Craig, Rathman an underrated RB tandem

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.

Switzer's view about recruiting on target -- to a point

When I hear talk about the notion of “recruiting” for Nebraska football, I hearken back to a statement Bill Walsh made as an NBC commentator.

Though Walsh has been deceased for nearly two years, his influence on the game of football will always be remembered. Walsh led the San Francisco 49ers to three of their five Super Bowl championships and popularized the West Coast Offense, which used short passes to set up the running game. Many NFL and in some cases college teams use at least some variation of the offense.

Anyhow, I remember years ago in the Orange Bowl when Miami was beating us handily. Walsh said something to the effect of, “The problem Nebraska faces is that there are just not enough good athletes in the state.”

In an Omaha World Herald interview on July 16, former Oklahoma head coach Barry Switzer indicated somewhat similar views as he was in Omaha to speak at a Thursday banquet before the Boomer Esaison Foundation Nebraska Golf Classic. Switzer added that “recruiting is the key” for Nebraska in getting back to prominence.

“You got to recruit consistently well every year,” Switzer said. “You got to recruit skilled players, good players at all positions, both sides of the ball. Oklahoma and Texas (are) the only two teams in this league that have been able to do that, be as good on both sides of the ball. The Nebraska job, I've always said, is a tougher job, because of the proximity to talent. (Oklahoma coach Bob) Stoops is fortunate. He's got the Red River, which has got Texas south of there, 1,600 high schools that play football, great high school football.
You've got to import players. Nebraska doesn't produce enough players to compete every year consistently. Oklahoma doesn't; that's why they have to go to Texas.”
Switzer and Walsh’s statements might rankle some Huskers but their anger misses the point. They never said there were not good athletes in the state. Let’s face it, Ahman Green came from Omaha but you go to California, Texas, or Florida and they have 10-15 Ahman Greens. After all, there are only 1.5 million people in Nebraska and 15 million plus in the states I just mentioned. It’s no different than a public high school of 2,500 kids is going to have more viable options to start at quarterback than a public high school of 200 kids.Nebraska’s recruiting disadvantages have been well-documented, weather, lack of beaches and mountains and lack of a bustling night-life. Though I find the last of those two arguments compelling because we’ve had a few players get in trouble over the years at various downtown Lincoln establishments.Of the three enormously populated states, I think Texas would be the one for Nebraska to emphasize because there are four Texas schools in the Big 12 Conference. Plus, Nebraska has competed three times in the Alamo Bowl and once in the Cotton Bowl over the last ten years.
Regardless of who or where, we recruit it comes down to the notion that “the heart and soul of Nebraska football comes from the state of Nebraska. The arms and legs come from the other 49 states.”

It also comes down to how well the coaching staff develops talent.

Bill Callahan’s coaching staff knew how to acquire talent but they did a horrific job of developing and coaching it. The biggest hurdle Bo Pelini was going to face his first year was cultivating a winning attitude and desire amongst his players, but given his fire and ability to relate with players on a personal level and the fact that he is dealing with impressionable young men, the quick change in attitude is something that should not have come as a total shock to people.True, Nebraska very seldom had recruiting rankings that knocked people in the Bob Devaney/Tom Osborne/Frank Solich years but the Huskers have never had much of a talent deficiency. What we did have between 2004 and 2007 was a major coaching/leadership deficiency.

Nebraska has athletes; the coaches have just needed some time to turn them into football players; now I look for them to turn them into a great team. This team, in my opinion, is good enough to win nine games or more in the regular season on a regular basis. If they win more, great. If they win less, well that happens sometimes. We can definitely count on great effort, progressing each week, and doing things to make themselves better for future seasons.