced that the team was in negotiations with the city of Arlington; in August the city council voted unanimously to put the necessary tax increase to the voters.  In November, the taxes to raise the city’s $325 million share were approved by the voters.  The taxes include increases of the city sales tax by 0.5%, the hotel occupancy tax by 2% and the car rental tax by 5%; bonds were also used for financing.

"When should I tell the city I lost the remote for the jumbotron?"

The NFL itself also kicked in $150 million through a loan program established to encourage the construction of new stadiums throughout the league.  At the time, the program was called the “G-3” fund and the maximum loan amount was capped at $150 million.*  Fortunately for the 49ers, this changed in 2011…

…You'll see why in my next post!

Some Tough Mothers

As you probably know, this Sunday, May 13th, is Mother’s Day.  (Have you mailed your card yet???)  In honor of this special days for mommies everywhere, Naptime Huddle is taking a look at some famous moms in the world of professional football. 

Football moms endure a lot, and at every stage of their sons’ careers, from youth football to the NFL:  cleaning sweaty, grimy jerseys (even pads and jock straps); caring for injuries, from minor scrapes and bruises to cringe-inducing breaks and sprains; and helping their sons come to terms with disappointment, from losing, or not making the team.  For moms of professional players, they also have to adapt to living in the public eye;* even if the spotlight is pale compared to her son’s, its glare is blinding compared to the relative darkness of anonymity (although it looks like first-round pick Matt Kalil’s mom can handle it.  Click here for an explanation).

Below are three of the more recognizable names of mothers who have provided endless support for their famous footballing sons.  One has made her appearance in most of the living rooms in the United States; another is famous for standing by her football man or, in her case, men; and the third became a star after the story of her son’s life before the pros hit the big screen.

Wilma McNabb

In the late 1990’s, Campbell’s Soup launched the “Mama’s Boys” campaign for their Chunky soup line.  The ads featured popular NFL players who were babied by faux moms who made them steaming hot bowls of Chunky soup.  Donovan McNabb, then quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles, became part of the campaign in 2001.  In line with the participation of previous players, an actress played the role of Donovan’s mother.

The next year, however, the ad agency decided to give Wilma, Donovan’s actual mama, a shot at playing herself in the spots.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Wilma (with Donovan at her side) became the face of the Chunky campaign, which reflected her real role as a den mother of sorts to the Eagles team (she had actually cooked mac and cheese and red beans and rice for them).  A few of the ads went a step further, though, depicting her knitting scarves for the players and reading them bedtime stories while on the road.

Here’s one of her spots: 

“Boys, play nice!”

Olivia Manning

As Homecoming queen at Ole Miss, it seemed only natural that Olivia Williams would date, and later marry, Archie Manning, the school’s star quarterback.  She moved with him to New Orleans when the Saints drafted Manning with the second overall pick in the 1971 draft.  Archie played for the Saints for ten seasons, and was one of the rare bright spots for a team in a very long stretch of forgettable seasons.  Though he eventually left the Saints to play for the Houston Oilers and, later, the Minnesota Vikings, Archie and Olivia continued to call New Orleans their home and Olivia became very active within the community.  One of Olivia's projects is Women of the Storm, an organization formed after Hurricane Katrina to keep the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast a priority for the public and policy makers.

Being the wife of a professional football player is hard enough:  in his 14-year career, Archie never played on a team with a winning record.  But imagine going through your husband’s tough career and then watching two of your sons following in their father’s footsteps.  Olivia is the proud mother of two NFL quarterbacks:  Peyton Manning (a Super Bowl winner with the Indianapolis Colts and recently signed by the Denver Broncos) and Eli Manning, who just won his second Super Bowl with the New York Giants.  Archie and Olivia are often torn on which son’s game to see in person, but you gotta know that Thanksgiving is interesting in the Manning house.

Oh, and Olivia has also managed to get into acting with her famous family.  Here is a commercial they did for ESPN:** 

OK, not a speaking part, but you take what you can get!

Leigh Anne Tuohy

Regular Naptime Huddle readers will remember Leigh Anne from our discussion of Classic Football Movies.  It was Leigh Anne’s befriending, and eventually adopting, a future NFL star that inspired the Michael Lewis book The Blind Side, which was adapted into a feature film in 2009.

Michael Oher spent most of his childhood moving from foster home to foster home in Memphis, Tennessee.  He met Tuohy’s son at a private Christian school, where he was admitted after the school’s football coach recognized his potential.  Over time, the Tuohy’s treated Oher like a member of the family and Leigh Ann eventually became his legal guardian.  With Leigh Anne’s encouragement and tireless advocating on his behalf, Oher was recruited by Ole Miss and was a first round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens.  Leigh Anne has made a name for herself outside of the football, too.  An accomplished interior designer, she was added to the team of designers for the 2010 season of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. 

Even if she hasn’t raised a Super Bowl winner, starting lineman or soup-eating quarterback, every mom deserves some time in the spotlight.  So please make every mom in your life—yours, a friend’s, even you—feel special this Sunday. 

Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

*The PFPMA—Professional Football Players Mothers’ Association—helps NFL moms ease into their new role, and provides support for them during and after their sons’ careers.  The current president of PFPMA is Euwayne Denise Wayne, mother of veteran Indianapolis Colts receiver Reggie Wayne.  To find out more about the PFPMA, visit www.pfpma.org.

**The Mannings' oldest son, Cooper, also appears in the ad. Cooper showed promise as a wide receiver in high school, but had to end his career after a diagnosis of spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal. He is now a partner in an energy investment firm in New Orleans. 

Football's Goin' to the Dogs

Earlier this week, we lost one of our dogs, Tippy (a.k.a. “Old Man”).  We adopted Tippy, a Pomeranian, from our local shelter almost three years ago—May 21, 2009.  When we visited him at the shelter, we took him for a walk to a nearby park.  As soon as we sat in the grass, Tippy went to each of us and buried his face in our laps, rolling onto his back to be petted.  That sealed it—he was coming home with us.

The shelter where we got Tippy

The folks at the shelter warned us that Tippy was not long for this world.  He was clearly old, though they didn’t know his actual age (last year our vet estimated his age at 15).  He was severely malnourished, had a mouth full of rotting teeth, severe cataracts and a leaky heart valve that had enlarged one ventricle of his heart.  For a prognosis, they gave him anywhere from six weeks to six months—more likely on the six-week end.

It’s amazing what a little T.L.C. can do.  We had his teeth cleaned (after being cleared for anesthesia by a veterinary cardiologist), and though they had to remove about half of his teeth, he could still eat solid foods.  Within weeks he had gained almost three pounds (from just over seven pounds to ten) and was even getting along with our two other Poms, Toby and Molly.  As the weeks passed, Tippy became a beloved member of our family. 

Tippy chillaxin' with Molly (left) and Toby (center)

In honor of Tippy’s passing, I thought we'd take a look at the special relationship between football and dogs. 

DOGS AND THEIR TEAMS

Football has long had connections with man’s best friend.  Countless team names and mascots have been inspired by dogs, particularly in college football—e.g., the University of Georgia Bulldogs, University of Washington Huskies, Loyola (MD) Greyhounds, Agnes Scott Scottish Terriers and, my personal favorite, the Southern Illinois Salukis.  In the pros, you have the “Dawg Pound,” the name for the bleacher section behind the east end zone in Cleveland Browns Stadium; and, as we have learned from Football History 101, one of the earliest powerhouses in pro football was the Canton Ohio Bulldogs.

A look at the early days of football reveals another surprisingly intimate connection between pigskin and canine.*  In 1922, a breeder of Airedale terriers, Walter Lingo, established his own team, the Oorang Indians.  His goal in sponsoring the team was to promote the sale of his “King Oorang” Airedales, which were much larger than the average size for the breed.  To lend some star power to his franchise, he recruited Jim Thorpe, who was already a legend in his own time and an avid dog lover.  Thorpe helped Lingo assemble a team comprised entirely of Native American players.

Thorpe is in the middle of the back row (arms crossed)

The Oorang Indians had a forgettable two-season stretch in the NFL, mostly because Thorpe coached more than played and the players were also employed full-time at Lingo's kennels.  They were also a traveling team, since their home town of LaRue was too small to have a football field of its own.  However, they were probably one of the first and only teams to have a halftime show.  Though a ubiquitous part of the game now, entertaining the crowds during halftime was rare in the sport’s early days.  If you attended an Oorang Indians game, however, you were treated to a version of a Wild West show at the intermission, featuring dog tricks (conducted by the players, including Thorpe), Native American dancing and drop kicking stunts by Thorpe himself.

PLAYERS AND THEIR CANINE CAUSES

More recently, you can find several examples of NFL players opening their hearts—and their wallets—to help dogs in need, like our Tippy before he found us.  Stories of this kind have garnered special attention since the notorious Michael Vick dogfighting case that erupted back in 2007.

One of those feel-good stories has been a business partnership between linebackers Will Witherspoon (now with the Tennessee Titans) and Dan Morgan (retired, formerly with the Carolina Panthers).  The pair, along with a third partner, have opened a series of doggie day care centers in the Charlotte, NC area, called Club K-9.  The two also pledged to be long-term supporters of a nonprofit no-kill shelter called Project HALO, which stands for “Helping Animals Live On.”

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has been an avid supporter of the Baltimore Humane Society, making financial contributions, including providing autographed items for sale to the public, and making visits to their facility.  In 2011, he ran a campaign with Dunkin’ Donuts called “Take Joe on the Go”—customers could buy boxes or travel mugs of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee with a picture of Joe Flacco on them.  A portion of each sale—a total of $9,000—went to the shelter. 

College football legend and former NFL running back Herschel Walker has recently joined the fight to end dog fighting.  At the age of 50, Walker has thrown his entire body into the ring--or, rather, octagon--and become a mixed martial arts fighter.  He has teamed up with other stars of MMA, boxing and professional wrestling to form Knock Out Dog Fighting, a nonprofit youth intervention program designed to educate young people about the cruelty of dog fighting and, as Bay Woof Magazine put it, "take any remaining 'cool' out of dog fighting."

Here's a PSA Walker has done for the organization:

Click here to check out their website (including some pretty cool merchandise):  http://www.knockoutdogfighting.org/index.html

PLAYERS AND THEIR DOGS

And now to wrap up our special look at football and dogs, here’s some pictures of current and former NFL players and their dogs:** 

Dolphins WR Devone Bess and his dog

Steelers QB Terry Bradshaw with his dog in 1979

Jags QB Chad Henne and pal

Safety Yeremiah Bell, now with the Jets, and his canine companion

QB legend Sammy Baugh and his dog Cow Patty in 1998

I hope you'll forgive my rare showing of sentiment with this post. I also hope it has inspired you to consider adopting a dog from a shelter, or at least supporting your local shelter and other organizations that promote dog welfare. I'm sure Tippy would join me in saying, "May your days be filled with long walks and lots of treats!"

*Source:  “Was the first pro football halftime show used as a way to sell dogs?”  Brian Cronin, Los Angeles Times, April 25, 2012 (found at http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-was-the-first-pro-football-halftime-show-used-as-a-way-to-sell-dogs-20120425,0,3113473.story).

**These pictures are from a photo essay on NFL.com, found at http://www.nfl.com/photos/09000d5d826f8b23#id:09000d5d826f8204. The photos of Bess, Henne and Bell were published in a calendar, "That's My Dog", featuring several then-Dolphins players with their pet dogs.  Proceeds from the sale of the calendar benefited the Humane Society of Broward County; see http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-09-15/community/fl-societyse-bigdog-0915-20100915_1_humane-society-calendar-pet-dogs.