The "Daniel Jones deserves his own thread" thread

[camion]

Was his classmate. A good friend of mine, from his area, described Sonny’ s high school career - tereffic. Watched him at practice, where he would throw the returns backing to the punter practicers with hardly any leg action. Awesome

I feel a special bond with Sonny and with Johnny Unitas because of the year 1972. Sonny, Johnny and I all suffered ruptured Achilles tendons that year. As a matter of fact I immediately knew what my injury was because I had read about theirs in Sports Illustrated.

Note: My injury occurred while playing pickup basketball on East Campus and was repaired by Duke doctors. The did a good job.

[budwom]

I feel a special bond with Sonny and with Johnny Unitas because of the year 1972. Sonny, Johnny and I all suffered ruptured Achilles tendons that year. As a matter of fact I immediately knew what my injury was because I had read about theirs in Sports Illustrated.

Note: My injury occurred while playing pickup basketball on East Campus and was repaired by Duke doctors. The did a good job.

Lennox Baker by any chance? He tried to take a run at my Achilles one time...

[camion]

Lennox Baker by any chance? He tried to take a run at my Achilles one time...

I can't say that I remember the doctor's name, but the name Clippinger just popped up in my mind. Hmm.

[Indoor66]

Lennox Baker by any chance? He tried to take a run at my Achilles one time...

I'd bet on Frank Bassett at that time.

[jv001]

Sonny spun a ball like no one else ever. I think at Duke he only averaged 9 passes a game. What a waste. But I was a Skins fan because of Sonny and his Duke ties. There are many NFL experts who view him as the best pure passing talent ever. His spiral was just, well, different. What a talent, and who knew Single Malt belongs on an NFL training regimen...

Sonny was one of the reasons that I rooted for Washington. Two ACC quarterbacks were exchanged in a trade that brought Sonny to the Skins. Former Wake Forest QB, Norm Snead was traded by the Redskins to the Eagles for Sonny. Speaking of the perfect spiral that Sonny threw, it was quite the opposite of his team mate, Billy Kilmer who threw the ball end over end. I was a speaker at a company convention one year and I had a seat next to Joe Theismann who was our guest speaker. During a break, I asked Joe about some of Sonny's off the field exploits. He told me that Sonny one time he lost his drivers license because of speeding and other violations. So Sonny buys him a boat and to take little cruises in the Chesapeake Bay. However it doesn't take him long before he's pulled for speeding and careless driving in his new boat. Sonny loved to have a good time and I imagine he and John Riggins had some of those good times together.

[arnie]

Sonny was one of the reasons that I rooted for Washington. Two ACC quarterbacks were exchanged in a trade that brought Sonny to the Skins. Former Wake Forest QB, Norm Snead was traded by the Redskins to the Eagles for Sonny. Speaking of the perfect spiral that Sonny threw, it was quite the opposite of his team mate, Billy Kilmer who threw the ball end over end. I was a speaker at a company convention one year and I had a seat next to Joe Theismann who was our guest speaker. During a break, I asked Joe about some of Sonny's off the field exploits. He told me that Sonny one time he lost his drivers license because of speeding and other violations. So Sonny buys him a boat and to take little cruises in the Chesapeake Bay. However it doesn't take him long before he's pulled for speeding and careless driving in his new boat. Sonny loved to have a good time and I imagine he and John Riggins had some of those good times together.

NFL Playing careers of Sonny and John didn’t overlap, but they likely had a few together as both had Redskin broadcasting jobs.

[jimsumner]

It's easy to remember Sonny as a beer-bellied old guy, waddling around the pocket. But he was an outstanding tennis player growing up in Wilmington and an all-state catcher. Imagine trying to steal on that arm. And he skipped the North Carolina East-West all-star football game to play in the E/W basketball game. There's no question he could have been an ACC basketball player. He was a stunningly gifted athlete.

And I'll never forgive George Allen for starting Kilmer in the Super Bowl against Miami. Never.

[sagegrouse]

It's easy to remember Sonny as a beer-bellied old guy, waddling around the pocket. But he was an outstanding tennis player growing up in Wilmington and an all-state catcher. Imagine trying to steal on that arm. And he skipped the North Carolina East-West all-star football game to play in the E/W basketball game. There's no question he could have been an ACC basketball player. He was a stunningly gifted athlete.

And I'll never forgive George Allen for starting Kilmer in the Super Bowl against Miami. Never.

Jim: the story Sonny told was that after the football all-star game, all the top players from NC got together to talk about where to go to college. I wonder how many joined Sonny at Duke.

Could also have been the NC vs SC all-star football game.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

And I'll never forgive George Allen for starting Kilmer in the Super Bowl against Miami. Never.

17 - 0 baby! The perfect season!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx6qOodbWLk

And then a few years later the Houston Oilers stole the song, changing the lyrics just a little bit.

[uh_no]

17 - 0 baby! The perfect season!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx6qOodbWLk

And then a few years later the Houston Oilers stole the song, changing the lyrics just a little bit.

You're a fins fan too? nice.

[tommy]

It's easy to remember Sonny as a beer-bellied old guy, waddling around the pocket. But he was an outstanding tennis player growing up in Wilmington and an all-state catcher. Imagine trying to steal on that arm. And he skipped the North Carolina East-West all-star football game to play in the E/W basketball game. There's no question he could have been an ACC basketball player. He was a stunningly gifted athlete.

And I'll never forgive George Allen for starting Kilmer in the Super Bowl against Miami. Never.

Well, Sonny had torn his achilles earlier in the year, and was still on crutches when the Super Bowl was played, so he wasn't an option. Not that it would've mattered. Nobody was beating the Dolphins that day, or that year.

[arnie]

Well, Sonny had torn his achilles earlier in the year, and was still on crutches when the Super Bowl was played, so he wasn't an option. Not that it would've mattered. Nobody was beating the Dolphins that day, or that year.

Garo Yepremian tried, but needed more throws if the Skins were gonna win.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

You're a fins fan too? nice.

We moved from NY to Ft. Lauderdale in August of 1970 (my junior year in high school), and my dad bought 4 season tickets to the Dolphins' games. My allegiance to the Jets and Joe Namath quickly waned. Don Shula joined the team as head coach the same year, so they got good in a hurry! Bob Griese, Larry Czonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Nick Buoniconti and others saw to that! (Nick Jr. later played football at Duke )

I stopped being a Dolfan when both Don Shula and Dan Marino had retired. I no longer knew nor cared about the players, so there was no reason to root for them. Now I casually root for the Panthers. When they're good, anyway. Definitely only a fair weather fan. Unlike my unwavering love of Duke football and other sports.

[roywhite]

We moved from NY to Ft. Lauderdale in August of 1970 (my junior year in high school), and my dad bought 4 season tickets to the Dolphins' games. My allegiance to the Jets and Joe Namath quickly waned. Don Shula joined the team as head coach the same year, so they got good in a hurry! Bob Griese, Larry Czonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Nick Buoniconti and others saw to that! (Nick Jr. later played football at Duke )

I stopped being a Dolfan when both Don Shula and Dan Marino had retired. I no longer knew nor cared about the players, so there was no reason to root for them. Now I casually root for the Panthers. When they're good, anyway. Definitely only a fair weather fan. Unlike my unwavering love of Duke football and other sports.

And I'm sure as a good Dolphins and Duke fan, you appreciated the efforts of (Judge) Ed Newman, who played well at guard for the Dolphins from 1973 to 1984. 4-time Pro Bowler.

[Stray Gator]

And I'm sure as a good Dolphins and Duke fan, you appreciated the efforts of (Judge) Ed Newman, who played well at guard for the Dolphins from 1973 to 1984. 4-time Pro Bowler.

And when reminiscing about great Dolphins with Duke pedigree, let's not overlook Bobo Matheson.

[tommy]

We moved from NY to Ft. Lauderdale in August of 1970 (my junior year in high school), and my dad bought 4 season tickets to the Dolphins' games. My allegiance to the Jets and Joe Namath quickly waned. Don Shula joined the team as head coach the same year, so they got good in a hurry! Bob Griese, Larry Czonka, Jim Kiick, Paul Warfield, Nick Buoniconti and others saw to that! (Nick Jr. later played football at Duke )

I stopped being a Dolfan when both Don Shula and Dan Marino had retired. I no longer knew nor cared about the players, so there was no reason to root for them. Now I casually root for the Panthers. When they're good, anyway. Definitely only a fair weather fan. Unlike my unwavering love of Duke football and other sports.

We moved to Miami in '69 when I was 5. My dad also bought season tickets to the Dolphins and we almost never missed a game at the old Orange Bowl during the Shula glory years and after, including of course the perfect season. The names of the players are burned into my brain. The Buonicontis lived near us, so Nicky and I played little league baseball and football and other sports together (he went to Catholic school) and we were the same year at Duke where he was an excellent, though undersized, middle linebacker. It was in those years that his little brother Marc suffered the football injury while playing at The Citadel that left him paralyzed for life. After his retirement from the Dolphins, Big Nick was a real community leader in addition to all the work he did for Marc's Miami Fund to Cure Paralysis. Outstanding family all around.

I am still a Dolphins fan, now a long-suffering one, after all these years, and have passed that along to my son despite us living on the other side of the country. Tough to root for the Dolphins sometimes, but that's what a fan is all about. Plenty of great memories.

[CameronBlue]

And I'm sure as a good Dolphins and Duke fan, you appreciated the efforts of (Judge) Ed Newman, who played well at guard for the Dolphins from 1973 to 1984. 4-time Pro Bowler.

and a member of the National Jewish Sports HOF

[uh_no]

and a member of the National Jewish Sports HOF

The real question is, is he on the leaflet "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"

(this is an airplane reference... https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2e5w4h )

[HereBeforeCoachK]

It's easy to remember Sonny as a beer-bellied old guy, waddling around the pocket. But he was an outstanding tennis player growing up in Wilmington and an all-state catcher. Imagine trying to steal on that arm. And he skipped the North Carolina East-West all-star football game to play in the E/W basketball game. There's no question he could have been an ACC basketball player. He was a stunningly gifted athlete.
.

I believe that would be more accurately a "single malt" belly...and yeah, amazing he was such a gifted athlete...imagine if he had been a dedicated one too. I guess if you're that naturally gifted...you just do what you do. Can only imagine what he and Lombardi might've accomplished had Lombardi not contracted terminal cancer.

[CameronBlue]

The real question is, is he on the leaflet "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"

(this is an airplane reference... https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2e5w4h )

Love it. The National Jewish Hall of Fame is based out of a kiosk in the Mayfair Shopping Center in Commack, NY.

The first class of inductees included Art Heyman in 93. The 94 class included Larry Brown.