October 1

Here is what happened in football history on October 1: The 1st game of a team called the Bears from Chicago; The Saskatchewan Roughriders franchise plays its 1st game; Happy October everyone! We have an insightful podcast prepared for you on this football day filled with all of your favorite football history headlines!

October 1, 1910 - The CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders franchise under the guise of their original name, the Regina Rugby Club, plays their first American football game. The debut of the team didn't have the desired outcome as they fell to the Moose Jaw Tigers 16-6. Really Tigers was the best name that Moose Jaw could come up with? How about the Thundering Herd, the Hooves, the Bicuspids or one of a multitude of other names that associate with Moose Jaw? Okay I will end my rant of a team that played over 110 years ago.

October 1, 1922 - The Chicago Bears play their very first NFL game using the Chicago Bears moniker.

October 1, 1933 - It an NFL stat of the wild and weird, the New York Football Giants could not convert even one first down but somehow still won 10-7 when they played the Green Bay Packers at Borchert Field in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

October 1, 1950 - A Cleveland Browns franchise record is set for the lowest total points in a game as the New York Giants defeated the Browns at Cleveland Municipal Stadium 6-0. This didn't stop the Brownies though as they went on to later win the NFL Championship Title that season.

October 1, 1955 - Baltimore Colts Rookie fullback Alan Ameche becomes the very first rookie player to rush for 150 yards or more in his first two NFL regular season games. The legendary back put up 194 hard fought yards against the Bears in week one and then followed that up with 153 yards on the ground versus the Lions.

October 1, 1989 - Legendary Dallas Cowboys defensive end, Ed Too Tall Jones registers his 1000th career NFL tackle as the Boys defeated the NY Giants 30-13 at Texas Stadium in Irvine, Texas.

October 1, 1995 - The Jacksonville Jaguars record their first ever franchise win in week five of their inaugural season in a thrilling 17-16 victory over the Houston Oilers at the Astrodome.

October 1, 1997 - Head Coach Tom Osborne of the Nebraska Cornhuskers notches his 250th NCAA victory in 301 games played  in a 67-7 beat down of rival Oklahoma.

October 1, 1900 - Malcolm “Mal” Aldrich a halfback from Yale is born. Mal was a rare talent in football in the early 1920’s. According to the footballfoundation.org website Mac dropped kicked a 48 yard field goal on the Brown game then later in the 1921 season followed that up by helping the Bulldogs knock off Princeton 13-7 powered by Aldrich kicking two field goals in the fourth quarter. The shifty halfback used everything at his disposal to get past his opponents. On such reported case in the Princeton game had Mal using the referee as a screen that he avoided some would be tacklers with to get a long gain on a run. He was also a great  passer and his 86 points scored in ‘21 were the third highest by any player in the nation. This helped him to achieve All-American honors that season. The National Football Foundation voted Mal Aldrich into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

October 1, 1911 - Herman Hickman a former University of Tennessee Volunteer guard that played from 1929 through the 1931 seasons. He is often described as one of the best offensive blockers in the game's early history according to the National Football Foundation bio on him. He was so good that he is often said in the same conversations as the great guard Pudge Heffelfinger of Yale. This young man was an athlete, he gained twenty some pounds from the time he first reported to the Tennessee football program but never lost a step, in fact he was known to be one of the fastest players on the Volunteer’s squad. The Vols held a 27-1-2 record while Hickman was on the team. Herman went on to play professional football with the Brooklyn Dodgers and he made All-Pro all 3 years he was in the league. The big man then decided he wanted to give professional wrestling a try and was known as the “Tennessee Terror” in the ring. Hickman later got back into football as a coach, and even earned the head coaching position at Yale. Later he was a staff writer for Sports Illustrated and broadcasted a bit on television.The National Football Foundation voted Herman Hickman into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959.

We would like to thank Bill Schaefer for the lending of the graphics and the research that he and his team including Tim Brulia and Larry Schmitt contributed on the the uniform graphics shown in today's edition. You can catch more of Bill, Tim and Larry's great work on the Gridiron Uniform Database, gridiron-uniforms.com.