Washington Redskins Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Mar292013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: NFC East

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC East — the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins. Previous galleries: AFC East Dallas Cowboys (0) The Cowboys do not officially retire jersey numbers, opting rather to induct players into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. The Ring, which began in 1975, is made up of the players listed below (as of the end of the 2012 season, in order of induction). Sorry, no cards for the Cowboys, since they insist on being so different. #74 -- Bob Lilly #17 -- Don...

Sep282012 by Chris Holmes1 Comment

Football Friday: Life Magazine’s Look at the NFL of 1960

Football Friday, Sports

This is one of the cooler sports photo galleries I've put together for you. This is a combination of published and unpublished images for a Life magazine article on the NFL and the ascent of pro football as a spectator sport. It ran in their December 5, 1960 issue and was called "Fans Go Ga-Ga Over Pro Football." The pictures in this gallery were taken by George Silk during the 1960 NFL season and seem to come from X main sources -- four New York Giants home games (against the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, St. Louis Cardinals, and Washington Redskins), a Giants film session, and a game between the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Colts (which I believe to be a home game for the Colts). Included here is a photo of Eagles linebacker creaming the Giants' Frank Gifford. I don'...

Sep212012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Football Friday: What Steve Sabol Meant to Me

Football Friday, Sports

One of the few things about the nearly interminable one or two-week buildup between the NFC/AFC championship games and the Super Bowl that I looked forward to was tuning into ESPN and watching hours upon hours of NFL Films' Super Bowl highlight packages. In some ways, watching those 30-minute capsules -- replete with their sweeping orchestral scores and booming narration by John Facenda -- was more rewarding than the games themselves. Through the magic of eBay and torrent sites, I've had the opportunity to watch Super Bowls from the 1970s and early '80s, that I wasn't around to see or was too young to remember. In almost all cases, watching those contests was almost a letdown after memorizing practically every line and every beat from the NFL Films version. Take, for example, ...

Aug132012 by Chris Holmes1 Comment

The Best and Worst NFL Logos (NFC East)

Sports

With the 2012 National Football League season nearly upon us, now is as good a time as any to obsess once again on one of my favorite topics — logos. So I’m going to offer up my choices for the best and worst team logos for all 32 current NFL franchises. Primary, alternate, and helmet logos listed on Chris Creamer’s outstanding logo website are all under consideration. Today I look at the four squads of the NFC’s East division. Previous entries: AFC East Dallas Cowboys Best I don't exactly have a wide range of Cowboys logos to choose from, since they've only had two main ones since they came into the NFL in 1960. Luckily, their current design is one of the more iconic in the sport. Worst There are not a ton of examples of this alternate Dallas logo, used in the 1960s, on th...

Dec162011 by Chris Holmes2 Comments

Football Friday: The NFL, Its Logos, and You (1964 Style)

Football Friday, Sports

First, big site news. My latest project -- a comprehensive gallery of every American Football League program ever -- is underway. So far I only have cover images from the 1960 season up, but more will follow before too long. Check it out here. In searching for more cover images for the project, I stumbled across a very cool piece of 1960s ephemera from the NFL. The Packerville blog posted scans from a 1964 NFL publication called The NFL and You. The purpose of the booklet was to convince up-and-coming football players (and perhaps league veterans) that the NFL was the way to go, and not the "inferior" AFL. The whole post is worth reading but two pages caught my eye. The cover image is a very cool snapshot of the helmets from all 14 NFL franchises in '64. Many of them have changed ver...

Oct212011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Football Friday — Olde Tyme Football Photos

Football Friday, Sports

If you've read this site for long enough, you already know I love posting old photographs. So I thought, why not combine that love with my love of football? And that's just what I'm going to do here. Game on!

Apr222011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Here’s some stuff I enjoyed this week

Internet, Links

Here’s a fresh batch of some quality interweb finds I’ve come across over the last 7 days month: Remember Perverted Justice, the group behind Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator"? Yeah, they're bankrupt now. (Defamer Australia) A very comprehensive and busy look at the 100 most influential TV shows (Adweek) A very cool infographic tracing the history and popularity of web browsers. Ah Netscape, my first love. (Dvice) The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder by Dave McKenna (Washington City Paper) The best fake punt ever, from last year's Bills/Titans Hall of Fame game in Canton. (StumbleUpon) The average Asian aging process. (My Funny Pictures) Creepiest Tumblr feed ever: Chicks With Steve Buscemeyes. (Tumblr) 8 Movie Special Effects You Won't Believe Aren't CGI....

Nov182007 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

What’s Hot for Christmas? Lowered Expectations.

Games & Toys

I understand the appeal of children's playsets designed to let kids do adult things -- bubble lawn mowers, Matchbox car washes, even the Fisher-Price My First Meth Lab. It's fun to act like a grownup, even if you're pretending to perform the most mundane of adult tasks. But I have to say that the McDonald's Playset just doesn't sit right with me. I remember being a kid and using a broomstick guitar while imagining I was Ace Frehley. I used to run with a Nerf football and imagine I was John Riggins romping over the Miami Dolphins in Super Bowl XVII. I just can't picture my kid playing "McDonald's Drive-Thru Worker" with this set and imagining they would do anything more than peak in high school. Oh sure, you could buy this for your child and boast of the fact that it "teaches math...