The football season appetizers are well underway.
There is college football Media Days that every major conference hosts. There’s the opening of NFL training camps and of course let’s not forget the high school youngsters that battle under the Friday Night lights.
There’s also the NFL Hall-of-Fame induction ceremony. The 2009 class is comprised of Rod Woodson, Randall McDaniel, Bruce Smith, Bob Hayes and Ralph Wilson Jr.
Several months ago, yours truly lobbied in this very space lobbying for former Nebraska running back Roger Craig to some day become inducted into the NFL Hall-of-Fame: http://napavince.blogspot.com/2009/05/roger-craig-belongs-in-nfl-hall-of-fame.html
I stand by that argument rather strongly to this day but I would also argue that Craig and Tom Rathman (also a former Nebraska running back) are one of the best and most underrated NFL running back tandems of all time. Would I take them over say Jim Taylor-Paul Hourning (Green Bay), Franco Harris-Rocky Blier (Pittsburgh) or Jim Kick-Larry Csonka (Miami)? No. However, like those aforementioned tandems, Craig and Rathman put up individual numbers and helped the San Francisco 49ers win Super Bowls, three for Craig and two for Rathman.
Craig finished his eleven NFL seasons with 8,189 rushing yards, 566 receptions for 4,911 receiving yards, and three kickoff returns for 43 yards. Overall, he amassed 13,143 total yards and scored 73 touchdowns (56 rushing and 17 receiving). As of today, Roger Craig remains the only running back to lead the NFL in receptions for a single season, and the only one ever to record over 100 receiving yards in a Super Bowl.
Craig was the only running back to be elected to the Pro Bowl at both fullback and halfback (a feat which has since been matched by Stephen Davis). He is also the first player in NFL history to gain 1,000 yards rushing and receiving. St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk achieved such a feat in 1999 but the difference is that Craig often ran on a muddy surface at Candlestick Park whereas Faulk played his whole career in a domed stadium.
Rathman’s NFL career spanned nine years as a fullback. The first eight of those with the 49ers. While in San Francisco, he paved the way for Craig. In 1989, he led all NFL running backs in receiving with 73 receptions for 616 yards. He spent his last season with the Los Angeles Raiders. Rathman finished his NFL career with 2,020 rushing yards, 320 receptions for 2,684 yards, five kickoff returns for 103 yards, and 34 touchdowns.
This story hits a nerve with me because I grew up in Northern California (Napa, CA to be exact) as a 49er fan who later went on to gain an opportunity to cover the Oakland Raiders as a freelance writer for Silver & Black Illustrated. The 49ers became the revered dynasty that most people know them as today when I became old enough to understand football. Keep in mind, I was born in 1972.San Francisco drafted Craig in 1983 and Rathman in 1986. I had a great NFL team to root for in the 49ers, they haven’t been relevant since 2002 but I digress. I just needed a good college team to root for – but Cal and Stanford just didn’t do it for me. They still don’t. USC has a great tradition in football. So does UCLA in basketball – but rooting for a Southern California team was a hard sell for me. Well, it still is as much as I respect their tradition. So I became a Husker fan in 1986. I later became a Husker graduate in 1997.I moved back to Northern California in 1998 after getting my degree in journalism from the University of Nebraska in 1997. Sorry, I can’t bring myself to saying “NoCal” or “SoCal.” That sounds way too damn dorky and juvenile. When I hear people those terms, it sounds like a pipsqueak that has not reached puberty yet.
I know Husker fans will never fully embrace the West Coast Offense that Bill Callahan brought to Nebraska but I would consider Craig the prototypical WCO running back, one who can run both outside and between the tackles, as well as pass catch out of the backfield.
Granted, when we think of the 49ers dynasty, people like Bill Walsh, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and Ronnie Lott are the hub of the wheel. You also can’t forget names like Steve Young, Fred Dean, John Taylor or Brent Jones. But, take away the running back production and you likely don’t see the 49ers win five Super Bowls. Craig and Rathman are might never enter the NFL Hall of Fame, but their contributions no doubt played a major part in shaping football history and by extension the future of Husker football.
Craig was a unique player whose contribution to his game and the game of football goes why past his numbers. Take what Faulk did in repeating the 1000/1000 in a season that was great but it was done on turf, Craig did his on grass much harder to do. Craig made history in football and changed the game.
Craig deserves to be in the Hall-of-Fame. He revolutionized the position. Craig hasn't been inducted into the Hall-of-Fame and for that matter he and Rathman are seldom mentioned in the same breath as other great running back tandems because they lived in the shadow of Montana and Rice. And it’s hard to argue because with Montana and Rice, you have the two best ever to play their position. In Montana’s case, you could make the argument that he’s the best “football player” in NFL history. Keep in mind; he led the 49ers to two Super Bowls before they drafted Rice. I think another thing to consider is that Craig and Rathman had to share the ball a lot over their careers.
Rathman made a name for himself in the Bay Area as a 49ers’ back who was a punishing hitter, sure footed runner that could catch out of the backfield. He was everything the 49ers wanted in a fullback and everything that Roger Craig could have hoped for in a lead blocker. Today, Rathman is rarely talked about in connection with the success of the organization. But make no mistake; he played an extremely large role in it.
I also think a huge reason Craig and Rathman are not mentioned in connection with the 49ers success is because, you take the Green Bay Packers and you think of Taylor and Hourning running the power sweep. You think of Vince Lombardi on the blackboard in his Brooklyn-ese accent, “What we wanna get is a seal here and a seal here. And run this play in the alley.” You think of the 49ers and it’s about Montana orchestrating the offense with pinpoint precision and poise. Whereas you don’t think of the role Craig and Rathman played in punishing defenders in their wake.
In fact, I would argue that the biggest misconception of the WCO is that it’s a “finesse” offense that de-emphasizes the running game. Sure, it might not rely on using the run to set up the pass but using the pass to set up the run is every bit as effective.
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