August 24

Here is what happened in Football History on August 24:

• Andrew Luck retires.
• The fans vote to keep the Patriot's old logo.
• Gridiron legend Jim Thorpe receives a ticker tape parade.

We remember the people and events that made the gridiron a great sport. We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This early team football history segment features the Great events, Franchise formations, and the stories of these long-forgotten teams in some cases that helped shape the arena of American pro football into what it is today.

• August 24, 1912 - A ticker tape parade is held in New York City as Jim Thorpe and the rest of the U.S. Olympians return home from the games held in Stockholm.
• August 24, 1979 - 60,916 NFL fans vote to choose the old New England Patriots logo over the new one.
• August 24, 1992 - The Cleveland Browns suffer their most lopsided preseason loss ever when handed a 56-3 thumping by the Minnesota Vikings.
• August 24, 2002 - Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas opens for the first time to fans in a preseason game where the Texans hosted the Dolphins.
• August 24, 2006 - Jerry Rice signed a one day contract with his former team the San Francisco 49ers, so that he could officially retire from the NFL as a Niner.
• August 24, 2019 - With just two weeks before the season was about to start, the Indianapolis Colts franchise received devestating news when their young star Quarterback Andrew Luck retired due to health reasons.

• August 24, 1887 - Albert Benbrook was a guard from the University of Michigan who played with the Wolverines from 1908 through 1910. Benbrook was chosen by Walter Camp to be an All-American in both the 1909 and 1910 seasons. He was voted into the College Hall of Fame in the 1971 class.
• August 24, 1893 - Paul Des Jardien played center for the University of Chicago and was selected as a All-American for the 1913 and 1914 seasons at the position. He entered the confines of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. After school he played for both the Cleveland Indians Baseball team and the Cleveland Indians football team in 1916. In later years he played professionally for the Hammond Pros, Chicago Tigers and the Minneapolis Marines.
• August 24, 1940 - Jim Holder was a former halfback from Oklahoma's Panhandle A&M College football team. He was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012. Mr. Holder was an ROTC member while at Panhandle ( now known as Oklahoma Panhandle State University) and after college he served inthe U.S. Army. The brave Holder died while serving his country in Vietnam.

The picture in the banner above is from the U.S. Library of Congress and is credited to artist Earl F. Christy and is titled, "Cheerleader and football player sitting on giant football with Chicago flag."