November 24

In this edition of the Football History Headlines, we discuss Jim Brown's Rookie record and 10 Grey Cup games as well as many more Football Hall of Fame Legendary stories.

As we flip the calendar page, we delve into another chapter of pigskin history. From legendary comebacks that defied the odds to record-breaking performances that left fans speechless, remarkable moments unfolded on this very date. So, buckle up and get ready to relive iconic plays, celebrate trailblazing athletes, and revisit the captivating stories that continue to shape the ever-evolving narrative of professional football. Let's lace up our cleats and journey back in time to witness the incredible feats that transpired on this historic day in the NFL!

Army vs. Notre Dame 1934

November 24, 1934 - Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York - 81,000 fans  packed the “House that Ruth Built” to watch the heavily favored Army team take on Notre Dame. It was such an attraction that fans were seen sitting in the aisles on all three decks of the stadium. As decribed by the Irishlgends.com website, It was a tight defensive battle much of the game. With little time remaining Irish Head Coach Elmer Layden, who had been one of the Four Horsemen during his playing days, sent in fullback Don Hanley. Hanley was the last player on the roster that had played under the legendary Coach Knute Rockne, who died in a tragic plane crash in March of 1931 while enroute to be in the film, The Spirit of Notre Dame. Hanley took the hand off in the final seconds and plunged over the goal line to give Notre Dame the 12-6 upset victory. The press ate up the story of Hannley being one of Knute’s players and with Layden also being a former star for Rockne, the symbolic torch of coaching a winning Notre Dame program was passed.Grey Cup # 22 & 39

3 Grey Cup Memories

November 24, 1934 - Toronto's Varsity Stadium - The 22nd CFL Grey Cup was played as the Sarnia Imperials faced the Regina Roughriders. Regina had played in 7 Grey Cup finals in the past 12 seasons going into the game according to the cfl.ca site. The Imperials went on to win their first Championship with a 20-12 win over Regina Roughriders completing an undefeated season.

November 24, 1951 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 39th Grey Cup Final for the CFL Championship was played. In the tight game the Ottawa Rough Riders came out victorious claiming their 4th Championship with a 21-14 win over Saskatchewan Roughriders with the full story found here. The Roughriders scratched and clawed their way into the big game as they finished with a record of 8-6 not to be confused with the Champion Ottawa Rough Riders. That must have been a tough one to listen to on the radio broadcast when the Roughriders played the Rough Riders!

November 24, 1956 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto  - According to the cfl.ca it was the third consecutive year the Edmonton Eskimos faced the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup Final. The old saying goes the more things change the more they stay the same, well in this case it was true as the  Edmonton Eskimos defeated those Montreal Alouettes for 3rd straight year, but this time it was 50-27 pwer the story on the cfl.ca.

Jim Brown was Awesome Even as a Rook

November 24, 1957 -  Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown rushed for 237 yards and 4 touchdowns against the Los Angeles Rams. It was Brown’s rookie season and according to fs64sports Brown wasn’t even the target for the Browns in the 1957 Draft, Len Dawson was. The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Dawson before the Browns got a chance to  and so they went with their next choice Jim Brown of Syracuse. Boty did that ever work out well for Cleveland!

'64 Heisman

November 24, 1964 - New York City - The 30th Heisman Trophy Award winner was announced as John Huarte the Quarterback from Notre Dame. Per the American Football DataBase the Irish lost only once in the season as Huarte threw for 2,062 yards with only 205 passes for a ten plus yard average. In the 1965 Chicago College All-Star Game where Huarte led a squad against the defending NFL Champion Cleveland Browns, John Huarte was the MVP of the game.

62nd Grey Cup

November 24, 1974 - Empire Stadium, Vancouver - The CFL‘s Grey Cup played for the 62nd time pitted the Montreal Alouettes against the Edmonton Eskimos once again. The time Montreal got the better of the Eskimos on a slick, wet field by the score of 20-7 per onthisday.com.  

Irish Stop Hurricanes in Japan 

November 24, 1979 - Tokyo, Japan - Notre Dame beats Miami 40-15 in the Mirage Bowl  per Irishlegends.com.
Fandom.com explains that the Mirage Bowl was an annual college football game hosted in Tokyo, Japan from 1977 through 1993. The game was renamed the Coca-Cola Bowl or Coca-Cola Classic in 1986 and kept this name until the event was discontinued after the 1993 season.

CFL Champs Crowned

November 24, 1985 - Olympic Stadium, Montreal - The 73rd CFL Grey Cup had the BC Lions defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 37-24. Onthisday.com informs us that it was the final CFL game played with a 25-yard long endzone.

Dallas Stops Washington Streak

November 24, 1991 - RFK Stadium, Washington D.C. - After starting off the season with a perfect 12-0 record, the Washington Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys 24-21 per the Washington Post. The Cowboys lost their starting QB Troy Aikman in the 3rd quarter but still controlled the clock for 39 minutes and the Dallas D held the Washington rushing offense to a mere 50 yards to help Dallas defeat their arch rivals.

3 More Grey Cups

November 24, 1991 - Winnipeg Stadium - The CFL’s 79th edition of the Grey Cup had the Toronto Argonauts defeating the Calgary Stampeders, 36-21. Weather played a major factor in the game as temps got to -16 degrees Celsius at kickoff making it the coldest Grey Cup Game ever. Rocket Ismail, formerly of Notre Dame and all-time CFL great, was the game’s MVP. While Calgary’s Dave Sapunjis, was the Most Valuable Canadian. The Boatmen celebrated the Championship under their new ownership of LA Kings owner Bruce McNall, hockey player Wayne Gretzky and actor John Candy per the onthisday.com website.

November 24, 1996 - Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton - In the 84th CFL Grey Cup was played per the Toronto.com internet site. The Toronto Argonauts won their CFL 13th title as they beat Edmonton Eskimos, 43-37. Quarterback Doug Flutie of the Argos was the game’s MVP. This edition of the Grey Cup is sometimes called The Snow Bowl because of the near blizzard-like weather conditions.

November 24, 2002 - Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton - The 90th edition of the CFL Grey Cup had once again the Montreal Alouettes defeating the Edmonton Eskimos 25-16. It marked the 5th time that a Don Matthews' coached team won the Grey Cup title. 

It's Iron Bowl Season

November 24, 2007 - Jordan-Hare Stadium, Auburn, AL. - In the 72nd volume of the annual Iron Bowl it was just as much a matchup of coaching strategy as it was raw talent on the field. Alabama had recently hired Nick Saban to combat the success that Auburn was having under the direction of Tommy Tuberville according to the ESPN.com story on the game. The Tigers scored a touchdown with Brandon Cox running a sneak from 1 yard out to hang on for a 17-10 SEC victory over their rival, the Crimson Tide of Alabama.

November 24, 2012 - Tuscaloosa, Alabama - The 77th Iron Bowl was a one sided affair as the Crimson Tide dominated every aspect of the game per the piece on sbnation.com. Alabama blanked their arch nemesis Auburn in a statement game 49-0 serving notice to the nation who the top team was. The Tide went 13-1 that season and outmatched Notre Dame in the Bowl Championship Game.

Grey Cup 101

November 24, 2013 - Taylor Field, Regina - At the 101st Grey Cup for the CFL Championship it was the Saskatchewan Roughriders winning their 4th title as they defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 45-23. The Most Valuable Player was Roughriders running back Kory Sheets  who set a Grey Cup record by rushing for 197 yards with 2 touchdowns thanks to a onthisday.com post.

SEC Matchup

November 24, 2018 -  Alabama has a victory over Auburn in a big way as the final score was 52-21.

107th Grey Cup

November 24, 2019 - McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta - The 107th Grey Cup Game was played as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats tangled with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The Bombers were the better team that day as they dominated the score 33-12 over the T-Cats per the cfl.ca story. Winnipegs’s Andrew Harris was honored with earning both the MVP and the Most Valuable Canadian Awards, for unbelievably the first time in Cup history!
 

Alabama's Dixie Howell

November 24, 1912 - Hartford, Alabama - Millard “Dixie” Howell the halfback from the University of Alabama was born. Back in the early 1930’s it was normal for one of the halfbacks to throw the ball. This was the case for Dixie who connected on many passes with the Tide’s great receiver Don Hutson to win games including the 1935 Rose Bowl against Stanford. His other favorite target was a guy by the name of Bear Bryant, talk about some legendary names on that roster! The National Football Foundation voted Dixie Howell into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.  After school was over Howell played one year with the Washington Redskins, 1937. He coached Arizona State 1937-41 with a 20-9-4 record and Idaho 1947-50.

A Couple of Old Navy Buddies!

November 24, 1924 - Pottstown, Pennsylvania - The U.S. Naval Academy’s End Dick Duden came into this world. After the tremendous 1945 season he was named All-America by Associated Press, United Press, Grantland Rice, Sporting News, Central Press and Football Writers among others. The NFF chose to induct Dick Duden into their College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. After some further Naval service Dick played one year with the New York Giants, and returned to the Naval Academy as assistant football coach. In 1973, he was named to the all-time Army-Navy football team by sports writers.

November 24, 1924 - The U.S. Naval Academy’s Center Dick Scott was born.  Dick was named to the All-American teams in 1945 and 1947. Per the NFF website in 1948 he was runner-up MVP in the College All- Star game played in Chicago. The Committee voted Dick Scott into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987.  

RB - John Henry Johnson

November 24, 1929 - John Henry Johnson was a great fullback who attended St. Mary’s University and was the second pick in the 1953 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers as told on the profootballhof.com internet site. Johnson rushed for over 1000 yards in both the 1962 and 1964 seasons and was the first Steeler to ever accomplish the feat. After his contract ended in Pittsburgh he played in the CFL for a season and then returned to the NFL with the 49ers, and Detroit Lions and then played his 13th and final por season with the AFL’s Houston Oilers. After the dust on his brilliant career had settled, Johnson accounted for 6803 career rushing yards and ranked him fourth on the All-Time rushing list. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined John Henry Johnson in the class of 1987.

A&M's Yale Lary

November 24, 1930 - Yale Lary the safety from Texas A&M was born. Yale was a fixture for 11 seasons at Safety for the Detroit Lions. Lary was a contributing force to the three NFL Championships that the Lions franchise enjoyed during the span of his career per his bio on the Pro Football Hall of Fame's site. Besides his 50 career interceptions at Safety Yale Lary was also a great punter for the Detroit squad as he also won the NFL punting crown in three seasons and just missed out on a fourth title in an additional season. His 44.3 yard average on over 500 punts makes him one of the best punters in pro history. The  Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined the great Yale Lary in 1979.

Double HOF Stan Jones

November 24, 1931 - Altoona, Pennsylvania - Maryland Terrapin Tackle Stan Jones was born. Jones played offensive and defensive tackle for Maryland and was a unanimous All-American selection after the 1953 season.  That same 1953 Jones and his Terp teammates enjoyed the limelight of being crowned National Champions! Stan Jones was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2000 by the National Football Foundation.  After graduation Stan made it into the NFL and his career covered 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins. He served as assistant coach with Denver and Buffalo from 1967-77. Stan Jones was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991 .

HB - Pervis Atkins

November 24, 1935 - Ruston, Louisiana  - Pervis Atkins the fine halfback from New Mexico State University celebrated his birth. Atkins twice topped the nation in all-purpose yards (1959-60) and holds the New Mexico State single season record with 1,800 all- purpose yards in 1960. During the 1959 season, he led the nation in rushing (971) and punt return yards (241). The NFF selected Pervis Atkins to join the ranks of the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Atkins was drafted in the third round of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. He played seven seasons in the NFL, including stints with the Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders. He finished his career with 3,300 all-purpose yards and three touchdowns. 

The Former Commish

November 24, 1940 - Paul Tagliabue the former NFL Executive was a great leader at a time when the NFL needed it. He served as the NFL Commissioner for 17 seasons and in that span the NFL prospered and grew. His accomplishments included expanding the League to 32 teams, there was nearly two decades of peace with the NFLPA, 20 new NFL stadiums were constructed and took the NFL to overseas markets. The Pro Football Hall of Fame selected Paul Tagliabue to have his bust made in Canton in 2020.

DB - Terry Kinard

November 24, 1959 - Bitburg, West Germany - Terry Kinard the great DB from Clemson University was born. When you talk about a defensive back coming out of college with great stats , Terry Kinard must be in the conversation. Kinard registered 17 interceptions, 30 pass deflections, and 292 tackles during his Clemson career. Two of his picks were extremely important to the 1979 16-10 victory over Notre Dame. It was exploits like this that led Terry to All-America honors as well as  many other collegiate awards. The National Football Foundation voted Terry Kinnard into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001. Terry enjoyed a nice 8 year career in the NFL playing for the New York Giants and the Houston Oilers.