One of my favorite Twitter accounts to follow is @AKAtheMaskedMan. The man behind the mask is David Shoemaker, a writer for Grantland and Deadspin.
His columns have become ‘must read’ for me, as he writes about professional wrestling in a way I’ve never experienced before. If I had jumped off the pro wrestling ship a decade or so ago like so many people my age did, this guy would have me dying to be back in the clubhouse wishing I never left. Check out our conversation with Shoemaker here, where we discuss comic books, bars, and of course, professional wrestling.
His tweets are engaging. In one of them he asked for people to identify the best wrestling Pay-Per-View they had ever seen. He rarely self-promotes, which is a refreshing change of pace on Twitter. One of his tweets was the inspiration for us to compile this list:
Super Tecmo Barry Sanders was epic (if injury prone). The Sanders/Peete groundgame combo was borderline unstoppable.
— David Shoemaker (@DavidShoemaker) July 28, 2011
This tweet got me thinking about the most deadly players in Tecmo Super Bowl history. I polled some old Tecmo friends and compiled the most common responses.
5. Christian Okoye
A nasty running back from the Kansas City Chiefs, Okoye managed to outshine Barry Word, his similarly fearsome backfield mate. Okoye consistently shed would-be tacklers and could tear through defensive lines like a Dreadnok in a Dunkin’ Donuts.
4. Dan Marino
One of the most frustrating offensive players to play against, Dan Marino would constantly hook up with receivers that were double and triple covered. Marino completed passes that would have been sure interceptions if they had come off the hand of a lesser field general. 80-yard bombs from Dan’s laser cannon arm arrived at their intended target in half the time it took other QBs to reach their recievers. Marino to Clayton or Duper was nearly unstoppable.
3. Lawrence Taylor
Hands down the most dangerous player on the defensive side of the ball in Tecmo Super Bowl. Football people have said that LT was the first defensive player in NFL history that opposing coaches had to build their game plan around. Tecmo LT was no different. He was lighting fast and could blast through blockers as if they we barely there. If you were lined up against LT, you had to either choose a running play going away from him, or pass the ball to the first reciever that your QB targeted.
2. Barry Sanders
During his NFL career, Barry Sanders was the most exciting player to watch every Sunday. He made professional defenders look foolish. His Tecmo counterpart was similar; his ability to stop on a dime and change direction left pixilated defenders looking equally foolish. Players controlling Barry Sanders often had sore thumbs due to all the cutting and juking involved in long running plays. A small price to pay for Tecmo dominance.
1. Bo Jackson
No surprise here. Still one of the best clips on YouTube, if you haven’t seen this Super Tecmo Bowl player run out an entire quarter on one Bo Jackson running play, watch it now. It’s impossible not to laugh when he runs all the way back to his own endzone and eludes at least 8 tacklers in one move. How tired were that dude’s thumbs at the end of that play? Tecmo fans were no stranger to the picture on the right, as Bo Jackson easily rumbled in for score after score against even the best defenses. We will never know if Tecmo programmers intended to create Bo Jackson as a superhuman on their game, but we will always remember him as such.
Dope List, I’d change the order a bit … and in my humble opinion it is incomplete without QB Eagles … Randal is virtually unstoppable (Though he fumbles) … maybe he’s not and maybe I’m just great though LOL
Dope post and site
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I think you are right, it took a good bit it Tecmo talent to get the most out of Randal on that game. He frustrated me as a player because his pass accuracy wasn’t the best and if guys were covered it was a likely interception if you threw their way.
I was lazy- I’d use Miami, snap the ball, and if there was pressure just chuck it up to whoever was highlighted and even if they were triple covered sometimes it’d be completed – used to frustrate the hell out of my buddies. I never ran the ball much – too much work!
Thanks for reading and commenting. Looking forward to more CSP in 2012!
The Chiefs were my TSB team. Derrick Thomas on defense was as good as they came, nearly comparable to LT, even on pass coverage.
Hon. mention has to go to Bruce Smith of the Bills. That team was sick.
Yes! Tank always used the Bills against me when we were younger – Bruce Smith constantly had Marino rattled. Damn O-Line couldn;t stop him. And don’t even get me started on that Thurman Thomas draw play.
The Warren Moon led Oilers were great too. They had, by far the best group of receivers in the game. Just don’t try to run the ball with them.
was that Lorenzo White? Even if you mustered an effective run with him, he’d fumble.