Recently I watched some of the 1981 NFC Championship game replay on NFLN and was reminded of how good Hank Stram was as an analyst. I believe that most of the best NFL analysts during the 1980s were former coaches (John Madden and Dick Vermeil also). Stram brought great insight and perspective into the booth. He frequently pointed out offensive formations and defensive alignments in advance and had a knack for predicting plays. I also recall Stram providing excellent radio commentary on Monday Night football games.
In my opinion, the best Super Bowl highlight video of all time is the one from Super Bowl IV when NFL Films miked Stram. Even though I rooted for the Vikings, I always enjoyed all the emotion and personality Stram added to that film and all of his famous one-liners such as "65 toss power trap".
Nice to see this blog! I agree: the coaches who could communicate what was happening on the field without getting too caught up in jargon have been the best analysts, notably the three you named. Stram and Jack Buck were a wonderful pair to listen to on Monday Night Football, especially when, yes, Stram would predict the plays. Also, his being miked led to the great line, "Keep matriculating down the field."
ReplyDeleteThanks for the words, Michael. I watched that Super Bowl highlight film again. Some other memorable lines: "running around there like it was a Chinese fire drill" / "Mr. Official, how can 6 of you miss a play like that?" / "That might pop wide open" ... "I told you that baby was there!"
ReplyDelete