I remember watching the Baltimore Colts middle linebacker #32 Mike Curtis. He was a naturally mean guy and a VERY hard tackler. He did NOT want receivers to feel safe around him. He tackled to punish.
Just watch this to see how modern football has changed, for safety, to something almost like flag football. It was VICIOUS in the old days. Not saying better or worse, just different.
The big highlight was when he nailed a fan who ran out on the field and grabbed the ball and ran around with it.
Curtis also refused to go on strike with the rest of the NFL, called the union a bunch of communists etc. He was HARD CORE, and he didn’t give a damn what anybody thought. He was one of a kind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xWfk6ld87o&ab_channel=EastBay66
Another huge difference between the good years and the modern years is that tacklers knew how to tackle. The yahoos today just launch themselves at the ball carrier with no thought at all about wrapping them up and taking them down ... they just want to hit them to make them fall.