July 9

In this episode we discuss the early edition of the Washington franchise, the Yellow Jackets arise again in a new form as we remember the birthdays of gridiron greats like Catchy, Miracle, Juice and a very hard man to stop. 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 Carol M. Highsmith circa 2019 and is titled " Aerial view of Philadelphia ball parks ." Citizens Bank Baseball park and Lincoln Financial Football Field are where the Phillies and Eagles each respectively call home.

• July 9, 1932 - Boston Braves/Redskins/ Washington Redskins franchise is granted by the NFL. A group headed by George Preston Marshall that included Vincent Bendix, Jay O'Brien and Dorland Doyle were given the remnants of the defunct Newark Tornadoes that folded at the end of the 1930 season.
• July 9, 1933 - The Frankford Yellow Jackets are sold and renamed the Eagles as the franchise is moved to Philadelphia. 

The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the July 10, 2018 Raleigh, North Carolina News and Observer which printed:

Ownership of Panthers Officially Changes Hands

• July 9, 2018 - Billionaire David Tepper purchases ownership of the Carolina Panthers for an NFL record $2.275 Billion. Tepper was quoted as saying, "I am thrilled to begin this new era of Carolina Panthers football and am humbled by the overwhelming excitement and support for the team." The new owner is the founder and CEO of global hedgefund Appaloosa Management and had a net worth of over $11 billion. He had just recently relinquished his minority stake of 5% in the Pittsburgh Steelers by selling it so as to be clear to invest in the Panthers. Tepper promised to keep the Panthers in Charlotte, the city they started in in 1993.

• July 9, 1874 - Brookeville, Maryland - George Brooke the great fullback of Swarthmore College from 1889 to 1892 and later Penn from 1893 to 1895 entered the world. Yes this youngster played college football for seven seasons in an era where there were no rules to prevent it. The NFF records that George was a two-time All-America selection. Brooke was described by Caspar Whitney as, "A very hard man to stop. He strikes the line with almost irresistible force." The records of the Swarthmore squad with Brooke in the lineup was 21-14 and for the Quakers of Penn their win/loss record stood at 38-3 with George. The National Football Foundation selected George Brooke for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.
• July 9, 1892 - Bloomfield, Indiana - Elmer Oliphant was a halfback that played for both Purdue, as a walk-on, and Army. Elmer Oliphant, according to the UPI in an article in the Indianapolis Star had the nickname of “Catchy.” Elmer won an unprecedented 7 letters while at Purdue and then added 17 more as a cadet at West Point!    The standout athlete played basketball, baseball and track in addition to football and even tried his hand at boxing. In fact he is the first person ever to have won letters in four different sports for the Army. His gridiron exploits were great even before he played in the college ranks. Catchy once scored 60 points in one high school game in a 128-0 romp as his Linton High squad dispatched rival Sullivan High School in football! Oliphant went to Purdue and set a scoring record there too when he put up 43 points on the scoreboard against Rose Poly in a 1912 tilt that set a Boilermaker record in the 91-0 triumph. Elmer ended up with 135 career points at Purdue and added 300 more while with Army and he was named to the All-America team twice. Elmer Oliphant received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1955. Elmer stayed in the Army for four more years and after his discharge he played one season professionally with the Buffalo All-Americans and then coached two seasons at Union College in New York.
• July 9, 1912 - Talia, Lebanon - The famous LSU halfback from 1933 through the 1935 season, Abe Mickal was born. This player performed so many amazing plays in extreme situations that he was dubbed as “the Miracle.” The National Football Foundation’s bio on Abe tells how most of his wondrous plays were done passing the football. In that era it was not a passer friendly ball like today, but it had a much wider girth and was fondly called the “melon ball”, not friendly to the forward pass much at all. Miracle Mickal though developed a style that became very effective in tossing this big leather egg down the field. The NFF tells us that in 1933 Abe managed touchdown heaves of 48 and 57 yards. His 27-yard TD aerial that year provided a 7-7 tie with rival Vanderbilt. As a junior in 1934, Mickal and fellow Hall of Famer Gaynell Tinsley combined for one of Southern football's greatest aerial duos, each capturing All-America mention. When the two connected on a last-ditch 65-yard TD pass to tie Southern Methodist, 14-14, they set a record for the longest scoring pass ever in the South. The record stood for several years. The Fighting Tigers finished 7-2-2 for that 1934 campaign. All told, in 32 games at LSU, Mickal played an important role leading the Tigers to a 23-4-5 record. Abe Mickal was a halfback from LSU that was selected into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967.  
• July 9, 1918  - Adel, Iowa - Nile Kinnick, the Iowa starting halfback from 1937 to 1939 arrived into the world. This great athlete was full of surprises and never ceased to amaze sports fans. According to the National Football Foundation website Nile was the Outstanding Male Athlete for 1939, despite the amazing season that baseball legend Joe DiMaggio had that same year. Kinnick was the picture of football brilliance that season, leading Iowa to a 6-1-1 record while running, passing, or kicking for 107 of the Hawkeyes' 130 points. Nile led the nation in kickoff return yardage of 377 yards and was second in interceptions with eight. Nile Kinnick won the Heisman Trophy in 1939 as a consensus All-American halfback as he also claimed the rights to the Maxwell, and Walter Camp trophies too. Mr. Kinnick was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951. The Hawkeyes renamed their stadium after the star back in 1972 to Kinnick Stadium. He suffered an untimely death serving his country during World War II.   
• July 9, 1947 - San Francisco, California - O. J. Simpson the legendary Southern California running Back of the seasons of 1967 and 1968. O.J. Simpson Pro Football Hall of Fame Running Back that played for the Buffalo Bills.