April 18

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we touch upon in this episode include events concerning Peyton Manning and Joe Montana was well as celebrating the birthdays of some great Hall of Fame members named Roaf and Brooks including many more Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

Football history enthusiasts, delve into the gridiron's past! On this very date, history unfolded on the field in several ways. We might be celebrating a record-breaking performance by a legendary player, a trade that sent shockwaves through the league, or even the birth of a new franchise that would leave its mark on the game. Let's lace up our cleats and travel back in time to see what iconic moments transpired on this date in American football history!

April 18, 1990  - A group in Birmingham, Alabama were issued an original franchise in WLAF which was called the Birmingham Fire.

April 18, 1995 - Quarterback Joe Montana announces his retirement from football. In a nationally televised farewell to football Joe was joined by family and friends including Bill Walsh, Ronnie Lot, Dwight Clark, and Roger Craig as well many executives from both the 49ers and the Chiefs according to an AP Article in the Arizona Daily Sun. Though Montana is best known as leading the San Francisco 49ers to some glory years he last two seasons were played wearing a Chiefs uniform. In a post from the Kansas City Star the KC Chiefs acquired the rights to Montana in 1993 by trading the 18th overall pick in the 1993 NFL Draft and received the veteran QB as well as Safety David Whitmore and a third round choice that they used to take Lake Dawson. Many expressed at the time their feeling that Montana was the greatest QB of all time, including his former teammate and a pretty good passer in his own right, Steve Young from a remote location to the retirement event. Young was quoted as saying,” He’s the greatest I’ve ever seen. It’s a time of mixed emotions for all of us that ever played with him or watched him.” The career marks of Joe Montana were that he tossed the pigskin around for 40551 yards with 273 TDs and helped the 49ers claim 4 Super Bowl titles. He was one of those players that seemed to always have some magic in them when it came to crunch time and those athletes are indeed the most fun to watch. If you want to be able to be able to read through some old articles from the AP like the Arizona Daily Sun or the Kansas City Star, you need to check out Newspapers.com. At Newspapers.com, you can get access to over 640 million pages’ worth of news from the US, Canada, England, Scotland, Ireland and more dating back from 1798 to yesterday.  Get a free one week subscription to Newspapers.com by visiting SportsHistoryNetwork.com/newspapers. And with a paid subscription, you’ll also be helping to support the production of this and other Sports History Network shows. At the time Montana could have been the greatest signal caller to have ever played in the NFL, but players like our next quarterback in the headlines would get into that discussion as well.

April 18, 1998 - The NFL Draft took place in New York City as the University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning was the first overall pick by Indianapolis Colts. A chart posted in the Detroit Free Press shows that Ryan Leaf who throughout the draft process was neck and neck with Manning in the realm of popular opinion to who should go number one overall, was the second selection in the Draft taken by the San Diego Chargers. In hindsight the Colts made a brilliant choice between the two with Peyton eventually becoming an enshrined player in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while Leaf’s NFL career was less than spectacular. Defensive End Andre Wadsworth went number 3 to the Arizona Cardinals while future Hall of Famer defensive back Charles Woodson was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the four slot. According to the Pro Football Reference website so far at the time of this post, other players who have their busts in Canton were also selected out of this 1998 Draft including wide receiver Randy Moss by the Minnesota Vikings with the 21st Pick and guard Alan Faneca by the Steelers at 26.

April 18, 1931 - Jefferson County, Oklahoma - University of Texas two-way player at guard and linebacker, Harley Sewell was born. The National Football Foundation selected Harley Sewell for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. His NFL career was over a decade long playing for the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams.

April 18, 1962 - Titusville, Florida - Wilber Marshall the outstanding linebacker of the Florida Gators from 1980 to 1983 arrived into this world. Wilber and his fellow seniors of Florida in 1983 enjoyed being the first Gators to play in four bowl games per an article on the National Football Foundation’s website. The stud linebacker was a two time consensus First Team All-America pick partly by breaking school marks such as the single-season records with 11 sacks and 16 tackles for loss as a sophomore. For his collegiate career he finished with a then school-record 23 sacks and remains UF’s record holder in career tackles for loss with 58. He was so special in fact that the Gainesville Sun named him Defensive Player of the Century in 1999! Wilber Marshall’s collegiate football records are celebrated in the College Football Hall of Fame after his induction in 2008. He was named All-Pro three times and earned Super Bowl rings with Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins.  

April 18, 1970 - Pine Bluff, Arkansas - The stud Louisiana Tech offensive tackle from 1989 to 1992, Willie Roaf arrived to claim his date of birth. The Bio for Willie of the NFF’s website starts off by stating  he was La Tech’s first All-American offensive lineman since 1946, as Roaf earned consensus honors in 1992 en route to becoming one of the most dominant blockers in the nation. During his time at the school, Roaf made holes in the defense for two of the top five career rushers in Louisiana Tech history, and he was key to the longest rushing play in school history, an 88-yard run by Gerald Lawrence against Southern Illinois in 1991. Willie Roaf was honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2014 after the National Football Foundation tallied their votes. The NFF bio goes on to say that after school the big tackle was the eighth overall pick by the New Orleans Saints in the 1993 NFL Draft, Roaf enjoyed a highly-decorated 13-year career with the Saints and Kansas City Chiefs, culminating with his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2012. An 11-time Pro Bowl selection, he is a member of the NFL 1990s All-Decade Team as well as the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor.

April 18, 1973 - Pensacola, Florida - Florida State’s Mr. Everything linebacker Derrick Brooks was born. Brooks helped lead the ‘Noles to their first ever National Championship in 1993 as the two-time unanimous First Team All-American in both 1993 and 1994 guided Florida State to victories in four consecutive bowl games, including the 18-16 win over Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for the national title. The FootballFoundation.org website says that Brooks was a finalist for the Butkus, Rotary Lombardi and FWAA Defensive Player of the Year Award in 1993 and 1994 while playing for College Football Hall of Fame coach Bobby Bowden. Derrick finished his collegiate career with 274 tackles, 8.5 sacks and five interceptions, and he was named MVP of the Senior Bowl. Brooks’ No. 10 jersey is retired at Florida State, and he is a member of both the Seminoles’ and CoSIDA Academic All-America halls of fame. Derrick Brooks received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016. Derrick was picked in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and he spent his entire 14-year career with the franchise. Brooks was an 11-time Pro Bowl selection and is credited with never missing a game during his pro career as he led the Bucs to a victory in Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. A 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, he had his number retired by Tampa Bay and is a member of the team’s ring of honor.  

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by artist Edward Penfield circa 1922 and is titled " Football Game."