Game Changers

I was posting in another thread and got to thinking how a player or type of player can change the way the game is played. Please take the time to post your thoughts on what player or players you think changed the game and how they did it.

I can go wayyyyy back and name one....Raymond Berry....Colts wide reciever.....he became the ultimate pattern runner. Would cut on a dime and the timing he had with Unitas was incerdible. The days of the wr were forever changed with Berry's finesse and footwork......

 

Ray Nitschke and twinky Butkus.

They defined the LB position new, with hard hitting plays and a dominant present on the field, they terrorize the opponents

 

Good Choices Olly....there was this guy named Lawrence Taylor who is given the most kudos for changing the way the Linebacker position is played today.....at least the outside/rushing linebacker.

I know a lot of you out there have your opinions too....let's hear em'

 

Before I go naming off player after player, can you give a clearer definition in what you're looking for in a "Game Changer"?

I can give you one without question, because of the innumerable ways he impacted his position and the game, that being Johnny Unitas. He put up 40,000 yards in an era during which 30,000 yards was unheard of, had 296 TDs when 200 TDs was a great accomplishment, invented the no huddle offense, the audible, and the two minute drill, helped his team to win the 1958 NFL Championship, which would later become famously known amongst NFL historians as "The Greatest Game Ever Played", and this is just what I can think of off the top of my head. He truly revolutionized the QB position and changed the game of football forever in so many ways.

 

Maybe it hasn't caught on like everyone thought it would but Randall Cunningham paved the way and potentially changed the way QB's played. The verdict is still out there especially with the Mike Vick situation, but you still have Vince Young, and a plethora of QB's with the ability to burn you with their legs.

 

How about Hank Stram? --Head Coaches can be game changers too, can't they? And Bill Walsh would be another one I would think would be considered a game changer!

Len Dawson...Joe Montana and the WCO!

 

That was the first guy I thought of when reading the initial post.

 

Marshall Faulk. He was good at everything, he could catch, run, break tackles, and he was a great blocker.

There was a 49er RB a lot like Marshall before but I forgot who it was.

 

Roger Craig.

 

Thanks. I think that's who I was looking for.

 

Johnny U is exactly the type of player I was looking for....the things he did changed the way his position was played for years to come....other qb's came along and changed it again but Unitas set the standard for years. What I was looking for was that type of player here....and how they impacted the game. You can be a great player and not have changed the game......wha was the first running back to become a great reciever also?....was it Craig or did someone do it before him?

 

LaDainian Tomlinson. He can run, catch, and even pbutt.

 

twinky "Night Train" Lane - He redefined CB and defense in general 50 years ago. Because of him, they outlawed clotheslining as a legal form of tackling. Many of the historians today regard him as the fiercest, hardest hitting player ever in the secondary.

Lawrence Taylor - As mentioned redefined the LB spot more than anyone else to date.

There are dozens if not hundreds more out there that I can't think of their names at the moment.

 

What coach would you say changed the game also?.....I'd have to say Tom Landry was one of the biggest changers....the schemes he implemented with his O-line and....unfortunately I'd say he had the impact of taking the game out of the hands of his QB's by calling their plays. You have to be pretty old around here to recall the QB's who called their own plays on the field....like Unitas...Paul Brown changed that also with the shuttling of players in and out with plays.

 

As I said before, Hank Stram and Bill Walsh...Wasn't Walsh the first to actually start training camps?

 

Deacon Jones - Invented the sack..his number still isn't retired by the Rams though.

 

Other guys that should be in the discussion, Jim Thorpe, Jim Brown, and Vince Lombardi. I believe Lombardi was the 1st coach to start using coordinators. I could be wrong however.

 

Think Stram's style of play resembles Walsh's? I can see that......not sure that's waht Bandi was after but I see that.

 

Yeah, I can see that too. They were both certainly great HC's.

 

Bill Walsh was a product of Paul Brown right? so if you are going to put Walsh out there you have to put Paul Brown out there as well