Luv Ya Blue article

[eriadoc]

Stumbled across it on nfl.com yesterday. Has some good links contained within as well.

LINK

Once Phillips came aboard as defensive coordinator in 1974, the Oilers immediately began overhauling the roster to suit his innovative 3-4 scheme -- the first of its kind in the NFL. In need of a true nose tackle, Phillips and head coach Sid Gillman targeted the player who essentially invented the position in the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl IV victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

“[The Oilers] traded former No. 1 overall draft pick John Matuszak for Curley Culp and a first-round pick that became Robert Brazile," says John McClain, who covered the team for Houston Chronicle. "It was one of the most lopsided trades in history."

As the NFL's dominant nose tackle of the 1970s and the linchpin of Phillips' revolutionary 3-4 scheme, Culp would gain election to the Hall of Fame in 2013 -- joining another standout from Bum's defensive front, pass rusher Elvin Bethea. If McClain's upcoming campaign with the Hall of Fame Selection Committee is successful, Brazile will soon have a bust next to those of Culp and Bethea in Canton. Walter Payton's roommate at Jackson State, Brazile was a revelation as a rookie, quickly emerging as football's first great 3-4 outside linebacker.

 

[eriadoc]

One of the links contained within is to a 1986 article by a Dallas writer about Earl.

LINK

Given hammer and chisel and slab of stone, what epitaph would you compose? What sentiment would be appropriate? What words would you leave to future generations who will never have the pleasure of seeing him play? I know what I would put:

AT HIS BEST, HE WAS THE BEST

In his prime, Earl Campbell had no peer. The Campbell I remember was an 18-wheeler roaring down a steep grade, double-clutching, mudflaps flapping, horn blaring. He was King of the Road. Earl didn`t just carry the football. He transported it.

He was the original No. 34. The Herschel Walker of his day. Tackle him?

Oh, they tried. Linebackers hopped aboard like hitchhikers and hung on until he shrugged them off. Defensive backs, armadillos of the NFL roadside, never had a chance.

Bum Phillips ran him and ran him and ran him and ran him. He used Earl the way John Henry used a sledge. Over and over and over again. Earl never complained. He could handle it. Earl was a steel-driving man.

In retrospect, it is easy to point to Phillips as the reason Earl Campbell, a proud man, had to say goodbye to football Monday at the age of 31. Sadly, Earl was within sight but just out of reach of the 10,000-yard career mark. He had given all he had.

From 1979-81, Campbell carried 1,102 times, or 232 more carries than Tony Dorsett totaled during the same period. Back then, Bum scoffed at the suggestion that Earl absorbed as much punishment as he delivered. When someone noted that Campbell got up very slowly after being gang-tackled, the coach drawled, ``Yep, but he goes down slow, too.``

Phillips rode his best horse into the ground, but considering the talent and options he had, is there any coach who wouldn't have done the same?

Campbell woke up the echoes of those Oiler glory years of the early `60s. Twice he led Houston to the threshold of the Super Bowl. He won three NFL rushing titles in a row.

If someday it is said of Herschel Walker, ``He was as good as Earl in his prime,`` Walker should feel honored. In my book, there is no higher praise.