December 6

In this edition of the Football History Headlines we discuss how a young Red Grange drew a big New York City crowd that may have  saved an NFL franchise as well as many more Football Hall of Fame Legendary stories. 

Football history enthusiasts, delve into the gridiron's past! On this very date, history unfolded on the field in several ways. We might be celebrating a record-breaking performance by a legendary player, a trade that sent shockwaves through the league, or even the birth of a new franchise that would leave its mark on the game. Let's lace up our cleats and travel back in time to see what iconic moments transpired on this date in American football history!

December 6, 1925 - Polo Grounds, New York - A record crowd of more than 73,000 paid to watch the Chicago Bears beat NY Giants 19-7. American Fandom’s website claims that the big draw was Red Grange as he had recently joined the Bears roster after his college schedule at Illinois was completed. Everyone wanted to get a glimpse of the great player that just a few weeks earlier was still taking the College game by storm.iframesrc="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0ieIbClaB84"

December 6, 1930 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 18th Grey Cup game was played and the Toronto Balmy Beach squad won their 2nd title as the beat out the Regina Roughriders by the final score of 11-6.

December 6, 1939 - The Downtown Athletic Club selected Iowa’s standout halfback, Nile Kinnick as the 5th Heisman Trophy Award winner. The Hawkeyes of 1939 had an additional nickname per the Heisman.com website, “the Ironmen.” Kinnick was their leader and he led the team by almost never leaving the field, averaging 57 minutes per game! At one point in the1939 season he played 402 straight minutes that spanned over 7 games, until a shoulder injury in the season finale forced him to sit out for a spell. It is remarkable to think that this guy left the University of Minnesota a couple years earlier because he didn’t make their team! Nile’s 1939 stats were that he threw for 638 yards and 11 touchdowns as well as pounding out for 374 yards on 106 carries on the ground while also drop-kicking for another 41 points for Iowa.

December 6, 1961 - We alluded to this earlier in the week but this day was a watershed moment in Heisman history.  Ernie Davis Syracuse’s outstanding halfback became the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy Award! If you remember back to our December 4 segment of the Football History Headlines Ernie was also the first black player to be drafted with the top pick in the NFL Draft by the Washington franchise two days before this Heisman announcement. What a week for this young man! 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.iframesrc="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ExxbEw4yigU"

December 6, 1975 - We foreshadowed this story earlier this week too. Archie Griffin, the Ohio State Buckeyes prolific runner became the first player to take home consecutive Heisman Trophy Awards when he won the 41st edition of the coveted honor. In his senior season of ‘75 Archie ran for 1357 yards, and led Ohio State to a perfect 11-0 record and the top ranking in the nation. It is amazing to think that he was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio and was able to achieve these great gridiron heights in front of his hometown crowd! Heisman.com brings up the fact that Griffin started all four years he was with the Buckeyes, and became the first player to ever play in four Rose Bowl Games! On top of that Archie reached All-America honors three times! Others in consideration for the 1975 Heisman were Chuck Muncie and Ricky Bell.iframesrc="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_1Beo-c6w0o"

December 6, 1986 - The 52nd Heisman Trophy Award was announced and it was the University of Miami’s Quarterback Vinny Testaverde who took home College Football’s top honor. The Hurricanes enjoyed not just the accomplishment of their signal caller taking home the Downtown Athletic Clubs famous hardware for the first time by a Miami player, but also the team went undefeated on the season. Heisman.com’s web bio on Vinny T. tells us that he ran in four touchdowns while tossing the pigskin for 2557 yards and 26 more scores.

December 6, 1992 -Candlestick Park -  San Francisco 49ers GOAT wide receiver Jerry Rice caught an NFL record 101st career touchdown in a 27-3 win over Miami Dolphins. When Rice completed his awesome career he set the bar high with 197 receptions that scored 6 points. The next closest player to that record was Randy Moss who finished over 40 TDs behind Rice per the Pro-Football-Reference stats.

Rapid Fire Headlines from Onthisday.com

December 6, 1997  - The SEC Championship Game for the ‘97 season came down to #3 Tennessee edging out #11 Auburn in a close one with a 30-29 final score.

December 6, 2003 - The 12th SEC Championship Game was a battle of top teams as  #3 LSU crushed #5 Georgia’s aspirations in a 34-13 lopsided victory.
 
December 6, 2008 - This SEC Championship Game was key to the national championship picture when #2 Florida overcame the challenge of #1 Alabama with a stunning 31-20 final score.

December 6, 2014 - If you love close scores in big games then the ACC Championship Game of 2014 will be one that you will want to remember. This game went right down to the wire as #2 Florida State overcame a  #12 Georgia Tech scare to win 37-35.

December 6, 2018  - Nashville’s Nissan Stadium -Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry goes on a rampage as he ran for a franchise-record of 238 yards with 4 scores. Henry propelled his team to a dominating 30-9 victory over their divisional rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars. During the contest Derick had a 99-yard touchdown run that tied a long standing NFL record as the longest run in League history held by Dallas Cowboys legendary runner Tony Dorsett. You’ll want to see the run by checking out this link to Tennessee Titans.com.

November 27, 2021 - The Michigan Wolverines knocked off their nemisis Ohio State for the first time in a decade. The win along with some timely games in the Conference Championships propelled the Big Blue to the number one seed in the national Champioship tourney.

December 5, 2021 - The Detroit Lions had their first win of the season in week 13 as they stunned the Minnesota Vikings 29-27 in the victory.

December 6, 2021 - It was a very windy evening in Buffalo, New York when the New England Patriots sitting at 7-4 wnet to play the Bills (7-4) for first place in the AFC East on Monday Night Football. Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels had a suprose in store for the Bills and all who watched as his Rookie QB, Mac Jones threw only 3 total pass attempts inthe entire game to lead the patriots to a stunnign 14-10 victory. The Pats had 222 yards on the ground and the New England Defense stiffled the powerful Buffalo offense to a mere 230 total yards. It was the fewest pass attempts in an NFL game by a team since 1974.

December 6,1896 - George Trafton the long time center of the Chicago Bears was born. Trafton according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s biography sketch on him played only one season of college ball at Notre Dame before jumping to the Pro ranks with George Halas and the Bears. In fact he was the franchise’s first center because he actually started off his NFL career as a Staley. Trafton indicated that in those early days, rosters were small so players on the team were expected to play a full 60 minutes. Mr Trafton set a couple of NFL trends as he was the first offensive center to snap the ball using only one hand and on the other side of the ball he was the first defensive lineman to move around the field in a rover like manner. He spent 12 seasons in the League. The  Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined George Trafton in 1964.

December 6, 1898 - Waco, Texas - Benny Lee Boynton the quarterback from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts was born. Benny’s profile on footballfoundation.org informs us that he is Williams College's most famous gridiron player as Boynton directed the Williams eleven to a total of 18 wins, five loses and one tie. Their 1917 team had a perfect undefeated, season as they registered upset victories over larger schools like  Cornell and Columbia. Benny received consensus All-America recognition in 1917 and 1919. In 1920 he led the Williams offense to some high offensive productions such as the game against Wesleyan where the Ephs put up 50 points, scoring 62 versus Trinity, RPI gave up 63, and Hamilton saw an embarrassing 82 put against their defense. The National Football Foundation selected Benny Lee Boynton to go into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1962.

December 6, 1918 - Ford City, Pennsylvania -  Nick Drahos the great tackle from Cornell University was born. The National Football Foundation selected Nick Drahos to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.

December 6, 1921 - Waukegan, Illinois - Otto Graham the great signal caller for the 1941 to ‘43 Northwestern Wildcats came into this world.  According to the National Football Foundation Graham was well rounded as he was All-America in football in 1943, All-America in basketball in 1944. Otto also won two letters in baseball and excelled as a musician, geez was there anything this young man couldn’t do well? It may have been a shorter to list those items! Technically in college Graham played the position of left-halfback in the Wildcat’s single wing offense. Just an editor's note there does not seem to be any correlation of Northwestern success with the single-wing offense and the fact that the single-wing in today’s football landscape being referenced as the “Wildcat” offense. Perhaps this is a story for a future episode.  Any how back to Otto Graham. He set numerous offensive records at his school and they can be found on the NFF article. In 1956  the College Football Hall of Fame accepted Otto Graham into their ranks of gridiron legends. After his college playing days ended, Graham  became the first Cleveland Browns player when coach Paul Brown signed him as a T-formation quarterback. Otto and the Browns dominated the now defunct AAFC professional league and then thereafter entered into the realm of the NFL where they had continued their previous success. Graham’s biography sketch on profootballhof.com tells us that he played 10 seasons of pro ball and was the top passer in the respective leagues he played in 6 of those years. He also was given All-League honors in 9 of the ten years he played professionally. The 1950 NFL title game saw Otto toss 4 TD passs and in the 1954 NFL Championship contest he ran for 3 and threw for 3 scores. The  Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Otto Graham in 1965.    

December 6, 1925 -Andy Robustelli the Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end was born. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Los Angeles Rams drafted Robustelli, an end from tiny Arnold College, in the nineteenth round of the 1951 National Football League Draft. He didn't stand much a chance making the team as an end with players like Tom Fears and Crazy Legs Hirsch already on the roster but they found a place for Andy on the defensive side of the ball. He played 14 seasons on the Rams D line and missed only one game in that time. He played in 8 NFL championship games while playing for the Rams for five seasons and then 9 more as a member of the New York Giants. In 1962 Robustelli was named as the NFL's top player by the Maxwell Club.