1869
November 6, 1869, an inter-collegiate game was played between Princeton and Rutgers. The game played this day was very similar to soccer, with hints of rugby, with 25 players on the field for each team. Many call this the First American football game. We call that idea Hogwash. Check out our 1876 and 1880 posts for a better idea of when American football first started.
November 13, 1869 - Princeton hosted Rutgers in Princeton, NJ, winning 8-0. Again, not really American football, but an intercollegiate sporting event for sure.
1870
November 12, 1870: Columbia University's first football game was played, against Rutgers in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won the contest 6-3, which is recognized as one of the earliest intercollegiate football games. The match featured 20 players per side and was played under 19th-century rules that emphasized kicking over passing.
November 1870: Princeton and Rutgers played again, with Princeton defeating Rutgers 6–0. This game's violence caused such an outcry that no games were played at all in 1871.
1871
In 1871, Harvard University began playing a variation of the game called “the Boston Game,” which differed from the others by allowing a player to pick up the ball and run if he was chased. This was an inter-Harvard game, much like an intramural activity.
While intercollegiate play remained on hiatus, the spirit of the game lived on through fierce intra-university traditions. On campuses like the University of Pennsylvania, students kept the sport alive with spirited class rivalries in the fall of 1871—carrying forward a gridiron legacy that stretched back to the 1820s.
While the 1871 season remains largely a mystery, records suggest a historic clash took place between the University of Virginia and Washington & Lee. However, in a frustrating twist for historians, the final score and statistics have been lost to the fog of time.
1872
Nov 2, 1872 (First Game): Rutgers and Columbia played to a 0–0 tie, representing the first college football game in New York State and the first tie in college football history.
Nov 9, 1872: Rutgers defeated Columbia 7–5.
Nov 16, 1872 (New England's First Game): Yale played its first-ever game, defeating Columbia 3–0 at Hamilton Park in New Haven, Connecticut.
Nov 16, 1872: Princeton defeated Rutgers 4–1.
Yale's first football game took place on Yale won 3–0 in a 20-a-side matchup based on soccer rules, November 16, 1872, at Hamilton Park in New Haven against Columbia College. With Tommy Sherman scoring the first goal and Lew Irwin scoring the other two. This game was the first intercollegiate football match in New England.
Nov 23, 1872 (Stevens' First Game): Columbia defeated Stevens Tech 6–0, which was the first official intercollegiate game for Stevens Tech.
1873
October 20, 1873: Yale invited representatives from Harvard, Rutgers, Columbia, and Princeton to a convention in New York City to draft rules for an intercollegiate football association. ( a precursor to the NCAA) Harvard declined to attend because the other schools had no intention of honoring any of the rules of the Boston game. The four remaining schools established the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) and set the maximum number of players per team at 15.
Harvard declined, stubborn in their commitment to their own specific rules.
Columbia failed to attend the meeting.
A win required scoring six goals (or a lead of two).
Officiating would consist of one referee and two judges.
Strictly prohibited: Throwing or carrying the ball (a rule that leaned heavily toward modern soccer).
1874
April, 1874: Harvard Captain, Henry Grant, got in touch with the captain of the McGill University team, David Roger, and invited them to play two games in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 13 and 14, 1874.
The May 13, 1874, contest began under Canadian colleges' rules and was scheduled for the second half to use Boston rules. The Harvard players enjoyed the Montreal version so much that they asked their opponents to play the remainder of the game according to the rules McGill had brought. Harvard won the first game 3-0.
The following day's game on May 14, 1874, ended in a scoreless tie between Harvard and McGill. Harvard went on to adopt many elements from the game their Canadian friends had shown them, including tackling, downs, and field goals.
October 23, 1874 (Rematch): Harvard traveled to Montreal and defeated McGill 3 tries to 0.
1875
British-born Augustus Hornsby wrote a letter that spurred the formation of the Chicago Football Club, which adopted a constitution in mid-November 1875 to play games under Rugby Union rules. (Tim Brown, Football Archaeology)
First Harvard-Yale Game ("The Game") - Nov 13, 1875: Harvard defeated Yale 4–0 at Hamilton Park in New Haven. This is regarded as the start of the historic rivalry and was watched by over 2,000 spectators, including future "father of American football" Walter Camp.
The "Concessionary Rules": The Harvard-Yale game was played under a compromise set of rules, as Harvard played a rugby-style game (derived from their 1874 match with McGill) and Yale played a soccer-style game. The 1875 match utilized 15 players per side and allowed carrying the ball.
First Use of Uniforms - June 4, 1875: Harvard and Tufts played what was likely the first game where teams wore uniforms. Harvard wore white shirts and pants with crimson trimming and stockings. Tufts upset Harvard 1–0 at Jarvis Field in Cambridge.
First Game in Maine - Nov 6, 1875: Bates College and Tufts played the first college football game in Maine, described as a "roughhouse affair" with rudimentary rules.
1875 College Football Season Champions: The season had no single, clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Columbia, Harvard, and Princeton as selected national champions, although only Princeton and Harvard generally claimed it.
1876
September 1, 1876 - During the next few years, though, a new figure entered the Yale football scene, yes, you guessed it, Walter Chauncey Camp. Camp arrived at the New Haven campus in 1876 and enjoyed the game between the Yale and Harvard clubs. Camp so loved the sport that he joined the Yale team in 1877 and essentially became its first head coach, as the title of Captain then served as the role. Camp not only coached the team but also played. He played on the varsity teams of Yale from 1877 to 1882, serving as Captain in 1878, 1879, and again in 1881. Camp’s leadership gave Yale 25 wins, one loss, and 6 ties over his playing career. He was a sure tackler, a great kicker, and an elusive runner.
November 11, 1876 - The University of Pennsylvania had its first football game. The Penn Quakers faced the Princeton Tigers, ending in a 6-0 Princeton win.
November 23, 1876 - Many experts, including Timothy Brown, regard this as the start of American Football. Yale's legendary player/coach, Walter Camp, represented Yale at a meeting of top Eastern Schools at the Massasoit House in Springfield, Massachusetts, which helped establish a printed set of rules, very similar to the European Rugby Code, and the group formed the Intercollegiate Football Association.
1877
Fall of 1877 - Walter Camp, a student at Yale, joined the football team.
November 3, 1877: Yale vs. Tufts (Hamilton Park, New Haven, CT) — W 1–0
November 3, 1877 - Princeton's L.P. Smock introduced wearing padding to the game of football when he and his team faced Harvard. Smock sewed padding made mostly of cotton into his uniform jersey and pants for this game. The rules in that contest more closely resembled rugby than our modern American Football, but it was a rough sport nonetheless. Per the source, sportsrec.com, Smock's pads were thin, quilted layers sewn to the shoulders, thighs, and knees of the laced-up jersey and knee pants he designed as the first football uniform for Princeton's players. The pads were not very heavy and provided little protection.
November 21, 1877: Yale vs. Trinity (CT) (Hamilton Park, New Haven, CT) — W 7–0
November 24, 1877: Yale vs. Stevens (Hamilton Park, New Haven, CT) — W 13–0
December 8, 1877: Yale vs. Princeton (St. George's Cricket Club grounds, Hoboken, NJ) — T 0–0
1878
Spring of 1878 - The IFA met to discuss rules revisions. Walter Camp proposed reducing the number of players from 15 to 11 per side (though this wasn't fully adopted until 1880).
Fall 1878 - Canvas pants and jackets replaced tights as uniforms
November 28, 1878, the most significant game of the 1878 season took place in Hoboken, New Jersey. An unprecedented 4,000 spectators attended. To put this in perspective, just a few years earlier, crowds were often measured in the dozens or low hundreds. Princeton defeated Yale 1–0. The game was so popular that the $300 rental fee for the field—considered "grossly extravagant" at the time—was actually criticized by some as a sign the sport was becoming too commercialized.
He proposed reducing the number of players from 15 to 11 per side (though this wasn't fully adopted until 1880).
His leadership during the 1878 season cemented his influence on the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) rules committee.
Brown University and Swarthmore College officially established their football programs this year.
The season saw a shift in focus toward "perfection of play" and strategic stability, as the rules remained largely consistent with the previous year to allow teams to master the rugby-style tackle and carry.
1881
October, 1881 - The 1881 convention of the IFA officially standardized the field dimensions at 110 yards by 53.3 yards. The rules also empowered the Referee to eject players.
October 29, 1881 - The Princeton Tigers traveled to Philadelphia to face the Penn Quakers. The Tigers won the game 7-0, en route to a 7-0-2 overall record, and were retroactively named national champion by the Billingsley Report and as co-national champion by Parke H. Davis.
October 31, 1881 - A historic game took place when the University of Michigan traveled East to face Harvard. The game was played at the South End Grounds, home of the Boston Braves, a stadium that could accommodate 6800 spectators. Harvard won by a lone touchdown scored, 4-0 (TDs were only worth 4-points in 1881).
November 2, 1881 - Michigan played game two of their three-day swing into the East, facing Yale. The powerhouse Eli team dashed the Wolverines' hopes with an 11-0 lopsided victory.
November 4, 1881 - Michigan took it on the chin for a third straight game against the Eastern powerhouses, this time visiting Princeton, where the Tigers overcame the Wolverines by the score of 13-4.
November 12, 1881 - Penn State had its first-ever football game, as the Nittany Lions pounded Lewisburg College (PA), 9-0.
November 19, 1881- Princeton and Harvard played to a scoreless tie at the Polo Grounds in New York City.
November 24, 1881 - Yale and Princeton played to a scoreless tie at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Years later, the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listed Princeton and Yale as having been selected national champions
1882
September 29, 1882 - The Minnesota Golden Gophers played their first football game. It was a successful outing as Minnesota defeated Hamline University of St. Paul in a 4-0 victory. A couple of weeks later, the two teams met again, and Hamline downed Minnesota 2-0.
October 1882 - Fordham University (then St. John's College ) played its first football game, defeating Seton Hall University in its first varsity football game on its way to a 6-1, 1882 campaign..
November 30, 1882 - In the "game of the year," Yale and Princeton squared off in a contest famously dubbed “The Block Game.” The matchup earned this moniker because Princeton held possession for the entire first half without ever attempting to score; Yale then seized the ball in the second half and effectively repeated the same strategy. This defensive stalemate directly inspired a landmark rule change: the offensive team had to gain at least 5 yards in 3 downs, or they would forfeit possession of the ball. Yale did win 2-1. This game prompted Walter Camp to suggest an impactful rules change for a series of downs.
December 1, 1882 - The College Rules body, IFA, upon the recommendation of Walter Camp, introduced a rule to incorporate a series of downs, three to gain five yards.
December 25, 1882 - Colorado College played its first organized football game, defeating the local Sigafus Hose Company 10–8 in Colorado Springs. It was the first known game in the Rockies.
1884
October 15, 1884 - The new rules of 1884 concentrated on the kicking game. Fair catches of kicks and punts seemed to be a major priority of this convention, as a few rules were amended to mold fair catch guidelines.
October 25, 1884 - Yale entered the 1884 season riding a 17-game winning streak and had won multiple National Championships in the past few years. The powerhouse Bulldog squad really flexed their muscles against the Dartmouth team that season. It marked the first game in which over 100 points were scored, as Yale toppled Dartmouth 113-0.
On November 27, 1884, another rules convention was held at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. This convention was an appeal by Yale and its coach, Walter Camp, to have the decision of referee R.M. Appleton (from Harvard) in the Princeton-Yale game of that year declared a “no-contest,” with the score officially recorded as 0-0. Mr. Appleton’s decision was upheld after a long debate.
The "Fair": This technical term described returning the ball to play from the sidelines after it went out of bounds.
Downs: Officials classified "fairs" as downs, even though they started differently than standard plays.
The 1876 Definition: Originally, the rules defined a fair catch as a catch made directly from an opponent’s kick, forward throw, or "knock on," as well as from a punt-out or punt-on.
The Heel Mark: This original rule required the catching player to mark the spot by digging his heel into the ground.
1885
October 12, 1885, saw the IFA adjust rules to restrict running with the ball after a caught punt, aimed at protecting backs. They also changed the number of officials in games, increasing it to four to better manage the play.
November 2, 1885 - The University of South Carolina has its first-ever win in its game against Columbia AA (20-0) in Columbia, SC. The very first game for the University of South Carolina football program occurred on December 24, 1892, in a contest against Furman College in Charleston, S.C., where the early Gamecocks were blanked 44-0 by the Paladins. Special thanks to the University of South Carolina's Athletic Department for furnishing this information to us!
November 21, 1885 - College football's first viral moment, as Princeton scored on a game-ending play to defeat rival Yale 6-5. It was also the first contest between these two schools played on one of their campuses rather than a neutral site.
1886
May 5, 1886 - At the IFA Rules Convention, Harvard was reinstated as a member school after a one-year hiatus. Rules protecting the center were instituted to improve player safety.
October 9, 1886 - A 2nd IFA Rules Convention for the year took place. The first scheduled championship game is set for Thanksgiving Day. The first time an “official game ball” was recorded by rule, the Lillywhite number “J” was the ball to be used in all games.
November 25, 1886 - Yale and Princeton played the first ever pre-scheduled championship on Thanksgiving Day, which ended in a scoreless tie.
1887
March 26, 1887 - A football rules convention was held where revisions were made to make the referee the ultimate authority on the field, and to adjust wording on a try for goal after a touchdown.
On November 23, 1887, the University of Notre Dame invited some interested students to visit their campus to teach ND students how to play football. The meeting, widely considered a controlled scrimmage the next morning, was intended to teach Notre Dame students how to play the game.
November 24, 1887 - On Thanksgiving Day, Yale defeated Harvard 17-8 in a major intersectional college football game.
1888
May 5, 1888 - Association's Rules meeting. A rule was instituted that prevented the snapper-back (center) from running with the ball until it touched a third player. Also, a precursor to preventing holding was written into the rules by limiting members of the rush line's use of extended arms.
October 18, 1888 - The first intercollegiate game in the state of North Carolina was when Wake Forest defeated North Carolina 6–4. This was Wake Forest's first football game ever played.
November 14, 1888 - The University of California played its first football game. The team known as the Fighting Methodists (not Trojans yet) played the Alliance Athletic Club, and USC won the game 16-0.
November 29, 1888 - The first "scientific game" took place on Thanksgiving, as North Carolina played Duke (then the Trinity Blue and White). Duke won 16 to 0.
1889
March 2, 1889 - Football Advisory Committee held a rules meeting. One rule brought to fruition was an official's timeout after a score. Other revisions included a hefty 25-yard penalty for offending teams for illegal tackling and unnecessary roughness.
March 30, 1889 - A second football rules meeting was held to redefine what a touchdown was. Other precepts included allowing the defense to use their hands and arms to block opponents, while offensive players could not use their arms or hands. Referees were given whistles for the first time by rule to signal the stoppage of play.
November 16, 1889 - The University of Iowa plays its first official varsity football game against Iowa College (now Grinnell College) in Grinnell, Iowa. Iowa College won the game 24-0, which was also the first collegiate football game played west of the Mississippi River.
November 23, 1889 - The Wisconsin Badgers played their first-ever football game in Madison, losing 27–0 to the Calumet Club of Milwaukee. Played on the "lower campus athletic field" (now Library Mall), this marked the start of the program's history.
December 14, 1889 - Wofford defeated Furman in the first intercollegiate game played in the state of South Carolina.
December 1889 - Journalist Caspar Whitney selected the inaugural All-America college football team, which was composed entirely of players from the "Big Three": Princeton, Yale, and Harvard. Among these legendary honorees, four individuals eventually earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame: Knowlton Ames (Fullback, Princeton), Hector Cowan (Tackle, Princeton), Pudge Heffelfinger (Guard, Yale), Amos Alonzo Stagg (End, Yale), Edgar Allen Poe (Princeton), among others.
1890
May 3, 1890 - Ohio State University played its first-ever football game against Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, with the Buckeyes winning 20-14. (Ohio State Buckeyes)
May 10, 1890 - The Rules Committee convened for a look at amending gridiron rules for the upcoming 1890 season. Harvard withdrew from the Association once again. The new rule provided kick-catching protections, injury substitution, and prevented disqualified players from re-entering the game.
October 2, 1890 - The University of Illinois' first game was a 16-0 loss to Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington. IL. (Illinois Illini)
October 11, 1890 - The University of Pittsburgh (then known as Western University of Pennsylvania) played its first official football game vs. Shadyside Academy, which resulted in a 38–0 loss. (Pitt Panthers)
October 20, 1890 - The Missouri Tigers played their first-ever football game, a 22-6 win over a local picked-up football team.
November 15, 1890 - Colorado Buffaloes' first football game ever, as they lost the contest to the Denver Athletic Club 20-0.
On November 22, 1890, Kansas hosted its first-ever college football game, in which the Baker Methodists defeated the Kansas Jayhawks, 22–9. It was the 1st game college game officially played in the state of Kansas.
November 27, 1890 - In the inaugural college football game held in the state of Tennessee, the Vanderbilt Commodores delivered a dominant 40–0 shutout victory over Nashville (Peabody Normal School).
November 27, 1890 - The University of Nebraska played its first-ever football game on Thanksgiving Day in a win over the Omaha YMCA team, 18-0. The game was played on lot that had been logged out the year before by civil engineering students, and was attended by several hundred spectators. (Nebraska Cornhuskers)
November 29, 1890 - The first official Army-Navy football game was played at West Point, NY, where the US Naval Academy (Navy) defeated the US Military Academy (Army) 24-0.
1891
November 7, 1891 - The Sewanee Tigers made their football debut as they fell to Vanderbilt 0-22, at Hardee Field in Sewanee, Tennessee.
November 21, 1891 - The University of Tennessee fielded its first-ever team in a football game on Thanksgiving Day, falling to Sewanee 0-24.
November 28, 1891 - The West Virginia Mountaineers debuted on the gridiron against nearby Washington and Jefferson. W&J won the game by a staggering 72-0 score.
1892
March 21, 1892 - The Graduate Rules Committee convened to propose changes to the rules on a “punt-out,” missed field goal attempts would result in loss of possession, and a 2 and your gone policy for violators who coached from the sideline.
May 12, 1892 - The Rules Convention was held, which approved the Graduate Advisory Committee recommendations from March 21. The rules were officially adopted.
May 25, 1892 - Investigators discovered a boat with deep fingernail scratches, which directly linked it to events from days before. They presumed the wreckage belonged to a vessel carrying high school football players and host fishermen who had gone missing in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Melbourne, Florida, on May 21. They further presumed that fourteen players and their teenage companion had drowned.(Source)
September 28, 1892 – The very first night football game was played in Mansfield, Pennsylvania, between Mansfield State Normal and Wyoming Seminary.
November 12, 1892 - Pudge Heffelfinger became the first known paid American football player, who was handed $500 by the Allegheny Athletic Association when they played the Pittsburgh Athletic Club at Exhibition Park on the North Shore of Pittsburgh.
November 19, 1892 - During the season-ending Yale vs Harvard game, the Crimson unveiled their surprise new tactic, a variation of the “Princeton V”, which they called the “V-Trick.” Yale learned about the tactic days before and prepared, defeating Harvard 6-0, in front of 20,000 fans at Hamden Park in Springfield, MA.
1893
January 1893 - Yale proposed a rule change to restrict player eligibility to undergraduates pursuing a degree at the school.
September 30, 1893 - Philip King of Princeton introduced a new scheme against Lafayette, which was used by most teams from the mid-1890’s until well into the twentieth century. The idea was to line up an end and a back directly behind an offensive tackle.
November 25, 1893 - Harvard surprised Yale in their annual rivalry game by wearing smooth leather one-piece suits that made them slippery and harder to tackle. This prompted changes to the rules on uniforms.
November 25, 1893 - Harvard’s legendary Coach Lorin F. Deland unleashed his new “Push-Play,” in which a runner would be lifted by teammates and thrown over the rush line.
December 2, 1893: Many claim the leather helmet first appeared in football on this date. Admiral Joseph Mason Reeve, fearing "instant insanity" from another head injury, commissioned an Annapolis shoemaker to fashion a protective moleskin hat with earflaps. Reeve wore this first version during the annual Army-Navy game.
1894
October 27, 1894 - In its most competitive game of the season, Yale outlasted a tough Army team 12-5.
November 24, 1894 - A late-season battle of undefeateds. Yale beat Harvard 12-4 at Hamden Park in Springfield, MA, as part of a 16-0 season.
November 29, 1894 - Harvard suffered a second straight setback in the season finale against undefeated Penn, 18-4.
1895
January 11, 1895, Purdue University President James Henry Smart invited the presidents of six other universities to Chicago to regulate intercollegiate athletics. During the meeting, the group prioritized student-athlete eligibility and mandated that athletes maintain full-time status in good standing. The representatives officially founded the conference at a second meeting on February 8, 1896. Although Lake Forest College missed this session, the University of Michigan joined in its place. These seven attendees became the founding members of the organization known as the Western Conference.
March 31, 1895 - The football rules committee convened as Alexander Moffatt of Princeton, Walter Camp of Yale, W.A. Brooks of Harvard, and John C. Bell of Penn met to discuss their differing opinions on football rules.
September 3, 1895 - John Brallier, a top local athlete, suited up and was paid to play for the Latrobe Athletic Association against the Jeanette Athletic Club. For many years, many believed this to be the first instance of a professional football player until new evidence proved it was Pudge Heffelfinger in 1892.
November 1, 1895 - The Chicago Athletic Association traveled to Philadelphia to play the Penn Quakers at Franklin Field. Penn beat the CAA 12-4.
November 23, 1895 - Penn defeated Harvard 17-14 to keep their undefeated record intact.
1896
February 8, 1896 - Big 10 Conference is founded - The second meeting of the organization (1st on January 11, 1895), which became the founding members of the Western Conference (Big 10). During the process, the University of Michigan replaced Lake Forest after Lake Forest skipped the meeting.
Summer 1896 - The Football Rules committee convened to institute new rules, including adopting the heel mark system for fair catches and requiring at least five offensive players to be on the line of scrimmage at the snap.
October 24, 1896 - The University of Pennsylvania’s unbeaten streak was snapped by a Lafayette 6-4 upset victory. More on the Lafayette Upset here.
1897
February 19, 1897 - The football rules committee changed scoring values as a touchdown’s worth changed from four points to five points.
November 13, 1897 - Clarence Herschberger, a University of Chicago star player for Amos Alonzo Stagg, could not play in the game against Wisconsin after suffering gastritis. Apparently, Clarence challenged Chicago's quarterback, Walter S. Kennedy, to an egg-eating contest before the game, which left him with an upset tummy. The Maroons lost the game to the Badgers 8-23, leading Coach Stagg to say: "We weren't beaten by 11 Badgers. We were beaten by 13 eggs."
November 20, 1897 - The battle of undefeated teams met at Yale Field as Yale entertained rival Princeton. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers 6-0 in front of 18,000 spectators.
1898
March 7, 1898 - The Football Rules Committee made a couple of tweaks to the rulebook. The 15-yard penalty for piling on was added, and the beginnings of protection for punt returners.
Summer 1898 - The Morgan Athletic Club was founded in Chicago. The MAC was a team that would eventually become the Chicago Cardinals and, later, the Arizona Cardinals, and was formed, making it the oldest continuous operation in pro football.
Fall 1898 - University of Chicago star Clarence Herschberger is credited with introducing the first spiral punt in American football.
October 12, 1898 - Michigan defeated Michigan Agricultural College (Michigan State University) 39–0, marking the start of the long rivalry between the Michigan schools.
November 24, 1898 - The Michigan Wolverines finished 10-0, winning their first Western Conference championship by defeating Chicago 12–11 at Marshall Field in Chicago, a game that inspired their fight song, "The Victors."
1899
March 17, 1899 - The Football Rules Committee met and introduced that the officials were now part of the playing field, so that a ball that struck them would no longer be declared dead.
October 28, 1899 - Columbia registered perhaps its biggest victory since its inception when the Lions upset Yale 5-0 at Manhattan Field in New York.
November 11, 1899 - Undefeated Harvard and a one-loss Yale battled to a scoreless tie at Soldier Field in Cambridge, Mass., in front of 50,000 onlookers.
November 25, 1899 - Princeton’s Art Poe, one of the famous Poe Brothers, drop- kicked a 35-yard field goal in the final seconds to beat Yale 11-10 in front of 15,000 fans atYale Field.
1900
November 3, 1900 - University Park, Ithaca, New York - Two undefeated heavyweights of the early gridiron era squared off in a week seven showdown as the Cornell Big Red would travel to play the Princeton Tigers. Entering the game, according to an article on the cornellbigred.com website, Princeton had never lost at home with an excellent 121-0-1 record there. Cornell featured All-American fullback Ray Starbuck while Princeton countered with their leading man, captain H. W. Pell. Cornell made history as they handed the Tigers their first loss at home, 12-0, on a rainy afternoon. The Big Red's Raymond Starbuck and Henry Purcell each scored touchdowns, and Starbuck booted a pair of extra-point kicks to lead Cornell past the Tigers. It was the first time in 31 seasons of Princeton football that they had ever suffered a loss in their own house! Truly a remarkable feat!
November 17, 1900 - Riverside Park, Montgomery, Alabama - The 5th Iron Bowl Classic was played at a neutral site in Montgomery. It was a big day for the Tigers as Auburn dispatched the Alabama squad 53-5.
1901
November 15, 1901 - Tuscaloosa, Alabama - From Onthisday.com, the 6th Iron Bowl classic took place, as the Auburn Tigers blanked the Alabama Crimson Tide 17-0.
December 2, 1901 - George Owen, a swift Harvard halfback and a standout hockey and baseball athlete, was born. His brilliant collegiate career earned him induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983.
1902
January 1, 1902 - Technically, it was the First-ever Rose Bowl game. Though called the Tournament East-West Football Game, Michigan beat Stanford 49–0.
October 18, 1902 - Birmingham, Alabama - The famous Iron Bowl is played for the seventh time as Auburn defeats its longtime rival Alabama 23-0. The term "Iron Bowl" comes almost as a tribute to the City of Birmingham's involvement in the steel industry. The Crimson Tide holds the advantage at the time of this writing with 45 wins compared to 36 victories for the Auburn Tigers over the history of the series. There was only one tie in the series between these two founding members of the SEC, and that occurred in 1907.
November 18, 1902 - Rawlings is credited with introducing the first football shoulder pads when they introduced Whitley's Armor Clothing. William P Whitley, an executive at Rawlings, filed for US Patent 714079. He did this on behalf of the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company. The product was made of felt and fiber, and though it offered poor protection compared to the pads of our era, it was a significant upgrade over what they had at the time.
November 28, 1902 - The title game of the three-team original National Football League was played in Pittsburgh. The Pittsburgh Stars defeated the Philadelphia Athletics on late-game touchdowns by Ellis and another by Artie Miller, leading Pittsburgh to an 11–0 victory.
November 29, 1902 - The third and deciding game of a series of professional games between Pennsylvania powerhouses Oil City and Franklin was played. Oil City hired many players from the original NFL Philadelphia Athletics club and defeated Franklin 10-0.
December 29, 1902 - The First World Series of Football started a multiple-night gridiron tournament inside New York's Madison Square Garden. Four of the top professional teams from across the country competed, and the All-Syracuse team outlasted a "New York-Philadelphian" squad, the Knickerbocker Club, and the Orange Athletic Club to win the title.
1903
March 28, 1903 - Atlantic City, NJ - The Football Rules Committee met and passed new rules that disallowed hard surfaces on headwear during games. Also, that teams would exchange goals and ends of the field after every point scored on a touchdown attempt and after every goal from the field. Additionally, the team that scored could either take the free kick or kick it off themselves to the team that scored. Quarterbacks were now allowed to run with the ball without it touching a third player after the snap. (Source)
June 6, 1903 - Philadelphia, PA - The Football Rules Committee met and passed new rules that seven men should play in the rush line of both the attacking and defending teams. When, however, the ball is within either of the twenty-five-yard lines, either team may play with as few as only five men in the line. A Holding foul, formerly penalized as loss of possession, would now be a 25-yard penalty. (Source)
October 23, 1903 - Montgomery, Alabama - The 8th installment of the famed Iron Bowl took place as the Alabama Crimson Tide knocked off the Auburn Tigers 18-6. The victory helped head Coach W.B. Blount's Alabama team finish the season with a 3-4 record, while Auburn, coached by Billy Bates, finished 4-3 according to sports-reference.com's records.
October 28, 1903 - Franklin, Pennsylvania - The undefeated Jamestown Club team traveled to play the Franklin All-Stars. Franklin, the World’s Greatest Pro Gridiron team, demolished the visitors 46-0. Check out our book on the World's Greatest Pro Gridiron Team: The 1903 Franklin All-Stars.
November 14, 1903 - The first football game at Harvard Stadium was against Dartmouth College, which Harvard lost 11-0.
November 14, 1903 - What many say is the First American Football Game Ever Filmed was played: 1903 Princeton Tigers vs Yale Bulldogs. Princeton won the game 11-6 in front of 30,000 at Yale Field.
December 17, 1903 - Madison Square Garden, NYC - The 1903 World Series of Football culminated in the title game, as the host Watertown Red Blacks faced the Franklin All-Stars. The All-Stars took the prize with a 12-0 blanking of the Watertown Eleven. Check out our book on the World's Greatest Pro Gridiron Team: The 1903 Franklin All-Stars.
1904
January 28, 1904, the world’s 1st college sports letters were given to Seniors who played on the University of Chicago’s football team by Amos Alonzo Stagg, who awarded them with a letter “C”. According to Jennifer Taylor Hall’s book Amos Alonzo Stagg: Football’s Man in Motion, the inaugural class of these dare we say, lettermen was called the “Order of the C.” It became an honored tradition that each spring the men of this exclusive club would return and gather together with the latest class, having to sing to their coach in order to receive their letters.
September 25, 1904 - Charles "The Black Cyclone" Follis becomes the first African-American player to play professional football and get paid. A team from Shelby, Ohio, known as the Shelby Blues of the Ohio League, signed Mr. Follis under contract on September 15, 1904, for the 1904 season. Charles appears on the Blues' roster for the 1902 and 1903 seasons as well, but it is unclear whether he was paid for those games.
November 12, 1904 - Birmingham, Alabama - The 9th edition of the Iron Bowl was played. The rivalry was heated back then, too. According to sports-reference.com, this game, though Auburn got the better of Alabama 29-5. (source)
1905
October 9, 1905 - President Theodore Roosevelt summoned representatives from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton to the White House to discuss ways to tame the game of football to prevent public outcry.
November 30, 1905 - The Thanksgiving Day game and undefeated Michigan Wolverines team, who had not been scored upon on the season, faced the Chicago Maroons. After a defensive battle, the Maroons scored late on a safety to win 2-0, breaking Michigan's 56-game winning streak.
December 1905 - Chancellor Henry M. MacCracken of New York University convened a meeting of 13 college leaders to initiate changes in football playing rules.
December 2, 1905 - The Army-Navy game ended in a 6-6 tie on a muddy Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
December 24, 1905 - A large group representing twenty-eight colleges to meet at the request of Chancellor Henry M. McCracken in New York City. There were people such as H. L. Williams, the Director of Athletics at Minnesota, and F. H. Curtiss from Texas who had traveled great distances to be at this historic meeting! This December meeting did little on the subject of actual rule changes, but it was a great success in organizing the world of football. This conference of colleges soon assumed the name of the National Intercollegiate Football Conference, but later changed its name to the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States.
December 28, 1905 - in New York City, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) was officially founded by 62 members.
1906
January 12, 1906 - The I.A.A.U. and the old guard of football rule-makers listened to President Roosevelt and held a Joint Session of the Intercollegiate and Conference Committees, where the factions would unify all of American football under a single set of rules.
March 31, 1906 - The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS) was officially incorporated.
September 22, 1906 - 1st forward pass? - During the University of New Hampshire's visit to Maine for a game, New Hampshire threw one incomplete forward pass during the game, which resulted in a turnover based on the 1906 rules, per Football Archaeology. Maine won the game 7-0.
September 25, 1906 - For years, many believed the game between St. Louis University and Carroll College was the first collegiate game with a legal forward pass. Bradbury Robinson of St. Louis University threw the first legal forward pass. Timothy Brown has not only shown that September 5 was erroneously reported as the game date, but also that Robinson might not have been the first in this Football Archaeology segment. It may be the first completed legal forward pass, though.
October 13, 1906 - Charley Moran threw the first forward pass for the Massillon Tigers against Benwood (West Virginia), per Author Gregg Ficery during a 2021 interview on our Pigskin Dispatch podcast.
October 27, 1906 – Per the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, the very first documented pass completion in a professional football game came when George (Peggy) Parratt of the Massillon Tigers threw a completion to Dan “Bullet” Riley in a victory over a team that was comprised of a combined mix of Benwood players and Moundsville players.
1907
November 2, 1907 - The undefeated Carlisle Indian School team, just days after beating Penn, faced the Princeton Tigers at the Polo Grounds in New York City. Thousands jammed into the stadium to watch the Tigers win 16-0.
November 9, 1907 - Carlisle, a team of Native Americans led by Pop Warner and Jim Thorpe, outclasses the scholars of mighty Harvard.
November 16, 1907 - Princeton fell to Yale in New Haven 10-12 to assure Yale recognition as the nation’s top team.
November 16, 1907 - Birmingham, Alabama - The 12th Iron Bowl is played as Auburn and Alabama finish in a 6-6 tie. According to rolltide.com, the name "Crimson Tide" was allegedly first used by Birmingham Age-Herald sports editor Hugh Roberts to describe this game, as reported by the American Football Database.
1908
March 1908 - The I.A.A.U. The Rules Committee convened to revise the football rules to make forward passing less restrictive. One of the more important rule revisions was to prevent defenders from interfering with a potential receiver's right to catch the pass, via Football Archaeology.
April 13, 1908 - Groundbreaking on Philadelphia's Shibe Park, home of the A's & Phillies, as well as the Eagles and Steagles
October 24, 1908 - Penn and Carlisle played to a six-all tie at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
November 21, 1908 - At Yale Field, Harvard, under Coach Percy Haughton, registered a 4-0 victory over archrival Yale, effectively ending Yale's streak of dominance.
1909
March 27, 1909 - The Football Rules Committee met and established that officials should NOT blow the whistle when a foul occurred, and that if they did, the inadvertent whistle rule would apply. Also, offensive players were established before the snap, either on the line or in the backfield.
November 25, 1909 - Baylor hosted a game that many recognize as the world's first "Home-Coming" game on Thanksgiving Day, which included a concert, parade, and bonfire. Timothy Brown of Football Archaeology states that there were many other contests prior to this, noted as Homecoming, but that this game against TCU is the first designed to bring alumni “home.” Baylor won the game 6-3 at Carroll Field in Waco, TX. The next time Baylor held the event was in 1915, according to Tim. Check out our 1911 Homecoming Post for the first annual event.
December 4, 1909 – The University of Toronto Blues defeated the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club 26-6 at Rosedale Field in Toronto, securing the first-ever Grey Cup and completing an undefeated season.
1910
May 3, 1910 – Rise of the NCAA. The US Library of Congress notes that the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States changed its name to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
November 19, 1910 - Cartier Field, South Bend, Indiana- The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hit a milestone as they reached win number 100 against Ohio Northern in a 47-0 blowout. (source)
November 26, 1910 - AAA Grounds, Hamilton, Ontario - The 2nd Grey Cup was played to determine a Canadian Champion per the American Football Database. The University of Toronto Blues kept the title, knocking off the home team Hamilton Tigers, 16-7, before a crowd of nearly 12,000 fans. (source)
1911
November 11, 1911 - Cambridge, Massachusetts -The Carlisle Indian School of Carlisle, Pa., led by Jim Thorpe, upset the nationally ranked Harvard University football squad by the score of 18-15, with 25,000 in attendance looking on. Thorpe scored every single point for Carlisle in that Game, punching in a touchdown, kicking an extra point, and hitting four field goals. Pop Warner coached the Indians in his 10th year as head coach. Carlisle compiled an 11–1 record in the season, outscoring opponents 298-49. Walter Camp easily selected Jim Thorpe as a first-team All-American.
November 25, 1911 - Columbia, Missouri - The football game between Missouri and Kansas is considered the first annual homecoming game. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the day's festivities, stating that Coach Chester Brewer invited alumni to "come home" for the game, which included parades, bands, and more. There were homecoming games prior to this, but never annual events for alumni to return. Also, check out our 1909 Homecoming entry.
November 25, 1911 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 3rd Grey Cup was played, with the Toronto Varsity Blues winning their third consecutive title by defeating the Toronto Argonauts 14-7, per the CanadianFootball.fandom website.
1912
February 3, 1912 - The NCAA’s Football Rules Committee reduced the size of the playing field from 110 yards to 100 yards and added two ten-yard end zones. (Football Archaeology)
February 3, 1912 - The NCAA Football Rules Committee increased the value of a touchdown from 5 points to 6 points, and a successful kick afterward was worth an additional 1 point. We should note that the one point (PAT) was not clearly identified to the public until the Buffalo Commercial Post Editor asked Walter Camp in a letter.
February 3, 1912 - New Rules allow a fourth down to reach ten yards for the line to gain.
February 6, 1912 - Walter Camp responds to a question from the Buffalo Commercial editor on what the value of a Point After Kick Attempt would be worth. Camp responds with: "The touchdown counts as six, and kicking the goal adds one; that is the touchdown and the goal kicked makes 7."
July 7, 1912 - Olympic track star Jim Thorpe won four of the five events in the 1912 Olympics Decathlon.
September 21, 1912 - The first legal forward pass caught in the end zone. Football Archaeology has identified that the Maine-Fort McKinley game, which Maine won 38-0, contains the first pass under the new 1912 rule: a Bernheisel-to-Donohue catch in the end zone.
September 21, 1912 - The new scoring system debuted, with the first six-point touchdowns recorded. This milestone occurred during two notable games: Carlisle’s dominant 50–7 victory over Albright College and Rhode Island’s 7–0 shutout against Massachusetts Agricultural (the present-day University of Massachusetts Amherst). (Source Wikipedia)
November 2, 1912 - a high-stakes battle of the unbeatens took place as Harvard (5–0–0) hosted Princeton (6–0–0). The game was dominated by Harvard’s Charles Brickley, whose versatile performance secured a 16–6 victory. Brickley thwarted the Princeton offense with two interceptions and contributed heavily to the scoreboard, booting a 47-yard field goal and orchestrating the drive for a Harvard touchdown. (Source Wikipedia)
November 9, 1912 - Carlisle defeated the mighty Army team 27-6, registering one of the largest upsets in football history and showing what the new rules could do to open the game up for a smaller, faster team. Check out our full story.
November 9, 1912 - According to a story on charlotteobserver.com, Worcester Tech coach William F. Carney used the lateral pass as an offensive weapon for the first time. Carney's team beats Amherst 14-13.
November 30, 1912 - AAA Grounds, Hamilton. Ontario - The home team, Hamilton Alerts, won their only Canadian title by surviving the Toronto Argonauts, 11-4, in the 4th time the Grey Cup was played per Onthisday.com.
1913
November 1, 1913 - Notre Dame surprised Army with an offensive aerial assault of passes from Gus Dorais to Knute Rockne in a 35-13 upset victory over the Cadets.
November 1, 1913 - Ohio State played its first Big 10 Conference (then called the Western Conference) game against the Indiana Hoosiers, which resulted in a 6-7 loss.
November 22, 1913 - Harvard defeated Yale 15-5 at Harvard Stadium to cap off an undefeated 9-0 season.
1914
February 6, 1914 - The NCAA Football Rules Committee made more than a dozen rules changes. Though most were not significant, a few altered the kicking game; a FG attempt that hit the goal post and returned to the field would no longer be awarded a safety to the defense. (Football Archaeology and Newspapers.com)
November 21, 1914 - The first football game at the Yale Bowl was played against Harvard. The Crimson spoiled the grand opening with a 36-0 drubbing of the Bulldogs in front of 68,000 fans.
1915
September 5, 1915: The Gazette Times publishes Walter Camp’s interview regarding the "great change" in the game: legendary coach Pop Warner leaving the Carlisle Indians to lead the University of Pittsburgh.
September 17, 1915 - Legendary Coach Greasy Neale signs a contract to become the head coach at Muskingum College.
November 1915 - Jim Thorpe signs a professional football contract to play for the Canton Bulldogs just before the Massillon rivalry game.
December 2, 1915 - A meeting was held that would form the Pacific Coast Conference – a precursor to the modern Pac-12 Conference; four founding members from California, Oregon, and Washington. (Source)
Late 1915: Under Warner’s leadership, Pitt debuts the three-point stance and innovative offensive shifts, forever changing technical line play.
1916
January 1, 1916 - The Tournament of Roses football game returned after a long absence. In a game now considered the 2nd Rose Bowl game, Washington State College defeated Brown University.
October 7, 1916 - The most lopsided game in American football history. John Heisman’s Georgia Tech team defeated Cumberland University by a staggering 222–0 score.
1917
January 1, 1917 - In what we now call the 3rd Rose Bowl, then the Tournament East-West Football Game, the Oregon Webfoots defeated the Penn Quakers 14-0. It was the first time the bowl occurred in consecutive years.
November 10, 1917 - Upset of the season? A freshman Buck Flowers at Davidson helped in the upset bid over Auburn 21–7.
1918
January 1, 1918 - In the first Military Bowl version of the Rose Bowl during WWI, the Mare Island Marines defeated Camp Lewis, 19–7, in the 1918 Rose Bowl.
September 1, 1918 - The Carlisle Indian School closed its doors after a formal transfer of property to the US Army during WWI and the outbreak of the Spanish Flu Pandemic.
1919
January 1, 1919 - The Rose Bowl: The Great Lakes Navy defeats Mare Island, 17–0. The only TD in the Great Lakes was a Paddy Driscoll pass to George Halas. Driscoll also tacked on one of GL's field Goals.
Spring 1919 - The University of Washington adopted the nickname of the Sun Dodgers.
August 11, 1919 - The Green Bay Packers were founded by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun.
Fall 1919 - The State College of Washington (Washington State) football officially adopted the Cougars nickname.
1920
January 1, 1920 - Harvard defeated Oregon, 7–6, in the 1920 Rose Bowl.
September 17, 1920 - Leaders of multiple Professional football teams met in Canton, Ohio, to form the American Professional Football Association (APFA), the predecessor of the NFL, electing Jim Thorpe as the organization's president.
September 26, 1920 - The first time an APFA member team played a game was when the Rock Island Independents beat the St. Paul Ideals 48–0.
October 3, 1920 - The first official game between opposing APFA (NFL) members occurred at Dayton's Triangle Park, when the Dayton Triangles beat the Columbus Panhandles 14–0.
October 10, 1920 - the Chicago Cardinals played their first game in the American Professional Football Association (later known as the NFL). The game against the cross-town rivals, the Chicago Tigers, ended in a 0-0 draw.
October 17, 1920 - the Chicago Bears (then known as the Decatur Staleys) played their very first NFL (APFA) opponent, the Rock Island Independents. Per the Pro-Football-Reference website, Staley's team featured legendary stars Jimmy Conzelman, Paddy Driscoll, and George Halas in the game. The Decatur squad won the game over Rock Island 7-0.
November 20, 1920 - Northwestern Field, Chicago, Illinois - Notre Dame's George Gipp played in his last game on this date against the Northwestern Purple. Gipp was ill at the time and suffering from a shoulder injury he had sustained in the game against Indiana a week earlier.
December 4, 1920 – The University of Toronto Blues claimed their fourth title at the 8th Grey Cup, beating their hometown rivals, the Toronto Argonauts, 16-3 at Varsity Stadium in Toronto.
December 14, 1920 - Notre Dame All-American George Gipp dies in South Bend, IN, of an infection.
1921
January 1, 1921 - At Tournament Park in Pasadena, what we now call the 7th California defeated Ohio State, 28–0,
January 1, 1921 - The one and only Fort Worth Bowl game was played as upstart Centre College upended TCU.
October 8, 1921 - The first-ever live radio broadcast of a college football game took place as West Virginia played Pittsburgh.
October 29, 1921 - Harvard's 25-game winning streak was snapped as the Center College Praying Colonels traveled to Cambridge and defeated the Crimson 6–0.
December 4, 1921 - The Chicago Staleys defeated the Buffalo All-Americans 10-7, in what Buffalo thought was merely an exhibition game. Chicago owner George Halas convinced the League that the game should count, and the Staleys became champions, and not Buffalo, in what All-American fans still call the Staley Swindle.
1922
January 2, 1922 - Tournament Park, Pasadena, California - The 8th Rose Bowl featured a small college from Pennsylvania, Washington and Jefferson, against the University of California. The story is a gripping tale about the game. The Golden Bears were the top team on the West Coast, while W&J was undefeated in 1921 and the best team on the East Coast. With only 450 students, W&J was the smallest school ever to participate in a Rose Bowl, and Cal was the 14-point favorite. The story of the Presidents’ journey to Pasadena adds to the legendary East-versus-West matchup. During W&J’s undefeated season, only 11 of the 17 young men on the roster played on game days. In this era before platooning and specialists, those 11 players stayed on the field for every snap. Greasy Neale, a great player and coach on both the gridiron and the baseball diamond, coached this western PA group. Greasy would later coach the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1940s. The 1921 football budget for Washington and Jefferson was exceptionally tight; they only had funds to send 11 players to the Rose Bowl. Rumor says the athletic administrator had to mortgage his home to attend. During the cross-country trip, C.L. Spillers, one of the starting 11, contracted pneumonia and was left in Kansas City, threatening W&J’s ability to field a full squad. Author E. Lee North’s narrative claims Bucky Buchanan, a reserve, had stowed away on the train and was given Spillers’ ticket when needed. The December 28, 1921, New York Tribune, however, says the team wired home for another reserve, Al Haddon. Buchanan’s presence in Pasadena team photos lends credence to the stowaway story. The Presidents made it to Pasadena and fielded eleven players for the final game at Tournament Park. W&J’s quarterback, Charles West, added another milestone as the first signal caller of African-American descent to play in the Rose Bowl. The defensive battle held Cal to 49 rushing yards and zero completions; W&J managed 114 rushing yards but could not score. The game ended in a 0-0 tie, the only scoreless Rose Bowl. Russ Stein W&J’s captain, was named Most Outstanding Player and went on to play in the NFL, entering the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1991. For more on the background of this game and its legendary coaches you may want to get a copy of our book "When Greasy Met the Wonder Coach"
January 28, 1922 - The American Professional Football Association (APFA) officially changed its name to the National Football League (NFL).
January 28, 1922 - Opening day of the APFA/NFL's off-season meetings. President Joe Carr dealt with the outrage over college football's amateur players who participated in the 1921 Taylorville-Carlinville scandal and the Green Bay Packers' use of three Notre Dame players. The NFL proceeded to collect a $1,000 bond for each team, which that franchise would forfeit if it used amateur players as ringers. Curly Lambeau's Green Bay Packers were ousted from the League.
May 5, 1922 - Construction began on old Yankee Stadium. The House that Ruth Built was also a great football venue for almost 100 years.
June 9, 1922 - Curly Lambeau formally applied to enter a new NFL Franchise called the Green Bay Blues. The press and the public never embraced the name change, and the club officially returned to its original name in 1923.
June 28, 1923 - The NFL summer meetings commenced. The NFL accepted the Green Bay franchise, now called the Blues, back into the fold after paying nearly $1500 in application and Bond fees as a new franchise.
1923
January 1, 1923 - The Rose Bowl Stadium was officially dedicated. Previous Rose Bowl games had been played at Pasadena's Tournament Park with temporary grandstands.
January 1, 1923 - The 9th edition of the Rose Bowl featured USC, which defeated Penn State 14-3.
January 20, 1923 - The National Football League started its off-season meetings. Some significant results included the Canton Bulldogs being declared champions of the 1922 season and the negotiated game salary of $1200, which would average about $75 per game for players in 1923, as rosters were at 16 per franchise.
December 9, 1923 - Following the conclusion of the NFL season, the league champion Canton Bulldogs accepted a challenge from the Frankford Yellow Jackets of Philadelphia. Although not in the NFL, the Yellow Jackets claimed the "champions of the East" title, boasting a 9-1-2 record against Anthracite League teams and four NFL opponents. Canton secured the victory in Philadelphia during the final two minutes of the game, thanks to a decisive field goal by future Hall of Famer Pete Henry.
December 16, 1923 - the Chicago Bears and the Milwaukee Badgers tied in the final game of the season, 7-7. The significance of this was that it was officially announced that the Canton Bulldogs would repeat as NFL champions, as Canton finished the season 11-0-1 per Scorum.com.
1924
January 1, 1924 - In Pasadena, Washington tied Navy 14–14 at the 1924 Rose Bowl.
January 27, 1924 - The Kansas City Blues, later known as the Kansas City Cowboys, were formed.
October 18, 1924 - Notre Dame beat Army 13–7 at the Polo Grounds in New York City. It was the only loss of the season for the Cadets. Writer Grantland Rice wrote his article deeming the ND backfield as the Four Horsemen.
October 18, 1924 – Urbana, Illinois – Harold “Red” Grange, also known as the “Galloping Ghost,” may have played his best collegiate football game on this day. Read more here.
November 16, 1924 - Dunn Field, Cleveland, Ohio - Cleveland/Canton Bulldogs' winning streak ends. The Canton Bulldogs were a dynasty in the early days of the NFL. According to americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com, the Bulldogs were unbeaten in 25 games from 1921 through 1923, suffering only three ties in that span.
November 29, 1924 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - Queen's University wins 3rd straight Grey Cup Championship, defeating the Toronto Balmy Beach squad in just their first season by the tune of 11-3, per cflapedia.com.
November 30, 1924 - This day marked the end of the NFL season, and with it, the Cleveland Bulldogs had a slightly better record than the Chicago Bears, so in an era without a postseason, the Dogs were the champs. According to the American Football Database, the Bears were unsettled by this and challenged Cleveland to a postseason rematch. The Bears won the postseason contest just as they had in 1921, when they challenged Buffalo All-Americans, who had the best record.
1925
January 1, 1925 - A battle of undefeated teams met in the 1925 Rose Bowl. Notre Dame's Four Horsemen faced Stanford and Ernie Nevers. It was one for the ages with the Fighting Irish winning the contest 27–10. Read more on the full coverage of the 1925 Rose Bowl.
November 7, 1925 - Previously unbeaten Michigan was upset by Northwestern, by the score of 3–2.
November 21, 1925 - Illinois defeated Ohio State 14-9, marking the final collegiate game for Red Grange. Check out the full coverage in the book Red Grange and the Chicago Bears 1925-26 Barnstorming Tour.
November 26, 1925 - Just days after his final game at Illinois, on Thanksgiving Day, Red Grange made his highly anticipated NFL debut as a halfback for the Chicago Bears against the Chicago Cardinals at Wrigley Field. Check out the full coverage in the book Red Grange and the Chicago Bears 1925-26 Barnstorming Tour.
December 6, 1925 - The Pottsville Maroons took over first place in the NFL standings by defeating the Chicago Cardinals at Comiskey Park, 21-7. We have an entire book on this season of the Pottsville club in the book Marooned.
December 12, 1925 - The Pottsville Maroons, the top NFL team, defeated a team mostly made up of the 1924 Collegiate Champions, Notre Dame All-Stars, 9-7 on a late field goal. This game, played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia, may have cost the Maroons the NFL title. We have an entire book on this season of the Pottsville club in the book Marooned.
December 12, 1925 - NFL President Joe Carr, sent a telegram to the Pottsville Maroons halftime locker room, informing Doc Striegel that the Maroons were being dismissed from the NFL due to playing the ND game in the Frankford Yellow Jackets territory.
1926
January 1, 1926 - The Rose Bowl game featured Alabama against Washington in a contest called "The Game That Changed The South." The Tide won the game 20-19.
January 1, 1926 - Pasadena, California - The first game was officially called the Rose Bowl.
February 6, 1926 – George Halas led the passage of an NFL rule prohibiting the signing of players whose college class had not yet graduated, ensuring athletes completed their education before turning pro.
November 27, 1926 - An estimated 110,000 fans packed Chicago’s Soldier Field for the annual Army-Navy game. Undefeated Navy battled Army to a spectacular 21–21 tie, a game widely considered one of the greatest in college football history. The game formally dedicated the stadium to the honor of World War I servicemen.
December 4, 1926 – The Ottawa Senators edged the University of Toronto Blues 10-7 to keep the trophy at the 14th Grey Cup.
December 19, 1926 - The National Football League Championship Game: The Frankford Yellow Jackets claimed the title with a 14-1-2 record.
1927
January 1, 1927 - The Alabama Crimson Tide and the Stanford Indians played to a 7-All stalemate in the 1927 Rose Bowl Game. Trailing by a TD late, Bama blocked a punt and recovered at the Stanford 14-yard line. Jim Johnson punched the ball over the goal line moments later to tie the score.
February 5, 1927 - The Start of the NFL winter meetings at the Astor Hotel in NYC brought changes to the setup of stronger and weaker team classes. As a result, weaker teams were eliminated as franchises.
April 23, 1927 - The NFL started its Spring Meetings. Smaller-market teams such as the Oorang Indians, Columbus Panhandles, and Los Angeles Buccaneers lost their franchises as the NFL sought to tighten its bottom line. In addition, the League absorbed one of the original AFL teams, the New York Yankees, headed by C.C. Pyle and Red Grange.
November 5, 1927 - Undefeated Notre Dame played a game against the unblemished Minnesota Golden Gophers; someone had to lose, right? Not necessarily, the game ended in a 7-7 tie.
November 12, 1927 - Army defeated previously undefeated Notre Dame, 18-0, at Yankee Stadium.
November 26, 1927 - Notre Dame beat Southern Cal, 7-6, in front of a crowd that exceeded 100,000 spectators at Chicago's Soldier Field.
November 27, 1927 - A game that would decide the NFL title was played at the Polo Grounds. 15,000 fans turned out to watch the Chicago Bears (7–2–1) face the NY Giants (8–1–1). A Bears' victory would have tied the teams for first place. However, the Giants won, 13–7, subsequently locking up the NFL title. You can learn more about the championship run on our post on the 1927 Giants.
1928
January 2, 1928 - At the Rose Bowl, the Pitt Panthers fell to their former Coach, Pop Warner, and his Stanford Indians on a blocked extra point, 7-6.
November 10, 1928 - While down at halftime, an underdog Notre Dame faced a powerful Army team at Yankee Stadium. During halftime, coach Knute Rockne delivered his immortal speech, imploring his team to "win just one for the Gipper" (referencing dying former player George Gipp). The Fighting Irish rallied to upset Army 12–6.
November 17, 1928 - Cartier Field, South Bend, Indiana - Notre Dame loses at home for the first time in decades! It took 23 seasons, but finally a visiting team left South Bend with cheers of victory. Carnegie Tech was the team that performed the unthinkable, outfighting the Fighting Irish by the score of 27-7. Knute Rockne and company had quite the run of victories at the friendly confines of Cartier Field. According to Irishlegends.com, the last time Notre Dame lost a home game before this one, you had to flip back to the 1905 season, in an era before the legal forward pass, to find that Wabash defeated the Irish 5-0. It was the final game the Irish played at Cartier Field.
November 24, 1928 - The undefeated Carnegie Tech (7–0–0) hosted NYU (7–1–0) in Pittsburgh, only for the Violets to shatter Tech's perfect season with a 27–13 victory.
December 16, 1928 - The Providence Steam Roller franchise won the National Football League Championship Title, posting an 8-1-2 record. That era of NFL football had the team with the best record at the end of the season being declared the champs. According to an NFL.com article, the Steam Roller had plenty of star players from that era on its roster. Men like Jimmy Conzelman, the Cronin brothers Bill and Jack, Heavyweight Champ Gus Sonnenberg at running back, and one of my personal favorites, tailback George “Wildcat” Willson. Providence had an awesome defense, too, allowing only 42 points all season, including 5 complete shutouts.
December 23, 1928 – Per the On This Day.com website, NBC Radio established a permanent coast-to-coast broadcast network.
1929
January 1, 1929 - The Annual Rose Bowl contest saw history in the making. In a dramatic 8–7 victory, the Georgia Tech Yellow Tornado defeated the California Golden Bears—a matchup forever remembered for one of the most infamous blunders in college football history. After scooping up a Georgia Tech fumble, Cal’s All-American center, Roy Riegels, mistakenly bolted in the wrong direction toward his own goal line, a historic misstep that permanently earned him the nickname "Wrong Way."
November 6, 1929 -Providence, Rhode Island - Just days after the 1929 Stock Market crash, signaling the start of the Great Depression, the Providence Steam Roller became the first NFL team granted permission by the NFL to host a game at night under floodlights, and they scheduled it at the Cycledrome in Providence.
November 16, 1929 - A massive crowd of 123,000 gathered at Soldier Field as Notre Dame (6–0–0) faced off against USC (6–1–0). Despite being hospitalized with an infected leg, Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne managed his team from a cot behind the bench. The Irish broke the deadlock in the third quarter to lead 13–6, following a touchdown plunge by Savoldi and Frank Carideo’s extra point. USC responded instantly on the next kickoff when Saunders returned the ball 95 yards for a touchdown. However, the Trojans missed the extra point, allowing Notre Dame to hold on for a narrow 13–12 win.
November 28, 1929 - Comiskey Park, Chicago - According to a story on the website goldenrankings.com, Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals became the first professional football player to score six touchdowns in a single game.
November 30, 1929 - AAA Grounds, Hamilton - On this day, the Hamilton Tigers won their 4th title, outscoring the Regina Roughriders 14-3 in the 17th edition of the Canadian Grey Cup.
December 15, 1929 – Memphis, Tennessee – The National Football League Champion Green Bay Packers, boasting a perfect 12-0-1 record, played an exhibition game against the Memphis Tigers. PackersHistory.net reports that the Tigers, an independent team owned by Clarence Saunders—who later founded Piggly Wiggly—pulled off a 20-6 upset over the champs with scoring from Austin Applewhite, Bucky Moore, and Tiny Drouilhet. At the time, the NFL champion was simply the team with the best record, as there were no playoffs. Without game revenue, the Green Bay Press-Gazette raised over $5,000 for the players, each receiving $220 and a watch. This may help explain why the Packers, with little to gain but something to earn, risked their reputation on a barnstorming tour: the players were trying to make a living.
1930
January 1, 1930 - The 16th Rose Bowl was played as the USC Trojans spanked the Pitt Panthers 47-14. That point total was the most given up by a Pitt team in one game since 1903.
September 14, 1930 – The Portsmouth Spartans played their very first NFL game on that date, and the Spartans defeated the Newark Tornadoes in their very first game by the final score of 13 6. The Portsmouth Eleven ended the 1930 season with a record of five wins, six losses, and three ties. Portsmouth would later move and become the Detroit Lions.
September 24, 1930 – The very first NFL game under portable electric lights was played in Portsmouth, Ohio, as the Portsmouth Spartans faced the Brooklyn Dodgers in a night game. The first official NFL night game under the lights took place on November 6, 1929, in Kinsley Park Stadium in Providence, RI. Reflecting on the game in Ohio in 1930, though the Spartans defeated the Dodgers by the score of 12-0 at University Stadium, which is reported to still stand to this day and is now aptly called Spartan Municipal Stadium.
December 6, 1930 - The Toronto Balmy Beach squad won their second title, defeating the Regina Roughriders 11-6 in the 18th Grey Cup game at Varsity Stadium, Toronto.
December 14, 1930 - An interesting Gridiron charity game featured the New York Football Giants against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Giants surged earlier in the season but lost their last two games, which eliminated them from a chance at the NFL Title. With this in mind, they teamed up with the ever-popular Notre Dame eleven to hold a benefit game. The goal was to raise money for cash-strapped families during the Great Depression, according to Hapmoran.org. The G-men triumphed 22-0.
December 14, 1930 - The National Football League Champions were the Green Bay Packers. With a 10-3-1 record, they repeated as champions, the best in the league. In that era of the NFL, the team with the best record won the title, per the fandom.com American Football story for that season.
1931
January 1, 1931 - The 17th Rose Bowl featured two undefeated teams, Alabama and Washington State. Bama took control in the second quarter with three scores to carry the Tide to a 24-0 victory.
February 28, 1931 – Canadian Rugby Union adopts the forward pass.
November 21, 1931 - In one of the greatest comebacks in Trojan football history, USC rallies from a 14-0 deficit with six minutes to play against Notre Dame. In the final minute, John Baker kicked a 23-yard field goal to beat the Irish 16-14.
December 5, 1931 - Molson Stadium, Montreal - At the 19th Grey Cup, it was the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers blanking the Regina Roughriders, 22-0, to take home their first Grey Cup Championship.
December 13, 1931 - The last game of the 1931 NFL season also marked the last year in which the League Champion was simply the team with the best record. The Green Bay Packers were National Football League Champions with a 12-2-0 record, earning their third consecutive NFL title.
1932
January 1, 1932 - The USC Trojans of Coach Howard Jones won another Rose Bowl handily, 21-12, over the Tulane Green Wave.
October 2, 1932 – The Washington Football team has its very first franchise NFL game under the guise of the Boston Braves. They played the Brooklyn Dodgers at Braves Field in Boston, but lost by a couple of scores, 14-0.
October 11, 1932 – George Preston Marshall acquired the Boston Braves NFL franchise along with two partners, according to his bio on the ProFootballHof.com
November 12, 1932 - Tennessee (7–0–0) and Vanderbilt (6–0–1), played to a scoreless tie in Nashville.
November 19, 1932 - Charleston, West Virginia - According to a newspaper clipping found in the Ohio State University archives from a paper called the "Lantern," a West Liberty State Teachers College football player named Joe Kershalla scored 71 points in a college football game against Cedarville College.
November 26, 1932 - At Yankee Stadium, Notre Dame beat Army 21–0.
December 3, 1932: The Hamilton Tigers secured their fifth Championship, beating the Regina Roughriders 25-6 in the 20th Grey Cup at AAA Grounds in Hamilton.
December 8, 1932 – Knoxville, Tennessee – 13 members of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Conference, located west and south of the Appalachian Mountains, were formerly reorganized into the Southeastern Conference. According to the post on secsports.com, the member schools at that time were Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia Tech, LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Sewanee, Tulane, and Vanderbilt.
December 18, 1932 – Chicago, Illinois – The NFL decided that a final game to determine a champion would be played in a special game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on December 18, 1932. This first postseason game in NFL history was won by the Chicago Bears 9-0 over the Portsmouth Spartans on a controversial play.
1933
January 2, 1933 - The USC Trojans dismantled the Pitt Panthers 35-0 in the 19th edition of the Rose Bowl.
February 25, 1933 – Major NFL rule revisions took place regarding the field of play, as the League, after its first 13 seasons following NCAA gridiron rules, decided to write its own rulebook.
May 19, 1933 - Pittsburgh's Art Rooney Sr. formally submitted an application to the NFL requesting a franchise charter.
July 8, 1933 - National Football League President Joe Carr announced in a newsletter that Art Rooney Sr.'s application for franchise was approved to join the 10-team League in the fall of 1933 to fill a vacancy caused by the withdrawal of the Staten Island franchise.
September 20, 1933 – The Pittsburgh Steelers franchise, which was known as the Pirates from 1933 through the 1940 seasons, played its very first game. The home team, the Pirates, lost 23-2 to the New York Giants that day at old Forbes Field.
October 1, 1933 – It was an NFL stat of the wild and weird: the New York Giants could not convert even one first down, yet somehow still won 10-7 when they played the Green Bay Packers at Borchert Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
October 8, 1933, Cliff Battles of the Boston Redskins made history by becoming the first player in NFL history to rush for 200 yards in a single game. Against the New York Giants, Battles carried the ball 16 times for 215 yards and a touchdown. This pioneering performance set the benchmark for single-game dominance in the running attack.
October 15, 1933, Polo Grounds, New York, New York – The Philadelphia Eagles played in their very 1st NFL regular season game as they faced the New York Football Giants. The Giants won the game handily 56-0.
November 5, 1933 - The Philadelphia Eagles register their first win in franchise history, a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
November 7, 1933 – Pennsylvania voters overturn a blue law by permitting sports to be played on Sundays. This was big news for both the Philadelphia Eagles’ new franchises—the Eagles and the Pittsburgh Pirates, later known as the Steelers.
November 12, 1933 - Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - The 1st home NFL game for the Pittsburgh franchise. Remember, just a few days earlier, as discussed in our November 7 Football History Headlines, the voters in the Commonwealth of PA decided to let it be legal to play ball games on Sundays.
December 3, 1933: Joe “The Midnight Express” Lillard, halfback/quarterback for the Chicago Cardinals, played his last game, becoming the final African-American in the NFL until the 1946 season after recording 494 rushing yards and 372 passing yards in his two seasons.
December 9, 1933 – Athletic Park, Sarnia – According to thegreycup.com, the Toronto Argonauts edged out the Sarnia Imperials by the score of 4-3 in the 1933 Grey Cup. It was the 3rd Championship that the Argos had won since the Cup’s inception.
December 17, 1933 - The First NFL Championship game was played at Wrigley Field, with the Chicago Bears defeating the New York Giants 23–21. Check out our full post and Video on this 1933 NFL Championship game.
1934
January 1, 1934 - The Columbia Lions defeated the Stanford Indians 7-0 in the 20th Rose Bowl.
October 6, 1934 - The historic college football clash between the Texas Longhorns and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ended in a monumental upset. Played in South Bend and marking the start of Notre Dame’s season under new coach Elmer Layden, the game saw Texas snatch a narrow 7-6 victory.
October 28, 1934 – Ebbets Field, Brooklyn, New York - One of 4 games with no penalty in NFL history. Brooklyn Dodgers 21, Pittsburgh Pirates 3. Perhaps the wintry-like conditions played a role in why referee Tom Thorp or any other official ever dropped a flag.
November 4, 1934 –The Detroit Lions finally surrendered points at University of Detroit Stadium after opening the season with seven consecutive shutouts. According to onthisday.com, an opponent finally broke through the Lions’ legendary defense, ending one of the most dominant scoring droughts in NFL history. The Lions rushed for an NFL single-game record of 426 yards as they defeated Pittsburgh by the score of 40-7.
November 6, 1934 - The NFL approved the sale of the Cincinnati Reds franchise to a St. Louis group for approximately $25,000.
November 24, 1934 - Toronto's Varsity Stadium - The 22nd CFL Grey Cup was played as the Sarnia Imperials faced the Regina Roughriders. Regina had played in 7 Grey Cup finals over the past 12 seasons, according to cfl.ca. The Imperials went on to win their first Championship with a 20-12 win over the Regina Roughriders, completing an undefeated season.
November 29, 1934 - In what was a game of firsts, the Bears traveled to the Motor City for this memorable contest. According to the worthpoint.com story, it was the first time that an NFL game was played in Detroit on Thanksgiving Day, as well as the First National Broadcast of an NFL game, as NBC Radio put it in every living room in the country.
December 9, 1934 - The 1934 NFL Championship Game had the Chicago Bears meet the 8–5 New York Giants on a completely frozen field at the Polo Grounds. A footwear change by the G-men gave them a footing advantage as they beat the Bears 30-13 in a game now called "The Sneakers Game."
1935
January 1, 1935 - The 1st Sugar Bowl was played: Tulane beats Temple, 20-14
January 1, 1935 - The 1st Orange Bowl was played: Bucknell beats Miami (FL), 26-0
January 1, 1935 - Alabama defeated Stanford in the 21st Rose Bowl 29-13.
October 5, 1935 – According to princetontigersfootball.com/history-of-the-program/, Princeton head coach Herbert O. “Fritz” Crisler introduced a black leather helmet with three stripes along its length and triangular “wings” to his team, meant to represent the folded-back ears of a tiger. The bold color combinations and distinctive design helped quarterbacks identify receivers downfield more easily. Crisler would later take this design with him to the University of Michigan after leading the Tigers to two of their record 28 National Championships.
November 3, 1935 – Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts – Philadelphia Eagles beat Boston Redskins, 7-6. Considering the era of football and the score, it doesn’t sound like the ball was in the air much during the contest, yet the respective quarterbacks combined to throw an NFL record 11 interceptions.
November 9, 1935 - The Pittsburgh Panthers defeated the Army Cadets 29-6. The game was played at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. This was one of only two losses for the 1935 Army team, which finished with a 6-2-1 record.
November 30, 1935 - An exciting game between Southern Methodist and Texas Christian played out during Rivalry Week. Check out this story.
December 9, 1935 - The first Heisman Trophy Award was presented, but it was then called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy. The Heisman Trophy label was introduced in 1936, according to Heisman.com. Anyway, Jay Berwanger, a halfback from the University of Chicago, won the Trophy for being college football's top player in 1935.
December 15, 1935 - At University of Detroit Stadium, the National Football League Championship game pitted the New York Giants against the Lions of Detroit. This was the third time that the League had a final game pitting the top two teams from each division to determine the title. The Lions jumped out to an early two-touchdown lead and never looked back as their defense frustrated the G-Men most of the game, according to the American Football Database. Four different Detroit Lions ran the ball across the goal line as the Football Men of the Motor City beat the New York Giants, 26-7, to win the Lions' first championship title.
1936
January 1, 1936 - At the 22nd Rose Bowl, Stanford's Vow Boys outlasted SMU 7-0, in a game that featured both teams hailing from West of the Mississippi.
February 8, 1936 - The First NFL Draft takes place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia. The Eagles select Jay Brwanger of Chicago with the 1st pick.
September 2, 1936 - The third Chicago Charities All-Star Game pitted the defending NFL champion Detroit Lions against the best players from the college ranks. The Lions defeated the New York Giants in a 1935 title game, only the third time the title game was played in the league's fairly new history, by the score of 26 to 7. But the game with the upstart college players was a whole lot tougher matchup, as the exhibition ended in a 7-to-7 tie. The 76,000 paid attendance at Soldier Field watched a defensive thriller, and I'm sure it was a great game all the way around.
September 10, 1936 - The Second edition of the American Football League played its first game as the Los Angeles Bulldogs defeated the Pittsburgh Americans 21-0.
September 28, 1936 – The Boston Redskins and the Brooklyn Dodgers play an NFL game that does not have one penalty in it! The Redskins prevailed in the penalty-free contest by the score of 30-6, according to Pro Football Reference.com.
October 17, 1936 - Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland - The Yale Kick Controversy - Yale took on an undefeated Navy Midshipmen squad. During a loose-ball play, Yale end Larry Kelley's foot struck the ball, sending it towards Navy's goal line, where the Eli recovered it at the two-yard line, setting up the go-ahead score in a 12-7 Yale victory and may have propelled Kelley to winning the Heisman.
October 20, 1936 - The Associated Press released its very first writers' poll for football.
October 31, 1936 – Polo Grounds, New York – The infamous Seven Blocks of Granite defended their NYC turf against the powerful Pitt Panthers in an instant classic. Check out the full story at 1936 Fordham-Pitt Game.
November 7, 1936 - Keystone State rivals Pitt and Penn State squared off on the gridiron with the Panthers dominating in a 34-7 victory in the Steel City.
On November 14, 1936, the No. 5 Pittsburgh Panthers defeated the No. 6 Nebraska Cornhuskers by a score of 19-6 at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. This was a highly anticipated inter-sectional matchup, evidenced by the fact that Nebraska chose it as the one game of the year to be broadcast on the radio. The victory proved significant for Pitt, contributing to their impressive 1936 season, which ultimately led them to be recognized as a consensus mythical national champion.
December 2, 1936 - The Downtown Athletic Club announced that Larry Kelley of Yale had won the second Heisman Trophy.
December 5, 1936 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - It was a close one at the 24th Grey Cup as the Sarnia Imperials defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders, 26-20, for Sarnia's 2nd Championship banner.
December 13, 1936 - Polo Grounds, New York City - The Green Bay Packers secured their first NFL Championship Game win against the Boston Redskins. It was Boston’s final game before moving to Washington, D.C. The Packers' decisive 21-6 victory stemmed from Arnie Herber’s passing, as documented by packersnews.com. Don Hutson caught one of Herber’s TD passes, while Milt Gantenbein grabbed
1937
January 1, 1937 - The 23rd Rose Bowl Game was played as the Pitt Panthers blanked the Washington Huskies 21-0.
February 12, 1937 - Cleveland/Los Angeles/St. The Los Angeles Rams franchise is officially approved to join the NFL
On February 13, 1937, the Boston Redskins received NFL approval to move to Washington, D.C., to share baseball's Griffith Stadium with the Washington Senators of Major League Baseball’s American League.
September 1, 1937 - The fourth annual Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was played in the Windy City as the Green Bay Packers were defeated by the College Players, 6-0, in a nail-biter with over 84,000 fans watching at Soldier Field.
September 10, 1937 - The Cleveland Rams franchise left the AFL and joined the NFL, and it was on this date that they played their first NFL game. The Detroit Lions defeated the Rams in their NFL debut, 28-0, but the franchise survived, though they started in Cleveland and in the 1940s moved to LA, then to St. Louis, then back to LA, where they are and always have been the Rams since this day in 1937.
October 16, 1937 - The game between the No. 1 Pittsburgh Panthers and the No. 3 Fordham Rams at the Polo Grounds was a clash of titans that proved pivotal in the national championship picture. The highly anticipated game ended in a 0-0 scoreless tie—the third consecutive 0-0 deadlock between the two powerhouses.
November 13, 1937 - The undefeated, eventual national champion No. 1 Pitt Panthers narrowly escaped an upset bid from No. 11 Nebraska, winning 13-7 after the Cornhuskers held a 7-0 lead deep into the fourth quarter; the significant event was Nebraska's 60-yard punt return touchdown on a reverse by Jack Dodd, which gave the underdog Huskers their late lead before Pitt rallied with two final-period scores.
November 30, 1937 - The 3rd time the Heisman Trophy was awarded, it went to Clint Frank, the halfback from Yale University.
December 11, 1937 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The CFL Grey Cup took place, and at the end of the contest, it was the Toronto Argonauts who won their 4th Championship as they edged out the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 4-3, in an era of football where the scoring was much different from what it is today. The whole game recap is available on CFL.ca.
December 12, 1937 - Wrigley Field, Chicago - The NFL Championship was played in poor, muddy conditions at 24 degrees F. Quarterback Sammy Baugh led a late comeback for the Washington Redskins, who defeated the Chicago Bears, 28-21.
December 12, 1937, in the 1938 NFL Draft, the Cleveland Rams chose Corbett Davis from the University of Indiana with the first pick.
1938
January 1, 1938 - The 24th Rose Bowl Game had the Cal Golden Bears upend the Alabama Crimson Tide 13-0.
October 9, 1938 - The Cleveland Rams and the Chicago Bears played in only one of four NFL games that did not have a penalty called in it.
November 28, 1938 - The 4th Heisman Trophy was awarded to quarterback Davey O'Brien of Texas Christian University.
December 9, 1938 - The 1939 NFL Draft took place. Ki Aldrich from TCU was the first pick by the Chicago Cardinals.
December 11, 1938 - Polo Grounds, New York City - National Football League Championship: 48,120 fans, a record attendance for the Title game, watched the New York Giants defeat the Green Bay Packers, 23-17.
1939
January 1, 1939 - The 25th Rose Bowl Game was played. The 1938 Duke squad was special, as they fought through a brilliant 9-0 run to earn an invitation to play Southern Cal in the 1939 Rose Bowl. Duke played a tremendous game against the Trojans and lost it in a heartbreaker in the waning seconds by the score of 7-3. That USC TD with about a minute left to play was the first points scored by Duke all season!
January 15, 1939 - Wrigley Field, Chicago - A new addition to the NFL lineup of games arrived as the first NFL All-Star Game. The NFL Championship game winners would have the honor of facing the best players from all the other League squads.
September 25, 1939- Riddell introduces the Shell Helmet. 1st helmet to use a hard plastic shell was available to players.
September 30, 1939 – The first college football game aired on TV was between Waynesburg College and Fordham University on W2XBS, NBC’s flagship station.
October 21, 1939 - Texas Longhorn's star, Jack Crain, scored a last-second 67-yard touchdown to give Texas a narrow 14-13 victory over conference rival Arkansas.
December 6, 1939: The Downtown Athletic Club selected Iowa’s standout halfback, Nile Kinnick, as the 5th Heisman Trophy Award winner. Kinnick led the 1939 Hawkeyes, nicknamed “the Ironmen,” by averaging 57 minutes per game.
December 9, 1939 - Landsdowne Park, Ottawa - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took home their second Grey Cup title when they outlasted the Ottawa Rough Riders by the score of 8-7.
December 9, 1939 - the Chicago Cardinals once again held the first pick in the NFL Draft. The Cards first picked George Cafego from the University of Tennessee in the 1940 NFL Draft.
December 10, 1939 - West Allis, Wisconsin - "The Dairy Bowl" - The National Football League's Championship game in 1939 pitted the Green Bay Packers against the New York Football Giants. The Packers took home their fifth title, blanking the Giants 27-0
1940
January 1, 1940 - Coach Howard Jones led his USC Trojans to another Rose Bowl victory, this time over Coach Robert Neyland's Tennessee Volunteers, 14-0. The game MVP was USC QB Ambrose Schindler.
January 14, 1940 - Gilmore Stadium, Los Angeles - The 2nd NFL All-Star Game went on as scheduled, as the Champion Green Bay Packers would play the best players from the remainder of the League. The All-Stars featured Washington’s Slingin’ Sammy Baugh and Bears Sid Luckman under center, with Detroit’s Cotton Price.
April 12, 1940 - The NFL reduced the penalty for clipping. According to FootballZebras.com, until 1940, the offense might as well have given the ball to the defense immediately if they were flagged for clipping. Before 1940, a clipping penalty was a 25-yard penalty from the spot of the foul. From 1940 to today, the penalty has been 15 yards. At some point during the 1990s, all levels of football adopted the Block in the Back rule, which further clarified the clipping rule. Prior to this change, almost any block from behind was considered a clip. The Block in the back foul is a block from behind, above the waist, and carries a 10-yard penalty, while the clip is limited to behind-the-back and below the waist of the offended player.
September 15, 1940 - The 3rd edition of the American Football League plays its first game. The Milwaukee Chiefs overcame the Columbus Bullies by the score of 14-2.
November 10, 1940 -The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 7-3 in a penalty-free game at Forbes Field.
November 16, 1940 - The now infamous Cornell-Dartmouth "Fifth Down" game was played. This story is so juicy, we posted an article all on its own.
November 17, 1940 - According to the official website of the Green Bay Packers, Packers.com, the first NFL team to travel by airplane to a game was the Green Bay Packers, when they went to NYC.
November 27, 1940 – Tom Harmon becomes the first Michigan player ever to win the Heisman Trophy Award.
December 7, 1940 – Lansdowne Park, Ottawa – playing for the Grey Cup was Ottawa defeating Toronto Balmy Beach, 12-5
December 8, 1940 - Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. - The most lopsided NFL Title game ever. The National Football League Championship game played in 1940 is long remembered, not because it was a great battle, but because of the Chicago Bears' dominance that day. History.com's article brings all the details. The Chicago Bears embarrassed the Washington Redskins, 73-0, in the game. It was the most lopsided victory in NFL history, and it happened to be the NFL's showcase game to determine its season's champion.
December 29, 1940, it was the 3rd NFL All-Star Game, in which the NFL champions faced an all-star roster of the best players from the rest of the League. If you remember back to our December 8 post, the Bears totally dominated the NFL Championship game against the Washington Redskins, winning 73-0. According to a 2019 Reddit post, the game was knotted at 14 a piece going into the halftime locker room. The Bears used great defense and some timely Sid Luckman throws to score twice more in the second half, as the Chicago Bears showed again why they were the best, defeating the NFL All-Stars, 28-14.
1941
January 1, 1941 - The Rose Bowl game featured the Stanford Indians of Head coach Clark Shaughnessy defeating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 21-13,
February 3, 1941: The NFL Names Its First Commissioner. On this day, the NFL officially moved into a new era of professional governance by naming Elmer Layden as its first-ever commissioner.
March 11, 1941 - Chicago Bears' legend Bronko Nagurski defeated Ray Steele in Minnesota to become the National Wrestling Champion.
November 22, 1941 – The Pitt Panthers defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions 14-6 in their, at the time, annual rivalry game.
November 29, 1941 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers edged out the Ottawa Rough Riders, 18-16, for their 3rd Championship in the 29th edition of the Grey Cup.
December 6, 1941 - The game, played on December 6, 1941, saw the USC Trojans defeat the UCLA Bruins by a score of 21-7. This victory secured the Rose Bowl berth for USC, and the contest holds unique historical significance as it was the last major sporting event held in Los Angeles before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
December 7, 1941 - Chicago's Comiskey Park - The Sportsthenandnow.com website tells us that the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cardinals played in the regular-season finale, as this was the day that FDR claimed "a day that will live in infamy." The Cards entered the game with a dismal 3-6-1 record while George Halas's Bears were flying high at 9-1. The Cardinals raced to an early two-touchdown lead before the Bears closed the gap to 17-14 at the half. The lead went back and forth early in the second half until Sid Luckman and the boys put the game away with some late unanswered scores to secure a Bears 34-24 victory.
December 7, 1941 - Polo Grounds - Meanwhile, in the Big Apple, the Brooklyn Dodgers football team dismantled the New York Giants 21-7. The PA announcer at the game, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, announced that all military personnel must leave and report to their units in the midst of the fans enjoying the last game of the season to celebrate "Tuffy Leemans Day" in honor of their beloved Giants running back.
December 7, 1941 - Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. - The stadium management decided not to announce the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor to the crowd of nearly 27,000 at the Washington Redskins versus Philadelphia game, per the Boundary Stones website. The next morning, The Evening Star tried to make some sense of the Redskins’ decision to keep the news from their fans. Beneath the headline "It Could Only Happen in."
December 9, 1941 - The 7th Heisman Trophy Award was given to halfback Bruce Smith of the University of Minnesota.
December 14, 1941 - The Bears and Packers met in their only postseason game, which also marked the first NFL divisional playoff game. At the time, the two division leaders would face off in the NFL Championship Game. That season, the Bears and Packers had identical 10-1 records, each winning on the other's field earlier in the season. The Bears won at City Stadium on September 28 (25-17), and the Packers triumphed at Wrigley Field on November 2 (16-14), as reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online. In this decisive third meeting, the Bears earned the right to play for the title with a 33-14 victory.
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.
1942
January 1, 1942 - Durham, North Carolina - Once, the Rose Bowl was played on the East Coast. Oregon State College surprised everyone by winning the Pacific Coast Conference championship. The Golden Rankings website details how the Beavers won their final five games and earned their first Rose Bowl trip. At the time, the PCC champion chose its opponent. Minnesota, ranked No. 1, could not play due to Western Conference rules, so Oregon State chose Duke, the next-highest-ranked team.
January 4, 1942 - Polo Grounds, New York City - At the 4th NFL All-Star Game in a series where the NFL champs would play against the best players from the rest of the League, the Bears faced a group led by Slingin’ Sammy Baugh and Frank Filchok of Washington and Green Bay’s Don Hutson.
September 27, 1942 – In what may be one of the most ironic games in NFL history, the New York Football Giants defeated the Washington Redskins by the score of 14-7. NY did not achieve even one first down the entire game!
October 10, 1942 - A critical game was held at the neutral site of Cleveland Stadium during the height of World War II, pitting the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) Panthers against the powerful Great Lakes Navy Bluejackets. The Great Lakes squad was a formidable service team composed of enlisted college and professional football players, including 1941 Heisman Trophy winner Bruce Smith. The heavily favored Bluejackets ultimately prevailed by a single point, 7-6, after Pitt had missed a conversion earlier in the contest.
December 5, 1942 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - We assure that the score of the 30th Grey Cup game is indeed a football score and not one from the Hockey realm. With WWII underway, the Cup had a military flavor as the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes took the Grey Cup title, edging out the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers, 8-5.
December 8, 1942 - The 8th Heisman Trophy Award was given to Frank Sinkwich, Georgia's outstanding halfback.
December 13, 1942 - Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. - The Redskins appeared in another NFL Title tilt, upsetting the Chicago Bears 14-6.
December 22, 1941, the 1942 NFL Draft took place, and “Bullet” Bill Dudley from the University of Virginia was the first pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
December 27, 1942 - Shibe Park, Philadelphia - According to NWW2M.com, the way NFL All-Star games worked for a five-year period was that the NFL Champs would face a team of hand-picked League All-Stars a couple of weeks after the Title Game. Back in the December 13 edition of this series, we talked about the Washington Redskins winning the Big game in an upset of the Chicago Bears 14-6 at Griffith Park in D.C. Tradition would hold that the 5th and final NFL All-Star Game would play out in this format, as Washington faced a team of All-Stars coached by the Bears staff led by Hunk Anderson. The NFL stars included Bullet Bill Dudley of Pittsburgh at halfback, Bears quarterback Sid Luckman, Eagles signal caller Tommy Thompson, and the line play of Bruise Kinard and Bulldog Turner. The makeshift NFL All-Stars squad overcame the champs that day as the Washington Redskins fell 14-17.
1943
January 1, 1943 - In Pasadena, the 29th Rose Bowl game commenced with the Georgia Bulldogs taking on the UCLA Bruins. Georgia won the contest 9-0 behind the terrific play of game MVP Charley Trippi.
April 7, 1943 - According to an NFL.com post, the League adopted several new rules. Free substitution was permitted, allowing players to be substituted more than once during a game; helmets became mandatory; and a 10-game schedule was adopted.
April 8, 1943 - Frank Sinkwich from the University of Georgia was the first pick by the Detroit Lions in the 1943 NFL Draft.
October 9, 1943 - Indiana's Bob Hoernschemeyer—known as "Hunchy"—set a massive passing record that still resonates today. In the Hoosiers' 54-13 victory over Nebraska, the young quarterback threw an incredible six touchdown passes.
November 7, 1943 - Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan - The last scoreless tie in the NFL occurred when the Detroit Lions hosted the New York Football Giants in front of a crowd of 16,992 fans.
November 14, 1943 - Polo Grounds, New York - I don't know if it has ever occurred before, but the home team held a special promotional day for the opposing quarterback. Yes, the New York Football Giants promoted their game against the Chicago Bears on November 14, 1943, as Sid Luckman Day. Luckman, originally from New York, played for Chicago.
November 20, 1943 - Any time the top two teams in the Nation clash it is generally an epic game. During World War II, when the #1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish faced the #2 Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks, it was a doozy! The Irish escaped with a narrow 14-13 win.
November 27, 1943 - U.S. Marine Boot Camp - Angelo Bertelli is handed a telegram at boot camp on Parris Island, South Carolina, informing him that he had just won the 1943 Heisman Trophy.
November 27, 1943 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - In the CFL Grey Cup Game, the Hamilton Flying Wildcats defeated the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers, 23-14.
December 3, 1943 - Notre Dame Quarterback Angelo Bertelli officially won the 9th Heisman Trophy Award, becoming the first player from the Fighting Irish to receive the honor.
December 5, 1943 - The Merger of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL, often referred to as the "Steagles," dissolved as the season ended.
December 26, 1943 - Wrigley Field, Chicago - The NFL Championship Game saw the Washington Redskins face the Chicago Bears. Hall of Fame Quarterback Sid Luckman led the Bears, coming off a stellar season. Luckman completed 110 of 202 passes for 2,194 yards, 28 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions, earning a 107.5 passer rating. The Bears finished 8-1-1, despite owner/coach George Halas serving in the Navy for much of the year. The Redskins, led by Sammy Baugh, were tough opponents. These teams had met in past championships: Bears crushed Washington 73-0 in 1940, but Washington won 21-7 in 1942. The Bleacher Report article gives all the details, but the final score is Bears 41, Redskins 21. It was the Bears' sixth NFL title.
1944
January 1, 1944 - In the 30th edition of the Rose Bowl Game, it was an all-West Coast affair due to the way. The USC Trojans battled their rival, the Washington Huskies. Southern Cal won handily, 29-0.
April 19, 1944 - Angelo Bertelli from the University of Notre Dame was the first player selected in the 1944 NFL Draft by the Boston Yanks.
April 20, 1944 - The NFL legalized coaching from the bench.
April 21, 1944 - Philadelphia, PA - The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals agreed to merge for the 1944 NFL season due to manpower shortages caused by WWII. The group would form one of the notoriously worst football teams ever, fondly remembered as the Card-Pitt or Carpets.
November 25, 1944 - Civic Stadium, Hamilton - The 32nd Grey Cup was played, with the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy defeating the Hamilton Flying Wildcats by the score of 7-6.
December 2, 1944 - Ohio State halfback/quarterback Les Horvath won the 10th Heisman Trophy, becoming the first Buckeye recipient of the award.
December 3, 1944 - It was the last game for the Card-Pitt team, a 49-0 loss to the Chicago Bears to end an 0-10 campaign. Due to a shortage of players during World War II, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals temporarily merged their operations for the 1944 season, then dissolved the agreement before the 1945 season began.
December 17, 1944 - Polo Grounds, New York City - The NFL Championship game had the Green Bay Packers visiting the New York Football Giants. The website GoldenRankings.com has a superb write-up on the game. According to the article, World War II stripped many fine players from the rosters of all NFL teams as they served their country. Retired players who were not in the military were recruited by all teams just to field enough players. It was the Packers who won this tightly contested game 14-7, securing their 6th and final championship title under their legendary coach, Curly Lambeau.
1945
January 1, 1945 - The 31st Rose Bowl Game saw the unbeaten University of Southern Cal Trojans blank the undefeated Tennessee Vols 25-0.
April 8, 1945, at the 1945 NFL Draft, Charley Trippi from the University of Georgia was the first pick by the Chicago Cardinals.
April 9, 1945, the NFL required players to wear long stockings. According to ESPN, Commissioner Elmer Layden mandated that NFL players wear their socks up to their lower legs, apparently for aesthetic and uniformity reasons. This rule, still enforced, explains why NFL players wear high socks while many NCAA teams play bare-legged. Displaying bare calves in the NFL can result in a fine from league headquarters.
On April 10, 1945, the NFL's Boston Yanks & Brooklyn Tigers merged.
April 20, 1945 - The Cleveland Browns organization was formed by Arthur "Mickey" McBride. Mickey acquired the franchise in the new All-America Football Conference that would begin play in the 1946 season.
October 14, 1945 - The longest losing streak in NFL history was snapped when the Cardinals surprised the Bears 16-7.
November 10, 1945 - Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York - Top-ranked Army shuts out No. 2 Notre Dame 48-0 in an extremely lopsided contest.
November 22, 1945 - Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan - The fans of the Cleveland Rams had plenty to be thankful for on this day. Jim Benton, the dependable Cleveland Rams end, gained an NFL record 303 yards against the Detroit Lions during this Thanksgiving Day game. The mark of 303 yards remained the NFL record for 40 years and was tested only once in 1950 by Cloyce Box of the Lions, who gained 302 yards in one game. It wasn't until the 1985 season that the record was shattered by Stephone Paige of the Kansas City Chiefs, 1985, with 309, and in 1989, when Flipper Anderson of the LA version of the Rams chalked up a remarkable 336 yards! It was a critical game per the fs64sports website, as the Rams entered the contest with a 7-1 mark, while the host Lions were no slouches, sporting a 6-2 record of their own. Benton and his team did just enough to escape the Motor City with an exciting 28-21 win.
December 4, 1945 – The Downtown Athletic Club awarded Army Fullback Felix “Doc” Blanchard the prestigious Heisman Trophy. Blanchard became the first junior and the first player from West Point to win the Heisman after leading Army to a second straight national title. The Black Knights finished Blanchard’s three seasons with an amazing 27-0-1 record and three national championships.
December 16, 1945 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - With temperatures at near zero and the field covered with snow, the Cleveland Rams played their last game before moving out to Los Angeles. It happened to be the 1945 NFL Championship game against the Washington Redskins. In preparation for the weather before the game, Cleveland brass had nearly 9,000 bales of straw covering the field to protect it, per an LA Times archived article. With an army of volunteers, the Cleveland faithful removed the straw covered in ice and snow from the frozen turf. Washington had an interesting predicament before the game started: the NFL’s leading passer on the season, Sammy Baugh, had a nagging rib injury from a prior game, but as a backup QB, they had Frank Filchock, who was the passing leader the year before. Baugh fumbled the first offensive play for the Redskins and threw an errant pass from his own endzone in desperation, which was ruled a safety for committing the foul from behind his own goal line. The Rams gave their fans a great memory as they edged out the Washington Redskins, 15-14. What a way for a franchise to leave a city! It almost makes one think: Is it better to leave Cleveland as they did, or to move the Browns away to Baltimore as Art Modell did when they won a Super Bowl within five seasons of leaving Cleveland? (source)
1946
January 1, 1946 - The 32nd edition of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena saw the Alabama Crimson Tide derail the USC Trojans, 34-14, with Harry Gilmer voted as the game MVP.
On January 11, 1946, the NFL announced that Bert Bell had been named the league's second Commissioner. The Pro Football Researchers Association, in their 1996 Volume 18 edition of the Coffin Corner Magazine, shared a story from the Pro Football Hall of Fame detailing this transition. Elmer Layden, the first Commissioner, ended his tenure when Brooklyn owner Dan Topping withdrew his team to join the All-America Football Conference (AAFC).
January 12, 1946 - The NFL approved the move of the League Champion Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles.
January 14, 1946 - The NFL Draft for the 1946 season had Frank Dancewicz, the flashy quarterback from the University of Notre Dame, selected first by the Boston Yanks.
September 8, 1946 - The San Francisco 49ers make their debut in regular-season professional football as they play the New York Yankees in an AAFC tilt. The Yanks win 21-7.
September 29, 1946 – The Rams franchise plays its very first game representing the city of Los Angeles.
October 8, 1946 – The infamous AAFC Miami Seahawks take flight… well sort of.
October 20, 1946 - Polo Grounds, New York City - Frank Seno returns a kickoff 105 yards for the Chicago Cards vs. the NY Giants. T.J. Troupe wrote a nice piece on Frank Seno on the Pro Football Researchers website in which he writes: “The 1946 Cardinals were a team on the upswing, and on October 20 in the Polo Grounds against the contending Giants in one of the most thrilling contests of the year, Frank Seno set an NFL record with his 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. His coast-to-coast return gave the Cardinals a short-lived 24 to 21 lead.” Short-lived indeed as the Giants stormed back with a Howie Livingston 5-yard scamper for a score to lift the New York squad to a 28-24 win over the Cards.
October 26, 1946 – Knoxville, Tennessee – The Wake Forest Demon Deacons knocked off the highest-ranked opponent in the football program's history when they defeated the No. 4 in the nation, the Tennessee Volunteers, 19-6. The website godeacs.com has an excellent recount of the game. The Wake Forest line was a block of granite against the Tennessee running attack. Bob Leonetti and Ed Royston, guards; Boyd Allen, center; and Sidney Martin, tackle, refused to let the Vol backs loose for any damaging gains. The Deacon forwards were also terrific in rushing Vol passers. The Deacons scored first in the opening period, and then came back in the third period to register two quick touchdowns to ice the ball game after the Vols had scored their lone marker in the second period to tie the score at 6-6.
November 9, 1946 — Second-ranked Notre Dame fights to a 0-0 tie with No. 1 Army at Yankee Stadium to snap the Cadets' 25-game winning streak. The Charlotte Observer's article goes on to say that the Irish defense holds Army's running backs, Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis, to a combined 79 yards.
November 23, 1946 - The traditional rivalry game between the Pittsburgh Panthers and the Penn State Nittany Lions concluded with a hard-fought 7-7 tie. This result capped Penn State's undefeated 6-0-2 season, setting the stage for its historic Rose Bowl appearance the following year.
November 30, 1946 - Notre Dame clinched the first of two straight national titles by romping past USC 26-6 at Notre Dame Stadium.
November 30, 1946 - The Annual Army-Navy game had National Championship implications. Under legendary coach Red Blaik, the undefeated Black Knights were widely considered the nation's best team, boasting a tie against rival Notre Dame as their only blemish. Their opponent, the Navy Midshipmen, entered the Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia with a dismal 1-7 record. However, in front of a massive crowd of 102,500—including President Truman, the Chief Justice, and much of the Cabinet—what unfolded was a taut, dramatic struggle that saw Army win the battle but lose the war for the national championship.
November 30, 1946 - CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts claim 7th Championship and retain title with 28-6 win over Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
December 3, 1946 - Army halfback Glenn Davis won the 12th Heisman Trophy, recognizing his dominant senior campaign that included 13 touchdowns, over 700 rushing yards, and over 300 receiving yards.
December 15, 1946 - At the Polo Grounds in New York City, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants 24-14 in the National Football League Championship before a record crowd of 58,346.
December 16, 1946 - Bob Fenimore, from the University of Notre Dame, was the first pick in the 1947 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.
December 22, 1946 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - The AAFC championship game was played as the New York Yankees Football club invaded Cleveland to face the Browns for the AAFC Title. The Browns came out victorious as they defeated the Yankees 14-9 in a close one.
December 28, 1946 - The original Baltimore Colts franchise was formed in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) as the professional football team representing Baltimore. This Colts team, along with the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers, was absorbed into the NFL in 1950 when the AAFC dissolved.
1947
January 1, 1947 - In Pasadena, the 33rd Rose Bowl found the Illinois Illini powering past the UCLA Bruins 45-14, as the Illini halfback tandem of Claude "Buddy" Young and Julius Rykovich were the game's MVPs.
October 4, 1947 – The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame shake off a tough start in the early stages of the game at Pittsburgh, when Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Lujack began to throw deep passes, leading to a stunning 40-6 Irish victory.
October 25, 1947 - The unbelievable occurred, the unexpected upset of the Columbia Lions over the powerful Army Black Knights, ending the legendary winning streak of the West Point Cadets.
November 23, 1947 - Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C. - Slingin' Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins takes advantage of the Chicago Cardinals' secondary as he tosses 6 touchdown passes. Washington won the game 45-21.
November 29, 1947 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The Toronto Argonauts took home their 3rd straight and 8th overall title, escaping the stadium with a close 10-9 victory over the Calgary Stampeders, per the cflhof.ca site.
On December 14, 1947, the Cleveland Browns defeated the New York Yankees 14-3 in the AAFC Championship Game, winning yet another title in the fledgling league.
December 1, 1947 - Johnny Lujack is selected as Notre Dame's Second Heisman Trophy winner.
December 19, 1947 - Washington Redskins Select Harry Gilmer First Overall. At the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh on December 19, the Redskins chose Harry Gilmer with the top 1948 NFL Draft pick. He had a strong 9-year career. However, players picked later, including Bobby Layne (3rd) and Y.A. Tittle (6th), arguably had more productive careers. The Redskins also picked Lowell Tew fourth overall.
December 28, 1947 - Comiskey Park, Chicago - The 1947 NFL Championship Game is played between the Philadelphia Eagles, victors of the Eastern Division, and the Western Division winners, the Chicago Cardinals, per a story on the Bleacher Report. The Cardinals jumped out to an early lead after Charlie Trippi punched in a score, followed just a bit later by his Chicago teammate, Elmer Angsman, running in another TD. Steve Van Buren recorded one of the touchdowns for the Eagles shortly before halftime. The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, setting up a dramatic finish in the fourth. Angsman ran in another score in the fourth, but Philly cut the lead to just one score after the Eagles crossed the goal line stripe on a one-yard plunge by Craft. The game was a stalemate from there, as the Chicago Cardinals went on to beat Philadelphia, 28-21, to secure the Cardinals' only title game victory.
1948
January 1, 1948 - At the 34th playing of the Rose Bowl game, the Michigan Wolverines embarrassed the USC Trojans in a 49-0 rout. Michigan halfback Bob Chappuis was voted as the game's Most Valuable Player.
April 6, 1948 – Boston Yanks Suspend Operations On April 6, 1948, the NFL granted the Boston Yanks permission to suspend operations for one season due to financial struggles. This set off a chain of events that eventually led to the franchise being liquidated and replaced by the New York Bulldogs (which later became the New York Yanks).
November 27, 1948 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - During this CFL Grey Cup contest, the Calgary Stampeders won their first Championship as they knocked off the Ottawa Rough Riders, 12-7.
December 4, 1948 – Alabama hosted Auburn in the 13th Iron Bowl game, the first meeting between the rivals since 1907. The Crimson Tide handed the Tigers a decisive 55-0 defeat at Birmingham's Legion Field.
December 5, 1948 - New York Giant Charley Conerly completed 36 passes to set an NFL record for the most completions in an NFL game. The website footballperspective.com features an interesting article on Conerly's time in the NFL.
December 8, 1948 - Southern Methodist University's Halfback Doak Walker took home the 14th Heisman Trophy Award.
December 19, 1948 (AAFC) - Cleveland Browns Win the AAFC Championship at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, demolishing the Buffalo Bills 49-7.
December 19, 1948 - Shibe Park, Philadelphia - The 1948 NFL Championship also kicked off, with the Chicago Cardinals facing the Philadelphia Eagles. According to PFRA's Ken Crippen, who wrote a detailed article on the game, the kickoff temperature was a chilly 27 degrees. Field workers removed nearly five inches of snow from the tarp, but heavy snow and strong winds kept falling. Stadium lights stayed on for the whole game. The snow was so bad that officials had to guess where the goal line and sidelines were. As someone who has officiated on a grass field in a snowstorm, finding white lines in white snow is tough! The defenses controlled the game. The only score came in the third quarter. Cardinal Ray Moulof fumbled at his own 17, and the Eagles recovered. A few plays later, Steve Van Buren scored for Philly. The Eagles blanked the Cardinals 7-0 in "the Philly Blizzard."
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.
1949
January 1, 1949 - The Rose Bowl played its 35th game, and it was a good one. The Northwestern Wildcats survived the Cal Golden Bears on a game-winning fourth-quarter touchdown.
January 21, 1949 - According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, this marks the day that the New York Bulldogs/Yanks franchise began.
November 26, 1949 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - Our friends at NinetyNineyards.com are all over this story. The Montreal Alouettes outplayed the Calgary Stampeders, 28-15, for their first Championship. Make sure you check out the great piece the Ninety Nine Yards has on this game by clicking their highlighted name.
November 26, 1949 - Grant Field, Atlanta, Georgia - Georgia Tech was a seven-point favorite at home against their rivals from the University of Georgia, per a report by georgiatechticketstubs.com. The Bulldogs recovered a fumble in the second quarter and then cashed it in to take a 6-0 lead. That is when the cavalry came to the rescue of the stagnant Tech offense. Jim Southard, their injured starting quarterback, came off the bench and breathed a little bit of life into the Yellow Jackets. It finally paid off when, after multiple long drives, the Ramblin' Wreck finally put the ball across the goal line and made the point after. It was just enough as the final score read Georgia Tech 7, Georgia 6, the victory that started "The Drought" for the Bulldogs and initiated Bobby Dodd's eight-year mastery of Georgia.
December 3, 1949 - One win, Auburn edged out their highly-ranked rivals Alabama 14-13 in the 14th Iron Bowl after the Crimson Tide missed a game-tying extra point with less than two minutes remaining.
December 4, 1949 – Playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bob Gage set an NFL record with a 97-yard touchdown run. Gage executed a fake punt from his own 3-yard line against the favored Chicago Bears and raced for the score.
December 7, 1949 - The 15th Heisman Trophy Award went to Leon Hart, who played for Notre Dame as an end.
December 9, 1949 - the NFL absorbed the franchises of the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers & Baltimore Colts from the rival League, the AAFC, which dissolved due to poor finances. A great story in Sporting Chance Press details the merger: NFL Commissioner Bert Bell reached an agreement for the NFL to merge the Colts, Browns, and Niners into the League. Meanwhile, the other AAFC teams would disband.
December 11, 1949 - The 1949 AAFC Championship Game was the final title game in the history of the All-America Football Conference. The Cleveland Browns defeated the San Francisco 49ers 21-7 to claim their fourth and final league title before entering the NFL.
December 18, 1949 - LA Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA -The LA Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles met for the 1949 National Football League Championship Title. Weather conditions were dreadful, with driving rain turning the grassy field into quite a quagmire. A 1988 Pro Football Researchers Association article on the game in the Coffin Corner Volume 10 shares the story. Over an inch of rain fell in the LA area, and many called for the game to be postponed until Christmas Day. NFL Commissioner Bert Bell had nothing to do with any postponement and ordered the game to go on as scheduled. The Eagles, with their solid defense, were a 7-point betting odds favorite in the contest. What they did was double the win margin as their stifling defense shut down the Rams in a 14-0 victory. The Eagles offense put one touchdown on the board, but the rest was all defense as the Rams were held to a record 21 total rushing yards, and special teams blocked a punt in the second half for the other Philly score.
1950
January 2, 1950 - Since the 1st was on a Sunday, the 1950 Rose Bowl was not played on New Year's Day. The 36th edition had the Ohio State Buckeyes overcome the previously undefeated Cal Golden Bears in a 17-14 thriller.
January 20, 1950 - Bellevue-Stratford Hotel, Philadelphia -The Detroit Lions picked Leon Hart from the University of Notre Dame with the first pick of the 1950 NFL Draft.
January 23, 1950 - the NFL rule changes, which, according to sportsattic.com, included unlimited free substitution, restored, opening the way for the era of two platoons and specialization in pro football, such as offense, defense, and special team specialists.
March 3, 1950 - The National Football League reverted to calling itself the NFL after 3 months. According to Wikipedia, when the NFL absorbed the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) on December 9, 1949, the 13 teams were realigned into the American and National conferences, which lasted for three seasons. The merged league briefly considered the name "National-American Football League" but reverted to
September 16, 1950 – The Cleveland Browns play their first game in the NFL. The club was formerly a member of the All-American Football Conference, where it began playing in 1946. Cleveland businessman Arthur McBride purchased the franchise and created it, and they had immediate success. The Browns dominated the AAFC, and some think this was the main reason for the Conference's demise after the 1949 season. Three teams from the former AAFC joined the NFL in 1950: the Browns, the Baltimore Colts, and the San Francisco 49ers. The early Cleveland Browns teams were talented and featured great players such as Marion Motley, Otto Graham, and Lou Groza. The schedule makers wanted to showcase the NFL's dominance, so they scheduled the Browns, champions of the AAFC in 1949, to open against the Philadelphia Eagles, who were the reigning NFL title holders in 1949. The NFL expected the Browns to struggle when they entered the League in 1950, but boy, were they wrong. The Cleveland squad, in fact, crushed the Philadelphia Eagles by the score of 35-10.
September 17, 1950 - The San Francisco 49ers made their debut in the NFL. Formerly, they were in the All-American Football Conference.
October 1, 1950 – A Cleveland Browns franchise record is set for the lowest total points in a game as the New York Giants defeated the Browns at Cleveland Municipal Stadium 6-0. This didn't stop the Brownies, though, as they went on to later win the NFL Championship Title that season.
October 2, 1950 – Chicago Cardinal, Bob Shaw, sets an NFL record with 5 touchdown catches from Redbird quarterback Jim Hardy, who had a total of 6 on the day. The Cards blasted the Baltimore Colts 55-13.
October 8, 1950 - The first game ever of the Browns-Steelers rivalry took place. Cleveland won the game 30-17.
October 28, 1950 - Nevada University's Mackay Stadium - In a story from the NCAA.com website, Loyola had scored two early touchdowns against the winless University of Nevada team. Things did not get much better for the Wolf Pack, as their next offensive possession found them with a 4th-and-long from their own one-yard line. That is when the team's bright spot stepped onto the field, punter Pat Brady. Being careful to keep his feet inside the end line, Brady took the long snap from center and then the southpaw booted a beauty! His punt sailed through the thin Nevada air, over the head of the surprised Loyola return man, past midfield until it struck the turf near the Loyola 25-yard line, then kept bouncing and rolling until it stopped about two feet from the goal line! The 4000 fans in attendance had just witnessed Nevada punter Pat Brady kicking an unbelievable NCAA record 99-yard punt! Unfortunately, the poor field position did not stop the Loyola offense, as they scored a few plays later for their 3rd touchdown in the first quarter, and the Wolf Pack subsequently lost to the Lions 34-7.
November 12, 1950 - Polo Grounds, New York City - Giants running back Gene Roberts went off against the Chicago Cardinals' defense as he ran for 218 yards, setting a New York Football Giants rushing record according to the Pro Football Reference website.
November 25, 1950 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 38th edition of the CFL Grey Cup was played per the amp. Blog-shops web page. This game is often called the "Mud Bowl" because of the sloppy field conditions that day. It was the Toronto Argonauts who won, claiming the franchise's 9th title in a shutout victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 13-0.
November 25, 1950 - While it was muddy up North in Canada, the weather was a tad more wintry in the US Midwest. The Snow Bowl version of "The Game" took place during the annual Wolverines-Buckeyes reunion.
December 2, 1950 - Navy Upsets Army to end a long-lasting win streak.
December 2, 1950 - The Alabama Crimson Tide dominated Auburn 34-0 in the 15th Iron Bowl at Legion Field in Birmingham.
December 3, 1950 - The Cleveland Browns defeated the two-time champion Philadelphia Eagles 13-7 in what became the last NFL game in which a team did not throw a single pass.
December 12, 1950 - Vic Janowicz, the fine halfback from the Ohio State Buckeyes, won the 16th Heisman Trophy.
December 24, 1950 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - The 1950 NFL Championship Game is played as the Los Angeles Rams face the Cleveland Browns. The Cleveland Browns defeated the LA Rams, 30-28. Cleveland's defense provided five interceptions of the Rams offense, often regarded as one of the most prolific in league history to that point.
1951
January 1, 1951 - The 37th Rose Bowl Game was played as the Michigan Wolverines defeated the California Golden Bears, 14-6, on two fourth-quarter touchdowns.
January 14, 1951 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The very first NFL Pro Bowl game took place.
January 18, 1951 - Rule revisions were adopted at the NFL Winter meetings. A rule was instituted that made guards, tackles, and centers ineligible to receive the forward pass, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This rule change led to making the game what it is today, as there can only be 6 eligible receivers on any given play, the widest player on each end of the line, and the four in the backfield. The NFL took control of the original failing Baltimore Colts franchise. Colts owner Abraham Watner returned the Baltimore franchise and its player contracts to the NFL for $50,000. These former Baltimore Colts players were made available in the upcoming 1951 NFL Draft, along with college players. The Colts were originally members of the AAFC, and when that league disbanded, they, along with the Browns and the 49ers, were absorbed into the NFL.
January 18, 1951 - The 1951 NFL Draft took place right after the meeting above was completed. Kyle Rote from SMU was the first pick by the New York Giants. Future Hall of Famers that came out of this Draft were quarterback Y.A. Tittle as the 3rd overall pick by the 49ers, Dan Stanfel by the Lions at 19, and the Bears taking Bill George with the 23rd pick.
September 28, 1951 – The Dutchman, Norm Van Brocklin of the LA Rams, threw for an NFL record 554 yards on opening day.
October 14, 1951 – Detroit Lions return man, Jack Christiansen, takes 2 punts to the house for touchdowns against the LA Rams. Pro-football-reference.com recorded the game's statistics, noting Jack’s first return as a 69-yarder in the second quarter of a Doak Walker punt. The second return for a score occurred in the final stanza as Christianson took another of Walker's 4th Down field flippers 49 yards to paydirt. Though the returns helped the Lions on the scoreboard, they did not win the game as the Rams triumphed 27-21.
November 4, 1951 – NYC, New York – The New York Football Giants and the New York Yanks score back-to-back touchdowns on kickoff returns.
November 17, 1951 - The Notre Dame football program earns its 400th victory as the Irish outlast the Tarheels of the University of North Carolina 12-7.
November 24, 1951 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 39th Grey Cup Final for the CFL Championship was played. In the tight game, the Ottawa Rough Riders came out victorious, claiming their 4th Championship with a 21-14 win over the Saskatchewan Roughriders. The Roughriders scratched and clawed their way into the big game as they finished with a record of 8-6, not to be confused with the Champion Ottawa Rough Riders. That must have been a tough one to listen to on the radio broadcast when the Roughriders played the Rough Riders!
November 25, 1951 – Cleveland Municipal Stadium – The Chicago Bears traveled to face the reigning champion Cleveland Browns, according to grayflannelsuit.com. It was a record-setting day. Cleveland halfback Dub Jones tied the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game as he punched through the Bears' defense six times to find paydirt in the Browns' 42-21 win versus the Bears. The most tired team on the field had to be the officials, who threw flags and handed out penalties like it was Halloween candy. The Cleveland Browns were penalized a record 209 yards on 21 offenses, while Chicago had 16 penalties for 165 yards.
December 2, 1951 - The Philadelphia Eagles powered past the Washington Redskins 35-21 at Griffith Stadium, setting an NFL record by rushing for 25 first downs.
December 2, 1951 - The Green Bay Packers retired jersey number 14, honoring future Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Hutson.
December 2, 1951 - Alabama knocked off Auburn 25-7 in the 16th Iron Bowl, securing another victory for the Tide at Legion Field in Birmingham.
December 23, 1951 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The NFL Championship featured the Rams hosting the Browns in the first coast-to-coast televised title game. The DuMont Network paid $95,000 for broadcast rights. Earl Gillespie and Harry Wismer called the game. Legendary quarterbacks, Otto Graham and Norm Van Brocklin, led their teams. Pivotal moments included Graham's third-quarter fumble, leading to an LA score. After the Browns tied it, they drove 70 yards for a Ken Carpenter touchdown, but the Rams answered. Tom Fears caught a Van Brocklin pass and ran 73 yards for the game-winning touchdown. The Rams beat the Browns 24-17.
1952
January 1, 1952 - At the 38th Rose Bowl Game, the Stanford Indians were humbled by the Illinois Fighting Illini in a 40-7 rout. Bill Tate, the Illini star running back, was the game's MVP.
January 12, 1952 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The second annual NFL Pro Bowl game was played.
January 17, 1952 – The 1952 NFL Draft took place. The top pick was Bill Wade from Vanderbilt University by the LA Rams.
January 19, 1952 - The NFL took control of the NY Yanks, according to a story on ProFootballTalk.NBCSports.com. The Yanks, who really got their League starts in 1945, when the Brooklyn team reassembled the Yanks franchise that had left the NFL in the mid-1940s and entered the All-America Football Conference. They played as the AAFC's Boston Yanks for three seasons from 1946 to 1948. In 1949, the franchise
January 24, 1952 – The Dallas Texans franchise was awarded after Dallas purchased the New York Yanks’ assets from the NFL. This is the first Texas NFL franchise in history. As we learned in the January 23 edition of this series, they were not very good, and the NFL shut them down after just one season. The remnants of the franchise were sold to Caroll Rosenbloom in 1953, forming the Baltimore Colts.
November 16, 1952 - According to the onthisday.com website, it was the first time in the Peanuts Comic strip that Lucy held a football for Charlie Brown. However, the Schultzmuseum.org website claims that the first time Charles Schulz used the football idea in his comic strip was in 1951, although Violet is the one holding the football for Charlie Brown in that instance, and she pulls it away more out of fear than just being mean, as Lucy did.
November 25, 1952 - Dallas, Texas - Thanksgiving games in Dallas are not just a current-era phenomenon. The Dallas Texans hosted one during a dismal 1952 season against a good Chicago Bears team. ESPN.com has a pretty good story on the game that says, before the game, instead of the usual warmups and such, the Texans players went up into the stands to thank the fans for coming. Up to that point, the Texans had not smelled victory this season. The air was so chilly that day that the players had set up burn barrels on each end of the bench area to keep their hands warm. They always say don't count the home team out in a Thanksgiving Day battle, and that may have started in this very game, when the NFL's Dallas Texans won their only game on this day, beating the Bears 27-23.
November 29, 1952 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - It was the Toronto Argonauts who showed their mettle with their record 10th Championship as they squashed the Edmonton Eskimos, 21-11 in the 40th playing of the Grey Cup according to thestar.com.
November 29, 1952 - Legion Field, Birmingham - The 17th Iron Bowl saw Alabama crush the hopes of the Auburn Tigers with a 21-0 victory, per onthisday.com.
December 2, 1952 - Oklahoma halfback Billy Vessels won the 18th Heisman Trophy.
December 28, 1952 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium was the site of the 1952 NFL Championship game, featuring the Detroit Lions representing the National Conference and the Cleveland Browns representing the American Conference. This was the Browns' third straight NFL title game appearance, according to a story on mesa.marmot.org. This year marked the first of three consecutive championship meetings between Detroit and Cleveland. The Lions' quarterback Bobby Layne and running back Doak Walker each scored rushing touchdowns, giving Detroit an early advantage. The Detroit defense contained Cleveland's offense, led by quarterback Otto Graham. The Lions defeated the Browns, 17-7, to win the championship game.
1953
January 1, 1953 - The Rose Bowl game recorded its 39th edition as the USC Trojans blanked the Wisconsin Badgers 7-0, as Trojan QB Rudy Bukich won MVP honors.
January 10, 1953 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The third NFL Pro Bowl brought together a remarkable array of talent. According to Pro-Football-Reference, quarterbacks Y.A. Tittle, Norm Van Brocklin, Bobby Layne, and Otto Graham led the action.
January 22, 1953 - During the 1953 NFL Draft, the San Francisco 49ers chose End Harry Babcock from the University of Georgia.
January 23, 1953. - At the NFL owners meeting, the successful sale of the franchise that would become the reincarnation of a Baltimore franchise took just over four weeks as Carroll Rosenbloom became the principal owner of the new Baltimore Colts and absorbed many of the defunct Dallas Texans team. (Look back at the December 28 History headlines.) Also decided at this meeting was that the NFL's National & American conferences would become Eastern & Western conferences.
March 28, 1953 - The Sports world loses one of history's greatest athletes as Jim Thorpe passes away at 65 in Lomita, California.
October 18, 1953 - Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois - Willie Thrower had the perfect name for an NFL quarterback. What was truly remarkable was that a pioneer in American professional football history. A chicagobears.com article shares how Willie overcame unbelievable obstacles when he became the first NFL quarterback in modern times to be of African-American descent. The contest pitted the Chicago Bears against the San Francisco 49ers, and the Bears' starting quarterback, George Blanda, was struggling. Papa Bear, George Halas, could not watch any more of Blanda's ineffective play in the contest, so, looking for an offensive spark, he sent in the promising backup QB Willie Thrower. Thrower was a collegiate quarterback with the National Champion Michigan State Spartans of 1952. The Niners rendered Willie ineffective, allowing him to throw for a mere completion rate of 3 of 8 for 27 yards. Halas returned Blanda to the game, but the San Fran squad had the Bears' number that day, resulting in a close 35-28 Niners victory. Willie played in only one more game for the Bears in 1953 before being released by Halas. Although his playing career was short, it certainly had a tremendous impact. Thrower helped to pave a path that many others followed. NFL legend Warren Moon mentioned Willie Thrower in his Pro Football Hall of Fame acceptance speech, thanking him for inspiring Moon's football journey.
October 25, 1953 - The Polo Grounds, New York City, New York - It was a sloppy track to say the least at the famed Polo Grounds on this day in late October 1953. The Cleveland Browns were well into their 4th season in the NFL after dominating the now-defunct American Football League. The Giants were a mid-level team at best in '53, but being at home in the mud could be a great equalizer in the game, and it was! Cleveland Browns' QB Otto Graham sets club record with 4 fumbles as the Giants' defense did everything they could to claw the ball away from the Browns. A story on Cleveland.com recounts how the only scoring sequence unfolded. (https://www.cleveland.com/browns/1953/10/browns_nail_5th_straight_in_mu.html ) The long count paid off for the Cleveland Browns on that day. The long count was a strategic maneuver designed to draw Giants rookie defensive lineman Joe Ramona offside as the Browns lined up for a field goal attempt in the second period. Center Frank Gatski of the Browns had noticed that the youngster was a little jumpy, so as the Browns lined up to try a field goal from the 18-yard line, Gatski suggested to Otto Graham that he delay snapping the ball a few counts.It worked: Ramona jumped the count, and the Giants were penalized five yards and a first-and-goal on the six-yard line. Two plays later, Graham carried the ball through the left side of the line for the only score of the game. It is rare for a player to turn the ball over four times in a game and still escape the hero. The Browns won 7- 0 against the New York Giants in the mudfest.
November 12, 1953 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - From the NHregister.com website comes the story of the NFL Blackouts of television broadcasts in cities for home games. In 1951, NFL Commissioner Bert Bell decided to black out all home games within a 75-mile radius of NFL markets. Bell was quoted as stating, "As long as I have anything to do with this league, home games won't be televised, period." The Justice Department sued the NFL, alleging antitrust violations. The NFL Blackout rule for home games stood up in court, as US District Judge Paul Grim ruled in favor of the NFL's practice of not televising home games in the cities where they are played.
November 23, 1953 - Bobby Lane dominates as his Detroit Lions upset the NY Yanks, 49-14.
November 28, 1953 -Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 41st Grey Cup for the CFL Championship was played. In this contest, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defeated the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 12-6 in a thriller.
November 28, 1953 - Legion Field, Birmingham - The 18th version of the old Iron Bowl was one you had to hang onto the edge of your seat for. Alabama beats Auburn 10-7 in Birmingham.
December 8, 1953 - The 19th Heisman Trophy was presented to Johnny Lattner of Notre Dame by the Downtown Athletic Club.
December 27, 1953 - Briggs Stadium, Detroit - The 1953 National Football League Championship had the previous year’s Champion Detroit Lions at home to face the contending Cleveland Browns. The Detroit Lions held on and beat the Cleveland Browns, 17-16, to retain the title!
1954
January 1, 1954 - In Pasadena, CA, the Rose Bowl game marked its 40th edition, with the Michigan State Spartans overcoming a halftime deficit to score 21 second-half points and defeat the UCLA Bruins 28-20. MSU halfback Billy Wells won the MVP award.
January 17, 1954 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The NFL Eastern Conference doubled up the Western Conference, 20-9, in the 4th NFL Pro Bowl.
January 28, 1954 - At the 1954 NFL Draft, Bobby Garrett from Stanford was the first pick by the Cleveland Browns. The PFR informs us that Future Pro Football Hall of Fame entrant Raymond Berry was taken as the 232nd overall pick by the Baltimore Colts.
September 1, 1954 - Junction, Texas - The legendary head coach of the University of Alabama's Crimson Tide opened up his 10-day camp for his players. Yes, that was Bear Bryant who inspired both the book and its subsequent TV movie called The Junction Boys.
October 17, 1954 - QB Adrian Burk threw 7 touchdown passes for the Eagles as Philadelphia dismantled Washington 49-21.
November 7, 1954 - The Cleveland Browns recorded their largest margin of victory, crushing the Washington Redskins 62-3. In the same game, the Browns, Chet Hanulak, set a club record with 7 punt returns
November 27, 1954 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The Edmonton Eskimos won their first of 3 straight Championships in the 42nd Grey Cup game as they squeaked by the Montreal Alouettes, 26-25.
November 27, 1954 - Birmingham, Alabama - In the 19th Iron Bowl, it was those Auburn Tigers who came out on top over the Crimson Tide of Alabama 28-0.
December 26, 1954 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - Lou Groza set a new record with 8 extra points as the Cleveland Browns dominated the Detroit Lions 56-10 in their third consecutive NFL Championship meeting, according to the American Football Database. The Browns took the lead after Detroit's early field goal and never relinquished it, earning another NFL Title.
1955
January 1, 1955 - The 41st edition of the Rose Bowl Game was played, and the Ohio State Buckeyes won a lopsided affair against the USC Trojans, 20-7. Ohio State QB Dave Leggett was the game's MVP.
January 16, 1955 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - At the 5th annual NFL Pro Bowl, the Western Conference team defeated the Eastern Conference, 26-19.
January 27, 1955 - The top pick in the 1955 NFL Draft was George Shaw from the University of Oregon, who was the first pick by the Baltimore Colts.
October 1, 1955 – Baltimore Colts Rookie fullback Alan Ameche becomes the very first rookie player to rush for 150 yards or more in his first two NFL regular-season games. The legendary back put up 194 hard-fought yards against the Bears in week one and then followed that up with 153 yards on the ground versus the Lions.
October 7, 1955 – #5 Notre Dame and the #15 Miami Hurricanes battle for the first time on the gridiron. The Irish won 14-0.
November 19, 1955 - South Bend, Indiana - The Iowa Hawkeyes gave Notre Dame fits all day, but with 2:15 left to play, Paul Hornig booted a 28-yard field goal for the Irish that broke the tie and provided the lead that the Golden Domers would hang onto in the 17-14 Fighting Irish Win.
November 26, 1955 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - In the 43rd Grey Cup, the Edmonton Eskimos retained their Championship for another year with a 34-19 victory over the Montreal Alouettes, per the Grey Cup's Website.
November 26, 1955 - Birmingham, Alabama - At the 20th Iron Bowl, the fans in attendance saw the Auburn Tigers blank the Crimson Tide of Alabama 26-0.
November 28, 1955 - Back in this era, the NFL did not offer prospects Combines, Pro Days, Bowl Games, or All-Star games to showcase their talents. Their merit was based solely on their performance on the gridiron. The NFL held its annual Draft just as the college season was ending because it faced stiff competition for talent from rival pro leagues in those days. The 1956 NFL Draft saw Gary Glick from the University of Colorado A&M selected first overall by the Pittsburgh Steelers.
December 8, 1955 - The 21st Heisman Trophy Award was handed to Howard "Hopalong" Cassady, the halfback from Ohio State University.
December 26, 1955 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The Browns appeared to enjoy playing the NFL Championship game the day after Christmas. They defended their title by traveling to face the LA Rams. Cleveland jumped ahead with a first-half field goal and a pick-six and never looked back. Otto Graham threw two TD passes and ran for two more, leading the Browns to a 38-14 win over the Los Angeles Rams, per Pro-Football-Reference. The Browns claimed their third NFL Championship of the 1950s
1956
January 2, 1956 - At the Rose Bowl Game's 42nd rendition, the Michigan State Spartans used 10 fourth-quarter points to rally past the UCLA Bruins, 17-14. Spartan Halfback Walt Kowalczyk earned the MVP award.
January 2, 1956 - Sugar Bowl - Pitt's Bobby Grier was a racial trailblazer, becoming the first African American player to break the color barrier in the segregated Deep South.
January 2, 1956 - The 22nd Orange Bowl featured a battle of highly ranked teams. During the game, the #1-ranked Oklahoma Sooners got past the #3 Maryland Terrapins 20-6.
January 15, 1956 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The 6th NFL Pro Bowl assembled the League's top players to battle each other, representing their respective Conferences. That season, it was the Eastern Conference that edged out its Western Conference rivals by the narrowest of margins, 31-30. The game's Outstanding Player award was claimed by Ollie Matson, the running back of the Chicago Cardinals.
January 27, 1956 - The NFL's New York Football Giants franchise announced the end of playing their home games at the Polo Grounds, now called Yankee Stadium.
March 4, 1956 - Inventors working with the Cleveland Browns used the first radio transmitter in a QB's helmet. John Campbell and George Sarles, a couple of inventors from Ohio, approached Cleveland's head coach, Paul Brown, who was always up for being on the cutting edge of innovation, with an idea.
November 17, 1956 - Colgate University's football team didn't know what hit them as Syracuse fullback Jim Brown set an NCAA record with 43 points. Lincoln A. Werden of the NY Times covered the story well in his 1956 article. A crowd of 39,701 spectators watched a brilliant performance from the sensational tailback of Syracuse. In his final game for the Orange, Jim Brown accounted for 43 points, scored 6 touchdowns, and kicked 7 extra points, and the coaching staff sat him down early in the fourth quarter! The final score showed Syracuse 61, Colgate 7.
November 24, 1956 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - According to the CFL.ca, it was the third consecutive year the Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup Final. The old saying goes, The more things change, the more they stay the same. Well, in this case, it was true: the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the Montreal Alouettes for the 3rd straight year, but this time it was 50-27.
November 27, 1956 - The 1957 NFL Draft took place, and Notre Dame's Paul Hornung was the first pick by the Green Bay Packers.
December 4, 1956 – Notre Dame back Paul Hornung won the 22nd Heisman Trophy Award, becoming the first recipient to play on a team with a losing record. Hornung accounted for over half of the Irish's points that year, amassing 420 rushing yards and 917 passing yards.
December 30, 1956 - The Giants won their fourth NFL title by defeating the Bears, 47-7. Charlie Conerly threw two TDs, and Alex Webster rushed for two, according to Pro-Football-Reference. You can learn more about the 1956 NFL Championship game here.
1957
January 1, 1957 - The Rose Bowl Game celebrated its 43rd edition as the Iowa Hawkeyes humiliated the Oregon State Beavers, 35-19. Iowa QB Ken Ploen was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the game.
January 13, 1957 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The NFL held its 7th annual Pro Bowl game, and it was the all-stars of the Western Conference who overcame the challenge of their Eastern Conference rivals 19-10. The Most Valuable player on the defensive side was Pittsburgh's Ernie Stautner, a defensive tackle, and Baltimore Colt Bert Rechichar, a kicker, won the award for the MVP of the offense.
May 20, 1957 – Former Notre Dame star and coach Frank Leahy had agreed to return to coaching at Georgetown University. The school had suspended its football program in 1950.
November 10, 1957 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, LA, California - An NFL record crowd of 102,368 crammed into the stadium to watch LA come away with a 37-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. And they say LA fans don't turn out for games!
November 10, 1957 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio - Cleveland Browns' Don Paul sets club record for longest scoop and score with a 89-yard touchdown that helped the Browns to blank the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-0.
November 16, 1957 - Cleveland Browns Rookie running back Jim Brown was something special even in his initial season in the League. Incredibly, Brown set an NFL season rushing record of 1163 yards after only eight games, one year removed from college! According to the website sports.ha.com, in his 9 seasons in the NFL, he led all rushers 8 times.
November 16, 1957 - Norman, Oklahoma - Oklahoma Football's NCAA win streak ends at 47 after losing to Notre Dame, 7-0. The Oklahoma Sooners were the defending college football champions. Oklahoma had a 47-game win streak going into a home game against Notre Dame, the last to defeat them. What occurred was a defensive slugfest, with the game coming down to a late 4th-quarter drive by the Irish. David Funk, of Bleacher Report, explains the sequence of events in his 2008 article. The Golden Domers had a series of successful plays that put them at the Sooners' 8-yard line as the clock approached five minutes left in the game. The Irish ran the ball on three consecutive plays to advance the ball to the Sooners' 3-yard line.
November 24, 1957 - Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown rushed for 237 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. It was Brown's rookie season, and according to fs64sports, Brown wasn't even the Browns' target in the 1957 Draft; Len Dawson was. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Dawson before the Browns had a chance, so they went with their next choice, Jim Brown of Syracuse.
November 30, 1957 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - In the 45th Grey Cup final, it was the Hamilton Tiger-Cats who took home their 2nd CFL title after they dispatched the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 32-7. The website cfl.ca has the full recap of the story.
November 30, 1957 - Legion Field, Birmingham - The 22nd Iron Bowl was an extremely one-sided affair as the Auburn Tigers dominated Alabama 40-0.
December 2, 1957 - The Chicago Cardinals selected Rice University quarterback King Hill as the top choice in the 1958 NFL Draft.
December 3, 1957 - Texas A&M Halfback John Crow won the 23rd Heisman Trophy Award, becoming the only Heisman winner coached by the legendary Bear Bryant during his tenure with the Aggies.
December 29, 1957 - Briggs Stadium, Detroit - The 1957 NFL Championship game once again had Jim Brown-led Cleveland Browns facing the Detroit Lions. An article on the Oakland Press website gives the details of the game. The Lions had to overcome a 20-point third-quarter deficit the previous week on the road against the San Francisco 49ers and quarterback Y.A. Tittle to make it to this title game. Lions scored 2 touchdowns in each quarter, led by running back Steve Junker with two and 109 yards rushing, and fellow backfield mate Jim Doran, who had 101 yards on the ground with a TD. The Detroit Lions dominated the Cleveland Browns, 59-14, to win the title again.
1958
January 1, 1958 - The 44th edition of the Rose Bowl game went down to the wire as Ohio State outlasted Oregon 10-7. It was a rare instance in which the losing QB, Webfootb Jack Crabtree, was voted the game's MVP.
January 12, 1958 - LA Memorial Coliseum - The 8th NFL Pro Bowl was won by the Western Conference, which beat the Eastern Conference, 26-7. The MVPs of the contest were Hugh McElhenny, San Francisco 49ers star halfback, and the Washington Redskins great Defensive End Gene Brito.
January 13, 1958 - The NCAA added a 2-point conversion to football scoring. According to LiveAbout.com, the plays used in college ball were not immediately adopted in professional football. In fact, the two-point conversion rule was not officially adopted by the NFL until 1994. The professional levels of football did tinker with the 2-point play prior to 1994, though. According to the American Football Database, the AFL used the conversion tactic during its ten years of existence in the 1960's. The NFL Europe and its reincarnation, the World League of American Football, adopted the rule and were likely a further testing ground for it before the NFL adopted it. It has really added interesting dynamics to contests, as formulas and charts have been famously developed to determine when a team should go for two. The success rate of the two-point try has been reported to range from 40% to 55%, so there is a pretty good risk-reward aspect to it.
January 19, 1958 - The Canadian Football League is officially founded. According to an article on CFLHOF.ca, the League is the highest level of professional football in Canada.
May 25, 1958 - Tallahassee, FL - Local police caught Florida State football players stealing co-ed underwear. The great 'Noles Panty Raid caper led to suspensions of players.
October 28, 1958 - The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame hosts its first annual awards banquet at what is now known as the Waldorf Astoria in New York. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower became the first recipient of the coveted Gold Medal, the highest individual award bestowed by the NFF.
November 15, 1958 - Houston, Texas - Texas A&M plays Number 17 Rice University. Rice was riding high all season as it sat in first place atop the Southwest Conference. It wasn't an easy game for the Owls, as the teams were deadlocked at 14 in the third quarter. But that's when Texas A&M's Gordon LeBoeuf got his mitts on a blocked punt by teammate Don Smith and took it 55 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The NFF's article on the game then tells how tailback Charlie Milstead extended the Aggie lead to 28-14 shortly after with his second touchdown run of the day. Rice's All-America end Buddy Dial, a 1993 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, scored a late touchdown on a four-yard reception from Bobby Wright, but it would not be enough for the Owls, as A&M won by a touchdown, 28-21.
November 29, 1958 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - The 46th Grey Cup final was played, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers took home their 4th title, beating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 35-28, for the CFL Championship. You can find more details about the matchup of these teams at NinetynineYards.com.
November 29, 1958 - Legion Field, Birmingham - The 23rd meeting of the Auburn Tigers and the Crimson Tide of Alabama took place in the Iron Bowl. Auburn held off the Alabama eleven in a tight one, 14-8, per AL.com's story.
December 2, 1958 - Army halfback Pete Dawkins, a dual-threat runner and southpaw passer, won the 24th Heisman Trophy after leading the Black Knights to an undefeated 1958 season.
December 2, 1958 - The Green Bay Packers used the first pick of the 1959 NFL Draft on Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan, the Heisman runner-up who famously received a kiss from Jayne Mansfield at Bob Hope's request.
December 28, 1958 - Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York. The 1958 NFL Championship game—later known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played"—featured the New York Giants and the Baltimore Colts competing for the league title. Notably, 17 future Pro Football Hall of Fame members participated in the contest. This game was a pivotal moment in the league's history, illustrating professional football's increased popularity. Late in the game, the national broadcast temporarily lost its signal, but coverage resumed as Johnny Unitas led a game-tying drive for the Colts. Facing a 3rd and 10 from their own 14-yard line, Unitas connected with Lenny Moore, setting up a series of completions to Raymond Berry that positioned Steve Myhra for a successful 20-yard field goal with seven seconds left and forced overtime. The Giants won the coin toss but were unable to score, giving the Colts possession at their own 20-yard line. Unitas directed an efficient drive, culminating in Alan Ameche's one-yard touchdown. The Colts prevailed, 23-17, in the first sudden-death overtime championship game in NFL history.
1959
January 1, 1959 - The 45th Rose Bowl was the venue for the Iowa Hawkeyes to spoil New Year's Day for the Cal Golden Bears, 38-12. Iowa's Bob Jeter was voted as the game's MVP.
January 11, 1959 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - The 9th NFL Pro Bowl was played as the Eastern Conference got the better of the Western Conference in a final score of 28-21. According to the American Football Database website, New York Giants halfback Frank Gifford and Doug Atkins, the Defensive End from the Chicago Bears, were the game's Most Valuable Players.
February 2, 1959 – Vince Lombardi signed a five-year contract to coach the Green Bay Packers. His subsequent decade in Wisconsin changed the NFL forever. Coach Lombardi led the "Pack" to three NFL Championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls, cementing one of the greatest coaching legacies in sports history.
February 27, 1959 - The Chicago Cardinals traded running back Ollie Matson to the LA Rams for 9 players. The Los Angeles Rams franchise, headed by General Manager Pete Rozelle, traded seven players, a 1959 second-round pick, and a player to be named later to the Chicago Cardinals for Matson.
September 15, 1959 – George A. Sarles’ patent on a radio transmitter device for inside a quarterback’s helmet is published. HELMET RADIOS INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER. US Patent 2904645A
October 4, 1959 - Cleveland Browns running back, the legendary Jim Brown, sets a team high single game record for rushing attempts with 37 as the Browns dropped the Chicago Cardinals 34-7. According to NFL.com, Jim Brown played for nine seasons, totaling 118 games, and averaged 5.2 yards per carry on 2,359 career rushing attempts. Brown scored 106 touchdowns, which averages just under one TD per game played. If fantasy football existed in that era, it would have made for some interesting draft parties!
October 28, 1959 - The American Football League awarded the Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson.
October 31, 1959 – Miraculous Cannon Run in the Ole Miss vs LSU game.
November 1, 1959 - Memorial Stadium - Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown delivered a performance for the ages, forever etching his name into the record books. In a thrilling 38-31 victory over the defending NFL Champion Baltimore Colts, Brown accounted for nearly every point, rushing for an incredible five touchdowns.
November 14, 1959 - Athens, Georgia - The number 12 Georgia hosted No. 8 Auburn in a big SEC game. Auburn came out of the gates swinging as they built a 13-7 lead on two long field goals by Hall of Famer and 1960 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Ed Dyas. Their touchdown was scored via a quarterback sneak by Bryant Harvard. Georgia's comeback began with less than three minutes to play when Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton hit Don Soberdash for two crucial completions to set up a touchdown pass to Bill Herron with 30 seconds left. Kicker Durwood Pennington became the real hero with the game-winning point after. Georgia defeated Auburn, 14-13, in a thriller. Georgia's victory over Auburn was its first over College Football Hall of Fame coach Ralph "Shug" Jordan and the Tigers in seven seasons, and it clinched the Bulldogs' first SEC title since 1949.
November 17, 1959 - William Shea unveiled the proposed New York City stadium with a transparent roof, according to brainyhistory.com.
November 22, 1959 - The AFL held its very first Draft, with 8 teams participating: the Dallas Texans, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills, New York Titans, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and Boston Patriots. Patriots fans often refer to this date as the birth of their franchise, according to the remembertheAFL.com website. Just for the record, the very first pick of this inaugural AFL Draft was the NY Titans' selection of Notre Dame quarterback George Izo. (source)
November 28, 1959 - CNE Stadium, Toronto - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers knocked off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-7 for a second straight year to capture the CFL's Grey Cup.
November 28, 1959 - Legion Field, Birmingham - At the 24th Iron Bowl, it was Alabama blanking Auburn 10-0, breaking a streak of five consecutive wins by the Tigers in the head-to-head matchups.
November 30, 1959 - The fledgling American Football League chooses former World War II ace pilot and former Governor of South Dakota, Joe Foss, as its first commissioner, per the South Dakota HOF website. Joe Foss's leadership made the NFL extremely uncomfortable as he made lucrative television deals, including the initial five-year, $10.6 million contract with ABC in 1960 & later with NBC for even bigger returns to broadcast AFL games. Foss led the upstart league until 1965, about two months before talks with the NFL began, considering working together rather than merely as rivals to promote professional football.
November 30, 1959 - The NFL Draft was held once again, this time for the upcoming 1960 season. Heisman Trophy winner, halfback Billy Cannon from the 1959 National Champion LSU Tigers, was the top pick of the draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Cannon was also the territorial or bonus pick in the new AFL Draft earlier on November 22, 1959, by the Houston Oilers, per a Saturdaydownsouth.com website story. His contract rights were litigated in court, and Billy ended up playing in the AFL with the Houston Oilers and later with the Oakland Raiders. Billy led the Oilers to back-to-back AFL championships in 1960 and 1961. He also led the AFL in total yards in 1961, going over 2,000 yards for the season. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the 1960 championship game and was MVP of both title games. An injury forced him to play tight end with the Raiders, where he was part of their first Super Bowl victory. Billy Cannon finished his great career with the KC Chiefs.
December 2, 1958 - The Green Bay Packers used the first pick of the 1959 NFL Draft on Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan, the Heisman runner-up who famously received a kiss from Jayne Mansfield at Bob Hope's request.
December 18, 1959 - Former Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh was named the first coach of the AFL’s New York Titans. Baugh was a collegiate head coach at Hardin-Simmons University from 1955 through 1959 after his playing days were over. He spent two seasons as the Titans' head coach, posting a 14-14 record. He later coached at the University of Tulsa and even became the Houston Oilers' fourth-ever coach in 1964, per the missyablue.com website. (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.
December 27, 1959 - Memorial Stadium, Baltimore - The National Football League Championship Game had the same billing as the watershed 1958 Title contest, with the New York Giants facing the Baltimore Colts. There were more than a few changes, though, from the previous year that the Golden Rankings website describes. The Giants had lost Vince Lombardi as their offensive strategist when he left to coach the Packers. The League had record-setting attendance during the 1959 season, directly attributed to the overtime 1958 Championship between these two teams. A tragedy struck the NFL when, on October 11, 1959, Commissioner Bert Bell suffered a heart attack while at the Steelers versus Eagles game and passed away. The former treasurer, Austin Gunsel, stepped up to lead the League, but there were some very big shoes to fill. The American Football Database provides some details about the game itself, noting that after 3 field goals by Giants kicker Pat Summerall, New York was up 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, though, Baltimore came to life as Johnny Unitas ran in a touchdown and threw for another while the Colts' defense scored on a pick-six to bury the Giants. The Baltimore Colts came from behind to register a convincing 31-16 victory over the New York Giants.
1960
January 1, 1960 - The 46th Rose Bowl game pitted the Washington Huskies against the Wisconsin Badgers. The PAC-10 would shine in this game, as Washington crushed the Badgers, 44-8, with Player of the Game Bob Schloredt.
January 17, 1960 - The 10th NFL Pro Bowl was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. In this game, the Western Conference pulled away from the Eastern Conference for a 38-21 victory. Baltimore Colts defensive lineman Eugene Lipscomb and quarterback Johnny Unitas earned MVP honors for their standout performances.
January 26, 1960 – According to the Raiders.com website, at an AFL owners meeting, Lamar Hunt of the Dallas Texans was named as the first AFL president.
January 26, 1960 – Pete Rozelle elected NFL commissioner on 23rd ballot. A dozen National Football League team owners cast 23 ballots over a nine-day span in a futile attempt to find a successor for Bert Bell, the league's popular and competent commissioner, who had died three months earlier. Early in the marathon meeting, Austin Gunsel, the NFL's treasurer, and Marshall Leahy, the league's chief legal counsel, each had strong but almost-equal support. Numerous attempts to settle on experienced, well-known compromise nominees came to naught. Finally, according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, two powerful and respected administrators – Wellington Mara of the New York Giants and Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns- hit on the idea of Pete Rozelle, the 33-year-old general manager of the Los Angeles Rams, as a candidate most owners might accept. Rozelle was informed of their decision and then asked to leave the room so his name could be presented and discussed. Moved HQ from Philadelphia to New York, Rozelle announced a contract had been signed with CBS, producing the then princely sum of $4,650,000 a year to be divided equally among the NFL's teams. AFL Merger.
January 27, 1960 - The AFL adopts its first 14-game home-and-away schedule.
January 28, 1960 - The Dallas Cowboys began as the NFL formally announced it was awarding Dallas a franchise.
January 28, 1960 - The Minnesota Vikings franchise is awarded by the NFL.
January 30, 1960 - The Oakland Raiders entered the American Football League, according to Raiders.com. The Oakland group was awarded the former Minneapolis-St. The Paul franchise was basically abandoned when the NFL granted permission for the Minnesota Vikings franchise to form before the AFL could step in.
February 9, 1960 – The AFL and NFL agreed verbally to a “no tampering” pact. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's website, the verbal pact between the then-rival professional football leagues pertained to player contracts. It might just be the first thing that these two organizations agreed upon in the early 1960s.
February 9, 1960 – Eddie Erdelatz was appointed as the first head coach of the Raiders. Eddie stayed on the sideline for two seasons in Oakland, but they parted ways in late 1961 after his team recorded a dismal 8-20 record in the AFL.
March 3, 1960 - At a special AFL meeting in Oakland, the "allocation" draft was formulated to stock the Oakland club. The issue at hand was that Oakland was a late replacement for the Twin Cities franchise, which resigned after the initial AFL draft due to the NFL announcing a new Vikings franchise in the metro area of St. Paul and Minneapolis. In that round of AFL meetings, which kicked off at the Leamington Hotel in Oakland. Minneapolis-St originally selected 14 players. Paul, in the AFL draft, and were "signed by fellow AFL clubs for Oakland," would transfer to the newly minted franchise. (source 1) (source 2)
March 9, 1960 - Per Joe Ziemba, the Cardinals announced that rumors of the franchise leaving Chicago for St. Louis. The relocation of the Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis in 1960 was driven by financial survival. In Chicago, the team was heavily overshadowed by the more popular Bears, leading to poor attendance and near-bankruptcy. Additionally, the NFL sought to block the newly formed AFL from entering the St. Louis market. In March 1960, owners unanimously approved the move, ending the Cardinals' 62-year history in Chicago.
April 3, 1960 - the American Football League (AFL) made a unique historical footprint by officially adopting the two-point conversion right out of the gate for its inaugural season. While the NFL resisted the move for decades, the AFL used it as a “gimmick” to provide more excitement and high-scoring finishes.
April 14, 1960 - A team naming. Back on March 20, the new Oakland AFL franchise kicked off its "Name Your Football Team" contest. Soon, the franchise announced that the nickname "Senors” was the most popular answer. On April 14, the team announced that the nickname was being changed to the "Raiders."
September 9, 1960 - Boston University's Nickerson Field hosts the very first AFL regular-season game, as the visiting Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots 13-10. Boston's kicker, Gino Capaletti, scored the very first points in the new league with his boot from 35 yards.
October 10, 1960 - A CFL rushing record for a single game was reached when Ron Stewart of the Ottawa Rough Riders ran for 287 yards in a game against the Montreal Alouettes. According to americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com, Stewart capped off his 1960 season by winning the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award. In his 13-year career, he ran for 5690 yards on 983 attempts, scoring 42 touchdowns.
November 26, 1960 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - The 48th Grey Cup Final pitted the Edmonton Eskimos against the Ottawa Rough Riders, according to sportsteamhistory.com. This year, it was the Rough Riders who would come out on top, defeating the Eskimos 16-6 for their 5th Championship. (source)
November 26, 1960 - Birmingham, Alabama - In a defensive battle per onthisday.com, it was the Alabama Crimson Tide that kicked a field goal to get by Auburn, 3-0, in the 25th Iron Bowl. (source)
November 27, 1960 - New AFL teams in the heat of battle as the Buffalo Bills tie the Denver Broncos, 38-38. The Democrat and Chronicle fills us in on the details, that the Bills found a way to blow a 31-point third-quarter lead and were fortunate to hold on for a 38-38 tie when the defense stopped the Broncos' last drive, and Denver settled for Gene Mingo's 19-yard tying field goal with four seconds remaining. Bills coach Buster Ramsey was quoted as saying, "For the first three quarters, I watched the greatest display of defensive football I've seen in the league this year. Every man executed almost every play perfectly. Then, for reasons that I cannot put a finger on, the whole thing collapsed."
November 29, 1960 - Navy Halfback Joe Bellino takes home the hardware as he is awarded the 26th Heisman Trophy.
December 26, 1960 - Philadelphia's Franklin Field - Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers met the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL Championship. The Packers won the Western Division after beating the two-time champion Baltimore Colts, who had lost their last four games. The Eagles stayed one game ahead of the Browns to win the East. In the first quarter, the Packers were stopped at the Eagles’ 5-yard line after a fourth-down try. Norm Van Brocklin, an experienced quarterback, threw for 202 yards with one interception and led the Eagles to a 17-13 win over Green Bay. This was Lombardi’s only playoff loss in his 10-year NFL head coaching career. He would lead the Packers to three NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowl wins over the next seven seasons.
December 27, 1960 - Running Back Tommy Mason of Tulane was the first pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 1961 NFL Draft. The Football Database website also reports that players picked in this draft included future Hall of Famers Mike Ditka, Jimmy Johnson, Herb Adderley, Bob Lilly, Fran Tarkenton, Billy Shaw, and Deacon Jones. Not a bad class of college players turning professional at all.
1961
January 2, 1961 - The Rose Bowl Game featured the Minnesota Golden Gophers against the Washington Huskies. Washington jumped out to an early lead and coasted to a 17-7 triumph, as for the second straight year, the Player of the Game was Bob Schloredt (QB Washington).
January 7, 1961 - Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida - The 1st NFL Playoff Bowl was played between the Detroit Lions and the Cleveland Browns. According to the AmericanFootball.Fandom.com website, this game was officially named the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl. It was created to determine the third-place finisher in the NFL, pitting the two losing teams from the Divisional Playoff games. The game was played ten different times from 1960 through the 1969 season. The name was in honor of the late Bert Bell, former NFL commissioner, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, and former co-owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The game was developed to give the NFL more television airtime and help it compete with the AFL. The American Football League had a contract with ABC to air most of its regular-season games and the postseason. The more established NFL was lagging behind its rival league, as very few regular-season games were broadcast nationally at the time, and the NFL Championship was the only postseason contest shown nationwide. This new Playoff Bowl was played the week after the NFL Championship game. In the game itself, in 1961, Detroit beat Cleveland in an exciting one, 17-16, to claim third place in the pecking order for the 1960 NFL season.
January 14, 1961 - The AFL signed its first player away from the NFL. Former Chicago Bears Willard Dewveall signs with the Houston Oilers, according to a Medium.com story. There were others like the retired former Bear George Blanda, who thought George Halas never gave him a fair shake at the QB position in Chicago.
January 15, 1961 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - 11th NFL Pro Bowl results are once again brought to us via an American Football Database post. In the game, the Western Conference knocked off the Eastern Conference, 35-31. The coaches selected to guide the Pro Bowlers were Buck Shaw of the Philadelphia Eagles and Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. It was the final contest for the outstanding Quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who hung up his helmet after the game. The game's MVPs were Baltimore Colts Johnny Unitas and New York Giants Linebacker Sam Huff.
March 22, 1961 - The Browns Change Hands. One of the most significant ownership shifts in NFL history occurred when Arthur B. “Art” Modell led a group to purchase the Cleveland Browns from Dave R. Jones. Modell's tenure would eventually lead to the team's controversial move to Baltimore in 1996.
April 27, 1961 - The NFL officially recognized the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The Canton area celebrated its place in NFL history as the birthplace of the League on September 17, 1920, in an automobile showroom when the NFL granted the Ohio city the right to host the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A group from Canton placed its bid with the League months earlier and had set aside a 14-acre tract of land should it receive approval. The then-existing high school venue, Fawcett Stadium, would be part of the HOF campus for many decades to come. To learn more about the history of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, check out our interview with George Bozeka, a football historian who grew up within walking distance of the HOF. (source)
September 17, 1961– The Minnesota Vikings played their very first regular-season Game in the NFL. Minnesota did it in style, cruising to a 37-13 victory over the Chicago Bears. Rookie quarterback Fran Tarkington made his NFL debut count as he tossed an NFL debut game record four touchdown passes.
October 28, 1961 - Groundbreaking ceremony for Municipal (Shea) Stadium for the NY Mets and NY Jets.
November 18, 1961 - Texas Christian and the Texas Longhorns played a memorable contest, known as the "Cockroach Game."
December 2, 1961 - Alabama dominated the 26th Iron Bowl in Birmingham, shutting out rival Auburn 34-0.
December 2, 1961 - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers claimed their sixth title, defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-14 in the 49th CFL Grey Cup at CNE Stadium in Toronto.
December 4, 1961 – The Washington Redskins selected Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis from Syracuse University with the first overall pick in the 1962 NFL Draft. Davis made history as both the first African-American Heisman winner and the first black player drafted with the NFL's top pick.
December 6, 1961 - Ernie Davis, Syracuse's outstanding halfback, made history by becoming the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy Award. Davis rushed for 823 yards, scored 15 touchdowns, and led Syracuse in pass receiving.
December 10, 1961 - In the AFL, the Houston Oilers' great rusher, Billy Cannon, set a single-game all-purpose yards record of 373 against the New York Titans. The Houston Chronicle shares a great video of the event with more details.
December 24, 1961 - Balboa Stadium, San Diego - The AFL Championship Game took place as the San Diego Chargers entertained the Houston Oilers, per the Medium.com website story. It was the second season in a row that the Stout defense of San Diego would battle the Oilers' offensive juggernaut. Houston’s high-flying offense was quite subdued by the Charger D for most of the contest. Houston's defenders were no slouches, though, in the contest as they sacked quarterback Jack Kemp 6 times and intercepted four of his throws. It was a rough game all around, as 13 players were assisted off the field. The Oilers Billy Cannon scored the game's only touchdown on a 35-yard pass play from George Blanda as the Oilers outlasted the Chargers 10-3.
December 31, 1961 - New City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin - The NFL Championship of 1961 pitted the Giants against the Packers. The Green Bay Packers won their first of 5 NFL titles in 7 years under head coach Vince Lombardi. shutdown New York Giants 37-0 per the Pro Football Reference website. Paul Hornung scored a TD, kicked three field goals, and three extra points to lead the Packers. As a side note, New City Stadium was renamed Lambeau Field in 1965, after the death of the legendary Packers coach Curly Lambeau, per an interesting story on the stadiumsofprofootball.com website.
