Dan Abramowicz

    Dan Abramowicz is 6-1 and 165 pounds. His college was Xavier University. Abramowicz was drafted late in the 17th round in 1967 by the New Orleans Saints. In 1969 he led the NFL with 73 receptions. in 1973 he got traded to the San Francisco 49ers then ended his career with the Buffalo Bills. After the 1975 season he retired and ended his career with 396 receptions, 5,686 receiving yards, and 39 touchdowns. Abramowicz held a career record for having at least 1 reception in his 105 games. When Dan Abramowicz retired the head coach of the Chicago Bear, Mike Ditka, hired him as the Chicago Bears Special Teams Coach from 1992 - 1996. Abramowicz was re-united with his team the New Orleans Saints as the Offensive Coordinator from 1997 - 1999. Since 2008 he has his own T. V. on a catholic T. V. channel on EWTN called "Crossing the Goal".

   

Dan Abramowicz for the Saints

Dan Abramowicz for the 49ers

Source: Wikipedia  and the Official Encyclopedia of Football 

1944 Card-Pitt

    In 1944 the Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers were short on players due to World War II. So the teams merged in the 1944 season to create the team Card-Pitt. The head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Walt Kiesling and the head coach of Chicago Cardinals, Phil Hanler were the co-coaches of the Card-Pitt. Unfortunately they lost all ten of the regular season games. The Brooklyn Tigers also lost all of their ten games. That is the first time in NFL history that two NFL teams lost all of their regular season games. Only 4 teams ever in NFL history have lost all regular season games such as the 1976 Tampa Buccaneers and the 2008 Detroit Lions. Art Rooney said "The worst team in NFL history". The Quarterback of the team, John McCarthy, threw thirteen interceptions, zero touchdown passes, and a Quarterback rating of 3.0. The Kicker of the team, Conway Baker, missed 4 of his 15 extra points.

Card-Pitt Roster 

QB John McCarthy

QB Coley McDonough 

QB Walt Rankin

HB John Butler

HB George Magulick 

HB John Popovich 

HB Bernie Semes 

HB Bob Thurbon 

FB John Grigas 

B Walt Masters 

 E Don Currivan 

E Walt Kichefski 

E Johnny Martin 

E Eddie Rucinski 

E Clint Wagner 

T Clarence Booth 

T Chet Bulger

T Ted Doyle  

T Cliff Duggan 

G Conway Baker 

G Lou Marotti 

G Elmer Merkovsky 

G John Perko 

C Vince Banonis 

C Marshall Robnett 

C Al Wukits

Source: Wikipedia

                             

NFL Bench Warmer News

NFL Bench Warmer New is my blog where I write/blog about the NFL, Football, football cards, football players, football games, and more. When I write this blog I don't actually mean real bench warmers. I just got the name because it's catchy. So that's what will be writing about. Keep reading!

Bench Warmers!

Hot Dog Comics

I use to always write Hot Dog Comics and put them on my other blog called Hot Dog Comics and Other Cool Things.  I made that blog when I was younger, but a few years later I kept writing about football instead of my Hot Dog Comics. So I started to copy and paste all of my football blog posts from Hot Dog Comics and Other Cool Things to my new blog NFL Bench Warmer News.

This is one of my Hot Dog Comics I wrote.

The Rookie/Comeback Kid Andrew Luck

          Andrew Luck was the number one overall draft pick of 2012. He fixed up a 2-14 team to a 11-5 making the playoffs unfortunately losing to the. Most of his 11 wins weren't all that easy to win in fact some people didn't even think they would win those games. Andrew Luck holds a rookie record for most fourth quarter comebacks with 7. 
             
                               Week                              Team                              Score
                                 2                             Minnesota Vikings                 23 - 20
                                 4                             Green Bay Packers                30 - 27
                                 7                               Tennessee Titans                 19 - 13
                                 8                                Miami Dolphins                 20 - 23
                                12                                  Detroit Lions                   35 - 33
                                13                               Tennessee Titans                27 - 23
                                15                              Kansas City Chiefs              20 - 13

Luck beat the Tennessee Titans twice with two fourth quarter comebacks. When Luck played the Detroit Lions he had 0 seconds left and won the game with a game winning touchdown pass. Andrew Luck would have been Rookie of the Year if it wasn't for Washington Redskins Quarter Back RG3. Luck made it to the pro-bowl in 2012. Luck will probably have more fourth quarter comebacks later in his career like Quarterback's Tom Brady or Joe Montana.

Joe Namath

 Joe Namath played professional football from 1965-1977. He was number 12 and a fantastic quarterback. He played for the New York Jets. His Nickname was Broadway Joe because he was an entertainer in Broadway and some stared in some commercials. In one he shaved his legs for something called beauty mist. He played in the 3rd Superbowl against the Baltimore Colts.  Broadway Joe Vs Johnny U. Broadway Joe for the first time in the AFC history guaranteed that they would win super bowl III. Broadway Joe was nominated number 100 of NFL top 100 best players of all time. He just made the list. The first time in football history all receivers and their quarterback (Joe Namath) has ever made it to the pro bowl was done by the Jets.    

                                     1 2 3 4    
                       nyj         0 7 6 3 
                       bal         0 0 0 7 
Sixteen to 7 Joe didn't let his team down. He was made Superbowl MVP of the year. Looks like  Broadway Joe made the Super III guarantee. Eight years later he got traded to the Los Angeles Rams, that was his last year playing. Lots of people were thinking he should have been nicknamed no Kneed Joe or Late hit Joe because the defense use to always come up and sack Joe after the play so he aways had busted knees. Especially the Raiders defense. There were rules made because of there late hits.

Top 10 Running Backs of all time

10.  Ladainian Tomlinson

9. Marshall Faulk

8. Eric Dickerson

7. Gale Sayers

6. Emmitt Smith

5. O.J. Simpson

4. Earl Campbell

3. Barry Sanders

2. Walter Payton

 1. Jim Brown

The First Football Cards ever 1894 Mayo

      The first set ever to feature only football players was in 1894 by the brand P. H. Mayo tobacco company. The set of 35 cards had only the "Big 3" schools of Yale, Harvard, and Princeton. The cards were 1 5/8 x 2 7/8. On the card it shows an image of the player. At the bottom of the card it has the player's last name, the name of the college the player goes to, the Mayo logo, and a"for chewing and smoking" slogan with a black frame around the card. The card was also half the size of cards today.The cards were not numbered a certain number on it. One of the cards didn't identify the player who was on the card. Later people found out that the player was John Dunlap of Harvard.
   
         More than 100 years later in 2002 a newer card brand Donruss Grindon Kings brought back Mayo cards except they had many differences. First off the players were different, the original Mayo logo was changed the NFL team logo, and the name of the NFL player had both first and last name instead of just their last name. Another difference was the slogan, instead of the original slogan "for chewing and smoking" it was changed to "for trading and collecting and trading". Also instead of the college name they had the position of the player on the card plays.
     
                Six years later in 2008 Topps did the same thing except there weren't as many changes this time. The Mayo logo was the same. The name of the player was the same because they only have there last name. The slogan was different from "for chewing and smoking" it was changed to "for collecting and trading". Instead of having the college name at the bottom of the card they had the NFL team name at the bottom of the card. The cards also came in the regular size of the card or the 1894 card size.

        So the very first  football cards ever made was by the company Mayo. I can't believe that football came as early as 1894. Basically football cards has been here from 1894 - 2013 and probably will go longer. Football cards have been here for 119 years.

John Dunlap 1894 Mayo card without the name.

Dick Butkus 2002 Donruss Gridon Kings card. 

Lendale White 2008 Topps football cards.

                                                            Source: First and Goal

Matt Gauntner's 2012-2013 All-Pro Team NFL

Next Years

OFFENSE

    PLAYER                                       TEAM

QB  Peyton Manning                                    Denver Broncos

RB Adrian Peterson                                     Minnesota Vikings
RB Marshawn Lynch                                   Seattle Seahawks

WR Brandon Marshall                                   Chicago Bears
WR Calvin Johnson                                        Detroit Lions

TE Rob Gronkowski                                  New England Patriots
TE  Heath Miller                                          Pittsburgh Steelers

T Joe Thomas                                               Cleveland Browns
T Jake Long                                                   Miami Dolphins

G Logan Makins                                         New England Patriots                        
G Carl Nicks                                                New Orleans Saints

C Maurkise Pouncey                                    Pittsburgh Steelers

DEFENSE

DE  J. J. Watt                                                   Houston Texans
DE Cameron Wake                                           Miami Dolphins
DT  Ndamukong Suh                                       Detroit Lions
OLB Clay Mathews                                       Green Bay Packers
ILB  Patrick Willis                                         San Fransisco 49ers
ILB DeMarcus Ware                                        Dallas Cowboys                    
OLB Aldon Smith                                           San Francisco 49ers
CB Champ Bailey                                             Denver Broncos
CB Tim Jennings                                               Chicago Bears
SS Earl Thomas                                                 Seattle Seahawks
FS Eric Weddle                                                San Diego Chargers

SPECIAL TEAMS

K Sebastian Jankowski                                        Oakland Raiders
P Andy Lee                                                        San Fransisco 49ers
KR  Devin Hester                                                Chicago Bears

PR   Devin Hester                                                Chicago Bears   

J. J. Watt

 

   J. J. means Justin James. He was born March 22 1989. He attended Central Michigan University. He played there as a tight end. He said he wanted to make it to the NFL and was playing  tight end he only got eight passes. That wouldn't get him to the NFL. So he left school and got a job at Pizza Hut. He asked his parents if he could transfer. His parents could only afford Wisconsin. J. J. was fine with it. One day J. J.was delivering pizza. He knocked on the door a ten year old boy answered the door. J. J. could tell he was a little football fan. Mom J. J. Watt's here. J. J. said "I got your pizza hut."The kid got all exited and asked his mom "Why is J. J. delivering our pizza, he's the guy on T.V." After that day     J. J. figured out that he wanted to play football again and get back to the top. After that he trained and practiced so hard everything fitted into place. He can now jump fifty-five inches without a running start.       He left a secure job as a tight end at Central Michigan University to be a Wisconsin Badger defensive end. He got drafted in the 2011 draft by the Houston Texans. In 2012 the Texans has been undefeated for the first five games. Now with Brian Cushing out it is up to J. J. Watt to lead the defense.

                                                J. J. Watts Defensive College Stats                     

    

      SACKS            TKL         SOLO           INT          YDS        FUM         REC        TD 

            11.5              106                 74                1              15               3                4            0 

Jack Christiansen

          Jack Christiansen (John Leroy Christiansen) was a defensive back and punt/kick returner for the Detroit  Lions.  Jack played in 1951 - 1958. In college Jack did not play football instead played on a track team at Colorado State. When he was a sophomore he decided to play football. On his very first game he was amazing. He was 6-1 and 162 pounds which made people doubt that he would make it to the NFL. But the Detroit Lions didn't because in 1951 the Lions drafted him. In his rookie season as punt returner he had 343 yards and 4 touchdowns. As a defensive back he had 2 interceptions, a fumble recovery, and 105 yards. He took the Lions to 3 World Championships. Jack went to 5 pro bowls out of 8 seasons. Soon the Lions defensive backfield was known as the "Chris Crew" because of Jacks defensive skill and his last name. In 1953 Jack had 12 interceptions. Jack was born in 1928 and died in 1986. He was inducted into the pro football hall of fame in 1970.

My All-Pro Team NFL

Position  Name                    Team(s)
QB         Petyon Manning    Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos
QB         Brett Farve            Atlanta Falcons, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers

RB        Jim Brown            Cleveland Browns
RB        Waltor Payton       Chicago Bears

WR       Jerry Rice             San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders
WR       Don Hutson         Green Bay Packers

TE        Tony Gonzelez     Kansas City Chiefs, Atlanta Falcons
TE        Ozzie Newsome   Cleveland Browns

T         Anthony Munoz     Cincinnati  Bengals
T         Art Shell                 Oakland Raiders

G        John Hannah          New England Patriots
G        Bruce Matthews     Houston Oilers

C        Mike Webster        Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs

OLB  Lawrence Taylor   New York Giants
OLB  Ray Nitschke         Green Bay Packers

ILB   Ray Lewis            Baltimore Ravens
ILB   Dick Butkus          Chicago Bears

DT   Mean Joe Green    Pittsburgh Steelers

DE  Reggie White        Philadelphia Eagles
DE Bruce Smith         Buffalo Bills

CB   Deion Sanders  Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins
CB Rod Woodson      Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Oakland Raiders


S      Mel  Blount            Pittsburgh Steelers
S      Ronnie Lott            San Francisco 49ers


P Ray Guy                  Oakland Raiders

K Adan Vinetari          New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts

PR Deion Sanders, Atlanta Falcons, San Francisco, Dallas Cowboys, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins

KR Devin Hester        Chicago Bears

Orlando Pace

           Orlando Pace was an offensive linemen drafted as the #1 over all draft pick in 1997. Pace got drafted from the St. Louis Rams wearing number 76. Pace's hometown was Ohio also where he played college at Ohio State. Pace played for the St. Louis Rams from 1997 - 2008 then he got traded to the Chicago Bears. Orlando Pace blocked for NFL MVP's in Marshall Faulk and Kurt Warner. He played in Superbowl XXXIV earning his first Superbowl ring. Pace made five straight pro bowls in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, and 2004.He played 169 games and started 165 of them. Pace recovered seven fumbles his whole career.  Pace might be a possible hall of famer in 2014.

Brian Urlacher

      Everybody knows #54 the beast, Brian Urlacher! He has been the best middle line backer of his generation. Brian has been a Bear for 13 straight years. Now he is a free agent. Urlacher was born May 25, 1978 in Pasco, Washington.

    When Brian was growing up he was really interested in basketball, football, and table tennis. Brian's high school was Lovington where he played football at. When Brian Urlacher was a teenager he spent most of his time playing sports for Lovington high school and training in weight rooms. In high school he played on offense, defense, and special teams. He played as a Running Back, a Wide Receiver, a defensive back, and a kick/punt returner. He led the Lovington Wildcats to a great undefeated season with the record being 14 - 0.  He finished his high school season with 12 touchdown receptions, 2 rushing touchdowns and 6 touchdown returns.

      He graduated from lovington highschool in 1996 and wanted to attend Texas University, but the school didn't offer him an athletic scholarship. So he went to New Mexico instead. He played for the New Mexico Lobos. The Lobos head coach, Dennis Franchione, converted Brian to linebacker. Besides football Brian got a major in criminology, but Urlacher went on with football. He finished his college career with 442 tackles,11 sacks, 11 fumble forces, 5 kick returns for a touchdown, and caught 6 touchdown passes.

        Brian's 40 yard dash took him 4.57. He got drafted by the Chicago Bears in 2000 in the first round pick 9. Brian was the rookie of the year in 2000.  He made it to 8 pro-bowls and was the defensive player of the year in 2005. Brian lost the 2006 Superbowl to the Indianapolis Colts. He is 6 ft 4in and weighs 258 pounds.He has 10 fumble forces 1,294, 41.5 sacks, 21 interceptions, 278 yards, and 1 touchdown. Hopefully Brian Urlacher will get signed this year so his career won't end.

Photo from www.oddjack.com

Source: Wikipedia

Warren Sapp

        Warren Sapp was inducted to the pro-football Hall of Fame in 2013. Sapp made it to 7 straight pro-bowls in the years 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 . He was a defensive tackle wearing number 99. Sapp played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1995 - 2003 and for the Oakland Raiders from 2004 - 2007. Sapp weighs 300 pounds and is 6-2.
     
       Warren Sapp went to Apopka high school. During the late 80's Sapp was a spectacular football player at his high school as linebacker, tight end, place kicker and punter. Sapp still holds records at that school such as most sacks and longest field goal. Warren Sapp also played baseball. His position was third base. He broke a school record of 24 home runs in his junior year. Sapp delivered a hit on an MLB player John Damon.

       Warren's college was Miami where he had terrific years of football, but his best year was in 1994. Sapp won many awards that year. He won the  Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Rotary Lombardi Award, Bill Willis, Outland Trophy finalist, and the Big East Defensive Player of the year.
 
         Sapp was drafted round 1 pick 12 by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Warren Sapp's 40-yard dash was the fastest time ran by a defensive tackle, recording 4.69. Sapp was a great rookie. He finished his rookie season with 27 tackles and one interception. In 1999 Sapp was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year. During the 2002 post season Sapp had five tackles and two sacks. In 2002 Sapp earned his first Superbowl ring against the Oakland Raiders. Later in Sapp's career (2004) Sapp got a contract with the Oakland Raiders for $36.6 million. The team that Sapp had defeated a few years earlier in the Superbowl wants him to play for them. In 2007 Warren Sapp retired. Sapp finished his career with amazing stats. His stats were so good that he made it to the pro-football hall of fame. Sapp was the Buc's sack leader with 96.5sack. Sapp also had 297 tackles, 8 fumble forces, 4 interceptions, and 1 touch down.  Sapp later joined NFL Network for NFL GameDay Morning.

#99 Warren Sapp

                            

 Warren Sapp in NFL Network
Source: Wikipidia 

Emlen Tunnell

              Emlen Tunnell was a defensive back and a Punt Returner. Tunnell wore number 45 playing for the New York Giants from (1948 - 1958) and for the Green Bay Packers from (1959 - 1961). He was also an Assistant Coach. Tunnell was drafted to the army for two years in the United States Coast Guard during World War II. After he was done fighting in the war went to University of Iowa. That is where he played football for the Hawkeyes. Tunnell was a Quarterback and a Halfback. In the season of 1946 he led the Hawkeyes in passing and in the season of 1947 he led the Hawkeyes in receiving. Tennell stopped playing college football so he could play in the NFL. Most teams of the NFL thought that Emlen Tunnell would stay in college for a third year so he was not drafted in to the NFL in 1948.  Tunnell was a free agent instead and the New York Giants offered him a contract. Tunnell played 11 years with the New York Giants and 3 with the Green Bay Packers. Emlen became an Assistant Coach for the New York Giants. One day when Tunnell was coaching during a practice session in 1975 he died because of a heart attack. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants and to make it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tennell made 9 pro-bowls out of 14 seasons. At the end of his career he had 7 interceptions, 1282 yards, and 4 touchdowns on defense. When he was punt returning he had 2217 yards, 262 punt returns, and 5 touchdowns.          

#45 Elmen Tunnell 

   

Elmen Tunnell football card

                                                                                             Source: Wikipedia

Dave Casper

              Dave Casper was a double Hall of Famer.  He made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Hall of Fame. He was a Tight End for the Oakland Raiders (1974 - 1980), the Houston Oilers from (1980 - 1983), the Minnesota Vikings in 1983, and the L. A. Raiders in 1984. Casper's nickname was "The Ghost" and "The Ghost" wore number 87. "The Ghost" made it to 5 straight pro bowls from 1976 - 1980. Casper went to St. Edward Central Catholic High School for his first 3 years and for his last year he went Chilton High School where he played football at. "The Ghost's" college he went to Notre Dame. "The Ghost" was drafted round 2 pick 45. Casper was in one of the greatest plays of all time "The Holy Roller". The date was September 10, 1978. The Raiders were losing to the Chargers with 10 seconds left in the game. The Raiders were in the red zone. When Quarter Back Ken Stabler took the snap the defense was coming toward him. He was about to get sacked when he flicked the ball toward the end zone when Running Back Pete Banaszak luckily recovered the ball at the 12 yard line but then dropped it again and the ball rolled into the end zone. Casper was there to recover it, tying the game 20 - 20. The extra point won the game 21 - 20.  At the end of his career he had 378 receptions, 5,216 yards, and 52 touchdowns. Casper is now known as one of the best Tight Ends of all time.