Jump to content

I never got to see William Andrews play...until now


Recommended Posts

Guest Spot On Dtan

Now he was a true falcon. Just a a few decades too early though. Turner "FatAssMcPorkBut" needs to watch that and go on a diet

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FULLBACK!

Yup. In fact, Lynn Cain was also a FB. James Mayberry was drafted to be a TB, and well very few people have ever heard of him.

That 1980 team was awesome. I remember them well. I think Cain had like 900 yds, Willie Andrews like 1300 yds and then of course Bartkowski tore it up with huge numbers. That team may have been one of the best built teams ever.

The suckie part, and I remember it well as well, is that "no call" on Too-Tall Jones. He was so offsides.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if not for the injury Andrews would have been one of the all time greats.........one **** of a RB

william Andrews

Look at those stats! His 83 season was even better. The amazing part about him was how well rounded he was. When you think of Marshall Faulk and Roger Craig--both incredible all-round backs, they both were not as dominant as William Andrews. Considering the blocking aspect as well. Unfortunately, in the early 80s shredding ones knee was the death knell of a career.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

if not for the injury Andrews would have been one of the all time greats.........one **** of a RB

I agree, & will never forget the season he went down, there were 2 other possible "greats" that also got hurt, Detroit - Billy Simms & Cardinals - Otis Anderson, he did make it back though & was MVP in SB XXV. I will never forget a run & the damage he did in a Denver game, layed the DB out flat on a long run...someone help me find that play!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Those of you my age and older will remember him at Auburn, with James Brooks and Joe Cribbs... how did they ever lose a game? (I'm a Dawgs fan by the way...)

Well I well remember him carrying our high school football team, in my class, at Thomasville High School in south georgia in 71-73. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why do "full"backs line up in front of "half"backs? Always wondered...

the names were derived from the original football playbooks. take the wishbone for example which is an old school formation. the fullback is the last in line in that formation where the halfbacks are on the wing and the quarterbacks are under center.

the original derivation was accurate, but as the forward pass evolved and the play book changed, the fullback became half-way back and the halfback became the tail-back.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That man was a BEAST. I had always hoped that TJ Duckett would turn into a William Andrews-type back.... For a short time, Duckett looked like a runaway train just out to punish anything that stood between him and the end zone.... But Andrews ran like that for an entire career..... He was the man.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great stuff and thanks for posting. Until we win a superbowl this 1980 group will always be at least in my mind "the team" that put ATL on the NFL map..they had everything you need to be great. And loved watching Andrews again, but has there ever been a quarterback that threw a prettier pass than Bart?..he could sling it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Skip to about 4:26:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bkj_Zp2hpe8

Dude just TRUCKING people.

Did a little research, the run I saw was a little like the one against Buffalo @ 5:25, the game was Dec 5,1982 in Denver, a screen pass out in the flat that went 86 yds, forgot the poor DB who was run over, best guess' are Dennis Smith, Steve Wilson or Louie Wright...I need to see this TD play again!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Andrews weighed around 210 lbs when he played. Good size in an era when 275 was the norm for O and D linemen.

Andrews could lead block, pass block, catch passes (82 catches one year), run between and outside the tackles. The only thing Andrews did not have, was breakaway speed. One year he gained over 1200 yds rushing but did not have one run over 23 yards. Draw plays were his specialty.

The Steelers' Jack Lambert played against Andrews once, said he and Earl Campbell were the toughest backs to tackle that Lambert had ever faced.

Not sure what year it was, there was one season (probably 1980) when Andrews had over 2000 yards in combined reception and rushing yards. At the time, he joined very elite company, since only two other players in NFL history had ever accomplished this. Those two were Jim Brown and OJ Simpson.

When Andrews was hurt, film showed that not one player touched him before he went down. It was a challenge for Andrews to learn to walk, let alone run.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah I've watched that a few times, would have loved to seen him play in person.

Outside of Deion he was probably the most purely talented players the Falcons ever drafted. Love the way he runs.

I saw him in person. He ran always over defenders instead of around them and pancaked DL players regularly. He ran the hardest of any running back i ever saw. Too bad his knees blew out. Lynn Cain was pretty awesome too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...