RIP - Jim Kiick

Jim Kiick, halfback for the great Miami Dolphins teams of the early 1970s, passed away on June 19, 2020 at age 73.

Kiick was drafted by the Dolphins in 1968, and was their starting halfback for the next 4 seasons, teaming up with fullback Larry Csonka in their "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" backfield. Kiick made the Pro Bowl in his first 2 seasons, and led the AFL with 9 rushing touchdowns in 1969.

In 1972 and 1973 he only started a handful of games, as Mercury Morris became the featured halfback. Kiick was used primarily on passing downs and short-yardage situations.

In 1974 he started half the games, but that was his final season with Miami.

He joined Dolphins' teammates Csonka and Paul Warfield on the WFL's Memphis team for the 1975 season. The league folded before the end of the season, so he was back in the NFL in 1976.

Although wanting to join Csonka with the 1976 Giants, he ended up with the Denver Broncos. He was released late in the 1977 season, but caught on with the Redskins for 1 game, then retired after the season.

Obituary
 

RIP - Mike Curtis

Mike Curtis, the Baltimore Colts' middle linebacker from 1965 to 1975, passed away on April 20, 2020 at age 77.

Curtis was the Colts' #1 pick in the 1965 draft. He made the Pro Bowl 5 times between 1968 and 1974.

Mike played in Super Bowls III and V. His late-game interception set up the Colts' last-second winning field goal in Super Bowl V.

In 1971 he famously decked a fan for running out on the field during a game.

Curtis later played for Seattle and Washington from 1976-78.


Here's Mad Dog being Mad Dog:
 here     and here

 
NBC Sports obituary

Touchdown Wire

Hall of Famers

Three-plus weeks in quarantine. What to do? What to do? I know, I can attempt to resuscitate my 4 football card blogs!

I have 9 more teams to post on this 1971 blog, but that can wait for awhile. I needed something more interesting for a comeback post.

These are the 54 Hall of Famers in the 1971 Topps set. There were 261 players (+ two checklists) in the set, but before we decide that a 20% ratio of HOFers is a large chunk, keep in mind that before 1973 only the top 8 to 10 players on each team had a card anyway.

Re-cap: 
6 - Chiefs (way to matriculate into Canton, fellas!)
4 - Dolphins, Raiders, Rams
3 - Cardinals, Cowboys, Lions, Packers, Redskins, Vikings
2 - Bears, Browns, Colts, 49ers, Jets, Steelers
1 - Bills, Broncos, Chargers, Falcons, Giants, Oilers
0 - Bengals, Eagles, Patriots, Saints

Buffalo Bills

Here are the 1971 Buffalo Bills, just 3 years removed from being the worst team in football in 1968 with a record of 1-12-1 (awarding them the #1 pick in the draft - O.J. Simpson).

After minor improvement to 4-10 in 1969 and 3-10-1 in 1970, the 1971 squad fell back to 1-13, once again giving them the #1 overall pick (Walt Patulski). It would be 1973 until they finished over .500 again.

Dennis Shaw was the Bills' 2nd-round pick in 1970, and was the starting QB for his first 3 seasons. After backing-up rookie Joe Ferguson in 1973, Shaw finished his career as the Cardinals' backup QB in '74 and '75.

What a varied career O.J. Simpson has had! Running back, rental car pitchman, broadcaster, movie star, and criminal. He was the #1 overall pick in 1969, but didn't really produce until his 4th season, when the Bills finally assembled a good team around him. Simpson was a 5-time Pro Bowler (1972-76), and led the NFL in rushing 4 times during that span, including a record 2003 yards in 1973. After being limited to 7 games in 1977, he finished his career with 2 seasons in San Francisco ('78, '79). The Juice was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1985.

Haven Moses was the Bills' #1 pick in 1968, and was their starting split end for his first 4 years. After splitting the 1972 season between the Bills and the Broncos, he was one of Denver's starting wide receivers from 1973 to 1980. Haven caught a career-high 54 passes in 1979. He finished his career as a part-time player for the Broncos in 1981.

Austin Denney was drafted by the Cowboys in 1966, but did not play that season. He found work as the Bears' starting tight end from 1967-69, replacing the traded Mike Ditka. He was the Bills' starting tight end in 1970, and played 1 game for them in 1971, his final season.

Joe O'Donnell was drafted by the Bills (and Packers) in 1964, and played his entire 7-year career with the Bills (1964-67, 69-71), the last 5 seasons as their starting right guard. He also played for the WFL's Birmingham team in 1974 and 1975.

Someone forgot to tell Howard he's a tackle, not a center! Howard Kindig was drafted by the Chargers in 1964, and was their starting defensive end from 1965 until midway through the 1967 season. Traded to Buffalo during the 1967 season, he switched to offensive tackle and played for the Bills through the 1971 season. Kindig also played for the Dolphins ('72) and the Jets ('74).

Edgar Chandler was the Bills' 4th pick in the 1968 draft, and was an outside linebacker for his first 2 seasons. He started at MLB during the 1970 and 1971 seasons, but was limited to 1 game in 1972. He finished his career in 1973 as the Patriots' starting middle linebacker.

Drafted by the Bills in 1966, Paul Guidry played 7 seasons in Buffalo and was the starting left linebacker from 1968 to 1972. He finished his career with the Oilers in 1973.

"Butch" Byrd was the Bills' 4th pick in the 1964 draft, and was their starting right cornerback for his first 7 seasons, making 5 Pro Bowls during that time. After the 1970 season, he moved on to the Broncos as a spare defensive back in his final season.

John Pitts was the Bills' #1 pick in the 1967 draft, and played 6 full seasons in Buffalo, the final 4 as a starting safety. John split the 1973 season between Buffalo and Denver, and after a full season as a Broncos' backup in 1974, he spent his final season (1975) on Denver's and Cleveland's bench.

Also check out the 1968 Bills.

1971 Custom Cards

Here are some custom cards made recently by John Hogan from the Cards That Never Were blog. They are mostly starting quarterbacks who were missing from the 1971 Topps set, including the top three picks from the 1971 draft.

After losing Super Bowl V following the 1970 season, the Cowboys switched from Craig Morton to Roger Staubach as their starting QB, and won Super Bowl VI. Staubach's rookie card is in the 1972 set.

Jim Plunkett was the #1 pick in the 1971 draft. Replacing veteran Joe Kapp (who was released following a contract dispute), Plunkett took every snap during his rookie season.

Archie Manning was the #2 pick in the 1971 draft. With 4-year starter Billy Kilmer traded to the Redskins after 1970, Manning started 10 of the 14 games in his rookie season.

Dan Pastorini was the #3 pick in the 1971 draft. He started 8 games as a rookie, while incumbent veteran Charley Johnson started 4 games. The Oilers 3rd-round pick in '71 was QB Lynn Dickey, who made 2 starts in 1971. Pastorini was also the team's punter for 5 of his first 6 seasons.

There was no Eagles' QB in the 1971 set, as previous starter Norm Snead was traded to the Vikings after the 1970 season, and Pete Liske was acquired from the Denver Broncos just prior to the start of training camp in 1971. Here we see him in the white helmet that the Eagles wore for a few seasons in the early 1970s.

Another Eagle (and a card that was already featured on John's blog) is a corrected Adrian Young card. Topps issued a card for Young in 1971, but it included the photo of another Eagles' player by mistake.


John has made several other custom football cards for me, all starting quarterbacks who were missing from the 1967, 1968, and 1969 sets. I will be featuring them on my other blogs in the coming months.

John, thank you very much for these cards!