January 27

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss the Steelers founder Art Rooney as well as return man extraordinaire, Billy White Shoes Johnson, and many more Hall of Fame Legendary birthdays and stories.

As we flip the calendar page, we delve into another chapter of pigskin history. From legendary comebacks that defied the odds to record-breaking performances that left fans speechless, remarkable moments unfolded on this very date. So, buckle up and get ready to relive iconic plays, celebrate trailblazing athletes, and revisit the captivating stories that continue to shape the ever-evolving narrative of professional football. Let's lace up our cleats and journey back in time to witness the incredible feats that transpired on this historic day in the NFL!

January 27, 1894 - 1st college basketball game, University of Chicago beats Chicago YMCA 19-11. Basketball was invented in December 1891 by James Naismith at the YMCA's School for Christian Workers (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. According to Chicago History Collegiate basketball also came to Chicago from Springfield College in the person of Amos Alonzo Stagg, the University of Chicago's new faculty coach, who had played on the Springfield teachers' team in the first public basketball contest. According to Jennifer Taylor Hall’s book Amos Alonzo Stagg: Football’s Man in Motion, Stagg began his coaching career the next year at the Springfield, Massachusetts, YMCA, now Springfield College. Stagg organized the school's first football team, and among his players was James Naismith, the inventor of basketball. The two men used basketball with its five men per side as an exercise regimen to keep their eleven football players in tip top shape. Stagg enjoyed the game so much that Naismith had developed that he took it with him when he moved on to the University of Chicago.

January 27, 1924 - Kansas City Blues which a year later would be called the Kansas City Cowboys franchise formed. According to a post on sportsecyclopedia.com the NFL in just its fifth season was looking to expand  west of the Mississippi and the first most logical place geographically was Kansas City. They adopted the name Blues due to the local minor league baseball team and played their home games at Muehlebach Field. The Blues first game would come on October 5th a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Badgers. In 1925 they would be called the Cowboys and they played that entire season with road games. The biggest game of 1925 was a 17-0 road upset of the Cleveland Bulldogs. There would not be another season in Kansas City after 1926 as the cost of traveling to and from Kansas City was too cost prohibitive in the NFL’s fledgling formative years. The Cowboys final game would come on December 12, 1926 with a 12-7 win over the Duluth Eskimos at Muehlebach Field.

January 27, 1955 - The top pick in the 1955 NFL Draft was George Shaw from the University of Oregon who was the first pick by the Baltimore Colts. Remarkably there was only one player from this entire draft that made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame thus far and that was 9th round pick and that  was the 102nd overall, the quarterback from the University of Louisville named Johnny Unitas by the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers not realizing the great talent they had landed promptly cut him before training camp was over per the Pro Football Reference.

January 27, 1956 - NFL's New York Football Giants franchise ended having their home games played at the Polo Grounds and now called Yankee Stadium their home field per Larry Scmitt of the Big Blue Interactive. The story goes that Commissioner Bert Bell notified Giants owner Tim Mara that an offer from a Texas based Oil company wanted to pay Mara $1 million bucks for the team as long as they played at a larger venue like Yankee Stadium. Mara declined the offer but figured it to be a pretty good idea to get more butts in the stands with a larger seating capacity, so he did!

January 27, 1960 - First 14-game home-and-away schedule adopted in the AFL. the Raiders.com.

January 27, 1967 - New Orleans Saints signed their 1st player kicker, Paige Cothren per the canalstreetchronicles.com. Cothren was a former Ole Miss Fullback that played in the NFL for the LA Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles before becoming a Saint.

January 27, 1969 - Chuck Noll is named head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers per the SlicetheLife.com website article. Noll was the youngest coach in NFL history at the time at the ripe age of 37. Chuck Noll had been the defensive coordinator  and once the DB coach of the Baltimore Colts under Don Shula who highly recommended Noll. Noll spent 23 seasons on the sidelines of the Steelers until he stepped away in 1992. Under Chuck Noll the Steelers won 4 Super Bowl Championships in 6 seasons during the 1970’s.

January 27, 1970 - 1970 NFL Draft the Pittsburgh Steelers chose future Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw from Louisiana Tech with the first pick of the entire draft. Bradshaw would be the signal caller that would win those 4 Super Bowls for Chuck Noll that we just talked about, and Terry was the MVP of two of them!

January 27, 1980  - Aloha Stadium, Honolulu - At the NFL Pro Bowl the NFC team defeated the AFC, 37-27. The game's MVP was New Orleans Saints running back Chuck Muncie.

January 27, 1985 - Aloha Stadium, Honolulu - Then came the NFL Pro Bowl for the 1984 season and this time the AFC knocked off the NFC, 22-14. Mark Gastineau, the animated defensive end of the New York Jets won the Most Valuable Player Award per the NFL.com.

January 27, 1991 - Tampa Stadium, Tampa, Florida - Super Bowl XXV was one of the most remembered Super Bowls of all time. People still talk about it to this day. The statement that takes an avid NFL fan to the game is “Wide Right.” You see the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19 in the game, but it almost had a very different result. With just  4 seconds remaining Jim Kelly orchestrated an impressive desperation drive that set up a 47 yard field goal attempt by the Bills very accurate kicker Scott Norwood. Ans as you have already heard the ball went slightly outside of the upright to the right. The Giants win was preserved, and torture set in for the Bills. The Washington Post calls the game the closest and most even ever played. The game’s MVP was Giants running back Ottis Anderson who ran for 102 yards and a score.

January 27, 2002 - Heinz Field, Pittsburgh - At the 2001 season’s AFC Championship New England Patriots outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers, 24-17. The Pro Football Reference website tells us that the difference maker in the game was Patriot Antwaan Harris’ return 49 yards of a blocked field goal attempt! The New England victory placed them into Super Bowl XXXVI.

January 27, 2002 - The NFC Championship for that season was played at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis to see who would face Tom Brady and the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI.  The Greatest Team on Turf, the St. Louis Rams  scored in every quarter to help them get past the Philadelphia Eagles, 29-24. Ram Marshall Faulk shouldered the load as he rushed 31 times for 159 yards and 2 TDs to lead St. Louis to the win per the PFR.
 
January 27, 2013 - Aloha Stadium, Honolulu - The results of the 2012 season’s NFL Pro Bowl were that the NFC smoked the AFC, 62-35 with Tight end Kyle Rudolph of the Minnesota Vikings earning the MVP honors per the OnthisDay.com website.

January 27, 2019 - Camping World Stadium, Orlando, Florida - The NFL Pro Bowl for the 2018 had the new guys Patrick Mahomes of Kansas City and Safety Jamal Adams of the New York Jets being voted as the co-MVPs as the AFC surged past the NFC, 26-7 per the OnthisDay.com website.  

January 27, 1894 - Chicago, Illinois - Frederick Douglas “Fritz” Pollard the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame halfback from Brown University celebrated his birth. 

January 27, 1901 - Coulterville, Pennsylvania - Art Rooney the founder and original owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers was born. According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Rooney purchased the Pittsburgh franchise (originally known as the Pirates) in 1933. Even though he was a first time NFL owner, Art had dabbled in some semi-pro sports in the Pittsburgh area prior to this venture in Pro football at its highest level. His beloved Steelers teams were not very good for most of their first four decades of existence and even lost money at the start, but Rooney kept the faith and used his failures as a learning experience to build a winning formula. Finally in 1975 the Steelers had put all of the pieces together and they won the franchise’s first Championship in Super Bowl IX over the Vikings. Art Rooney was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1964.

January 27, 1907 - The Georgia Tech center Peter Pund was born.. The National Football Foundation selected Peter Pund to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963.

January 27, 1920 - The Quarterback from Stanford University Frankie Albert arrived into life. The National Football Foundation shares an excellent story on Frankie. In 1939, Albert had a mediocre sophomore season playing tailback in Stanford's single-wing offense. His play was so poor that he considered quitting the Stanford squad. The following year, Stanford hired Clark Shaughnessy as the head coach. Known as the "Father of the T Formation," Shaughnessy saw that Albert was an excellent ball handler and passer whose skills were well suited to playing quarterback in his revolutionary "T" formation. Stanford set an NCAA record for improvement in 1940 going from a 1-7-1 record in 1939 to a perfect 10-0 mark in 1940. Albert received All-America recognition in both his senior and junior seasons.The NFF voters inducted Frankie Albert in 1956 into the College Football Hall of Fame. After college he played with the SanFrancisco 49ers for 6 seasons.

January 27, 1952 - Boothwyn, Pennsylvania - Former Widener halfback Billy White Shoes Johnson was born. The NFF says that Billy was a terrific performer, he wore white shoes, and he did an end zone dance. When his three Widener seasons were added up, he had 3,737 yards rushing. His average was 9.1 yards per carry. He had 5,404 yards in all-purpose running (rushing, receiving, kick returns). scored 62 touchdowns in 1971-1973. His longest runs from scrimmage were 93, 87, and 85 yards. He scored on punt returns of 94, 91, and 80 and a kickoff return of 85. The NFF voters inducted Bill Johnson into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Billy White Shoes had a terrific NFL career with the Houston Oilers, the Falcon as well as Washington and really made the game fun as he electrified the play every time he touched the ball!

The Photo is titled " Aerial view of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with a focus on Heinz Field, the home stadium of the Pittsburgh Steelers National Football League team " and was taken by Carol M. Highsmith in June of 2019 and donated to the US Library of Congress.