Highlighted Year: Paddy Driscoll, 1922

Back, Chicago Cardinals

Age: 27

4^th season in pro football, 3^rd in APFA/NFL & with Cardinals (2^nd complete)

College: Northwestern

Height: 5’11” Weight: 160

Prelude:

Driscoll played football and baseball in college, briefly spending time with the Chicago Cubs in 1917. While in the military during World War I, he was with the Great Lakes Naval Station team that won the 1919 Rose Bowl. Driscoll joined the Hammond Pros in 1919 and moved on to the Chicago Cardinals of the new American Professional Football Association (later renamed NFL) in ’20. Deceptively mild-mannered and small in stature, he was an outstanding all-around player who was an elusive halfback and kick returner, precision punter, and outstanding drop-kicker. He was a first-team All-APFA selection by the Rock Island Argus in 1920 and scored 25 points in 1921. He also coached the Cardinals in each of those seasons, compiling a 9-5-4 record. Driscoll continued as a player-coach in 1922.

1922 Season Summary

Appeared in all 11 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Scoring

Rushing TDs – 0

Receiving TDs – 2 [1, tied with Dunc Annan, Charlie Mathys & Scotty Bierce]

Other TDs – 0

Total TDs – 2

Field Goals – 8 [1]

Extra Points – 4 [8, tied with Hank Gillo & Pete Henry]

Points – 40 [5]

Awards & Honors:

1^st team All-NFL: George Halas, Canton Daily News

Cardinals went 8-3 to finish third in the NFL.

Aftermath:

In six seasons with the Cardinals (three of which he was also the coach), Driscoll scored 17 touchdowns and kicked 37 field goals, leading the league three times, and 31 PATs for a total of 244 points, topping the NFL with 78 in 1923. He received first-team All-NFL recognition after four of those seasons. Following the 1925 season, in which the team won the NFL title, the financially-strapped Cardinals sold Driscoll’s contract to the Bears. Driscoll spent three more seasons with the Bears, scoring 43 points and again receiving consensus first-team All-NFL honors in 1927. Overall for his career, he scored 31 touchdowns and kicked 63 extra points and 51 field goals for a total of 402 points. Driscoll’s scoring total was the NFL record until 1942 and his field goal total the league standard until 1952, with his single-season record of 12 in 1926 not exceeded until 1950. Driscoll received at least some first-team All-NFL recognition after seven seasons and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 1965. He later became a long-time assistant coach for the Bears and was head coach in 1956 and ’57.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970

Highlighted Year: Joe Cribbs, 1984

Running Back, Birmingham Stallions

 Age: 26

5^th season in pro football, 1^st in USFL & with Stallions

College: Auburn

Height: 5’11” Weight: 191

Prelude:

Buffalo’s running game had been subpar in 1979 with Terry Miller as the feature back, and the Bills took Cribbs in the second round of the ’80 NFL draft. Small but versatile – and having gained 4561 all-purpose yards and scored 34 touchdowns in college - it was anticipated that he would at least initially return kicks, but he quickly moved into the starting lineup, putting together a Pro Bowl season in which he rushed for 1185 yards and received Rookie of the Year recognition from UPI and Pro Football Weekly. Cribbs followed up his outstanding rookie season by gaining 1700 yards from scrimmage in 1981 (1097 rushing, 603 receiving) and was again selected to the Pro Bowl. Due to a contract holdout, he missed the first two games of the strike-shortened ’82 season but was effective upon the resumption of play with 633 rushing yards in seven games, although his productivity as a receiver out of the backfield dropped considerably. Cribbs rebounded in 1983 with 1131 rushing yards and 524 more yards on 57 pass receptions, garnering a third Pro Bowl selection. He jumped to the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL in 1984.

1984 Season Summary

Appeared in 16 of 18 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Rushing

Attempts – 297 [1, tied with Kelvin Bryant]

Most attempts, game – 33 (for 191 yds.) at Pittsburgh 3/11

Yards – 1467 [1]

Most yards, game – 191 yards (on 33 carries) at Pittsburgh 3/11

Average gain – 4.9 [10]

TDs – 8 [13, tied with Buford Jordan, Greg Boone & John Williams

100-yard rushing games – 6

Pass Receiving

Receptions – 39      

Most receptions, game – 5 (for 36 yds.) vs. New Jersey 2/26, (for 32 yds.) vs. New Orleans 4/2

Yards – 500

Most yards, game – 94 (on 3 catches) at Denver 4/29

Average gain – 12.8

TDs – 5 [20, tied with nine others]

Scoring

TDs – 13 [9, tied with four others]

Points – 78

Postseason: 2 G

Rushing attempts – 39

Most rushing attempts, game – 21 at Philadelphia, USFL Eastern Conference Championship

Rushing yards – 184

Most rushing yards, game – 112 vs. Tampa Bay, USFL First Round playoff

Average gain rushing – 4.7

Rushing TDs – 1

Pass receptions – 9

Most pass receptions, game – 6 at Philadelphia, USFL Eastern Conference Championship

Pass receiving yards – 118

Most pass receiving yards, game – 63 at Philadelphia, USFL Eastern Conference Championship

Average yards per reception – 13.1

Pass Receiving TDs – 0

Awards & Honors:

1^st-team All-USFL: League, Sporting News, College & Pro Football Newsweekly, Pro Football Weekly

Stallions went 14-4 to finish first in the USFL Southern Division while leading the league in rushing yards (3313). Won USFL First Round playoff over Tampa Bay Bandits (36-17) and lost Eastern Conference Championship to Philadelphia Stars (20-10).

Aftermath:

Cribbs followed up with 1047 rushing yards in 1985 and then returned to the Bills during the Autumn ‘85 season before moving on to San Francisco for two years in a part-time role. His career came to an end in a 1988 season split between the Colts and Dolphins. In the NFL, Cribbs rushed for 5356 yards and 27 TDs on 1309 carries (4.1 avg.) and caught 224 passes for 2199 yards and 15 touchdowns. With the USFL, he rushed for 2514 yards on 564 attempts (4.5 avg.) and 15 TDs and had 80 catches for 787 yards and six TDs.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970

Highlighted Year: Alfred Jenkins, 1974

Wide Receiver, Birmingham Americans

Age: 22

1^st season in pro football

College: Morris Brown

Height: 5’10” Weight: 161

Prelude:

A star with a small college, Jenkins was ignored in the NFL draft. After failing in a tryout with the Houston Oilers he signed with the Americans of the new WFL for 1974.

1974 Season Summary

Appeared in all 20 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Pass Receiving

Receptions – 60 [5, tied with Ed Marshall]         

Yards – 1326 [1]

Most yards, game – 200 (on 5 catches) vs. Memphis 7/24

Average gain – 22.1 [1]  

TDs – 12 [2]

Rushing

Attempts – 3

Yards – 8

Yards per attempt – 2.7

TDs – 0

Punt Returns

Returns – 30 [8]

Yards – 262 [6]

Average per return – 8.7 [7]

TDs – 0

Longest return – 42 yards

Scoring

TDs – 12 [8, tied with John Land]

Action points – 5 
Points – 89 [10]

Postseason: 2 G

Pass receptions – 3

Most pass receptions, game – 2 vs. Hawaiians, WFL Second Round playoff

Pass receiving yards – 64

Most pass receiving yards, game – 46 vs. Hawaiians, WFL Second Round playoff

Yards per reception – 21.3

Pass Receiving TDs – 1

Punt returns – 2

Punt return yds. – 31

Punt return avg. – 15.5

Punt return TDs – 0

Longest return – 27 yards vs. Hawaiians, WFL Second Round

Awards & Honors:

1^st team All-WFL: League, Sporting News

Americans went 15-5 to finish second in the WFL Central Division and qualified for the postseason. Won Second Round playoff over The Hawaiians (22-19) & WFL Championship, aka World Bowl, over Florida Blazers (22-21).

Aftermath:

Jenkins jumped to the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL in 1975 and continued to be productive. He caught 38 passes for 767 yards (20.2 avg.) and 6 TDs in ’75. It was the first of nine NFL seasons, all with the Falcons, until 1983, when he left the team to enter drug treatment. He excelled in Atlanta’s fine passing game with his speed and leaping ability, garnering Pro Bowl honors in 1980 and ’81 and consensus first-team All-NFL recognition in 1981. With the Falcons, Jenkins had 360 pass receptions for 6267 yards (17.4 avg.) and 40 touchdowns.

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Highlighted Years features players who were consensus first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the following statistical categories:

Rushing: Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Passing: Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating

Receiving: Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)

Scoring: TDs, Points, Field Goals (min. 5)

All-Purpose: Total Yards

Defense: Interceptions, Sacks

Kickoff Returns: Average

Punt Returns: Average

Punting: Average

*Leagues include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)

**NFC/AFC since 1970