Word: backfields
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Dates: during 1970-1970
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Eddie St. Louis, a very large man who once played in the backfield for the Pittsburgh Stealers so long ago that pro football was not a paying proposition-30 or 40 years ago-remembers many a convivial round in the Kings Tavern with Ed Lahey. Lahey was a member of the first Nieman Fellowship Class in 1938. Once in a while Tom LaVelle, one of the seven mules in the line ahead of Notre Dame's immortal Four Horsemen, would join them...
...called a precise game, making full use of the 75 "sets" and 300-plus plays provided by Coach Stram. The Chiefs' big offensive linemen double-teamed the Vikings' All-Pro Ends Carl Eller and Jim Marshall, which kept them from deflecting Dawson's passes. In the backfield Dawson moved his pocket around to confuse the Viking tackles and began working short passes in front of the cornerbacks. He mingled his throws with quick-hitting thrusts by his running backs, and even caught the Vikings napping with three dusty end-around dashes for 37 yds. by Frank Pitts...
...puts 290-lb. Tackle Buck Buchanan nose-on-nose with the offensive center and lets the linebackers work in tandem with the remaining three linemen. Even the Chiefs' basic formation is a wild piece of unorthodoxy: the "Tight I," in which the tight end lines up in the backfield behind the running backs, thereby preventing the defensive secondary from keying on him. Some critics insist it all sounds like flimflammery -to which Stram replies: "The important thing is to believe in something strongly enough to make it work...
...SMITH, Southern California, 6 ft. 5 in., 270 lbs. As one pro puts it, they are "just big, strong, physical guys who can grind you into the ground." McKay led the charge for the nation's No. 1 team, whose backfield averaged 363 yds. rushing per game; the scouts give him high marks for being at once a great blocker on quick openers and a ferocious pass protector. Smith, says one scout, "has everything it takes-he's powerful, has fine footwork, can pick up the loop and requires no additional growth"-and he can cover...