So, Largent and all the old slow guys got open because they ran great routes and made 90 degree cuts. That had the open for a pass. Speed is great, but if you run a great route and your quarterback knows where you will be, you will be open coming out of the cut - break whatever you want to call it. You may not go 90, but you'll move the chains.
Exactly. So much of being a WR is played between the ears, using your eyes, to see what you need to do, and knowing that's what the QB will see as well.
When I watch the Packers play, I see Love knowing that Doubs is going to be the guy he goes to on those 3rd downs where moving the chains is more important than gaining a lot of yards. He knows where Romeo will be, and Romeo knows where Love is going to throw it. This will even be better this year, with them having more experience with each other. Watson is good, and so are others, but let's face it. You need guys out there who are dependable on crucial downs, and any team that has one of these guys is darned lucky. We've had them over the years. Fairly recently, Driver, Nelson, and Doubs. They're know the mechanics of the game, and utilize what they can do to exploit the weaknesses on the other team.
Largent was one of those guys.
On a further note, we owned a summer place just outside of Milton, WI, where Dave Kreig played college football. Milton College. It was a small speck of dirt in the landscape of football, but I got a chance to see him play 4 times at their home field, and to say he was impressive is an understatement. He was a lot like Largent in some respects. Both were kind of overlooked as to what they could do on a football field. During the fall, I'd make it a point to spend time at our summer place, so I could go to Whitewater and Milton games. I enjoyed watching both teams, and I actually had a chance to wander around the sidelines. I met Kreig on the sidelines. He was really into the game. He was always thinking about how each play could have been run better.
Years later, there was a reunion at Milton. I think it was 2019, and he was there. I was surprised, because he remembered me from our short conversations on the sidelines during games. Not by name, but recalled conversations. I told him that I knew he had what it took to be a star in the NFL. He demurred. He said he was lucky. He mentioned guys like Largent, and how their game made his game the best it could be.
That was the last I saw of him, because within minutes, he was among old friends who went to school with him at that little defunct school. Even thought the school has been gone for nearly 45 years, you can almost hear the sounds of the games echoing in the air on fall evenings. When you pass by the Milton HS football games, playing in their bowl, it kind of takes you back to Kreig dominating the field as a QB when he played college football there.
I wouldn't trade my memories for anything on planet earth. Sorry for the long story, but when Largent's name came up, it brought back so much for me.
