MVP Profile: Boomer Esiason, 1988

Quarterback, Cincinnati Bengals


Age: 27
5th season in pro football & with Bengals
College: Maryland
Height: 6’4” Weight: 220

Prelude:
Taken by the Bengals in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft, the left-handed Esiason replaced Ken Anderson as the starting quarterback in ’85. An accurate passer with a strong arm and good mobility, he led the league in TD percentage (6.3) in 1985 with 27 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in ’86 after passing for 3959 yards and leading the NFL in yards per attempt (8.4).

1988 Season Summary
Appeared and started in all 16 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Passing
Attempts – 388 [14]
Most attempts, game – 32 at Philadelphia 9/11
Completions – 223 [13]
Most completions, game – 21 at LA Raiders 10/2
Yards – 3572 [4]
Most yards, game – 363 at Philadelphia 9/11
Completion percentage – 57.5 [12]
Yards per attempt – 9.2 [1]
TD passes – 28 [2, tied with Dan Marino, 1st in AFC]
Most TD passes, game – 4 at Philadelphia 9/11
Interceptions – 14 [10, tied with Bubby Brister]
Most interceptions, game – 5 at New England 10/16
Passer rating – 97.4 [1]
300-yard passing games – 3
200-yard passing games – 9

Rushing
Attempts – 43
Most attempts, game - 5 (for 18 yds.) at Cleveland 10/30
Yards – 248
Most yards, game – 61 yards (on 3 carries) vs. NY Jets 10/9
Yards per attempt – 5.8
TDs – 1

Punting
Punts – 1
Yards – 21
Average – 21.0
Punts blocked – 0

Scoring
TDs – 1
Points - 6

Postseason: 3 G
Pass attempts – 64
Most attempts, game - 25 vs. San Francisco, Super Bowl
Pass completions – 29
Most completions, game - 11 vs. Buffalo, AFC Championship, vs. San Francisco, Super Bowl
Passing yardage – 346
Most yards, game - 144 vs. San Francisco, Super Bowl
TD passes – 1
Most TD passes, game - 1 vs. Buffalo, AFC Championship
Interceptions – 3
Most interceptions, game - 2 vs. Buffalo, AFC Championship

Rushing attempts – 12
Most rushing attempts, game - 7 vs. Buffalo, AFC Championship
Rushing yards – 37
Most rushing yards, game - 26 vs. Buffalo, AFC Championship
Average gain rushing – 3.1
Rushing TDs – 0

Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: AP, PFWA, Sporting News
1st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, NEA, Pro Football Weekly, Sporting News
1st team All-AFC: UPI, Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl

Bengals went 12-4 to finish first in the AFC Central while leading the NFL in total yards (6057), rushing yards (2710), points (448), and TDs (59). Won AFC Divisional playoff over Seattle Seahawks (21-13) and AFC Championship over Buffalo Bills (21-10). Lost Super Bowl to San Francisco 49ers (20-16).

Aftermath:
Esiason had another Pro Bowl season in 1989, with nearly identical numbers to ’88, although the team’s record dropped to 8-8. After three disappointing seasons in 1990, ’91, and ’92, he was traded to the New York Jets and was selected to a fourth Pro Bowl in 1993, although his performance dropped off in the second half of the year. The next two years with the Jets, a team in flux, were mediocre and Esiason moved on to the Arizona Cardinals, where he threw for 522 yards in one game but otherwise had an inconsequential season. He returned to Cincinnati for one last, good year in a part-time role in 1997 (five starts, but a 106.9 passer rating with 13 TDs and just 2 INTs) before retiring to the broadcast booth. Overall, Esiason passed for 37,920 yards with 247 TDs against 184 interceptions.

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MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).

[Updated 2/13/14]
[Updated 11/28/14]

1956: Carmichael Returns Kickoff 106 Yards but Bears Prevail Over Packers

The Green Bay Packers were in the midst of a long dry period on October 7, 1956 as they hosted the arch-rival Chicago Bears at City Stadium. They were coming off a 6-6 record in ’55 under Head Coach Lisle Blackbourn, only their second finish as high as .500 (they had not been above that) since 1947. The team had a talented, if inconsistent, quarterback in Tobin Rote, one of the best receivers in the league in end Billy Howton, and Bobby Dillon, a fine safety. Some names that would become prominent a few years later were on the roster, such as C Jim Ringo, DT Dave Hanner, and MG/LB Bill Forester. Rookies included offensive tackles Forrest Gregg and Bob Skoronski, DB Hank Gremminger, and backup QB Bart Starr.

One of the veterans on the team was HB Al Carmichael (pictured above), the first round draft pick out of USC in 1953. In three seasons with Green Bay, he had been more prominent as a kick returner than a running back, and led the NFL with a 29.9 kickoff return average in 1955, including one for a 100-yard touchdown.

The Packers lost their opening game to Detroit the week before, while Chicago had also fallen short against the Colts. Owner George Halas had stepped down as head coach following an 8-4 finish in 1955, and longtime assistant Paddy Driscoll now held the position – although the “Papa Bear” still maintained a tight grip on the team.

There was a capacity crowd of 24,668 fans in attendance at the small venue. The Bears scored first on a nine-yard pass from QB Ed Brown to FB Rick Casares in the opening quarter. Carmichael was back deep to return the kickoff, supposedly with strict orders from Blackbourn not to return it if it went into the end zone. However, the oft-injured halfback was angry as a result of a shouting match prior to the game with an assistant coach who questioned his toughness. He fielded the kick and ran it out, hurdling over Bears lineman Stan Jones and breaking into the clear. In thrilling fashion, Carmichael went the distance, setting a new NFL record with his 106-yard kickoff return.

George Blanda broke the tie later in the period with a 29-yard field goal for the Bears, and in the second quarter booted a 41-yarder. Rote threw to Howton for a six-yard touchdown, and Fred Cone’s extra point put the Packers in front at 14-13.

Chicago put together a 10-play, 80-yard drive in which Brown completed a 34-yard pass to Casares and 27-yard throw to end Gene Schroeder. On the climactic play from three yards out, the quarterback faked to Casares, handed off to HB Bobby Watkins, and when Watkins fumbled, Brown grabbed it a foot off the ground and broke through left tackle for the score. The odd touchdown put the Bears ahead by 20-14 at the half, and they never trailed again.

Casares ran for a 14-yard TD three minutes into the third quarter, and while Rote again threw a scoring pass to Howton that covered 16 yards and made it a six-point game at 27-21 in the final period, Blanda kicked an 11-yard field goal five minutes later and Brown iced the cake with a nine-yard touchdown pass to end Bill McColl. The Bears came away with a 37-21 win.

It was a convincing performance for the Bears, who outgained Green Bay (462 yards to 267) and had more first downs (25 to 20). The ground game piled up 278 of those yards, with Rick Casares leading the way with 139 yards on 24 carries. Ed Brown was efficient through the air as he completed 11 of 16 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns. 29-year-old George Blanda kicked three field goals and his four extra points extended his league record to 150 in a row (he topped out at 156). Billy Howton caught 6 passes for 97 yards and two TDs for the Packers.

The win was the first of seven straight for the Bears, who won the Western Conference with a 9-2-1 record, although they lost badly to the Giants in the NFL title game. Green Bay won its next two games but then suffered four consecutive losses on the way to a 4-8 record and last place finish in the conference, along with the Rams.

Al Carmichael ranked third in kickoff return average (28.1) while leading the league in kickoffs returned (33) and yards (927) as well as total yards on kickoff and punt returns (1092). His 1471 all-purpose yards placed second in the NFL.

The 106-yard kickoff return bested the previous record of 105, set by Frank Seno of the Chicago Cardinals in a 1946 game against the Giants. It was tied by Noland Smith with Kansas City of the AFL in 1967 and Roy Green of the Cardinals in 1979 before finally being broken, after over fifty years, by Ellis Hobbs of the Patriots, who had a 108-yard return against the Jets in 2007. Green Bay’s Randall Cobb not only tied the league record with a 108-yard return in the opening game of the 2011 season, but also knocked Carmichael’s return to second place in franchise history.

Carmichael played two more seasons with the Packers and finished up with 100 career punt returns for a 7.5-yard average and returned 153 kickoffs with an average of 25.5 yards and two touchdowns. While his career was not particularly significant otherwise, he went on to achieve another distinction as a member of the Denver Broncos in 1960 when he scored the first touchdown in AFL history.

2002: Chiefs Sink Jets with Late Touchdown by Priest Holmes

Coming into the Week 5 matchup on October 6, 2002 with the New York Jets, the Kansas City Chiefs appeared to be in good position to improve on their 2-2 record. The Chiefs, in their second year under Head Coach Dick Vermeil, were coming off a 6-10 tally in ’01, but had won three of their last four games after a 3-9 start. The offense was geared around RB Priest Holmes (pictured above), who had come to Kansas City as a free agent after being underutilized with the Baltimore Ravens. Holmes proved to be a pleasant surprise as he led the league in rushing (1555 yards) and total yards (2169). However, another acquisition, QB Trent Green, struggled and led the NFL in interceptions thrown (24).

Thus far in 2002, Holmes had continued where he left off, twice running for over a hundred yards and scoring eight touchdowns. Green showed improvement and passed for 328 yards and five TDs the week before in a 48-30 win over the Dolphins. Another major cog in the offense, TE Tony Gonzalez, caught three of those scoring passes and gained 140 yards.

Meanwhile, the host Jets were struggling at 1-3 and had scored a total of 13 points in their last three contests. Veteran Vinny Testaverde was replaced as the starting quarterback by Chad Pennington, in his third year after being drafted in the first round out of Marshall in 2000. Star RB Curtis Martin was hobbled by a high ankle sprain and the performance of the offensive line had not helped the situation. The defense was very poor against the run.

There were 78,149 in attendance at Giants Stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands as the Chiefs scored first on a 36-yard field goal by Morten Andersen midway through the first quarter. New York responded with a five-play drive that ended with Martin running up the middle for a 17-yard touchdown and, with the teams trading punts, the score remained 7-3 following a quarter of action.

Taking possession just prior to the end of the first quarter, Kansas City put together a 12-play drive that included six runs by Holmes that covered 37 yards, as well as a four-yard pass completion. Andersen kicked a 40-yard field goal to narrow the margin to 7-6. On the ensuing series, Pennington was intercepted by SS Greg Wesley and the Chiefs proceeded to move 80 yards in nine plays that ended with Holmes running for a 12-yard touchdown, although the two-point conversion attempt failed. Still, Kansas City was back in front at 12-7.

With less than two minutes to go in the first half, Pennington passed the Jets down the field, hitting on all six of his passes, including a two-yard touchdown toss to TE Anthony Becht. Martin ran successfully for two points and New York took a 15-12 lead into halftime.

The Chiefs started off the second half with a 58-yard possession down to the New York nine yard line. However, the drive stalled there after Green threw two incomplete passes and Andersen tied the game with a 27-yard field goal. The Jets responded with a seven-yard drive that included back-to-back completions by Pennington to WR Laveranues Coles. They came up empty when John Hall missed a 51-yard field goal attempt.

Following a punt by the Chiefs, New York again mounted a drive that stretched into the fourth quarter. Once again, Pennington made good on all six passes, including a 24-yard completion to WR Kevin Swayne in a third-and-nine situation and a 27-yard scoring pass to WR Santana Moss. The Jets were up by 22-15 early in the final period.

The Chiefs came back with a big play as Green threw to WR Dante Hall for a 60-yard touchdown and, with the successful PAT, tied the score. However, New York responded with a long, 14-play possession that ran nearly seven minutes off the clock. Pennington again was precise in his passing, going five-for-six, and Martin carried the ball six times. Hall kicked a 25-yard field goal and the Jets were back in front at 25-22 with under three minutes remaining.

Following the kickoff, Kansas City took over at its 22 yard line. Holmes gained 13 yards on a pass from Green, ran for eight, and on a third-and-two play caught another pass for nine more yards. Three plays later, in another third-down situation at the New York 42, Green went to Holmes again for a 12-yard gain. Holmes ran for 11 yards and, with 27 seconds to play, caught a pass from Green for a 19-yard touchdown. The extra point gave the Chiefs a four-point lead, and time ran out on the Jets at their own 39. Kansas City came away with a hard-fought 29-25 win.

The Chiefs outgained New York (504 yards to 359), with 215 of those yards coming on the ground. They also had the slight edge in first downs (24 to 23). Each team suffered one turnover apiece.

Priest Holmes gained 152 yards on 23 rushing attempts, including one for a TD, and also caught 9 passes for 81 yards and the game-winning score. Trent Green completed 23 of 33 throws for 296 yards and two touchdowns with one intercepted.

Chad Pennington (pictured below) played well for the Jets in defeat, succeeding on 22 of his 29 passes for 237 yards, also with two TDs against one pass that was picked off. Curtis Martin returned to form by gaining 119 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown. Laveranues Coles caught 8 passes for 116 yards.


“The fourth quarter as been good to us all year,” Dick Vermeil said. “On that last drive, they went on the field with confidence that they could score and it showed.”

“We just gave them big plays at the end,” said a disappointed Herman Edwards from the Jets’ side. “We're not playing good defense at all and in the fourth quarter it really showed up.”

The Chiefs lost their next two games and went on to finish with an 8-8 record, putting them at the bottom of the AFC West. Priest Holmes had an outstanding season, however, placing third in the NFL in rushing with 1615 yards, second in all-purpose yards with 2287, and first with 24 touchdowns and 144 points. He was a consensus first-team All-Pro and was named to the Pro Bowl. The success continued – the 5’9”, 213-pound running back set a then-league record with 27 touchdowns in 2003.

New York, on the other hand, won five of their next six games and topped the AFC East with a 9-7 tally (thanks to tiebreakers). The Jets whipped Indianapolis in the Wild Card round but lost to Oakland at the Divisional level. Chad Pennington was the key to the team’s surge as he led the NFL in passing (104.2 rating) and completion percentage (68.9) and ranked second in yards per attempt (7.8) and lowest percentage of interceptions (1.5).

1952: Rookie Ollie Matson Scores 2 TDs as Cards Beat Bears

The Chicago Cardinals had a new head coach for 1952 in Joe Kuharich, who had played for the team in the 1940s. They also had a rookie who set a collegiate career rushing record on Kuharich’s successful Univ. of San Francisco team in FB Ollie Matson (pictured above). Matson was fresh from winning two medals in the Olympics at Helsinki (bronze in the 400-meter run, gold as a member of the 1600-meter relay team) and, at 6’2” and 220 pounds, had a rare combination of size and speed. He was also versatile and, at least initially, Kuharich’s preference was to utilize him primarily as a defensive halfback as well as on kickoff returns.

Beyond Matson, who was optimistically referred to as “The Messiah” among Cardinals fans, there wasn’t a great deal of talent. Charley Trippi, once a great halfback during the team’s glory years in 1947 and ’48, had been converted into a mediocre quarterback. They lost their season-opening game to Washington by a 23-7 score.

On October 5 the Cardinals took on their cross-city rivals, the Bears, before 34,697 fans at Comiskey Park. The Bears, typically a strong team under owner/Head Coach George Halas, had beaten Green Bay in their opening game and came into the contest as 13-point favorites.

There was no scoring in the first quarter, but George Blanda kicked a 39-yard field goal early in the second period for the Bears. They followed up by driving 66 yards to a one-yard touchdown plunge by FB Fred “Curley” Morrison to extend the lead to 10-0.

Following the touchdown, Matson took the ensuing kickoff at dead center on his goal line and went 100 yards as he swerved down the sideline for a touchdown, passing the last defender, HB Billy Stone, with ease. The score remained 10-7 at the half as the Cards’ offense was never able to penetrate beyond midfield prior to the last two minutes of the second quarter.

After a scoreless third quarter, Matson struck again, this time in his defensive role as he returned a fumble by HB Chuck Hunsinger for a 34-yard touchdown, running over the unfortunate (and much smaller) Stone along the way and giving the Cardinals a 14-10 lead.

Late in the fourth quarter, with less than three minutes remaining, Cardinals DB Roy Barni recovered a fumble by end Gene Schroeder, who had caught a pass from QB Steve Romanik. On the next play, Trippi (pictured below) faked a pass and then scored for the Cards on a 59-yard run down the middle of the field. It was the icing on the cake as the Cardinals defeated the Bears, 21-10.


The Bears won the statistical battle, outgaining their intracity rivals (297 yards to 216) and accumulating more first downs (17 to 13). However, they also turned the ball over more often (5 to 3), and two of those turnovers led to scores for the Cardinals. FB Jack Dottley of the Bears had a notable performance, running for 121 yards on 24 carries in defeat.

The Cardinals won their next two games to improve to 3-1, but then lost five straight and finished in a tie for last place in the American Conference (along with the Redskins) with a 4-8 record. The Bears had an uncharacteristically poor season, falling under .500 for the first time since 1945 at 5-7 for a fifth-place finish in the National Conference.

Ollie Matson’s performance had fans calling for him to be used more on offense. “We are trying to work Matson into our offense,” Joe Kuharich said. “But as it is he's much too valuable to us as a defensive half.”

Kuharich did work his multitalented star into both platoons, and Matson ran for 344 yards on 96 carries with three touchdowns at fullback, caught 11 passes for 187 yards and three more scores, intercepted two passes on defense, and scored a second TD on a kickoff return as he ranked second in the league in that category with a 31.2 average. Overall, he scored 9 touchdowns and was fourth in the NFL with 1241 all-purpose yards. Matson was a first-team All-Pro choice by the Associated Press as a defensive halfback (modern cornerback) and was selected to the Pro Bowl.

Matson missed all of the 1953 season due to military service, but returned to the Cardinals in ’54 and was a force to be reckoned with, at both halfback and fullback on offense as well as returning kicks. By the time he was traded to the Rams following the ’58 season, he had twice led the NFL in all-purpose yards, had rushed for a total of 3331 yards, gained another 2150 on 130 pass receptions, and averaged 10.9 yards per punt return and 28.5 yards per kickoff return while bringing back three of the punts and six of the kickoffs for touchdowns – the latter a new league career record. He was named to the Pro Bowl in all six seasons with the Cards and was a consensus first-team All-Pro in each of the first five (he was a consensus second-team choice in 1958).

Matson ran into some controversy, primarily after being traded to Los Angeles for nine players, due to high expectations, but as talented as he was, he couldn’t lift subpar teams into contention. Still, with his impressive all-around abilities, he played for 14 years in the NFL (eventually being reunited with Coach Kuharich, who quit the Cardinals after one year, in Philadelphia) and became the first to accumulate over 10,000 all-purpose yards. At the time of his retirement, he ranked second to only Jim Brown with 12,884 total yards (5173 rushing, 3285 receiving, 595 returning punts, 3746 returning kickoffs, 51 returning interceptions, 34 returning fumbles) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

1970: Dennis Shaw Leads Bills Past Jets in First Start

The Buffalo Bills were entering a restructured NFL due to the 1970 merger, but they were still a team that had been struggling since last winning the AFL Eastern Division in 1966. John Rauch, who had led the Raiders to the league championship in 1967 but had fallen out with that team’s managing general partner, Al Davis, came to Buffalo in ‘69 and the team suffered through a 4-10 season. While prize rookie HB O.J. Simpson was a rising talent coming into his second year in ’70, QB Jack Kemp had retired to enter politics and left a void behind center – an especially big problem considering Rauch’s preference for a pass-oriented attack.

Third-year veteran Dan Darragh performed poorly in the first two losing games of the 1970 season, and the quarterback who relieved him, rookie Dennis Shaw out of San Diego State (pictured above), was given the starting assignment for the Week 3 contest against the New York Jets on October 4.

The Jets were just two years removed from a Super Bowl-winning season in 1968 and had followed up with a 10-4 record to win the Eastern Division again in ’69. Under Head Coach Weeb Ewbank, and with QB Joe Namath directing the offense, New York was a veteran team that came into the contest at Buffalo as a 14-point favorite.

There were 46,266 fans jamming War Memorial Stadium. The Jets took an early lead three minutes into the game when rookie CB Steve Tannen, the team’s first draft choice out of Florida, blocked a Paul Maguire punt and ran 41 yards for a touchdown. However, on the ensuing kickoff the Bills evened the score when Simpson, after initially bobbling the ball, returned it 95 yards for a TD.

New York’s offense took the field for the first time, and following a running play that gained a yard, Namath went to the air and threw a bomb to TE Rich Caster for a 72-yard touchdown (it was Namath’s 100th career TD pass). Tannen made another big play as he intercepted a Shaw pass at the Buffalo 43 that set up a 22-yard Jim Turner field goal and the Jets led by 17-7 at the end of the first quarter.

The Bills responded with a field goal of their own, of 10 yards by Grant Guthrie. With 31 seconds left in the first half, Namath connected with WR George Sauer for a 25-yard touchdown. The second quarter scoring wasn’t over, however, as 30 seconds later, following a six-yard run by Shaw and a 13-yard pass to WR Haven Moses, Buffalo finished off the half with a 40-yard field goal by Guthrie. Still, the Jets held a 24-13 lead at the midway point.

In the third quarter, Shaw passed to WR Marlin Briscoe in the end zone for a 19-yard TD, cutting New York’s lead to 24-20. Namath responded by throwing to Caster for a 53-yard gain to the Buffalo 11 and HB Emerson Boozer followed up with a touchdown run from six yards out.

Now into the fourth quarter, Shaw set up a touchdown with passes of 45 yards to Briscoe and 27 yards to Moses. Simpson finished off the drive with a one-yard scoring run and, with the extra point, New York’s margin was cut to four points at 31-27.

The Bills went for an onside kick and it succeeded when FB Bill Enyart recovered at the New York 47. Simpson carried the ball twice for 22 yards. Shaw’s second scoring pass, of 25 yards to Briscoe, then put the Bills in front with 7:20 left in the game. They held on to win by a final score of 34-31 as Turner missed field goal attempts from 33 and 38 yards, either of which would have tied the game.

Buffalo led the Jets both in total yards (401 to 337) and first downs (20 to 11). However, the Bills also turned the ball over five times, to none by New York, and Shaw was sacked five times while Buffalo’s defense didn’t get to Namath at all.


Dennis Shaw completed 12 passes out of 21 attempts for 317 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions apiece. Marlin Briscoe (pictured at left) and Haven Moses both had big days, each catching four passes with Briscoe gaining 120 yards and scoring two TDs and Moses accumulating 118 yards. O.J. Simpson ran for 99 yards on 21 carries that included a touchdown and also caught three passes for 63 yards.

Joe Namath went to the air 26 times and also completed 12 passes, for 228 yards and two scores with none intercepted. Rich Caster had four receptions for 138 yards and a TD, while Emerson Boozer also caught four passes out of the backfield, for 40 yards; he gained just 11 yards rushing on 8 carries that included a touchdown. FB Matt Snell led the Jets in rushing with 88 yards on 22 attempts but suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon in the fourth quarter that knocked him out of action for the remainder of the season.

Steve Tannen had an uneven performance – while he scored on the blocked punt and had an interception, he was also the victim on both of Briscoe’s scoring receptions. The normally-reliable placekicker Jim Turner had a dreadful day – in addition to missing the two crucial three-point attempts in the fourth quarter, he was unsuccessful on five field goal tries overall after succeeding on his first attempt.

“I play the type of game where I think we can score on every play,” the ever-confident Dennis Shaw said afterward. “You can't play conservative ball against the Jets.”

Shaw went on to put together a solid rookie season, completing 55.5 percent of his passes (178 of 321) for 2507 yards with 10 touchdowns and 20 interceptions. He received Rookie of the Year honors from the Associated Press. The team, however, remained in the doldrums and finished at 3-10-1 for fourth place in the AFC East. Despite the promising start, Shaw’s career steadily declined thereafter - he lasted just four seasons in Buffalo and six overall.

Things got worse for the Jets, too. In addition to losing Snell, two games later Namath was also lost for the rest of the year with a broken wrist. By that point, New York was 1-4 and, while they rallied for three straight wins in November, the Jets ended up at 4-10 and just ahead of Buffalo in third.

MVP Profile: Jerry Rice, 1987

Wide Receiver, San Francisco 49ers



Age: 25 (Oct. 13)
3rd season in pro football & with 49ers
College: Mississippi Valley State
Height: 6’2” Weight: 200

Prelude:
Drafted by the 49ers in the first round in 1985, Rice moved into the starting lineup as a rookie and showed flashes of future greatness as he caught 49 passes for 927 yards and diverted coverage from veteran WR Dwight Clark. In ’86, Rice broke out with 86 receptions and led the NFL in receiving yards (1570) and TD catches (15). He was a consensus first-team All-Pro selection and was chosen for the Pro Bowl.

1987 Season Summary
Appeared in 12 of 15 games
[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Pass Receiving
Receptions – 65 [4]
Most receptions, game – 8 (for 106 yds.) at Pittsburgh 9/13, (for 75 yds.) vs. Chicago 12/14
Yards – 1078 [2]
Most yards, game - 126 (on 7 catches) vs. Cleveland 11/29
Average gain – 16.6
TDs – 22 [1]
100-yard receiving games - 4

Rushing
Attempts – 8
Yards – 51
Average gain – 6.4
TDs – 1

Scoring
TDs – 23 [1]
Points – 138 [1]

Postseason: 1 G (NFC Divisional playoff vs. Minnesota)
Pass receptions – 3
Pass receiving yards - 28
Average yards per reception – 9.3
Pass Receiving TDs – 0

Awards & Honors:
NFL MVP: PFWA, NEA, Bert Bell Award, Sporting News
NFL Offensive Player of the Year: AP
1st team All-NFL: AP, PFWA, NEA, Pro Football Weekly, Sporting News
1st team All-NFC: UPI, Pro Football Weekly
Pro Bowl

49ers went 13-2 in the strike-shortened season (three games were played with replacement players) to finish with the best record in the conference while leading the league in total offense (5987 yards), rushing (2237 yards), touchdowns (59), and scoring (459 points) and the NFC in passing yards (3750). Lost NFC Divisional playoff to Minnesota Vikings (36-24).

Aftermath:
Rice went on to play 20 seasons in the NFL and re-wrote the record book by the time he was done. The 1986 and ’87 seasons were the first of 11 straight thousand-yard receiving seasons and 14 overall. He led the league in that category five more times, including a record 1848 in 1995. Rice also had four 100-catch seasons and was the NFL leader twice. A prolific scorer, he had a total of nine years in which he reached double figures in receiving TDs and paced the league six times. After 16 years with San Francisco, Rice moved on to the Raiders for three full seasons plus part of his last year, in 2004, in which he finished up with Seattle. Overall, he retired as career leader in pass receptions (1549), receiving yards (22,895), receiving touchdowns (197), and total TDs (208). He gained the most total yards (23,546) of any player in NFL history. Rice's #80 was retired by the 49ers and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Class of 2010.

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MVP Profiles feature players who were named MVP or Player of the Year in the NFL, AAFC (1946-49), AFL (1960-69), WFL (1974), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press, Pro Football Writers Association, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, Maxwell Club – Bert Bell Award, or the league itself).

[Updated 2/14/14]

1994: Don Shula’s Dolphins Beat David Shula’s Bengals in Father vs. Son Matchup

The October 2, 1994 game between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals had a special distinction, not because of the action on the field, but due to the family relationship of the two head coaches. It was the first-ever father vs. son coaching matchup in pro football history – indeed, in any major professional sport.

For the visiting Dolphins it was Don Shula, who had started his NFL head coaching career in 1963 with the Baltimore Colts and, since 1970, had been head coach and general manager in Miami. Along the way his teams had reached the playoffs 17 times, won a pre-merger NFL title, five post-merger AFC championships, and two Super Bowls. In 1993, he had passed George Halas as the winningest head coach in league history and, with a 3-1 start in ’94, had an overall record of 330 wins, 159 losses, and 6 ties (309-143-6 in the regular season, 18-15 in the playoffs). His place in pro football history was secure, to say the least.

Son David Shula of the Bengals was in anything but a secure situation. Having started out as an assistant to his father with the Dolphins in 1982, he had gone on to become offensive coordinator of the Cowboys before being hired as head coach in Cincinnati for the 1992 season. The Bengals went 5-11 and 3-13 in the first two years under the younger Shula, and were off to a 0-4 beginning in ’94 for an overall tally of 8-28. QB David Klingler was proving to be a first-round bust, the defense was poor against the run, and overall, the organization under Vice-President/GM Mike Brown failed to devote needed resources to scouting. There was much speculation as to how much longer the third-year head coach would last if the situation didn’t begin to turn around.

It was an uncomfortable situation leading up to the contest. Father and son met at a barbecue the day before the game at David’s house in which the talk was about family, not football. There was an awkward staged media event at midfield prior to the kickoff.

“Please, Dad Not 0-5,” said a sign hanging from the upper deck at Riverfront Stadium. David Shula had lambasted his team at midweek, and the winless Bengals came out looking pumped up and upset-minded. Cincinnati scored first, on the third play of the game, thanks to a 51-yard pass play from Klingler to WR Darnay Scott, who blew past a hobbled Miami CB Troy Vincent.

While Cincinnati attempted razzle-dazzle and tried for big plays in the first two series, they were unable to score again and the tally remained 7-0 after one period of action. In the second quarter, Dolphins QB Dan Marino completed six passes on a possession that led to a 28-yard field goal by Pete Stoyanovich.

Miami followed up with an 80-yard drive in nine plays for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:14 left in the first half. Marino fired the 11-yard scoring pass to FB Keith Byars running a slant and the Dolphins took a 10-7 lead into halftime.

Early in the second half, Marino audibled and tossed a four-yard TD pass to WR Mark Ingram that gave Miami a ten-point margin, allowing the senior Shula to play conservatively. Stoyanovich kicked field goals of 27 and 32 yards in the fourth quarter as the Dolphins coasted to a 23-7 win.

The performance by the Dolphins was workmanlike and it was apparent there would be no effort to run up the score on the hapless Bengals. As an example, up by 20-7 and with a third-and-nine situation at the Cincinnati 15, Miami opted for a shovel pass to set up a field goal attempt rather than try for the end zone. At one point, Ingram, TE Keith Jackson, and WR Irving Fryar were seen behind the bench slamming their helmets in frustration at not trying to put more points on the board.

Miami outgained the Bengals (345 yards to 246) and had more first downs (21 to 14). The Dolphins also didn’t turn the ball over, while Cincinnati suffered five turnovers. It was a relatively ordinary day for Dan Marino, who completed 26 of 35 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns. David Klingler, by contrast, was successful on just 16 of 30 throws for 188 yards and was intercepted three times, as opposed to the one early TD pass.

Irving Fryar might have been discontented with the conservative play of the Miami offense, but he still caught 8 passes for 89 yards; Keith Byars added 6 for 54. RB Steve Broussard was the top receiver for the Bengals, with 7 catches for 43 yards, and his 16 yards on six carries put him just three behind the team’s leading ground-gainer, RB Derrick Fenner, with 19 yards on four attempts (RB Bernie Parmalee led the Dolphins with 73 yards on 18 carries).

“This is all team. You can't ever think about anything individually,” Don Shula said afterward. "My responsibility is this football team and Dave's responsibility is his football team. He does the best job he can and I try to do the best job I can. We were just the better team.”

“Once the game began, there was no thought that Dad was the opposing coach,” the younger Shula commented. “There were too many other things to think about.”

Cincinnati reached 0-8 before finally winning two straight games. The Bengals again ended up at 3-13 to place third in the AFC Central. David Shula was retained as head coach and the club improved to 7-9 in ’95, including a second meeting against the Dolphins and Don Shula that Miami won by a much closer (26-23) score. However, following a 1-6 start in 1996 he was replaced by offensive coordinator Bruce Coslet. His overall record ended up at 19-52.

The Dolphins went on to finish atop the AFC East in 1994 with a 10-6 record, winning in the Wild Card round of the postseason but losing by one point (22-21) to San Diego at the Divisional level. Following a disappointing 9-7 season and earlier exit from the playoffs in 1995, Don Shula was forced into retirement by owner Wayne Huizenga in favor of Jimmy Johnson, formerly of the Univ. of Miami and the Dallas Cowboys. He ended up with 347 career wins (328 regular season, 19 postseason) and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.