March 29

In this episode of the Football History Headlines, we discuss the Tyler Rose, the Browns change their name and the story of one of the famed Four Horsemen as well as many more HOF Legendary stories.

March 29, 2004 - The NFL announces that the 2003 Regular-season paid attendance of 16,913,584 for an average of 66,328 per game were both all-time records. 

March 29, 1977 the NFL adopted the 16-game regular season and four-game preseason schedule that began in the 1978 season. The new CBA passed in 2020 voted to adopt a 17-game regular season.

March 29, 1994 - Coach Jimmy Johnson resigns as head Coach of the  Dallas Cowboys. Johnson left the Cowboys because of a feud with owner Jerry Jones. Johnson coached five seasons in Dallas and made the playoffs in each of his last three seasons and walked away from the Cowboys after winning back-to-back Super Bowls of Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII. Johnson went on to be the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 1996 to 1999 after taking a two-year hiatus. He later signed up to be a pre and post game commentator on the network coverage of NFL Football.

March 29, 1996 - Cleveland Browns choose new name, Baltimore Ravens. Owner Art Modell decided to move the franchise out of the City of Cleveland but one  of the conditions of the move was that the Browns name, logo and records must stay in  Cleveland and his new team would have to take on a new identity.

The Defiance High School football season had just concluded another season in 1921 and Don, who was now a senior had just witnessed another year where he got to substitute in for one of his teammates at the end of a one sided game. The scrawny lad did his best but his size and speed were not to the measure of his peers. After graduation Don headed for South Bend, Indiana to attend Notre Dame. He decided despite the opinions of everyone he knew to try out for the varsity football team in his sophomore team. Even Irish Head Coach Knute Rockne looked at the  5-11, 160-pound sophomore with a bit of surprise that he would be trying out for his team. But Don through hard work, hustle and smart play was destined for greatness as the workhouse runner in the famed Four Horsemen backfield of Notre Dame's immortal 1924 national championship team according to the NFF. Don Miller was born on March 29, 1902 in Defiance, Ohio and served as one of the halfbacks from the 1922 to the 1924 seasons. Miller’s legendary coach said this about him, "With his fleetness and daring, he quickly sized up as a halfback to cheer the heart of any coach," Rockne later admitted. "Once in the open field, he was the most dangerous of the Four Horsemen. I would have to call him the greatest open-field runner I ever had." Don Miller had a unique high stepping gait where his knees rose higher than a normal rusher and it made it difficult for defenders to tackle him.  For the season of 1924, Miller averaged 7.1 yards per carry, and over his three-year career, Miller rushed for a 6.8-yard average. Miller was also the leading Notre Dame receiver in each of his three varsity years as well as a football All- America selection in 1923. The National Football Foundation selected Don Miller for entrance into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.

March 29, 1906 - Marion, South Dakota - University of Kansas outstanding halfback of the late 1920’s Jim Bausch was born. 

March 29, 1925 - Emlen Tunnell was  NFL safety who played on both the Giants and Packers teams was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania . The Pro Football Hall of Fame tells us that Emlen was known as that Giants "offense on defense." Tunnell entered pro football as a free agent in 1948 after having spent time at the University of Toledo and Iowa as well as time in the Coast Guard. He broke his neck at Toledo and thus neither the Army or the Navy would accept him into their ranks because of the severity of the injury. However the Coast Guard did employ him as an Em so he was able to fulfil his angst to serve his country during war time. After his service to his country Emlen returned to Iowa and played some more ball. Most teams thought Tunnell would be playing a third season with the Hawkeyes so no one drafted the defender in the 1948 NFL Draft therefore Emlen went to the New York Giants and asked to join the team as a Free Agent. He played safety at the top of a 4-1-2 Umbrella defense where Emlen intercepted a then-record 79 passes in his 14 seasons with the Giants and the Green Bay Packers. Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Emlen Tunnell in 1967.

March 29, 1955 - Earl Campbell the powerful back of the Texas Longhorns from 1974 through 1977 was born.  Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Earl Campbell in 1991.