December 9

This edition of the Football History Headlines, covers one of the most interesting NFL Title games on record, where a very clever strategy was used to unseat one of the best teams in NFL history, as well as many more Football Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

Football fans, delve into the past! Today's date is etched in NFL history. From legendary trades that shook the league to record-breaking performances on the gridiron, exciting moments unfolded on this very day. We'll explore game-changing events, iconic players who dominated the field, and pivotal decisions that altered the course of franchises. So, buckle up and get ready to revisit the fascinating stories that make NFL history so captivating!

• December 9, 1933 - Athletic Park, Sarnia - According to thegreycup.com, the Toronto Argonauts edged out the Sarnia Imperials by the score of 4-3 in the 1933 Grey Cup. It was the 3rd Championship that the Argos had won since the Cup’s inception.
• December 9, 1934 - Polo Grounds, New York City - "The Sneakers game” is what this National Football League Championship game has been fondly referred to on profootballhof.com.  This was a rematch of the two teams that played in the 1933 League Championship contest, the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants.  The Bears entered the game as the favorites, after all they had not lost a game all season and had beaten the Giants twice earlier in the season. Weather, the great equalizer set in and John Mara, the Giants treasurer noticed that the turf of the Polo Grounds was practically a sheet of ice just hours before kick off. Mara let the coaching staff know including team Captain Ray Flaherty about the field. Flaherty’s thoughts went back to a game he remembered that he and his team at Gonzaga College had played with similar icy conditions where they took off their cleats and put on basketball shoes to try and gain better traction. Equipment personnel of the Giants raced over to Manhattan College to borrow their basketball teams' footwear.  Both teams struggled with traction at the onset of the game but right about then is when Head Coach Steve Owen deployed his secret strategy and had his receivers and backs to put the limited amount of sneakers that they had on loan. The G-men had gained a definite advantage and scored 4 touchdowns in the final stanza to surprise the Chicago Bears with a 30-13 Giants victory.
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• December 9, 1935  - The first Heisman Trophy Award was issued but it actually was called the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy for this issuance. The Heisman Trophy label came about in 1936 per Heisman.com. Anyway Jay Berwanger a half back from the University of Chicago won the Trophy for being college football’s top player in 1935. The details of Jay’s stats are a little sketchy bu we do know that per the Heisman website Berwanger received a telegram from Manhattan’s Downtown Athletic Club, informing him that he had won a trophy for being the “most valuable football player east of the Mississippi,” as well as a trip for two to New York.
• December 9, 1939 - UCLA ties rival USC. This was a watershed moment for the Bruins that brought their program to the same level as the dominant Southern Cal football per the Southernbranch website.. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game and late in the game it was a scoreless tie but USC missed out on a great scoring opportunity when Trojan Grenny Lansdell coughed up the football as he was appearing to be ready to cross the goal line after a tremendous hit and strip by USC’s Ned Matthews and Jackie Robinson. Yes that Jackie Robinson, the famous brave #42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team that broke racial barriers in professional sports in the United States. The Bruins recovered the loose ball for a touchback but more importantly  preserved the tie which helped put UCLA football on the map! Enjoy the highlight video, Jackie Robinson is number 28 on the gridiron and you can see what a great football player he was, including the fumble he helped create with his tackle.
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• December 9, 1938 - The 1939 NFL Draft took place. Ki Aldrich from TCU was the first pick by the Chicago Cardinals. This was the first year that the draft had been expanded to 20 rounds. The first League draft took place in 1936 and according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website prior to that players were free to sign with any team that they wanted to. Philadelphia Eagles owner, Bert Bell, who would later be the NFL commissioner, proposed the plan to have teams pick in the order reversed on how they finished.  
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• December 9, 1939 - Landsdowne Park, Ottawa - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers took home their second Grey Cup title when they outlasted the Ottawa Rough Riders by the score of 8-7 per the CFL.ca website. The story on the CFL web page is a pretty good one that I suggest you take a look at. In it they also mention that weather played a factor in the score as it was a snow covered field and temperatures were minus five degrees Celsius.  
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• December 9, 1939 - Once again the Chicago Cardinals held the first pick in the NFL Draft. George Cafego from University of Tennessee was first picked by the Cards in the 1940 NFL Draft.
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• December 9, 1941 - The 7th Heisman Trophy Award is given to halfback Bruce Smith from the University of Minnesota. Smith helped the Gophers earn consecutive National Titles on undefeated seasons per the Heisman.com website. Bruce was over 200 pounds and was one of the fastest players in football so this proved to be a deadly combination to go with his great athleticism in the single wing offense he was in.
• December 9, 1949 - The NFL absorbs the franchises of the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers & Baltimore Colts as rival league, the AAFC dissolves due to poor finances. A great story on Sporting Chance Press tells the detail of the merger as NFL Commissioner Bert Bell reached an agreement for the NFL to merge the Colts , Browns and Niners into their league while the other AAFC teams would disband.
• December 9, 1973 - St Louis Cardinal place kicker, Jim Bakken boots six successful field goals against the Atlanta Falcons. Pro-football-history.com gives us the final score 32 to 10 for the Red Bird win.
• December 9, 1984 - Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams breaks the NFL single season record by running 2,105 yards on the year. Dickerson did it in style as he rushed for 215 yards  against the Houston Oilers per the Rams.com. The dominant performance helped the Rams secure the 27-17  win.
• December 9, 1990 - New York Giants running back Otis Anderson becomes the eighth player to rush for at least 10,000 yards in a career per OnthisDay.com.
• December 9, 1995  - Ohio State Running Back Eddie George wins the 61st Heisman Trophy Award. Heisman.com describes how George averaged 152.2 yards per game for a total of 1826 yards on the ground in his senior season to help the legendary Buckeye rusher gain the coveted hardware. His 22 touchdowns and 11 straight games of rushing for at  least 100 yards catapulted Eddie over the competition in the voting.iframesrc="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yhjMvAZMlJY"

December 9, 2006 - Troy Smith the quarterback from Ohio State won the 72nd Heisman Trophy Award.

December 9, 2013 - The Chicago Bears retired Mike Ditka’s #89 jersey from further use by players in the Bears franchise.

December 9, 2017  - The 83rd Heisman Trophy Award went to Quarterback Baker Mayfield, Oklahoma.
 

• December 9, 1892 - Forest Geyer a full back from the University of Oklahoma was selected into the College Football Hall of Fame by NFF voters in 1973. 
• December 9, 1898 - Duke Slater the legendary tackle from Iowa was born. Slater was an All-American as a two way tackle with the Hawkeyes. Duke Slater was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. He had a great career in the NFL playing on both sides of the line with the Rock Island Independents and the Chicago Cardinals. He broke through racial barriers in the early NFL as an African -American player and performed as one of the top athletes in the game. The Pro Football Hall of Fame selected Duke Slater to join their legends in 2020.
• December 9, 1938 - Eatonville, Florida - David “Deacon” Jones the defensive end from Mississippi Vocational School was born.  Deacon Jones was what the Pro Football Hall of Fame called an obscure pick by the LA Rams. The Rams scouts were looking  to see if they could find a hidden gem at running back or receiver when they went to watch Mississippi Vocational when they noticed that a 6’-4” 270 pound defensive tackle was out running the backs and wide outs in drills, so they took a sixth round flier on him. Boy did that pay off for the Rams as Deacon played for 14 seasons in the League, and was voted as the Defensive Player of the year twice. Jones was All-NFL in six straight seasons and played in 8 Pro Bowls. Deacon Jones  was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame as part of the 1980 enshrinement class.
• December 9, 1942 - The Dick Butkus the great linebacker from the University of Illinois. Butkus was a unanimous All-America in 1963 and 1964 according to the NFF. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame of College in 1983. Dick played for 9 seasons with the Chicago Bears, the team that drafted him in the first round of the 1965 NFL Draft.  Butkus awas ALl -NFL in six seasons and had 22 interceptions and 25 fumbles recovered as he dominated in the middle of the Bears defense. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined him in 1979.
• December 9, 1947 - Gore, Oklahoma - Steve Owens the Running Back from Oklahoma came to this life. The National Football Foundation selected Steve Owens to enter into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.
• December 9, 1955 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Jim Haslett the linebacker from Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania was born. Jim was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. He may be most famous for his coaching career in the NFL as both a coordinator and a Head Coach.