But what about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tecmo_Bowl:_Kickoff ?
I actually played a full season of that. And... well, it's not bad, but something just felt... off. Plus, it's interesting how not having real NFL players in a game can impact your enjoyment somewhat. I think I can still recall the major stats for pretty much all the superstar players in Tecmo Super Bowl. Favorite team in that game? The Kansas City Chiefs. Freakin' Christian Okoye was unstoppable. And they had Derrick Thomas, so rushing the QB was oh-so sweet.
Some of the RPG-esque features made their way into
Tecmo Super Bowl III: Final Edition, and the game just played better there (and had the NFL license, to boot). Not to mention I had fun figuring out who the legends players were, because they apparently didn't have the rights to use those (so you had QB Niners for Joe Montana, RB Bears for Walter Payton, etc.).