100 Years of NFL: The Centers Trivia Quiz

Answer: Most Valuable Player

Mel Hein played as a center for the New York Giants from 1931 to 1945. In that time, he helped the Giants win two NFL Championships, one in 1934 and another in 1938. He also played in five other NFL Championship games with the Giants which they lost. He was named to four NFL All-Star games as well (the precursor to the Pro Bowl) and was a first-team All-Pro for eight straight seasons (1933-1940). In 1938, Mel Hein became the inaugural recipient of the Joe F. Carr Trophy which later was recognized as the MVP award for the NFL. He remains the first and only center to receive this award.

Mel Hein would go on to coaching after his playing days were done. After a stint as the head coach for Union College, Hein would be the assistant coach for several teams, though for merely one season in the NFL itself, and retired from football entirely after the 1965 season.

Answer: Bulldog

Clyde Turner was a center and a linebacker for the Chicago Bears for thirteen seasons from 1940 to 1952. While at Hardin-Simmons University, he and teammate A.J. Roy used to push each other in training by giving each other nicknames. Turner got the nickname "Bulldog" and it stuck. In the 1940 NFL Draft, Turner was selected seventh overall by the Chicago Bears, a team he would stay with for his entire playing career.

As a player, Bulldog Turner won four NFL Championships with the Bears, in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946. He was named to the All Star game twice and the newly-formed Pro Bowl twice, but was a first-team All-Pro eight times. In 1966, Turner was elected into the Hall of Fame, only the third center to be so chosen.

Answer: Most consecutive starts

Jim Otto was the center for the Oakland Raiders from 1960 to 1974. He played with the team as they started in the AFL in its inaugural season and up until 1969. In 1970, the AFL merged into the NFL and the Raiders retained Otto's services, and he continued to play for the next five seasons. In that time, Jim Otto started consecutively for 210 regular-season games as well as thirteen playoff games setting an NFL record. This would soon be broken by Minnesota teammates Mick Tingelhoff and Jim Marshall, the former also a center.

Jim Otto won one AFL Championship, in 1967, but played with the Raiders in five more championship games. In his career, he was a nine-time AFL All-Star as well as a three-time Pro Bowler. In 1980, Otto was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Answer: He was very cheerful

Dermontti Dawson played for the Pittsburgh Steelers for thirteen seasons from 1988 to 2000. He was drafted as a guard but moved to the center position after one season after his mentor, Steeler starting center Mike Webster, became a free agent following Dawson's rookie season and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, initially as a coach. Dawson stepped into the role and held on to the position for the next twelve seasons.

On the field, Dermontti Dawson was as mean as they come, earning him the nickname "Dirt". However, off the field, Dawson was about as cheerful as could be which led to teammates calling him "Ned Flanders" after the similar "Simpsons" character. Dawson would go on to play in 170 consecutive games for the Steelers, but then a series of hamstring injuries forced him to sit out games in the 1999 and 2000 season, which led to his contract not being renewed by his team. Instead of trying to sign with another team, Dawson opted for retirement. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012 and in his career he was selected to seven Pro Bowls.

Answer: He went to ask for a raise

Jim Ringo was drafted in the seventh round of the 1953 NFL Draft and was not expected to amount to much. For his position, Ringo was considered small and not strong enough. However, Ringo was a speedy linesman and he also had the technique figured out, and he was a hard worker to boot. This made him an excellent fit for the position of center on both offence and defence.

Jim Ringo spent eleven great seasons at Green Bay. With the arrival of Vince Lombardi, the Packers went from being a bottom team to being an amazing team. They won the NFL Championship in 1961 and 1962 and Jim Ringo was a key blocker in the dominant "Packer Sweep" formation that allowed for a strong running game. As the rumour went, after the 1963 season, Jim Ringo went in to Vince Lombardi's office to ask for a raise. Lombardi was so incensed that he left the office and returned five minutes later announcing that Ringo had been traded. Clearly, there is some embellishment in this account, but, Jim Ringo was traded to the Eagles and he spent his final four seasons in Philadelphia.

All in all, Jim Ringo was a ten-time Pro Bowl selection and he was selected for the Hall of Fame in 1981.

Answer: First center to snap the ball with one hand

George Trafton played for the Decatur Staleys in 1920, a team which evolved into the Chicago Staleys a year later, and a year after that into the Chicago Bears. As a player, he was at the center position on both offence and defence (the nose tackle position in the modern era). He is credited for being the first center to snap the ball with only one hand which allowed him more stability and flexibility of movement or blocking ability. He helped the team to two NFL Championships, in 1921 and in 1932, and was seen as one of the toughest and meanest players of his time. In fact, a sports writer said about Trafton that "he was strongly disliked in every NFL city, with the exception of Green Bay and Rock Island. In those places, he was hated."

George Trafton was selected for six Pro Bowls and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964, the second class of inductees.

Answer: Minnesota Vikings

Mick Tingelhoff was a standout center that played college football at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He entered the 1962 Draft but went undrafted, as did all of his teammates. However, he was picked up by the Minnesota Vikings and got the starting center position in his rookie year. He would go on to play for seventeen seasons with the Vikings, and won an NFL Championship in 1969 with them, the last one before the Super Bowl era. The Vikings would then go on to play in four Super Bowls, IV, VIII, IX, and XI, and would lose all four. Mick Tingelhoff was one of eleven Vikings players to play in all four of those games.

Mick Tingelhoff was an outstanding center and provided excellent protection for his quarterbacks. In fact, when Tingelhoff was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015, it was quarterback Fran Tarkenton who gave the speech and called Tingelhoff his "best friend". Tingelhoff was also invited to six Pro Bowls, and had his number retired by the Vikings.

Answer: Fewest sacks allowed

Dwight Stephenson was a rookie drafted in the second round by the Miami Dolphins in 1980. He quickly became a key player on the offensive line and, by the 1982 season, he was names the offensive team captain. For those six seasons, the Miami Dolphins led the league in fewest sacks allowed (which let Dan Marino really have an opportunity to shine) and this doubled the previous record. Stephenson was considered a very quick and explosive center and defenses had a hard time penetrating his blocking.

Dwight Stephenson was only in the NFL for eight seasons. In 1987, in a game against the New York Jets, Stephenson was hit by two players and sustained an injury to his knee. He ended his career after that. He was, however, named to five Pro Bowls and five first-team All Pro selections as well, but, despite playing in two Super Bowls, he never won the big game.

Answer: He remained undrafted

Jim Langer was a standout player on the South Dakota State team. However, it's generally not considered one of the top football schools, even at that time. The only player drafted from South Dakota State in the 1970 draft was Tim Roth, a wide receiver, and only in the 16th round. Roth never played in the NFL. On the other hand, Jim Langer not only played, he excelled at the center position and was a key figure in the 1972 Miami Dolphins' undefeated season when they won the Super Bowl. He also figured into the 1973 Super Bowl win for the Dolphins.

After ten seasons with the Dolphins where he was named six times to the Pro Bowl, Jim Langer requested a trade to the Minnesota Vikings in order to be closer to home. He played two seasons for the Vikings and then retired. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987.

Answer: Be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

Mike Webster, known as "Iron Mike" was a football center who played fifteen seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers as well as two seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was with the Steelers for their four first Super Bowl wins, IX, X, XIII, and XIV, and was part one of the most successful center-quarterback pairings in the history of the game playing in front of Terry Bradshaw.

Mike Webster was a star for the Steelers and went to the Pro Bowl nine times. However, he was also a good teacher and made sure that his replacement, Dermontti Dawson, was ready for the role. Initially, Webster left for a coaching position with the Chiefs though this turned into a playing position quickly. After two years with the Chiefs and seventeen years in the NFL, Webster retired.

In retirement, it was found that Mike Webster had been disabled for a while. He suffered from bone pain, amnesia, depression, and other ailments. He had hit hard and been hit just as hard for his entire career, and this had taken a toll on his body, but, more importantly, on his brain. He passed away at the young age of 50 from a heart attack but an autopsy revealed that he had suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). This is a disease that is caused when the brain is traumatised by repeated blows. Prior to the finding in Webster, it had been diagnosed in boxers. Webster was the first NFL player to be identified as having CTE, but he wasn't the last. This would open the door to tighter restrictions on head-to-head impacts and concussion protocols.