NFL Films: Era of Excellence the 1980s

you are traveling a road that can't be located on any map you enter in september exit in january and love of pro football is the ticket that transports you to a world that is both wondrous and weird and it all begins behind closed doors big game big games all big come out there from the get go let's get the job done let's fly around have fun cut and shoot do what we have to let's get it done play loose play physical and play smart no mistakes it was a long time ago that we opened the season and we finished it by talking about how far we had to go and how big the mountain was you're right at the summit one thing i want you to remember football is only a small part of your life they didn't live it ain't life or death out there all we gotta do is go out and do the same thing we've asked from the first day we started do everything as good as you can and then a little bit more that's all you got to do each season of the 1980s began with high hopes and ended four months later in a whirlwind finish with more teams grabbing for a piece of the playoffs than ever before each and every player had a championship dream for some the dream was fulfilled for most it was not yet for all the chase was a wild one scintillating and stimulating we can close the coffin on these suckers right now okay get your man here we go man we got 60 minutes of football we gonna be world champions we got to start somewhere this right here got to come out the cellar we got to come out for 60 minutes dog fight ready let's go attack into architects that alert that alert set alert set alert 11 11 that's okay [Music] the 1980s a decade that contained a lifetime's worth of evolution as both offenses and defenses changed with the times but aggressive play was always the rule not the exception to survive one needed fast feet strong arms soft hands and hard heads let's go get to the passage [Applause] [Music] he's going deep jeff [Music] sophisticated passing offenses became the equivalent of space-age technology manned by graceful sky pilots with their sights set on a super bowl to attain it all they had to do was blast off [Applause] [Music] in the unbelievable players were bigger stronger faster and quicker than ever before and presented us with some superhuman efforts that will be forever frozen in the memory but it's a draw up in the middle of craig and he breaks loose and runs loose he gets used to the 30 to the 25 he's down to the 20. breaks loose again he's in the cash five punch down 49ers oh what a bonanza spectacular run by roger craig randall faking now rolling [Music] [Applause] [Music] throw he sets fire [Applause] spectacular performances defined a decade in which every player sought a place in the [Music] that's 18 sun receptions in a season the 1980s was an era of excellence punctuated by the many records that were broken that may well stand forever has just broken the national football league record for receptions in a single season the crowd is on its feet they should be what a great reference to break and a well-deserved honor for heartfelt as large and goes in motion toward the right great back to pass blood's coming frank grows short he's got a reception by origen who makes the catch and now becomes the all-time career receiving leader in the national football league [Music] quick pitch to walter looking for the record cuts back and he's got it he's out of the 25 to the 26 yard line caller page becomes the national football league all-time leading rusher surpassing jim brown and that's the equivalent to hank aaron breaking babe ruth let's listen to this [Music] pro football has evolved from backlots to big cities to temperature-controlled palaces in the suburbs but the shape of the football has remained the same making the game as unpredictable and entertaining as it was 60 years ago [Music] there's a scramble for it nearly fielded by the ranch craig gets her back of the 20. [Music] they're going to play it safe but he dropped the football and brett clark's going to bring him down at the 15. here's a lateral as roby got it to jensen jensen now trying to load up and throw wide open over here on the near side miami's got a receiver at midfield [Applause] [Music] i've never seen anything like this maybe the craziest play in the history of the orange ball we just saw it every team had the power to create a miracle and it became a source of high octane energy for teams accustomed to running on empty look down the field he's looking for somehow throws it over the middle it is team in the early 80s made a habit of fantastic finishes and the cardiac kids are at work today throwing to logan [Music] in two seasons the cleveland browns came from behind to win with less than two minutes remaining [Music] then there were those acts of desperation or were they miracles by design with two seconds left i would say right here you've got to go to billy white's shoes and let him do a little dance with the ball and try to go for the end zone here come the falcons with hodge bailey and johnson all to the left side two seconds remain 49ers will come with a three-man rush markowski to throw he is going down the near sidelines [Music] [Music] [Applause] in 1980 a hail mary pass dug the minnesota vikings out of a hole and put them in the playoffs they had trimmed the lead from 14 points to one with time for one last play three wide receivers right kramer back to pass he's going deep down the right side and it is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hail mary's rely on skill and a whole lot of but the true test of a team is their ability to string together a series of plays in a do or die situation the broncos are 98 yards away from where they need to go still five minutes to go but they need something out of this drive with 98 and a half yards left on the broncos road to the super bowl come on quarterback john elway took charge of what became known simply as the drive pass for sewell's come on [Music] 15 plays in five minutes the most exciting five minutes of the 86 season [Music] the drive's momentum swept the broncos into overtime on to victory and earned them a special place on the landscape of the 1980s the biggest story of the decade involved the bears william perry in 1985 the refrigerator achieved folk hero status a 330 pound defensive lineman who became the decade's most unlikely offensive weapon right here's jim mcmahon perry in motion to the near side mcmahon fakes right the fridge marched to the beat of a different walkman much like the seahawks brian bosworth who provoked strong reactions once he made pro football his chosen profession the raiders bo jackson likewise created a stir by making the game his hobby this major league all-star also hit with power on the gridiron [Music] and in a 1987 confrontation beau showed the boss who was boss and a quick pitch to jackson getting an allen block cuts under it bangs through bosworth touchdown raiders [Music] while bo jackson tripped the light fantastic in los angeles a rookie runner in cincinnati created the biggest dance craze of the decade the icky shuffle but at 230 pounds icky woods was not the game's biggest hot dog that distinction belonged to the jets mark gastinha a sax specialist whose off-field exploits earned him international attention while gastineau left the game for a goddess of the silver screen the cowboys featured a solid gold dancer who in 1984 turned in the longest touchdown run in nfl [Music] here he history [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] a record-setting tempo was established in 1982 as well by the redskins mark mosley plenty longer now it's good mark mosley has broken the national football league record 23 straight field goals a record that shouldn't stand as long as the 40 year old mark toppled by the chief stefan page when he totaled 309 receiving yards against san diego this standard had stood for so long that paige didn't realize it was within his grasp now he was just six yards away no one more cat should do it back to pass kenny throws by paige he's got the record nfl single game receiving record [Applause] but i'm not one of the greatest i'm just a free agent dan marino is one of the greatest the most dazzling passer of the decade was not a free agent but he was only the sixth quarterback chosen in the 83 draft then in only his second season mourinho completed more passes for more yards and more touchdowns than any quarterback in history [Music] he is firmly on course to become the greatest passer ever and to join john united and sami ball as mythic figures of the game much like dan marino eric dickerson plays as if he were from another planet while mourinho gave miami a deep passing game dickerson gave the los angeles rams a rushing attack in 1983 his 1808 yards rushing led the nfl it was the highest total by a rookie runner in league history the next season dickerson outdid himself by establishing the single-season rushing record with 2105 yards but where eric dickerson is going walter payton has already been since this country transformed rugby into football more than 100 years ago no man has carried the ball as often or as far as walter payton the only thing greater than his talent was his heart as payton puts it there's a voice inside me saying you can always do better to know the power of that voice is to see walter payton battle through a broken field peyton's career spanned 12 years and along the way he kept an appointment with destiny when he became the nfl's all-time leading rusher a remarkable record equaled only by the spirit in which it was achieved the motivating drive for me has been for the athletes that have tried but yet and still have failed to reach that certain achievement and also the athletes that uh that didn't get an opportunity to like the over streets and the delaney's lebron piccolos this simplifies what the game is made of and what i did out there today is a reflection of those guys because they made the sacrifices as well and it's a tribute to me to bestow this honor upon them thank you in an era of excellence walter payton's contributions to the game were unparalleled the likes of which may never be seen again [Music] this victory belongs the gym spirits always run high in the winter's locker room where some traditions never die the classic post-game ritual is one of [Music] them [Applause] but all was not laughter and fun for the nfl head coach of the 80s his is a perilous profession and each season was approached with cautious optimism the head coaches lives are filled with uncertainty and the roads taken to achieve success were treacherous one of the decades casualties was les steckel a vietnam veteran and at age 38 he was the league's youngest coach steckel was a marine major but in 1984 his minnesota vikings were in full retreat after 13 losses he was replaced by bud grant the man he had replaced 10 months earlier [Music] that same year sam tigliano's seven year career in cleveland came to an end when the browns lost seven of their first eight games owner art model was forced to fire his best friend the rams john robinson made the playoffs five times and enjoyed the nfl's most unique owner-coach relationship but win or lose these men share membership in an exclusive club where acceptance and insecurity stand toe-to-toe [Music] each must work harder than the next to find a winning edge it's an intense environment where the common bonds between them are anxiety doubt and fear the fear of losing is haunting you right to the time the game ends the emotions and the feelings that you get from losing probably stick with you longer than the joy of winning and i don't know what it is it's the thrill of it i don't think you can ever experience the tremendous highs that you have in this business and also the tremendous lows that you have it's not a game to us this is our profession and we work morning noon and night to do the best job that we can in our profession it doesn't matter how much money you had you couldn't buy my job there's only 28 people in the world that have my job ain't but two kinds of them that's been fired and then it's gonna get fired and i've been both you're just one of 28 football coaches trying to survive uh in a in to me the most competitive situation in in america today i know this it's the most challenging job that i've ever had but it's also the most exciting and in many respects i think it's the most fulfilling come here come on in in 1986 john macavik's kansas city chiefs earned their first playoff birth in 15 years a moment to be cherished and never [Applause] forgotten [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the first thing we ought to do honestly is just take a needle there you go there it is i gotta tell you what you guys know what it's like you know what it's like to have done this nobody believed we could do it we get it three weeks after the biggest victory of his life john makovic was fired as head coach of the chiefs in 1980 the philadelphia eagles under dick vermeel paved a road to their first championship in 20 years [Music] the eagles were stoked by the fires that burned in dick vermeer that was for you but despite enormous success vermeel's intensity would not let him rest when challenged he battled fans and sports writers and drove his players relentlessly maintaining his perch proved impossible as for meal strength soon became his weakness [Music] the eagles slipped to a 3-6 record in the strike-shortened season of 82 and by december vermeel was a comet burned out by its own heat this is an emotional time for me and being way too intense and far too emotional i'll do as good a job as i can right now i'm going to take my own advice and step down out of coaching i am emotionally burnt out and therefore feel that i need a break i'm just burnt out i hope very much my players can understand where i'm coming from i love those guys i love these people all the people legal organization and it's not an easy thing to do to say goodbye to him [Music] but as a professional coach i feel i owe it to him and i owe it to myself in a difficult decade some men burned out others were brushed aside there were those who persevered and remained at the top of their profession and others who hung on for dear life more than likely in the years to come this will never change [Applause] some games are remembered more for the weather conditions than for the final score on a monday night in 84 a blizzard engulfed mile high stadium in denver and as the snow continued to fall the television ratings rose making the game one of the most watched of the decade [Music] on the game's first two plays from scrimmage the broncos turned two green day fumbles into touchdowns it was man against the elements and how they conquered them play-offs smith comes to the ball [Music] in the night nothing could match the cold front that moved through ohio in 1982 a windchill factor of 59 degrees below zero made it the coldest day in cincinnati history and turned the afc championship game between the bengals and the chargers into a test of wheels quarterback ken anderson defied the elements and the men in the halloween helmets earned their stripes as afc champions [Music] seven years later the fog rolled in there were times in 1989 when the philadelphia eagles seemed to be playing in the fog in a playoff game against the bears that metaphor became a reality when a dense fog descended on soldier field in chicago the eagle's hopes of erasing the bear 17-9 halftime lead vanished in a path of smoke i've been at stadiums where they put you in high press boxes and you feel like you're looking through the clouds but in this case we really are in the clouds here's how it looks to us and we're only about 20 yards away from the play we can hardly see it in the stands the fans can and they're relying on the play-by-play announcer to keep them abreast of what's going on cunningham looking he fires the pass it may be intercepted by the bears as cunningham evidently fired into the fog and was picked off that time by the bears and that could do it right there [Music] [Applause] a 20 to 12 defeat reduced the eagles to figures in a surreal landscape [Music] and their road to the super bowl receded to a hazy infinity [Applause] weather was not a factor in miami on january 2 1982 a steamy sultry orange bowl provided the backdrop for a first round playoff game between the san diego chargers and the miami dolphins the dolphins were slight favorites to win but the visiting charges shocked everyone with a barrage of first quarter points [Music] wes chandler's punt return ignited an outburst of 24 unanswered points as san diego looked to turn the game into an early route [Music] while the chargers were held in check for the rest of the half the dolphins were plotting to unleash a schoolyard play that caught the san diego defense totally unprepared [Applause] [Music] the chargers roared back on the play of number 80 tight end kellen winslow [Music] in a game with many heroes winslow earned special notice setting play-off records for receptions and yardage while overcoming a pinched nerve a bruised shoulder and heat exhaustion the drama continued to unfold as both teams seized then lost the lead dolphins running off the clock the chargers have to force the turnover hands off to the first man the ball's on the ground chargers have recovered so san diego trailing 38 to 31 the chargers mounted a desperation drive that ended with a touchdown pass from dan fox to james brooks [Music] in overtime the chargers finally had their opportunity it's no good kicker had never missed a game-winning field goal in his career but then kellen winslow added to his heroics minutes later when he blocked a second dolphin field goal attempt and with it he broke miami's fighting spirit behind perfect protection dan fountz picked miami apart [Music] the chargers were given a second chance and this time they did not fail the chargers were not a team of destiny but for one game the best of the 1980s they were worthy of the weighty cloak of greatness 1989 marked the passing of the man they called the chief art rooney's beloved pittsburgh steelers were crowned team of the 70s [Music] but in the 80s coach chuck noll watched as the steelers tripped stumbled and fell from grace indeed the once mighty steelers no longer possess the look of a champion [Music] in miami coach don schuler's offensive fireworks could not disguise a glaring weakness the dolphins could defense neither the run nor the past and opponents exploited their shortcomings to the point of embarrassment [Music] for nearly a quarter of a century the dallas cowboys enjoyed unparalleled success they were anointed america's team a tough title to live up to coach tom landry was the enduring symbol of a team that strung together 20 straight winning seasons but aging veterans coupled with poor drafts led to consecutive losing seasons and the steel facade of tom landry began to crack the cowboy shotgun was no longer loaded with deadly ammunition finally after the 88 season the only coach the cowboys ever had was fired by new ownership tom landry's worst nightmare could never lead to the depths of depression suffered by pro football fans in new orleans when the saints came stumbling in losses were sure to follow for two decades since their creation in 1967 the saints had failed to post a winning season no other team in professional sports has come close to matching that mark of futility any man who could turn it around in new orleans would surely be nominated for sainthood in 1986 that man was jim mora the newest man to accept coaching's biggest challenge but that first year the results though promising fell short of maura's goal i wanted to have a winning season because this is something that this team had never experienced or this this organization had never experienced and i felt like it was important that we achieved that and get that monkey off our back by 1987 the saints were on the fast track to the playoffs and no one enjoyed the unfamiliar thrill of victory more than owner tom benson as a youngster in new orleans he played sandlot football in san roche park now he was on the sideline as history was being made with louisiana-born players like quarterback bobby a bear and running back dalton gilead the saints had a distinctive local [Music] flavor but for game-winning field goals they look to a kicker from denmark morton anderson snap is back kick is up kick is on its way it is short and it is just over the crossbar and good oh baby [Music] this repeating show [Music] the saints assured themselves of that elusive winning season with a memorable goal line stand against the pittsburgh steelers [Music] will be behind the loan on fourth and goal from the one pitching it to pollard sweeping left he stops short of the goal line the saints have held them the saints have held them inside the one on fourth down and the ball will go back to new orleans the saints are winners for the first time in 21 gracie years jesus last year i had hope but we've been hoping for 21 years and every year we say 10 years this year so finally this year have come thank god thank god for the same [Music] [Applause] there was never much of a saintly air about the oakland la raiders [Music] intimidation was their creed might makes right their pledge the only team to go to super bowls in three different decades took their direction from owner al davis who had a knack for transforming lost causes into big winners in 1980 he resurrected cast off quarterback jim plunkett after 10 years of obscurity plunkett responded with the finest season of his career when he revived a raider tradition built on the big play [Music] after winning super bowl 15 the raiders became stronger with the addition of marcus allen a runner who scaled walls of tacklers in a single bound another reason why this empire struck back in the early 80s was defense lester hayes had the best year of any defensive back of the decade when his 13 interceptions generated big plays on defense as well all phases of the raiders game were programmed to deliver the killing blow and it led them to super bowl 18. once again as the sun set on south florida raiders big plays on offense and defense made the looks off to the difference and he fires it out there intercepted jack stroller raiders i don't believe it holy toledo bucket giving to allen sending him wide left he has to reverse his knee over the end he gets away for a moment [Applause] the raiders raced to a blowout of unthinkable proportions a 38-9 victory over the defending champions it's all over and the raiders have dominated as always the seasons belong to the champions and the 1980 and 83 seasons belong to the raiders all right let's go split right close the super bowl loss to the raiders was one of the few low points for head coach joe gibbs when gibbs arrived in washington he employed a one-back offense with two tight ends and pre-snap movement quarterback by joe theismann the redskins scored 541 points in 1983 the most in nfl history then there were the hogs the smurfs the fun bunch and the diesel who ground out their first super bowl win 35 six years later in super bowl 23 the redskins again climbed to the pinnacle of professional football when they exploded for 35 second quarter points to bury the denver broncos 42-10 [Music] ricky sanders set a super bowl record for the most yards receiving and doug williams for the most yards passing but the biggest play williams called that week occurred at a reception at the white house and the players tripp's right fake zoom larry crisscross and he got to throw it [Applause] where's ricky sanders in 1985 the super bowl express originated from the nation's heartland chicago city of the big shoulders hog butcher to the world where even the feast of saint valentine is associated with bloodshed chicago football like its civic history is not for the faint heart and for one season the chicago bears had the most ferocious defense in the nfl [Music] for the first time since the days of george hallas the bears were what alice made them 50 years ago the monsters of the midway [Applause] bound together by an unyielding desire to win this team of character and characters captured the imagination of a city and a nation as they charted the course for a championship to a city of battered dreams and near misses the bears restored a sense of pride the bears wanted all that year for fiery head coach mike ditka who revived chicago's tradition of toughness for the first time in 23 years the windy city had a winner and the sound of success rang from the north shore to the gold coast [Music] it's snowing steadily now here at soldier field the weather that everybody from chicago was hoping for has arrived not to get theatrical but i mean how better can you write a script here for cry back to pass the rush [Applause] the 85 bears they belong to chicago a city in whose image they were created and in whose heart they live the team of the year for 1986 made their home in the new jersey meadowlands [Music] and they were led by a child of the 50s head coach bill parcells new york bred and jersey tough the giants were more spit than polish more grip than glitter these guys were into jeeps not jaguars and their path to pasadena consisted only of hard work [Music] in 86 nobody messed with the giants i'll tell you he's a stone face that's rivero now you know what the hell he's thinking i'd hate to have to fight that son of a gun it was apparent that giants opponents felt the same way [Music] modern defenses are formulated around strengthened numbers but one powerful man can still control the game and no man controlled it like lawrence taylor the decade's most dominant defender lt made life miserable for opponents especially quarterbacks and he became the first linebacker ever to be named the league's most valuable player on offense the giants attacked with the same drive and energy quarterback phil sims's strong arm engineered a number of last-second victories and stamped the giants as a team of destiny a team whose power source was joe morris an undersized running back with an over abundance of desire in a theater of violence this team of engaging personalities added a heavy dose of comic relief and made the gatorade shower as anticipated as a giant victory the giants raiders redskins bears great teams all but no one team was as consistently strong throughout the 1980s as the san francisco 49ers quarterback joe montana was the catalyst of this powerhouse and the architect was bill walsh a scholarly head coach with an advanced degree in sideline communications he was a master of the game and gave the young 49ers stability and composure either fan or corner and as soon as you see the angle he's breaking then walsh led his upstarts from obscurity into the 1981 nfc championship game against america's one-time team the dallas cowboys everything hangs in the ballast now the season the outcome of the super bowl birth hangs in the balance he has them all montana rolling out the right looking toward the end zone throwing under pressure throws his pass caught by clerk it will forever be known as the catch the 49ers went on to win their first of three super bowls of the 80s they were a hard-nosed team that seemed out of place in san francisco the most seductive of cities [Music] the town's alluring rhythms are as sensuous as a samba but the football team is vintage rock and roll [Music] me the 49ers boasted a unique team chemistry that produced a volatile game plan jerry rice the most feared receiver in pro football was the centerpiece of a high-flying aerial attack and tailback roger craig became the first man ever to gain over 1 000 yards in both rushing and receiving in a single season all decade long the 49ers mined a vein of spectacular plays that earned them the motherlode of glory that culminated in the final championship game of the decade super bowl 23 behind in the fourth quarter hopes were fading but in the harsh glare of football's ultimate spotlight the 49ers proved they were equal to the pressure of the event [Music] since its inception the super bowl had been searching for this scenario pro football's best quarterback taking pro football's best team the length of the field for the winning touchdown in the final minutes in super bowl 23 joe montana and the team of the decade finally delivered [Music] [Music] [Applause] down to the 10. the 49ers will have to take a timeout here and they do it's such a sight to watch this it is whether it happens now or not to watch joe montana do this so many years and to watch this uh absolute surgeon on the football field and one of the all-time greats do his thing again it's almost like poetry at the 10-yard line 39 seconds remaining montana at quarterback in motion comes right montana gets up [Music] [Applause] [Music] 10 yards [Applause] the 49ers fabulous drive provided a fitting climax to the 1980s a dynamic decade an era of excellence i love you i love you congratulations i am happy for you like i've never been believe me all right congratulations this is yours you deserve it that was a good day foreign [Music] so you

Channel: Grey Beard

Views: 11,393

Rating: 4.7971015 out of 5

Keywords: NFL Films, Steve Sabol, Ed Sabol, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Lawrence Taylor, Dwight Clark

Id: EoAIizr_s2s

Length: 52min 35sec (3155 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 15 2020