Wyoming football legend Conrad Dobler passes at 72

[TheVoice]

Remembering Wyoming Football Legend Conrad Dobler

The NFL's dirtiest player died Monday in Pueblo, Colo.

7220sports.com

 

[Phall]

I don't recall the name, but he seems like he had a good head on his shoulders (figuratively and literally). That would have still been an era when the best high school players tended to stay local and focus on their family interests rather than automatically chasing the Joe Namath dream.

My parents' next door neighbor is a widow of at least 15 years at age 88. She has six or eight children and more than 20 grandchildren, as well as a smattering of great-grandchildren now. She's a bit forgetful, but I enjoy doing any little bit of service for her when it's presentable. She repeats herself a lot in a group setting (since her memory is not the best); one of her fondest stories is how her husband received a full scholarship to play football at the University of Arizona out of high school in NJ. As fate would have it, he instead married her at age 18 when she was just 16 and became an iron-worker. To hear her tell it, his parents winced at the missed "opportunity," but they got something quite pleasant instead. A very grandmotherly chuckle follows. (It's been three generations since you could have bought her house with a standard mortgage on the wage of an iron-worker, but that's another story)

Sports, especially college sports, were "segregated" until somewhere between the 40's and the 70's. However, I reject the narrative paradigm that white athletes from that era were sheltered from some supposed elite black competition. So many working-class whites had to deal with the strains of a potential *upward class mobility* - you could chase your middle school sports dream or put your nose down for the sake of your family (parents, siblings, or high school gf you were about to marry). I think that poor white kids chasing success in the 70's and 80's switched to the College Dream. This is not a thorough thesis statement at all, I know, but that little loose thread has been tugging on me lately and I think this is where it's going. Chime in if you can relate a bit anecdotally or theoretically and I'll play around some more. (Cheers)

 

[white is right]

I don't recall the name, but he seems like he had a good head on his shoulders (figuratively and literally). That would have still been an era when the best high school players tended to stay local and focus on their family interests rather than automatically chasing the Joe Namath dream.

My parents' next door neighbor is a widow of at least 15 years at age 88. She has six or eight children and more than 20 grandchildren, as well as a smattering of great-grandchildren now. She's a bit forgetful, but I enjoy doing any little bit of service for her when it's presentable. She repeats herself a lot in a group setting (since her memory is not the best); one of her fondest stories is how her husband received a full scholarship to play football at the University of Arizona out of high school in NJ. As fate would have it, he instead married her at age 18 when she was just 16 and became an iron-worker. To hear her tell it, his parents winced at the missed "opportunity," but they got something quite pleasant instead. A very grandmotherly chuckle follows. (It's been three generations since you could have bought her house with a standard mortgage on the wage of an iron-worker, but that's another story)

Sports, especially college sports, were "segregated" until somewhere between the 40's and the 70's. However, I reject the narrative paradigm that white athletes from that era were sheltered from some supposed elite black competition. So many working-class whites had to deal with the strains of a potential *upward class mobility* - you could chase your middle school sports dream or put your nose down for the sake of your family (parents, siblings, or high school gf you were about to marry). I think that poor white kids chasing success in the 70's and 80's switched to the College Dream. This is not a thorough thesis statement at all, I know, but that little loose thread has been tugging on me lately and I think this is where it's going. Chime in if you can relate a bit anecdotally or theoretically and I'll play around some more. (Cheers)

I remember Dobler as a Bill and to a lesser extent as a Cardinal. His Cardinal teams that had a bunch of near to hall of fame players were blocked by the Cowboys and to a lesser extent the Vikings and Rams. As a Bill he was on the post Simpson teams that were rebuilding and had a mini playoff run under Chuck Knox. As the original article stated he was viewed as the dirtiest player in football and allegedly bit a player in pile.

As for that theory if a college prospect wasn't interested in school and couldn't skate or hit a baseball or take a punch the college sports weren't that lucrative so many people never bothered to play football or basketball as there wasn't really any gold at the end of the rainbow.


Anyway sad news about Dobler but I heard life had been physically taxing the last few years of his life with bad knees and near total disability.

 

[Phall]

I remember Dobler as a Bill and to a lesser extent as a Cardinal. His Cardinal teams that had a bunch of near to hall of fame players were blocked by the Cowboys and to a lesser extent the Vikings and Rams. As a Bill he was on the post Simpson teams that were rebuilding and had a mini playoff run under Chuck Knox. As the original article stated he was viewed as the dirtiest player in football and allegedly bit a player in pile.

As for that theory if a college prospect wasn't interested in school and couldn't skate or hit a baseball or take a punch the college sports weren't that lucrative so many people never bothered to play football or basketball as their wasn't really any gold at the end of the rainbow.


Anyway sad news about Dobler but I heard life had been physically taxing the last few years of his life with bad knees and near total disability.

OK my friend, apologies for any historical inaccuracies i embellished at the expense of your regional high school territory.

What else did he do?

 

[Don Wassall]

Accurately or not, Dobler was always labeled the "dirtiest" NFL player, in order to direct the spotlight away from all the dirty players who had a darker skin tone. I remember quite a few outrageous acts of violence during Dobler's era, including Joe Greene almost routinely punching opponents. But just as the biggest busts have to be White, even though the fake news media has to go back to the 1980s and '90s to find them now, the most ignominous anything almost always is a paleface.

 

[white is right]

Accurately or not, Dobler was always labeled the "dirtiest" NFL player, in order to direct the spotlight away from all the dirty players who had a darker skin tone. I remember quite a few outrageous acts of violence during Dobler's era, including Joe Greene almost routinely punching opponents. But just as the biggest busts have to be White, even though the fake news media has to go back to the 1980s and '90s to find them now, the most ignominous anything almost always is a paleface.

I remember Sports Illustrated had an article on Dobler and dubbed him the title and Dobler seemed to run with the title and used it as a marketing angle. It didn't help that he had a Fu Manchu mustache as that added to his sinister biker gang look.

PS I remember seeing a Greene punch in a documentary on his pugnacious play. I guess it wouldn't been against Dobler as they hardly would have met during their careers...

 

[Booth]

I recall Merlin Olson being the first crybaby complaining about Dobler's dirty play. This was an era when men played with broke legs, fingers, toes, dislocated shoulders, and concussions. They didn't take time off to be with their wives having babies. Mike Wester, the great Steeler center told how he would twist Dick Butkus's bad knee in the pile. Different times I know.

 

[white is right]

I recall Merlin Olson being the first crybaby complaining about Dobler's dirty play. This was an era when men played with broke legs, fingers, toes, dislocated shoulders, and concussions. They didn't take time off to be with their wives having babies. Mike Wester, the great Steeler center told how he would twist Dick Butkus's bad knee in the pile. Different times I know.

Up until I guess fairly recently dirty play in the trenches and piles were taken as part of life in the trenches. As Don said White linemen were viewed as the dirtiest players and White guards were poster children for dirty deeds. I recall Kevin Gogan and Steve Wisniewski taking up the Dobler mantle. Dobler himself stated something to the affect of I would have taken up boxing if I knew I could make 35 million for biting off somebody's ear lobe after the infamous Mike Tyson dq loss to Holyfield in 97'.ault.si.com/vault/1998/10/26/dirty-dogs-theres-a-nasty-breed-of-nfl-players-who-follow-one-cardinal-rule-anything-goes-and-that-means-biting-kicking-spearing-spitting-and-leg-whipping

 

[Flint]

Undoubtedly Dobler played up the bad guy image. It was good for business. But c’mon in a sport where slamming and bashing into each other is part of the game how “dirty” can you get? The other guy has unlimited opportunities for payback.

I played some offensive line and it was clear the defensive guys had the advantage when it came to having the liberty to beat on an opponent. And we’re not talking about guys that are timid when it comes to revenge.

 

[The Hock]

I remember Dobler. Good on him. How many offensive linemen get much ink or name recognition? At least Dobler made a name for himself even though he toiled in the trenches.

 

[wile]

I got blindsided by an OL guy that I spotted 50lbs, I paid him back and smiled at him after the game when he was on crutches. Now I get why the NFL tries to police this kind of crap because soon you are on the 4th string guy with that kind of crap going unpunished and then its just a billion dollar primetime TV scrum. The hit the black dude put on the black dude Mahomes in the Jags-Chiefs game damned near changed history but Cincy was down this year and could not seal the deal even with gimpy Mahomes.