‘Zonk’, as he was affectionately known, was voted Superbowl VIII MVP and ended his NFL career rushing for 8,081 yards and 64 touchdowns.Ĭsonka was inducted into the Pro Football and College Football Halls of Fame in 19 respectively.Īs an Alabama Crimson Tide fan, Ken Stabler is a name which is held in the highest regard by the Tuscaloosa faithful. Larry Csonka’s physical and aggressive style made him the stuff of legend in Miami, even though he would go on to play in New York with the Giants for three seasons. However, Larry recovered from this terrible start and went on to a run of appearances where he did not miss a game for the next four years.Ĭsonka led that excellent Dolphins rushing game which dominated the NFL during the early 70’s, culminating in appearances in Superbowls VI, VII and VIII – two of which they won. His career with the Dolphins nearly didn’t get beyond his third game when he suffered concussions in his first two league games. During his time with The Orange he rushed for 100 yards in 14 different games, averaging 4.9 yards per carry during his fullback collegiate career.Ĭsonka was selected #1 by the AFL in the 1968 Draft, and #8 overall. In 1965 he switched to fullback where he excelled, breaking school records including the most rushing yards (2,934 yards). Csonka had played fullback at Syracuse, albeit starting life in New York as a middle linebacker. Larry Csonka is a name which is synonymous with the Miami Dolphins. Needless to say, Dave McDaniels didn’t quite make the cut for Canton. Gill Brandt was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019. Gill Brandt was one of the key drivers to establishing what we now know as the NFL Scouting Combine.ĭuring his time in Dallas, Gill Brandt uncovered talented stars such as Roger Staubach, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Drew Pearson, Randy White and Tony Dorsett – all players who helped the Dallas Cowboys dominate during the Tex Schramm and Tom Landry era. He scouted other sports such as basketball to establish similar traits which were transferable to football, recruited outside of the USA into Canada and Europe, and pioneered the use of psychology tests to identify a player’s football intelligence. If you are not familiar with the impact that Brandt had on the recruitment process, he was instrumental in establishing the use of measurable qualities and skills to create data with which to compare players. While 1968 would not go down as his finest draft moment, the scouting system that Brandt set up with the Cowboys revolutionised the game and drove how the league would scout new talent right up until today. And of course, this is how we best know Gil and really why he was inducted into the Hall fo Fame. This draft class would yield eight Hall of Famers, although three names jump off the page at me:Īs Verne points out, Gil Brandt’s participation in this draft was as Chief Talent Scout and Vice President of Player Personnel of the Dallas Cowboys. The scout never timed another tall, thin wide receiver”.ġ968 was only the second year in which both the NFL and AFL would select jointly, and the draft was held in New York over seventeen rounds. The scout went back and reviewed his original video tape, he realized to embarrassment, amazement, and shock, that he had set the distance at thirty yards, not forty.ĭavid McDaniel of Mississippi Valley State never played a down for the Dallas Cowboys. “When the team arrived for training camp in Thousand Oaks, California, and timed McDaniel once again, the best anyone could coax out of a stopwatch for McDaniel was something like 5.1. “The Cowboys drafted Davd McDaniel in the 2nd round.” The scout stared in amazement at his stopwatch, called Gill, and screamed into the telephone, “I clocked him at 4.29.” He had a cameraman tape the event, held up his stopwatch, yelled “go” and timed the guy hurtling over the measured distance. The scout placed tape down to measure a forty yard distance. “Gil Brandt of the Cowboys sent one of his scouts out to look at a tall, thin wide receiver named David McDaniel who played for Mississippi Valley State (pre Jerry Rice). This is the story of Dave McDaniels and the Dallas Cowboys: In fact a player which never actually played for the team that selected him. Verne tells the story of someone almost completely unknown in draft history.
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