I was thumbing through some research books relative to the Pro Football Hall of Fame recently, and I saw a note that a sportswriter and voter once said that Doak Walker is the least deserving Hall of Famer ever selected.
I realize that many of you readers do not know who Doak Walker was, but many of you have in fact heard of the Doak Walker Award, given annually to the best running back in college football.
The connection, and the reason for this blog, is that Doak, one of the most elegant gentlemen anyone could ever meet, was a special assignments coach back in 1966 for the Denver Broncos, helping out (I am told, as even I was not here then) just by giving his opinions on who could and who could not play. A lot of guys on the Broncos in those days could not play, but Walker could, and I just shook my head when I read the writer’s comment on his worthiness for the Hall of Fame.
So, since you probably do not know, if you choose to keep reading, I will tell you a little about the guy they give the running back award to.
First of all, I think the world is waiting for that award to go to another Doak Walker, which in many ways seems very unlikely-not because the backs today lack talent, but because Doak was one of those special guys who ascended from greatness to legend and still seemed undervalued.
A great prep player in Dallas, he was a consensus three-time All-American at Southern Methodist-that is, every All American team for three straight years only listed one halfback, and it was Walker-one year he appeared on the cover of 47 magazines, and ne was “Life”!!
Even most astonishing than being a three-time All-American is this: consider that his three All-American years were interrupted by World War II era military service. An amazing feat.
He played running back, defensive back and was the placekicker at SMU, taking time along the way to letter to baseball and basketball at SMU. Can you imagine the publicity today if the best running back in the country, a three-time All-American, ALSO lettered in two other major sports? He was “pin-up” handsome, blond, blue-eyed, with great teeth and so much humility you never would have thought he was a big man on campus. He was, in fact, the only man on campus in America.
He won the Heisman Trophy in 1948 and his impact on SMU football was so great that for many years the Cotton Bowl was called “The House that Doak Built.”
I personally think he is the most famous individual in American sport to ever have worn uniform number 37, which by the way is retired by the Detroit Lions.
He was voted All-Pro four time with the Lions, and while his career was short-he said he retired early “while I still have my own teeth”, which by the way, were perfect-but he was selected to the Hall of Fame in spite of a short career, because he was so impactful for the Lions. Detroit won two NFL titles in that time and was the dominant team in pro football in the mid-1950′s. He led the NFL in scoring twice (1950 and 1955) and scored 534 points in his career.
The stories just go on and on about Doak Walker and I won’t bore you with them-same after game with the winning touchdown, the unbelievable run, the winning kick, the key interception, he was transcendant of football, relaly.
Walker married his high school sweetheart, had a family and later in life married Olympic skier Skeeter Werner. He was a Steamboat Springs resident and legend by then, and it was a loss to all. The mountain on which he had his fatal accident, by the way, was Mount Werner, named for Skeeter’s brother Buddy, who was America’s best Alpine skier at the 1964 Winter Olympics.
He died suddenly on September 27, 1998 after that devastating ski accident in Colorado just days before.
I can’t say I have left out the best stuff, I have truly tried not to, but you have to edit somewhere. Truly, Doak Walker was bigger than legend.
Hollywood would have to tone down the facts to make it seem realistic.
So, the next time you hear about the Doak Walker award being given to someone, that’s who the man behind the award was.
mcd has only done 1 draft good lord man
Since neither Quinn nor Orton can throw a deep ball, and without B Marsh, I expect many picks this year. I kept my cool last year but this year its different.
bay, you think we are saving doom for next year….lmao
Well said Baylin post 9:51,fans are aggravated right now and are saying things they normally wouldn’t,fans divided don’t make happy bloggers,and we knew it was coming,but it still don’t make it any easier.
Well im done…
I guess since he doesn’t need to be traded, no reason for him to sign early, unlike Marshall, the actual deadline for RFA to sign with their own team is in June anyway, so it could be a while in that regard…
i think that baylin is the only one on here that thinks rationly in situations like this hahahaha. go bay
Yeah a draft that had 2 #1 picks in it,a lot of GREAT players got past us.
I didn’t come on here to argue,just posting my opinions,no sense arguing over things that we have no control over.
texark-fan, hilarious funny point about saving Doom for next year, LMAO again…..
the players that are tendered only have until thur to sign. that gives the team a week to either re-sign or take the DRAFT PICK, right?
eh, anything goes, we will allways be Bronco fans, allways shout In COM PLETE at games, and will allways be in support….yes?
They only have until Thursday to accept an offer from another team, but if no one is intested they have until early june I believe to sign their tender, the two things are unrelated is how I understand it.
Just don’t think Gaffney and Quinn can take over for Marshall and Sheff(if he leaves) we better get some more weapons(and no damn Dez Bryant)Orton better be training hard,he just lost his best chance at having a career in Denver,unless he makes a 360 turn around,without Marshall last year his #s weren’t that good.
bay, ok. I was understanding it as if they don’t sign by thur than they auto stay with that team fot the amount of money , adv. of top 10 in that poss. hay we will see in two days.
Josh McDaniels just sealed his fate. He will get fired, and all he woulda done was cripple our team before he left. I read an article that Belichek sent him to denver for revenge for what we did to them in 05, was the most riciculous article I read but its starting to make sense. What a useless napoleonic, douchebag. I cant wait till he is fired. my new motto is sndvl motto. I just went from indifferent to McD, to full on hate.
If everybody thinks Sheff is wanting out so bad why ain’t he signed his tender yet.Can’t trade him until he does,and seems nobody is interested in giving us a 2nd round pick.Maybe he stays and gives Orton a target at TE,if he leaves we have to replace him,you gotta have a pass catching TE,and we don’t have anyone that can catch like Sheff can,certainly not Quinn or Graham,and we don’t throw to the fullback(did I say fullback)oh we don’t have one,my bad.
Well, anyhow I didn’t even realize TRB was on, his post was so short. It’s the first time ever I have seen him short for words, maybe we should worry about him, have an intervention or something, LOL. Sorry TRB, just joking, I did post earlier how I feel bad for you guys, that’s about all I can do…
Ok, forget the short for words bit, he is BACK.
TRB if he gets fired and don’t bring us to another level,it will take a long time for another coach to come in and start over,a sad day for the Broncos.IMO
lol icant beleive people are this downhearted about bmarsh….
hey royal beast? what did that artical say?
its ounds interesting
TRB that is harsh but pretty funny
champ,don’t know how old you are or how long you been watching the Broncos,but we waited for many long years for an elite WR for Elway,finally got Rod Smith the rest is history,what I am getting at is elite receivers are hard to find,why do you think Seattle,Miami,Chicago,NY Jets,and other teams wanted Marshall,they know how good he is,and we will suffer for the mistake we made,by letting him get away from us.
The Steelers gave Holmes away for practicly nothing(a 5th round pick) for having off the field issues,what about Big Ben,where is his pink slip,he’s been in a lot of trouble.Guess they didn’t wanna set the team back for years to come.You don’t have different rules for different players,they made a scapegoat outta Holmes to try and get Big Ben to settle down.And for the people that think we got a good deal for Marshall because Holmes and Boldin went for a 3rd and a 5th,the Beast has WAY more talent than either of those guys.IMO
ya i awill admit to u i was a kid when elway was playing…didnt really watch the broncos untill the 2000′s….i know that they are hard to find honestly i do dont thinkim jsut a little kid saying things on here to make people mad, im not. i dnt have a bone to pick with u at all bro. but let me tell u this…someone on here said that people are jsut on here right now stating their opinions, blowing off steam all that jazz,, i think it was baylin…
now, me saying that i cant beleive peole are getting this downhearted is jsut my opinion, not that it matters much, obviously. however, i know exactly that b marsh was elite WR. but in my opinion, he was selfish, he was covering over his real personality this past year, and thats just how i feel. i have been wathcing the broncos since about 2000 like i said…so ya im young but do know how to state opinions and what people are talking about on these bloggs. i mean don’t even tell me that i don’t know anything lol, just stating my opinion…just like the rest of us bronco fans.
BFE, I think you are getting a bit carried away, the main reason Elway finally won his SB’s is because we finally got a running game with Davis. We had many great WR’s over the years and never won the big game, S. Watson, R.Nattiel, V. Johnson, M. Jackson. Rod smith was great but in no way was he the key to winning SB’s, just one of the better ingredients, but the main course was Elway and T. Davis, just my opinion, and let’s not forget Shannon Sharpe either, a TE, not a WR.
I for one am sick of the drama. This is the second year in a row that we have traded arguably our best player away. WOW. I knew this was probably coming but it still is a shock.
I am still an optimist. I don’t think Marshall “makes or breaks” the Broncos. But it seems that McD is making it a difficult task to improve this team when he keeps trading talent away. Now we need last years draft picks to really contribute and at least two draft picks this year need to make an impact, or I fear us fans will experience yet another year with no playoffs. We NEED some good surprises to happen or it could be a long year. I definately feel that we can have a very good team next year but some people really need to step up and take care of business.
GO BRONCOS….
I think that this trade is for the better. It gives Orton a chance to lead. And if he cant lead than maybe Brady Quinn or Tom Brandstater (who can get the ball down felid) can. I mean we all knew it was going to happen Marshall decided he wanted out before he got here. He is a beast on the feild but nothing but a problem off. Jabar Gaffney is a good reciever and we have Eddie Royal for awhile who proved he can play his rookie year. McD just did not give him much of a chance last year. With our 11th pick we need something for D like an ILB or something to help our pass rush. Than I personally think if Golden Tate is available in the 2nd round we snag his A$$ to. but I think we will be good and more of an unpredictable O than we last year. Last year was run on first down than throw it to Marshal. Lot of good outta that for the first 6 games than…. 2-8 from there. SOOO does anyone agree with anything I just said??
nastynate-
i completly argree with that statement. i think that we need an ILB and then get a receiver, maybe two
champ24
like the name btw.
but yeah we need The “up the middle” attack on D last year was always from the outside i mean dont get me wrong dum is a frickin beast but we need someone to help him out. we have a threat up the middle that just gives him another 5 sacks next year.
and with the recievers we do have we are still in good shape. Jabar Gaffney in the 2 Royal in the 1 and Draft Pick in the 3 slot we can be a good threat deep still. Orton get the ball down feld enough if they are open enough he doesnt have the accuracy on the long ball.
Anyhow, the only reason for me that this blockbuster trade is easier than last year is I had a Cutler jersey, I don’t have a Marshall jersey…
Sad day for the Broncos franchise. All my KC Chiefs buddies are laughing at me. MC DOUCHE MUST GO.
nasty nate…
lol ur name reminds me of my cousin.
i think that another ilb would be great like u said to help out doom.
ilike our recievers too. i think that we still need to use Stokley though, he’s got stuff left, and i think that kenny mckinly will be used a bit as well.
naother thought….how much u wanna bet that mcd drafts a qb hahahahaha that would be so ironic.
when was the last time the chiefs were actually even 8-8??? I am just sayin Broncofaniack.
We all knew this was going to happen. Marshall wanted out the day he was drafted.. he will do the same in Miami. He wont get the ball enough or something and he will start doin the same thing.
hahaha champ24 i could see that happening. If we got a good one go for it and trade Orton for a draft pick next year haha. we are “rebuilding” anyway lol.
Champ I said people are blowing off steam,and I value your opinion as well as anybody elses,just seems your a bit eager to argue.
Baylin never said Rod Smith won us a SB,just stating the fact that he made our Offense a lot better,and TD WAS the main reason we won championships,but an Elite WR sure goes a long way in winning,and as for the receivers you mentioned,the reason we lost championships with those guys is our Defense didn’t show up in the big game,we gave up 36,42,and 55 points,our Defense helped us win the 2 SBs too.
I think i mighta found a reason that many people want Mcd to go…ONLY IN HIS SECONDYEAR. WOW
for years…what, 14? we had shanny as a coach. he didnt say much, unless it was about al davis. he also didnt seem as opinionated as mcd. a lot of people liked that, and they got used to it. then comes mcd who has a strong personality, maybe sometimes cockey, but he has givin our team some swagger that we lacked with shanny for a while.
i miss shanny, but mcd is our coach now. its a tough transition, and there will b more who are calling for his head. i for one, wont be, because he is our coach, people. he is the coach, he is in a position of authority, one that many people dont like
just my two cents on that subject.
well like i said beast from east….if it comes off like that im sorry man, i told u i have no bone to pick, so jsut let it go how bout that.
I personally don’t have any bad feelings toward any Bronco fans,just wished people would realize we just lost the biggest piece of our offense,and it will be hard to be productive in the passing game with small receivers,do any of you remember how many one handed grabs and acrobatic catches the Beast had,not to mention taking it away from and running over defenders to get to the end zone,without plays like that we would’ve probably went 5-11 last year.
Champ…peace
beast-its all good man…lol, have faih buddy…we could go all the way….not GAURANTEEING ANYHTING
Bay,
I noticed you said “had” a Cutler Jersey…???? does that mean the hypnotic worked??? lol
We can definately be good next year, but this trade make the task even more difficult. We did improve our DLINE, but now I feel we have a glaring need and wide reciever. The other recievers are pretty good but we need people to seriously step it up.
I’m with NastyNate and Champ24….!!!!!!
Lets Trade Orton!!!!!!!! Then I can be happy like Bay……lol
ILMSDB!!!!
Mean’t glaring need at wide reciever.
haha champ24- the beast from the east has one good point our recievers are all kinda small. But he didnt mention they all know how to get open cuz they are quick. and Jabar Gaffney made some awesome grabs last year in the few opprotunies he had to play. plus we have good draft picks this year we can get another reciever. There are more beasts out there he aint our last hope if he was i am sure that McD woulda kept him around…
Lmao got censored. Probably deserved it bit bay is right this is the time to blow off steam. Pair this trade in right next to tax day and it’s chaos haha. Think I’m more upset I gotta pay a couple grand in taxes. Champ I understand now knowing you been a fan for short while. Try goin through a 55-10 superbowl when all your relatives are niner fans lol
And we better improve our run game, because we cannot rely on a passing game to bail us out of trouble. I can’t wait to see what McD has up his sleeve.
OC, I would never fess up to the fact that I have a Cutler jersey, LOL.
Its not just people are mad at losing Marshall. Now it’s hust another position to have to deal with filling. When you are rebuilding a team getting rid of the best talent rather than concentrating on needs just doesn’t work in the NFL. 11 tanks you don’t go to battle right after you get rid of your biggest tank for a smaller tank you don’t even know has ammo.
Yeah, I’m getting my brand new D Line, the “Marshall must go” propaganda worked to perfection, I’m riding pretty high right now, feels like “eight miles high”, LOL.