random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

I'll concentrate on NBA and NFL. Feel free to add to the list....


NBA
Christian Laettner is a former NBA All Star

Jerry Stackhouse is a former single season league scoring leader

In 13 out of 18 seasons, Reggie Miller did not make the All Star team(taken from Celtics thread)

Kevin Garnett is 10th among active players in career assists

No active NBA player is in the top 15 of career rebounds per game

Stephon Marbury is 2nd among active players in assist per game, ahead of both Nash and Payton. And neither Nash or Payton are 3rd either.

Ben Gordon is the 9th best 3pt shooter in NBA shooter in NBA history if you go by 3pt FG%, 2nd only among active players to Steve Nash.

Nate Robinson has a better career 3pt FG% than Reggie Miller.


NFL
Billy Volek had more passing yards in the first 10 games of his career than any other QB in the past 25 years.

Before last season, Ladanian Tomlinson had never been the #1 overall RB in basic fantasy football scoring

Since 1990 the league leader in receptions has had 100 or more in every year except one. In 1998, OJ McDuffie led the league with only 90 receptions.

Keenan McCardell is 9th in career receptions

The league leaders in rushing TDs from 1985 to 1990 were: Jim Morris, George Rogers, Charles White, Johnny Hector, Greg Bell, Derrick Fenner, and Cleveland Gary(note that theres more than 6 listed due to ties some years). None of them rank in the top 40 of career TD leaders, and only one of them is in the top 50.

In 1996, Michael Jackson and Tony Martin tied for the league lead in receiving TDs.

In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

The 1987 Super Bowl only had 6 pro bowlers total on either teams' roster. By comparison, last year's SD Chargers team which didn't win a playoff game had 10 selections.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

" NBA
Christian Laettner is a former NBA All Star"

Try Wally Sczcerbiak and Jamaal Magloire as well!

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At the time of his retirement, the National League's all-time home run leader for switch-hitters was Howard Johnson.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

wow.. HoJo is surprising. Didn't know that.

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I guess it's not really surprising anymore because pretty much everyone knows about it at this point, but that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have never returned a kickoff for a touchdown in franchise history is a pretty astounding fact

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yeah along with that one, there's never been a no-hitter thrown at shea stadium.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
Billy Volek had more passing yards in the first 10 games of his career than any other QB in the past 25 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone who has been a serious NFL fan for the past 10 years should remember the Volek stretch and definitely should remember the TD record progression.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Billy Volek had more passing yards in the first 10 games of his career than any other QB in the past 25 years.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Anyone who has been a serious NFL fan for the past 10 years should remember the Volek stretch and definitely should remember the TD record progression.

[/ QUOTE ]

FWIW I did a trivia thread a while back and one of the questions was who had the most yards in their first 10 starts in the past 25 years. There were some other hard questions, but none of them took as long as it took people to get Volek right.

Yeah I'll give you that most people should know about the TDs...still kinda amazing though.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start the witch hunt.

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Please,

We all know that only baseball play...err Barry Bonds does steroids!

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I posted this once before, but in 2004, Lew Ford lead the Twins (offense anyway) in VORP with 33.7. Second was Hunter with 23.

That team went 92-70 and pretty much should have beat the Yankees in the divisional series. Won game 1, Nathan blew a save in the 12th in game 2 and they blew a 4 run lead in the 8th of game 4.

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Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

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[ QUOTE ]
Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither am I.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start awarding MVPs to undeserving players.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither am I.

[/ QUOTE ]

But Lynn Swann is. Terrible.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither am I.

[/ QUOTE ]

But Lynn Swann is. Terrible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Canton != Cooperstown

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither am I.

[/ QUOTE ]

But Lynn Swann is. Terrible.

[/ QUOTE ]

Canton != Cooperstown

[/ QUOTE ]

Really? You sure?

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start awarding MVPs to undeserving players.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft

[/ QUOTE ]

Peyton Manning lost 2MVPs as a result of those records

[ QUOTE ]
No active NBA player is in the top 15 of career rebounds per game

[/ QUOTE ]

players used to be really really really bad shooters, and teams used to shoot non-stop

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
Jim Rice is NOT in the Hall of Fame.

[/ QUOTE ]

Bert Blyleven isn't either. He is 1 behind Ryan/Seaver for the modern career shutout record (he had 60).

In 1973 (age 22) he started 40 games and completed 25 of them.

Career WARP3 of 141.5.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start awarding MVPs to undeserving players.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft

[/ QUOTE ]

Peyton Manning lost 2MVPs as a result of those records

[ QUOTE ]
No active NBA player is in the top 15 of career rebounds per game

[/ QUOTE ]

players used to be really really really bad shooters, and teams used to shoot non-stop

[/ QUOTE ]

not really

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

An NBA one I stumbled across today that kinda blew my mind:

Adrian Dantley has 7 career 3 point FG.

It was a different era for what was expected out of swingmen, I guess.

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Boston Garden had about 16,000 seats...

...and only about 2,000 of them were between the baskets.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start awarding MVPs to undeserving players.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft

[/ QUOTE ]

Peyton Manning lost 2MVPs as a result of those records

[ QUOTE ]
No active NBA player is in the top 15 of career rebounds per game

[/ QUOTE ]

players used to be really really really bad shooters, and teams used to shoot non-stop

[/ QUOTE ]

not really

[/ QUOTE ]


It was fairly common for the 4th best rebounder on the team to average over 10 a game.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]

It was fairly common for the 4th best rebounder on the team to average over 10 a game.

[/ QUOTE ]

OK, now you're just making [censored] up. Maybe I'm just drawing a blank, but what team has ever had 4 guys average 10+ boards per game?

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

I just remember that the year Oscar averaged a triple double he had like the 7th best rebounding rate on his team.


My point was that rebounding numbers back then were ridiculous.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In 2000 Marhsall Faulk set the record for most TDs in a season. In 2003 Priest Holmes broke it. In 2005 Shaun Alexander broke it. In 2006 Ladanian Tomlinson broke it.

[/ QUOTE ]

Start awarding MVPs to undeserving players.

[/ QUOTE ]

qft

[/ QUOTE ]

Peyton Manning lost 2MVPs as a result of those records

[ QUOTE ]
No active NBA player is in the top 15 of career rebounds per game

[/ QUOTE ]

players used to be really really really bad shooters, and teams used to shoot non-stop

[/ QUOTE ]

not really

[/ QUOTE ]


It was fairly common for the 4th best rebounder on the team to average over 10 a game.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't find 1 team that has 4 10+ rebounders in the 60s, please give an example team.

Philadelphia Warriors, 1967:

Nate Thurmond-21.3 RPG
Rick Barry-9.2 RPG
Fred Hatzel-8.3 RPG
Tom Meschery 7.6 RPG

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Post deleted by me.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

NCAA Tournament
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, there has never been a year where all four #1 seeds have made the Final Four.

NFL
Despite having one of the most heralded defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens finished only six total yards allowed (which is what the NFL uses to measure defensive rankings) ahead of their divisonal rival the Tennessee Titans.

The Ravens allowed 4,145 total yards (259.1 YPG) to the Titans (259.4). The Ravens also bested the Titans in total points allowed by just 26 (191-165, a difference of 1.6 PPG).

NBA
The Celtics new "Big Three" in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have played a total of 34 seasons in the NBA. The three combined have zero NBA Finals appearances and only three Conference Finals appearances (one each).

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

FWIW my statement was completely wrong.

I still stand by my point that rebound numbers were crazy back then, which they were.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

[ QUOTE ]
NCAA Tournament
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, there has never been a year where all four #1 seeds have made the Final Four.

NFL
Despite having one of the most heralded defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens finished only six total yards allowed (which is what the NFL uses to measure defensive rankings) ahead of their divisonal rival the Tennessee Titans.

The Ravens allowed 4,145 total yards (259.1 YPG) to the Titans (259.4). The Ravens also bested the Titans in total points allowed by just 26 (191-165, a difference of 1.6 PPG).

[/ QUOTE ]

"Just" 26 points better is a silly statement imo since the 2000 Titans had a great defense. That'd be like complaining that Jordan averaged "just" a few more points per game than Allen Iverson.

If your point was that the 2000 Titans defense was underrated due to being overshadowed by the Ravens, then I just misunderstood you and I agree completely. However if you're knocking the Ravens in any way then I completley disagree.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW my statement was completely wrong.

I still stand by my point that rebound numbers were crazy back then, which they were.

[/ QUOTE ]

Teams often have 4 or more players average over 10 points per game. Maybe you just got confused....I could see how points and rebounds are difficult to tell apart at times.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
NCAA Tournament
Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams, there has never been a year where all four #1 seeds have made the Final Four.

NFL
Despite having one of the most heralded defenses in NFL history, the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens finished only six total yards allowed (which is what the NFL uses to measure defensive rankings) ahead of their divisonal rival the Tennessee Titans.

The Ravens allowed 4,145 total yards (259.1 YPG) to the Titans (259.4). The Ravens also bested the Titans in total points allowed by just 26 (191-165, a difference of 1.6 PPG).

[/ QUOTE ]

"Just" 26 points better is a silly statement imo since the 2000 Titans had a great defense. That'd be like complaining that Jordan averaged "just" a few more points per game than Allen Iverson.

If your point was that the 2000 Titans defense was underrated due to being overshadowed by the Ravens, then I just misunderstood you and I agree completely. However if you're knocking the Ravens in any way then I completley disagree.

[/ QUOTE ]

You misunderstood me. The 2000 Ravens defense was phenominal. I was saying that since they won the Super Bowl, many forget that the Titans had an awesome defense that year as well that rivaled Baltimore's.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

[ QUOTE ]


You misunderstood me. The 2000 Ravens defense was phenominal. I was saying that since they won the Super Bowl, many forget that the Titans had an awesome defense that year as well that rivaled Baltimore's.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, my fault then. Completely agreed. On the same topic, call me a homer but I actually think the 2000 Ravens were tremendously underrated as a team because most people think their offense was so horrible, but it really wasn't that bad once Dilfer took over. I hope I get this stat right here....

In the past 25 years no team had outscored their opponents by a 2-1 margin. Under Dilfer, the Ravens outscored their opponents by a 3-1 margin.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
FWIW my statement was completely wrong.

I still stand by my point that rebound numbers were crazy back then, which they were.

[/ QUOTE ]

Teams often have 4 or more players average over 10 points per game. Maybe you just got confused....I could see how points and rebounds are difficult to tell apart at times.

[/ QUOTE ]

Or maybe I was thinking of rebounds per 40 minutes, where teams in the 60s would regularly have 6+ players averaging over 10 per game, compared to the current era where teams usually have 2 or 3.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear them
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


You misunderstood me. The 2000 Ravens defense was phenominal. I was saying that since they won the Super Bowl, many forget that the Titans had an awesome defense that year as well that rivaled Baltimore's.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok, my fault then. Completely agreed. On the same topic, call me a homer but I actually think the 2000 Ravens were tremendously underrated as a team because most people think their offense was so horrible, but it really wasn't that bad once Dilfer took over. I hope I get this stat right here....

In the past 25 years no team had outscored their opponents by a 2-1 margin. Under Dilfer, the Ravens outscored their opponents by a 3-1 margin.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dilfer's always been an underrated QB. I'm a lifelong Bucs fan and have always had a soft spot for the guy. Seems like a great guy too who works his ass off. I'm glad he got a ring.

He's nothing flashy, but with the right pieces in place he can efficiently lead an offense.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

Outside of the little back and forth, I'll second that I'm not the least bit surprised that no active NBA player is in the top 15 for rebounds/game. Not even looking at the stats, I know Duncan, KG, and Shaq are all around 11 RPG. It's well known that the early rebound numbers were gaudy. The Wilts and Russells of the world are in the 20s. Seems logical there'd be quite a few guys in the 12-20 range from the early days.

edit: Other NBA not so surprised: the Stackhouse scoring champ thing, if only because they mention it during Mavs games all the time. "Former scoring leader, moves to the 6th man role for the benefit of the team!"

That Laettner was an All-Star. For some reason I've always known that. I agree with GKA that Wally is pretty surprising.

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

Who holds the record for most homeruns in a season by a catcher? Who is second?

In 2003, Javy Lopez hit 42 homeruns as a catcher, surpassing todd hundley's 41. Mike Piazza, Yogi Berra, Gary Carter, Johnny Bench never hit 40 homeruns in a season as a catcher

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

In 1998 Gary Anderson only missed 1 field goal, everybody knows the one he missed gets blamed for the Vikings losing in the NFL championship to Atlanta.

If he had missed every field goal THE ENTIRE SEASON (not extra point, just field goals) their record would have been 13-2 w/ 1 game going into OT, (and they would have been the OT favorite anyways, but lets just assume they end up w/ a tie). Their record ends up 13-2-1 and they make playoffs.

They would have got a bye in the wildcard game. They would have won the divisional playoff game and been right back in the NFC Championship where Anderson would go on to miss the only FG he actually missed the entire season.

Who says you need a kicking game?

Source

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

I thought everyone knew the thing about the #1 seeds and the FF?

Re: random sports stats/facts that surprise you when you first hear th
 

[ QUOTE ]
edit: Other NBA not so surprised: the Stackhouse scoring champ thing, if only because they mention it during Mavs games all the time.

[/ QUOTE ] It's one of those things the announcers mention a lot. But the first time you hear it, you're surprised.

Similar note, Brent Barry was a slam dunk champ. Not surprising if you've followed the NBA for a while. But if you started watching during this year's playoffs, it'd surprise you that some 3 point shooter once won the slam dunk contest.