1974 Los Angeles Rams

[Loyal]

There is a fact about this team that I did not know. about this team before today. Until the Rams beat the Redskins in the playoffs in 1974, they hadn't won a playoff game since 1951. I wonder if @den-the-coach knew this?

We had a really good offensive line where the least experienced guy had 7 years of experience.

James Harris was a mobile QB who could throw and make plays.

Lawrence McCutcheon ran for the most yards in Rams history. up to that point. Bertelson and Cullen Bryant were his back ups.

Of course we had a great defense.... Talk about it, Den you old buzzard!

 

[Allen2McVay]

Jim Bertelsen actually started with McCutcheon.

 

[Loyal]

Jim Bertelsen actually started with McCutcheon.

He was a good blocker...

 

[rdlkgliders]

I wasn't aware of that, the days of defensive glory and offensive mediocracy. Fullbacks as lead blockers, crazy how much things have changed. The game was truly black & blue back then........Way back then when @Loyal & @den-the-coach were still in their 30s

 

[Loyal]

I wasn't aware of that, the days of defensive glory and offensive mediocracy. Fullbacks as lead blockers, crazy how much things have changed. The game was truly black & blue back then........Way back then when Loyal & Den were still in their 30s

And when @Allen2McVay used to pine for the good old days in Cleveland...

 

[Allen2McVay]

The above comments by @Loyal and @rdlkgliders triggered a fond old memory.

Years ago, I was shooting Craps in Atlantic City. Players at a Crap Table are the most entertaining characters. I'm standing at the table and this elderly guy is next to me. Could Not have been five-feet-tall. Has a cigarette dangling from his lips and a face that says he has had a full life. Some young guy is rolling and doing well.

The little, old guy looks up at me, and dryly comments ...
"That's the problem with the young ones. They don't even know when they are supposed to lose."

 

[Antonius]

Question - if you were a fan of a team and lived outside of their market, how in the hell could you manage to keep up with the team before the internet?

Did a pigeon fly to your home with a final score attached to its leg?

 

[rdlkgliders]

Question - if you were a fan of a team and lived outside of their market, how in the hell could you manage to keep up with the team before the internet?

Did a pigeon fly to your home with a final score attached to its leg?

We bought every newspaper & magazine we could and in general just circulated les but meaningful information.

 

[InfiniteRam]

Question - if you were a fan of a team and lived outside of their market, how in the hell could you manage to keep up with the team before the internet?

Did a pigeon fly to your home with a final score attached to its leg?

USA Today, The Sporting News, most local newspapers even had detailed box scores

 

[Classic Rams]

There is a fact about this team that I did not know. about this team before today. Until the Rams beat the Redskins in the playoffs in 1974, they hadn't won a playoff game since 1951. I wonder if @den-the-coach knew this?

We had a really good offensive line where the least experienced guy had 7 years of experience.

James Harris was a mobile QB who could throw and make plays.

Lawrence McCutcheon ran for the most yards in Rams history. up to that point. Bertelson and Cullen Bryant were his back ups.

Of course we had a great defense.... Talk about it, Den you old buzzard!

McCutcheon was just starting out the year before. He didn't break Dick Bass's Ram record until 1977. I remember Bass interviewing him on the field in that Atlanta game.

 

[Allen2McVay]

We bought every newspaper & magazine we could and in general just circulated les but meaningful information.

THIS ... @Antonius.

Or the Pidgeon Thing you referenced.

 

[Allen2McVay]

Question - if you were a fan of a team and lived outside of their market, how in the hell could you manage to keep up with the team before the internet?

Did a pigeon fly to your home with a final score attached to its leg?

Seriously, though. it was not easy; and small bits of information were greatly valued.

There were scoring up-dates and some highlights on Sundays. The pre/post/halftime segments were less fluff than they are now, and were much more game analysis. There were far fewer people on the air, giving them more of an opportunity to discuss the games to be played, being played and just completed.

Monday Night Football's halftime highlights were hugely popular; and on Saturday Night, there was a national show called This Week in the NFL. It was ALL highlights of EVERY game from the prior Sunday; and not just one or two plays but 6-to-10. Pat Summerall was a long-time co-host.

Before the Internet, newspapers and magazines (daily and weekly) were a huge source of information and greatly consumed; and there was sports specific material ... even football specific publications. One poster above mentioned USA Today and the Sporting News. There was a fantastic weekly (in-season) pro football paper called Pro Football Weekly ... a Must Have back in the day.

As a Rams' fan in NYC, I got to see them play 3 or 4 times a year ... most seasons.

Doesn't seem like much but we didn't know what it was like to have greater access and more information.
Still, it was tough to root for a non-local team. That's why I am so Fucking Special right now!

 

[RamDino]

Seriously, though. it was not easy; and small bits of information were greatly valued.

There were scoring up-dates and some highlights on Sundays. The pre/post/halftime segments were less fluff than they are now, and were much more game analysis. There were far fewer people on the air, giving them more of an opportunity to discuss the games to be played, being played and just completed.

Monday Night Football's halftime highlights were hugely popular; and on Saturday Night, there was a national show called This Week in the NFL. It was ALL highlights of EVERY game from the prior Sunday; and not just one or two plays but 6-to-10. Pat Summerall was a long-time co-host.

Before the Internet, newspapers and magazines (daily and weekly) were a huge source of information and greatly consumed; and there was sports specific material ... even football specific publications. One poster above mentioned USA Today and the Sporting News. There was a fantastic weekly (in-season) pro football paper called Pro Football Weekly ... a Must Have back in the day.

As a Rams' fan in NYC, I got to see them play 3 or 4 times a year ... most seasons.

Doesn't seem like much but we didn't know what it was like to have greater access and more information.
Still, it was tough to root for a non-local team. That's why I am so Fucking Special right now!

Howard Cosell did the highlights at halftime on MNF and it was great, even though the entire segment was around 3 minutes long. And then, if the Ram game was nothing special, they might not even show Ram highlights. That was the best 3 minutes if football though. As kids, we lived for those highlights more than the MNF game. Fortunately, my father did not make me go to bed until after that.

 

[sloramfan]

i grew up in rialto california from '64 t0 '75 and when i first read the OP i thought BS... lol

so i had to look it up and was painfully reminded of all those dallas/minn losses...

the reason i thought BS was because the rams in my mind, i remembered, made it to conference championship after conf champ...

when i looked it up, it was 5 out of six from "74 to '79...

anywho...thanks for the trip down memory lane...

and i'll never forget how many times socal was blacked out because of the sellout rule in those days... games on the radio only...

dick enberg... as classic as vin scully...

go rams

slo

ps ramdino...you're right those hilights were way more important that the game...

 

[Faceplant]

I was born in 72, so a bit young for this team..... But I seriously appreciate you ol' timers sharing these memories

I do remember The MNF halftime highlights, as those were still the big thing for my slightly less geezerish generation.

Since we are ambling down memory lane, does anyone remember the Tums - Nutralizers of the year??


View: https://youtu.be/DCQgsI16ZBo?si=zaow0wb4lR-PwJyk


Or the Alcoa - Fantastic Finishes commercials??


View: https://youtu.be/3fLI2YCnMgQ?si=1tkiJucoUSbhMhFQ

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

The 70's were rough. The Rams were the best team in football some of those years. There was always some weird stuff in the playoffs like QB injuries, the phantom holding call on Mack, or the Mud bowl, etc.

 

[LARAMSinFeb.]

I was born in 72, so a bit young for this team..... But I seriously appreciate you ol' timers sharing these memories

I do remember The MNF halftime highlights, as those were still the big thing for my slightly less geezerish generation.

Since we are ambling down memory lane, does anyone remember the Tums - Nutralizers of the year??


View: https://youtu.be/DCQgsI16ZBo?si=zaow0wb4lR-PwJyk


Or the Alcoa - Fantastic Finishes commercials??


View: https://youtu.be/3fLI2YCnMgQ?si=1tkiJucoUSbhMhFQ

Lol I always thought that fumble-to-Casper play was such bullsh#t.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Who you calling a Geezer

slightly less geezerish generation.

 

[AZRams]

i grew up in rialto california from '64 t0 '75 and when i first read the OP i thought BS... lol

so i had to look it up and was painfully reminded of all those dallas/minn losses...

the reason i thought BS was because the rams in my mind, i remembered, made it to conference championship after conf champ...

when i looked it up, it was 5 out of six from "74 to '79...

anywho...thanks for the trip down memory lane...

and i'll never forget how many times socal was blacked out because of the sellout rule in those days... games on the radio only...

dick enberg... as classic as vin scully...

go rams

slo

ps ramdino...you're right those hilights were way more important that the game...

70s were nuts...Minnesota and Dallas went to 9 of 10 Super Bowls from '71-'79; Rams to one.

 

[Neil039]

Old enough to know just like @Loyal that Leather-heads doesn't mean thick foreskin. lol