August 2

What happened in Football History on August 2? We found that a couple of great College All-Star games were played; the NFL played an exhibition in Canada as the Saints came Marching into the NFL. We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This daily football history segment features the great events, franchise formation anniversaries, and the birthdays of notable Hall of Fame players, coaches, or anyone else in our great game, as well as many more legendary stories of the Gridiron.

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by Bain News Service circa 1908 and is titled " Columbia Football Practice ."

Big Red Defense Shines in 36-7 Victory: Argos held to minus 22 yards on the ground

Is our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the day from the St. Louis Dispatch August 3, 1961 edition. The August 2, 1961 tilt of a rare NFL versus CFL pre-season exhibition between the St. Loius Cardinals and the Toronto Argonauts took place in Toronto, Ontario. The game was played under Canadian Rules so you might think that the vistors from the NFL may have been at a disadvantage not being used to strategies of having but three downs, more than one in pre-snap motion and twelve players on the filed but it didn't seem to hamper them. The CFL season was in full swing so the Boatmen took a break from League action to play a mid-season exhibition against some competition from the States. The Cardinals in just their first pre-season contest of the year looked like a well oiled machine especially on the defensive side. With  a mere 12 days of practice and one scrimmage St. Louis held Argos runners to negative 22 yards and the passing game to a modest 184 yards on 35 attempts. The Cardinals opened up the scoring when DB Larry Wilson picked off an errant pass and ran it into the endzone. Even with a sore arm, Big Red QB Sam "the Rifle" Etcheverry came in to relieve starter George Izo, and guided two quick touchdown drives, one on a 74 a yard draw play run by RB Prentice Gautt. Izo threw a TD pass himself before taking a sideline post.

Other Historic Gridiron News from August 2

• August 2, 1963 - The 30th Chicago Charities College All Star Game had the college stars defeating the Green Bay Packers 20-17. The MVP award, always given to the college player team, happened to be Ron Vander Kelen the former quarterback of the Wisconsin Badgers.
• August 2, 1967 - The New Orleans Saints play their first ever preseason game against the LA Rams at Anaheim Stadium. The exhibition was a competitive contest too with the final score of Rams 16, Saint 7.
• August 2, 1968 - The 35th Chicago Charities College All Star Game had Green Bay topping the College All Stars 34-17 at Soldier Field withn 69,917 in attendance. The MVP award, always given to the college player team, happened to be former Syracuse runningback Larry Csonka.

• August 2, 1932 - Lamar Hunt Pro Football Hall of Fame owner of the Kansas City Chiefs who helped the AFL merge into the NFL. Mr. Hunt was the principal founder of the AFL, MLS (Major League Soccer) and the NASL (North American Soccer League) as well as World Championship Tennis. Lamar Hunt owned other teams in multiple sports besides the Chiefs. In honor of his great accomplishments the Lamar Hunt Trophy is awarded each year the winner of the AFC Championship game.
• August 2, 1933 - Matt Hazeltine from the University of California was a line backer that entered the prestigious College Football Hall of Fame in the induction ceremonies of 1989. He extended his football prowess in the NFL by playing in the League for a combined 15 seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and the NY Giants. With the Niners Hazeltine made 2 Pro Bowls and served as a team captain for 5 seasons.
• August 2, 1937 - LSU former star halfback and 1959 Heisman winner, Billy Cannon was also born on this day. Mr. Cannon was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008. His punt return on October 31, 1959 haunted the number 3 ranked Ole Miss Rebels and is considered by many to be one of the greatest play in LSU football history. BillyCannon also had a nice AFL and NFL career the Houston Oilers, Oakland Raiders and KC Chiefs. He was also drafted by the LA Rams but the AFL Oiler's owner Bud Adams won a court ruling and outbid the NFL's Rams for his rights.

For more stats on football people born on August 2 check out Pro Football Reference.

See something that happened on this date that we missed? Please let us know via email at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com.

NEW Song track to open the show with! Mike and Gene Monroe bring the heat with their song Cleatus D Pig 4! Also The Lovely Pia Hayes is etching out the graphics for today's show. Check these out and let us know in the comments how you like them!iframesrc="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3nQZEc7Phd4"