R.I.P. Bobby Boyd...

[Senior Sooner]

One of the Good Ol' Boys...

http://newsok.com/former-sooner-star-bobby-boyd-dies-at-79/article/5562061?nextgen=true

 

[CTOkie]

One of the Good Ol' Boys...

http://newsok.com/former-sooner-star-bobby-boyd-dies-at-79/article/5562061?nextgen=true

One of the best of Wikinson's era. A great Sooner.
Watched him play in the 1958 Texas game.

 

[CalSooner]

Yes, i remember him well.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

 

[Oklabama]

Great Sooner and a really great Baltimore Colt, too. As a kid, I just didn't understand how a great OU quarterback could end up playing DB in the pros. I now know that wasn't uncommon but I really didn't watch pro games until the 1960-61. RIP, Bobby Boyd.

 

[Plainosooner]

I've read a lot of Bobby Boyd stories over the years, because the Colts were my favorite team during the Unitas years and he was a Sooner. It was either '72 or '73 when he coached the Alums in the old Varsity-Alumni game. He took the task very seriously.

The article was incorrect about one thing. He didn't play safety, he played corner. Maybe the slowest corner in NFL history. But back then, the Colts and Browns were the two NFL teams who primarily played zone. Everybody else played mostly Man-free. It gave Bobby the chance to excel. I read a quote confessing his lack of speed, but claiming he could run backwards as well as anybody.

And he was a very tough man. Sorry to hear about this. Senior, I really appreciate your posting it.

I remember his telling a story. There was a Colt loss in 1960 or maybe 61 to the Lions in a seeming miracle. Lenny Moore made this incredible catch of a little under 50 yards in the last 20 seconds from Unitas, diving in the end zone.

The Colts got a personal foul on the ko return. And the the Lions scored on the first play, over 60 yards on a screen pass to their tight end. I was a devastated Colt fan. Pretty much eliminated them from the playoffs.

20 years later, I read an article about Boyd's career saying he blew the call on the coverage, as the main reason for the Lions' miracle.

Apparently, it stuck with both of us. I've searched youtube for years for a video of the play. I guess you could say it stuck with both of us. I still remember the score: 20-15.

 

[Oklabama]

I remember his telling a story. There was a Colt loss in 1960 or maybe 61 to the Lions in a seeming miracle. Lenny Moore made this incredible catch of a little under 50 yards in the last 20 seconds from Unitas, diving in the end zone.

20 years later,QUOTE]

 

[Oklabama]

Plaino, I love your post but I think you meant to say "a Colt win" because Lenny Moore had an incredible run to win the game for Baltimore. Or perhaps I am misreading your post. Regardless, a great post.

 

[Oklabama]

Don't ask me how one reply turned into two separate posts.

 

[OUSOONER67]

RIP Bobby Boyd.

 

[Plainosooner]

I remember his telling a story. There was a Colt loss in 1960 or maybe 61 to the Lions in a seeming miracle. Lenny Moore made this incredible catch of a little under 50 yards in the last 20 seconds from Unitas, diving in the end zone.

20 years later,QUOTE]

Nope. I've never seen the game lauded, but it was really an all timer. The Colts were two time defending NFL champs in 58 and 59. The 58 game was the spectacular OT game, the first ever. I just looked up the 20-15 game.

But in '60, the Colts lost Alan Ameche, who'd scored that '58 OT winning TD. He was an old Heisman winner, but tore his achilles tendon, ending his career. It was 3-2 after the first, Lions. 8-3 Colts at the half after they missed an extra point.

The Colts threw for over 350, which was a bunch of yards in 1960, but Unitas threw three picks. They rushed for barely 2 yards per carry. The Lions scored 17 in the last few minutes of the game. Took the lead when Earl Morrall hit Hopalong Cassidy for 40 late, then after a pick kicked a field goal. 13-8 Lions.

Unitas led the Colts to the Lion 38 and hit Moore with under 20 seconds left. Great throw, unbelievable catch. An all timer. 15-13 Colts. Kickoff, penalty for a late hit. Lions' ball at their own 35. Time for one play. Boyd blew the coverage and somehow, when Jim Gibbons caught the screen pass with three blockers, they ran up the right sideline and nobody really after contested the 65 yard reception run. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. Now I was 9. So the specifics are a little sketchy. I'd remembered Cassidy's TD catch as always being in the last two minutes, but that was apparently incorrect. But I remember it was a post route and his funny name. I had to have it explained to me, that he wasn't the cowboy, whose old movies were the first thing I ever remember seeing on tv.

So with almost no scoring for three quarters, in the end of the game it was Lions TD, Lions FG, Colt TD with 20 seconds left. Lions' TD two plays later.

If you ever see a youtube of these events, I'd LOVE to see them. I've seen Moore's catch a couple of times, just in some Unitas reminiscence or something else, but Lenny Moore was a great great player. Still remember that spats ankle taping. One of my all time favorite pro players.

 

[Oklabama]

Nope. I've never seen the game lauded, but it was really an all timer. The Colts were two time defending NFL champs in 58 and 59. The 58 game was the spectacular OT game, the first ever. I just looked up the 20-15 game.

But in '60, the Colts lost Alan Ameche, who'd scored that '58 OT winning TD. He was an old Heisman winner, but tore his achilles tendon, ending his career. It was 3-2 after the first, Lions. 8-3 Colts at the half after they missed an extra point.

The Colts threw for over 350, which was a bunch of yards in 1960, but Unitas threw three picks. They rushed for barely 2 yards per carry. The Lions scored 17 in the last few minutes of the game. Took the lead when Earl Morrall hit Hopalong Cassidy for 40 late, then after a pick kicked a field goal. 13-8 Lions.

Unitas led the Colts to the Lion 38 and hit Moore with under 20 seconds left. Great throw, unbelievable catch. An all timer. 15-13 Colts. Kickoff, penalty for a late hit. Lions' ball at their own 35. Time for one play. Boyd blew the coverage and somehow, when Jim Gibbons caught the screen pass with three blockers, they ran up the right sideline and nobody really after contested the 65 yard reception run. Damnedest thing I've ever seen. Now I was 9. So the specifics are a little sketchy. I'd remembered Cassidy's TD catch as always being in the last two minutes, but that was apparently incorrect. But I remember it was a post route and his funny name. I had to have it explained to me, that he wasn't the cowboy, whose old movies were the first thing I ever remember seeing on tv.

So with almost no scoring for three quarters, in the end of the game it was Lions TD, Lions FG, Colt TD with 20 seconds left. Lions' TD two plays later.

If you ever see a youtube of these events, I'd LOVE to see them. I've seen Moore's catch a couple of times, just in some Unitas reminiscence or something else, but Lenny Moore was a great great player. Still remember that spats ankle taping. One of my all time favorite pro players.

 

[Plainosooner]

That catch is at the 1:55 mark of this video.

The NFL has weird rules. You can watch this on Youtube, but you have to click their link to take you to youtube so that you can watch their 10 second commerical.

Four or five years ago, Moore was voted to the NFL's top 100 players ever.

 

[Oklabama]

Thanks for the actual detail. Great post, Plaino. Love to reminisce about the greats. It would be fun for a bunch of us old timers to get together to watch the greats that played in the 50's and 60's. They weren't paid anything like the pros are paid today even in today's dollars. Almost all the pros had an off season job. As a high schooler I got to meet Tommy McDonald because I was a friend of the son who was Tommy's off season boss in the tobacco business. My greatest memory.

 

[Oklabama]

View embedded media

This Is GREAT. DId you know that Lenny averaged 7 YAC for three years in the NFL? Wow. Thanks for the post, Plaino.

 

[Plainosooner]

I'm a very nostalgic guy.

I changed the video to a shorter one, but since you copied the original first, we now have both. I love this old stuff, especially watching Unitas. Dang, I loved those uniforms.

 

[Plainosooner]

I FOUND IT!

Turns out it wasn't screen pass. My memory was more than a little faulty. But the Lions had less time than I wrote. Moore score with 14 seconds left. But in their one play, they went 65 to win it.

Already watched this three times.