July 6

In this episode we discuss a development in the NFL that prevented the selection of a new Commissioner, a defensive star changes colleges after two coaching legends recruited him and another American CFL franchise has its maiden voyage.  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 is a clip of a home movie that was contributed by Ira Gershwin circa 1939 and is titled "Rose Bowl Game." The game pitted the USC Trojans and the Duke Blue Devils against each other. Southern Cal won the game 7-3 in a thriller.

July 6, 1989 - The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the Philadelphia Daily News on July 7, 1989 with their headline of:

Gang of 11 Ensures it will Be Heard

This story is of how the NFL owners met in Chicago for a 1st vote for a successor for the soon to be retiring Commissioner Pete Rozelle. Saints President/General Manager, Jim Finks, was the only candidate presented, but his selection as Commish falls just short of the votes needed for election. The main reason why this occurred was that a block of 11 owners headed by Dallas’ Jerry Jones, Philly’s Norman Braman, Victor Kiam of New England, Seattle’s Ken Behring and Pat Bowlen of Denver all abstained from voting luring a few others with them which prevented the necessary number of votes to pass the anointing of a new NFL Commissioner. The League went into what was described as chaos after the vote. Braman spoke to the media after the session and said, “The issue tonight was information... there was a feeling on the part of the 11 owners that we wanted more information... this was not an anti-Finks vote. It really wasn’t and we expressed it that way. That’s why we abstained.”  The uncertainty of who the next head of the League would not be settled until October 26, 1989 when Paul Tagliabue was announced. More from this saga in the coming months…

July 6, 1994- The Canadian Football League's expansion team in Shreveport, Louisiana (Pirates) lose their game against the Ottawa Rough Riders. The franchise folded in 1995.

July 6, 1994- The film debut of Forrest Gump took place. Who could ever forget the famous scenes of actor Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump playing football for the legendary Bear Bryant at Alabama. "Run Forrest, Run!"

• July 6, 1946 - Hawthorne, California - Fred Dryer, who was a defensive lineman in 1967 and 1968 for San Diego State was born. The National Football Foundation website says Dryer had great speed and the athletic prowess to hunt through blockers even by hurdling and cutting inside opponents that earned him a spot on the Little All-America team of 1968. He played in the East-West Shrine Game, the Hula Bowl and the 1969 College All-Star Game. In 1967 San Diego State went 10-1 and beat San Francisco State in the Camellia Bowl. In 1968 the record was 9-0-1. San Diego State's head coach was Don Coryell, but the man that recruited Dryer away from El Camino Junior College to San Diego State was the defensive coordinator, John Madden.  Fred after college played for the New York Football Giants and the Los Angeles Rams, a total of 13 seasons in the NFL. After his football career he became an actor most notably on his own TV series "Hunter." Dryer was elected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.  

• July 6, 1956- Matt Bahr NFL Kicker that played for Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Francisco, NY Giants, New England and Philadelphia during his tenured career. Bahr kicked for Penn State University in college.
• July 6, 1982- Brandon Jacobs this bruising power running back played for the NY Football Giants and later with the San Francisco 49ers. He wore the uniform of Southern Illinois University on the college game days.

For more stats on football people born on July 6th 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.