April 24

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss NFL QB Drafts, a Franchise is awarded and birthdays of Hall of Famers as well as many more Legendary stories.

As we flip the calendar page, we delve into another chapter of pigskin history. From legendary comebacks that defied the odds to record-breaking performances that left fans speechless, remarkable moments unfolded on this very date. So, buckle up and get ready to relive iconic plays, celebrate trailblazing athletes, and revisit the captivating stories that continue to shape the ever-evolving narrative of professional football. Let's lace up our cleats and journey back in time to witness the incredible feats that transpired on this historic day in the NFL!

April 24, 1974 - The city of Tampa, Florida gets good news as the NFL granted a franchise known as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

April 24, 1988 - In New York City at the 1988 NFL Draft, Auburn tight end Aundray Bruce became the first pick by the Atlanta Falcons. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website, the players from this Draft class that have made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame are wide receiver Tim Brown who was the sixth overall pick by the Raiders, Dallas number 11 selection of wide receiver Michael Irvin, Minnesota’ number 19 selection of Randall McDaniel. In the second round a few more future Gold Jacket wearers were chosen as Buffalo picked up the rights to running back Thurman Thomas and the Pittsburgh franchise turned in the name of center Dermonti Dawson.

April 24, 1994 - NFL Draft: Ohio State defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson first pick by Cincinnati Bengals. According to an NFL.com article there were only a handful of future hall of Famers selected in this draft as of this writing. Offensive lineman Larry Allan, a pick by the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis 2nd overall selection of running back Marshall Faulk. Faulk had some injury bugs that prevented him from being what the Colts expected but years later as a member of the St Louis Rams the talented back stayed healthy and reached his expected trajectory of greatness. Isaac Bruce was the 33rd selection of the Rams and Seattle’s pick at number 36 of center Kevin Mawae also produced bronze busts in Canton, Ohio.

April 24, 2004 - At the 2004 NFL Draft the San Diego Chargers had the number one overall pick at their disposal and chose Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning. As a matter of fact our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day says; “Giants Betting Future on Manning!” and that was the headline of the newspaper the Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania. 
The New York franchise truly did go “All In” on the Ole Miss QB as they traded their fourth pick (Philip Rivers), the 2004 third round pick, 2005 first rounder and a 2005 5th round selection to garner the rights of Peyton Manning's younger brother. Then Giants General Manager, Ernie Accorsi made the statement, “We all had the unanimous opinion that this was a special quarterback and you don’t get a chance very many times, for decades, to select someone like him.” Accorsi knows about special QBs taken with the top pick too, after all he was the mastermind in taking John Elway and Bernie Kosar,”What I saw in Manning was a classic prospect. Size, Arm, tremendous athletic ability and feet, poise and class. Probably more important than the obvious physical attributes that you have to have is that he lifted his team. I always looked for that in a quarterback where he made the athletes around him better.”

If you want to be able to be able to read through some old articles like Morning Call from Allentown, Pennsylvania. , 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.  

The Pro Football Reference website shares that there were some very significant players in this Draft class. Larry Fitzgerald the wide receiver from the University of Pittsburgh was chosen third overall by the Cardinals, QB Philip Rivers from NC State was locked up in the four hole by the San Diego Chargers and another signal caller, Ben Roethlisberger from Miami of Ohio was the 11th overall selection by the Steelers. Other big names were Sean Taylor, Roy Williams, DeAngelo Hall, Jonathan Vilma and Vince Wollfork. It will be interesting to see how many of these men will be enshrined in Canton in the next decade.

Some may claim that this is the greatest quarterback draft class in history as Rivers, Manning and Roethlisberger have each thrown for more than 57,000 career yards and each have over 360 TD tosses and four Lombardi Trophies! But I think the 1983 QB Draft class that included Darn Marino, John Elway, and Jim Kelly certainly gave them a run for their money. The 1983 class has more Super Bowl appearances with 10 than the 2004 classes 5, and more League MVPs 2 for the 1983 class and 0 for 2004, but the championship rings go to the ‘04 guys with 4 compared to 2 for 1983.

April 24, 1903 - Cleveland, Ohio - Mike Michalske the Penn State All-american guard was born. American Football League’s New York Yankees, and later in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers. He played pro ball with the In 1964 the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Mike Michalske into their Canton, ohio museum of legends.

April 24, 1915 - New York City, New York - Fordham’s fine tackle of 1935 to 1937, Ed Franco arrived into this life. The Fordham Rams teams of the 1930’s era were a dominant force to be reckoned with. Most of their success stemmed from controlling the lines of scrimmage and Ed Franco was one of the reasons they continued to play at a high level. The National Football Foundation says that the group became known as the "Seven Blocks of Granite." Ed Franco and Alex Wojciechowicz were two "granite blocks" that later became members of the College Football Hall of Fame, and another guy by the name of Vince Lombardi was another member of that famous line. Ed Franco  received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980. After his graduation, he returned to Fordham as a line coach and later worked for Vince Lombardi as a scout for the Green Bay Packers.

April 24, 1921 - Nixon, Texas - Rice University’s  great interior lineman Weldon Humble was born. The National Football Foundation states that Rice's head coach Jess Neely considered Weldon Humble the finest interior lineman he had ever coached, calling him "an exceptional athlete, fine competitor and a genuine leader." In 1946 Weldon anchored the line that gave his team a 9-2 record including an 8-0 blanking of Tennessee in the 1947 Orange Bowl earning Humble a consensus All- America honor. He did his duty in military service during World War II and then played one season at Southwestern Louisiana then entered active military duty. Weldon Humble’s collegiate football records are celebrated in the College Football Hall of Fame after his induction in 1961. Humble later played eight seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

April 24, 1948 - Wise, Virginia -Virginia Tech’s talented End from 1956 to 1959, Carroll Dale claimed his date of birth.The National Football Foundation claims that Carroll is very devout in his faith and has been quoted as saying, "The Bible is my number one Playbook." As a gifted receiver at Virginia Tech and later in the National Football League, Carroll Dale had another playbook...an offensive one that enabled him to score touchdowns.  Dale started in 39 consecutive games at VT...everyone except the first game of his freshman season. In all four seasons he led Virginia Tech in receiving. He finished with a career total of 67 receptions, 15 touchdowns and a high average of 17.8 yards per catch. The College Football Hall of Fame proudly placed a display in honor of Carroll Dale into their legendary museum in 1987. Following graduation Dale played five seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and what a start in the NFLhe had! Carroll scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass in his first NFL game. Later on in his pro career he also played with the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. 

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by William C. Grene circa 1963 and is titled " Cleveland 6-Man Football ."