BEST QUOTES ABOUT TOUGHNESS IN NFL HISTORY
“They say Fay Wray locks herself in a room when Dick Butkus comes to town.”
— Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times, on the “King Kong” actress
“I like to believe that my best hits border on felonious assault.”
— former Raiders safety Jack Tatum
“He went down hard, left in a heap by a crackback block as naked as it was vicious. Pro football was like that in 1960, a gang fight in shoulder pads.”
— John Schulian, Sports Illustrated, on Chuck Bednarik’s Eagles
“Death should have feared John Matuszak. The other way around makes no sense. When the Grim Reaper came by to touch the Tooz on the shoulder Saturday night, the big guy should have sprung from his bed, ripped open his hospital gown from the neck down, roared like a primal beast and then poured the two of them a drink. He should have scared Death to death.”
— Mike Downey, L.A. Times
“I used to help out my father, a bricklayer, in the summer. I’d catch the bricks (that were dropped). And it made me strong, catching those bricks. I wouldn’t change anything about it. That’s why I’m where I am today. Really.”
— Jerry Rice, former 49ers receiver
“Swollen hands on his thigh pads, eyes fixed on the grass, Y.A. Tittle is helmetless and bleeding from the head, one dark stream snaking down his face, another curling near his ear. … The picture is now 50 years old, and Tittle is now 87. He does not remember much anymore, but that photo is seared in his mind. ‘The blood picture,’ he calls it. He hates it.”
— Seth Wickersham, ESPN.com
“Any team who played him one-on-one would get investigated by the league president for consorting with gamblers.”
— Jim Murray, L.A. Times, on Deacon Jones
“Most football players are temperamental. That’s 90 percent temper and 10 percent mental.” — Doug Plank, former Chicago Bears safety
“Conrad Dobler was just another obscure lineman until 1974, his third season, when some Vikings jokingly requested rabies shots before the game against the Cardinals. Suddenly, Dobler had acquired an image. … ‘If they played every game under a full moon,’ said one rival, ‘Dobler would make all-pro.’ ”
— Daphne Hurford, Sports Illustrated
“When you win, nothing hurts.”
— Joe Namath, former Jets quarterback
TOUGHEST MOVIE CHARACTERS
1. Bruce Willis as John McClane, “Die Hard” series
2. Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley, “Alien” series
3. Russell Crowe as Maximus, “Gladiator”
4. Uma Thurman as The Bride, “Kill Bill” series
5. Denzel Washington as Alonzo Harris, “Training Day”
6. Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden, “Fight Club”
7. Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo, “Rambo” series
8. Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, “Bourne” series
9. Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh, “No Country for Old Men”
10. Pam Grier as Coffy, “Coffy”
Honorable mention: Rocky Balboa, Clubber Lang, Snake Plissken, Charlie’s Angels, Dom Toretto, Luca Brasi, Jules Winnfield, Harry Callahan, Sarah Connor, Dalton (in “Road House”), The Channel 4 News Team (“Brick killed a guy.”)
TOUGHEST MOVIE CHARACTERS (Arnold Schwarzenegger Division)
1. The Terminator, “The Terminator” series
2. Major Alan “Dutch” Schaefer, “Predator”
3. John Matrix, “Commando”
4. Harry Tasker, “True Lies”
5. John Kimble, “Kindergarten Cop”
TOUGHEST NICKNAMES IN NFL HISTORY
1. “Mean” Joe Greene
2. Jack Tatum, “The Assassin”
3. Marshawn Lynch, “Beast Mode”
4. Calvin Johnson, “Megatron”
5. John Riggins, “The Diesel”
