The Super 70's (1980), Part 2

No copyright infringement is intended with this, or any other video I upload. The purpose of uploading this video is for the viewing pleasure for those that watch it.

Having finished the "Best Ever" series, this presentation, the sixth in the NFL Films Legacy Series, takes a look back at the entire decade of the 1970's in the NFL, and it's moments, players, and teams.

The second of five parts takes a look back at the player of the decade, O.J. Simpson, and the first half of the reign of the decade's greatest team, the Pittsburgh Steelers. This part begins with a rules change the NFL made in 1972, moving the hashmarks in, hoping to add offense. but what it did was made the running backs more dominant than ever. Three key running backs are mentioned. Two were Walter Payton and Earl Campbell, the latter of whom led the Houston Oilers to two consecutive AFC Championship Games in 1978 and '79. But the greatest player of the decade was unquestionably Buffalo Bills RB O.J. Simpson. Simpson would become the second to gain more than 10,000 yards in a career [after Jim Brown], break Gale Sayers' single-season TD record in 1975 [not mentioned], and of course, became the first man ever to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season, and the only one to do so in a 14-game season, in 1973.

Then the Pittsburgh Steelers are mentioned, as they went from the bottom of the sport [where they resided for almost their entire existence prior to the 1970's] to consecutive Super Bowl wins over the Minnesota Vikings [SB IX] and the Dallas Cowboys [SB X]. and they were just getting started. Most noted was the fact that the toughest assignment in the sport for any offense at that time was an encounter against the "Steel Curtain", the greatest defense in NFL history.

All credits go to NFL Films and ESPN Classic, as well as APM Music. Two airings from ESPN Classic were used to create this one presentation.

By the way, if you want to see a higher quality version of this program, check out ryanbrandy08's channel.You'll see a higher quality version of this program there, as my version comes originally from old VHS tapes, while his is of digital quality

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• NFL
• Films
• Super
• 70's
• O.J.
• Simpson
• Pittsburgh
• Steelers

[garfieldboyvmk]

3:15 looks like a piledriver

[cjs3872]

@garfieldboyvmk

It wasn't. It was just the way Payton landed after his patented dive as he landed right where an opposing player was.

[garfieldboyvmk]

2:55 to 2:59. Holy Shit, the jersey was ripped off.

[cjs3872]

@garfieldboyvmk

Well, there were players that wore tear-away jerseys back then, and Campbell was probably one of them. Not long after that, I believe they were banned. But that's probably why Campbell's jersey tore the way it did.

[elpacorrito]

What is the name of the instrumental song that starts at 1:51. It is absolutely brilliant !!

[cjs3872]

@elpacorrito

You'd have to ask the people at NFL Films about that, especially Sam Spence, who either created or composed the music.

[cjs3872]

@redmustang03

Yes, and AstroTurf was known for being hard on joints, which is why it shortened many careers. In fact, I believe it may have shortened O.J. Simpson's career, and if so, he would probably have been the first prominent NFL player to be so affected by it. There were also many prominent baseball players whose careers were negatively affected by AstroTurf, like Dave Parker, Andre Dawson, and more recently Vladimir Guerrero, among many others.

[redmustang03]

@cjs3872, I remember in high school playing on astroturf and it felt like concrete making a tackle or when you went down on the ground. You had to wear elbow pads so you didn't get turf burns.Many high school stadiums had astroturf until 2007 when field turf came in and made the surface so much better and safer to play on.

[cjs3872]

@redmustang03

Even those that play on aritificial turf? I think you mean especially those that play on artificial turf, because the artificial turf made players even more succeptible to major injuries, as well as lasting problems than playing on grass did, though in the case of men like Campbell, they were like ticking time bombs, in the case of their bodies holding up, because you knew their bodies weren't going to.

[redmustang03]

@cjs3872 back then many of these hits you see today would never be flagged back then. Obviously you didn't have instant replay, or medicine field to detect concussions. Now many of these players even those play on artificial turf are paying for those injuries years later. Great example Earl Campbell. His hard running style caught up to him years later with him now being wheel chaired bound and suffering from generative knee problems and bone spurs.