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Why Marshawn Lynch Tops the List of the Most Fined in the NFL

The Most Fined in the NFL

Running back Marshawn Lynch #24 of the Seattle Seahawks looks up to the fans as he stands on the sidelines during the NFL game against the Arizona Cardinals at the University of Phoenix Stadium on December 21, 2014 in Glendale, Arizona.

Credit: Christian Petersen / Getty Images

If you thought the old days of tough guy football were long and gone, this season proved you wrong.

Take the week 6 game against the Carolina Panthers when Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict took an opponent’s ankle, twisted it hard and tried to break it with his bare hands -- twice, to two different players. Burfict was fined $25,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct, the cherry on top of a rap sheet the NFL started writing in 2013 when he was fined $10,000 for punching Packers tight end Ryan Taylor in the balls.

RELATED: The NFL's Pot Problem 
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Yet what's maybe more remarkable than the fines for rough play is that there are 11 players that were fined more than Burfict this season, many for far less violent behavior. Go to the top of that list, and you'll find a guy who doesn't play like Burfict or Ndamukong Suh, a player who will in fact be one of the keys to his team's offensive strategy in this weekend's Super Bowl. 

No NFL player has been fined more this year than Marshawn Lynch, the beastly Seattle running back who leads the NFL playoffs in running yards and led the league in rushing touchdowns during the season. Lynch has the Seahawks back in the Super Bowl for the second time in as many years, and he can use the extra game check because he’s already been rung up for $131,050 in fines, mostly for the non-violent act of not talking to reporters after games.

Football players have been fined more than $2 million by the NFL so far this season for bad behavior on the field. If you include drug-related fines and suspensions, 228 players have been hit with a bill for $25 million, according to the sports analytics site spotrac.com.

Every year the NFL distributes its fine schedule and the 2014 edition lists 18 infractions from fighting ($27,562) to throwing a football into the stands ($5,512). Fines are larger for repeat offenders and range from very specific infractions like spearing to the open-ended unsportsmanlike conduct. Penalties are reviewed by the NFL operations department and players are notified of their fine in writing, which they can appeal.

RELATED: Why Andrew Luck is the Future of Football[2]

Of the 10 most penalized teams in the NFL, four—Indianapolis, Arizona, Baltimore, and Denver—qualified for the playoffs. Of the 10 least penalized teams, only two—Pittsburgh and Green Bay—made the postseason, indicating there is no scientific trend between bad behavior and success.

The two teams playing in the Super Bowl—Seattle and New England—were around the middle of the pack in fines with an average of $172,000.

The league says the money it collects—it’s automatically subtracted from the players’ paychecks—is donated through the NFL Foundation to support a number of charities.

Here are this year’s 12 most charitable NFL players:

1. Lynch is on the hook for $131,050.00 for three infractions. In November, he was slapped with a $100,000 fine for not talking to the media enough over the last two seasons. He was also fined $31,000 for grabbing his crotch after a touchdown on Christmas Day and again in the NFC Championship Game. He’s playing in the Super Bowl on February 1 and the NFL has warned the Seahawks if he grabs himself again, they’re going to lose yards.

2. Detroit wrecking machine Ndamukong Suh was fined $70,000 in Week 17 for stepping on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, a relatively light charge compared to his $164,000 stomp in 2011 against Green Bay. One of the best defensive tackles in the league, Suh has been named to the Pro Bowl three times.

3. Ravens linebacker Courtney Upshaw flips Toyotas with his bare hands. He’s also very good at flipping quarterbacks and he’s proven exceedingly good at getting called for roughing the passer. In 2014, he was whistled for three of those and it cost him $46,537. Two of the three put Ben Roethlisberger on his back with licks Big Ben felt for three days after the fact. The Ravens beat Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs before losing a wild one to the Patriots.

4. Roughing the passer fines accounted for more than $513,000 this year, by far and away the most of any penalty (unsportsmanlike conduct was second with $162,000). Detroit safety James Ihedigbo rang up more than a third of his $36,537 roughing Jets QB Geno Smith. The other 20 grand he donated came off a Week 8 late hit against Atlanta and Week 10 face mask against Miami.

RELATED: The Woman Who Bails Out the NFL's Bad Boys[3]

5. Another roughing the passer ace is Minnesota defensive tackle Linval Joseph, whose nasty takedown of Rodgers in November cost him $20,000. Joseph was charged $16,537 for the same offense three weeks earlier against Washington and lost a total of $36,537 for the year in roughing calls. Joseph’s naughty season literally started off with a bang: he was shot in a nightclub after a preseason game.

6. Until 2005, it was perfectly legal to grab an opponent by his neck and slam him to the turf. But the play, known as a horse collar tackle, caused a load of injuries and is now outlawed by the NFL. Packers linebacker Sam Barrington apparently did not get the memo as he concluded a violent two week stretch this year that included $33,074 in fines, half of which were levied for driving a Bills player to the ground with a Week 15 horse collar tackle.

7. On an interception return, the quarterback becomes a delicious target for defenders to throw a block at. Everybody wants a free shot. Packers linebacker Clay Matthews, who gets paid handsomely to destroy QBs, got a chance at Seattle’s Russell Wilson in the NFC Championship Game that was too good to pass up. Matthews blighted him with a blindside block that cost him $22,050. Earlier in the season, Matthews was billed $10,000 for wearing the wrong color cleats, bringing his fine total to $32,050 for the year.

RELATED: Michael Strahan's Mad Rush
[4]

8. Chase Coffman, a Titans tight end, was charged $30,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct in Week 10. More specifically, he ran over an opposing coach to the ground on the Baltimore sideline.

9. In a Monday Night Football game in 2002, Terrell Owens pulled out a Sharpie, signed his name on the ball he just caught for a touchdown and gave it to a friend in the stands. Owens was not fined for the infamous celebration. How times have changed. In a 2014 preseason game, New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham dunked the ball over the goalpost and he was fined $30,000 for an excessive celebration.

10. The Indianapolis Colts led the league with $3.831 million in fines this season and defensive lineman Eric Walden contributed to that with a $27,652 fine he was issued when he put a hand on an official during a scrap with an opposing player. Touching officials is a big-time no-no in the NFL.

11. But that didn’t stop Chargers wide receiver Seji Ajirotutu, who was slapped with an automatic $27,562 fine in Week 7 for making contact with an official.

12. And finally, no infraction was more egregious than Burfict going to work on Panthers Cam Newton and Greg Olsen. The Bengals linebacker was fined $25,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct when he tried to break their ankles with his bare hands.

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Where Do the Seattle Seahawks Rank Among the NFL's Greatest Defenses?

TK NFL Defense

Richard Sherman #25 of the Seattle Seahawks covers Brandon Lloyd #84 of the San Francisco 49ers during an incomplete pass in the first quarter at Levi's Stadium on November 27, 2014 in Santa Clara, California.

Credit: Brian Bahr / Getty Images

The NFL in 2015 is a different beast than in year's past. With pass-hungry offenses dominating the highlights (and rulebook), the prevailing assumption[1] would be that pound-and-ground defensive teams are a thing of the past. But a quick look at the last three Super Bowl champions (Seattle over Denver, Baltimore over San Francisco, and the Giants over the Patriots) reminds us that the old mantra of "defenses win championships" still applies. Nevertheless, modern-day defenses don't share much of the spotlight with their air-apparent stat-happy counterparts, which is why a team like the Seahawks stand out: their stars are on the defensive side of the ball.

RELATED: The Battle to be the Top Cornerback in the NFL
[2]

Just how good is the Seattle defense? For the second-straight year they've averaged the fewest points allowed, giving up just 15.9 points per game in a season when the league average was 22.6. Even more impressively, the 2013 squad allowed just 14.4 points per game when the league average was 23.4, leading the league in points allowed, yards allowed, takeaways and opponent passer rating. They also held the opposition to just 5.82 yards per pass attempt in a year when the worst team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, averaged 6.19 yards per pass.Their crowning achievement came in Super Bowl XLVII, when they held the Denver Bronco's and the NFL's highest-scoring offense of all time to a mere eight points and only 306 total yards of offense, including just 27 yards rushing. 

So as we head into Super Bowl XLIX, the question begs to be asked; do they deserve to ranked among the greatest defenses of all time? A quick look at the stats suggests this year's Seahawks team would fall outside of the Top 5, but an argument could certainly be made for the 2013 squad. If the top three listed here are any indication, a good nickname would help their case.

No. 5 The 1969 Chiefs
Determining the value of statistics before the AFL and NFL fully merged in 1970 can be tough; separate leagues meant separate stats, and even without splitting them in half, there were just fewer teams playing, meaning a shallower pool of talent to wade through. But if Joe Namath's Super Bowl guarantee put AFL offenses on the map in 1968, it was the Kansas City Chiefs who were responsible for bringing the league's defenses up to par with their NFL counterparts one year later. The 1969 Chiefs allowed a paltry 226 yards per game, giving up only 12.6 points per contest. They also can boast the distinction of being the only team to hold opponents to the fewest points, fewest rushing and fewest passing yards allowed in a single season, and though this stat line is only limited to their AFL opponents, they also led the league in turnovers. But maybe most telling of the squad's dominance is that of all the defenses listed here, the '69 Chiefs have the most Hall Of Famers with five: Curley Culp (DT), Buck Buchanan (DE), Willie Lanier (MLB), Bobby Bell (OLB), and Emmit Thomas (CB), securing their place among the best defenses of all time.

No. 4 The 2000 Ravens
Statistically speaking, the 2000 Ravens are the best defense of the modern era. In 2000 Baltimore set NFL records for fewest points allowed (165) and fewest yards rushing allowed (970) in a 16-game schedule, becoming the first team since the 1976 Steelers to hold teams to an average of less than 11 points per game. And the 2.69 yards per rush attempt is the fewest allowed since the 1951 Giants. Baltimore didn't allow a 100-yard rusher in 2000, giving up just six rushing touchdowns and recovering an astronomical 26 fumbles throughout the season. In fact, the only reason they're not placed higher on this list is because they played more offenses in the bottom half of the league than in the top. They rode a record-setting defense to a Wild Card berth, and it was in the playoffs where they showcased their dominance. Baltimore only gave up 23 total points (5.75 per game) in their four playoff games, including a 34-7 victory in Super Bowl XXXV against the Giants. They recorded four sacks and forced five turnovers in an astonishing defensive display as New York was only able to muster 152 yards of total offense. Despite having names like Ray Lewis, Marvin Lewis, Rod Woodson and Sam Adams anchoring their defensive unit, the 2000 Ravens legacy might be remembered most for the four head coaches it produced: Marvin Lewis, Jack Del Rio, Mike Smith and Rex Ryan.

No. 3 The 1985 Bears (Monsters of the Midway)
The 1985 Bears are arguably the best team in NFL history, and many could argue their defense was the best the NFL has ever produced. Led by legendary Defensive Coordinator Buddy Ryan, this is a unit so (in)famous that names like Mike Singletary, William "The Refrigerator" Perry and Richard Dent still resonate 30 years later. Using Ryan's "46" defense, the '85 Bears blitzed at an unconscionable rate, amassing a total of 64 sacks and forcing seven quarterback substitutions over the course of the season. It's fair to say that no team has intimidated opposing quarterbacks more than these Bears, who are‚ along with the 1976 and 2008 Steelers, one of three defenses in NFL history to rank first in points and yards allowed. The '85 Bears held 11 of their 16 opponents to 10 points or fewer, and after losing their only game of the season in Week 13 (ironically, to the Dolphins, who's 1972 team is the only in NFL history to finish a season undefeated), Chicago only allowed an average of 7.1 points per game for the remainder of the regular season and the playoffs. In fact, it was in the playoffs that the 1985 Bears cemented their legacy, posting shutouts in both the divisional round and conference championship games. They held Eric Dickerson and the high-flying Rams offense to 130 yards of total offense in that NFC Championship en-route to Super Bowl XX. And modern-day New England Patriots haters can always take solace in knowing their first trip to the Super Bowl resulted in a 46-10 drubbing at the hand of these same Bears. Oh yeah, and this[3] happened. 

RELATED: Football Stories Every Man Should Read Before Kickoff 
[4]

2. The '91 Eagles (Gang Green)
This pick may surprise some as they gave up the most points of the five teams listed here. In fact, many experts often look to the 1990 Super Bowl-winning Giants as the best defense the '90s produced, but a deeper look at the stats support this choice. Fielding some of the best players at each level of defense, the 1991 Eagles had maybe the best defensive player ever in Reggie White anchoring their line, Seth Joyner leading their linebacker core, and the great cover-corner Eric Allen in the backfield. And unlike most teams on this list, the '91 Eagles offense was horrible, ranking 26th out of 28 teams in total yards with the eighth-worst rushing attack. Considering they also played one of the toughest schedules of any of the teams on this list and started five different quarterbacks, it's a remarkable achievement the '91 Eagles still managed to finish 10-4. Despite facing four out of the top five statistical offenses, including the top three scoring offenses of 1991, the Eagles led the league in fewest yards allowed against the rush, the pass, and overall. They also led the league in sacks, forced fumbles, and takeaways, resulting in the second-best overall numbers against the run and the pass in NFL history. When you consider the quality of offenses they played against and the fact their offense was rarely on the field, their fewest yards allowed stat might be the most impressive achievement on this list.

Incidentally, the '91 Eagles were coached by Buddy Ryan and when Randall Cunningham was lost for the year with a torn ACL in the season opener, it was iconic '85 Bears QB Jim McMahon who stepped in to replace him. Adding yet another link to the past, the 1991 Eagles defensive unit was put together by Bud Carson, the architect responsible for the Steel Curtain defenses of the 70s.

No. 1. The 1976 Steelers (The Steel Curtain)
If the 2000s are the era of the high-flying offense, the 1970s were its defensive counterpart. The '70s produced some of the greatest defenses of all time, with some equally impressive stat-lines. The 1973 Los Angeles Rams and 1977 Atlanta Falcons (both teams who could've easily made this list) hold the 14-game records for fewest yards and points allowed respectively. In fact, the '73 Rams are the only team in NFL history to hold every opponent under 300 yards (the '91 Eagles and '08 Steelers each held 15 of 16 opponents under that number). But it's the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers and their "Steel Curtain" defense by which all defensive standards are judged. The '76 Steelers held opposing offenses to less than 10 points per game, joining the '77 Falcons as the only two teams in NFL history to do so. What sets the Steelers apart however, was the offenses they opposed. In 1976, the Steelers played more than half of their games again teams who ranked in the top half of the league in total offense, with six of those games against Top-10 offenses, whereas the Atlanta team of '77 played ten of their 14 games against teams in the bottom half of the league. Most-impressively, after a 1-4 start to the season, the '76 Steelers ran the table for the last nine games, giving up just 28 along the way. Let me say that again: 28 points in nine games. A remarkable average of a mere 3.1 points per game, and that includes the 16 points they gave up in Week 11 to the Houston Oilers. In fact, if you take out that game against the Oilers, the Steelers defense only allowed 12 total points (1.5 points per game) and didn't give up a single touchdown over the course of those final nine games.

Of course, nearly every team the Steelers fielded throughout the 1970s could boast a game-changing defense, but 1976 averaged the highest offensive output of the decade. Thus we're giving the nod that year's team as the best defense of all time.

The "Steel Curtain" defense gave us four Hall of Famers: "Mean" Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham and Mel Blount, sent eight defensive players to the Pro Bowl, and produced possibly the most iconic NFL-crossover commercial of all time[5].

Read more...

Johnny Knoxville on the Lasting Importance of Evel Knievel

Johnny Knoxville on the Lasting Importance of Evel Knievel

Credit: Corbis / Courtesy of Sundance Institute

As the X-Games wrap up in Aspen, Colorado, one documentary here in Park City explores the spiritual beginnings of the now insatiable drive to go big. Being Evel, which premiered this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival offers a nuanced portrait of the daredevil, Robert "Craig" Knievel, a.k.a. "Evel Knievel". The latest project from director Donald Junge, the film charts the life of the complicated man on the motorcycle. The town punk from Butte, Montana, grew into the man who hustled his way into a death-defying jump at Caesar's Palace, and would eventually attempt to jump the mile-wide Snake River canon in a rocket. Producer Johnny Knoxville, who narrates the film, still counts Knievel as a hero. We spoke with Knoxville, about his life-long love of Evel, how the daredevil has shaped Knoxville's career, and why he credits Evel with inventing action sports. 

What surprised you the most about Evel?
I learned so many things researching this documentary and during the interviews. I was just fascinated by his life before he started jumping. How fiercely intelligent he was, and charismatic, and what a hustler he was. He ran a little racket in Butte, Montana where he'd go to your bar and he'd go, "Give me some money, and I'll watch your bar, make sure it's not robbed," and if you didn't give him money, your bar was going to be robbed.

How did Evel inspire you over the years?
When I was a kid there was no bigger star in America. To me and a lot of my friends, it was Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, and Evel Knievel, that's how big he was. He invented going that big. No one went that big before him. He was a superhero to me. He still is. I know about his life and how he was in certain areas in his life, and quite a few of the things are disappointing, but he was a real live superhero.

MORE SUNDANCE: Jimmy Chin on His Sundance Film Debut
[1]

How did that manifest for you as a kid? 
I think it led to magical thinking. He dreamed so big, and would do it. In some of the stunts that I've tried before, I know right before: this could be forever bad. And I've had some really bad accidents, but I think I slide into the magical thinking of 'I've got this, it's going to be fine, it's going to hurt, it's going to be fine.' It's all about managing your fear. A lot of people get scared and stop. But you overcome it. Otherwise, we've got no footage.

The film argues he launched the world of action sports.
One hundred percent — when you watch the X-Games now, they are going for it in such a way, where their lives are on the line. No one went huge like that before Evel Knievel. That all came from him. The spirit of the X games started with Evel. There were some daredevils before him, Earl "Lucky" Teter, or Joey Chitwood, they were doing death-defying things too, but they were in a car or in a cage. But this man is on a motorcycle with no cage, and no protection.

RELATED: The Story Behind Sundance Favorite Cartel Land[2]

How do you understand Evel's relationship with fear?
I think he suppressed his fear. He would never admit to being scared, and I think it came out sideways a lot. When you suppress anything it has to get out. I think a lot came out sideways at Snake River. He was looking at almost certain death. 

You interview Tony Hawk in the film, Matt Hoffman, Seth Enslow, Travis Pastrana, Robbie Maddison. How did he directly influence them?
Just I think he captured their imagination too. Travis said in the doc, he was trying do a big motorcycle jump and he was like, 'I'm going to do this and be just like Evel Knievel but not as good,' and Travis Pastrana is the best in the world at what he does, but he's still that little kid that looks up to Evel Knievel.

Do you think Evel gets that credit for launching action sports?
No, I don't think so. I hope this documentary will help everyone realize that but it started with Evel — every time out everything was on the line. There were a lot of people after Evel that did what he did, but they weren't salesmen like Evel. They weren't showmen, they weren't handsome, they weren't whip smart. He was the entire package. 

How does he still influence your life today?
That spirit that he had, the positive aspects of Evel, I try to pick and choose what characteristics you like in people, but when it came to stunts, if he said he was going to do something, he did it. He never backed down. Stunt-wise, if I've said I was going to do it, I was going to do it.

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5 Reasons Why This has Been the Strangest NFL Season in Recent Memory

Strange Football Season

Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots passes the ball during the second quarter against the Chicago Bears at Gillette Stadium on October 26, 2014 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.

Credit: Jim Rogash / Getty Images

Another week of football is upon us, and whether you're still rooting for your hometown squad to make it all the way to Arizona for the Super Bowl in February, or it's all about your fantasy team racking up points for you now, there's a pretty good chance that this season wasn't exactly what you thought it would be. Of course, it never goes as planned, but the script has been especially strange when you take these five things into consideration: 

1. The Arizona Cardinals are the best team in football

Yes, the Arizona Cardinals are currently No. 1. Not the defending champs (who are in the same division as the Cards), the team they beat to become the champs, or any other team you picked to be 8-1 this far into a season with a roster containing maybe two players that anybody outside the state of Arizona can name off without looking it up on their phones. 

2. We're worried about Seattle

At 6-3, the Seahawks are looking better than a lot of teams in the league, but seem to have lost a little of that fire that made them seem like the next great NFL dynasty. From banishing Percy Harvin to the hapless Jets[1] in October to the talk that Marshawn Lynch is as good as gone after this season (off to put velvet ropes around his Lamborghini[2] in another city), the Seahawks winning multiple Lombardi trophies doesn't look as likely as it did last February. 

3. The Bears suck, the Cowboys don't

Two teams that are trying to reclaim their former glory, the Chicago Bears and the Dallas Cowboys, have somewhat similar stories; they both have the gunslinger quarterback that always ends up underachieving, and it felt like this could be a big year for Chicago and the end of the road for Romo and Dallas. Both of them. Whoops. Dallas is sailing into the Playoffs on the strength of their QB (and Demarco Murray's record breaking season). The Bears are an entirely different story deserving of more than one good Onion article[3]. 

4. The Browns are doing better than LeBron in Cleveland 

The AFC North is currently the tightest division in football, and the Cleveland Browns are sitting at the top of it even without putting Johnny Manziel in to play. And this is without All Pro receiver Josh Gordon, who returns next week. 

5. The old guys look ageless

Tom Brady is playing as well as he ever did during New England's three Super Bowl wins, Big Ben is breaking records[4], Aaron Rogers is playing some of the best football of his stellar career[5], and Peyton is Peyton. Aside from maybe Andrew Luck, the older quarterbacks are still showing why they're some of the greatest ever.

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The 11 Greatest Moments in Back-Up Quarterback History

Great Moments in Back-Up QB History

Credit: Rich Pilling / The Sporting News / Getty Images

In backups they trust.

The top two teams in today's NFL are led by second-string quarterbacks called on to replace injured starters. At 8-1, the Arizona Cardinals are gunning to become the first host city to actually participate in the Super Bowl in February on the strength of 30-year-old journeyman Drew Stanton, who's playing for his fourth team and now controls his franchise's destiny after starting QB Carson Palmer blew out his knee.

The Eagles, at 7-2, have equally lofty aspirations for their season that ride on the right arm of Mark Sanchez, the embattled former Jets starter who embarrassingly lost his job a year ago for throwing too many picks and fumbling after face-planting his O-lineman's butt.[1] A proven playoff maestro, Sanchez has a chance to prove the New York tabloids wrong and become the latest savior for an impatient Eagles fanbase that was growing tired of starter Nick Foles even before he busted up his collarbone.

The task is tall, but history is piled high with heroic performances by backup quarterbacks. All-time greats like Steve Young, Joe Montana, Aaron Rodgers, and Brett Favre all started their legendary careers as clipboard-carrying benchwarmers. Perhaps the greatest backup of all time, Kurt Warner, went from stocking the shelves at a supermarket to Super Bowl hero.

RELATED: Are Back-Up Quarterbacks Now More Important Than Ever?[2]

Then there are guys like Steve Bono, who made a career out of being a backup for MVPs. Ty Detmer served as an understudy for Young and Favre. Don Strock was a longtime backup to Miami Dolphins legends Bob Griese and Dan Marino. Heisman winner Doug Flutie came in for Rob Johnson in 1998, led the Buffalo Bills to the playoffs, and earned himself a trip to the Pro Bowl. And let’s not forget about when Matt Cassel replaced an injured Tom Brady in 2008 and somehow won 11 games for the Patriots.

While they’re stuck on the sidelines, riding the pine, watching the starter get all the reps, all the glory, and all the girls, these are the I-think-I-can moments second-stringers dream of.

1972 — Earl Morrall, Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins are forever in the history books for compiling a perfect 17-0 season in 1972, a feat that may never be broken. While that record will never be overlooked, the man who orchestrated most of that flawless streak was 38-year-old backup Earl Morrall, who came in for the injured Bob Griese in the fifth game of the year and guided the Dolphins to football immortality. Morrall started and won 11 straight spotless games through the AFC Championship, but got the hook for the climactic Super Bowl when head coach Don Shula felt a fully healed Griese gave Miami the best shot to win it all. Without Morrall, though, there is no perfect season.

1979 — Vince Ferragamo, Los Angeles Rams
Before defecting to the Canadian Football League for one season, Vince Ferragamo was a 25-year-old backup for the Rams who had never gotten an NFL start. That all changed when four-year starter Pat Haden broke a finger and Ferragamo got the call. Road wins against the Cowboys and Buccaneers earned the Rams their first Super Bowl trip in franchise history. The Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, who captured their fourth title of the decade.

1980 — Jim Plunkett, Oakland Raiders
The legendary Raiders QB came in for injured starter Dan Pastorini in 1979, threw five interceptions in his first action off the bench but collected himself and led the Raiders to the Super Bowl in 1980. Plunkett and the Raiders made history as the first Wild Card team to ever win it all. Throwing for three TDs in the game, he took home Super Bowl MVP honors, one of only four players to win MVP and the Heisman Trophy (Roger Staubach, Marcus Allen, and Desmond Howard are the others).

Proving it was no fluke, Plunkett came off the bench again in 1983 for starter Marc Wilson and got the Los Angeles Raiders back to the Super Bowl, where they beat Washington.

RELATED: The Woman Who Bails Out the NFL's Bad Boys[3]

1987 — Doug Williams, Washington Redskins
Journeyman backup Doug Williams was 32 years old and had played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oklahoma/Arizona Outlaws of the USFL before he landed back in the NFL with Washington to back up starter Jay Schroeder in 1986. He saw limited action relieving Schroeder the following season, getting into five games and starting two, but made enough of an impression that he was chosen by head coach Joe Gibbs to start in the playoffs that season. He delivered, leading the Redskins to a championship over John Elway and the Broncos and was the first black quarterback to play in a Super Bowl. He threw for a then-record 340 yards[4] in the game and was named Super Bowl MVP. He retired two years later.

1990 — Jeff Hostetler, New York Giants
Another longtime backup, Hostetler rode the bench for six years behind Phil Simms before the starter broke his foot in 1990 with the Giants already 11-2 and hopeful of a second championship since 1986. Hostetler didn't disappoint, winning the last two games of the season, a playoff game against the Chicago Bears, a gutty NFC Championship Game against the 49ers, and finally Super Bowl XXV against the Buffalo Bills. Hostetler threw for 222 yards in the title game and had one TD before kicker Scott Norwood went wide right.

1993 — Frank Reich, Buffalo Bills
Reich was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 1985 NFL Draft and basically brought a seat warmer with him to Buffalo because Jim Kelly was firmly entrenched as the starter. But whenever Kelly got hurt, Reich came in and steadied the ship, leading the Bills to big wins through the late 1980s and into the early 90s. On Jan. 3, 1993, Reich was playing for the injured Kelly in a Wild Card playoff game against the Houston Oilers. By halftime, the Bills trailed 28-3. Early in the third quarter, a Houston pick-six made it 35-3. But behind stout defense and 28 unanswered third-quarter points,[5] Buffalo won the game in overtime. Reich was 21-for-34 for 299 yards and four TDs, three of which were caught by Andre Reed.

Reich, it turns out, had experience doing this. In college, he guided the Maryland Terps all the way back from a 31-0 deficit en route to a 42-40 win against the Miami Hurricanes.

2000 — Trent Dilfer, Baltimore Ravens
Sometimes a backup gets to play not because the starter is injured, but because he stinks. Tony Banks was QB1 for the Ravens in 2000, but after two losses and a month without producing an offensive touchdown, head coach Brian Billick turned to the 28-year-old Dilfer midway through the season. He went on to guide the 12-4 Ravens to a Super Bowl win. In his one championship season in Baltimore, Dilfer threw for 12 touchdowns and 11 interceptions and passed for 153 yards and a TD in the Super Bowl. He has forever been labeled a game manager for a team with a superior defense, but he did what he had to, came off the bench, and got the job done.

2001 — Tom Brady, New England Patriots
There were 198 other players selected before Tom Brady was tabbed by the New England Patriots in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. Upon arriving in Foxoboro, he was the team’s fourth-string quarterback. By the next season, Brady was No. 2 on the depth chart when Jets linebacker Mo Lewis blasted starter Drew Bledsoe with enough force to cause internal bleeding and change the course of NFL history. Brady took over and never looked back. He led the Patriots to the first of three Super Bowl titles that season and remains one of the greatest second-string success stories of all time.

2003 — Jake Delhomme, Carolina Panthers
An alum of NFL Europe, Delhomme was a preseason hero for the New Orleans Saints before joining the Carolina Panthers in 2003 as 28-year-old understudy to Rodney Peete. Coming off a 1-15 season, the Panthers trailed the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-0 when head coach John Fox made a switch at quarterback. Delhomme started the second half, threw for three touchdowns, and led the Panthers to a win in the last minute of the game. He remained the starter for the rest of the year, showed tremendous guts in racking up an NFL record eight fourth-quarter comebacks for the season, and got the Cardiac Cats to Super Bowl XXXVIII.[6] Delhomme threw for 323 yards and three touchdowns against the Patriots in that game, but another backup-turned-starter named Tom Brady was writing an even more historic story on the opposite sideline.

1999 — Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams
There is no better Cinderella story than Kurt Warner’s. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Packers in 1994 but was released before the season even started. He supplemented his income working as a supermarket stockboy, toiled in the Arena Football League for the Iowa Barnstormers, went to play in Europe for the Amsterdam Admirals and resurfaced in the NFL as Trent Green’s backup in 1999 with the St. Louis Rams. The 29-year-old Warner was handed the starting job when Green tore up his knee in the preseason and the legend was born. He went on to lead the Rams to a Super Bowl championship and manned one of the best offensive attacks of all-time. For the season, he threw for 41 touchdowns[7] and won the Super Bowl MVP, the first of two NFL MVP awards, and is on the 2015 shortlist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

2012 — Matt Flynn, Green Bay Packers
On Jan. 1, 2012, the Packers backup got to play for starter Aaron Rodgers, who got the last game of the season off against the Detroit Lions. He made the most of his rare opportunity, throwing for 480 yards and six TDs.[8] Flynn got his name in the record book (Lions starter Matt Stafford threw for 520 yards and five scores, the first time in NFL history both starting QBs eclipsed 400 yards and five TDs in the same game), got the Packers a memorable win, set the franchise marks for yards and TD throws in a game, and the record-setting performance earned him a fat $26 million contract from the Seahawks the following season when he became a free agent.

Will Sanchez or Stanton be the next name added to this list? Stay tuned.

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