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Riki Ellison
Riki Morgan Ellison (born 15 August 1960) is a New Zealand-American former professional player of American football who was a linebacker for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was known as Riki Gray while playing college football for the USC Trojans, earning all-conference honors in the Pac-10 in 1982. He is the first New Zealander to play in the NFL and the first New Zealander to win a Super Bowl. Ellison is also the founder of the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance and the Youth Impact Program. High School career Ellison played for the Amphitheater Panthers in Tucson, Arizona, where he won a State Championship in 1975. Ellison was the first All American at Amphitheater High School, and in 1977, he won Arizona Player of the Year. Ellison's jersey number, 35, has since been retired. Ellison is also a member of the Pima County Hall of Fame. College career Ellison was part of a USC Trojans team that won two Rose Bowls in 1979 and 1980 and won a National Cham ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Linebacker
Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, playing closer to the line of scrimmage than the defensive backs (secondary), but farther back than the defensive linemen. As such, linebackers play a hybrid role and are often the most versatile players on the defensive side of the ball; they can be asked to play roles similar to either a defensive lineman (such as stopping the runner on a running play) or a defensive back (such as dropping back into pass coverage). How a linebacker plays their position depends on the defensive alignment, the philosophy of the coaching staff, and the particular play the offense may call. Linebackers are divided into middle linebackers, sometimes called inside linebackers, and outside linebackers. The middle linebacker, often called "Mike", is frequently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and the highest professional level of American football in the world. Each NFL season begins with a three-week preseason in August, followed by the 18-week regular season which runs from early September to early January, with each team playing 17 games and having one bye week In sport, a bye is the preferential status of a player or team that is automatically advanced to the next round of a tournament, without having to play an opponent in an early round. In knockout (elimination) tournaments they can be granted eit .... Following the conclusion of the regular season, seven teams from each conference (four division winners and three wild card teams) advance to the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jesse Sapolu
Manase Jesse Sapolu (born March 10, 1961) is a Samoan former American football player in the National Football League. He played both center and offensive guard, and played his entire career for the San Francisco 49ers. Sapolu attended Farrington High School and the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Standing 6 feet 4 inches, 278 lbs., he was selected by the Oakland Invaders in the 17th round (199th pick overall) of the 1983 USFL Draft, and selected by San Francisco 49ers in the 11th round (289th pick overall) of the 1983 NFL Draft. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers on July 10, 1983. Sapolu is one of six 49ers to own four Super Bowl championship rings (1984, 1988, 1989, and 1994), and the only one of those to earn a ring with the '94 team rather than their first title in 1981. He earned Pro Bowl honors in 1993 and 1994. Since retiring in 1997, Sapolu and his wife Lisa has lived in Costa Mesa, California, and remains active in the community as well with the San F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger Craig (American Football)
Roger Timothy Craig (born July 10, 1960) is an American former football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders and Minnesota Vikings. Craig went to four Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowls with the 49ers. Craig was the first NFL player to have 1,000 yards rushing and receiving in the same season. Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffrey are the only other players to have accomplished that feat. He currently works as the VP of Business Development at TIBCO Software. High school career Craig attended Central High School in Davenport, Iowa, graduating in 1979. There, he was teammates with future NFL TE Jamie Williams. His older brother, Curtis Craig, had also played running back, graduating from Central in 1974. The Craig brothers were preceded at running back for Central by future Denver Broncos RB Jim Jensen. The 1976 team, with Roger Craig and Williams, won the Iowa State Championship unde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Running Back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense, rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and Blocking (American football), block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a Halfback (American football), halfback (in certain contexts also referred to as a "tailback" — see #Halfback/tailback, below), a wingback (American football), wingback or a Fullback (American football), fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's starting running back. Halfback/tailback The halfback (HB) or tailback (TB) position is responsible for carrying the ball on the majority of running plays, and may frequently be used as a receiver on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed throughout the years. Between 1939 and 1942, the NFL experimented with all-star games pitting the league's champion against a team of all-stars. The first official Pro Bowl was played in January 1951, matching the top players in the American/Eastern Conference against those in the National/Western Conference. From the merger with the rival American Football League (AFL) in 1970 up through 2013 and also in 2017, it was officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference (AFC) against those in the National Football Conference (NFC). From 2014 through 2016, the NFL experimented with an unconferenced format, where the teams were selected by two honorary team captains (who are each in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Walsh (football Coach)
William Ernest Walsh (November 30, 1931 – July 30, 2007) was an American professional and college football coach. He served as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and the Stanford Cardinal, during which time he popularized the West Coast offense. After retiring from the 49ers, Walsh worked as a sports broadcaster for several years and then returned as head coach at Stanford for three seasons. Walsh went 102–63–1 (wins-losses-ties) with the 49ers, winning 10 of his 14 postseason games along with six division titles, three NFC Championship titles, and three Super Bowls. He was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1981 and 1984. In 1993, he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Early life Born in Los Angeles, Walsh played running back in the San Francisco Bay Area for Hayward High School in Hayward. Walsh played quarterback at the College of San Mateo for two seasons. (Both John Madden and Walsh played and coached at the College of San Mateo early in their careers.) A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ronnie Lott
Ronald Mandel Lott (born May 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback and safety in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Lott played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was honored as a consensus All-American. A first-round pick in the 1981 NFL Draft, he played for the San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, New York Jets, and Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL. Lott was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000, and is widely considered to be one of the best of all time at the safety position in NFL history and one of the best players in NFL history. College Career Lott played for USC from 1977 to 1980. After sitting out his freshman season, Lott made the starting lineup and recorded 3 interceptions, assisting the team to a 12-1 record and #2 ranking in the nation. The 1978 season went even better. Lott recorded 3 interceptions again as a key member of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Māori People
The Māori (, ) are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia, who arrived in New Zealand in several waves of canoe voyages between roughly 1320 and 1350. Over several centuries in isolation, these settlers developed their own distinctive culture, whose language, mythology, crafts, and performing arts evolved independently from those of other eastern Polynesian cultures. Some early Māori moved to the Chatham Islands, where their descendants became New Zealand's other indigenous Polynesian ethnic group, the Moriori. Initial contact between Māori and Europeans, starting in the 18th century, ranged from beneficial trade to lethal violence; Māori actively adopted many technologies from the newcomers. With the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840, the two cultures coexisted for a generation. Rising tensions over disputed land sales led to conflict in the 1860s, and massive land confiscations, to which ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1983 NFL Draft
The 1983 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1983, at the New York Sheraton Hotel in New York City, New York. No teams elected to claim any players in the supplemental draft that year. The draft is frequently referred to as the quarterback class of 1983, because six quarterbacks were taken in the first round—John Elway, Todd Blackledge, Jim Kelly, Tony Eason, Ken O'Brien, and Dan Marino—the highest number of first round picks for the position. Of these quarterbacks, Elway, Kelly, Eason, and Marino played in the Super Bowl, Elway, Kelly, O'Brien, and Marino were selected to play in the Pro Bowl, and Elway, Kelly, and Marino have been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. All six quarterbacks were drafted by American Football Conference (AFC) teams, with every member of the five-team AFC East (the B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USC Trojans
The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ''Trojans'', the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or ''Women of Troy'' (the university officially approves both terms). The program participates in the Pac-12 Conference and has won 131 team national championships, 108 of which are National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships. USC's official colors are cardinal and gold. The Trojans have a cross-town UCLA–USC rivalry, rivalry in several sports with UCLA Bruins, UCLA. However, USC's football rivalry with Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from Notre Dame–USC football rivalry, the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pima County, Arizona
Pima County ( ) is a county in the south central region of the U.S. state of Arizona. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,043,433, making it Arizona's second-most populous county. The county seat is Tucson, where most of the population is centered. The county is named after the Pima Native Americans who are indigenous to this area. Pima County includes the entirety of the Tucson Metropolitan Statistical Area, and it is the third largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States. Pima County contains parts of the Tohono O'odham Nation, as well as all of the San Xavier Indian Reservation, the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation, Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, Ironwood Forest National Monument and Saguaro National Park. The vast majority of the county population lies in and around the city of Tucson (2021 city population: 543,242), filling much of the eastern part of the county with urban development. Tucson, Arizona's second largest city, is a major comme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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