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Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - washingtonismoney - 05-21-2014

Elected today to the college hall of fame: https://twitter.com/RodGilmore/status/469259556392947712

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - 81alum - 05-21-2014

Richly deserved, and about time!

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - flomojo - 05-21-2014

I was also a member of the class of 81.  And don't think I have seen a more exciting football player than Darrin Nelson at his prime.  It felt like he could /would go all the way anytime he touched the ball. 

Congratulations to Darrin Nelson! - Papa John - 05-22-2014

As an incoming freshman in 1980, I knew nothing about Stanford football. When I first arrived on campus, I heard folks talking about some hotshot quarterback named John Elway. He turned out to be pretty good, but the player who really caught my eye was Darrin Nelson. He was a do-it-all running back, who averaged 5.6 yards/rush and 11.7 yards/reception throughout his career. Every time he touched the ball I found myself leaning forward, waiting for something great to happen. While Elway received much of the glory (and deservedly so), Darrin Nelson should be recognized as one of the best Stanford players in the past 35 years.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - 82lsju - 05-22-2014

article from the AD

http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=209502461

Re: Congratulations to Darrin Nelson! - Papa John - 05-22-2014

Agree, and although I lived through those years I still can't understand how these two managed to never go to a bowl game :(
[/quote]

I think Nelson played in a bowl game under Walsh.

And John Elway played in a few Super Bowls.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - CornFed - 05-22-2014

I am elated that college football has given Darrin Nelson the recognition he was long overdue to receive.  The inner workings of this type of selection process are unknown to me, but Nelson performed at a level so thoroughly deserving of this award that it strikes me as a gross oversight that it has taken this long for him to be named to the Hall.  Is it somewhat like baseball?  Is a candidate available to be named each year and votes cast?  Is it possible that the rise of Stanford football to prominence in even the consciousness of the national audience helped give Nelson's resume a more powerful argument for admission?  Not that it really matters.  It's just that it would be a shame that it would take that externality for his record to be validated.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - Mick - 05-22-2014

First player to have more than 1000 yards running and 50 receptions or more in a year...and he did it three times.

Why did it take so long?  Not sure, but the fact that he only led the league in a category twice (1st in receiving yards in 1981 and 1st in rushing yards per attempt in 1978) may have had something to do with it.  He finished second in a specific category 15 separate times.  He also finished sixth in the Voldemort voting behind Marcus Allen (elected to college football HoF in (2000), Herschel Walker (1999), Jim McMahon (1999), Dan Marino (2002) and Art Schlichter.  All but Schlichter are in the college HoF.  Of the remaining Voldemort 1981 Top Ten, Anthony Carter (2001) made it, but Rich Diana, Kenneth Sims and Reggie Collier did not.

Well Schlichter may not be in the HOF - Redrum - 05-22-2014

But he IS in a penitentiary,  and he worked harder at getting in there than he ever did on the football field.  You hear about HOF inductees who had to try several times before they got in.  Same deal with Schlichter.  Nobody has worked as hard getting into the HOF as Schlichter did to get into prison.  Gambled, lost megabucks, defrauded people, got busted, got paroled, defrauded more people, got busted for gambling, got imprisoned, got paroled, defrauded more people, got busted, got paroled, broke parole...

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - teejers1 - 05-22-2014

Nelson is the greatest football player I've ever seen play at Stanford (followed by Luck and Elway).  Don't remember Plunkett much beyond "what a stud!"

Glad he made the college football HoF - ridiculous that it took this long.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - 81alum - 05-22-2014

I have tried to find some video of Nelson.  I just came across this posting of the 1978 Bluebonnet bowl against Georgia.  We were behind 15-0 after the first half but came back to win it in exciting style in the second.  Always nice to stick it to the SEC.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSeqxCUfDjg

The Dills to Margerum touchdown that got us started is at 22 minutes in this second of two tapes.

Nelson catches a 20 yard TD pass at 28 minutes.

At the 34 minute mark Georgia jumps offside and Nelson gets the hand off through the middle for 14 yards and a non-fumble.  The replay does a pretty good job of showing Nelson's change of direction moves, although it is not the prettiest play.

Immediately after Dils throws another TD to Margerum, and then Nelson leaves his defender behind and catches the 2 pt conversion to tie the score at 22 in the third quarter.

I know there is some good footage of Nelson in the Sun Bowl too. 

As I recall, he was injured and sat out the year following the Bluebonnet Bowl and came back for his junior and senior years in which he remained productive but became somewhat more of a power runner and was a bit less shifty.  Probably better physically for him and better for his career, but not quite as exciting to watch as all those changes of direction and reverse field runs from his freshman and sophomore years.


Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - CornFed - 05-22-2014

Thank you so much, 81alum!  I truly enjoyed that.  What a hoot!  The Band at the beginning - had forgotten that there was ever a time when halftime was covered in the broadcast, much less letting LSJUMB get coverage.  The announcers were side-splitting.  Amazing to hear them refer repeatedly to the "Cardinals".  Really?  National telecast and you didn't run across the proper term during your preparations?  Wow!

Anyway, I just really enjoyed that and know I would have not thought to go and look for it if you had not posted it.  Thanks again.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - CowboyIndian - 05-22-2014

(05-22-2014, 09:38 PM)CornFed link Wrote:  Amazing to hear them refer repeatedly to the "Cardinals".  Really?  National telecast and you didn't run across the proper term during your preparations?  Wow!

There was a period of a year or two...and it might have included this Bluebonnet Bowl...where our official name was "Cardinals"....plural. Historians what say you?


Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - 81alum - 05-22-2014

One announcer called us the "Indians" one time before correcting himself.  That happened less and less frequently as the years went by, but obviously it still happened  in 1978. 

That 3rd quarter had to be one of the best quarters of football in Stanford history.  From down 0-22 to 25-22 in essentially one quarter.  I remember listening to this game on the radio when I was home on winter break.  Our limited TV channels did not carry the game.  I remember almost turning off the radio when Georgia scored right at the beginning of the second half to go up 22-0.  And I remember gasping as the dimensions of our comeback became clear.  But I never actually saw the game until finding these you tube videos 36 years later.

The unheralded hero of the game was Gordy Ceresino, who still holds the tackles record at Stanford.  He was a one-man wrecking crew, accumulating 20 tackles in the game. 

It was Walsh's last game of his first stint.  Two years later Georgia was national champion.

Sadly, it was not Nelson's very best game--though plenty good--but you can see enough of Darrin in the tape to remind us of why he was special :)

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - PrinceLightfoot - 05-23-2014

Per this reddit posting (http://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1kw0zh/132_teams_in_132_days_stanford_cardinal/):

This is the history of our mascot/name:

1891-1930      None
1930-1972      Indians
1972-1981      Cardinals
1981-Present  Cardinal

The story of the Stanford mascot is an interesting one to say the least. In 1892, Stanford adopted the colors of cardinal and white. However, it did not have adopt a mascot for another 38 years. In 1930, Stanford adopted the “Indian” as its mascot. The Indian was abandoned in 1972, following objections raised by Stanford’s Native American community and a vote by Stanford’s student senate. From 1972 until 1981, the official mascot of the University was the “Cardinals” (a plural form of the color, like “the Blues”, NOT the religious figures or birds).

During the 1970s, Stanford students were asked what mascot they would like the school to adopt. Some options considered were: the Sequoias, Trees, Railroaders, Spikes, Huns, Griffins, and the Robber Barons). Students overwhelmingly supported the Robber Barons, as a self-deprecating reference to the University’s founder Leland Stanford, Sr. Leland Stanford was a tycoon, industrialist, and, by all accounts, a robber baron who served as Governor of California for two years and then U.S. Senator for eight years. Needless to say, the University did not like the idea of associating the University with robber barons, and, in 1981, chose to make “the Cardinal” the official mascot.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - CornFed - 05-23-2014

Wouldn't "Robber Barons" have been GREAT?  We could have worked out a deal with Parker Brothers and have the little Monopoly tycoon guy be our mascot.  Man, we could have had fun with that stuff!

Also, I had not realised that "The Tree" went back that far, but upon reflection, that makes sense.  When we changed our mascot name, we obviously needed a new figure on the sideline.

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - 81alum - 05-23-2014

I found this quote from Gordy talking about the Bluebonnet Bowl and Walsh:

Quote:A[i] lot of people don't realize how strong the 1978 team was. Tell us about your memories from that season.[/i]
The 1978 team was 16 points from being undefeated. We lost four games that year--by six points to Oklahoma, UCLA by 1, Washington by 3 and USC by 6. If memory serves me correctly, we had big leads against UCLA and Washington and lost in the closing seconds. As the season finale against Cal approached, we were an unlikely bowl candidate but a good victory over Cal led to a Bluebonnet Bowl invite and a match up against SEC power Georgia.

As for a gauge of how talented we were all you need is some names: Dils, Margerum, Nelson, Francis, Holloway, Evans, Budinger, Walsh, Green and Seifert. The memories are numerous, but two stand out above all the others--first was Bill Walsh's Sunday locker room speech after we lost back to back close games to UCLA and Washington. While I will leave the contents where they belong (in the locker room), I still draw on that speech today. Second would be our comeback victory against Georgia.

Stanford trailed Georgia 22-0 in the 1978 Bluebonnet Bowl before rallying for a 25-22 victory. Defensively, what was the key to the comeback?
Before I discuss the defensive strategy that turned the game I must share a short story. Shortly before Bill Walsh's passing, he and I were enjoying dinner and reminiscing about the '77 and '78 teams. He was quick to point to our 15-0 halftime deficit to Georgia and the passionate speech he gave to the team at halftime. He quickly broke into laughter pointing out that Georgia took the second half kickoff and marched straight down the field for a 22-0 lead. We then toasted to our joint ability to motivate and had a good laugh.

As far as the defensive strategy, it was simple, forget about strategy and just start hitting anything that moves with a red Georgia jersey as hard as you can. If we were going to lose let's at least make sure Georgia left the field in pain. Our lack of strategy and strong desire to hit people resulted in four Georgia fumbles and 25 Stanford points for a 25-22 victory.

http://www.gostanford.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=30600&ATCLID=208080782

The comeback was not all brilliant Washian offense, but was really keyed by all the fumbles that Gordy and others caused. 

But now Gordy's tribute to Darrin:

Quote:What are some of your favorite Stanford memories as a player?

Trying to tackle Darrin Nelson in the open field.


Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - Papa John - 05-23-2014

(05-23-2014, 05:51 AM)PrinceLightfoot link Wrote:Needless to say, the University did not like the idea of associating the University with robber barons, and, in 1981, chose to make “the Cardinal” the official mascot.

I remember, albeit fuzzily, a student vote on the mascot in 1981. It was worded vaguely, but it was basically along the lines of "Do you object to Cardinal being the official Stanford mascot?" The vote was very close, but in favor, of course, of keeping Cardinal. The president at the time, Donald Kennedy, used this "mandate" as justification for what is now the status quo.

Well, this is what I recall, so if anyone can verify or correct, it would be nice to know. The student vote isn't mentioned on any Stanford website, so maybe I'm "misremembering."

Re: Darrin Nelson, Hall of Famer - Papa John - 05-23-2014

According to the Stanford Daily website, a group called Friends of The Stanford Daily "is currently scanning and tagging all of the archival data from 1892-present, planning to launch a web site to host the archive in summer 2014."

Does anyone know if this is really going to happen? Perhaps someone on this board is a member of the group (garvin?)? I would love reliving some of those glory days on the Farm.

1978 - JohnR34231 - 05-23-2014

It was considered a very good season, with an 8-4 record and a bowl victory.

Somehow I don't think an 8-4 record today would be looked upon quite as favorably, regardless of what happened in the subsequent bowl game.