March 18

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss Mike Webster, Gunner Gatski and Benny Friedman as well as many more HOF Legendary stories.

The picture in the banner above is from the US Library of Congress' collection and was contributed by photographer Carol M. Highsmith circa 2019 and is titled " Entrance to the legenday "Big House" Michigan Stadium ."

March 18, 1970 - NFL selects Wilson as official football and the scoreboard as its official game clock.
 
Picture yourself at a 1920’s era famous Columbus, Ohio Horseshoe Football Stadium with 90,000 other onlookers. The game you are witnessing is the heated rivalry, even then of the Ohio State Buckeyes and the University of Michigan Wolverines in an important game in the Big 10 Conference as the winner would be contending for the title of the conference championship. It’s early in the game, a mere 12 minutes have gone by, but the Michigan eleven are trailing Ohio State 10-0. With that in mind Michigan's Head Coach Fielding Yost unsheathed his secret weapon, the forward pass using Friedman, left end Bennie Oosterbaan and left halfback Louis Gilbert! It was an aerial assault that had not been seen before as Quarterback Friedman shocked the Buckeye defenders with perfect strikes to his teammate Bennie Oosterbaan while catching other tosses himself from Gilbert. It was Friedman scrambling till he got in trouble and then launching the ball in Oosterbaan's direction who would sometimes make circus-like grabs. It looked though that the drive had stalled therefore Gilbert as a holder and Friedman with kicking in mind dropped back for a field goal attempt., Louis Gilbert dropped on to one knee as though to hold the ball for a place-kick. Instead he moved out of the way when the ball was snapped back, Friedman caught it, stepped back and promptly fired a swift, flat pass to Oosterbaan who was free behind the Ohio goal-posts. With Friedman's extra point kick the lead was cut to 3. The Buckeyes next drive stalled and they were forced to punt with only a minute left before the half was over.  A split-second decision would be pivotal as the first half was closing. Gilbert again took his position on one knee, ready to field the snap but Friedman called it off and took the snap directly so as to drop kick the ball 43 yards through the uprights. Michigan had tied the score! The teams came out in the second half but neither defense would give ground. As a matter of fact the Blue defense did one better as they recovered a muffed punt deep inside OSU territory. The Buckeyes put up a fight but on fourth down after shedding a couple of red jersey tackles, Benny Friedman lunged over the goal line. Michigan 17, Ohio State 10. What happened next would feel like a gut punch. Ohio State moved the ball down the field with short passes finally punctuated by a Buckeye rush for a score. With the game clock all but expired there came the all important point after try, only one point separating the teams. The snap went down, foot hit the ball with the thud of leather on leather. The pigskin sailed over the line straight down the middle and sailed between the pipes but it was two feet under the crossbar. The Wolverines prevailed in a 17-16 thriller in Ohio then knocked off Minnesota a week later 7-6 to capture the Big Ten crown. We credit the Bentley.Umich site for posting a next day report on the 1926 game that we could take facts from for the story. Benny Friedman was born March 18, 1905 in Cleveland, Ohio and he played as the standout quarterback from 1924 to 1927 of Michigan per the National Football Foundation. Benny was inducted into the  College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.  In 1927 as a rookie on the Cleveland Bulldogs, Benny was selected as an All-NFL player as he threw for an almost unheard of 11 touchdown passes! The Pro Football Hall of Fame says that the next season with the Detroit Wolverines he made it to All-NFL status as well as the the two proceeding seasons after that in a New York Giants uniform. What a start to a professional career to be on three different teams and be considered the top of your position each year! He ran, kicked and passed as well as anyone in the League therefore the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined the great Quarterback Benny Friedman in 2005.


 

March 18, 1905 - Aurora, Illinois - The Navy two-way tackle from the mid 1920’s, Frank Wickhorst credited his birth date. You know we have more on this player, just click on his name.

March 18, 1910 - Pocahontas, Arkansas - Wear Schoonover the two-way end at Arkansas was the first official All-America football player in the Southwest Conference as well as the first Arkansas athlete to be elected to the National Football Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1967. In 1929, Schoonover did not miss a second of play during a nine-game schedule and earned All-America selection per his bio on the NFF website. In those contests he hauled in seven TD passes and scored 42 points as his Razorbacks posted a 7-2 mark. Wear was a play maker as evidenced  against Texas A&M where Schoonover snatched a couple of receptions to set up two Razorback TDs, then blocked the extra point to preserve Arkansas' 14-13 triumph. Later in the year versus Centenary, Wear picked off five passes, returning one of those 92 yards for a touchdown!

March 18, 1919 - Frank “Gunner” Gatski the center from Auburn who anchored the Cleveland Browns offensive line during the  championship years of the late forties in the AAFC and early 1950’s in the NFL was born. According to the ProFootballHOF.com , Frank Gatski played in 11 Championship games in the  12 seasons he participated at the pro level, winning eight of them. Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Gunner Gatski in 1985.

March 18, 1928 - Waco, Texas - Rice University End James “Froggy” Williams earned his nickname by being so slippery for opposing tacklers. James set a school record as its All-time leading scorer by crossing the goal line stripe 13 times, kicking 75 extra points and even a field goal for a total of 156 career points per the NFF. In 1949 Froggy was chosen as a consensus All-America selection. Williams had a knack of having his best games against rival Texas he had two TDs and scored seven extra points in his career against the Longhorns, but the stunner was the only successful field goal in his career which lifted the Owls to a 17-15 victory over Texas. James Williams was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

March 18, 1952 - Mike Webster was the anchor of the Pittsburgh Steelers for 15 seasons winning four Super Bowl Rings per the Pro Football Hall of Fam's website. The fifth round pick in the 1974 NFL Draft was durable as he played tem straight seasons without missing a snap on offense. Webster was an All-Pro in seven seasons therefore earning a pro Bowl slot in nine different years. Mike completed his career by playing two additional years in the NFL with the KC Chiefs. Mike Webster was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.

March 18, 1961 - Wyoming County, West Virginia - The 1981 All-American running back of the Penn State Nittany Lions, Curt Warner claimed his birth date. When Curt’s college career was complete the NFF says he had records galore including  11 season, 14 bowl and 42 school records. Warner was named the Most Outstanding Offensive Player in two different Fiesta Bowls played in. Curt also led the Nittany Lions to the 1982 National Championship with their Sugar Bowl victory. He set records for career rushing yardage (3,398), career all-purpose yardage (4,982) and 100-yard rushing games (18). Warner is also second all-time in career kick-off return average (28.8 yards), tallying 922 yards and three touchdowns on 32 returns. Curt Warner became a College FOotball hall of Fame inductee in 2009. He had a nice career in the NFL when he earned the All-Pro distinction 4 different times with the Seattle Seahawks for seven seasons. Warner also played one final year with the Rams.