Pro Football in ‘30s Was Hardly Depressive

Pro football has come a long way since the Depression days of the 1930s, but former New York Giant star Ward Cuff doesn’t think the players are having any more fun.

Cuff, leading scorer for the Giants when they won the NFL title in 1938, told John Jeansonne of Newsday: “We didn’t make a lot of money, but we didn’t need a lot. We stayed at the Whitehall Hotel at 100th and Broadway, where you could buy a darn good meal for 30 cents.

“I had a LaSalle, a big yellow convertible that I bought for 150 bucks from a guy who had to give it up because he couldn’t make the payments.”

How about entertainment?

“No problem,” Cuff said. “We used to go to all the big shows in town, and to the hockey games and wrestling matches at the Garden. In fact, one year, when the Bears came to town, I played against Bronko Nagurski in the afternoon, and then went down to the Garden and watched him wrestle for the world championship that night.

“I remember he came over to a couple of us at ringside before the match and said, ‘This isn’t going to be as tough as playing against you guys this afternoon.’ ”

The NFL coach of the year? How about Ron Meyer of the Indianapolis Colts? He wasn’t hired until only three games were left and he still wound up with more wins than Don Coryell, Hank Bullough, Marv Levy, Leeman Bennett and Rod Dowhower.

The booby prize, of course, goes to Buddy Ryan, who fashioned a 5-10-1 record with a Philadelphia team that went 7-9 the year before. That was after he predicted the Eagles would win the NFC East.

His prediction wasn’t the worst, however. Jimmy (The Greek) Snyder, the CBS oracle, picked the St. Louis Cardinals to win the division. They finished last.

Add Ryan: When he left Chicago, there were fears the defense would suffer, but the Bears allowed only 187 points, an NFL record, after allowing 198 in 1985.

Says Mike Ditka: “People were saying we wouldn’t know how to line up on defense, but somehow, we figured it out.”

Trivia Time: Name four quarterbacks for other playoff teams who once were the property of the Rams? (Answer below.)

Has a wild-card team ever won the Super Bowl?

“Yes,” said Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post. “The Raiders in 1981. As always, it was such a delight for Pete Rozelle to award the Lombardi trophy to his close friend and dancing partner, Al Davis. Most people were confused because both men spoke Latin during the ceremony. But translated, Davis said, ‘Pete, you ignorant slut.’ And Rozelle said, ‘Eat hot lead.’ ”

Trivia Answer: Doug Flutie (Chicago), Steve Fuller (Chicago), Jeff Kemp (San Francisco), Jeff Rutledge (New York Giants).

Quotebook

Guard Chris Godfrey of the New York Giants, on charges by the Green Bay Packers that the Giants poured it on in their 55-24 win last Saturday: “What were we supposed to do, ask for volunteers from the stands?”