Hook. And. LATERAL! Don't make me call Don Strock!
Tony Nathan was pretty damned good
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and water is wet
Damn good....?
When there was 3rd and 5, 3rd and 6, the Marino and TN connection was unstoppable. The whole stadium know its coming, yet No team can stop it. Its automatic.
I've been watching football for 40 years, no rb, i mean no rb, is as good as TN coming out of backfield.
When there was 3rd and 5, 3rd and 6, the Marino and TN connection was unstoppable. The whole stadium know its coming, yet No team can stop it. Its automatic.
I've been watching football for 40 years, no rb, i mean no rb, is as good as TN coming out of backfield.
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Very smooth player. Well known collegian. Dolphin fans knew the name and liked the pick. Nobody was excited. Everyone was desperate for a fullback. We had been trying to recreate the fullback oriented offense for years with moderate success after Csonka departed. Various body shapes and types of player...Norm Bulaich, Don Nottingham, Leroy Harris. Every offseason the scrutiny was finding another Csonka.
In those days a versatile halfback didn't mean much of anything. You knew about it. Joel Buchsabaum might mention it in his draft guides for Pro Football Weekly. But overall a player like that received about as much credit for catching passes as being able to tie his shoes. That was the era of an absolutely dominant and mesmerizing running back coming out of college ranks every year...Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Billy Sims. Everybody knew that type would be swooped up immediately and transform a franchise. If you weren't in line to draft that type of back then nobody really understood why you were drafting a running back at all. The consensus in that era was that great running backs are high round one and otherwise at the position you're a known quantity after being featured so much in college, so there's no such thing as a surprise.
In those days a versatile halfback didn't mean much of anything. You knew about it. Joel Buchsabaum might mention it in his draft guides for Pro Football Weekly. But overall a player like that received about as much credit for catching passes as being able to tie his shoes. That was the era of an absolutely dominant and mesmerizing running back coming out of college ranks every year...Tony Dorsett, Earl Campbell, Billy Sims. Everybody knew that type would be swooped up immediately and transform a franchise. If you weren't in line to draft that type of back then nobody really understood why you were drafting a running back at all. The consensus in that era was that great running backs are high round one and otherwise at the position you're a known quantity after being featured so much in college, so there's no such thing as a surprise.
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Thurman Thomas would debate you on that...and it was always on us.
It's the reason I hate the Bills more than any rivalry. He would break your spirit with those conversions.
You had to remind me. And I was having such a good morning until this!
Tony Nathan is still my favorite Dolphin of all time.
To me, Nathan’s best asset was his ability catch the ball out of the backfield. When he was on the field, it was like having an extra WR running routes out of the backfield. He was a good but not great running the ball but he was probably the best pass receiver as a RB in the game when he played.
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Nathan's rookie season was 1979...the same year Zonk came back to play for us for one year...they played one year together.....Tony was doing mostly kick-offs and punt reurns.
Tony's first couple of years...he had fumble problems...stayed in Shula's doghouse... alot..
Yep. But he did go to the pro bowl his rookie year as he was outstanding on both KR and PR (scored a TD to boot).
his career rushing average is 4.8 YPC - that might be best in team history. Mercury might be ahead of him / too lazy to look it up. He was a an excellent runner, particularly on outside runs as he had nice cut back abilities.