Wednesday, April 9, 2014

6 Mark Bavaro (New York Giants 1985-1990)

The Quiet Giant, A Coach's Dream


     I have been a New England Patriots fan since I first started following the NFL, 40 years ago. But my favorite football players have always come from other teams, and in the case of Mark Bavaro, a team I didn’t even like.
     A Pats fan rooting for a New York Giant wasn’t exactly the same as a Bruins fan rooting for a Montreal Canadien. During the years I was a Guy Lafleur fan, the Bruins played Montreal dozens of times—including 25 playoff games—as division and conference rivals. Between 1985 and 1990, the Patriots played the Giants twice (both loses) as inter-conference foes, so there wasn’t much team-related conflict this time around. (The Giants did play the Dallas Cowboys—a team I was a fan of at the time—twelve times, but the Cowboys, who we’ll cover in a future essay, were in their wilderness years in the late-80s.)
     Anyway. Mark Bavaro.
     I’ve always enjoyed watching towering tight ends; huge, athletic players who can run-block like tackles and catch passes like wide receivers. You can have Keith Jackson, Shannon Sharpe and Jimmy Graham, I’ll take Ben Coates Rob Gronkowski and Mark Bavaro; sure-handed receivers with path-clearing capability; every-down players whose impact could be felt on each offensive snap. If they were vehicles, they’d be extended-cab, maximum payload pickups with plows on the front.
     As a blocker, Bavaro helped pave the way for four individual 1,000-yard rushing seasons (Joe Morris 1985, ‘86, ‘88 and Ottis Anderson 1989). As a receiver, he averaged 14 yards a catch during his six seasons as a Giant, including a 1,001-yard season in 1986, and 867 yards in the twelve-game, strike-shortened 1987 season (works out to 1,156 for 16 games). Both seasons ended with Bavaro being named first-team All-Pro.


     Much like Gronkowski today, Bavaro’s exceptional size, athleticism and unwillingness to be tackled by just one defender exposed him to many more hits than an average NFL tight end. Despite several debilitating injuries, including a degenerative knee condition that forced him to sit out the 1991 season, Bavaro played 126 regular season games in his career, and another 9 in the playoffs, including 2 Super Bowls. In those Super Bowls—both Giants victories—Bavaro played a major role with his devastating blocking to go along with 9 receptions for 101 yards and a touchdown.
     If that isn’t enough to convince you of Bavaro’s greatness, and that Canton is down one tight end, just go to YouTube and check out his personal highlight reel. Much like Gale Sayers, Bavaro’s dominance can be appreciated by watching a couple minutes worth of footage, courtesy of NFL Films. There’s the 1986 game against New Orleans where he gets his jaw broken, only to return and catch a touchdown pass with his jaw wired shut. Then there’s the legendary Monday Night Football catch and stampede against San Francisco, where Bavaro sparks a 17-point Giants comeback by taking a short pass and rumbling another 18 yards with several 49ers on his back. And there’s the clip where Bill Parcells is wearing a microphone:

     “That Bavaro, he’s a stoneface. You don’t know what he’s thinking. I’d hate to have to fight that son-of-a-bitch.”

     If you know anything about Parcells, then you know that’s a compliment, a sign of respect. And this brings me to the main reason I’m such a huge fan of Mark Bavaro.
     To me, more impressive than any statistic or highlight was how quietly and consistently Bavaro pleased one of the hardest-to-please figures in NFL history. Bill Parcells was never known to show affection towards his players, at least not openly, but he never held back his praise of Mark Bavaro. I played a little football in high school—very little—and cannot imagine being coached by a guy like Parcells; gruff, demanding, openly critical, authoritarian (I know, what the hell was I doing playing football?). But Bill Parcells absolutely loved Mark Bavaro.
     Most Patriots fans still hold a grudge against Parcells for the way he handled his departure from New England, and defection to the New York Jets. I wasn’t happy with him either, but have always admired him for possessing one of the greatest football minds. When he talks about the game, he talks about The Game, not about statistics and streaks, but about plays and match-ups, not about the player who scored the touchdown, but about the design or block that allowed him to score. Mark Bavaro was a Bill Parcells type of player, a player who could throw the block and score the touchdown.
     And there was loyalty between them as well. Several years ago, when people started comparing Jeremy Shockey to Mark Bavaro, Parcells said:

     "You want to start comparing him to Bavaro? Put a defensive end in front of him and tell everybody you're going to run over there, and let's see if he can knock him back four yards and you can make 12 yards. Then you can compare him to Bavaro. Till then, I don't want to hear it."

     Parcells has always reminded me of the demanding perfectionist father figure, and Bavaro, the son who managed to gain his love by quietly doing what comes naturally. I think most men want that type of acceptance from their father, and I believe most athletes strive to please their coach in the same manner.


     These days, football fans give so much attention to high-scoring offenses, but in the end, most of those teams fail in the biggest games. I believe they fail because they don’t have enough players like Mark Bavaro. They have 100-catch receivers and 2-minute, 80-yard scoring drives. They win regular season games by 30 and 40 points. But what happens when they need just one touchdown in January? They fail. They fail because they don’t have players who are willing to do whatever it takes. They don’t have offensive players with a defensive player’s mentality, players who prevent the other team from scoring by holding on to the football and scoring when they have to. I know this view isn’t popular with the fantasy football community, but I love the old-school approach to the game; the way Bill Parcells coached it, and the way Mark Bavaro played it.
     Bavaro was seemingly from a bygone era, a true tough guy who never drew attention to himself by talking trash or self-promoting. Here’s what he had to say on that topic in Neil Reynolds’ book Pain Gang: The NFL’s Fifty Toughest Players:

     “I was very comfortable with the media spotlight in the NFL, as long as it wasn’t shining on me. I do feel there is too much attention given to athletes in our society. Especially since most athletes have little of value to offer other than a penchant for self-aggrandizement. I found it much more beneficial to my job to spend my extra time working out, watching film, or improving other aspects of my game.”



     Mark Bavaro was the type of player you could build your offense around. His combination of blocking and pass catching skills were the best of his day. But he would be great in today’s game as well, and would most likely accumulate the type of numbers to elevate him above the folk hero status he achieved in New York. But sometimes it’s better to be a folk hero; to be exactly who you are and do exactly what you do. Bavaro played in the right era, for the right coach and the right team. 
     I’m going to drop one last quote from Coach Parcells. At the end of a short NFL Films feature on Bavaro, Parcells said of his favorite tight end:

     “Any coach would like to have a player like that. You never forget them. They’re always a part of you. Forever.”

     I was never a Giants fan, but I admired Mark Bavaro as much as any athlete I’ve ever seen. He was everything I would’ve wanted to be as a football player.








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