Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time (pt 5)

2. Field of Dreams (1989)

"It's okay, honey.  I... I was just talking to the cornfield."

You thought the quote would be "If you build it, he will come" didn't you. This movie about an Iowa farmer with daddy issues having a midlife crisis is based on W.P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe."  The studio actually refused to use the book title as the movie title because they were afraid the movie-going public would think it was about a homeless guy.  All the homeless guys I know have shoes, silly studios.  Not so much about baseball as it is about life (as stated on the VHS tape jacket), it stars Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson, and James Earl Jones as Terry Mann (an author that was J.D. Salinger in the book version.)  A voice tells Ray to build a ballfield on his Iowa farm so that Shoeless Joe can return.  The ghosts of the 1919 White Sox (rember Eight Men Out from earlier?) walk out of the cornfield to play baseball, something apparently not offered in heaven. Ray keeps hearing the voice and doing it's bidding, until the final scene, where he asks "what's in it for me?," and Joe points to the catcher, some words are said, and everyone cries.

1. Bull Durham (1988)

"This a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."

Here comes Kevin Costner again, as Crash Davis, journeyman minor league catcher who hands out wisdom like some sort of life-experience dispensing ATM machine.  Susan Surandon  plays Annie Savoy, an aging groupie, who hands out sex like some sort of sex dispensing ATM machine.  She is however, in the pretext of the baseball season, monogamous.   Every season she picks one of the ball players on the Durham Bulls minor league team, has a relationship with them, and then they move on.  She is considered a good-luck charm, as not a ballplayer yet has not had their finest season when he is with her.  This year it is young hard-throwing pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins).  Crash happens to be brought in to tudor young Nuke.  The sexual tension between Crash and Annie is played out through their mutual control over Nuke.  This film makes you want to spend a summer on a bus in the Carolina Leagues.  It looks like baseball, feels like baseball, and smells like pinetar.

Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time (pt 4)

4. Major League (1989)

"JUUUSSSTTT a bit outside"

Now this list gets serious.  Major League came out in '89, and if you went to a little league game around that time, you wouldn't need to see the movie to quote the entire script.  We start the movie learning that the owner of the Cleveland Indians has died and left it to his Vegas showgirl wife Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) who hates the city and plans to move the team to Florida.  She goes about hiring the worst players she can find; Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) is an aging, washed-up catcher playing in the Mexican League; Roger Dorn (Corben Bernsen), an arrogant half-asser is the loan remainder from the previous season at third base; Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) is a speedy centerfielder who wasn't even invited to training camp; and Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) is a ex-con pitcher with a nasty uncontrollable fastball.  Bob Uecker is a quote machine as Harry Doyle, the Indians radio announcer.  The loser team rallies around their hatred for Phelps in their quest to win the pennant and make us laugh.  This movie spawned two unwatchable sequels (Major League 2, and Major League: Back to the Minors) which pretty much followed the same script, minus the laughter.

3. The Natural (1984)

"It took me 16 years to get here. You play me, and I'll give ya the best I got"

I don't know if Bernard Malamud spent billions on a secret lab full of scientists and sportswriters to come up with the perfect baseball name, but "Roy Hobbs" just sounds like a ballplayer.  The Natural is based on Malamud's 1952 book of the same name, and follows 19 year old Hobbs (played by 48 year-old Robert Redford) as he leaves the family farm to pitch in the majors.  After striking out The Whammer (a Babe Ruth clone) in a carnival exhibition, he is shot by a mysterious woman for mysterious reasons.  He disappears from baseball before ever arriving, only to reappear 16 years later as a 35 rookie outfielder for the lowly New York Knights.  The story evokes themes from both the Aurhurian Myths of Sir Percival, Homer's Odyssey, and good old fashioned baseball.  It sounds a little high-brow for a baseball movie, but is saved by the fact Wilford Brimley plays coach Pop Fisher.

Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time (pt 3)

6. 61* (2001)

"He hit 40 homeruns last year, a lot of players would kill for that kind of "off" season"

This HBO movies was directed by Billy Crystal and starred Barry Pepper as Roger Maris, Thomas Jayne as Mickey Mantle, and Anthony Michael Hall as Whitey Ford.  It followed the story of the "M&M Boy's" 1961 chase to beat Babe Ruth's single season record of 60 home runs.  The Mick was everybody's favorite ballplayer, while Maris was a quiet newcomer to New York.  Despite being the league MVP in '60, the New York media buried Maris for his quiet demeanor and strict non-MickeyMantleness.  This movie showed an unflattering, and honest look at the "all-american" Mickey Mantle as a womanizing drunk with a mouth like a sailor, which plays an "Odd Couple" theme in contrast to Maris's ah-shucks, family-centric sense of morals.  Maris comes off as sweet and tragic while Mickey comes off as awesome and tragic.

5. The Sandlot (1993)

"Anyone who wants to be a can't-hack-it pantywaist who wears their mama's bra, raise your hand"

This movie would have been almost as awesome as "The Goonies" had it come out 7 years earlier.  Taking place in 1962, it follows 12 year-old Scotty Smalls as he moves to a new neighborhood in L.A. and befriends a group of kids who play small-ball in an empty lot.  They don't hit homeruns because over the outfield fence is a ferocious dog named Hercules, and they have only one ball.  One day Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez knocks the cover off the ball, so Scotty runs home and grabs his stepfather's ball that is autographed by "some girl" (Babe Ruth), which he promptly hits over the fence, into the dog's territory.  Fiascos ensue, and James Earl Jones appears as a former Negro League player, and tells us why baseball is good.

top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time (pt 2)

8. A League of Their Own (1992)

"Are you crying? There's no crying in baseball!"

This star packed feature directed by Laverne, tells the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that was formed in 1943 while most MLB stars were fighting in WWII.  It follows Dottie Henson (Geena Davis) as she and her kid sis Kit Keller (Lori Petty) join the Rockford Peaches and manager  Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) for the first season of the fledgling league.  Rosie O'Donnell as Doris Murphy and Madonna as "All the Way" Mae Mordabito round out the cast of lady ballplayers.   Most of the comedy comes from the changing perception of the stereotypical female in the 40's set against the masculine backdrop of baseball.  There's something immediately funny thinking about your grandmother's clubhouse etiquette.

7. Eight Men Out (1988)

"Say it ain't so, Joe"

In 1919, 8 Chicago White Sox players took money from gangsters to throw the World Series.  This is their story.  This movie really centers around Buck Weaver (John Cusack) and his story that he never took any money, and never attempted to throw any games.  Of the other 7 players, we have Eddie Cicotte (David Straitharn), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) and "Hap" Felsch (Charlie Sheen).  The other players play mostly incidental spots in this version.  The entire incident is commonly known as the "Black Sox Scandal."  This term is quite ironic, as the label "Black Sox" had been used for years before the scandal due to owner/cheap-ass Charlie Comisky's policy of making the players wash their own uniforms because he did not want to pay the laundry bill, resulting in stained uniforms.  This was before free-agency, and baseball had an anti-trust agreement with the U.S. government, so players were basically slaves.  They had to take the meager pay, or not have a job.  I think I'd have taken the money, too.

Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time pt 1

10. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

"Skip the facts, just give me the details."

Released in 1973, and based on the 1956 Mark Harris novel, this film starred Michael Moriarty as Henry "Author" Wiggen, a veteran pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths, and his friendship with his dim-witted catcher Bruce Pearson (an unkown actor named Robert De Niro) who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.  The movie works a little sad, but really seems to capture the life of ball players back in the days before free agency, agents, and out-of-the-world salaries.  For instance, because of their low pay, the ball players have come up with a card game called tegwar (The Exciting Game Without Any Rules) that they play in hotel lobbies to scam other patrons out of money, and Henry is often seen trying to sell insurance to his teammates (his offseason job).  A touching tear-jerker-for-the-fellas, I  consider this the "Brian's Song" of baseball movies.

9. The Bad News Bears (1976)

"All we got on this team are a buncha' jews, spics, niggers, pansies and a booger-eatin' moron"

The original Bad News Bears starred Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker, a former minor league player and current alcoholic, who has been hired to coach a little league team that has been added due to lawsuits charging that underskilled children are not being allowed to join teams in the league.  Morris inherits a team of misfits and outcasts that lose their first game 26-0 without getting an out.  He recruits an ex-girlfriend's daughter, Amanda Hurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal) as his star pitcher.  He then finds the best athlete in the area,  12 year old Kelly Leach (Jackie Earle Haley, or Rorschach) who rides a Harley, smokes cigarettes, and hangs out around the ballpark because "there's a lot of nice ass at the field".  It was written by Burt Lancaster's son Bill Lancaster and spawned 2 more movies, Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), a CBS television series from '79 to '80, and a decent 2005 remake starring Billy Bob Thorton.

Top 10 Baseball Movies of All-Time

Well, the MLB playoffs are heating up so this week here at Rob's Big Ideas we will be featuring a list of the best baseball movies ever made (as voted by me.)  I've only included movies I've seen, as there are maybe 2 baseball movies ever made that I have not seen, so this is not an all-inclusive list.  Let's see how well I, and you, remember these movies about the great american pastime.

10. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973)

"Skip the facts, just give me the details."

Released in 1973, and based on the 1956 Mark Harris novel, this film starred Michael Moriarty as Henry "Author" Wiggen, a veteran pitcher for the fictional New York Mammoths, and his friendship with his dim-witted catcher Bruce Pearson (an unkown actor named Robert De Niro) who has been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease.  The movie works a little sad, but really seems to capture the life of ball players back in the days before free agency, agents, and out-of-the-world salaries.  For instance, because of their low pay, the ball players have come up with a card game called tegwar (The Exciting Game Without Any Rules) that they play in hotel lobbies to scam other patrons out of money, and Henry is often seen trying to sell insurance to his teammates (his offseason job).  A touching tear-jerker-for-the-fellas, I  consider this the "Brian's Song" of baseball movies.

9. The Bad News Bears (1976)

"All we got on this team are a buncha' jews, spics, niggers, pansies and a booger-eatin' moron"

The original Bad News Bears starred Walter Matthau as Morris Buttermaker, a former minor league player and current alcoholic, who has been hired to coach a little league team that has been added due to lawsuits charging that underskilled children are not being allowed to join teams in the league.  Morris inherits a team of misfits and outcasts that lose their first game 26-0 without getting an out.  He recruits an ex-girlfriend's daughter, Amanda Hurlitzer (Tatum O'Neal) as his star pitcher.  He then finds the best athlete in the area,  12 year old Kelly Leach (Jackie Earle Haley, or Rorschach) who rides a Harley, smokes cigarettes, and hangs out around the ballpark because "there's a lot of nice ass at the field".  It was written by Burt Lancaster's son Bill Lancaster and spawned 2 more movies, Bad News Bears in Breaking Training (1977), Bad News Bears Go to Japan (1978), a CBS television series from '79 to '80, and a decent 2005 remake starring Billy Bob Thorton.

8. A League of Their Own (1992)

"Are you crying? There's no crying in baseball!"

This star packed feature directed by Laverne, tells the story of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that was formed in 1943 while most MLB stars were fighting in WWII.  It follows Dottie Henson (Geena Davis) as she and her kid sis Kit Keller (Lori Petty) join the Rockford Peaches and manager  Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) for the first season of the fledgling league.  Rosie O'Donnell as Doris Murphy and Madonna as "All the Way" Mae Mordabito round out the cast of lady ballplayers.   Most of the comedy comes from the changing perception of the stereotypical female in the 40's set against the masculine backdrop of baseball.  There's something immediately funny thinking about your grandmother's clubhouse etiquette.

7. Eight Men Out (1988)

"Say it ain't so, Joe"

In 1919, 8 Chicago White Sox players took money from gangsters to throw the World Series.  This is their story.  This movie really centers around Buck Weaver (John Cusack) and his story that he never took any money, and never attempted to throw any games.  Of the other 7 players, we have Eddie Cicotte (David Straitharn), "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (D.B. Sweeney) and "Hap" Felsch (Charlie Sheen).  The other players play mostly incidental spots in this version.  The entire incident is commonly known as the "Black Sox Scandal."  This term is quite ironic, as the label "Black Sox" had been used for years before the scandal due to owner/cheap-ass Charlie Comisky's policy of making the players wash their own uniforms because he did not want to pay the laundry bill, resulting in stained uniforms.  This was before free-agency, and baseball had an anti-trust agreement with the U.S. government, so players were basically slaves.  They had to take the meager pay, or not have a job.  I think I'd have taken the money, too.

6. 61* (2001)

"He hit 40 homeruns last year, a lot of players would kill for that kind of "off" season"

This HBO movies was directed by Billy Crystal and starred Barry Pepper as Roger Maris, Thomas Jayne as Mickey Mantle, and Anthony Michael Hall as Whitey Ford.  It followed the story of the "M&M Boy's" 1961 chase to beat Babe Ruth's single season record of 60 home runs.  The Mick was everybody's favorite ballplayer, while Maris was a quiet newcomer to New York.  Despite being the league MVP in '60, the New York media buried Maris for his quiet demeanor and strict non-MickeyMantleness.  This movie showed an unflattering, and honest look at the "all-american" Mickey Mantle as a womanizing drunk with a mouth like a sailor, which plays an "Odd Couple" theme in contrast to Maris's ah-shucks, family-centric sense of morals.  Maris comes off as sweet and tragic while Mickey comes off as awesome and tragic.

5. The Sandlot (1993)

"Anyone who wants to be a can't-hack-it pantywaist who wears their mama's bra, raise your hand"

This movie would have been almost as awesome as "The Goonies" had it come out 7 years earlier.  Taking place in 1962, it follows 12 year-old Scotty Smalls as he moves to a new neighborhood in L.A. and befriends a group of kids who play small-ball in an empty lot.  They don't hit homeruns because over the outfield fence is a ferocious dog named Hercules, and they have only one ball.  One day Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez knocks the cover off the ball, so Scotty runs home and grabs his stepfather's ball that is autographed by "some girl" (Babe Ruth), which he promptly hits over the fence, into the dog's territory.  Fiascos ensue, and James Earl Jones appears as a former Negro League player, and tells us why baseball is good.

4. Major League (1989)

"JUUUSSSTTT a bit outside"

Now this list gets serious.  Major League came out in '89, and if you went to a little league game around that time, you wouldn't need to see the movie to quote the entire script.  We start the movie learning that the owner of the Cleveland Indians has died and left it to his Vegas showgirl wife Rachel Phelps (Margaret Whitton) who hates the city and plans to move the team to Florida.  She goes about hiring the worst players she can find; Jake Taylor (Tom Berenger) is an aging, washed-up catcher playing in the Mexican League; Roger Dorn (Corben Bernsen), an arrogant half-asser is the loan remainder from the previous season at third base; Willie Mays Hayes (Wesley Snipes) is a speedy centerfielder who wasn't even invited to training camp; and Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn (Charlie Sheen) is a ex-con pitcher with a nasty uncontrollable fastball.  Bob Uecker is a quote machine as Harry Doyle, the Indians radio announcer.  The loser team rallies around their hatred for Phelps in their quest to win the pennant and make us laugh.  This movie spawned two unwatchable sequels (Major League 2, and Major League: Back to the Minors) which pretty much followed the same script, minus the laughter.

3. The Natural (1984)

"It took me 16 years to get here. You play me, and I'll give ya the best I got"

I don't know if Bernard Malamud spent billions on a secret lab full of scientists and sportswriters to come up with the perfect baseball name, but "Roy Hobbs" just sounds like a ballplayer.  The Natural is based on Malamud's 1952 book of the same name, and follows 19 year old Hobbs (played by 48 year-old Robert Redford) as he leaves the family farm to pitch in the majors.  After striking out The Whammer (a Babe Ruth clone) in a carnival exhibition, he is shot by a mysterious woman for mysterious reasons.  He disappears from baseball before ever arriving, only to reappear 16 years later as a 35 rookie outfielder for the lowly New York Knights.  The story evokes themes from both the Aurhurian Myths of Sir Percival, Homer's Odyssey, and good old fashioned baseball.  It sounds a little high-brow for a baseball movie, but is saved by the fact Wilford Brimley plays coach Pop Fisher.

2. Field of Dreams (1989)

"It's okay, honey.  I... I was just talking to the cornfield."

You thought the quote would be "If you build it, he will come" didn't you. This movie about an Iowa farmer with daddy issues having a midlife crisis is based on W.P. Kinsella's novel "Shoeless Joe."  The studio actually refused to use the book title as the movie title because they were afraid the movie-going public would think it was about a homeless guy.  All the homeless guys I know have shoes, silly studios.  Not so much about baseball as it is about life (as stated on the VHS tape jacket), it stars Kevin Costner as Ray Kinsella, Ray Liotta as Shoeless Joe Jackson, and James Earl Jones as Terry Mann (an author that was J.D. Salinger in the book version.)  A voice tells Ray to build a ballfield on his Iowa farm so that Shoeless Joe can return.  The ghosts of the 1919 White Sox (rember Eight Men Out from earlier?) walk out of the cornfield to play baseball, something apparently not offered in heaven. Ray keeps hearing the voice and doing it's bidding, until the final scene, where he asks "what's in it for me?," and Joe points to the catcher, some words are said, and everyone cries.

1. Bull Durham (1988)

"This a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains."

Here comes Kevin Costner again, as Crash Davis, journeyman minor league catcher who hands out wisdom like some sort of life-experience dispensing ATM machine.  Susan Surandon  plays Annie Savoy, an aging groupie, who hands out sex like some sort of sex dispensing ATM machine.  She is however, in the pretext of the baseball season, monogamous.   Every season she picks one of the ball players on the Durham Bulls minor league team, has a relationship with them, and then they move on.  She is considered a good-luck charm, as not a ballplayer yet has not had their finest season when he is with her.  This year it is young hard-throwing pitcher Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins).  Crash happens to be brought in to tudor young Nuke.  The sexual tension between Crash and Annie is played out through their mutual control over Nuke.  This film makes you want to spend a summer on a bus in the Carolina Leagues.  It looks like baseball, feels like baseball, and smells like pinetar.

Top 10 Punters All-Time pt 5

2. Sammy Baugh (Washington '37-'52)

Grandpa here is widely regarded as the one of the best football players (and athletes) of all time.  In college he was a 2 time All-American at TCU.  Followed by a stint as a short stop in the St. Louis Cardinals orginization. In 1937 he moved to Washington, DC to play for the newly moved Washington Redskins.  Slingin' Sammy was an All Pro Quarterback, Defensive Back and Punter, at the same time. Multiple times.  He was on the field the entire game, offense, defense and special teams.  Despite this, the guy carried a 45.1 yards per punt for his career, that wasn't broken until recently by Shane Lechler.  He was a Hall of Fame Quarterback, who in his spare time was the greatest punter in history, until draft day 1973...

1. Ray Guy (Oakland/L.A. Raiders '73-'86)

Ray Guy was taken in the first round of the 1973 draft.  The only pure punter to be taken so high.  A 6 time All Pro, he was named to the all 70's team, the NFL 75th Anniversary team, both the Mississippi and Georgia Sports Hall of Fames and has a collegiate award named after him.  He was known for his high, booming kicks, that once hit the ceiling of the Superdome.  Ray won 3 Superbowls with the Raiders, once kicked 619 punts in a row without having one blocked, and never had a punt returned for  a touchdown.  Before he came along, the NFL didn't track hang time, keep punts inside the 20 as a stat, or consider punters as football players.  He is often brought up as one of the top players not in the hall of fame, and is considered for induction every year.  I ask you, Mr. Hall of Fame Voter, when will this prejudice end. Punters wear helmets and facemasks and pads just like real football players.  Equality for all man, equality for all.

Top 10 Punters of All-Time pt 4

4. Jerrel Wilson (Kansas City '63-'77, N.E. '78)

One of the most underrated punters/players in history, Jerrel "Thunderfoot" Wilson came out of Southern Miss to join the Chiefs after the '63 draft. Listed as a 3rd string running back, he was one of the few players at the time whose roster spot was reserved as a special-teamer. He seemingly revolutionized the position (as did fellow teamate Jan Stenerud) as teams around the league started seeing the potential advantage of "specialists". He became a 3 time AFL All Star and a 3 time NFL Pro Bowler. Named to the all-time AFL team, "The Duck" as he was sometimes known, led the league in punting 4 times, only one other guy has ever done that.

3. Shane Lechler (Oakland 2000-present)
This guy is a weapon.  A special teams weapon that cannot score points, but a weapon none the less.  His 47 yd punting average is an all-time record, and he's currently sporting a 52.4 average on the 2009 season.  These numbers come at a price, as his $12 million for 4 year salary shattered the price tag of NFL punters.  He is probably the Raiders true defensive MVP these past few seasons considering the Raiders have given up 382 yards per game this season.  Simply put, he puts the ball at the opponents end of the field, then he walks off the field and the opponents walk it 80+ yards for a score. Repeat.  That's a Raiders game.

Top 10 Punters of All-Time pt 3

6. Jeff Feagles (New England '88-'89, Philadelphia '90-'93, Arizona '94-'97, Seattle '98-'02, N.Y. Giants '03-present)

Jeff Feagles is old.  He started out as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots in 1988.  Twenty-one years, four teams, and 342 (as of this week) games later, and he is still considered one of the better punters in the NFL as a N.Y. Giant.  He is a two time pro bowler, one time Super Bowl winner, and has one National Championship to his credit.  He is the NFL career leader in punts, punts inside the 20, and punting yards.  His 342 (as of this week) games are an NFL record for consecutive games played.  That's over 20 years of not missing a day of work - impressive, except he's just a punter.  It's not like he's a fast food employee or something.  Let's see the guy at the McDonald's drive-thru not miss a day for 20 years.  Now that would be impressive.

5.  Sean Landeta (Philadelphia Stars (USFL) '83-'84, N.Y. Giants '85-'93, St. Louis Rams '93-'96, Tampa Bay '97, Green Bay '98, Philadelphia '99-'02, St. Louis Rams '03-'04, Philadelphia '05, N.Y. Giants '06)
Sean started life out as a star in the USFL, being named to the All-USFL team during both USFL seasons, along with the all-time USFL team (that sounds like a joke, but that list included Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Gary Zimmerman and Reggie White).  He was the last active former USFL player in the NFL.  He was a 3 time NFL All Pro, 2 time Super Bowl winner, and was named to both the All-80's and All-90's teams by the NFL.  He even made a guest appearance on Sesame Street one time.  However, the most impressive of all of these feats is that he was the last active player in the NFL to appear in the original Tecmo Bowl.

Top 10 Punters All-Time pt 2

8. Brian Moorman (Buffalo 2001-present)

Playing at Division II powerhouse Pittsburg State University, Moorman was not just an all-american (DII) punter, but was the collegiate national champion in the 400m from '97-'99. After leaving the Gorillas as the most decorated athlete in school history, he spent 2 years being cut by the Seahawks, before being signed by the Buffalo Bills and sent to Berlin to play in NFL Europa. In Berlin he led the league in punting for 2 consecutive seasons, and was brought back to Still-Within-The-United-States-But-Close-Enough-to-Canada-to-be-considered-in-Canada Buffalo and was named to 2 Pro Bowls, and as an alternate to 3 more. He has been considered, even by Bills fans, as the best player, and only "good" one to play in Buffalo for the past decade or so, yet is most known for being set vertical by the late Sean Taylor in the 2006 Pro Bowl.

7. Tommy Tupa (7 teams '88-'05)

As a teenager, Tom won the NFL Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, foreshadowing what would lead to an impressive Madden 2000 rating. He was THE starting Quarterback for THE Ohio State before being drafted in the 3rd round of the '88 draft by THE Pheonix Cardinals. He was eventually named the starting the quarterback by 1991, and then cut. He spent a year at backup QB before deciding "hey, punters are people too," and converted to punter. He was signed by the Browns, then cut. Then re-signed as the new punter in Cleveland. His time in Cleveland was not remarkable, other than his proficiency for converting the newly added two-point conversion option. In 1994 he was the first ever NFL player to convert a 2-point attempt. Then did it 2 more times that season. "Two Point" Tupa went on to be an All-Pro in '99 and the most sought after punter in Madden Football history.

Top 10 Punters of All-Time

Welcome all to our first attempt here at Rob's Big Ideas. We will be posting mostly in an oh-so-easy top ten format following the random thinking and interest of editor Rob (from Rob's Big Ideas fame). So here we go, we'll start with the much under-appreciated (and often ridiculed) profession in all of sports, the punter. No true punter has ever been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. No true punter has ever won any meaningful award in the history of sports. They often play in the NFL for 20+ years, and yet most fans can name more officials in the league than punters. So here's to the poor bastards that still pull down a 6 digit salary and only really work one day a week for 5 months of the year.

10. Russell Erxleben (New Orleans '79-'83, Detroit 1987)

Russell Erxleben played college ball for Texas University and was the only 3 time consensus all american (1976,1977,1978) at the position. A punter and kicker, he owns the longest field goal in NCAA history at 67 yards. This unprecidented collegiate career led to Russell being named to this list, and picked in the first round (11th overall) by the Saints in 1979, two slots before HOFer Kellen Winslow (the good one). He went on to 5 years of mediocrity and ineptitude for the Saints, coming back for a game with Lions 4 years later and a 7 year stint in federal prison for fraud and money laundering, making him the have-to-pick for the punter/kicker in any "The Longest Yard" list.

9. Bob Cameron (Winnepeg Blue Bombers (CFL) 1980-2002)

If longevity means greatness, and Canada means America's hat, then Bob Cameron was a guy with a job and universal health care. He won the Hec Crighton Trophy in college, an award given to the most outstanding college football player IN CANADA. If you were not aware they had colleges in Canada, let alone that they had college football programs in Canada, or an award for the best player in said programs, just have a look at the luminaries that have won this prestigious award. He was a 4 time CFL All-Star, the '88 Manitoba Athlete of the Year(?), a 3 time Grey Cup (Canada's Super Bowl) winner and the '88 Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian (not the MVP of the game, just the most valuable Canadian to play in the game.) He holds the record, all-time, of any league, with a total of 122.8 km (134,301 yards) punting (of course, in Canada the field is 110 yards long and they play 18 games a season.) So why didn't he ever get a look from NFL scouts? He's still just the fastest kid on the special olympic team.

8. Brian Moorman (Buffalo 2001-present)

Playing at Division II powerhouse Pittsburg State University, Moorman was not just an all-american (DII) punter, but was the collegiate national champion in the 400m from '97-'99. After leaving the Gorillas as the most decorated athlete in school history, he spent 2 years being cut by the Seahawks, before being signed by the Buffalo Bills and sent to Berlin to play in NFL Europa. In Berlin he led the league in punting for 2 consecutive seasons, and was brought back to Still-Within-The-United-States-But-Close-Enough-to-Canada-to-be-considered-in-Canada Buffalo and was named to 2 Pro Bowls, and as an alternate to 3 more. He has been considered, even by Bills fans, as the best player, and only "good" one to play in Buffalo for the past decade or so, yet is most known for being set vertical by the late Sean Taylor in the 2006 Pro Bowl.

7. Tommy Tupa (7 teams '88-'05)

As a teenager, Tom won the NFL Punt, Pass, and Kick contest, foreshadowing what would lead to an impressive Madden 2000 rating. He was THE starting Quarterback for THE Ohio State before being drafted in the 3rd round of the '88 draft by THE Pheonix Cardinals. He was eventually named the starting the quarterback by 1991, and then cut. He spent a year at backup QB before deciding "hey, punters are people too," and converted to punter. He was signed by the Browns, then cut. Then re-signed as the new punter in Cleveland. His time in Cleveland was not remarkable, other than his proficiency for converting the newly added two-point conversion option. In 1994 he was the first ever NFL player to convert a 2-point attempt. Then did it 2 more times that season. "Two Point" Tupa went on to be an All-Pro in '99 and the most sought after punter in Madden Football history.

6. Jeff Feagles (New England '88-'89, Philadelphia '90-'93, Arizona '94-'97, Seattle '98-'02, N.Y. Giants '03-present)

Jeff Feagles is old.  He started out as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots in 1988.  Twenty-one years, four teams, and 342 (as of this week) games later, and he is still considered one of the better punters in the NFL as a N.Y. Giant.  He is a two time pro bowler, one time Super Bowl winner, and has one National Championship to his credit.  He is the NFL career leader in punts, punts inside the 20, and punting yards.  His 342 (as of this week) games are an NFL record for consecutive games played.  That's over 20 years of not missing a day of work - impressive, except he's just a punter.  It's not like he's a fast food employee or something.  Let's see the guy at the McDonald's drive-thru not miss a day for 20 years.  Now that would be impressive.

5.  Sean Landeta (Philadelphia Stars (USFL) '83-'84, N.Y. Giants '85-'93, St. Louis Rams '93-'96, Tampa Bay '97, Green Bay '98, Philadelphia '99-'02, St. Louis Rams '03-'04, Philadelphia '05, N.Y. Giants '06)

Sean started life out as a star in the USFL, being named to the All-USFL team during both USFL seasons, along with the all-time USFL team (that sounds like a joke, but that list included Jim Kelly, Herschel Walker, Gary Zimmerman and Reggie White).  He was the last active former USFL player in the NFL.  He was a 3 time NFL All Pro, 2 time Super Bowl winner, and was named to both the All-80's and All-90's teams by the NFL.  He even made a guest appearance on Sesame Street one time.  However, the most impressive of all of these feats is that he was the last active player in the NFL to appear in the original Tecmo Bowl.

4. Jerrel Wilson (Kansas City '63-'77, N.E. '78)

One of the most underrated punters/players in history, Jerrel "Thunderfoot" Wilson came out of Southern Miss to join the Chiefs after the '63 draft. Listed as a 3rd string running back, he was one of the few players at the time whose roster spot was reserved as a special-teamer. He seemingly revolutionized the position (as did fellow teamate Jan Stenerud) as teams around the league started seeing the potential advantage of "specialists". He became a 3 time AFL All Star and a 3 time NFL Pro Bowler. Named to the all-time AFL team, "The Duck" as he was sometimes known, led the league in punting 4 times, only one other guy has ever done that.

3. Shane Lechler (Oakland 2000-present)

This guy is a weapon.  A special teams weapon that cannot score points, but a weapon none the less.  His 47 yd punting average is an all-time record, and he's currently sporting a 52.4 average on the 2009 season.  These numbers come at a price, as his $12 million for 4 year salary shattered the price tag of NFL punters.  He is probably the Raiders true defensive MVP these past few seasons considering the Raiders have given up 382 yards per game this season.  Simply put, he puts the ball at the opponents end of the field, then he walks off the field and the opponents walk it 80+ yards for a score. Repeat.  That's a Raiders game.

2. Sammy Baugh (Washington '37-'52)

Grandpa here is widely regarded as the one of the best football players (and athletes) of all time.  In college he was a 2 time All-American at TCU.  Followed by a stint as a short stop in the St. Louis Cardinals orginization. In 1937 he moved to Washington, DC to play for the newly moved Washington Redskins.  Slingin' Sammy was an All Pro Quarterback, Defensive Back and Punter, at the same time. Multiple times.  He was on the field the entire game, offense, defense and special teams.  Despite this, the guy carried a 45.1 yards per punt for his career, that wasn't broken until recently by Shane Lechler.  He was a Hall of Fame Quarterback, who in his spare time was the greatest punter in history, until draft day 1973...

1. Ray Guy (Oakland/L.A. Raiders '73-'86)

Ray Guy was taken in the first round of the 1973 draft.  The only pure punter to be taken so high.  A 6 time All Pro, he was named to the all 70's team, the NFL 75th Anniversary team, both the Mississippi and Georgia Sports Hall of Fames and has a collegiate award named after him.  He was known for his high, booming kicks, that once hit the ceiling of the Superdome.  Ray won 3 Superbowls with the Raiders, once kicked 619 punts in a row without having one blocked, and never had a punt returned for  a touchdown.  Before he came along, the NFL didn't track hang time, keep punts inside the 20 as a stat, or consider punters as football players.  He is often brought up as one of the top players not in the hall of fame, and is considered for induction every year.  I ask you, Mr. Hall of Fame Voter, when will this prejudice end. Punters wear helmets and facemasks and pads just like real football players.  Equality for all man, equality for all.