March 24

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss Peyton Manning, Larry WIlson, Gronk and Dan Fouts 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 2016 and is titled "Dusk Shot of Lucas Oil Stadium ."

Our Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the March 25, 1934 edition of the Zanesville Signal in Zanesville, Ohio with their bold text of:

Portsmouth Spartans Sold to Detroit Syndicate

It tells of the March 24, 1934 when it was announced that a group led by George Richards, the owner of Detroit radio station WJR, bought the Spartans and moved them to Detroit for the 1934 season. Richards renamed the team the Lions, as a complement to the Detroit Tigers according to the SportsTeamHistory.com website.

March 24, 1973 - At an owners meeting San Francisco 49ers President Lou Spadia proposes that the NFL expand to 30 teams per the profootballhof.com site. This was just 4 years after the AFL and NFL merged and the total number of teams in the League was now 26 teams. Some of the franchises were afraid of expanding too fast and thinning out the talent bases thus making the NFL very vanilla. Others supported the increase to strike while the iron was hot. A compromise was reached and the League awarded franchises to both Tampa Bay and Seattle to take the total to 28. It was not until the early 1990’s when the National Football League added Jacksonville, Carolina and later Houston and Cleveland to the mix to round out at 32 teams.

March 24, 1988 - San Diego Chargers Quarterback Dan Fouts announced his retirement. The great passer spent his entire NFL career with the Chargers since the 1973 seasons when San Dego drafted him out of the Oregon Ducks program. The right hander finished his career with 43040 yards of passing offense and 254 touchdowns. Dan was twice selected as an All-Pro, was the 1982 offensive Player of the Year and played in 6 Pro Bowl games per the Pro Football Reference and the Pro Football Journal.

March 24, 1991 - The Barcelona Dragons beat New York Knights 19-7 in their 1st World League of American Football contest. 

March 24, 2019 - New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski announces retirement as 3-time Super Bowl winner. The elite Tight End boasted postseason records in 81 receptions, 1163 receiving yards and caught TDs at 12 per the Onthisday.com web page. Of course he added to these number when in 2020 he came out of retirement to join Tom Brady in Tampa Bay and go on to win yet abnother Super Bowl.

March 24, 1938 - The rangy two way star of the University of Utah, Larry Wilson credited his date of birth. More on this former Cardinal by clicking his name.

March 24, 1976 - New Orleans, Louisiana - The top tier quarterback of the Tennessee Volunteers program, Peyton Manning was born. Manning is Tennessee’s all-time leading passer, 1997 consensus First Team All-American, 1997 Heisman Trophy runner up as well as that he claimed the Maxwell Award, Davey O’Brien Award, Sullivan Award and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Awards. Manning had 39 wins as a starter for the Vols, a Tennessee record of 11201 passing yards, 89 touchdown passes, along with 12 rushing scores. The National Football Foundation paid the ultimate respect to the talent of Peyton Manning in 2017 when they placed him into the College Football Hall of Fame. The Indianapolis Colts wasted no time in turning in their 1998 Draft card to select Peyton as the top pick. He played 18 seasons in the League between the Colts and the Denver Broncos and made it to 14 Pro Bowls. He played in a total of four Super Bowls winning two of them and threw for 71940 yards, which was a record when he faded off into the sunset. His 539 TD passes and becoming an All-Pro 7 different times are impressive legacies of the player. But one of his biggest accomplishments may have been being named as the NFL’s Player of the Year 5 times! Peyton Manning posed for his bronze bust for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.