On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers wore their creamsicle throwback uniforms, possibly the most outlandish uniforms in modern day sports history. Personally, I love this uniform. It’s one of many uniforms I wish would make a return to sports. Here are the top 5 NFL uniforms, from my lifetime (1978-Present) I wish would make a comeback:

1.) Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1976-1996 – Discussed above. I was 4 years old when I first saw this uniform and instantly fell in love with the helmet logo and color scheme. Somehow, it just fits Tampa Bay.

2.) Seattle Seahawks 1983-2001 – I am a huge fan of the way the Seahawks integrated three of my favorite colors: blue, silver and green, into a uniform. Plus, the Seahawk logo on the helmet was much more intimidating than their current logo.

3.) New England Patriots (merger-1992) - Though I hate the Patriots more than any other professional sports franchise, I love this uniform. The color scheme fits the name Patriot better as well.

4.) Denver Broncos (1968-1996) – This uniform, in part, gave rise to the nickname, “Orange Crush.” The Broncos have since opted to go with more muted shades of blue and orange.

5.) Houston Oilers – The NFL should have forced Bud Adams to release the Oilers name, uniform and history to Houston when they were awarded their new franchise. Instead, “Love Ya’ Blue” belongs to the folks up in Nashville. Pure blasphemy!

I recently attended a cocktail reception hosted by the Texas Women Lawyers.   Since this was a group of women attorneys, I did not expect to need many sports talking points to engage with attendees at the reception.  I was wrong.  Several men attended the event and, yes, sports talk arose in conversation but in a unique way. 

While I was talking to one male attendee, another man named Doug Williams joined our conversation.  The other man began talking to Doug by stating, “but you aren’t ‘the’ Doug Williams.”  I concluded from this statement that there must be a famous Doug Williams.  As the conversation continued, I realized the famous Doug Williams was indeed a sports figure.  Of course, I did not show my ignorance by asking about Doug Williams, but I did Google the name after the event and learned that he is a former NFL quarterback. 

Remember the name Doug Williams.  If you meet a man named Doug Williams at a networking event, perhaps you can begin conversation with him by referencing the famous Doug Williams?

As always, CocktailSports.Com offers you its talking point from the recent football weekend:

1.) Denver Broncos – Few teams experienced as much off-season turmoil as the Denver Broncos.  After the Broncos failed to make the playoffs last season, they fired their long time head coach Mike Shanahan and hired 33-year old Josh McDaniels, a former offensive coordinator with the New England Patriots. McDaniels wasted no time in attempting to put his stamp on the team, beginning with former quarterback Jay Cutler. The two never saw eye to eye and the Broncos ended up trading Cutler to the Chicago Bears for Kyle Orton and draft picks, a move many criticized the Broncos for making.  McDaniels new style didn’t mesh with temperamental wide-receiver Brandon Marshall, who spent most of the off-season complaining about his contract and became an even bigger problem during training camp in a series of incidents that have been forever memorialized in YouTube clips. The first year in any career is always a difficult one, especially as a NFL coach, especially taking over a team in as much turmoil as the Broncos. The undefeated Broncos are the biggest surprise story in the NFL right now. Indeed, their 5-0 record already matches the season win total predicted by Sports Illustrated in their NFL preview.

2.) Terrell “T.O.” Owens – Every sport features a select few athletes that transcend the sport, names recognizable even to non-sports fans. Buffalo Bills mercurial wide receiver, Terrell “T.O.” Owens, is one of those players.  Cut by the Dallas Cowboys in the off season, the Bills brought T.O. in expecting him to be a huge weapon on the offensive side of the ball.  Currently, Owens ranks tied for 103rd in the league in receptions with 12, which is actually one more than Roy E. Williams, who replaced Owens on the Cowboys’ roster (although Williams has more receiving yardage at 214 to Owens’ 202). Fortunately, the Cowboys found another replacement for Owens in Miles Austin, who had more receiving yardage in one game, 250 yards, than Owens has on the entire season. The Bills expected more, much more, from Owens than what he has produced on the field and with the team struggling, you know every one in the organization is waiting for Owens to have one of his trademark sideline or locker room tirades.

3.) Ryan Mallett – Entering the 2009 college football season, much of the talk centered around three quarterbacks–Tim Tebow (Florida), Sam Bradford (Oklahoma) and Colt McCoy (Texas). Tebow and Bradford had won the past two Heisman Trophy Awards respectfully and McCoy was the runner up for the prize in 2008. All three chose to return to school instead of entering the NFL draft early and all three were set to lead teams expected to challenge for the national championship. While none of the three have looked quite as sharp as years past, they continue to dominate the national talk at the position.

If you really want to impress your clients or colleagues, throw the name Ryan Mallett into the top college quarterback discussion. Mallett began his college career at the University of Michigan, but transferred when the school made a coaching change. This marks his first year playing at the University of Arkansas. He probably won’t get invited to the end of the year awards shows and his team won’t be playing for a national title at the end of the season, but Mallett may be the quarterback with the brightest future ahead of him. While some question the role McCoy and Tebow will play in the NFL, there’s no doubt what NFL scouts see in Mallett. His game fits perfectly into the mold of the traditional NFL drop back pocket passer. He has the size and skills to succeed on the next level.

The day Bill Parcells stepped down as coach of the Dallas Cowboys, I celebrated.  In my mind, Parcells’ departure represented the end of a bitter reconstruction era for this franchise and the beginnings of a new Cowboys’ dynasty. Parcells served his purpose in rebuilding the roster, but he never embraced the star. The Cowboys ended the 2006 season with a heart breaking first round playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks. In spite of yet another early playoff exit, the pieces appeared to be in place for a championship contender for years to come. All the Cowboys needed now was a coach to guide them to the “promised land.”

Parcells’ fast-talking, Jersey boy ways never meshed with the Cowboys. The arrogance of the man to replace the 4-3 defense, a defense that the legendary Tom Landry perfected, with the 3-4, a system he preferred and the audacity to invite former New York Giants greats, bitter enemies of the star, to practices rubbed many fans the wrong way. The Cowboys franchise needed another Texan at the helm, one who would embrace the legacy of this great franchise and write a new chapter in the Cowboys’ history book.

Cowboys’ owner, Jerry Jones, interviewed 10 candidates to replace Parcells. On January 30, 2007, he interviewed Mike Singletary, a Hall of Fame linebacker from Houston who grew up a Cowboys’ fan. Since his playing days ended, Singletary had made a name for himself as a well respected defensive coach in the NFL. Though he had no head coaching experience, everyone felt he had a very bright coaching future ahead of him. In the end, Jones opted for a Texas born coach with head coaching experience, Wade Phillips, son of the legendary, “Bum” Phillips. Looking back, it’s clear to see that Jones made the wrong decision.

The Wade Phillips’ era began with a bang, a 13-3 season, the NFC East title and the number one overall seed in the playoffs. However, from the beginning, it was obvious Phillips lacked the leadership necessary to lead a team to the ultimate prize. The 2007 season ended the same as the seasons of the past decade, with the Cowboys falling short of their goal and a first-round, home playoff loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the New York Giants, but the teams actions leading up to the game were more troubling than the game itself.

By virtue of having the best record in the NFC, the Cowboys earned a bye during the first round of the playoffs.  Instead of using that time to rest and prepare for their next opponent, many players treated the time as a mini-vacation. Tabloids ran wild with coverage of Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson jetting off to Cancun with Jason Witten, Bobby Carpenter and their significant others. Other players traveled to their alma mater’s bowl games to partake in the revelry. Clearly, this team was not focused on their job at the time. Since that time, the team has experienced several embarrassing incidents both on and off the field–the T.O. fiasco, Pac-Man Jones’ brawl at a local hotel, and games like last December in Philadelphia when it appeared that the team quit on their coach.

Wade Phillips will point to his 24-12 record as head coach of the Cowboys, but the only record that matters is his 0-1 record in the playoffs with this franchise. As coach of the Dallas Cowboys, fans expect you to win championships. Though not the most talented team in the league, the Cowboys’ roster contains enough talent to compete for championships year in and year out. A good coach bridges the gap of talent between teams, this coach has failed to do that.

What has Mike Singletary done during this time period? On October 20, 2008, Singletary took over head coaching duties for the San Francisco 49ers, a team with a 2-5 record and a perennial cellar dweller . Singletary made clear from the beginning the way things would work with him in charge. In his first game at the helm, Singletary sent star tight end Vernon Davis, arguably the best player on the team, to the locker room during the game because of the player’s attitude. After the game, Singletary issued a passionate response to the press where he said, “I will not tolerate players who think it’s about them, when it’s about team.” Makes you wonder how many players he would send to the showers early if he was coaching the Cowboys.

Shocked with his move and his speech, critics began to question how long Singletary would last as a coach. He ignored the critics and led his teams to a 5-4 record to finish out the season. During that time, the 49ers played an inspired brand of football rarely seen in the NFL. While the Cowboys led the league in penalties last year with almost 60 yards a game, Singletary’s team averaged a mere 36 yards a game in penalties. Defensively, the 49ers looked impressive as well, especially against the run, given up only 94 yards a game on the ground. The Cowboys, on the other hand, gave up 106 yards a game on the ground, and it was the lack of a rushing defense that led to collapses against Baltimore and Philadelphia in the final two games of the season, eliminating the Cowboys from the playoffs.

Then you see video clips like this, and you see how Singletary deals with adversity during the course of a game. Is there any doubt that the mentality of the Cowboys team would different under Singletary? What would the Cowboys look like without the mental errors?

In the book The Catch, author Gary Myers explains in detail how the Dallas Cowboys almost drafted Joe Montana. Coming out of college, not many NFL teams placed a very high value on Montana. However, Tom Landry loved the kid, as did Gil Brandt. However, the Cowboys thought they had their quarterback of the future in Danny White and felt taking Montana would be wasting  a draft pick. They passed and the 49ers took Joe Montana. In 1982, Joe Montana would lead the 49ers to a victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship game, with a play that has become known simply as “the catch.”  The 49ers would go on to win the Super Bowl that season and three more times under Montana’s leadership. Danny White never won a Super Bowl and the Cowboys sank into the futility. As a Cowboys fan, I can only hope that this odd connection between the Cowboys and 49ers repeat itself with Mike Singletary.

Another week is in the books and it’s time for another edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback, where we give you 4 talking points regarding the previous weekend’s football action.

1.) Bret Favre – Over the course of the past two weeks, Minnesota Vikings’ 39-year old quarterback Bret Favre has shown he still has the ability to play professional football on an elite level. Last week, Favre engineered a last minute, come from behind touchdown drive.  Tonight, Favre faced his former team, the Green Bay Packers, for the first time and threw three touchdown passes.  If you haven’t followed the story from the beginning, Favre had a ton of success in a long career with the Packers, but prior to last season, the Packers decided Favre, at the age of 37, was too old for their system, so they cut ties. You have to think that Favre had just a little motivation to come out and show his former team exactly what they were missing.

2.) Manning Brothers – Four weeks into the NFL season and five undefeated teams remain, but the Indianapolis Colts and the New York Giants seem to be a step ahead of the rest of the league. While question marks surround the other three undefeated teams, the Giants and Colts seem to be pretty solid, in spite of some key injuries. The teams share more than just records; they also share a bloodline, quarterbacked by the Manning brothers (Eli with the Giants and Peyton with the Colts). Even more intriguing is the prospect of the two teams facing each other in the Super Bowl, which at this point is a very real possibility.

3.) Alabama – While the NFL has two teams separating from the pack, a triumvirate of teams head up the college football world. The national media outlets have covered the exploits of Texas and Florida extensively, mainly because of their Heisman candidate quarterbacks. Lost in the shuffle have been the Alabama Crimson Tide, currently ranked #3 in the nation.  All three teams have looked really impressive in all of their games this season, but it appears that the Crimson Tide, led by junior linebacker Rolando McClain, are a bit better defensively and as the old adage goes, “offense wins games; defense wins championships.”

4.) NFL Overtime Policy – The NFL has a vastly different way of dealing with tie ball games at the end of regulation than college or high school football. Currently, the NFL has a “sudden death” policy, where the first team that scores wins. Critics claim that this policy is unfair to the team on defense first. Additionally, if no team scores at the end of the 15 minute overtime period, the game ends in a tie. Many would like to see the NFL adopt an overtime policy similar to the NCAA. In the NCAA, each teams gets the ball at the opponents 25 yard line. The game ends when one team outscores the other in an overtime period–each team has the opportunity to score and there is no possibility for the game to end in a tie.

Today’s e-mail comes from  Ann in Denver:

At a recent staff development lunch, I sat next to a couple of guys who spent the majority of the lunch discussing the nuances of football. The talk turned to the NFL’s decision to crack down on the use of Twitter by NFL player during games, which led to a discussion of the attempts of the league to control so much of its players lives from character clauses in contracts to very strict rules regarding the players uniform, including a rule stating that uniform numbers be assigned by position. I won’t ask for a full explaination of the NFL’s decorum policies, but I am curious, does the league really dictate what number a player can wear based on the position he plays? 

Thanks Ann.

In short, yes, the NFL does set forth a list of numbers for each position. However, this practice is not limited to the NFL. Indeed, this practice, while not as strict, extends down into the college and high school game.

In order to understand why, you must first  understand a basic rule in the game of football. Of the 11 guys on the offensive side of the football, five players are eligible to be receivers at any one time. In an attempt at fairness, to prevent the defense from guessing which five guys are being designated as receivers, a certain set of numbers are designated for players most likely to be receivers. A player with a number not designated for a receiver, can check in with the official prior to setting formation, letting the official now they will be an eligible receiver.

In the NFL, the numbers 1-19 are reserved for quarterbacks, kickers, punters and receivers. The numbers 20-49 are reserved for running backs, cornerbacks, safeties and tight ends, in special situations. The numbers 50-59 are designated for offensive linemen and linebackers, 60-79 for offensive and defensive linemen, 80-89 for receivers and tight ends, and 90-99 for defensive linemen and linebackers.

In college and high school, there is more freedom with the numbers, but 50-79 are still considered “linemen numbers” and are not worn by eligible receivers, quarterbacks, kickers or punters. Again, a player with an uneligible number can check in with the officials as an eligible receiver, prior to the snap, and become an eligible receiver.

If you have a question you would like answered, please e-mail me at jhellis978@gmail.com.

Here’s your late edition of the Monday Morning Quarterback for September 21, 2009–those key talking points for your Monday afternoon business meeting or cocktail hour.

• New Orleans Saints & Drew Brees- After two weeks of the NFL season, the New Orleans Saints have established themselves as one of the early favorites to win the NFC and as one of the top teams in the NFL. On Sunday, the Saints traveled to Philadelphia and beat the Eagles, a team thought by many to have the most talented roster in the NFL, 48-22.  In the game, Saints quarterback, Drew Brees three for over 311 yards and 3 touchdowns. In just two games, Brees has thrown for 669 yards and 9 TD’s.
• Green Bay/Cincinnati- The most surprising result of the  NFL weekend came at Lambeau Field in Green Bay where the lowly Cincinnati Bengals came in and defeated the Packers, a team many predicted to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Lambeau Field has the reputation of being one of the most difficult places to win in the NFL, especially for the underdog. In short, upsets like this just don’t occur in Green Bay.
• Washington/USC- The Washington  Huskies pulled an equally shocking upset in college football on Saturday, defeating the #3 ranked USC Trojans with a field goal in the final seconds. Both teams playing the Pac 10 Conference, which as the name implies consists of 10 universities. College football analysts generally view USC as the top program in this conference and generally view Washington at the very bottom of the conference.
• Florida/Texas – Elsewhere in the world of college football, the University of Florida and the University of Texas continued heading towards what seems like an inevitable January date to face each other for the national title. While many of the other top teams have shown signs of weakness (see USC), the Gators and Longhorns have handled their victims with relative ease. Both teams played conference rivals on Saturday, both teams struggled in the first half of their games, but both emerged with big second half performances to start their seasons 3-0 and as the clear top two teams in the nation. The only question is which team is #1 and which team is #2?
• Dallas Cowboys stadium- If you were busy watching HBO’s Sunday night lineup or the Emmy’s and missed last night’s Dallas Cowboys/New York Giants game, you missed the most watch prime-time televised NFL game in over a decade. However, the more impressive record set in this game was the attendance figure. 105,121 people walked through the gates at the new Cowboys Stadium, breaking the attendance record for an NFL game. This astonishing record comes as many NFL teams struggle to sell out their home games. Consider the fact that only 46,520 people attended the Jacksonville Jaguars home opener against the Arizona Cardinals, almost 20,000 tickets shy of a sell-out. Unfortunately, many of the 105,121 fans left disappointed as the Giants won the game on a last second field goal.

We intend for this blog to be interactive and welcome all readers to submit questions.

Stephanie in University Park, Texas writes:

I recently started watching football and noticed that in addition to numbers, some of the referees have different letters on their shirts. Additionally, some of the referees wear white hats, while most wear black hats. Why is this? Why were the officials in the New England game wearing orange and white uniforms?
Well Stephanie, let’s begin with some semantics. Though the term referee is often used to refer to any official on the football field, this usage is incorrect. NFL and collegiate officiating staffs consist of seven officials, including the referee, umpire, head linesman, line judge, field judge, side judge, and back judge. The letters you see on the jerseys correspond to each of these official titles. The referee serves as the head of the officiating crew and wears a white hat to distinguish himself from his compatriots. Each official has a particular part of the field and game they are responsible for watching and officiating.

From 1960 through 1969, the AFL (American Football League) existed as a rival league to the NFL (National Football League). In 1970, a merger between the two leagues was finalized and ten teams joined the NFL: Boston Patriots (now New England Patriots), San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans), Cincinnati Bengals, New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins. In observance of the 50th Anniversary of the AFL, the NFL will honor the league all season long. When teams from the former AFL face one another, the teams will wear their old AFL uniforms and the officiating crews will wear the traditional, orange and white stripped, AFL officials uniform. Since Buffalo and New England both were AFL teams, the officials wore the orange and white uniforms tonight.

If you have a question you would like answered, feel free to e-mail me anytime at jhellis978@gmail.com.

We just completed our first full weekend of college and NFL football and no doubt football will dominate the cocktail chatter all day. If you chose to spend your weekend doing other things besides watching football, fret not, we have the talking points for you. Here are five things you need to know heading into Monday:

• USC beat Ohio State 18-15 -One of the games we previewed for you earlier in the weekend. The Trojans travel to Ohio State and emerge with a come from behind, last minute victory over the Buckeyes in a nationally televised game. If you want to sound really impressive, mention that USC freshman quarterback, Matt Barkley, became a man Saturday night and proved that he deserved the starting quarterback job, leading the Trojans 86 yard drive to win the game.
• Michigan beat Notre Dame 38-34 – Another game we previewed for you Saturday morning and another game that went down to the wire. The Michigan Wolverines scored with 11 seconds remaining in the game to upset the Irish and go 2-0 on the young season. Like USC, Michigan was led by a freshman quarterback, Tate Forcier, who engineered the game winning touchdown drive.
• Brett Favre wins his debut in a Vikings uniform – While the Minnesota Vikings were led by running back Adrian Peterson(25 carries for 180 yards and 3 touchdowns), quarterback Brett Favre did enough (110 yards passing and 1 touchdown) to ensure the Vikings 34-20 victory over the Cleveland Browns. This will not be remembered as one of Brett Favre’s most impressive games and some will begin to question whether or not he will really make a difference on this team.
• The Denver Broncos had the most exciting finish of the weekend – If you watched any TV at all on Sunday there’s a good chance you saw this highlight. The Broncos trailed the Cincinnati Bengals 7-6 with the ball on their own 13-yard line and time expiring, when Broncos’ quarterback heaved the ball down field, praying for a miracle. The Bengals defense converged on the intended receiver, jarring the ball loose, but another Broncos receiver, Brandon Stokley was in the area and managed to catch the deflection and run into the end zone with eleven seconds left on the clock to give the Broncos the 12-7 victory, stunning the crowd in Cincinnati.
• The Big 12 is overrated – Entering the college football season, several “experts” felt that this could be the season that the Big 12 conference topped the Southeastern Conference as the best football conference in the nation. After watching Oklahoma lose to Brigham Young in week 1 and Oklahoma State lost to the University of Houston this past weekend, the top of the conference doesn’t match up with the top of the Southeastern Conference at all. The bottom of the Big 12, Colorado and Iowa State, look a lot weaker than the bottom of the Southeastern Conference. The SEC still rules the college football world.

As you head for lunch or execute your exit plan for your Friday afternoon “happy hour,” mixed in among the talk of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ amazing overtime win you may hear discussions of NFL blackouts. In 1973, the NFL initiated a blackout policy to encourage NFL teams to sell-out their home football games. Under the policy, a home game can not be televised locally (within 75 miles of the stadium) if it is not sold out within 72 hours of the game. Due to the NFL’s popularity, the policy mainly affected only the lowliest of teams.

However, the past couple of seasons the frequency of blackouts has increased dramatically. This year,  as many as twelve teams face the very real possibility of having multiple games blackedout. Now it appears that even some of the league’s most promising teams face the possibility of blackouts. The Atlanta Falcons field one of the leagues youngest and most exciting teams, yet they face the possibility of blackouts. Adding Brett Favre to their roster hasn’t saved the Minnesota Vikings from blackout talks and even the defending NFC Champions, Arizona Cardinals are having trouble selling out their home opener.

Three factors contribute to this sudden spike.

• Economy – Some of the teams hardest hit by the NFL’s blackout policies are in cities hardest hit by the recession (e.g. Cleveland and Detroit). No matter where you live, it is not cheap to attend a NFL game and people often slash entertainment expenses first when trying to cut their budget, so even in cities where the economy fared a little better fans must be more frugal with their money.
• Technology – The NFL prides itself on being at the forefront of the convergence of sports and technology. Every NFL game can be viewed in high definition, which allows the fan to feel as if they are at the game. Combine that with the growing popularity of the NFL  Sunday Ticket, a sports package offered by the league and DirectTV that allows the fans to watch every out of market football game, and the average fan can pay $50 a month for all their games in high definition as opposed to $80 for a single ticket to a single game.
• Small Markets – I first started hearing about blackouts in regards to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Jaguars are a small market team that plays in one of the largest stadiums in the NFL, making it nearly impossible to sell out the home games. The Jaguars have taken every possible step to try and  prevent blackouts, such as placing tarps over large sections of seating within the stadium to try and cut down on the amount of tickets needed to be sold. This works to their disadvantage in games where those tickets could have been sold since the sections must remain closed for the entire season and not just for select games.

Some teams want the NFL to temporarily remove blackout restrictions until our economy recovers. They contend that continuing to enforce the policy during this economic down cylce hurts the already struggling fan, especially the old and young. Just think of the kid in San Diego, who wants nothing more than to see his Chargers play on Sunday, but then finds out his local TV station cannot carry the game because it did not sell out. The NFL refuses to rescind the policy, but has relented some, allowing the games to be rebroadcast at midnight following the game on the NFL’s website.