Sunday, December 11, 2011

Bear Down Sunday #13

The Bears (7-5) face the Denver Broncos (7-5) in Denver.  The Bears are struggling without Jay Cutler.  The Broncos are surging with Tim Tebow.
The Bears will also be without running back Matt Forte.  That leaves them with Marion Barber and little else at running back.  That is a far cry from the Miami Dolphins of the early 70's who had three stud running backs (Larry Csonka, Mercury Morris and Jim Kiick).  Zonk and Merc were probably bigger names, but Kiick lead the Dolphins in rushing in two seasons.  He wasn't exactly a no-name though.  He appeared on a Sports Illustrated cover with teammate Csonka.
I talked to Kiick about being a small star on a star-filled team.  Kiick said he had no regrets and totally enjoyed his time with the Dolphins.  Of course, his time included three Super Bowl appearances and two titles!
After a short season in the WFL, Kiick returned to the NFL with the Broncos, playing a season and a half with the team.  Unfortunately, he was released midway through their Super Bowl season.
The Bears face a struggle today and for the rest of the season.  The Bears should take note of the Dolphins teams of the 70's, who had backup quarterback extraordinaire Earl Morrall and a trio of excellent running backs including Kiick!
Jim Kiick and me in Oaks, PA-October 2009.

2 comments:

John Bateman said...

I loved Jim Kiick. Love his name and his 1973 Topps football card. Just an awesome card.

The Bears and Broncos are probably the most interesting game of the week. Tebow has to face that Bears Defense. Intersting.

Johngy said...

I liked his 73 and 74 cards. I loved his 72 In Action cards (but all action cards were cool).