Kickoff Against The Leopards

If you're under 50 or so and think anyone you've ever watched is the best defensive player in NFL history, they're not.

In fact, they're not even in the top three. Those places are reserved for only two players. There is no debating this point.

1) Lawrence Taylor. 2) Dick Butkus. 3) Reggie White.

In that order, by the way. 

The news came last night that Butkus passed away at the age of 80. If you never saw him play, you really missed out. 

As much as anyone, Butkus is synonymous with the Chicago Bears, who fielded perennially weak teams during his time with the franchise, which was 1965-73. That didn't matter. He played the game with as much ferocity, passion and strength as you could ever imagine, and every play for him was like his last. 

Because of that, his career was limited to just those nine seasons due to injuries. Drafted by the Bears out of Illinois and a Chicago native, he was an eight-time All-Pro (five times on the first team, three times on the second team) and twice the NFL Defensive Player of the Year, including in 1969, when the Bears went 1-13 (teams played 14 games back then).

After his playing career, Butkus went into commentating and comedic acting and was way better at the second. He was a larger than life figure, one who, sadly, is now gone.

Meanwhile, in football news much closer to home, Princeton will host Lafayette tomorrow, with kickoff at 1. It's the final non-league game of the year for the Tigers, who finish the year with six straight Ivy games after this one, and for the Leopards, who finish their season with five straight Patriot League games.

If you've been scared off by the weather forecast, don't be. It's supposed to rain overnight and Saturday morning, but it also is supposed to stop around noon and be dry for the kickoff and beyond. 

The last two weekends for Princeton have seen awful rain and wind, and those conditions are not favorable for offense. That, by the way, makes Princeton's 20-play, 81-yard, 10:07 march in the fourth quarter to defeat Columbia 10-7 even more impressive.

Before diving into tomorrow's opponent, there's the matter of the feature story on Lewis Stroebel you can read HERE. It includes this:

Lewis is one of eight siblings in the Stroebel household. There's Spencer, Maggie, Trevor, Stewart, Mitchell, himself, Wesley, and Mary (in age order). Spencer, the oldest at 33, rowed at Princeton for the men's lightweight team. Maggie, the second oldest, was a captain on the women's lightweight team and graduated in 2014. Trevor played football at Georgia Tech and Northwestern. Stewart is a Princeton 2019 graduate. Mitchell '22 and Lewis were teammates on the Princeton football team. Wesley plays football at Wake Forest while Mary, the youngest at 18, is committed to Northwestern for soccer.

As for Lafayette, first of all, the Leopard mascot has been called "The Leopard" for 100 years. If you go to the athletic website (goleopards.com), you're greeted by the opportunity to make a suggestion as to what the Leopard's name should be. 

TigerBlog's vote: Coach. Why Coach? For Pete Carril, who graduated from Lafayette in 1952. 

Princeton is 2-1 on the season. Lafayette is 4-1. The teams have one common opponent, Columbia, whom the 'Pards defeated 24-3. 

Lafayette's lone loss came in Week 2 at Duke, by the score of 42-7. 

The Leopards lead the Patriot League in eight team categories, including rushing defense and sacks. Lafayette, in fact, ranks 14th in the FCS in rushing defense, allowing only 95.2 yards per game. 

Who is No. 3 in that stat in the FCS? That would be Princeton at 59 per game, which makes the Tigers one of three Ivy teams in the top 10 (Penn fourth, Dartmouth 10th). 

There are two Ivy vs. Ivy games this weekend. Right now, there are four 1-0 teams: Princeton, Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell. That number drops by one tonight since Cornell plays at Harvard at 7 on ESPNU. The other game is tomorrow, with Yale at Dartmouth. 

Princeton is at Brown next weekend. Lafayette's next opponent? Well, it's two weeks away after an off week next week, which makes the timing great, since it could be the Patriot League championship game, with the Leopards at Holy Cross. 

Neither the Tigers nor the Leopards can impact their league races this weekend. You only get a certain number of games, though, and they all matter. 

This one figures to be a good one, a close one, something Princeton has now had each of the last two weeks. 

Unlike those two, it also figures to be a dry game, at least according to the forecast.