The First Homecoming Game is Played
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November 25, 1911 - Columbia, Missouri - The football game played between Missouri and Kansas is considered to be the first-ever homecoming game. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch covered the day's festivities, stating that Coach Chester Brewer invited alumni to "come home" for the game, which included parades, bands, and more. The people enjoyed it so much that a tradition was born. Apparently, due to the poor weather in the days leading up to the game, the administrators had 86 bails' worth of straw on the field to act as a covering of sorts. The straw was removed just before game time, and though the weather was now pleasant, the field was not so much. The game had drawn so much interest across the state that it had an almost play-by-play "broadcast" sent via telegraph to fans in Lawrence, Kansas.
3 Grey Cup games
November 25, 1911 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 3rd Grey Cup was played as the Toronto Varsity Blues won their third consecutive title by defeating the Toronto Argonauts by the score of 14-7 per the canadianfootball.fandom website.
November 25, 1944 - Civic Stadium, Hamilton - The 32nd Grey Cup was played as the St. Hyacinthe-Donnacona Navy defeated the Hamilton Flying Wildcats by the score of 7-6 per the American Football Fandom site.
November 25, 1950 - Varsity Stadium, Toronto - The 38th edition of the CFL Grey Cup was played per the amp.blog-shops web page. This game is often referred to as the “Mud Bowl” due to the sloppy field conditions that day. It was the Toronto Argonauts who won claiming the franchise's 9th title in a shutout victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 13-0.
Big Numbers in the Bears vs. Browns Game
November 25, 1951 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium - The Chicago Bears traveled to meet the reigning champion Cleveland Browns per the grayflannelsuit.com internet site. It was a record setting day to say the least in a few ways. Cleveland halfback Dub Jones tied the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game as he punched through the Bears defense six times to find paydirt in the Browns 42-21 win versus the Bears. The most tired team on the field had to be the officials as they threw flags and handed out penalties like it was Halloween candy. The Cleveland Browns were penalized a record 209 yards on 21 offenses while Chicago had 16 penalties for 165 yards.
Giving Thanks for Dallas Texans Only "W"
November 25, 1952 - Dallas, Texas - Thanksgiving games in Dallas are not just from the current era of football. The Dallas Texans hosted one during a dismal 1952 season against a pretty good Chicago Bears team. ESPN.com has a pretty good story on the game that states that before the game instead of the normal warmups and such that the Texans players went up into the stands thanking the patrons for coming to the game. Up to that point the Texans team had not smelled victory for the season. The air was so chilly that day that the players had set up burn barrels on each end of the bench area to keep their hands warm. They always say don’t count the home team out in a Thanksgiving day battle and that may have started in this very game because the only win ever for the NFL's Dallas Texanswas on this day when they beat the Bears 27-23.
1971 Heisman
November 25, 1971 - New York City - The 37th Heisman Trophy was awarded to Auburn’s Quarterback Pat Sullivan. According to the website Heisman.com this was unbelievably Auburn University’s first player to ever receive the prestigious award that normally goes to the nation’s top college player. Remember Coach John Heisman spent time coaching the Tigers during his illustrious coaching career. Sullivan led the nation with 2,856 yards of total offense as a junior. His 1971 Senior season was special too for his 2,012 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. The voting was close as Cornell’s outstanding running back Ed Marinaro was a close second.
Grey Cup 61
November 25, 1973 - CNE Stadium, Vancouver -The 61st CFL Grey Cup was played as the Ottawa Rough Riders earned their 8th Championship by defeating the Edmonton Eskimos by the score of 22-18 per the cbc.ca. Charlie Brandon was Most Valuable Player, and Garry Lefebvre, Most Valuable Canadian.
OJ Breaks Brown's record
November 25, 1976 - The Buffalo Bills running back O.J. Simpson rushed for 276 yards against the Detroit Lions. The Buffalonews.com story gives all the action in the game and from it we gather that Simpson’s 273 yards came on 29 carries during this Thanksgiving day game against the Detroit Lions. The Juice also broke one of Jim Brown's NFL records by rushing for a fifth game of 200 yards or more during his career. The yardage wasn’t enough though for the Bills as Detroit rolled to a 27-14 win in the contest.
Grey Cup 67
November 25, 1979 - Olympic Stadium, Montreal - The CFL 67th Grey Cup game was played as told by the New York Times. The Edmonton Eskimos retained the CFL Championship by knocking off the Montreal Alouettes, 17-9. The MVP of the game was running back David Green and the Most Valuable Canadian was awarded to Tom Cousineau. Interesting tidbit.. David Green went to my alma mater Edinboro University of Pennsylvania.
Dynamic Broadcast Duo Debut
November 25, 1979 - It was the first time that the broadcast team of John Madden and Pat Summerall were in the same booth together on a game in what became 22 years of their great announcing together per the classictvsports.com site.
Iron Bowl 53
November 25, 1988 - Legion Field, Birmingham, Alabama - The 53rd Iron Bowl was played and it was the Auburn Tigers claiming victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide by the close score of 15-10 per onthisday.com.
Hurricanes Stop Irish Streak
November 25, 1989 - Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida - The Miami Hurricanes ended Notre Dame's all-time longest winning streak of 23 games by defeating the Irish 27-10 per the Irishlegends.com site.
More Grey Cup Action
November 25, 1990 - BC Place, Vancouver -The 78th Grey Cup to determine the Champion of the CFL was played. The Edmonton Eskimos and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were matched up to play for the cup that year per onthisday.com. It was the Blue Bombers who came out on top in a wide margin of 50-11 on the scoreboard. The offensive Most Valuable Player was Tom Burgess while Greg Battle was the Defensive MVP of the game. The Most Valuable Canadian was Warren Hudson.
November 25, 2001 - Olympic Stadium, Montreal - The 89th battle for the Grey Cup was played. It was the Calgary Stampeders who took their 5th Championship in team history as they outlasted the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, 27-19. Marcus Crandell was the game’s MVP and Aldi Henry took home the Most Valuable Canadian award per onthisday.com..
November 25, 2007 - Rogers Center, Toronto - Saskatchewan Roughriders won their 3rd title in the 95th edition of the Grey Cup Championship game of the CFL per the Grey Cup’s website. The Roughriders squeaked past the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by the score of 23-19. DB James Johnson sealed the deal of victory for Saskatchewan as he picked off a Bombers pass with a mere 54 seconds remaining on the clock. Roughriders receiver Andy Fantuz was named the game’s Most Outstanding Canadian. The Most Valuable player was handed to James Johnson not just for his interception at the end of the game but also his two other picks which set a Grey Cup record by one player.
November 25, 2012 - Rogers Center, Toronto - Per the National Post’s story it was the Toronto Argonauts overcoming the Calgary Stampeders by the final score of 35-22 in the 100th quest for the Grey Cup accoording to the National Post. The Argos owner David Braley established himself in the record books by being the first person in ownership to win back-to-back Grey Cups with 2 different teams as he held the deed on the 2011 champion BC Lions franchise. Boatmen running back Chad Kackert earned the MVP award after posting almost 200 yards of total offense.
November 25, 2018 - Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta - The Calgary Stampeders outscored the Ottawa RedBlacks, 27-16 to claim the CFL Championship game in the 106th playing of the Grey Cup. It was the Calgary franchise's 8th Cup victory per the Calgary Sun. Stampeder Terry Williams scores a record 97-yard punt-return touchdown just before halftime to highlight the scoring for the game. The third time was truly the charm for the Calgary squad as they had lost the previous two Grey Cup games.
Rivers has a Day
November 25, 2018 - The LA Chargers Quarterback Philip Rivers had an unbeleivable game as he set an NFL single-game record, completing 25-straight passes in a 45-10 win versus the Arizona Cardinals. The previous times was acheived by Mark Brunell & David Carr who previously share record (22); also sets NFL record for best single-game completion % (96.6).
Action Jackson!
November 25, 2019 - Quarterback Lamar Jackson, in just his second season in the League, became the first QB in NFL history to throw for at least 3,000 passing yards and rush for 1,500 yards in his first 2 NFL seasons. The record was recorded as the Ravens flexed their muscles against the LA Rams with a 45-6 blowout.
