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Ron Davenport, we're both the Yorkers, although granted I'm a few years older, I could see

that. But we were both watching the NFL as young people in the 1980s. And one of the enduring

images for me is Mark Bavaro, the Giants all pro tight end Monday night football in

the 1986 season, which would end with a Giants winning Super Bowl 21, dragging the whole San

Francisco 49ers team down the field.

Over the middle to Bavaro and the tight end, fights his way inside the 30 and a single

effort to the 18 yard line, a solitary effort by Bavaro who made some 12 extra yards totally

on his own. This is classic and vintage Bavaro. This is what he does the best. He is just

one tough cookie.

That was kind of the exception for tight ends in that era. Sure, there were some great

ones who were excellent pass catchers, offensive weapons. Of course, Kellen Winslow and Todd

Christensen, Ozzy Newsom, Bavaro himself, we could go on, but it was still a position

at which the blocking was more important than the pass catching. You study the position

now. How has it evolved?

It's actually flip flop. The big burly tight end is something of the past. Now you're seeing

these guys who are in essence, just big wide receivers.

These are guys that can run routes just as well as most receivers. I think that's where

the position has kind of evolved to where they're big time playmakers, but there are some

who can still block the emphasis is not as much on it.

And that combination, the size, the speed, the athleticism, the hands, I mean, it's a different

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