Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
JuggernautJ wrote:A "pure passer" is almost like an NFL QB archetype...the guy who can't run, throws spirals, is stuck on a team with a bad defense, and doesn't have a Super Bowl ring.
Lynn Dickey with the Packers after the broken leg in '77 (which sidelined him for two full calendar years, which was after the dislocated and broken hip earlier in his career).
There’s an interesting article in The Athletic (subscription required) about Kirk Cousins being a perfect passer, but he’s TOO PERFECT and it’s the reason defenders can bat so many of his passes at the line.
"Five seconds to go... A field goal could win it. Up in the air! Going deep! Tipped! Caught! Touchdown! The Vikings! They win it! Time has run out!" - Vikings 28, Browns 23, December 14, 1980, Metropolitan Stadium
RyanChristiansen wrote:There’s an interesting article in The Athletic (subscription required) about Kirk Cousins being a perfect passer, but he’s TOO PERFECT and it’s the reason defenders can bat so many of his passes at the line.
The Athletic is a terrific site. Well worth the subscription. I'll check out the article later but I wouldn't put Cousins in the tier of perfect passer. The arm strength is not top notch. Merely average
Have to say while I despise Michael Vick he made many a beautiful throw in his career. He had such a smooth and easy release and the ball came out of there in a tight spiral with great velocity
Have to say while I despise Michael Vick he made many a beautiful throw in his career. He had such a smooth and easy release and the ball came out of there in a tight spiral with great velocity
I definitely agree with all of the above. However his accuracy was never that great. I have memories of Alge Crumpler desperately reaching for balls zipping over his head.
Have to say while I despise Michael Vick he made many a beautiful throw in his career. He had such a smooth and easy release and the ball came out of there in a tight spiral with great velocity
I definitely agree with all of the above. However his accuracy was never that great. I have memories of Alge Crumpler desperately reaching for balls zipping over his head.
Spot on. He had his issues in the pocket. Happy feet, ball security, and an inability to see the field as well and plays develop the same way taller QB's would (I believe he was a shade under 6'0) But when everything came together for him in a throw it was a thing of beauty
I agree with the definitions presented regarding a pure passer. Though how about a player who is strictly a passing QB? Not one at all who can scramble or run. Or would that be more of a pocket passer?
It's funny but I always thought they came up with the term "pure passer" just to describe what Sonny Jurgensen could do with a football. Back in the late 1960s NFL Films did a feature on the top QBs in the NFL and they featured Jurgensen making all kinds of throws including snapping the ball behind his back and throwing a 40-yard perfect spiral downfield. He is never mentioned in the list of top all-time QBs today I imagine because his lack of a postseason pedigree. For some reason George Allen did not like him and preferred Billy Kilmer. A friend of mine got to meet him once and found him the genuine article.
RRMarshall wrote:It's funny but I always thought they came up with the term "pure passer" just to describe what Sonny Jurgensen could do with a football. Back in the late 1960s NFL Films did a feature on the top QBs in the NFL and they featured Jurgensen making all kinds of throws including snapping the ball behind his back and throwing a 40-yard perfect spiral downfield. He is never mentioned in the list of top all-time QBs today I imagine because his lack of a postseason pedigree. For some reason George Allen did not like him and preferred Billy Kilmer. A friend of mine got to meet him once and found him the genuine article.
Yes, I think the term "pure passer" was invented for Sonny Jurgensen in the 1960's. You would read magazine articles saying that while Unitas and Starr were the best QBs in the NFL, Sonny Jurgensen was the best "pure passer."
In the Redskins 1972 Super Bowl season, Jurgensen started weeks 4-6 doing very well and the Redskins winning all three games, last one over the Cowboys. In week 7, Jurgensen had a broken bone and couldn't play the rest of the year. Had he stayed healthy, played and won Super Bowl VII, Sonny Jurgensen would be much higher rated historically.
SixtiesFan wrote:In week 7, Jurgensen had a broken bone and couldn't play the rest of the year. Had he stayed healthy, played and won Super Bowl VII, Sonny Jurgensen would be much higher rated historically.
As would George Allen and about a half-dozen other guys...
