December 5

In this edition of the Football History Headlines we discuss the WFL's Only World Bowl Game, the Seahawks become official as well as many more Football Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

Gridiron ghosts are stirring! Today's date is etched in the annals of NFL history. From legendary comebacks to record-breaking performances, monumental trades to heart-wrenching defeats, the pigskin has witnessed its share of drama on this very day.  Let's take a trip down memory lane and revisit the iconic moments, game-changing plays, and unforgettable figures that forever marked their place in the grand narrative of professional football. So, gear up, football fans, as we delve into the captivating stories that unfolded on this historic day in the NFL!

• December 5, 1914 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - At the 6th Grey Cup the Toronto Argonauts won the franchises’ first Championship; as they beat the University of Toronto Blues, 14-2. Our friends at Ninety-nine Yards have a few tidbits on this game.  
• December 5, 1925 - Landsdowne Park, Ottawa -  Ottawa Senators won their first Grey Cup title by knocking out Winnipeg’s Tammany Tigers, 24-1 at the 13th Cup game.
• December 5, 1931 - Molson Stadium, Montreal - At the 19th Grey Cup it was the Montreal AAA Winged Wheelers blanking the Regina Roughriders, 22-0 to take home their first Grey Cup Championship.
• December 5, 1936  - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - It was a close one at the 24th Grey Cup as the Sarnia Imperials defeated the Ottawa Rough Riders, 26-20 for Sarnia’s 2nd Championship banner.
• December 5, 1942  - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - We assure that the score of the 30th Grey Cup game is indeed and football score and not one from the Hockey realm.  With WWII in process the Cup had a military flavor as the team taking the Grey Cup title was the Toronto RCAF Hurricanes as they edged out the Winnipeg RCAF Bombers, 8-5.
• December 5, 1943  - The Merger of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL referred to by many as the “Steagles” dissolved as the season came to an end. The football History Dude, Arnie Chapman has a  fantastic podcast dedicated to this merged team, you can find by clicking FootballHistoryDude-Steagles. The two organizations combined their resources to be able to survive and field a team many men of playing age were overseas fighting in World War II.  Packershistory.net serves up the story on  how in the last game of the merged teams from Pennsylavania’s two largest cities against the Green Bay Packers. Green Bay gave the Phil-Pitt Steagles inhospitable farewell party with a 38-28 victory for the Pack. Don Hutson of the Packers scored 20 of his team’s points.  
• December 5, 1948 - New York Giant, Charley Conerly completed 36 passes to  set an NFL record for the most completions thrown in an NFL game. The website footballperspective.com has an interesting article that touches on Conerly’s time in the NFL.
• December 5, 1970 - Memorial Coliseum, LA - F64Sports reports that the fine running back of the Los Angeles Rams, Willie Ellison rushed for an NFL record of 247 yards in a game against the New Orleans Saints. Ellison started the game off with a bang as he took a hand off on the third play from scrimmage and raced around the end for a 80 yard touchdown sprint. The Rams powered their way to a 45-28 victory charged by the yards on the ground provided by Willie Ellison.
• December 5, 1972 - Johnny Rodgers the flanker from the University of Nebraska claimed the 38th Heisman Trophy Award.
• December 5, 1974  - The NFL's Seattle Seahawks franchise is officially announced. Historylink.org has an excellent presentation with all of the details. Pete Rozelle gave the go ahead to a consortium called “Seattle Professional Football” and that group headed up by Lloyd Nordstrom cut a check for a cool $16 million to make NFL football in Seattle a reality. You will want to check out the Historylink article because they also give the answer of what came first, the Team or the Dome?  
• December 4, 1974 - The World Bowl. Soon after the AFL/NFL merger in the late 1960’s another group decided it would be a good idea to go head to head in competition with the NFL, the World Football League. A group headed by Gary Davidson put together a band of wealthy individuals and threw cash at the League to sign big names off of the NFL’s best team at the time the Miami Dolphins such as Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kick. Many other teams lost star players to the allure of good pay from the WFL. Well needless to say the NFL’s popularity was still strong and it crushed the WFL like a bug. However in their 1-½ seasons that they existed they did have  one championship game played, and it was the 1974 World Bowl. In the game the  Birmingham Americans claimed the title as they defeated the Florida Blazers 22-21 in a great lone championship game for the league. You can learn more about the WFL from the Deadfootball.com website.
• December 5, 1981 - Marcus Allen the graceful running back from the University Southern California wins the 47th Heisman Trophy Award. The voters could not look past that Allen was the first player in NCAA history to eclipse 2000 yards on the ground in one season according to Heisman.com. In the eleven games that the Trojans played in 1981’s magical season Marcus went over the 200 yard mark in eight of them! His gaudy total  of 2342 yards rushing went into the NCAA record books and he added 29 receptions and 23 touchdowns  to his Heisman resume.
• December 5, 1982 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - Cleveland Browns' Quarterback Brian Sipe set a new franchise record when he had 33 pass completions on 48 attempts for 338 yards with on touchdown and 2 interceptions. The San Diego Chargers backfield tandem of Chuck Muncie and James Brooks though each had two touchdown runs as San Diego stole this one 30-13 per Pro-Football-Reference.com  
• December 5, 1985 - The first Polycarbonate helmet was introduced. The helmet prevented injuries of players by being lighter than plastic and stronger according to a story on Atavus.com.  
• December 5, 1987 - The 53rd awarded Heisman Trophy went to Notre Dame’s wide receiver Tim Brown. Heisman.com tells us that Brown’s 1987 game against Michigan State where he took back to back Spartan punts to the house was the game that put him over the edge in the Heisman voting that season. “Touchdown” Tim Brown finished his career as Fighting Irish’s all-time leader in pass reception yards with his lofty 2493 and also returned six kicks for touchdowns.
• December 5, 1992 - The very first SEC Championship Game is played as #2 Alabama outscore #12 Florida by a score in a 28-21 final.
• December 5, 1998 - It took two Over Time sessions but the ‘98 Big 12 Championship belonged #10 Texas A&M  as they got past #2 Kansas State, 36-33 after the smoke cleared.
• December 5, 2002 - The NFL and NFLPA got quite a buzz stirring when they decided to invest in the lower levels of the Gridiron by  introducing the new product of USA Football. USA Football was the first organization to represent all levels of amatuer football according to the sportsbusiness daily website story.

Onthisday.com Rapid Fire 2009 Conference Championships

• December 5, 2009 - This season had a big ticket matchup for the SEC Title Game as #2 Crimson Tide of Alabama faced off against the top ranked Florida Gators.  That ranking got moved around in the aftermath as it was all Tide in a 32-13 one sided game.
• December 5, 2009 - The ACC Championship Game was a doozie as #12 Georgia Tech beat #25 Clemson, 39-34.
• December 5, 2009 - And even a better game yet was the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game where #3 Texas nipped #21 Nebraska, 13-12.

December 5, 1936 - Riverview, Texas - John Wooten the outstanding tackle from the University of Colorado was born. The NFF’s bio on John tells us that  he blazed a path for others to follow, becoming one of the first African-Americans to earn All-America honors as a lineman in 1958.  His bio goes on to give the tale of the tape on his blocking which had the Buffaloes ranked 12th in the nation in 1956 with 252.1 yards per game, first in 1957 with 322.4 yards per matchup and fifth in 1958 with 249.5 yards per contest. The National Football Foundation selected John Wooten to enter into their College Football Hall of Fame in 2012.  

December 5, 1936 - Albert Lea, Minnesota -  The fine guard from the University of Minnesota, Tom Brown celebrated his birth. The NFF’s  footballfoundation.org bio on Tom sets the remarkable picture of how the Minnesota Golden Gophers were last in the Big Ten for the 1959 season and then in the next they won a national Championship. Tom Brown  in 1960 became the interior lineman with the highest vote ranking in Heisman history when he took second in the tabulation for the 1960 award. Tom Brown found himself inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. After school Tom played in the CFL with the BC Lions for 7 seasons.

December 5, 1947 - Santa Clara, California - The former quarterback of the Stanford Cardinal, Jim Plunkett was born.  The National Football Foundation voted Jim Plunkett into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

December 5, 1955 - Camden, New Jersey - Art Still, the University of Kentucky’s  defensive end came into this life.  Art Still was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

December 5, 1957 - White Plains, New York - The University of Syracuse legendary wide receiver Art Monk was born.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame states that his career catches were counted at 940 and that he played 183 straight games where he caught at least one  pass. Monk was an All-Pro twice and was voted into three Pro Bowls.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Art Monk in 2008.

December 5, 1963 - Omaha, Nebraska - Larry Station the linebacker from the University of Iowa was birthed.  Larry Station was inducted by the NFF into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.