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/
Arnold George Weinmeister was a Canadian professional football player who was a defensive tackle. He went to four Pro Bowls, but with only a six-year tenure in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League combined, his career is one of the shortest of any Pro Football Hall of Fame member. He also played in the Canadian Football League. He was born in Rhein, Saskatchewan.
Weinmeister was a two-time All-City tackle in high school, and played end, fullback and tackle during a 4-year tenure at the University of Washington which was interrupted by four years of army service. He was scouted by New York Yankees (AAFC) head coach Ray Flaherty while playing fullback.
Weinmeister turned professional in 1948 and played defensive tackle for the New York Yankees in the All-America Football Conference until 1949, and for the New York Giants from 1950 to 1953. During his final season in New York, he served as the team captain. In 1949, Weinmeister won second-team All-AAFC as a rookie followed by first-team All-AAFC honors, was voted All-NFL Choice for four consecutive years (1950–1953), and was selected to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl every year from 1950 to 1953.
He was on the inaugural roster for the BC Lions in 1954, and played for the team for two seasons. He is one of five Saskatchewan natives to make it to the NFL (the other four being Jon Ryan, Rueben Mayes, Ben Heenan, and Brett Jones).
Few players ever have been so dominant at their position in pro football than Arnie Weinmeister was in his six-year stint as a defensive tackle that began with the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference in 1948 and ended with the New York Giants of the NFL in 1953.
He won second-team All-AAFC as a rookie followed by first-team All-AAFC honors in 1949 and then was a unanimous All-NFL choice all four years with the Giants. He also was selected to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl each of the first four years in the NFL.
Arnie was one of the first defensive players to captivate the masses of fans the way an offensive ball-handler does. At 6-4 and 235 pounds, he was bigger than the average player of his day and he was widely considered to be the fastest lineman in pro football.
Blessed with a keen football instinct, he was a master at diagnosing opposition plays. He used his size and speed to stop whatever the opposition attempted, but it was as a pass rusher that he really caught the fans’ attention. A natural team leader, he was the Giants co-captain in his final season in New York.
In high school Arnie was a two-time All-City tackle. He played end, fullback, and tackle in his four-year tenure at the University of Washington, a tenure interrupted by a four-year Army stint. New York Yankee Coach Ray Flaherty first spotted Weinmeister as a fullback but wisely made him into a two-way tackle when he turned pro in 1948. When he moved to the Giants, Arnie was used almost exclusively on defense. With a six-year tenure in the AAFC and NFL, his career is one of the shortest of any Pro Football Hall of Fame member.
Charles Robert Taylor was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. After playing college football for the Arizona State Sun Devils, he was selected by Washington in the first round of the 1964 NFL Draft. With Taylor, the Redskins made the playoffs five times (1971–1974, 1976) and reached the Super Bowl once (VII), after the 1972 season. A six-time All-Pro and eight-time Pro Bowl selection, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.
Taylor was selected by the Washington Redskins as the third overall pick of the 1964 NFL Draft. He was also selected in the AFL draft, taken ninth by the Houston Oilers. Taylor signed with Washington and won the UPI rookie of the year award as a running back, and became the first NFL rookie in 20 years to finish in the top 10 in the league in both rushing (sixth with 755 yards) and receiving (eighth, 53 receptions for 814 yards). The 53 catches were a then-record for running backs.
Although known as a successful running back, Taylor was switched to wide receiver in 1966 and led the NFL in receiving in both 1966 and 1967. He played that position for the rest of his career and had a record-tying seven seasons with 50 or more receptions. In 1972, he scored two touchdowns in Washington's win over the Dallas Cowboys in the National Football Conference Championship Game, advancing them to their first Super Bowl. They lost in Super Bowl VII to the undefeated Miami Dolphins. In the season finale in 1975, Taylor passed Don Maynard and became the NFL's all-time receptions leader with his 634th career catch on December 21 against the Philadelphia Eagles. Following Maynard's retirement in 1973, Taylor was the league's active leader in receiving yards for four seasons. He began 1974 with 7,470 yards, then 11th all-time, and climbed up to 4th.
Taylor retired following the 1977 season as the NFL's all-time leading receiver with 649 receptions, for 9,110 yards and 79 touchdowns. His career receptions record stood until 1984, when he was passed by Charlie Joiner. With 1,488 yards rushing and some kick return yardage, Taylor totaled 10,803 combined net yards. Along with his 11 touchdowns rushing, Taylor scored 540 points in his career. He was named first- or second-team All-Pro six times and was selected to eight Pro Bowls.
Taylor was named to the NFL 1960s All-Decade Team. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984, and was selected as one of the 70 Greatest Redskins of all time. In 1999, he was ranked number 85 on The Sporting News' list of its 100 greatest football players.
After retiring, Taylor was hired to work in the Redskins' front office with Bobby Mitchell as a scout. He became their receivers coach in 1981, when Joe Gibbs became the head coach. He served on the coaching staff through 1993 under Richie Petitbon, but was not retained by new head coach Norv Turner in March 1994, ending three decades with the franchise.
Taylor and his wife Patricia married in 1965. The Taylors lived in Falcons Landing in Potomac Falls, Virginia. They had three children, Elizabeth, Erica, and Charles, Jr., and three grandchildren, Robyn, Jordyn, and Nathan. He did speaking engagements and served as a consultant to the Commanders.
Taylor died on February 19, 2022, in Northern Virginia, at the age of 80.
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Michael Joseph McCormack Jr. was an American professional football player, coach, and executive in the National Football League. He played as an offensive tackle with the Cleveland Browns from 1954 through 1962 and served as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Colts, and Seattle Seahawks. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1984.
McCormack played college football at University of Kansas and assumed that he would take up a career as a high school coach. He was selected by the New York Yanks in the 1951 NFL Draft, but had to wait until the third round before being taken. After the 1951 season concluded, he was conscripted into the U.S. Army and served in the Korean War. While he was away, the Yanks moved to Dallas and became the Texans, which folded after just one season.
McCormack came home in 1954 to find that his team had ceased to exist, so he became a free agent and was immediately signed by the Baltimore Colts, a new franchise created the previous year to replace the defunct Yanks/Texans. Cleveland Browns founder Paul Brown had not forgotten seeing McCormack play in his rookie season three years earlier and was sufficiently impressed that he decided to add him to the roster in a trade exchange with Baltimore. In his first season with the team in 1954, he played on the defensive line, and famously grabbed the ball out of Lions QB Bobby Layne's hands (in what the referees ruled as a fumble recovery) in the 1954 NFL Championship game against the Detroit Lions, helping set up an important early touchdown.
The following season, he was shifted to offensive tackle and helped the Browns once again capture the NFL title. He played a key role in helping legendary running back Jim Brown become one of the dominant players in the game, ending his career with six selections to the Pro Bowl.
Paul Brown, legendary Cleveland Browns founder, owner, and coach, stated in his 1979 memoir, PB: The Paul Brown Story, "I consider (Mike) McCormack the finest offensive tackle who ever played pro football." Also, according to Paul Zimmerman's 1984 book, The New Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, Brown also stated that McCormack was the best offensive lineman he ever coached. The book states that McCormack "[c]ould handle the Colts' Gino Marchetti better than any tackle in the game. Power combined with great intelligence and 4.8 speed. 'I've seen him have games,' former player and NFL executive Bucko Kilroy says, 'where if you were grading him, he'd score 100. Not one mistake, and his guy would never make a tackle.'"
McCormack retired from playing in 1962 and began coaching with the first of four consecutive stints as an assistant in the annual College All-Star Game. In 1965, he was hired as an assistant coach with the Washington Redskins, spending the next eight seasons working under four different head coaches, including former teammate Otto Graham from 1966–1968.
McCormack was hired to replace Ed Khayat as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles on January 17, 1973. He inherited a team that ended 1972 in the NFC East cellar at 2–11–1 and hadn't had a winning campaign since 1966. Three seasons and a 16–25–1 record later, he was dismissed on December 22, 1975, following a 4–10 last-place finish.
After four years as offensive line coach with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1976 through 1979, he was selected over Frank Kush and George Welsh to succeed Ted Marchibroda as head coach of the Baltimore Colts on January 17, 1980. The ballclub finished in last place at 5–11 in each of the two seasons prior to McCormack's arrival. When the Colts fell from 7–9 in 1980 to 2–14 the following year, he was fired on December 21, 1981, and replaced by Kush the next day.As McCormack put it, "I wanted to be like my mentor, Paul Brown. He was a great teacher and I tried to do the same but unfortunately I always let my emotions carry me away."
In 1982, McCormack joined the Seattle Seahawks, eventually becoming president and general manager. That year, the Seahawks lost their first two games, then a 57-day players strike ensued. During the hiatus, seventh-year head coach Jack Patera was fired in mid-October and McCormack took over as interim head coach. He led them to a 4–3 record, the only time he compiled a winning record as an NFL head coach, but Seattle did not qualify for the 16-team postseason. McCormack then returned to his management position when the Seahawks hired Chuck Knox as their new head coach in 1983 and declined all further offers to become a head coach.
In late January 1989, he was abruptly fired by the new Seahawks owner, Ken Behring, who explained the decision was necessary in order to make changes in the financial operations of the team. Later that year, McCormack became a consultant for Jerry Richardson and his ownership group that were seeking to land an NFL expansion team in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 1993, he was hired by the newly-formed Carolina Panthers as their team president and general manager, and their inaugural season was in 1995. He retired from the Panthers organization in 1997, which erected a monument in their stadium honoring him.
At the age of 83 in 2013, McCormack died of heart failure in Palm Desert, California.
William Ferdie Brown was an American professional football player, coach and administrator. He played as a cornerback for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, Brown remained with the Raiders as an assistant coach. He served as the head football coach at California State University, Long Beach in 1991, the final season before the school's football program was terminated. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders' administrative staff.
Brown played college football at Grambling State University and was not drafted by any professional team after leaving school in 1963. He was signed by the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL), but was cut from the team during training camp. He was then signed by the AFL's Denver Broncos and became a starter by the middle of his rookie season. He won All-AFL honors in his second season and played in the AFL All-Star Game.
In 1967, Brown was traded within the Western Division to the Oakland Raiders and spent the remainder of his playing career there. He served as defensive captain for 10 of his 12 years with the team. He was named to five AFL All-Star games and four NFL Pro Bowls. He was also named All-AFL three times and All-NFL four times.
Perhaps Brown's most memorable moment as a Raider came late in Super Bowl XI, when he intercepted a Fran Tarkenton pass with under six minutes remaining and returned it a Super Bowl-record 75 yards for the clinching touchdown. NFL Films immortalized Brown's play with a film clip of Brown running with the ball, appearing to be running straight to the camera. He was also given a popular nickname as a result of Bill King's radio call of the play: "He (Tarkenton) looks and throws...intercepted by the Oakland Raiders Willie Brown at the 30, 40, 50...he’s going all the way!...Old Man Willie!...Touchdown Raiders!" His record stood for 29 years, until it was broken by Kelly Herndon's non-scoring 76-yard interception return from the end zone in Super Bowl XL.
Brown retired after the 1978 season, and finished his Raiders career with 39 interceptions, tied for first all-time on the team. He finished his sixteen seasons in professional football with 54 interceptions, which he returned for 472 yards and two touchdowns. He also recovered three fumbles.
Brown was selected to the American Football League All-Time Team and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on July 28, 1984, his first year of eligibility. In 1999, he was ranked number 50 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players, making him the highest-ranking Raiders player.
Brown served as a defensive backfield coach for the Raiders from 1979 to 1988. He was also the last head football coach at Long Beach State before the program was discontinued. Brown had succeeded George Allen, who had died just after the end of the 1990 season. He earned a master's degree at the same school in 1991, and later coached at Jordan High School in Los Angeles in 1994. In 1995, he returned to the Raiders as the Director of Staff Development.
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