January 24

In this episode of the Football's History Headlines, we discuss a family member of the guy pictured - Pop Warner, the first NFL team in Texas, Super Bowl XVI and a man that built three different fine NFL teams as well as many more HOF Legendary stories.

We're diving into the archives to revisit the headlines that rocked the NFL landscape. From legendary draft-day decisions that changed franchises to record-breaking performances that left fans in awe, get ready to relive the electrifying moments that shaped the game we love. So, lace up your cleats and join us as we explore the captivating stories from the gridiron's rich past!

The photo above of Glenn Pop Warner can be found at the US Library of Congress and was taken around 1920 and contributed to the collection by the Bain News Service.

January 24, 1952 - Dallas Texans franchise was awarded after Dallas purchased assets of New York Yanks from the NFL. This is the first Texas NFL franchise in history. As we learned in the January 23 edition of this series, they were not very good and the NFL shut them down after just one season. The remnants of the franchise were sold to Caroll Rosenbloom in 1953 to form the Baltimore Colts.

January 24, 1964 - CBS purchased the NFL television broadcasting rights for the 1964 & 1965 seasons for a cool $28.2 million. NBC had bid $21.5 million for rights to the National Football League games in 1964 and 1965 but CBS won the war with the significantly higher amount offered. The ABC network paid a mere $2,350,000 in 1964 for the rights to broadcast the AFL, less than a third of the annual average of the NBC contract for the AFL’s rights in 1965 according to a New York Time article from January 30, 1964.  

January 24, 1971 - Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum -The NFC’s top players squashed the AFC squad by the score of 27-6 in the 21st NFL Pro Bowl. Fred Carr the linebacker of the Green Bay Packers and Mel Renfro the corner of the Dallas Cowboys were selected as the game’s MVPs.

January 24, 1982 - Pontiac Silverdome, Detroit, Michigan - Super Bowl XVI was played and pitted the Cincinnati Bengals against the upstart San Francisco 49ers. For this story we go to StadiumsofProFootball.com who tells us that this was the first time the Big game was moved to a traditionally cold weather venue. The 49erswebzone.com fills us in with the other details of how after a sizable first half lead of 20-0 the 49ers watched on as the Bengals heated up in the second half to score 21 points of their own. But two Ray Wersching field goals in the fourth quarter preserved the San Francisco victory over the Bengals, 26-21. Niners legendary Quarterback Joe Montanaended up as the game’s MVP as he threw for one TD and had a QB rating of 100.0 in the game.

January 24, 2010 - Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis -The 2009 season’s AFC Championship game resulted in the Indianapolis Colts knocking off the New York Jets, 30-17.

January 24, 2010  - Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans - The NFC Championship game to see who would play the Colts was a tight one. The Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints would battle in this epic game. The starting quarterbacks were legends with Brett Favre guiding the team in purple while Drew Brees called signals for the Saints.  Farve threw for 310 yards and a score but was picked off two times while Brees had three touchdown passes and kept the ball away from Minnesota’s scrondary. Adrian Peterson scored the game tying touchdown on a two yard plunge at the 5:03 mark of the 4th to send the game to an extra session. Garrett Hartley sealed the Super Bowl trip for the Saints when he kicked a 40 yard field goal in overtime. The New Orleans Saints edged out the Minnesota Vikings, 31-28 per the Pro Football-Reference.com.  
 
January 24, 2016 - Mile High Stadium, Denver -At the AFC Championship game for the 2015 season it was Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos who overcame Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, 20-18 to advance to the Super Bowl.
 
January 24, 2016 - Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte - The Carolina Panthers  had no trouble with dispatching the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship. The Panthers with Cam Newton under center and a ferocious defense gobbled up the red birds 49-15 to advance to the Big game against the Broncos.

January 24, 2021 - Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin - Tom Brady and his new team the Tampa Bay Bucs

January 24, 1881 - Springville New York - Cornell University’s legendary Guard, Bill Warner was born. 

January 24, 1920 - Portland, Oregon - Chuck Taylor renown as a tough guard for Stanford. The National Football Foundation lists Chuck as an All-America guard in 1942.  After serving in the Navy Taylor played one year, 1946, with the Miami Seahawks of the All-America Conference, returned to Stanford as freshman coach in 1948, was assistant coach with the San Francisco 49ers 1949-50, and returned again to Stanford as head coach in 1951. His 1951 team went 9-2, was in the Rose Bowl, and earned Taylor election as Coach of the Year. He was age 31, the youngest man ever named Coach of the Year. He also served as the Athletic Director for the Cardinal for many years. Taylor was heralded as a man who had gone to the Rose Bowl as a player, head coach, and athletic director. The NFF voters inducted Chuck Taylor into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1984. 

January 24, 1936 - Weathersfield, New York - The rugged Fullback from the University of Miami , Florida Don Bosseler celebrated his birth. The footballfounndation.org website states that Bosseler was a four-year starter at fullback for the University of Miami. In his senior year, 1956, he helped the team to an 8-1-1 record, was named as an All-American by the Associated Press. He rushed for 1,642 yards in his four years.  The National Football Foundation selected Don Bosseler into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990. After school Don played in the NFL for 7 seasons with the Washington Redskins.

January 24, 1937 - Zanesville, Ohio - Bobby Beathard the talented GM with a great eye for finding talent was born. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Bobby Beathard as a contributor in 2018. Beathard was really good at discovering talent as he started out as a scout in the Falcons and Chiefs organizations according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame website. In 1972 Bobby became the director of player personnel for Miami, yes those undefeated Dolphins. Later in the 1970’s he was hired as the GM of the Washington Redskins and became famous for trading out of first round picks to acquire more draft capital, and built championship teams by doing so. All in all in his eleven seasons Washington used only 3 first round picks! The Super Bowl XVII roster of the Redskins had 27 free agents that Beathard had signed. In the early 1990s he helped build the San Diego Chargers into Super Bowl contenders. So in review Beatheard helped with 2 Championships with Miami, two with Washington and lost a Super Bowl with San Diego. That is a pretty good track record.