This question came into my head today when someone on the local sportscaster asked tourists from other countries questions about American sports. One lady said in very broken English, "Miami Dolphins! Dan Marino! #1"
So, I thought I would try to pick the faces of each team's franchise. Many of these will be debatable while others are a slam dunk. For the Colts-I'm naming one for Baltimore and one for Indy, and the same for the Oilers/Titans, and the LA/St. Louis Rams. I'm not for the Raiders because they weren't in LA very long. Here's my list:
AFC
New England Patriots- Tom Brady
Buffalo Bills- O.J. Simpson
Miami Dolphins- Dan Marino
New York Jets- Joe Namath
Pittsburgh Steelers- Terry Bradshaw
Cleveland Browns- Jim Brown
Cincinnati Bengals- Boomer Esiason
Baltimore Ravens- Ray Lewis
Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts- Johnny Unitas/Peyton Manning
Jacksonville Jaguars- Fred Taylor
Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans- Earl Campbell/Eddie George
I'm from New Orleans and have been a fan of the Saints for some years now. Rickey Jackson is about as good as it gets for us to have an all-time face of the franchise, although Duece is running a close second.
I do have to say though for Seattle I have to disagree, though I am not a fan of that team I do however remember a great WR by the name of Steve Largent that spent his whole career there. If I am not mistaken he held franchise and NFL records when he retired as well.
As a Steelers fan, I would say the 70s Steelers as a whole. They are still beloved even though they are long gone as a team. When you think of the Steelers, they are what comes to mind. If it's anybody off that team, it's Jack Lambert. Currently I would say it's Ben Roethlisberger.
No-no-noooo! Blanda was more Houston Oilers. His heroics with the Raiders were cool, but Daryl Lamonica, Fred Biletnikoff (sp), Kenny Stabler are more like it. Vilipiano? Willie Brown. The Ghost to the Post...
And, I can't speak for bolt fans, but Hadl and Bambi are high up on my list.
And, for the Niners, Montana is okay, but there's Rice and Lott and Walsh (okay, he;'s not a player).
My original thought for the Raiders was Biletnikoff. I thought of Stabler too-they were one of the toughest.
As for the 49ers, Rice and Lott are hard to leave off this-but Joe Montana is the man.
Believe me, it was also hard to leave off Largent in Seattle and Emmitt Smith in Dallas.
jaguarjoe...this was a great idea...but since there are some debatable ones then you could have had two names for each team. Old school/new school or even one offensive player and one defensive player per team. Sounds like a lot but for example...
Cowboys...there are so many names you can put there, even Tom Landry could be the face. But for them it could have been Dorsett/R White or Staubach/Too Tall Jones.
Same with the Steelers...so many names.
Great topic that's worth quite a debate. So you're ready for some football too huh?
Seattle Shaun Alexander? You better have a mighty fine explanation for that one...Give me Dan Krieg or Jim Zorn or Curt Warner before you even bring Alexander into the conversation. He is undoubtedly a Ring of Honor Hawks player but in the entire history of this franchise this spot belongs to Largent.
Dynamo-first of all, it's Dave Krieg. Zorn-the Seahawks were not a very good team then, so I think his face would remind people of them losing. I could have put Largent in there, but I put Alexander in there because he brought the Seahawks to a Super Bowl, was league MVP, was on the cover of Madden, and seemed to always shine brighter when they played in front of a national audience.
On another note, I'm surprised no one called me out on the Saints-Archie Manning!
Darn. I thought of Archie Manning but you already mentioned it in the last post. For the Cards, I would take Jim Hart or Conrad Dobler over Lomax. Either way, sort of sad...
Bengals, probably Ken Anderson rather than Boomer. Raiders: probably The Snake or Marcus Allen. Washington: John Riggins. Bears: you could make an argument for Butkis but Payton is just fine. Also, would pick Largent in Seattle. Thanks for the fun...
Jag... so you are basing it on basically one stellar year above the rest of the league when you have career record breaker who is pretty much the second greatest reciever behind Jerry Rice who broke all of his records? Alexander may be the best rusher Seattle has ever had but he is far from being the face of the franchise the fan base of Seattle as well as the rest of the NFL would recognize the accomplishments of Largent as being the best to ever put of the blue and green.
For the Cardinals, I would put FS Larry Wilson as the face of their franchise. He's a Hall of Famer and one of the best safeties in the history of the league.
While I think Delhomme is currently the face of the Panthers' franchise, the all-time face would be the late, great LB Sam Mills. He was the heart and soul of the great Panthers' defenses in the first few years of the franchise.
For Atlanta, I'd put Tommy Nobis as the face of its franchise. He was a STUD LB in the late 60's all the way into the late 70's. Unfortunately he was in an era of GREAT defenses. (Purple People Eaters, Doomsday Defense, Fearsome Foursome, the Steel Curtain, etc.)
