A Football Life Season 2 - Page 2

Ness · 10-05-2012, 11:43 PM

Best episode of the three that have aired thus far. There really was a lot of turmoil that season. It would have been interesting to see what that staff would have done with the Browns had Art Modell not moved the team.

d34ng3l021 · 10-06-2012, 04:09 PM

Are the aired episodes the same thing as the multiple clips that are posted on NFL.com? I just watched Cleveland 95 clips online and they were tremendous.

Ness · 10-06-2012, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by d34ng3l021

Are the aired episodes the same thing as the multiple clips that are posted on NFL.com? I just watched Cleveland 95 clips online and they were tremendous.

Maybe. How many clips are there? I doubt the entire 45 minute episode is all posted in clips on NFL.com.

The Alex · 10-07-2012, 07:17 AM

I just watched the Cleveland 95 episode thanks to YouTube. It did nothing but reaffirm my opinions on Art Modell. Just a complete piece of trash with no integrity.

kalbears13 · 10-07-2012, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Alex

I just watched the Cleveland 95 episode thanks to YouTube. It did nothing but reaffirm my opinions on Art Modell. Just a complete piece of trash with no integrity.

BigBanger · 10-07-2012, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Alex

I just watched the Cleveland 95 episode thanks to YouTube. It did nothing but reaffirm my opinions on Art Modell. Just a complete piece of trash with no integrity.

Yeah, he only lost $21M of his own money in his last two seasons in Cleveland. He knew he couldn't win a Super Bowl in Cleveland and said he could do it in Baltimore, then went ahead and did just that. He made a lot if decisions most people didn't like, but moving the team to Baltimore... Not one of them. That is a great franchise and one of the best run originations in all of Football. The NFL is better off.

kalbears13 · 10-07-2012, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigBanger

Yeah, he only lost $21M of his own money in his last two seasons in Cleveland. He knew he couldn't win a Super Bowl in Cleveland and said he could do it in Baltimore, then went ahead and did just that. He made a lot if decisions most people didn't like, but moving the team to Baltimore... Not one of them. That is a great franchise and one of the best run originations in all of Football. The NFL is better off.

vidae · 10-10-2012, 08:00 PM

Anyone catch The Fearsome Foursome? I thought it was great. And next week is Steve McNair. Can't wait for that one.

NIN1984 · 10-11-2012, 10:50 AM

Cleveland 95 was great. Watching the Ravens draft Ogden and Lewis in the same draft is just incredible... Ozzie just following his board, love it.

LonghornsLegend · 10-11-2012, 11:39 AM

I absolutely love this series. That Browns staff was ridiculous from top to bottom. I can't wait for the McNair episode.

Ness · 10-17-2012, 09:45 PM

Don't forget to watch the McNair episode. I saw some of the clips on NFL.com already. Looks like they put almost the entire episode on in clips. In any case, from what I've seen it was really good. And it was nice to see some footage from circa 1995 when he was drafted. I think unless you're a Titans fan, most people forget the circumstances with how Tennessee/Houston dealt with McNair early in his career...having to share time with Chris Chandler (whom I heard didn't like McNair for some reason).

McNair didn't start evolving as a passer until the 2001 season. Eddie George verifies this in the episode. Their offense began to open up and such. A couple of months ago I was watching the 1999 AFC Championship game and it was evident that McNair was really streaky as a passer. At least in that game. Around 2002-2003 he definitely was more of a passing threat.

vidae · 10-17-2012, 09:51 PM

The McNair episode was really well done too. And my mom and uncle are very excited for the Eddie DeBartolo, Jr. episode next week seeing as how they grew up as rabid 49er fans.

Ness · 10-17-2012, 10:20 PM

Only owner with 5 Super Bowl trophies. Quite an accomplishment.

Polamalu_is_God · 10-20-2012, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D-Unit

There needs to be an Antonio Cromartie one that features all the women he had kids with. LOL

There would have to be a pt. 2 to that episode.

bigbluedefense · 10-20-2012, 10:04 PM

Just saw the Steve McNair one. The end when they show his mom watching the fireworks with tears in her eyes was a sad moment to see. Well done documentary.

Ness · 10-25-2012, 12:44 AM

Eddie DeBartolo was nice. That was a hell of an owner. I'm glad his nephew finally took control of things from his parents John and Denise York.

BigBanger · 10-26-2012, 11:12 AM

Eddie DeBartolo and Steve McNair were the best. DeBartolo by far though. They could have had another two hours on it and it would have been just as entertaining. So much happened during his stay in San Francisco with such big named players / coaches. He should be in the Hall of Fame yesterday. That guy was unbelievable.

And who has a dad that invented the shopping mall? WTF. What's your dad do? He invented the shopping mall. Reminded me of Mean Girls where the one girl was the daughter of the guy who invented toaster strudel.

boknows34 · 10-27-2012, 03:10 PM

Chris Spielman is next week.

Barry Sanders has also confirmed on his Twitter account they are doing an episode for the series.

BigBlueNorwegian · 10-31-2012, 10:36 PM

The Eddie DeBartolo episode was amazing. Seemed like such a great owner. I didn't grow up with football here in Europe, so it's awesome to watch great documentaries from the earlier years to get to know the history of the NFL as well as being a fan of the modern day game. The "A Football Life" creators should win every sportsdocumentary award there is on earth. Seriously.

Ness · 10-31-2012, 11:24 PM

I heard something interesting on our local radio to today. Dwight Clark, longtime 49ers receiver, was asking Ray Ratto (a local sports beat writer) why Eddie hasn't gotten in the Hall of Fame yet. And it was interesting what he had to say in his own opinion, which was even though Eddie has five Super Bowls, he wasn't an active and innovative owner which is usually how owners get into the Hall of Fame. And this is true. Eddie was a winner with his organization, and has the most Super Bowls for a owner ever, but he wasn't a transcendent figure among owners. He made it to the finals last year with the Hall of Fame voters though. Seems like he totally isn't being forgotten. The Louisiana scandal he was involved in doesn't help matters either. I still think he should be in though sooner rather than later. No owner has experienced the success he has in the Super Bowl era.

BigBlueNorwegian · 11-01-2012, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ness

I heard something interesting on our local radio to today. Dwight Clark, longtime 49ers receiver, was asking Ray Ratto (a local sports beat writer) why Eddie hasn't gotten in the Hall of Fame yet. And it was interesting what he had to say in his own opinion, which was even though Eddie has five Super Bowls, he wasn't an active and innovative owner which is usually how owners get into the Hall of Fame. And this is true. Eddie was a winner with his organization, and has the most Super Bowls for a owner ever, but he wasn't a transcendent figure among owners. He made it to the finals last year with the Hall of Fame voters though. Seems like he totally isn't being forgotten. The Louisiana scandal he was involved in doesn't help matters either. I still think he should be in though sooner rather than later. No owner has experienced the success he has in the Super Bowl era.

Well, to me he looked like a very involved owner. He may not have been involved in the drafting and everyday football decisions like other owners, but it sure looked like he deserved a lot of the credit for those teams winning Super Bowls. I mean, the players they interviewed couldn't stop gushing about him, and giving him tons of credit for them winning all those Super Bowls. It looked to me like he definetly deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.

Ness · 11-01-2012, 04:48 PM

I would think that simply winning that much would get you in. I won't say that Eddie hasn't been totally jobbed, because he has at least been a finalist, which means it has been on people's minds. A lot of credit for the 49ers dynasty goes to Bill Walsh though, which of course is deserved, but in a way hurts Eddie's chances unfortunately. Weird because Eddie was the one that hired him. Whatever. Hopefully he, and Charles Haley (still can't believe he isn't in either) find a place in the Hall of Fame sooner rather than later.

Brent · 11-11-2012, 05:02 PM

kind of pumped about the Ray Lewis one.

Giantsfan1080 · 11-11-2012, 10:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brent

kind of pumped about the Ray Lewis one.

That was months ago.

boknows34 · 12-05-2012, 05:15 PM

Barry Sanders tonight

http://www.nfl.com/videos/detroit-li...ended-preview?

Editor’s Note: NFL Films’ Paul Monusky and Nick Mascolo are the producers for this week’s episode of “A Football Life”, featuring Hall of Fame running back Barry Sanders. Here’s Monusky’s thoughts on what he learned about Sanders and his effect on others. Be sure to tune in to “Barry Sanders: A Football Life”, this Wednesday at 8 PM / ET only on NFL Network.

In the summer of 1999, arguably the greatest running back in NFL history walked away from the game at the age of 31. Without a press conference, or a lavish farewell tour, Barry Sanders faxed in his retirement to a childhood friend who worked at their hometown paper and then took off to England to walk around the streets of London for two weeks. Football fans around the world, and especially in Detroit, were left with many unanswered questions.

When I was told I would produce “Barry Sanders – A Football Life”, along with Nick Mascolo, our first plan was to deconstruct Barry’s retirement and investigate exactly what happened on that July day. As we dove further into this story, it was apparent that many events in the life of Barry Sanders led up to his exit from the NFL. There is definitely a reason why Barry Sanders left, and we feel that we have presented that.

Over 25 people were interviewed for our film, including four Hall of Fame running backs (Barry Sanders, Emmitt Smith, Thurman Thomas and Curtis Martin) and a Hall of Fame Shooting Guard (Joe Dumars), and many of them described Barry the best way they could. One theme continued through the interviews – Barry Sanders is different from most athletes.

There are a lot of people in the media or as fans that think “different” is a negative term. After spending five months travelling the country and interviewing people close to Barry Sanders and sitting down with Barry himself, I can honestly say that the world would be a better place if more people were as different as Barry Sanders.

Far too frequently, athletes and entertainers make an imprint on our society, not because they are talented, but because they are memorable. At some point in this country, the talentless became instantly celebrated, and if the talented ones didn't boast of their accomplishments, they were swept away or forgotten.

If you think that a “me-first” attitude is required to be a successful athlete, then you don’t know Barry Sanders. This is a film that you should show your children, and I cannot wait for my two girls to be old enough to watch it, so that they can appreciate who Barry is, and the selfless attitude that he still has to this day.

On one of my trips to Detroit this summer, I went to a Detroit Tiger baseball game and sat next to a Tigers fan who told me that after the last Lions game of the year he runs downstairs and pops in a VHS highlight tape of Barry Sanders. When I asked him why, he told me that “Nothing makes me happier than watching Barry run, and I never want to forget that.”

I never want to forget how grounded Barry Sanders is about his celebrity, and I hope that this film helps other people figure out why Barry Sanders retired, and more importantly, why he is and will always be a fantastic role model.