howie long

howie long

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The Intimidator wore silver & black.

There was once a time when the Raiders, either in Oakland or Los Angeles, howie long scared teams into losing. They would lure the opposition into a street fight and before long winning the fight became more important that the final score. It was at that moment that the Raiders had you right where they wanted you. This intimidation tactic was one they would use successfully for several decades. It all changed one fall Sunday on Soldiers Field in 1984.

The L.A. Raiders came into Chicago as the reigning Super Bowl Champions. They had it all on offense, defense, & special teams. Tom Flores squad flew into Chicago on a 7-2 roll. Since the start of the 82 season the roughneck Raiders were 27-8 (most of which were in convincing style), plus three consecutive howie long & Super Bowl victories with an average score of 35-11. To put it simply, they were kickin ass on the entire league.

Coach Mike Ditka had a young team that was on a roll of its own. The upstart Bears were 6-2, and they were establishing themselves as a defensive force, ranking among the elite in the NFL. Walter Payton was (as Tina Turner would say) simply the best, but at last he had new tools to work with. A young wild eyed kid from BYU named Jim McMahon and a super speedy receiver named Willie Gault were starting to make names for themselves in Chicago.

The stage was set for the old champions to face the young challengers in what was sure to be a rugged, hard hitting battle. Little did anyone know just how rugged and hard hitting it would be.

Injuries were an issue for the Raiders, they would come into the game missing NT Reggie Kinlaw and MLB Matt Millen, Cliff Branch, along with the old veteran Jim Plunkett. That left
the young kid Marc Wilson to start, who just one season prior was headed to the USFL until the Raiders spent the big bucks to keep their future star QB in the fold.

The Raiders were built on defense. They had the best cornerbacks ever in Lester Hayes & Mike Haynes. Young stars like Howie Long, Greg Townsend, & Sean Jones led a huge defensive line. At linebacker they had young Jack Squirek starting for the injured Millen, plus Brad Van Pelt, & Rod Martin. Vann McElroy & Mike Davis were very solid at safety. They were deep as well as were good.

Outside of Chicago few knew about the defense Buddy Ryan was building known as the famed 463 defense. They had Richard Dent, Dan Hampton, & Steve McMichael on the defensive line, at linebacker there was Mike Singletary, Wilber Marshall, & Otis Wilson. Defensive backs included Todd Bell, Dave Duerson, Shaun Gayle, & veteran Gary Fencik. howie long too were stout.

The Raiders were a scoring machine behind the leagues leader in TDs Marcus Allen, who had Frank Hawkins leading his path. They had Kenny King on the bench, & Greg Pruitt to return kicks. Cliff Branch (when not & howie long Barnwell could go deep & the possession receiver was the great TE Todd Christensen.

But a funny thing happened that day. The wrong dark uniforms did the intimidating. Buddys defense stymied the Raiders, and soon Marc Wilson was hurt, a thumb injury. The Bears scored and it seemed as if the almighty powers of the NFL Gods had something special planned for this day. The wind blew, the clouds flew, and for the Raiders it seemed like a day or two.

Quickly the champions had a replacement for the young wiz Wilson, and that replacement was a former college hero named Dave Humm. Unfortunately just a few short plays howie long Humms knee resembled a Volkswagen after tangling with a Peterbuilt. Humm, the man who held the ball on so many field goals of significance over the years, had just had his pro football career laid to rest by the Bears defense. As Dave Humm flopped on the field in agony, his knee, as well as the champions chances, were toast.

The third quarterback that day was the punter Ray Guy. He warmed up on the sidelines, howie long he looked very concerned & nervous. As well he should have been, for every Raider QB had left seeking medical assistance. Fortunately for Ray Guy Marc Wilson demonstrated his true fortitude that day by coming back into howie long game. Later Wilson suffered a severe knee injury, yet Ray Guy never played one snap from center.

Ditkas Bears behind Walter & Buddys defense put the final clamps on the Raiders, and frankly the final score (17-6) did little to demonstrate the beating the Raiders howie long that day. This is not to minimize the damage the Raiders inflicted on the Bears, for they too were dishing out extreme punishment. These were two very physical teams playing one of the howie long physical games in the long history on the NFL.

Ray Guy never again flirted with the idea howie long playing QB. One could argue that Marc Wilson was never quite the same after that Sunday (I disagree but one certainly could argue the point). What nobody can argue is that Dave Humm spent the rest of his career selling cars in Vegas (someday I should tell you my howie long Humm is an asshole story).

Since that brutal Sunday on the field in Chicago the Raiders intimidation factor has been completely neutralized. It may have shown up a brief time or two, but for the most howie long it was rarely to be seen again. The Bears became the leagues Bad Boys and the following year the 85 Bears became one of the best NFL teams ever!

The howie long meanwhile wallowed in mediocrity under such names as Schroeder, Marinovich, Mike White, Joe Bugel, and even Art Shell. Before this game in 1984 the Raiders
won the AFC West an amazing 11 out of 17 years, since then they have won their division only 5 of the last 24 seasons. They were in the Playoffs in 13 of the previous 17 seasons, after that day the Raiders have only seen the
post-season in 7 of the last 24 years.

There is little doubt that the players who suited up that day in Soldier Field were among the best to ever play the game. At that moment in time it brought together two of the toughest teams to ever play the game. Unfortunately what happened since that day has completely changed the history of a once great franchise.

It was the day The Intimidator died.

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Post je objavljen 13.01.2008. u 11:37 sati.