NFL Player you Remember 1st Admiring as a Kid

[Cheesebeef]

JT Smith

 

[CardNots]

Bob Lilly, OL 1961-1974 HOF first player drafted by the Dallas Cowboys organization

 

[Harry]

Terry Metcalf

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Dick Butkus

 

[phillycard]

The 77 Cardinals. All of them. After that I just fell in love with football, so literally anyone on tv who made plays, I became a fan of that player. Even the eagles who were on every week. The hate for them didn't start until adulthood.

 

[Goldfield]

Ok this is a great thread…

 

[TRW]

Yelberton Abraham Tittle. Tough, gritty old man with the Giants. Was a really good one with the 49ers also. I have his autobiography “I Pass”.
Bart Starr was an early hero as well.

 

[Zeem_Freeze]

Marshall Faulk

 

[PDXChris]

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[Krangodnzr]

Larry Centers, Aeneas Williams, and Eric Swann.

 

[oaken1]

Larry Centers, Aeneas Williams, and Eric Swann.

lol... I remember that one season Larry was our entire offense.
Centers up the middle
screen pass to Larry Centers
Centers off tackle
Flair pass to centers
shotgun, QB drops back, theres pressure, he scrambles, nobody open!! outlet pass to Larry centers, he breaks a tackle...stiff arm... and hes down after a seven yard gain...

Larry Centers was awesome

 

[WiscoBird]

Jeff Hostetler.........first football memory was the Norwood wide right Super Bowl. Was a Giant fan till 92 when my first football game was Giants/Cardinals. Didn't understand why the away team had more fans than the home team. If I'm from Arizona, then I should support the Arizona team. My curse started on that December afternoon. First Cardinal was Larry Centers.

 

[jmt]

Does anyone remember Dave Meggasey? I did like Sonny Randle!

 

[jmt]

Meggysey I think

 

[PACardsFan]

My earliest favorite Cardinals were QB Charlie Johnson & WR Bobby Joe Conrad. My favorite non-Cardinals were Gale Sayers & Dick Butkus. In his prime before all the injuries, Sayers was the best RB I’ve ever seen. And it was must see TV to watch Butkus punish RB’s.

 

[PACardsFan]

Bob Lilly, OL 1961-1974 HOF first player drafted by the Dallas Cowboys organization

The gentle giant, although we wasn’t very gentle.

 

[Krangodnzr]

Jeff Hostetler.........first football memory was the Norwood wide right Super Bowl. Was a Giant fan till 92 when my first football game was Giants/Cardinals. Didn't understand why the away team had more fans than the home team. If I'm from Arizona, then I should support the Arizona team. My curse started on that December afternoon. First Cardinal was Larry Centers.

Man, my fandom began similarly.

I was initially a "Cowboys fan". They were really good. I would go to the games during Buddy's years, and my first year, I basically looked for girls around my age to hit on (it actually worked). Then the infamous Christmas game where Larry Centers vaulted over Brown of the Cowboys happened. The Cardinals got crushed, and I realized that I was pulling for DALLAS, TEXAS' team, not Arizona's team. I moved to Arizona in 1991 so by that time I was starting to like living in Arizona, so I started to identify with Arizona.

That offseason I watched the NFL draft for the first time and I was HOOKED.

 

[gimpy]

When I was a kid, Johnny Unitas, and a little later, Jim Brown.

And all the ones listed on here just about.

 

[gamebird98]

Calvin Hill as a Cowboy

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

Roman Gabriel

I met him in my Frat brotherś office once. His office had a view of all of L.A. My frat bro was Ed Masry, the atty that movie Erin Brockovitch was on about.

 

[SissyBoyFloyd]

When I was a kid, Johnny Unitas, and a little later, Jim Brown.

And all the ones listed on here just about.

How I would have liked to been able to watch Jim Brown play in person each Sunday. I mainly got the Rams´Fearsome Foursome to root for weekly.

 

[akg102]

Aeneas and Barry Sanders were my two

 

[Snakester]

Jim Hart then that whole Cards offense. AFC team was the Raiders. Loved John Maddens team.

 

[PACardsFan]

How I would have liked to been able to watch Jim Brown play in person each Sunday. I mainly got the Rams´Fearsome Foursome to root for weekly.

Jim Brown played at Syracuse. My Dad saw him play every home game for 4 years. A man among boys.

 

[Ragnar]

Alan Page and the PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS