Football History of August 27

From the humble beginnings of small-town franchises in 1921 to seismic turning points in the modern era, August 27 holds a unique place in football history. Imagine a single day that welcomed future titan Green Bay alongside obscure, short-lived squads like the Tonawanda Cardex Lumbermen, marked the birth of Atlanta’s pro football era, and later witnessed a franchise-altering legal shockwave with Michael Vick. Combined with the birthdays of tackling machine Scott Studwell and dynamic college legend Darren McFadden, this date captures the evolution, volatility, and star power of American football history.

August 27 American Football History Timeline

• August 27, 1921 – The Green Bay Packers were admitted to the APFA, a predecessor of the National Football League, as J.E. Clair of Green Bay’s Acme Packing Company was granted a franchise. The Green Bay population was just over 31,000 people. This made the Packers the second-smallest town to have an NFL franchise. Next to only Tonawanda, which we’ll talk about in a second. The Packers had to play almost exclusively on the road in larger cities where attendance was expected to be higher, giving the Green Bay team a larger cut of revenue than they would at home. The 1921 season was shaky at best for the franchise. Home teams were scheduled week to week, predominantly based on what attendance they expected to draw. And back then, the Packers weren’t a big draw, but that would come later.
• August 27, 1921 – The Evansville Crimson Giants franchise formed, and they played in the NFL’s early formation, called the APFA, in the 1921 and 22 seasons. The nickname Giants was not too far off, as the team was headed by the 6’4″, 250-pound star and coach Franklin Fausch and Herb Henderson, who, according to reports, could kick a ball 80 yards in the air. The Crimson Giants were an early hit in the league. They competed with the best the APFA had to offer. But after a couple of crippling beatdowns in Green Bay, which we just talked about, some mismanagement of team funds, and a disconnect from the home fans, the Evansville 11 had to fold in 1922.
• August 27, 1921 – The Tonawanda Cardex Lumberman franchise applied and played in the APFA for the 1921 season. The Jacks played for only one game and have the distinction of being the shortest-lived franchise in NFL history. Their home was a small town just north of Buffalo, and they were from the smallest town in the NFL, with a population of just over 10,000. The team could only schedule away games week by week. This, coupled with the hometown newspaper’s better coverage of the semi-pro All-Tonawandans, gave little support for the Cardex squad. What made it even worse was that other NFL teams felt they could not draw crowds by playing the Jacks. So they scheduled more reputable teams to fill the stands.
• August 27, 1921 – The Minneapolis Marines, a Red Jackets team, joined the APFA/NFL for the 1921 through 24 season. They rejoined the NFL for the 1929 and 1930 seasons as the Minneapolis Red Jackets. According to the Pro Football Researcher Association’s Coffin Corner publication, 1998, volume 20, an article by Jim Quirk. The Marine squad, formed in 1905, reached its peak success in the years before the APFA and the NFL formed. Quarterback Rube Ursula and tackle Walt Big Boy Boolan were the Minneapolis stars who played in the teens and early years of the team, right through the professional era into the early 1920s. A stout defense is what the Marines were known for. And Ursula and Big Boy played both ways.
• August 27, 1966 – The Atlanta Falcons Make Their Home Debut at Atlanta Stadium: The expansion Atlanta Falcons took the field in front of their home fans for the very first time, hosting the San Francisco 49ers in a marquee preseason exhibition at the brand-new Atlanta Stadium (later known as Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium). The contest marked the arrival of major professional football in Georgia, introducing the region to head coach Norb Hecker’s inaugural squad before they kicked off their first official regular season that September.
• August 27, 1992 – The Canadian Football League strips the British Columbia Lions of their CFL franchise rights. Yeah, that’s right. This happened when Maury Pezum took control of the BC Lions and refused to pay the bills the club owed. Now, later on in September, Bill Comrie, who had purchased a franchise from the CFL, and the Lions would roar again in the Canadian League.
• August 27, 2007 – Federal Plea Reshapes the Atlanta Falcons Franchise: Former Pro Bowl quarterback Michael Vick formally entered a guilty plea to federal charges in Richmond, Virginia. The landmark legal development led to an immediate indefinite suspension from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, creating an abrupt turning point in Atlanta Falcons history that paved the way for the drafting of quarterback Matt Ryan the following spring.
• August 27, 2015 – The US patent for Helmet Head Impact Tracking and Monitoring System, US patent number 2015-02-381-43-A1.

August 27 Hall of Fame Birthdays

Happy Birthday to these outstanding gridiron stars! As we look forward to August 27, we celebrate a list featuring an all-time franchise tackling machine, a disruptive Super Bowl-winning defensive end, and one of the most decorated college running backs in SEC history.

Here is the list in order of birth:

• Scott Studwell [1954] – A fierce, relentless linebacker out of Illinois, Studwell was selected in the ninth round of the 1977 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and went on to become one of the most iconic defensive anchors in franchise history. A two-time Pro Bowler and member of the Vikings Ring of Honor, “Stud” played 14 seasons in Minnesota, retiring as the franchise’s all-time leading tackler with an astonishing 1,981 career stops before spending decades in the team’s scouting department.
• Rob Burnett [1967] – A rugged, versatile defensive end out of Syracuse, Burnett was selected in the fifth round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns, where he developed into a Pro Bowl pass rusher. He transitioned with the franchise to Baltimore, serving as an indispensable trench leader on the Ravens’ historic, record-setting 2000 defense that captured Super Bowl XXXV, finishing his 14-year career across Cleveland, Baltimore, and Miami with 73.0 career sacks.
• Darren McFadden [1987] – An electrifying, dynamic playmaker for the Arkansas Razorbacks, “Run DMC” was one of the most dominant backs in modern college football, twice winning the Doak Walker Award and finishing as the Heisman Trophy runner-up in back-to-back seasons (2006, 2007). Enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019, he was drafted fourth overall by the Oakland Raiders in 2008 and rushed for over 5,400 yards and 28 touchdowns across 10 seasons with Oakland and the Dallas Cowboys.

Conclusion

August 27 reminds us that football is defined as much by its fragile origins and off-field pivots as by on-field heroics. From the early APFA meetings that shaped enduring franchises and forgotten experiments to the defensive grit of Scott Studwell and Rob Burnett, each era leaves an indelible mark. As we reflect on the milestones and birthdays from this date, we honor the pioneers, innovations, and athletes who helped build the modern gridiron landscape.