Hollywood has a way of skewering stories. Especially when it comes to leaving out facts. Vince Papale was not some kid who came off the street to make the Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.
Papale, in fact, had played professional football already in 1974 for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League.
Papale also did not take part in the open tryouts shown in the movie. He had a private workout.
Maybe the producers of the movie felt these facts might have made the story less impressive, but it should not.
Papale deserves all the credit and success he earns. Making the NFL is extremely hard.
One other fact left out is where Eagles coach Dick Vermeil got his idea of an open tryout from.
Vermeil was the very first special teams coach in NFL history, under the guidance of Hall Of Fame coaches Sid Gillman and George Allen, while with the Los Angeles Rams in 1969. Allen had convinced Gillman of how critical special teams were, thus a now common coaching position was born.
Allen became the head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1971. One of his first moves was proclaiming that he would take every step possible to improve the Redskins. He traded off most of his draft picks for veterans, many of whom had played for him with the Rams and Chicago Bears.
The media dubbed his squad "The Ramskins", and the most famous moniker "The Over The Hill Gang".
Allen also announced to the public that he would hold open tryouts to anyone willing to help the Redskins win. He held the tryouts at Georgetown University.
In that first year, he found one gem in the crowd. Otis Sistrunk, the older brother of Redskins defensive tackle Manny, made it to the teams training camp. Otis Sistrunk was cut before the season began, but ended up making the Oakland Raiders the next season. Otis played in the NFL until 1978, helping the Raiders win Super Bowl XI. He also was named to the 1974 Pro Bowl squad.
Seeing the possibilities in finding talent outside of the normal draft process, Allen again held tryouts in 1972 at Georgetown University.
About this same time, Redskins linebacker Harold McLinton decided to call up a long time friend, and former high school teammate, of his.
Herbert Felton Mul-Key had not played college football since his freshman year at Alabama State University. He was used as a running back and punter. He left the college after that year due to personal reasons, even joining the Navy for a period of time.
He had been working, but still played semi-pro football in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia. He was well known by many NFL Legends already.
While in high school, he used to work out with such greats as Hall Of Fame Quarterback Fran Tarkenton, then of the New York Giants, his teammate Willie Williams, a Pro Bowl cornerback who led the NFL in interceptions in 1968, Frank Pitts, a wide receiver who helped the Kansas City Chiefs win Super Bowl IV, and wide receiver John Gilliam, a four time Pro Bowl player.
Herb borrowed money from his parents, then made the trip to Washington D.C. for the tryouts. When he got there, he blew away special teams coach Marv Levy, a Hall Of Famer, by running the forty yard dash in 4.34 seconds on a wet and muddy field. The Redskins signed Mul-Key to a contract right away.
George Allen is widely known as a coach who did not want to play rookies. Plus, he had a team of stars already on the roster.
The 1972 Redskins featured Hall Of Fame players Sonny Jurgensen and Charlie Taylor, as well as many players who went to the Pro Bowl in their careers.
Men like Chris Hanburger, Pat Fischer, Jerry Smith, Larry Brown, Myron Pottios, Roy Jefferson, Billy Kilmer, Len Hauss, Leslie "Speedy" Duncan, Alvin Haymond, Jack Pardee, Rich Peititbon, Verlon Biggs, Ron McDole, Diron Talbert, Walter Rock, Clifton McNeil, and Curt Knight.
Many of these men are member of the 70 Greatest Redskins Team, as are fellow teammates Brig Owens, Mike Bass, and Rusty Tillman.
Several of these Redskins went on to be successful coaches in the NFL, including Pardee, Petitbon, and Sam Wyche, the teams third string quarterback.
Herb spent most of the year on the taxi squad, which is now called the practice squad these days. The Redskins stormed out to a 11-1 record, but had sustained several injuries along the way.
Back then, a team could only carry forty players on a roster. Allen then took advantage of a loophole in the rules, thus initiating another now commo
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