January 16

In this episode of the Football's History Headlines, we discuss the story of Super Bowl VI as well as many more Hall of Fame Legendary stories that pertain to January 16.

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!

January 16, 1883 - Quebec Rugby Football Union forms per the PRFA’s publication “The Coffin Corner” Volume 23, by Robert Sproule in 2001. A group of teams from the Quebec province after teams in Ontario organized on January 6, 1883. There were teams from Montreal, McGill, Britannia and Quebec City. There were 15 players per side in this game on a field that was 110 yards in length. The game more closely resembled rugby by today’s standards, but at the time it was different because the ball was placed on the ground and the teams, which were lined up on opposing sides came together to try and gain control of the ball and try to push it past a line on the ground. Sproule notes that it was closer to a line of scrimmage than a scrum. Finally in 1904 the QRFU adopted a system of downs where it was slowly morphing into what we would recognize as Canadian Football.

January 16, 1955 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - At the 5th annual NFL Pro Bowl the Western Conference team defeated the Eastern Conference, 26-19. The games Most Valuable Player was San Francisco 49er Wide Receiver Billy Wilson. 

January 16, 1965 - Jeppeson Stadium, Houston -  The American Football League held its 4th All Star Game. In the end of the year exhibition game the Western Division defeated the Eastern Division squad by the score of 38-14. The MVPs were Los Angeles Chargers Running back Keith Lincoln and Willie Brown the Denver Broncos Defensive Back. 

January 16, 1970 - NFL realigned into 3 divisions in each Conference after the official merger of the AFL into the NFL per the American Football Fandom site. As we talked about in earlier posts the NFL had 16 teams  prior to the merger while the AFL held only 10. The easiest fix to balance out the conferences was to move three traditionally NFL teams to the new AFC to join the existing AFL squads. So in the realignment the Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns all joined the old AFL squads in the conference. The divisions were listed as the AFC West being made up of the Raiders, Chargers, Broncos, and Chiefs. The AFC East consisted of the Bills, Colts,  Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins. The Central Division of the AFC placed the Browns, Bengals, Oilers and Steelers together. Over in the other conference the NFC East consisting of the Eagles, Redskins, Cowboys, Giants, Cardinals. The NFC Central was comprised of the Packers, Bears, Vikings, Lions. The Rams, 49ers, Saints, Falcons made up the NFC West.  

January 16, 1972 - Tulane Stadium, New Orleans - The NFL title would be decided in Super Bowl VI as the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins would clash to see who would take home the Lombardi Trophy. Dallas Running back Duane Thomas pounded out 95 yards on the ground with a touchdown while Roger Staubach tossed scoring passes to Mike Ditka and Lance Alworth to lift the Cowboys over the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. According to the Pro-Football-Reference.com Roger Staubach with his 12 of 19 for 119 and two scores was selected as the games MVP.

January 16, 1988 - The St Louis Cardinals football team announced that they would be moving to Phoenix according to the barstoolsports.com. The franchise spent 27 years in the Gateway to the West City. The Cardinals who are the oldest franchise in the NFL are the first to have called three different cities home. Our colleague on the Sports History Network, Joe Ziemba has some great Podcasts on the history of the Cardinals, especially their years in Chicago. Joe is probably one of the foremost experts on Cardinals history and that is solidified with his great book “When Football was Football.”

A link to Joe's When Football was Football: The Chicago Cardinals and the Birth of the NFL book is shown below. Purchasing the book through the Amazon link below helps some proceeds go to PigskinDispatch.com to help pay for our operating costs. Your patronage is appreciated both by PigskinDispatch and Joe!

January 16, 1882 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Henry Phillips the stellar Sewanee guard was born. The National Football Foundation selected Henry Phillips to go into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959.

January 16, 1894 - Blue Springs, Nebraska - Guy Chamberlin the sensational back and end of Nebraska Wesleyan and University of Nebraska was born. Guy was also a top early NFL coach who won multiple championships. Click his name to learn more about him with some other posts.

January 16, 1914 - New Orleans, Louisiana - The great halfback of Tulane Claude Monk Simons arrived into life. Monk’s father was the highly regarded trainer of the Green Wave of Tulane and his young son grew up dreaming about being on the playing field of the gridiron for Tulane. Sometimes with hard work and dedication those dreams come true, they sure did for Simons. The NFF has a great story in their bio of Monk. The Tulane team was invited to host the first Sugar Bowl game against Head Coach Pop Warner's very talented Temple team.  That New Year's Day in 1935 the 22,000 fans filled the air with excitement!  The home crowd was silenced at the onset of the contest as Temple scored two quick touchdowns to start the game.  Simons had been preparing for this moment for most of his young life. After the second Owl TD, Tulane's Johnny McDaniel handed off to Simons, and the fleet-footed halfback raced 86 yards down the sideline for the score that ignited the Green Wave to a comeback and eventual victory, 20-14.  The College Football Hall of Fame inducted Monk Simons in 1963.

January 16, 1953 - Akron, Ohio - Dave Brown the safety from Michigan was born. Michigan had a remarkable defense when Brown was on the team. The Wolverines were 30-2-1 and in 33 games played, his teams surrendered more than ten points in only five games and registered 11 shutouts according to the NFF. As a junior Brown was consensus All-America selection, and he scored a TD in each of his 3 seasons played. Dave Brown was received as a legend into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

January 16, 1977 - Philipsburgh, Kansas -The great Kansas State linebacker Mark Simoneau was born. According to the footballfoundation.org website Simoneau holds a school record with 251 career unassisted tackles, ranks third in school history with 400 total tackles, 52 TFL and eight forced fumbles.  The NFF voters selected Mak Simoneau to enter into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2012. Mark was a third round  draft pick of the Atlanta Falcons in the 2000 NFL Draft.  Simoneau played 11 seasons for the Atlanta Falcons, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints and Kansas City Chiefs.