The Marion Star from Marion, Ohio • 19

'fhe Iarion'Star, Saturday', November 10, 1984 3a NFL Standings George Connor was football's first linebacker 1 National Football League At A Glance By The Associated Press All Times EST American Conference Washington 5 4 0 230 1(0 Philadelphia 4 5 1 .450 170 200 Central Chicago 7 3 0 .700 211 140 Detroit 3 1 .350 191 244 Tampa Bay 3 7 0 .300 107 251 Green Bay 3 7 0 .300 201 213 Minnesota 3 7 0 .300 197 243 West San Francisco 9 1 0 .900 270 1(0 L.A. Rams 4 0 200 103 New Orleans 4 0 .400 199 220 Atlanta 3 0 .333 1(4 212 ft A Where is he now? East Pet. PF PA Miami 10 0 0 1.000 336 141 New England 4 0 214 235 N.Y. Jets 4 0 230 310 Indianapolis 1 7 0 .300 1(4 2(( Buffalo 0 10 0 .000 153 204 Central Pittsburgh 4 0 235 1(7 Cincinnati 3 7 0 .300 110 220 Cleveland 2 0 0 .200 12 I7( Houston 0 10 0 .000 123 300 West Denver 1 0 211 137 Seattle 0 2 0 .000 200 15( LA. Raiders 7 3 0 .700 240 207 Kansas City 5 0 .500 172 221 San Diego 5 5 0 .500 259 252 National Conference East St.

Louis 4 0 200 220 N.Y. Giants 4 0 104 103 Dallas (40 lit i On Oct. 16, 1949, George Connor changed the look of pro football forever. It was on that afternoon that the powerfully built, 6-foot-3, 240-pound Connor moved from his down position as a defensive lineman and took up a standing position outside of end as a "linebacker" in Bear coach George Halas' master plan to thwart the running of Philadelphia Eagle great Steve VanBuren. The ploy worked.

Connor pounded Van Buren that afternoon and the Bears handed the Eagles their only defeat of the season, 38-21. And a position was born. Connor went on to become known as the first of the big, mobile outside linebackers that have become so important to the game today. But to dismiss Connor as simply a defensive trailblazer would be to tell only half the story. Connor was just as adept at playing offensive tackle and his short eight-year career was one of the brightest in even the Chicago Bears' rich history.

"We always set high standards for George Connor and be exceeded them," is how Halas once put it. For three straight seasons from 1951 through '53, Connor was a two-way all-pro for the Bears making that elite list five times during his career. He played in four Pro Bowls and fabled sportswriter Grantland Rice once referred to Connor as "the closest thing to a Greek god since Apollo." The highest paid offensive lineman of his time, Connor, now a manufacturers' representative living in the Chicago area, retired during the 1956 training camp, still troubled by a knee injury suffered in 1954. "After a few days in camp I decided that if I couldn't go 100 percent, I didn't want to go at all," said Connor. Born prematurely in 1925.

Connor ENERGY SAVINGS Wenig's Lennox Pulse team up to bring you total comfort at the highest efficiency Sunday, Nov. II Buffalo at New England, 1 p.m. Indianapolis at New York Jets, 1 p.m. Dallas at St. Louis, 1p.m.

Detroit at Washington, 1 p.m. Houston at Kansas City, I p.m. Minnesota vs. Green Bay at Milwaukee, 1 p.m. New Orleans at Atlanta, 1 p.m.

Philadelphia at Miami, 1 p.m. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1 J. San Francisco at Cleveland, 1 p.m. Chicago at Los Angeles Rams, 4 p.m. Denver at San Diego, 4 p.m.

New York Giants at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 12 Los Angeles Raiders at Seattle, 9 p.m. I I NFL Pro Files weighed only three pounds at birth and several physicians felt be wouldn't survive infancy. He remained on the small side and entered LaSalle High in Chicago as a 5-f oot-4, 135-pound freshman.

He came out as a 6-foot-l, 215-pound prized specimen of a football player. Following family tradition, be entered Holy Cross University, where he won All-American honors as a freshman in 1943. After spending 35 months in the Navy, he resumed his collegiate football career at Notre Dame in 1946. After two more All-American seasons Connor was named the first recipient of the Outland Trophy as the nation's outstanding lineman in 1947 he signed with the Bears for a then unheard of contract that called for a guaranteed salary of $13,000 a year for three seasons. "I also had an offer from the Cleveland Browns (of the then rival All America Football Conference)," Connor said.

"Since I was a native Chicagoan, Halas wanted to keep me home, so I had some leverage. But I planned to play with the Bears anyway." For the first season and a half of his career, Connor played both ways at tackle. Then came the 1949 game against the Eagles and the defensive tackle Connor forever became a linebacker. "It was a lot of fun playing that position back then," Connor recalls. "Most his coaching career as an assistant with Portland in the WFL in 1974.

The following year, be joined the New York Giants staff as linebackers coach and later became defensive coordinator in 1977. Following his stint with the Giants, Schottenheimer spent the 1978 and 79 seasons as the Detroit Lions linebackers coach before joining the Browns. Seventeen seasons ago, Schottenheimer and Bills coach Kay Stephenson were teammates on a Buffalo squad that won only one game. To offset the double-teaming that New York Jets defensive end Mark Gastineau constantly faces, coach Joe Walton has added a new twist to the Jets defense and it doesn't double the other team's fun. Gastineau, who has terrorized quarterbacks from his left position, has been lining up now and then at the right side of the line.

"I never played that much right end in my life," said Gastineau, who has been leading the NFL in sacks from week one. "I think it gets them guessing where I'm going to be. It confuses them on how to double-team me. By moving Gastineau from end to end, Walton believes that it wears down the other team mentally and physically. "If they want to find No.

99, they will," said Walton. "They can still get a back over there in tune. But I've always gone by the theory that any time you can get a team thinking too much it GEORGE CONNOR teams had never seen it before. Blockers didn't really know how to handle me out there off the line of scrimmage. And all the fans were looking at me because the newspapers made such a big thing about it with diagrams and all.

Now everyone plays it." Connor, who was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975, also was one of the first defenders to read plays. "From that linebacking position you had to," he said. "If you tried to follow the ball, a slick quarterback could fool you every time. So I just started picking out one or two players on the offensive line and moved with their first moves." takes away from their aggressiveness." Gastineau was reluctant to make the move at first because "I just felt more comfortable on the left I don't know how much more I'll play there, but I -feel pretty comfortable. I feel comfor- table anywhere I can get to the quarterback." 1 Which is an uncomforting thought for NFL quarterbacks.

Offseason roster changes sent the Philadelphia Eagles shopping for a new 1 placekicker, but the addition of Paul McFadden didn't unbalance the shoe budget. McFadden, like his predecessor Tony Franklin, kicks with his right foot bare. "I began kicking barefoot after see- 1 ing Tony on TV," says McFadden. When the Eagles traded Franklin, the first barefoot placekicker in league his- tory, to the Patriots last February, it i set off a Philadelphia kicking derby. A 12th round draft choice out of Youngstown State, McFadden won the job in pre-season by hitting on four-of-four field goal attempts and eight-of-eightPAT's.

McFadden, like many kickers, credits his holder with much of his success. "I have a unique situation with Ron Jaworski as my holder," says McFad- den, who played soccer for a year at 1 Youngstown State. A It- 1 i AUDIBLES: "There is an analogy to being pregnant. It's like an assistant coach saying, 'Hey, what's it like being a bead It's like me asking my wife, 'What's it like to he She tells me and says, 'You kind of And I say, 'Well, kind Shoot. I don't think you understand it until you go through it.

Bud Grant told me that. And he's exactly right." Les Steckel on his first season as Vikings bead coach. Wide receiver Art Monk of the Redskins has his sights set on Washington's single season receiving record of 78 catches by Charlie Brown in 1983. Through 10 weeks of the season, Monk continued to lead the NFC with 53 receptions. He also has a chance to rank among the NFL's all-time leaders.

Monk's previous best season was 58 catches as a rookie in 1980. He followed with 56 catches in 1981, 35 in 1982 (strike-shortened season) and 47 last season. The top three reception totals for an NFL season are 101 catches by Charley Hennigan, Houston, 1964; 100 by Lionel Taylor, Denver, 1961 and 93 by Johnny Morris, Chicago, 1964. Marty Schottenheimer, who recently replaced Sam Rutigliano as the Cleveland Browns head coach, brings 11 years of pro coaching experience to his new job. Schottenheimer joined the Cleveland organization in 1980 as the team's defensive coordinator.

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