December 14

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we discuss a Notre Dame versus the NFL's NY Giants contest and the legendary Ernie Davis as well as many more Legendary Gridiron stories.

We're diving into the archives to revisit the headlines that rocked the NFL landscape. From legendary draft-day decisions that changed franchises to record-breaking performances that left fans in awe, get ready to relive the electrifying moments that shaped the game we love. So, lace up your cleats and join us as we explore the captivating stories from the gridiron's rich past!

December 14, 1920 -  Fighting Irish legend George Gipp passed away from pneumonia at the age of 25.  The History of College Football reminds us that Gipp is probably best known for asking his Coach Knute Rockne from his hospital bed, to at sometime at a point in the future, will find themselves in Rockne and the Irish need some inspiration to ask the team “to win one for the Gipper.”

December 14, 1930 - An interesting Gridiron charity game pitted the New York Football Giants against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Giants surged earlier in the season but then dropped their last two games which eliminated them from a chance at the NFL Title. With this in mind they teamed up with the ever popular Notre Dame eleven to hold a benefit game to raise money for cash strapped families during the Great Depression according to Hapmoran.org. The G-men triumphed 22-0.

December 14, 1930 - The National Football League Champions were the Green Bay Packers  who with a 10-3-1 record repeated to take the title with best record and in that era of the NFL, the team with the best record received the Title per the fandom.com American Football story on the season.

December 14, 1941 - It is amazing that with all of the times that the Bears and the Packers have faced each other that there was only one time in history so far that they met in the postseason. That one time meeting was indeed historic as it was also the first NFL divisional playoff game. In that era of the NFL thre were two divisions and the team with the best record in each division would meet in the NFL Championship Game. The 1941 season however the Bears and Packer tied for the best record in the Western Division of the NFL with identical 10-1 records. Each team was victorious on the other's field. On Sept. 28, the Bears defeated the Packers at City Stadium, 25-17. The Packers returned the favor on Nov. 2 at Wrigley Field, winning 16-14. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Online covers the game play in detail but also shares with us that in this meeting it was the Bears who claimed the right to play for the Title as they knocked off the Packers 33-14 in the third and most important meeting of the season.

December 14, 1947 - Action from the AAFC Championship Game had the Cleveland Browns defeating the New York Yankees 14-3 to win yet another title in the fledgling league.

December 14, 1980 - Metropolitan Stadium - “the Miracle at the Met” the Minnesota Vikings have sure been involved in a lot of famous plays. Before the Minneapolis Miracle there was this fantastic game when the Cleveland Browns were in town according to ESPN.com. The Browns held a 1 point lead with 14 ticks of the clock remaining. It looked dismal for the home fans as the Vikings had possession of the ball but were 80 yards away from the Brown’s goal line. The use of a hook and lateral ate up 9 prcisou seconds as the lateral went to Vikes running back Ted Brown who reached the Cleveland 46 got out of bounds. Quarterback Tommy  Kramer then fired a lofty pass to the right side of the endzone in desperation, three Browns were in a position to make a play on the ball but they tipped it into the hands of Vikings Receiver Ahmad Rashad in the back corner of the endzone in a truly miraculous conclusion. Kramer passed for 456 yards to set a franchise record in a non Over Time game, and the final score was 28-24, Minnesota!

December 14, 1980 - New Orleans Saints fans ended their paper bags over their heads “Aints” era when their favorite team edged out the New York Jets 21-20 to stop a 14 game losing streak.

December 14, 1991 - The 57th Heisman Trophy Award went to Desmond Howard, the University of Michigan’s talented wide receiver and return man. Howard according to the Heisman.com website held the second largest voting margin of victory in the Awards history. The Junior wideout helped the Wolverines achieve a 10-1 record while catching 61 receptions for 960 yards with 19 TDs and ran in a couple more scores on rushes. He scored another couple of touchdowns on a kick and a punt return. He averaged a whopping 31 yards per kick return and a solid 15.3 yards per punt return. I would say that sets up for some great field position on offense!

December 14, 1996 - Quarterback Danny Wuerffel from the Florida Gators was voted as the 62nd Heisman Trophy winner. Wuerffel was only the second Gator to win the Award, the other was none other than his Florida Head Coach Steve Spurrier per the Heisman’s official website. Danny  rifled 3,625 yards and 36 touchdowns as he aided the Gators to an 11-1 record and another shot at the national title. Wuerffel showed up in that big national championship game too as he threw for 306 yards and 3 touchdowns against a strong Florida State defense in a 52-20 Gator romp against their cross state rivals to win Florida’s first ever National title.

December 14, 1998 - The Downtown Athletic Club handed its 64th version of the Heisman Award to University of Texas Running Back Ricky Williams. We told you earlier that Desmon Howard in 1991 received the second highest percentage of Heisman votes, well Ricky Williams is the only player ahead of him in that category. Williams had 43% of the voters cast his name in the Heisman voting according to the Award’s website tabulation. Ricky set 21 NCAA records as he ran for an impeccable 2,124 yards and 27 TDs on the season. The standout Longhorn runner also won the Maxwell and Walter Camp Player of the Year Awards as well as becoming the only player in College Football history to win the Doak Walker Award twice.

December 14, 2009  - University of Alabama hard working running back Mark Ingram Jr. won the 75th Heisman Trophy Award. He was unbelievably the first Bama Heisman winner to also win a National Championship Title with the Tide that same season. Ingrams according to the Trophy’s official site won the narrowest vote in Heisman history up to tha point. Mark Ingram in the 2009 season rushed for 1,542 yards with 15 touchdowns and caught 30 passes for 322 yards and three Tds to aid Alabama in going undefeated on the year.
 
December 14, 2019 - The 85th Heisman Trophy was earned by Joe Burrow, the stud quarterback of Louisiana State University. Heisman.com informs the reader that the LSU Senior signal caller threw a Heisman tying record 48 touchdowns on the season with 4715 yards through the air. Joe’s 2019 completion rate of 77.9% is the highest ever in the Award’s history.

December 14, 1921 - Pittston, Pennsylvania - Charley Trippi the Georgia Bulldogs great halfback was born. The NFF starts out their bio of Charley with the story of the 1943 Rose Bowl game in which Georgia would face powerhouse UCLA. The Bulldogs would be at a slight disadvantage as their stud All-America runner Frank Sinkwich was hurt and not able to play. The substitute for Sinkwich was Trippi and boy did he ever put on a show as he went on to become the game’s MVP by helping the Dogs overcome adversity in defeating the Bruins 9-0. After some great seasons at Georgia which were WWII interrupted, and he served his country, Trippi really set his fabled Bulldog lore in his Senior year.  Charley led Georgia t0 a perfect 10-0 regular season, the the amazing halfback won the Sugar Bowl for the Bulldogs when he tossed a touchdown pass to teammate Dan Edwards, sealing off a 20-10 victory over the Tarheels of North Carolina. The National Football Foundation selected Charley Trippi to enter into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1959. Trippi may be the only player to have ever played in four Chicago College All-Star games as a collegian, two with the Bulldogs, two while in the service and a fifth as a professional. The Pro Football Hall of Fame tells an interesting story about Charley after college. It was the AAFC’s New York Yankees who were ready to hold a press conference to announce Charley Trippi as their newest player but at the last minute they found out that Charles Bidwell Senior of the Chicago Cardinals had inked Trippi to a sweet deal. Charley signed a four-season long, $100,000 professional contract with the Chicago Cardinals making him the second highest paid pro player at the time behind only Red Grange. Bidwell was billing it the “Dream Back Field” as Trippi would join Cardinals greats Paul Christman, Pat Harder, Marshall Goldberg and, later, Elmer Angsman but Mr. Bidwell passed away before ever seeing the men play together. The Dream Backfield was as thought and the Cardinals captured the 1947 Championship of the NFL by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21. Trippi put on basketball shoes to gain traction on the Icy Comiskey Park surface to rush for 206 total yards of rushing and returns with 2 scores. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined him in 1968.

December 14, 1939 - New Salem Pennsylvania - Ernie Davis the standout Syracuse halfback was born. Ernie, according to the NFF web bio on him, led Syracuse to a national championship in 1959. Davis was the top player in the nation in 1961 as he rushed for 823 yards as a senior and scored 15 touchdowns while leading Syracuse in pass receiving with 16 catches for 157 yards.  Ernie Davis the first African-American player to win the Heisman but he was also the first black player to be drafted with the top pick in the NFL Draft! Unfortunately shortly after signing a life changing contract with the Browns, Ernie came down with Leukemia and was not able to live out his professional dream. We lost the great Ernie Davis at the young age of just 23. The National Football Foundation selected Ernie Davis to become a member posthumously of the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.