The Case for Chuck Foreman

[Senator]

Maybe a weak case for the Hall of Fame, but one to at least explore. As a little kid in the 70's, the guy to fear was Chuck Foreman. Injuries shortened his career, but his dominance reminds me of Terrell Davis or Gale Sayers. If you never saw him play, you probably will not have much to say. I hated when we played this guy, he was really incredible, but I don't hear much about him anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sm3Y59LmW7g&feature=fvw


The Minnesota Vikings first round draft choice in 1973, Chuck Foreman was selected with the 12th overall pick in the draft. He was a consensus choice as the National Football Conference (NFC) Rookie of the Year in 1973, when he rushed for 801 yards on 182 attempts and caught 37 passes for 362 yards.

Foreman was named NFC player of the year by The Sporting News in 1974 and by UPI in 1976. He was named All-Pro in 1975 and played in five consecutive Pro Bowls (1973-1977). Foreman had 3 straight seasons rushing for 1,000+ yards (1975-1977) and scored a then NFC record 22 Touchdowns in 14 games during the 1975 campaign. Foreman just missed a rare NFC 'Triple Crown' (rushing yards, receptions & TDs) in 1975 as well. During the last regular season game of 1975 the Vikings were playing the Buffalo Bills at Rich Stadium on Saturday, December 21 during a classic Buffalo, NY snowstorm. Foreman was having a fantastic game despite the conditions. He would finish with 85 yards rushing, 10 receptions and four TDs in less than three quarters. After Foreman's third score (which gave him 21 TDs for the year, one shy of the NFL mark), Fran Tarkenton joked in the huddle, "Anybody who gets to the one-yard line, go out of bounds. We want some touchdowns for Chuck."

The crowd was getting ornery. Not only were the Bills being clobbered, 28-6, but it was looking like Foreman and not hometown hero O.J. Simpson might walk away with the TD record. Simpson had gotten his 22nd TD of the season in the first half, equaling Gale Sayer's 1965 total, but Foreman and the Vikes were really on a roll.

Late in the 3rd quarter Foreman was chasing a pass thrown out of the end zone when he was hit in the eye by a snowball. He went out of the game for a couple of plays, then returned with blurred vision and caught a six-yard touchdown pass to tie Sayers and Simpson with 22 TDs. That was it, though. He spent the last quarter on the bench.

Less than a minute later, Simpson scored on a 54-yard reception to surpass Sayers & Foreman. The next day, St. Louis' Jim Otis, playing only the first half, gained 69 yards in 14 carries to edge Foreman for conference rushing honors, 1,076 to 1,070. During that same season, Foreman also led the NFL in receptions with 73, a record for receptions by a running back. Foreman amassed 51 touchdowns over a 3 year span (1974-1976). Foreman played in 3 Super Bowls with the Vikings. Injuries plagued him throughout the 1978 and 1979 seasons and Foreman was subsequently traded to the New England Patriots, where he spent the 1980 season before retiring.

His pass-catching ability out of the backfield, combined with the ability to make the first tackler miss, was a key in the Minnesota Viking offense, which was sort of a pre-cursor of the West Coast Offense which became popular in the following decades. Chuck is widely known as "The Spin Doctor" for his elusive way of avoiding would-be tacklers.

[BYU 14]

Wow, big rush of nostalgia watching that video, Chuck had one of the sweetest spin moves in the history of the game. Even being a Vikings fan I have to think he is a borderline HOF guy that comes up just short due to his career length.

There was a three year stretch though where he was as good as anybody in the game.

[QuikSand]

fof-IHOF.com : Player >> Dwight Foreman

Note the jersey number...my tribute.