# One NFL player suddenly finds himself in the 60s NFL **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 9, 2012, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180 "2012-10-09T06:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/22 "2012-10-10T17:05:24Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > [citation needed] What’s your point? Are you arguing that current NFL players don’t do steroids? ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/23 "2012-10-10T18:03:21Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Plus he’d have a cope with D-lineman head slaps, legal until 1977. :eek: > > Imagine a quarterback going back in time and having to call his own plays. Bring on that simpler playbook! John Elway was given the right to call his own plays late in his career… and later decided he preferred letting the offensives coordinator do it. After all.. he could still audibilize if he wanted to and it took a lot of stress off to let the coaches send in plays. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/24 "2012-10-10T18:07:50Z")
Ever see how big Mark Schlereth was as a Redskins lineman? He’s only about 225 pounds now. He made himself huge by constant eating and pumping iron. Now he just eats normally and looks like a normal lineman of the Sixties. Point being guys like Alan Page were undersized by modern standards but they COULD have gotten much bigger if they’d needed to. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/25 "2012-10-10T18:10:39Z")
I’d also imagine such a player would last about 8 games before becoming the target of a dirty hit every other play. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/26 "2012-10-10T18:14:40Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Also, all the equipment has changed. Pads, helmets, cleats…all the exercise equipment, the physical therapy equipment, the medical procedures… Especially medical procedures. One good whack to the knee and our modern-era player’s career in 1960 is over. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/27 "2012-10-10T18:46:12Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > Especially medical procedures. One good whack to the knee and our modern-era player’s career in 1960 is over. A lot of other things have changed. Don Shula admits that, in his early days as a coach, he never let his players drink water during practices, because he’d always been told by HIS coaches that it would make the players soft. Coaches believed and did a LOT of stupid things in years past. SOME of those coaches know it and admit it- I can’t vouch it’s true, but I’ve heard that Paul “Bear” Bryant apologized to his old Texas A & M “Junction Boys” for the treatment he put them through, because he came to realize things he THOUGHT would “toughen up” his boys were actually dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/28 "2012-10-10T18:58:14Z")
Any of the receivers and defensive linemen would be considered obnoxious assholes for all their showboating. In the sixties, after you scored, you’d put the ball down and go back to the bench. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/29 "2012-10-10T22:56:52Z")
Offensive linemen would have a tougher time adjusting than defensive linemen. Those old timey D-linemen were some dirty SOB’s. However, a physical freak like Mario Williams or Julius Peppers would tear through offensive linemen like wet tissue. So would the super-backers like Ray Lewis and Urlacher. It’d be interesting to see how the combine superstars like Vernon Davis and Chris Johnson would translate. I’m guessing not well. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/30 "2012-10-10T23:42:25Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Were steroids available for NFL players back in the 60s? This could be a problem for modern players. A few NFL teams are known to have been using them in the late '60s. How their effectiveness has changed in the intervening years I don’t know. I suspect growth hormone is what modern players would really want to bring back with them but who knows? Has anyone watched one of the retro games on NFL network lately? Some current Wide Receivers could have played on one the lines back then and still be faster than anyone in the league. An average player from now would be a freak in that era. Unless we send Tony Romo… ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/31 "2012-10-11T00:51:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This is very true. It was only in the 1960s that teams began to use kicking specialists; Lombardi’s Packers didn’t have a dedicated kicker (Don Chandler) until 1965 – before then, guard Jerry Kramer and halfback Paul Hornung handled kicking. The 1960s saw the beginning of the influx of soccer-style kickers, who generally had longer ranges than toe-style kickers – but the first wave of soccer-style kickers were largely foreign-born soccer players, and often unfamiliar with the rest of the game, which meant that they _couldn’t_ play another position. While some part-time kickers were quite good (e.g., Lou Groza), many were only adequate. > > And, as with all NFL players (as noted above), playing pro football is now a full-time job, and the ability to focus on your craft seems to have raised the bar on players’ performance. > > In the 1960s, a kicker who hit 50-60% of his field goals (with an effective range of 45-50 yards), and 90% of his extra points, was acceptably good. Today, a kicker is expected to hit at least 80% of his field goals (82% of all field goals in 2011 were good), be more-or-less automatic from inside of 40 yards, be reasonably accurate out to about 55 yards, and rarely, if ever, miss an extra point (99% of extra points in 2011 were good). Anything less than that, and a kicker will be out of a job. Though they would have to get used to kicking the ball higher. Rule changes have diminished the rush up the middle and the jumping that the defense did back in the day. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/32 "2012-10-12T03:54:20Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Though they would have to get used to kicking the ball higher. Rule changes have diminished the rush up the middle and the jumping that the defense did back in the day. That’s true…but, on the other hand, the modern kickers would also be able to take advantage of being able to use broken-in balls, instead of the brand-spanking-new (and relatively hard to kick) “K-balls” which have been used for all kicking plays in the NFL since around 1999. In addition, most modern kickers are able to consistently get the ball at least into the end zone on kickoffs from the 35 yard line; in the 1960s, NFL kickoffs were from the 40, and a good kicker would probably put his kickoffs through the end zone most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/33 "2012-10-12T04:09:59Z")
They did narrow the hash marks in the 70s, which was an advantage for the place kickers. Some of the modern players have no experience kicking from wider angles. So they would have to deal with that. But as mentioned previously the big advantage is their extreme specialization. These guys are machines, and they could adapt to the wider marks pretty rapidly. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/34 "2012-10-12T04:55:08Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > in the 1960s, NFL kickoffs were from the 40, and a good kicker would probably put his kickoffs through the end zone most of the time. To clarify: a good _modern_ kicker would probably put most of his kickoffs through the end zone, if he were able to kick off from the 40. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/35 "2012-10-12T04:58:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Some of the modern players have no experience kicking from wider angles. The NCAA still uses the wider hashmarks, so unless you have a kicker who didn’t play college ball (such a rare thing as to be nonexistent) he _will_ have experience from those wider angles. ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/36 "2012-10-12T12:11:58Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s true…but, on the other hand, the modern kickers would also be able to take advantage of being able to use broken-in balls, instead of the brand-spanking-new (and relatively hard to kick) “K-balls” which have been used for all kicking plays in the NFL since around 1999. Possibly, how good was a '60s ball for kicking compared to a modern one? Were they still hand-sewn at that point? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180/37 "2012-10-12T14:14:39Z")
> [@kidchameleon](#): > > Possibly, how good was a '60s ball for kicking compared to a modern one? Were they still hand-sewn at that point? Hand-sewn or not, the issue is that, up until 1999, the balls used on kicking plays in games were not necessarily brand-new. The home team was (and continues to be) responsible for supplying X number of balls for a game, but there was no rule stating that they had to be “fresh out of the box” (and, frankly, the QBs, RBs, etc., also would want a ball that wasn’t shiny and slick, as a new ball is). What wound up happening is that that kickers (and punters) would soften up the balls that their team would be providing for that Sunday’s game, through various methods (kicking them, bouncing them on the floor, letting them bounce around in a clothes dryer, etc.) When a ball gets “loosened up”, it becomes slightly rounder, and more flexible, both of which are qualities which lead to better kicks. In the late 1990s, the NFL rules committee noted that, since kickers had become so accurate, and had such better range than they had in earlier decades, teams were opting for field goals more and more often. This was deemed to be unacceptable (they reasoned that fans wanted touchdowns, not field goals), and so, they instituted the “K-ball” rule, in which all kicking plays use special balls (imprinted with a “K” so that they won’t be used on other plays) which are fresh out of the box, and haven’t been broken in at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-nfl-player-suddenly-finds-himself-in-the-60s-nfl/637180.md?page=1)