June 18

Here is what happened in Football History on June 18: The NFL had its first helmet logo; the careers of Bruce Smith, Heisman winner Angelo Bertelli and so much more! 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.

June 18, 1921 - Detroit Tigers football franchise forms after being known as the Detroit Heralds the year prior and only survives part of the 1921 season. In the middle of the season the franchise folded and sent their roster to the Buffalo All-Americans.

The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the June 19, 1973 Santa Cruz Sentinel in Santa Cruz, California when readers spotted the headline that day of:

NCAA Proposes Random Drug Testing for Athletes

This was in reference to the June 18, 1973 policy established where the NCAA set up mandatory random urine tests for all participants to test for illegal forms of drugs and narcotics. NCAA spokesman Robert W. Pritchard stated that, "The situation is critical," and that the tests would not lead to punishment but were "only to gather facts that we hope will provide us future direction in fighting drug abuse." According to the NCAA.com the organization still tests for steroids, peptide hormones and masking agents year-round and also tests for stimulants and recreational drugs during championships. 

June 18, 1948 - The first use of a logo on an NFL helmet is credited to by Fred Gehrke, a running back for the Los Angeles Rams. According to a PFRA article written by Peter Vischansky for the organization's Coffin Corner Publication in 2000, Gehrke sat down in his garage the summer of 1948 to paint a yellow laquer on his team’s leather helmets. He did not realize  at the time that he was creating a muti-million dollar business and placing his name football immortality as well. Peter V. goes on to write that it was the blandness of helmets and uniforms of that time didn't sit well with the art major Gehrke. He toyed with the idea of painting a helmet. Later after expressing this and at  the urging of his coach, Bob Snyder, Fred made a pen and ink drawing to illustrate what the design would look like. Coach Snyder suggested the halfback paint a helmet with the ram horns on it that he could present to owner Dan Reeves. Using his skills as a technical illustrator, Fred painted two ram horns on an old college helmet. An intrigued Reeves had reservations about the legality of having an adornment on a helmet and said he would have to check with NFL. According to Gehrke, the answer Reeves got back from NFL was "You're the owner; do what you want!" That did it! Dan Reeves commissioned Fred Gehrke to paint 75 helmets at $1.00 per helmet. The project took Gehrke all the summer of 1948 and history that stuck was made!

Fred Gehrke

Born April 24, 1918, was legendary football player and executive, Fred Gehrke. Fred was on the Cleveland Rams team that won the NFL CHampionship in 1945. Fred Gehrke went to college and suited up for the Utah Utes and also went on and played in the NFL for the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Cardinals from 1940 through 1950. To boost team morale, Gehrke designed and painted the Los Angeles Rams logo in 1948, which was the first painted on the helmets of an NFL team.

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First NFL Helmet Logo

The first-ever NFL helmet with a logo was hand-painted by the Rams' Fred Gehrke in 1947. This is a great story with video from ABC affiliate channel 7.

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• June 18, 1912 - Wharton, Texas - University Texas halfback from 1930 to 1932, Harrison Stafford claimed his date of birth. The NFF’s bio of Harrison says he  and another back named Ernie Koy provided Texas football with one of the nation's best backfield punches during the early 1930s. Stafford laid enemy defenders low with blocks that blew holes in the line wide open for Koy to dash through and gain yardage and score points. The two became the most feared tandem in the Southwest. During the sophomore season of 1930, a year when Texas finished 8-1-1 to claim the Southwest Conference championship the tandem made their debut and dropped jaws in every stadium they and the ‘Horns played in. Stafford played an important role in the clinching of the title. In the next-to-last game of the season, Texas and Texas Christian were locked in a defensive battle until Harrison hammered home the only touchdown of the day and provided the Longhorns with a 7-0 victory. In 1969 he was named to the Southwest Conference 50-year team, covering the years 1919-1968. The National Football Foundation selected Harrison Stafford for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1975.
• June 18, 1921 - West Springfield, Massachusetts - The starting quarterback of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 1941 to 1943, Angelo Bertelli was born. Bertelli, the "Springfield Rifle," played in only six games during the 1943 season, yet won the Heisman Trophy per the National Football Foundation. Angelo Bertelli was honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972 after the National Football Foundation tabulated their votes. 
• June 18, 1937 - Brooklyn, New York - Bob Reifsnyder, Navy’s tackle from 1956 to 1958 arrived in the world. The FootballFoundation.org website informs the reader that in 1957 Reifsnyder was named All-America and won the Maxwell Trophy, given to the nation's best player. This was the first time the Maxwell Award was given to a guard or tackle. Bob Reifsnyder received the great honor of being selected for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
• June 18, 1963 - Norfolk, Virginia - Virginia Tech’s defensive end from 1981 to 1984, Bruce B. Smith was born.  In the 1985 NFL draft he was the first player taken overall by the Buffalo Bills. He was named the defensive Rookie of the Year. When his 19-year pro career ended he sat on top of the game's all-time sack list with 200. He was selected to the Pro Bowl 11 times. The Pro Football Hall of Fame shares how the Bills teams that won six AFC Eastern Division championships and four AFC titles, many observers feel that 1990 was Smith’s finest season. Bruce Smith was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in  2009.
   

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by unknown circa 1699 and is titled " The Buffalo ."