September 28, 2012
Warren Sapp is a retired National Football League (NFL) player who played defensive tackle for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Oakland Raiders for 13 seasons (1995-2007). Sapp played his first nine seasons with the Bucs, where he earned seven trips to the Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl ring in 2002. He has the second-highest career sacks for a defensive tackle. Sapp was a controversial player because of his hard-hitting style and fine-garnering verbal outbursts.
Note: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore the infamous orange “Creamsicle” uniforms from the team’s inception in 1976 until 1997.
September 27, 2012
Troy Polamalu is a strong safety in the National Football League (NFL). He has won two Super Bowls (2005 and 2008) with the Pittsburgh Steelers and has been selected for the Pro Bowl seven times. Polamalu’s hair is his most distinguishing characteristic, allowing him to be easily spotted on the field. He is of American Samoan descent, went to high school in Oregon and has a million-dollar insurance policy for his hair.
September 21, 2012
Steve Young is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 14-season career (1985-1999) as quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. He won three Super Bowl titles (two as backup to Joe Montana) and a record six NFL passing titles. Young was named league MVP in 1992 and 1994, and was the MVP of Super Bowl XXIX (1994).
September 19, 2012
Brett Favre is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played most of his 20-season career (1991-2010) for the Green Bay Packers. Favre is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 70,000 yards, over 500 touchdowns, over 300 interceptions and over 10,000 pass attempts. He won one of his two Super Bowl appearances. Favre retired and unretired so many times that everyone lost count and interest.
September 17, 2012
John Elway is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 16-season career for the Denver Broncos (1983-1998). At the time of his retirement, Elway had the most victories by a starting quarterback and was the second most prolific passer in NFL history. He led the Broncos to five Super Bowls, winning his last two (1997 and 1998).
Note: Elway is famous for “The Drive,” which was a 98-yard, game-tying touchdown drive in the 1987 AFC Championship Game against the Cleveland Browns. Watch a recap of his clutch performance. Don’t forget that Elway is also Eric Cartman’s father.
September 14, 2012
Dan Marino is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his 17-season career for the Miami Dolphins (1983-1999). He was one of the most prolific quarterbacks in history, holding or having held almost every major NFL passing record. With his quick release and powerful arm, Marino led the Dolphins to the playoffs 10 times. Despite never winning the Super Bowl, he is recognized as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. He was born tomorrow in 1961.
Note: You may also remember Marino for his role in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) with Jim Carrey. “The laces were out!”
September 13, 2012
Lawrence Taylor is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a linebacker for the New York Giants. In his 13 seasons, he won a record three Defensive Player of the Year awards and the 1986 MVP award. As a key member of the Giants’ defense, nicknamed “The Big Blue Wrecking Crew,” he led New York to victories in two Super Bowls (1986 and 1990). Taylor is considered the top defensive player in league history.
Note: During a Monday Night Football game in 1985, Taylor inadvertently ended Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann’s NFL career with a brutal sack that snapped the bones in Theismann’s right leg. For those who can’t look away from horrible things, feel free to (re)watch Theismann’s compound fracture in slow motion. Legs don’t bend like that!
September 12, 2012
Barry Sanders is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. He played his entire professional career as a running back for the Detroit Lions. Sanders surprisingly retired after only 10 seasons (1989-1998), leaving the game just short of the all-time rushing record. He is one of the greatest and most elusive running backs of all time.
September 10, 2012
Walter Payton was a National Football League (NFL) player known as “Sweetness.” He played running back for the Chicago Bears for 13 seasons. Payton won two MVP awards as well as Super Bowl XX (1985). He once held the league’s record for most career rushing yards, touchdowns, carries, yards from scrimmage, all-purpose yards and many other categories. He died in 1999 at age 45 from a rare liver disease.
September 7, 2012
Joe Montana is a retired National Football League (NFL) player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played for 14 seasons. Traded before the 1993 season, he spent his final two years in the league with the Kansas City Chiefs. While a member of the 49ers, Montana started in four Super Bowl games (1981, 1984, 1988 and 1989) and won all of them.
Note: The 2012 NFL season began on Wednesday, September 5.
February 5, 2012
An American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowls in four years with the New England Patriots. Brady helped set the record for the longest consecutive win streak in NFL history with 21 straight wins over two seasons (2003-04). In 2007, he led the Patriots to the NFL’s first undefeated 16-game regular season.
Note: Today Brady and the Patriots face the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, a rematch of 2008′s Super Bowl XLII upset. It will be Brady’s fifth Super Bowl.
February 4, 2012
A retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League (NFL) history. He is the all-time leader in most major statistical categories for wide receivers. He won three Super Bowl rings with the San Francisco 49ers.
July 27, 2011
The first athlete to be named an All-Star in two major American sports (baseball and football). He won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 and became a household name in 1989-90 through Nike’s “Bo Knows” advertising campaign. He was also the most unstoppable athlete in video game history (see “Tecmo Bo” in Tecmo Super Bowl for Nintendo).
Gino Marchetti – No. 580
Gino Marchetti is a retired National Football League (NFL) player who played for the Dallas Texans (1952) and the Baltimore Colts (1953-1966). He was voted “the greatest defensive end in pro football history” by the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972. In 1959, Marchetti founded Gino’s Hamburgers. Gino’s became a successful East Coast regional fast food chain and had 313 company-owned locations when it was sold to Marriott in 1982, which converted many of the restaurants to Roy Rogers. In 2010, Marchetti revived the Gino’s name with Gino’s Burgers & Chicken, which first opened in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
Born in the historic coal-mining town of Smithers, West Virginia on January 2, 1927, Gino Marchetti is my first cousin, twice removed. Now 86 years old, he is the most famous member of my extended Italian-American family.