Did Astroturf in the 70's, 80's, and 90's cause the golden era of RB's?

If you are around 50 years old, you know what I'm talking about when I say the golden era of Running backs. It started around 1970 when teams started to abandon grass and switch to astroturf.

The rug was like magic carpet, it seemed to make fast players faster, strong players stronger, provided running backs feet with a sure grip and reduced slips, eliminated turf failure, and seemed to give Rb's an advantage with their zigs and zags. But man did it ever cause the injuries to knees and ankles!

It was common to see up to 10 guys who needed helped off the field every game in the astro turf days, and major knee injuries were far more common than they are today.

Since around the year 2000 teams have moved away from astroturf and gone to grass or field turf.

It seems like the end of the rug caused the end of the running game.
The game changed, and is still changing. It became a pass first game, maybe because DB's don't have that sure footing the rug provided, and WR's can zig and zag to create separation.
They run less for the same reason, Rb's can't zig and zag on a dime any more.
Players pads got smaller because the surface got softer, and the speed of the collisions slowed down some.

But all of that has made the game less exciting because we're missing the thrilling long runs of guys like OJ Simpson, Tony Dorsett, Walter Payton, Earl Campbell, Barry Sanders, Emmit Smith, Eric Dickerson, Terrell Davis, Curtis Martin, Marcus Allen, Bo Jackson, Marshall Faulk, etc.
That was the golden era for RB's, the time when LB's were just as important.

When the playing surface changed, the game changed, and not for the better.

Now its a passing game and you need good passers, but they seem to be hard to come by.
But the golden era of the Running Back, was chock full of great passers.
Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Bradshaw, Namath, Fouts, Elway, Kelly, Theissman, Bledsoe, Staubach, Moon, Young, and a bunch of real good passers like Kosar, Anderson, Dawson, Sims, Rypien, McMahon, Sipes.

The lack of great RB's and great Passers is hurting the game today.

That rug sure did make a difference.

 

Well, I certainly can't think of a single other reason that those things might have happened.

 

I blame it on a different surface - the MS Surface Pro 4! Except for Steelers who are still using TI 99's, allows instant in-game adjustment ability with these spy-bots on defense to snuff out successful running and passing games.

Seriously though, I think it's a watered down talent pool and conditioning issue. Just don't see the sustained skill level of a Barry Sanders, Walter Payton and Tony Dorsett anymore. Speaking of Tony, is there another player with a College National Championship ring, a Heisman Trophy, a SB ring and a HOF jacket? Gotta be a very small group if there are any others. Loved that guy his whole playing career.

 

How is it possibly a watered-down talent pool? Back in those days we had 12 rounds in the draft - twice what it is now. And nowadays even High Schools are playing pro sets. And College has gone pass-first, where they used to run power I, wishbone and such.

Personally, I think conditioning is the issue, teams just don't have gym rats anymore. Nowadays guys would rather sit on the couch and play video games, or sit in strip clubs being the big shot with cash money.
And the main performance driver is money, not the will to win.

Teams like the Patriots push conditioning, discourage cell phones in the facility, and focus on teamwork, winning, and schemes.

 

There's more than one factor that's contributed to change. I believe the biggest factor is the size, speed, and overall athleticism of today's defensive players. Offenses had to adapt to this by playing with multiple formations and personnel packages in an effort combat today's defensive players.

RB's always had a difficult time holding up under the pounding they took in the NFL. The pounding that RB's take today is probably harsher than the pounding they took in the past because of the overall size, speed, and athleticism of today's defensive players.

Another factor is that offenses that typically run the ball won't produce as many points. Most point production comes from passing the ball. The rules also favor passing the ball. It's easier to move the ball that result in big plays through the air than on the ground.

I believe it's difficult for offenses to consistently move the ball down the field in 10 to 12 play drives. Again, this has something to do with the athletes that offenses face on the defensive side of the ball. The athletes that offenses face are more likely to cause drive killing penalties at some point during a long sustained drive.

 

I have to disagree, RB's took a bigger pounding back in the day because Defensive players were roided up, and todays players are smaller.
I also think players back in the day were faster because the turf made you faster.
Players today may be more athletic because they are lighter and smaller, though.

I don't think turf is the only change either, but getting away from astroturf hurt the running game for sure.
I also agree that rules have had a major effect too, making it easier to pass because you see so many pass interference penalties that didn't even happen.

The lack of a running game and the resulting lack of game breaking runs has made football less fun, even with the increased excitement of the long bomb passing game.

Personally, I loved those astroturf runners like Payton, Smith, Campbell and Curtis Martin.
I also liked those high impact collisions between guys like Campbell and Riggins, against big hard hitting LB's.

The switch from astroturf to grass saves and prolongs careers, but we are definitely losing a lot by the loss of the exciting run game.

And personally, i think the rule changes suck, it got to where we have crazy rules for what a catch is, and pass interference.

I like the grass and field turf, but without the astroturf we will never see exciting RB's anymore. Or precious few.

Give me a Bo Jackson or Marcus Allen to watch and I'm there.!!!

 

I waved as 50 went by a long time ago.

The old AstroTurf was a fairly thin carpet on concrete. It was hard and fast.

But the change to a passing game is more a function of rule changes, starting with the one chuck rule.

 

I hear what you're saying but there are exceptions. Qualcomm has always been a grass field and LaDanian Tomlinson did pretty well.

 

yep

60's 70s 80s

acres of rug

now a days.........


the juice was loose in the 70s

 

He played half his games on road rugs.

 

Half? I don't think so. Besides, I was only talking about what he did here in SD.
The Chiefs, Broncos and Raiders play on grass too so, all the stadiums in the afc west are grass fields.

 

Good point, my bad.

I'm not saying you can't run on grass, but Tomlinson probably extended his career by playing on grass, and it I remember correctly he chose the Jets in FA because they had grass, correct?

 

Probably.

 

A big swing in offenses instituted by coaching philosophy dictated by rule changes. The rules favor a passing game therefore the coaching staffs' across the NFL have changed accordingly. No more or no less.