August 19

What happened in Football for August 19? Well we found that a stadium named for the legendary Paul Brown opened, the birthday of Morten Andersen, one of only three true kickers in the HOF is remembered and one of the top Cincinnati Bengals players ever, Anthony Muñoz celebrates his birthday. We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This daily football history segment features the Great events, Franchise formation anniversaries as well as the birthdays of notable Hall of Fame players, coaches or anyone else in our great game and many more  Legendary stories of the Gridiron.

The picture in the banner was taken at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a tribute to the great Bengals Tackle Anthony Muñoz.

• August 19, 1983 - Former LSU and AFL/NFL football star Billy Cannon (see August 2) was sentenced to 5 years in prison for counterfeiting after getting involved in some bad real estate investments. After serving 2-1/2 years he was hired by the correctional facility he served time in to be their dentist, a profession he had practiced after college.
• August 19, 2000 - Cincinnati's Paul Brown Stadium opened for its first live action in a preseason contest as the Bengals hosted the Chicago Bears. In our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the day we use the Cincinnati Enquirer's August 20, 2000 headline of :

Bengals Finally Capitalize in Redzone

The story celebrates the fact the the Bengals offense went 3 for 3 inside the Chicago Bears twenty yard line for 3 first half touchdowns to help them to a 24-20 victory. Former number one pick Akili Smith went 21 of 29 for 184 yards and led three scoring drives in the win giving hope to Bengals fans on the 1999 NFL Draft number 3 overall selection.

• August 19, 1946 - Bob Johnson was a center from Tennessee who  entered the College Football Hall of Fame ranks in 1989. Johnoson finished 6th in the Heisman voting in 1967, petty darn great for a an offensive lineman!
• August 19, 1958 - Ontario, California - Anthony Muñoz was a 6-6, 278 pound offensive tackle for the Cincinnati Bengals for 13 seasons. He was named to the NFL 1980s All-Decade and NFL 75th Anniversary Teams. His great play at the position earned him a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio in 1998.
• August 19, 1960 - Morten Andersen was Pro Football Hall of Fame Kicker most notable for the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saint in the NFL. The Danish- American kicker had a remarkable 26 year career in the NFL! He attended Michigan State University prior to his NFL career. For his career Andersen booted  565 field goals through the uprights in 709 attempts  and he kept a lofty 98.8 % accuracy with his 849 extra points made in 859 attempts. Morten is only one of three kickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame that did not play another position. The others were Jan Stenerud and Ray Guy.