November 23

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we discuss 6 Scoring passes from the great Sammy Baugh, and more Grey Cup and Iron Bowl matchups as well as many more Fooall of Fame Legendary stories.

Football history enthusiasts, delve into the gridiron's past! On this very date, history unfolded on the field in several ways. We might be celebrating a record-breaking performance by a legendary player, a trade that sent shockwaves through the league, or even the birth of a new franchise that would leave its mark on the game. Let's lace up our cleats and travel back in time to see what iconic moments transpired on this date in American football history!

1st Game for ND

November 23, 1887 - The Notre Dame football program plays its very first game. It was a respectable showing for the first timers as they lost to Michigan 8-0. It was a start for one of the most storied sports teams in history!

1887 Notre Dame football team, University of Notre Dame archives via Wikimedia Commons, taken by unknown photographer

'Bama & Auburn Meet 

The 1895 Auburn Tigers football team via Wikimedia Commons, taken by unknown photographer

November 23, 1895 - Tuscaloosa, Alabama - Alabama and Auburn met for the fourth time in what became the Iron Bowl game per the onthisday website. This edition was all Tigers as they blanked their rivals 48-0 in this early college football contest.

Baugh Scores 6

November 23, 1947 - Griffith Stadium, Washington D.C.  -  Slingin Sammy Baugh of the Washington Redskins takes advantage of the Chicago Cardinals secondary as he tosses 6 touchdown passes. Washington won the game 45-21.

Cancellation as Nation Mourns

November 23, 1963 - The Notre Dame versus Iowa game was cancelled due to the untimely death of President John F. Kennedy. 

'65 Heisman goes to...

November 23, 1965 - New York City - The 31st Heisman Trophy Award was handed out and for this season the selection committee chose Mike Garrett the running back from the USC Trojans as the nation's top college football award winner.

Grey Cup 1975

November 23, 1975 - McMahon Field, Calgary - The CFL Champions game was played for the possession of the coveted Grey Cup. It was appropriate that the Edmonton Eskimos were in the games as the weather conditions at kick off were -15 degrees Celsius with 25 mile per hour winds per the cfl.ca web page. Interesting note that despite the cold, a woman was seen streaking without a stitch of clothing across the field during the coin toss. That makes me shiver just thinking about it! Those poor conditions helped prevent either team from scoring touchdowns, which was the third time in Cup history that no TDs had occurred. It was Edmonton Eskimos who came out on top as they defeated the Montreal Alouettes, 9-8. One of the other interesting tidbits from this Grey Cup game was that it was the first time since 1945 that all the points were scored by Canadians and the first time the big game was played in Calgary.

Grey Cup '80

November 23, 1980 - CNE Stadium, Toronto -The 1980 version of the CFL’s Grey Cup was played. What happened was that the Edmonton Eskimos claimed their 3rd straight title as they punished the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 48-10 per the onthisday.com site.

Bounty Game

November 23, 1989 - Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas - Per the onthisday.com site, after the Thanksgiving Day contest between the Dallas Cowboys and the visiting Philadelphia Eagles, Coach Jimmy Johnson accused the Eagles head man, Buddy Ryan, of issuing “bounties” on Cowboy players. I am not sure if he did or not but the Philadelphia Eagles rolled their longtime foes on national television by the score of 27-0.

Detmer sets records

November 23, 1991 - Brigham Young University quarterback Ty Detmer unleashed the Cougars offensive firepower as he led his team to a 48-17 blowout victory over the Utah Utes per the cougarstats.com internet page. Detmer’s 378 yards passing and 5 TDs helped the signal caller complete a fantastic college career. Detmer finished his NCAA career with 15,031 yards for his career and a record 4,031 yards passed in the season.

Iron Bowl 61

November 23, 1996 - Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama - The  61st edition of the Iron Bowl was a thriller! The Crimson Tide would score a fourth quarter go ahead touchdown to hang on as Alabama beat Auburn 24-23 according to onthisday.com. Long time Tide Coach Gene Stallings announced after the game that he would be stepping down at the conclusion of the season.

Iron Bowl 67

November 23, 2002 - Tuscaloosa, Alambama - In this 67th segment of the Iron Bowl it was a freshman reserve running back, Tre Smith who stepped off the bench for the Tigers and put up 126 yards on the ground to help the Auburn Tigers cause against number 9 in the nation, Alabama. ESPN.com reports that the Tigers also used two scoring strikes from Jason Campbell to Robert Johnson to help Auburn upset Alabama 17-7.

Big Crowd for Cup

November 23, 2008 - Olympic Stadium, Montreal - The second-highest fan attended a Grey Cup game in the history of the CFL took place as 66,308 put their butts in the stands. According to the greycup.com website, it was the Calgary Stampeders that reigned as Champs as they beat the Montreal Alouettes 22-14 in the game.  Calgary QB Henry Burris was named the game’s Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Player as he threw for 328 yards and one touchdown led the game’s rushing with 79 yards. Stampeders kicker Sandro DeAngelis the Grey Cup’s Most Valuable Canadian award as he kicked five field goals.

Ken Kavanaugh

November 23, 1916 - Little Rock, Arkansas - Ken Kavanaugh the end from LSU arrived in the world. Louisiana State University used the single-wing offense during the 1930’s and that normally means low stats for a receiver. That was not the case for the talented Kavanaugh as he and Tigers passer  Leo Bird connected often in the passing game.  The NFF states that Kavanaugh snared 30 Bird throws in nine games, netting 467 yards to lead the nation's receivers in 1939 and earn the Most Valuable Player award in the Southeastern Conference. The National Football Foundation inducted Ken Kavanaugh into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1963. After college Kavanaugh joined the Chicago Bears. His pro career in the Windy City was briefly interrupted as he served in the U.S. war efforts  as a bomber pilot and flew 30 missions over Germany. Ken was a true war hero and for his bravery he was issued the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with four Oak Clusters. After the war, he rejoined the Bears to continue a brilliant career. In 1951, he became an assistant coach with the New Football York Giants

Dick Kazmaier

November 23, 1930 - Maumee, Ohio - Princeton University’s prize halfback, Dick Kazmaier was born. Dick played for Princeton from 1949 through the 1951 season and per footballfoundation.org he started at left halfback for Princeton's single-wing attack. Kazmaier was honored with All-America accolades in 1950 and 1951. Dick led all players in the nation in total offense in 1951 with his gaudy 827 yards, 22 TDs  and incredible .626 passing percentage. After the incredible 1951 season the United Press named him Player of the Year and Kazmaier also won the Heisman and Maxwell Trophies. Dick Kazmaier was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966. After graduation the prolific player turned down playing in the pros and continued his education getting a Masters Degree from Harvard. Dick did many things after college and one was that he served as National Football Foundation’s director and its president 1974- 86. DIck was awarded with the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award and the National Football Foundation honored him with the Distinguished American Award.

Alex Kroll

November 23, 1937 - Leechburg, Pennsylvania  - Alex Kroll, the center that played for both Yale and Rutgers, celebrated his birth.  According to the National Football Foundation Kroll had a sensational 1961 season as he was named as an All-America center by the Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, American Football Coaches Association and the Football Writers Association. The Rutgers team that captained that year went a perfect 9-0 on the season. Alex had first played college football at Yale in 1956 but due to serving his country for a few years his collegiate football career was on hold for a few years until he attended Rutgers.  Despite attending more than one school the teams that Alex Kroll played on had a combined record of 25-2. The National Football Foundation inducted Alex Kroll into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. After he completed his education Kroll played one professional season with the New York Titans.