Pro Football Historian (PFH) is a blog page written by Flint Given. Pro Football Historian or PFH is a page to inform people on prior NFL events that people might not know about. Learning about teams from the 1920s or even the first few NFL World Championships in the 1930s fascinates me. It's these kinds of events that I want to discuss in this blog. Hopefully you are interested and will continue to check up on my blogs. Check out the website at https://profootballhistorian.lovable.app/
Robert Lorenzo Brazile Jr., nicknamed "Dr. Doom", is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League. Brazile played from 1975 to 1984 for the Houston Oilers and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Brazile was taken with the sixth pick of the first round of the 1975 NFL draft. It was part of the bounty Sid Gillman acquired along with Curley Culp when he traded John Matuszak to the Kansas City Chiefs. However, it would be new head coach/general manager Bum Phillips who made the selection.
Phillips' arrival in Houston also brought a change in the base defense the Oilers ran, switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4. The 3–4 would prove to be a perfect fit for Brazile's combination of size (6'4", 230 lbs) and great speed. While most cite Lawrence Taylor as the prototype of the pass-rushing outside linebacker in the NFL, there are some, including Phillips, who say Brazile was the one who first made the 3–4 popular for sending an outside linebacker to rush the quarterback. Brazile also performed well in pass coverage and against the run, consistently ranking at or near the top for the team lead in tackles even though opponents often avoided his side of the field.
Brazile found immediate success with the Oilers, winning the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award for the 1975 season. He was named to the Pro Bowl seven straight seasons, was All-Pro five straight seasons (1976–80), and was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1970s. In 1978 and 1979, Brazile was a key member of Oilers teams that went to back-to-back AFC Championship Games.
After a third straight postseason loss in 1980, Phillips was fired by Oilers owner Bud Adams and the team entered a period of steep decline. The constant losing wore on Brazile and caused him to contemplate retiring. However, he has said it was the death of his first wife, Cookie, in a car wreck in Houston in 1984, that made the decision for him.
Officially, Brazile finished his career with 11 quarterback sacks. Unofficially, his career sack total is 48 (sacks did not become an official NFL statistic until 1982). He is also credited with 1,281 tackles, the second highest total in Houston Oilers / Tennessee Titans history.
On August 24, 2017, Brazile and former Green Bay Packers guard Jerry Kramer were named as seniors committee finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2018. He was announced as member of the class of 2018 on February 3, 2018. Robert Brazile was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday, August 4, 2018, and his bust was sculpted by Scott Myers.
On October 14, 2018, Brazile was inducted to the Titans-Oilers Ring of Honor.
After retiring from the NFL, Brazile, along with ex-Oiler teammate Ken Burrough, coached for a minor league pro team in Mobile, Alabama. After needing quadruple bypass heart surgery in 2004, Brazile gave up coaching and became a middle-school teacher for children with special needs in Mobile. He has also become an avid tennis player. When asked if his old "Dr. Doom" persona ever comes out on the tennis court, he's quoted as saying laughingly, "No more Dr. Doom," "Just Robert Brazile."
In 2007, Brazile was inducted into the Bancorp Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.
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The Super '70s: Memories from Pro Football's Greatest Era
Houston's All-Time Team | HoustonProFootball.com
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Robert King Beathard Jr. was an American professional football executive who was the general manager for the Washington Redskins (1978–1988) and the San Diego Chargers (1990–2000) of the National Football League. His teams won four Super Bowls and competed in three others during his 38 years in the NFL, doing so with the Kansas City Chiefs (1966), Miami Dolphins (1972 and 1973), Redskins (1982, 1983, and 1987), and the Chargers (1994). Beathard was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.
Beathard joined the Kansas City Chiefs as a part-time scout in 1963. He left the Chiefs for the American Football League before returning to Kansas City in 1966. Beathard then served as a scout for the Atlanta Falcons from 1968 through 1971. He was named director of player personnel for the Miami Dolphins in 1972, succeeding Joe Thomas. From 1972 to 1973, the Dolphins would go 26–2 with two Super Bowl victories, including a perfect season in 1972.
Beathard was named general manager of the Washington Redskins in 1978. Prominent draft picks for the Redskins under his tenure include Art Monk, Mark May, Russ Grimm, Dexter Manley, Charlie Brown, Darrell Green, Charles Mann, and Gary Clark. Beathard resigned from the team prior to the 1989 NFL draft and spent that year as a studio analyst with NFL on NBC. In 1990, Beathard became the general manager of the San Diego Chargers. In 1994, the organization won the AFC Championship and appeared in its first Super Bowl. He retired in 2000.
Beathard resided with his wife Christine in Franklin, Tennessee. Beathard's younger brother, Pete Beathard, was a quarterback at USC, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Oilers. One of Beathard's sons, Casey Beathard, is a country music songwriter. Another son, Kurt Beathard, is a football coach, formerly the offensive coordinator for Illinois State. A third son, Jeff, is a scout for the Commanders, and was Mr. Irrelevant, being the last pick in the 1988 NFL draft.
His grandson, Jeffery "Bobo" Beathard, played four years at Appalachian State University as a wide receiver; while other grandsons, C. J. Beathard and Tucker Beathard, are a quarterback and a singer-songwriter respectively. Another of Beathard's grandsons, Clayton Beathard, was fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2019.
Beathard participated in the 1984 New York City Marathon. From 2005 to 2009, Beathard was a consecutive 5 time first-place winner in the men's age 65 and over group at the World Bodysurfing Championships held annually in Oceanside, California. Beathard was inducted into the Cal Poly Mustangs Athletics Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Chargers Hall of Fame in 2018. Beathard died on January 30, 2023, from Alzheimer's disease at his home in Franklin, Tennessee.
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The Professional Football League of America (PFLA) was an American football minor league that operated in the Midwest region of the United States from 1965 through 1967. With franchises based in the Midwest, the league played three seasons before merging some teams into the Continental Football League.The Professional Football League of America began play in 1965. The Des Moines Warriors, Grand Rapids Blazers, Joliet Explorers, Lincoln Comets, Omaha Mustangs and Rock Island Raiders were charter members of the league. The Professional Football League of America evolved from the disbanded United Football League, and began play in the fall of 1965. The Joliet Explorers swept the Grand Rapids Blazers in a two–game championship series.
In 1966, the Rock Island Raiders franchise moved to neighboring Davenport, Iowa and changed names to become the "Quad City Raiders." The Lincoln Comets franchise did not return to league play. The Omaha Mustangs won the 1966 PFLA championship game, defeating the Des Moines Warriors 27–7 at home with 4,530 in attendance.
In their final season of play, the Pro Football League of America expanded, adding the Alabama Hawks, Chicago Owls and Oklahoma City Plainsmen franchises. The 1967 league played in two divisions. In May 1967, the Joliet franchise became an affiliate of the San Diego Chargers of the American Football League and changed their moniker to become the "Joliet Chargers" for the 1967 season. The 1967 Des Moines Warriors were an affiliate of the Minnesota Vikings. In 1967, the Alabama Hawks won the Western Division with a 9–3 record and hosted the PFLA's championship game at Milton Frank Stadium, losing 31–20 to the Joliet Chargers, who had won the Eastern Division with a 10–2 record.
The PFLA permanently folded following the 1967 season. In February 1968, the Continental Football League expanded to include some of the Pro Football League of America teams and continued play. The merger allowed the Continental Football League to expand into the midwestern United States. The Des Moines and Joliet Franchises did not join the league.
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"Continental, Professional Leagues Join". Chicago Tribune. United Press International. February 5, 1968. pp. 2–3.
