March 20

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss Tom Brady's departure from the Patriots 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 Bain News Service circa 1914 and is titled "W & J Team. "

March 20, 2020 - After 20 seasons in a New England Patriots uniform, six-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady officially agrees to move  and play with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a 2-year $50m guaranteed deal. We look back at this now and know the results with the Bucs winning the Super Bowl with Brady at the helm but at the time it many believed it would be a disaster for both Brady and the Patriots when the QB was separated from the genius of Bill Belechik. Tom Brady was a sixth round pick, the 199th draftee overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. Hindsight makes it an unbelievable occurrence that there were 198 others taken before him in any Draft and maybe all the drafts put together! Brady has won more Super Bowl MVP awards that any other player as of 2021!

March 20, 1906 - South Mill, Missouri - The awesome halfback from Tuskegee University in Alabama, “Big” Ben Stevenson was born. 

March 20, 1909 - New Orleans, Louisiana - Marchy Schwartz the University of Notre Dame’s prolific halfback counted as his birthday. Marchy was the last great Fighting Irish running back that Knute Rockne coached before his untimely death per the FootballFoundation.org website. As a sophomore in 1929 the Irish went 9-0 and they did one better the next season winning ten games without a loss. The 1931 season was played under Rockne’s successor Hunk Anderson and the team posted a 6-2-1 record. Schwartz for his career put up 1,945 yards rushing for an average of 5.8 yards per carry. Not just a talented runner Marchy, in the 1931 game with Army, punted 15 times for 501 yards, a school record which remained unbroken well into the second half of the 20th century. The College Football Hall of Fame welcomed Marchy Schwartz into their museum of legends in 1974.

March 20, 1958 - Pahokee, Florida - The brilliant linebacker of the University of Pittsburgh, Rickey Jackson was born. Jackson was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the second round, 51st overall, in the 1981 NFL Draft. What a find he was because in just his Rookie Year he sacked opposing quarterbacks 8 times and led the team in total tackles! Rickey played 15 seasons in the NFL and was honoured as an All-Pro four times and played in 6 Pro Bowls per the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 13 of the seasons were with the Saints but he completed his final two years wearing the colors of the San Francisco 49ers, playing Defensive End. For his career he tallied 128 sacks (and that doesn’t even count his rookie season when they were not even an official stat), 8 interceptions and even caused one safety. Rickey Jackson in 2010 was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.