Take a look at this piece of glorious goodness:

I was made aware of the existence of this by a retweet of our own WhyEaglesWhy (follow him for hot Australian barbecue action!) and it brought back so many memories.  The 70s were the years when I was a little kid and when my love for the NFL was forged.  This board is bringing me back all kinds of memories. Let’s go by division:

AFC East

First off, the BALTIMORE Colts were in the AFC East with the Patriots, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets.   This handsome devil

was the QB of the Pats, the Dolphins had a young Don Shula as coach

of an undefeated Super Bowl champion (fuck you Mercury Morris!), the Bills were… the Bills (their greatness would not arrive until the 80s) although Joe Ferguson

was one of my favorite players and I had Buffalo Bills pajamas.  Shut up, I was 5!  My dad loved the Steelers (he had lived in Pittsburgh in the 60s), I loved the Steelers and the Bills (truthfully, I felt bad for them and I always wanted them to succeed.  I still do and I’m still waiting.) and my brother, just to be a contrarian was a Cowboys fan.  Yes, we were THAT family!

I remember watching Bert Jones throw the ball around at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium.  Think about the quarterbacks in this division:  Ferguson, Jones, Grogan, and a little someone we may be familiar with:

There was also some guy named Johnny U, but I was too young when he was playing to remember.  Jesus, what a division!

AFC Central

That’s right.  The AFC MOTHERFLIPPING CENTRAL!  None of this North-South shit.  As you can see, the Browns-Bengals-Steelers rivalries go WAY back.  You can also see a little team that, even though they were in our division and would beat us many times, I respected the hell out of:  The Houston Oilers.  Yes, I even sang this song and if you didn’t at the time, you’re a monster!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZkxHLtLbQY

If you hit play and didn’t sing along, I don’t want to know you. My God, that team!  Bum Phillips as coach, Dan Pastorini at QB, and the amazing Earl Campbell at RB!  Just watch this:

Earl Campbell was known for his power, but he was elusive and fast and could beat you many different ways.  It still bothers me that those Houston teams never won a Super Bowl.  They certainly deserved at least one.  Of course, being in the same division as the Steelers of the 70s was tough.  There were only so many steroids to go around.

As for the Bengals and Browns, well the Bengals had a brilliant quarterback in Ken Anderson while the Browns had Brian Sipe.  I’m sure the Browns wish they had Brian Sipe now even at eleventy years old.

Does anyone remember the Kardiac Kids?  If I told you the Browns won the AFC Central with an 11-5 record in 1980, would you believe me?  It’s true!

AFC West

Pretty much the same as now with one vital difference:  The Seattle Seahawks were in the AFC West, as they should still be.  Jim Zorn was the starting QB throwing to Congressman-to-be Steve Largent.  The Raiders of the 70s really deserve their own separate post.  Just look at this picture:

and reminisce about Kenny Stabler, John Madden the COACH, and Al as the rebel of the NFL.  The Raiders were the Steelers’ ultimate rivals during those years and a deep respect was born out of those battles.  They met in the playoffs five years in a row during the 70s with the Steelers winning 3, the Raiders 2, and the Steelers winning 2 Super Bowls and the Raiders one.

That is a motherfucking rivalry.

The Denver Broncos had Craig Morton, the Chiefs had an aging Len Dawson and an aging Hank Stram, and the Chargers had Dan Flippin Fouts!  I think the Chargers have cornered the market in having quarterbacks that can throw the hell out of the ball for shitty teams.  Dan was an amazing quarterback and deserved to have some kind of a defense to help him.  King Lazerface knows this dilemma only too well.

BTW, the 70s were pretty great for team songs, weren’t they?

NFC East

Yes, the ST. LOUIS Cardinals used to be in the NFC East!  Yes, St. Louis has lost TWO football teams in my lifetime!  Don’t worry, LA will pull ahead when the Rams leave town in a few years. It makes total sense, of course, that the Dallas Cowboys will always and forever be in the NFC East despite being the third most westerly team in the NFC during the 70s and even today the fifth most westerly team in the NFC.  With a decade like they had in the 70s, however, all can be forgiven.  As good as the rivalry was between the Steelers and the Raiders, the Steelers-Cowboys rivalry was even greater because it played out in Super Bowls.  The Steelers won 2 of their 4 Super Bowls in the 70s against the Cowboys while the Boys got one back in the 90s, The Cowboys did get 2 Super Bowl wins in the 70s to go along with 5 Super Bowl appearances total during that decade. So, what I’m saying is, they were good.  The Giants and Washington wouldn’t be good until the 80s but the Eagles did have a young man making history in the NATIONAL. FOOTBALL. LEAGUE. at QB.

NFC Central

Chris Berman has nicknamed the NFC North the NFC Norris because the Minnesota North Stars, Detroit Redwings, and the Chicago Blackhawks were in the NHL’s Norris division in the 80s.  Those cities, as you can see, have been rivals in football long before then.  With the Packers and the creamsicle Tampa Bay Bucs, those teams formed the NFC Central during the 70s.  The struggles of the expansion Bucs have been well-documented but I’ve got to say that those are absolute best uniforms I’ve ever seen:

Also, legendary coach John McKay was pretty damn funny when describing the hapless expansion team.  The most famous quote was, when asked about the execution of his team’s offensive line, McKay responded, “I’m in favor of it.” Another great quote that summed up his frustration at the time: “We can’t win at home, we can’t win on the road, so we were going to petition the league for a neutral site.”

The Vikings were damn good in those days.  They reached the Super Bowl four times and had Fran Tarkenton at QB and Chuck Foreman at RB. The days of the Purple People Eaters were gone, but the defense was still great most of the time.  For some reason, something always happened at the Super Bowls and they never got a win, like the 80s Bills.  Fran Tarkenton was the most entertaining quarterback in the league.  He and Dan Fouts must have hung out because they lived parallel lives.

NFC West

We finish this trip down memory lane with the home of the first version of the LA Rams, the pre-Bill Walsh 49ers, the Archie Manning Saints, and Steve Bartkowski’s Atlanta Falcons.  The Rams, to this day, are the only team to have a “home” Super Bowl playing at the Rose Bowl against the Steelers at the end of the decade.  They lost.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvF8JXn7zLw

To be fair, the AFC was stacked in those days and that’s probably why, to this day, I gravitate more towards AFC teams and games rather than NFC teams.  I could give two shits about a Tampa Bay-Atlanta game, but I would be all over a Miami-Buffalo game.  It’s our early experiences that shape us.

Which is really why I’m still a fan.  As much as I hate Roger Goodell and I hate the rule changes that have happened over the years, and I hate the way the league has turned its back on the legends of the game that are now dealing with crippling injuries/health conditions, I still remember being a little boy and watching the teams above play and being fascinated by them.

Now get off my lawn!