1979 American Football Season

The 1979 American football season cemented legendary dynasties in both the professional and collegiate ranks. It was a year defined by the absolute dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers and the unyielding perfection of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Here is a snapshot of what football in 1979 looked like:

The NFL: A Dynasty Cemented

In the National Football League, 1979 was the year the Pittsburgh Steelers proved they were the undisputed team of the decade, showcasing an unstoppable mix of offensive firepower and a legendary defensive line.

• Back-to-Back Champions Again: Under head coach Chuck Noll, the Steelers finished the regular season 12-4. With their post-season run, they became the first franchise to win four Super Bowl titles, and the only team to win back-to-back Super Bowls twice.
• Super Bowl XIV: Held on January 20, 1980, at the Rose Bowl, the Steelers defeated the underdog Los Angeles Rams 31-19. Despite a courageous effort by the Rams, who led 19-17 going into the fourth quarter, quarterback Terry Bradshaw orchestrated two late scoring drives to secure the win and his second consecutive Super Bowl MVP award.
• The Rise of the Buccaneers: The 1979 season also featured the incredible “worst to first” turnaround of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Just three years after going winless (0-14) in their inaugural season, the team reached the NFC Championship game before falling to the Rams.

Beyond the final standings, 1979 provided several defining moments that permanently altered the trajectory of the sport:

• The Magic of Bradshaw to Stallworth: In Super Bowl XIV, Terry Bradshaw connected with Hall of Fame receiver John Stallworth for a jaw-dropping 73-yard go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter. It remains one of the most iconic and consequential passing plays in Super Bowl history.
• Fundamental Rule Changes: The 1979 NFL season saw the implementation of a few critical rule changes. The league officially prohibited players from wearing tear-away jerseys (popularized by running backs like Earl Campbell to easily escape tackles) and further refined pass-blocking rules to allow offensive linemen to extend their arms and open their hands, permanently accelerating the evolution of the passing game.
• A Staggering Draft Class: The 1979 NFL Draft was highly impactful, producing future Hall of Famers who would go on to define the 1980s. Most notably, the San Francisco 49ers drafted quarterback Joe Montana in the third round, quietly laying the groundwork for the NFL’s next great dynasty.

College Football: Bear Bryant’s Masterpiece

The collegiate landscape of 1979 was dominated by historic programs executing at the highest level, culminating in an undefeated champion.

• Alabama’s Perfection: Coached by the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, the Alabama Crimson Tide went a perfect 12-0. Utilizing their powerful wishbone offense, they defeated Arkansas 24-9 in the Sugar Bowl to claim the unanimous National Championship (AP and UPI).
• USC’s Heisman Hero: The USC Trojans finished an incredible undefeated season of their own (11-0-1), ranking #2 nationally. The highlight of their year was running back Charles White, who won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide. White rushed for 1,803 yards and 18 touchdowns during the regular season, famously capping off his collegiate career with a grueling 247-yard rushing performance to secure a 17-16 victory against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

A Deep Dive into 1979 Football History and Highlights

• January 1, 1979 – The Rose Bowl’s 65th offering had a competitive battle. Game MVP Charles White and his USC Trojans outlasted the Michigan Wolverines 17-10 in a thriller.
• January 1, 1979 -The Sugar Bowl had the National Championship on the line as No. 2 Alabama, led by Bear Bryant, faced No. 1 Penn State in a game so memorable it made ESPN’s top 150 College games ever in 2019.
• January 1, 1979 –Notre Dame’s fantastic story of the Joe Montana “Chicken Soup” game in the Cotton Bowl. ND won 35-34, but see our full Chicken Soup game coverage.
• January 7, 1979 – Three Rivers Stadium, Pittsburgh –The AFC Championship game once again came to the home of the Steelers, per Pro-Football-Reference.com. The Houston Oilers, the Steelers’ AFC Central rivals, arrived to challenge the team of the 1970’s. Despite being the two best AFC teams, the game was sloppy: 14 turnovers were committed, 9 by the Oilers. The Steel Curtain Defense limited Oilers’ running back Earl Campbell to 62 yards and held Houston’s passing game under 100 yards, for only 142 total offensive yards. Meanwhile, Terry Bradshaw and company produced 379 yards as the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated Houston, 34-5.
• January 7, 1979 – LA Memorial Coliseum –The NFC Championship game was extremely one-sided as the Dallas Cowboys demolished the Los Angeles Rams, 28-0.
• January 21, 1979 – Miami Orange Bowl, Miami –Super Bowl XIII may be one of the greatest NFL Championships ever played, according to a 247Sports.com article. The two top teams of the era squared off with Hall of Fame Coaches, Tom Landry on the Dallas Cowboys sideline, while the Pittsburgh Steelers strategist was Chuck Noll. The game was heavily hyped in the build-up, and it really lived up to everyone’s expectations, probably surpassing them. The game was a rematch of Super Bowl X, played 3 years earlier, where the Steelers won 21-17. The game still holds the record for hosting 19 future Pro Football Hall of Famers. Noll, Landry, Tex Schramm, the Cowboys GM, Pittsburgh owners Art and Dan Rooney, and assistant coaches for Dallas, Mike Ditka and Ernie Stautner.  Part of the pregame hype was Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson mocking Terry Bradshaw’s intelligence, and this enraged many of the Steelers players. Henderson even had a big hit on T.B. that caused a fumble, giving Dallas only a lead, but the Blonde Bomber overcame 3 turnovers to have a great second half. His throws put receivers Lynn Swann and John Stalworth over 100 yards receiving on the day, a Super Bowl record for two receivers on the same team. Dallas had its chance at the end, but Tight End Jackie Smith dropped a wide-open, sure touchdown pass in the end zone with the Cowboys facing 3rd and three from the Steelers’ ten-yard line in the third quarter, and Dallas had to kick a field goal. The Pittsburgh Steelers were victorious over the Dallas Cowboys, 35-31. The game’s MVP was Terry Bradshaw. One final note: this was the last Super Bowl ever played at the Orange Bowl. Five of the first thirteen were played there, including the first matchup of these two teams in Super Bowl X and the great Jets versus Colts game in Super Bowl III.
• January 29, 1979 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum– The NFC outlasted the AFC squad in the NFL Pro Bowl, 13-7. Vikings receiver Ahmad Rashād was awarded the Most Valuable Player honor for the game.
• May 3, 1979 –The 1979 NFL Draft: Tom Cousineau from Ohio State was the first pick by the Buffalo Bills. The 1979 NFL Draft produced three Pro Football Hall of Famers:1) The Chicago Bears used the fourth pick to select Arkansas defensive end Dan Hampton. 2) The San Diego Chargers drafted tight end Kellen Winslow at number 13. 3) The San Francisco 49ers landed the steal of the draft by taking Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana with the 82nd overall pick. Full coverage of the 1979 NFL Draft is found here.
• September 7,  1979 – Media giant, ESPN had its very first day of broadcasting the entertainment and sports programming network started in a rented office space in Plainville, Connecticut according to the ESPN website The company is now owned by the American Broadcasting Company a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company With an 80% share and the other 20% is owned by Hearst The ESPN complex is located in Bristol, Connecticut now with a sprawling 1.2 million square foot campus and companies 18 different buildings ESPN incorporated now owns the rights to over 50 different business entities Its connection to football is very deep and it’s a home of NFL’s Monday night football Numerous college games Thursday through Saturday during the season and many talk shows centered on the sport of football Let’s jump the time loop a couple years and head to Cleveland Ohio as the Cleveland Browns quarterback Brian Sipes sets a team record with 57 passing attempts in one game as the Browns fall at home to the San Diego Chargers 44 to 14.
• September 15, 1979 – The 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs hosted the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Athens, Georgia, for the season’s opening game. The Demon Deacons came prepared and surprised the Bulldogs by piling up 31 first downs and running 91 offensive plays, amassing 570 yards of total offense. Wide out Wayne Baumgardner caught a pair of first-quarter TD passes from Jay Venuto for Wake’s points, but the Deacons trailed 21-13 at the end of the second stanza. The Demon Deacons came out fired up after halftime and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Wake Forest then pulled to within 21-16 on a 34-yard field goal by Frank Harnisch in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the Deacons took a 22-21 lead on a 9-yard pass from Venuto to James McDougald and never looked back. Wake Forest defensive back Larry Ingram intercepted a pair of passes from Buck Belue in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. McDougald finished with 189 yards rushing on 30 carries, and Venuto was named Sports Illustrated’s College Player of the Week.
• October 7, 1979 –  Dino Hall of the Cleveland Browns returns a franchise record 9 kickoffs in a game. It is probably not a record that the franchise or their fans wanted to witness, as their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, put up a 50-point effort in the 51-35 Steel-town win at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
• October 21, 1979 – Ozzie Newsome begins NFL streak of 150 consecutive game receptions. In a UPI article by Thomas M. Burnettrich, dated October 29, 1989, Newsome was injured after the first Cleveland offensive play in the second half and had not had a reception in the first half against the Oilers. Newsome, by his own choice, decided not to go back into the game to try and preserve the streak with a short reception. The Browns prevailed without their star receiver contributing on the stat line as they cruised to a 28-17 victory over the Houston Oilers.
• October 27, 1979 – Per the National Football Foundation’s website, No. 12 Pittsburgh freshman quarterback and future College Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns as the Panthers sunk undefeated No. 17 Navy Midshipmen, 24-7. Pitt starting quarterback Rick Trocano went down early in the first quarter and never regained his starting spot from Marino. The Midshipmen jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the second quarter before giving up 24-straight points in the losing effort.
• October 27, 1979 – From Wake Forest Athletic Department-  James McDougald rushed for four touchdowns, three in the second half, to lead 18th-ranked Wake Forest to a come-from-behind 42-38 win over Auburn at Groves Stadium.  The win improved Wake Forest’s season record to 7-1.  
• November 10, 1979 –Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana – The Crimson Tide rolled away with a 3-0 victory over LSU on a rain-soaked field. According to AL.com, Alan McElroy’s 27-yard field goal midway through the third quarter accounted for the game’s only points.  Paul “Bear” Bryant’s Alabama team had won the national championship the previous season, and came into the 1979 LSU game 8-0 and riding a 17-game winning streak.
• November 12, 1979 – Texas Stadium, Dallas, Texas – Kicker Tony Franklin of the Philadelphia Eagles kicks a 59-yard field goal as his team holds off a late Cowboys charge to upset Dallas 31 to 21. (source)
• November 17,  1979 – Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama –  Alabama defeated Miami, 30-0, before a national audience. The moment marked the final regular season game of Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s only 12-0 national championship team. The Crimson Tide would go on to dispatch Arkansas 24-9 on January 1 at the Sugar Bowl.  (source)
• November 24, 1979 – Tokyo, Japan –Notre Dame beats Miami 40-15 in the Mirage Bowl per Irishlegends.com. Fandom.com explains that the Mirage Bowl was an annual college football game hosted in Tokyo, Japan, from 1977 through 1993. The game was renamed the Coca-Cola Bowl or Coca-Cola Classic in 1986 and kept this name until the event was discontinued after the 1993 season.
• November 25, 1979– Olympic Stadium, Montreal – The CFL 67th Grey Cup game was played, as told by the New York Times. The Edmonton Eskimos retained the CFL Championship by knocking off the  Montreal Alouettes, 17-9. The MVP of the game was running back David Green, and the Most Valuable Canadian was awarded to Tom Cousineau.  Interesting tidbit.. David Green attended my alma mater, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
• November 25, 1979, was the first time the broadcast team of John Madden and Pat Summerall was in the same booth for a game, marking 22 years of their great announcing together, per the classic sports.com site.  You may want to check out our conversation on the broadcast tandem.
• December 1, 1979 –We had a great matchup in the 44th Iron Bowl. Alabama’s Crimson Tide outlasted the Tigers of Auburn 25-18 at old Legion Field in Birmingham.
• December 3, 1979 – USC’s talented running back Charles White won the 45th Heisman Trophy Award.
• December 16, 1979 – Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas –Legendary quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys, Roger Staubach, threw 3 touchdown passes for a total of 336 yards in his last NFL regular season game with the Cowboys. DFW.CBSlocal.com reports that the Cowboys trailed the Redskins by 17 points at halftime. Dallas needed every bit of Roger the Dodgers’ efforts for the comeback, too, as the Cowboys edged out a 35-34 win over the Washington Redskins.