January 22

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss a couple of Super Bowls won by west coast teams and the Hall of Famers from the 1953 NFL Draft as well as many more 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!

The Photo above in the banner is a detail sketch of some formational rules in the 1921 Spauldings sponsored rule book of the NCAA.

• January 22, 1953 - During the 1953 NFL Draft the San Francisco 49ers chose End Harry Babcock from University of Georgia. According to pro-football-reference.com the Pro Football Hall of Fame players that entered the League through this draft were Cleveland’s pick of Doug Atkins the defensive end at number 11, Arizona States Fullback John Henry Johnson to Pittsburgh with the 18th overall pick and the 49ers striking gold with Bob St. Clair in the second round. The Bears had a late steal in the fifth round when they grabbed Guard Stan Jones as well as the Packers 7th round choice of Center Jim Ringo. Rounding out the future HOFs from the 1953 Draft were Joe Schmidt the linebacker of the Lions and the Giants pick of Tackle Rosey Brown. Another player in this draft made the Hall of Fame as a coach and that would be Chuck Noll who the Browns drafted in the 20th round.
• January 22, 1967 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum - At the 17th annual NFL Pro Bowl, once again we refer to the American Football Database who shares that the coach of the Eastern Conference, Blanton Collier of the Cleveland Browns, used the domination of the west that year as a rallying cry for the eastern team as they prepared to take the field against the West coached by Vince Lombardi of the Green Bay Packers. You see it seemed like the winning of football in the country at all levels of football was tilted to the west coast. Western teams had won the NFL championship, the Playoff Bowl, college football’s East-West game and the Rose Bowl the article goes on to say. Whatever coach said it must have motivated the stars of the East as the Eastern squad doubled up the West, 20-10. The Offensive MVP was a familiar face in the great Gale Sayers of the Chicago Bears and on the defensive side the Eagles Floyd Peters, won the honor from his defensive tackle position.
• January 22, 1981 - O. Andrew "Bum" Phillips becomes head coach of the New Orleans Saints. Coach Phillips had 6 pretty successful years with the Houston Oilers but could never win that big game when his squad had to contend with division rival the powerful Pittsburgh Steelers dynasty of the 1970’s.  At Houston Bum had a record of 55-35 according to the Pro-Football-Reference. In his 5 seasons in the Saints franchise his teams went 27-42.
• January 22, 1983 - RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C. - The Washington Redskins defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 31-17 in the NFC Championship game to move on to play in Super Bowl XVII against the Dolphins per the Pro-Football-Reference website. 

• January 22, 1984 - Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida - The Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins tangled in Super Bowl XVIII. A Raiders.com website article gives us the scoop on the game. The Raiders that season had some star players like Lyle Alzado, Marcus Allen, and quarterback Jim Plunkett. Allen had one of the greatest Super Bowl runs ever when he took a Plunkett hand off on a rushing play designed to go off tackle to the left side, but when Washington plugged all of the rushing lanes , Marcus cut back on a dime and reversed field till he found a hole in the middle of the field that he dashed through to scamper 74 yards for a touchdown. The article linked above had a great video of the play. The LA Raiders beat Washington that day, 38-9 and the game’s MVP was deservedly Marcus Allen the running back of Los Angeles.

January 22, 1989 - Joe Robbie Stadium, Miami - Super Bowl XXIII per the 49erswebzone.com had Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers playing against Cincinnati Bengals and their Head Coach Sam Wyche. Joe Montana huddled the 49ers near their own 8-yard line with a tad over 3 minutes left in the game and down by 3. The Niners did the improbable after barely moving the ball all game they traveled that 92 yards and with just 34 seconds remaining Montana found Mike Cofer in the endzone to the go ahead score. The Defense did the rest as the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals, 20-16. The game’s  MVP was Jerry Rice who caught 11 balls for 215 yards and a score. After winning his third Super Bowl as head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Bill Walsh retired.

January 22, 2006 - Mile High Stadium, Denver - The 2005 AFC Championship game featured the Denver Broncos hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers per the pro-football-reference.com. Ben Roethlisberger threw for 275 yards and two TDs as the Steelers doubled up the Denver Broncos, 34-17 to advance to Super Bowl XL.

January 22, 2006 - At the 2005 NFC Championship played at Qwest Stadium in Seattle, Shawn Alexander pounded out 132 yards against the Carolina Panthers defense and scored twice to help the Seahawks crush Carolina’s Super Bowl XL aspirations, 34-14 per the Pro-Football-Reference.com.

January 22, 2012 - Gillette Stadium, Foxborough- The 2011 AFC Championship was a classic as the Baltimore Ravens visited the Patriots and Tom Brady for the right to go to Super Bowl XLVI. Brady’s one yard QB Sneak in the fourth gave New England the lead and the defenses on both sides stonewalled any further scoring as the New England Patriots beat Baltimore Ravens, 23-20 to advance.

January 22, 2012 - Candlestick Park, San Francisco - The 2011 NFC Championship was even better as it went to an extra session to determine a winner between the Giants and the 49ers. San Fran’s David Akers kicked a 25 yard game tying field goal with over five minutes left to send the game into overtime. In Sudden Death the Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes showed off his leg when he kicked a 31 yard game winner. The final score was the New York Giants 20, the San Francisco 49ers 17 per the Pro-Football-Reference.

January 22, 2017 - Georgia Dome, Atlanta - The 2016 NFC Championship wasn’t really close as the Atlanta Falcons beat Green Bay Packers, 44-21 to send them on to the Super Bowl.

January 22, 2017 - Gillette Stadium, Foxborough - The 2016 AFC Championship wasn’t close at the end either as the New England Patriots breezed past the Pittsburgh Steelers, 36-17.

January 22, 1927 - Hopelawn, New Jersey - Lou Creekmur the great William and Mary offensive lineman was born. Creekmur was drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1950 and he spent ten great seasons with the team. In 1996 the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Lou Creekmur in Canton.

January 22, 1927 - Stevens, Arkansas - Joe “ The Jet” Perry of Compton Junior College and the San Francisco 49ers arrived into this world. 

January 22, 1948 - Minneapolis, Minnesota - The stud linebacker from the University of Minnesota, Bob Stein was born. The National Football Foundation selected Bob Stein to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2020.

January 22, 1958 - Charles White the QB from USC was born. Charles led the nation in all-purpose yards in both 1978 and 1979 as he averaged a whopping 6.2 yards per play per the NFF. Charles was so good that he won the 1979 Heisman Trophy for being the best College player that season. The National Football Foundation selected Charles White to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.