Can you spot the PED use?

[pbmax]

Go here: http://www.footballperspective.com/wherefore-art-thou-fullback/


and answer back when it hit the fan.

[Cleft Crusty]

Mr. Max, are we to believe these are a collection of PED-o-philes?

[denverYooper]

That's a great graph.

[3irty1]

Go here: http://www.footballperspective.com/wherefore-art-thou-fullback/


and answer back when it hit the fan.

What is 1980? I'll take small state capitols for $400 Alex.

Strangely enough coincided perfectly with the war on drugs. Ha!

[pbmax]

Mr. Max, are we to believe these are a collection of PED-o-philes?

Sure looks that way, but there are obviously other factors in play.

I wonder if the trend toward bigger began to Peter out and bigger meant less capable around 1980. William Perry was amazing for his size but had pretty substantial limitations.

In order to compete and to get performance from the bigger size, I think the natural response was to look again at PEDs so teams could get size and athletic performance in one package. There is also the question of available supply.

To put it in bare bones terms (and I do not mean to denigrate either player by this association), if Lawrence Tayor and LeBron James can make a mint and become Rock Star famous for being a step beyond anything up to that point, then there is a strong incentive to create the next Taylor or James.

[Guiness]

Jesus that's a scary graph.

[red]

seems pretty obvious that 1980 must have been the year that the rooskies started fluoridating our drinking water and screwing with our precious bodily fluids not 1946 like is commonly believed

[Fritz]

I wonder if a graph showing average penis sizes of defensive linemen would show a downward curve (hah!) beginning in 1980.

[Patler]

You have to consider too that until 1974 the active player limit varied from time to time, but was never more than 40. Before then, D-linemen like O-linemen played mostly the entire game. The big D-linemen appeared now and then, but often became targets for running plays late in games because they were completely spent. It was not uncommon to see guys playing who could barely get up off the ground after a play.

As overall roster sizes increased along with the size of game day rosters, the opportunity came to keep several massive players and rotate them during the game. I can't remember the team or players right now, but in the '80s (I think) one team used two all pro nose guards in a 5 man line, and basically rotated them each series. Other teams picked up on it, and it didn't take long before most D-linemen were parts of rotations in which they played considerably less than a full game. That enabled the use of bigger and bigger D-linemen.

Of course, I have no similar explanation for the fact that Gale Gillingham was considered absolutely huge for an O-lineman at 270 pounds in the late '60s, early '70s; Tony Mandarich was the Packers only 300 pounder in 1989 and was considered mammoth at about 310, while today a 300 pounder is considered small and in need of adding considerable weight.