By Darin From the last successful drop kick in NFL history to the final game coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi, December 21st is a date rich with pivotal moments on the gridiron. Explore this historical timeline featuring the birth of the Dallas Cowboys under Tom Landry, Barry Sanders‘ exclusive 2,000-yard season achievement, and BYU’s first National Championship win in the Holiday Bowl.
December 21 Football History Timeline
- December 21, 1941 – Wrigley Field, Chicago – The 1941 NFL Championship Game took place. The New York Football Giants were challenging the defending Champs, the Bears of Chicago. The game was pretty much one-sided as the Monsters of the Midway dominated their visitors from the Big Apple, as reported by the Golden Rankings website. In an interesting side note, Bears kicker Ray McLean made the last NFL drop kick for an extra point per ESPN Classic. The story goes that the Bears were dominating the New York Giants in this late-season game, up 30-9 late. New York coughed up the ball, and the Bears’ Ken Kavanaugh picked it up and raced 42 yards for another Chicago score. Whether it was to humiliate the Giants further or just for entertainment value, McLean attempted the archaic method of kicking for points that had not been used in quite a while. The kick was up and good, and the Bears celebrated the 37-9 Title victory to become the first repeat Champs in NFL History and garner their fifth championship for the storied franchise.
- December 21, 1948 -Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel – At the 1949 NFL Draft, the Philadelphia Eagles chose University of Pennsylvania center/linebacker Chuck Bednarik as the first overall pick. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Bednarik played in the League for 14 seasons, registering 9 interceptions and earning All-Pro honors 9 times. Other legends that got their starts in the NFL in this draft were George Blanda, Doak Walker, Frank Tripucka, and Norm Van Brocklin. (source)
- December 21, 1959 – The Dallas Cowboys hire the New York Giants defensive coordinator, Tom Landry, as their First Head Coach. Landry stayed on as the Dallas head man until 1988. The Dallas News website has a fascinating story on how the former Cowboys owner, Tex Schram, chose Landry to guide his team. In the article, Schram, a former LA Rams GM and later a CBS Sports employee, was quoted to say, “I went to their [Giants] games and was surprised by what I saw,” Schramm said. “Here was an assistant coach – a defensive coach — who was looked upon by his players as almost a god. They were the best defensive club in the league for several years, and Tom Landry was the reason. He had a different philosophy of defense, and it worked.” Tom actually signed on with Schram before the Cowboys franchise even officially existed. The NFL formally announced the awarding of a franchise to Dallas on January 28, 1960. (source)
- December 21, 1969 – Washington, D.C. – Legendary Coach Vince Lombardi coached his last football game. The final game was very unceremonious as the great coach, six months in the future, would learn that he had colon cancer and would pass away from the terminal condition on September 3, 1970, at the age of 57, according to a Washington Post story. It is almost forgotten, too, that in what would be the final season Lombardi would see, he was on the sidelines of the Washington Redskins, not the Green Bay Packers, where he spent 9 seasons winning 5 NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls. By the way, the Redskins lost that day to their rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 20-10. Lombardi, in his one season, turned the Washington franchise around, though after 14 years of dismal finishes, to a 7-5-2 record and put the franchise on a course to be successful in the next decade of play. (source)
- December 21, 1974 – The Oakland Raiders had one of the most famous games, the “Sea of Hands,” against a very tough Miami Dolphins squad.
- December 21, 1975 – A “Bizarro World” of an NFL Game. Rich Stadium, Buffalo – The Vikings had all but locked up the number 1 playoff seed, and the Bills were playing for pride. Unruly Buffalo fans started pelting Vikings players with snowballs, so HC Bud Grant sent his offense to the locker room with plans for his defensive stars to play offense! Our friend Les Ferman explains in this Sports Time Traveler Substack.
- December 21, 1980 – Philadelphia Eagles Wide Receiver Harold Carmichael’s NFL streak of 127 consecutive games with a reception comes to an end. —Shifting to college football triumphs—
- December 21, 1984 – Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego – Brigham Young University wins their school’s first National Title. BYU knocked off a very tough University of Michigan team by the score of 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl to remain undefeated and secure the NCAA Division I-A football title.
- December 21, 1997 – Pontiac Silverdome, Michigan – The Detroit Lions’ legendary Running Back, Barry Sanders, is the third player to run for 2,000 yards in a single season. Sanders had 23 rushing attempts for 184 yards and one score in the Lions’ 13-10 victory over the visiting New York Jets to help him reach the milestone, according to the Pro-Football-Reference website.
December 21 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays
- Vic Bottari
- Garney Henley
Conclusion
December 21 stands as a monumental date in football history, marking the end of one era (Vince Lombardi’s final game, the last drop kick) and the beginning of another (the founding of the Dallas Cowboys under Tom Landry). It is a day that celebrates champions, from the 1941 Bears to the 1984 BYU Cougars, and honors the careers of College Football Hall of Famers like Vic Bottari, Garney Henley, Hal Bedsole, and George Floyd. This timeline captures the profound impact of football legends and the unforgettable milestones that have shaped both college and professional football.
Our thanks to Pro-Football-Reference.com and Newspapers.com in addition to the other cited sources.
