July 29

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we discuss the judge's decision in the USFL versus NFL trial, how innovators shoulder the load of our football memories for today and many more Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

• July 29, 1941 - Edwin M. "Jim" Lookabaugh patents Football Shoulder pads US Patent 2251018. Mr. Lookabaugh was a former player and coach at the Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College (now known as Oklahoma State University at Stillwater).  He was always thinking of player comfort and safety. In his shoulder pad patent he claimed that the design  was for; "The principal objects of my invention are to provide a device of this character which is new, novel, useful and of evident utility; which consists of but few sturdy parts, can be slipped over the head and immediately adjusted to the body; which cannot easily get out of order..."   Many of his design elements are still present in today's version of the shoulder pad.
• July 29, 2000 - Three big stars of football in the 1980's were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott & Howie Long were all deservedly represented with bronze busts placed in the Canton, Ohio's famous Gridiron museum of legends.
• July 29, 1986 - The United States Football League won their antitrust lawsuit against the National Football League after forty-two days in court. The Jury declared that the NFL was a “duly adjudicated illegal monopoly” however, it was a shallow victory as the USFL was awarded a settlement of $1. Allegedly Wellington Mara the NFL's New York Giants owner was sitting in the court room near USFL's New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump and Mara proceeded to pull a crisp dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to Trump in a symbolic victory lap. Trump, spearheaded the lawsuit in an attempt to force the NFL to merge with the USFL and cash in on his investment and desires to be an NFL owner. The Raiders’ Al Davis, was the lone NFL owner who was not a co-defendant in the lawsuit as the former AFL Commissioner broke ranks and testified on behalf of the USFL. The NFL was required to pay the USFL more than $5.5 million in attorney’s fees and $62,000 in court costs. A Yahoo.com article states that; "Four days after the verdict came down, the USFL’s owners voted to suspend operations with the goal of returning in 1987. However, many of the USFL’s teams were in no shape financially to operate. The USFL appealed the decision but it was rejected by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. That decision effectively shut the USFL down for good. The NFL also appealed the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court but the verdict stood. The check received by the USFL in 1990 was in the amount of $3.76, triple the amount of the verdict with $0.76 interest. It was about $1.5 billion less than the USFL sought in the lawsuit." Rumor has it that the check was never cashed. I am sure at a memorbilia auction someday that this small bank note will be worth a fortune!
• July 29, 1991 - The Buffalo Bills defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 17-13 in ninth edition of the American Bowl at London’s Wembley Stadium according to Yahoo.com.
• July 29, 1995 - The Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars each play their first live action as an NFL franchise. Carolina defeated the Jaguars 20-14 in Pro Football Hall of Fame Game at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio in a battle of brand new expansion teams.

• July 29, 1897 - New York, New York - Tim Mara Pro Football Hall of Fame was the owner and founder of the New York Football Giants. Mr. Mara purchased the G-men franchise on a whim in 1925 for $500. Tim Mara would often say that he founded the Giants on "brute strength and ignorance." He attributed the strength of his players and the ignorance of the game was his. He had never seen a football game when then NFL president Joe Carr talked him into buying the franchise. Carr felt sure football would succeed if it had a New York City outlet. Mara later told reporters that he was willing to risk $500 and that is what he did. Not a bad investment as the Giants were reported to be worth $3.9 billion in 2019 according to at least one source.  It did not start out well as Mr. Mara suffered some great financial set backs that first year, that is until the Bears came to town with a rookie named Red Grange to play the Giants. That one game brought people in through the stadium gates and the Giants gained traction in attendance and in the financial books. In 30 seasons at the helm, Mara watched his Giants teams claim 3 NFL titles and won their division 8 times according to the ProFootballHOF.com website. The club's founder turned over the control of the team to his sons Wellington and John during the 1940's.
• July 29, 1902 - Far Rockaway, New York - Herbert Sturhahn a guard from Yale who played for 1924 through the 1926 season for the Eli was born.  The National Football Foundation states that on the gridiron, "Cobbles" a strong player with great quickness.  As a sophomore in 1924, Sturhahn became a starter and played an important role in Yale's defensive success which limited Yale opponents to only 52 points in posting a 6-0-2 record, including a 14-14 stalemate with Dartmouth and a 7-7 knotted game with Army. In his junior year, Sturhahn claimed national recognition when Walter Camp named him to his All-America squad after Yale had finished 5-2-1. Sturhahn lettered in each of his three varsity seasons and repeated his All-America honors in his final year. His fine play garnered him a selection into the 1981 class of the College Football Hall of Fame.
• July 29, 1950 - Columbus, Ohio - Howard "Hopalong" Cassady was a halfback from Ohio State University. Per the FootballFoundation.org, Hopalong rushed for 958 yards and 15 touchdowns in 1955 and was also an All-American. In addition to the Heisman trophy, he claimed the 1955 Maxwell Award and was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Year. He played offense and defense and in 1955 had four 60-minute games. He earned All-America honors in 1954 as well. He entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979 as he scored 37 TD's in just 36 games! He helped lead the Buckeyes to a perfect record in 1954 and a consensus National Championship. Mr. Cassady was a two time consensus All-American in the 1954 & 1955 seasons. He played in the NFL for 8 seasons with the Detroit Lions and was a member of the 1957 NFL Championship team.
• July 29, 1950 - Tommy Casanova the cornerback from LSU was enshrined inthe College Footbal Hall of Fame in 1995. As a Tiger he was a 3 time first-team All-American. The Sports Illustrated edition published on September 13, 1971 touted, "Tommy Casanova of LSU, Best Player in the Nation." He went on to earn 3 trips to the Pro Bowl as a member of the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals where he played for 6 seasons. After football he served as a Louisianna State Senator from 1996 until 2000.

• July 29, 1993 - Sulphur, Louisiana - Quarterback Dak Prescott who was a former signal caller at Mississippi State from 2012 through the 2015 season was born. Dak was taken by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 NFL Draft and was the 2016 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year according to Yahoo.com.  Prescott was named to his first Pro Bowl in that first season in the League when he set a record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception at 176, for most games with a passer rating of 100 or greater posting 11,  and wins by a rookie (13)

Special thanks to Larry Schmitt of Gridiron-Uniforms.com on the research help!

For more stats on football people born on July 29th check out Pro Football Reference.

See something that happened on this date that we missed? Please let us know via email at PigskinDispatch@gmail.com.

We have a speical July 29 YouTube Video for your watching pleasure!

The picture in the banner above is from the the AT&T Stadium field surface by Darin Hayes circa 2021 and is titled " NFL Shield on AT&T Field ."