Don't bring that up. When you mention our 3-4 defense, I can't help but think of Tom Olivadotti.

Louis Oliver gets no mention at Safety? He was THE MAN for years.

but he is no where close to what Anderson and Scott were.

I'll never forget that 105 yard TD in BUFF

Yeah, that was sweet!

Anderson and Scott are both borderline HOFers. Oliver wasn't even in the same league.

The Fins of the early 70's played primarily a 4-3. They did sort of "invent" the 3-4 because of a lot of injuries at DE. They wound up playing LB Bob Matheson at DE. But, he kept jumping offsides. To correct this, they stood him up, but kept him at the DE spot. And the 3-4 was born, but we didn't use it that much. By the late 70's, we were playing primarily a 3-4. But, we would occasionally move Duhe to DT and play a 4-3. Someone mentioned Olivadotti with our 3-4. But, Olivadotti didn't come along until 1987. We had a great 3-4 D in the early 80's under Arnsparger.

The smart thing for them to do would have been to pick 4 linemen and 4 LB, with 2 DT and 2 ILB/MLB.

Oliver was a hard hitting, very, very good DB, but Jake and Dick were better overall players. They had better noses for the ball and Jake was a solid punt returner as well.

Oliver leveled some serious hits in his time and that 105 yard interception was one for the ages. I always was a big fan of his, but he comes up just short of the other two in my book.

Tim Bowens deserves to be on the team. Before he arrived our run defense would bring you to tears. He did an excellent job of protecting Zach by keeping the olinemen off of him. He would have made more pro bowls if he had more sacks.

Really think Curtis Johnson deserves to be on the team, to me he is the forgotten Phin. As Shula said he did not get much notice because they just would not throw to his side. Cox infuriates me, to this day I can remember more boneheaded plays from him than big give me Ernie Rhone or better yet Bob Bruzinski.

"Cox infuriates me, to this day I can remember more boneheaded plays from him "

Amen brother!! I never liked Cox. Lost the SanDiego playoff game for us with another shoulder bump instead of a tackle.

Yeah but when Cox went over to the Cincinatti sideline and called out the whole team.....that was amazing! HE TRIED TO FIGHT THE ENTIRE TEAM!!

Is it ridiculous to consider Junior Seau at OLB?

mizzou15 Wrote:
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> ...
>
> Really think Curtis Johnson deserves to be on the
> team, to me he is the forgotten Phin.

Oh I'll never forget old #45. He had a great nose for the ball, getting lots of interceptions and blocked kicks during his career.

As a kid I remember watching him go to the sideline, take of his helmet, and POOF that classsic 1970's 'fro would pop out. I couldn't figure out how he got all that hair under his helmet

Yeah, its ridiculous to consider Junior Seau. He has been a "has-been" since the late 90's.


He got so much recognition over Zach in the late 90's when Zach was dominating.

I hate Seau, I have always thought of him to be somewhat overrated.

'Larry Gordon was a better OLB than Brudzinzki...by a mile.'

I started to add Gordon buty he died just as he was entering his prime and had to give Rhone and Brudzinski the edge. Losing Gordon and Rusty Chambers and then Rhone getting hurt was the beginning of the decline of our defense that took years to recover, dang those were some lean years.

I loved Larry Gordon, but he was not better than Brudzinski "by a mile." Brudzinski was widely respected as one of the premier run stuffing LB in the league. He played on the strong side and was very effective at setting the edge, stuffing the TE at the line of scrimmage, and making the play on the ballcarrier. He had a very nice 13 year career. Gordon played on the weakside, so filled a very different role. He was a good player, but never a dominant pass rusher. Nothing against Gordon, who was one of my favorite players as a kid, but I think you're selling Brudzinski short.

Interesting discussion here re Gordon vs. Bru.

Gordon started as a rookie in 1976 and had over a 100 tackles pretty much every year. 1976 was the season I believe Steve Towle had that sick 200+ tackle effort. On the teams that he and Bru played on together, I think their numbers were pretty comparable.

dolfanmark, you're right...thier roles were quite different. I do think Gordon might have been a better pass rusher though Bru was a dominant run stopper.