July 5

In this episode we take a glimpse of the past to a movement in the USFL, a nostalgic moment in the Steel City and Hall of Fame hands fill our day.  We will provide you with a little bit of football nostalgia. This daily football history segment features the Great events, Franchise formation anniversaries as well as the birthdays of notable Hall of Fame players, coaches or anyone else in our great game and many more  Legendary stories of the Gridiron.

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by Fres and Leslie MaCdonald circa 1932 and is a huddle scene for the film "Always Kickin" , The film in its entirety is available at the link of the title.

Our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the July 5, 1984 Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Mississippi when they posted:

Fall May Keep USFL from Stumbling

The report was a story about how on the Saturday prior the USFL's  playoff game between the New Jersey Generals and the Philadelphia Stars had to be be relocated from Philly's Veterans Stadium to the old Franklin Field because the Philadelphia Phillies had a home game on the diamond. Generals owner Donald Trump, an avid proponent of moving the USFL to a fall schedule had this to say, "Sure the Stars had a conflict of dates in Vets Stadium with the Phillies, and they tell me if we played in the fall they would have a similar conflict in September or October, but that's my point. If we played in the fall we wouldn't have a baseball conflict later when its our playoffs." The outspoken businessman went on to state,"Our attendance is up, but its up despite the spring season, not because of it."

This issue would soon be discussed at the USFL meetings in August whether the USFL would move to the fall schedule to challenge the NFL head to head. Trump was not on the fall bandwagon by himself though, Birmingham Stallions owner, Marvin Warner and J. William Oldenberg of the LA Express supported the change of schedules to a more traditional football season as well. Davis Dixon the author of the USFL plan clearly intended for the League to be a spring phenom and history tells us that he was probably right in thinking so. It is thought that the USFL will return after a 30 year hiatus in 2022 to a spring format.

• July 5, 1951 - Omaha, Nebraska - Johnny Rodgers who was listed as the University of Nebraska’s wingback from 1970 to 1972 was born. The FootballFoundation.org says that in three years at wingback in Bob Devaney's offense Nebraska won three Big 8 Conference titles and was national champion in 1970 and 1971. Rodgers was all-conference three times, consensus All-America in 1971 and unanimous All-America in 1972. After that magical 1972 season Johnny took home the Heisman Trophy and was named Player of the Year by ABC. In his career he carried the ball 130 times and averaged 5.7 yards a try. He caught 143 passes and averaged a gain of 17.3 yards. He had 133 kick returns and averaged 17.8. When the stats are combined into a category called all-purpose running, they show 406 plays and an average of 13.8, a record. He had a jittery, swirling running style. In 1971 Nebraska and Oklahoma met in a duel of teams ranked 1 and 2. Oklahoma led 31-28 late in the game. Rodgers made a 72-yard punt return. And Nebraska won 35-31. Johnny Rodgers received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000. After graduation Rodgers played four seasons in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes and then a few more years with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers.
• July 5, 1956 - Fort Ord, California - James Lofton, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Wide Receiver played football for the Packers, the Raiders, Bills, Eagles and the Rams was born. He hails from Stanford University where he had a brilliant college career before becoming a pro. The ProFootballHOF.com says the Packers took him number six overall in the 1978 NFL Draft. James was a First-Team All-Pro in 1981 with Green Bay and was selected to the Pro Bowl 8 times in his long NFL career. In his 16 seasons James hauled in 764 receptions for 14,004 yards and 76 touchdowns. That career total of yardage according to the Pro Football Hall of Fame was an NFL best at the time of his retirement, while his 43 games with 100 or more yards receiving ranked third. He was eventually traded to the Raiders but a few laters landed on the Bills roster.  In 1991, at age 35, the still-speedy receiver became the oldest player in league history to record 1,000 receiving yards in a season. That same year he recorded a career-best 220 receiving yards in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

A Glimpse at American Football History...

In 1936 Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney funded the payrole and operations of his team from winnings of a horse racing parlay bet he made at Saratoga Race Track in New York State. The reports vary in the amount he won on a half week made of dreams but an approximate $160,000 to Over $330,000 estimated in winnings funded the team for almost 5 years! The Foolish-Pleasure-Valerie.blogspot says that Rooney started his gambling streak at a Yonkers track in 1936 and according to author Joseph Madden in his book "Set 'Em Up," "in two days at two tracks in New York, he made a killing that people talked about for years." Starting on an August Saturday afternoon at the Empire City track which later  would be called Yonkers harness track (which his sons purchased in 1972), and ended upstate on Monday at Saratoga. Rooney’s first bet was $8,000 on 8-1 longshot Quel Jeu who won in a photo finish, and it was the first of five long-shots he picked and won with among his seven winning tickets. It was estimated in some writings that Art Rooney Sr. then cleared over $256,000 that day at Saratoga, of which AJR later claimed was much more than that. What ever the amount was, it helped fund the Pirates football team for a few years until they changed their name to the Steelers in 1940. It would take almost another 35 years but then Art Rooney, "the Chief" would see that gamble pay off with the first of four NFL Titles in six years.

For more stats on football people born on July 5th 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.