October 14

Here is what happened in football history on October 14: Two returns of punts for score by one man in one game; A single player that scored a passing throw TD, a return of a kick and one off of a pick six in one game too! These stories and more are in this podcast of Football's History Headlines!

October 14, 1951 - Detroit Lions return man, Jack Christiansen, takes 2 punts to the house for touchdowns against the LA Rams. Pro-football-refernce.com recorded the statistics of the game as the first return Jack’s being a 69 yarder in the second quarter of a Doak Walker punt. The second return for a score occurred in the final stanza as Christianson took another of Walker’s 4th Down field flippers 49 yards to paydirt. Though the returns helped the Lions on the scoreboard they did not win the game as the Rams triumphed 27-21.

October 14, 1985 - East Rutherford, New Jersey - New York Jets franchise retired Joe Namath's jersey #12 on nationally televised Monday Night Football. Namath had sealed his legend in the Big Apple by many of his great plays, but especially making good on his famous promise of leading his underdog 1969 Jets team to a Super Bowl III victory over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts coached by Don Shula. Pro-football-reference.com informs us that the Jets had a great night against a Don Shula team in the 1985’s game too as they this time defeated the Miami Dolphins, 23-7.

October 14, 1989 - Texas A&I, Johnny Bailey sets NCAA season rushing record. According to twitter account @TXSports History Bailey ran for a  record at 6,085 yards that surpassed Pittsburgh University’s Tony Dorsett’s previous NCAA record. Bailey Went on to become the only player to win the Harlon Hill Trophy for being the top player in Division II football three times. He was later drafted into the NFL and played for the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals and the St. Lois/LA Rams scoring 9 NFL career touchdowns in 81 games played.

October 14, 1990 - Atlanta Fulton-County Stadium  - San Francisco 49er quarterback, Joe Montana passes for 6 touchdowns versus the Atlanta Falcons.  Five of the scoring strikes were to Montana’s favorite target Jerry Rice in the 45 to 35 Niners win over the Falcons.

October 14, 1896 - Gas City, Indiana - Tom Davies was born. The Davies family left Indiana to move to Washington, Pennsylvania when Tom was an 11 year old per his bio on Wikipedia. After high school Tom attended the nearby University of Pittsburgh and played halfback for the Panthers and their renown coach Pop Warner. Davies became a consensus All-American in 1918 and 1920 and in his four years he carried an average of 150 yards rushing per game played! His Pitt career was highlighted by the perfect Panther season of 1918 where the team went 9-0 and won the National Championship. In the 1920 game against the University of Pennsylvania Tom had his best individual effort as a collegian when he tossed a touchdown pass, scampered 80 yards for a touchdown, returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and returned a pick six 60 yards for a score! The National Football Foundation cemented Tom Davies into legendary status by inducting him into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1970.

October 14, 1901 - Massillon, Ohio -  Harry Stuhldreher was born. It is reported on footballfoundation.org on Stuhldreher’s bio that Harry as a young lad would carry the bags for the Massillon Tigers star football player to get free entry into the games of the Tigers. That star player's name was Knute Rockne! Rockne kept tabs on the kid and eventually that boy grew up into a fine football player that Rockne had the pleasure of coaching when he was at Notre Dame. Harry Stuhldreher became one of the legendary Four Horsemen of Notre Dame. Harry’s leadership qualities were the items that had Rockne chosen him to be the signal caller in the famed backfield. Harry was the smallest of the Horsemen at 5foot 7 inches tall and 151 pounds but his quickness and elusiveness made him a dangerous weapon in the famed Irish offense. Stuhldreher would later coach for many seasons at both Villanova and Wisconsin and had a career winning record as a coach. He was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1958.

October 14, 1947 - Many, Louisiana- Charlie Joiner was born. Charlie was a wide receiver out of Grambling State University and the Houston Oilers used their fourth round pick in the AFL-NFL Draft of 1969 to secure the rights of Joiner as a defensive back according to his bio on profootballhof.com. Charlie played bits here and there with the Oilers on defense and special teams until in 1972 when he was part of a multi-player deal with Cincinnati that made him a Bengal for the next four seasons of his career. In 1976 Charlie Joiner was part of another trade in which he became a San Diego Charger. This was a tremendous boost to his career, making him a star wide out in the offense of Coach Don “Air” Coryell and with a ball slinger with the talents of one Dan Fouts.  Charlie played a total of 18 seasons, 11 with the Chargers and when he retired he was the NFL career leader in receptions with 750. Charlie’s total receiving yards at retirement were 12,146 and he scored 65 career TDs. The Pro Football Hall of Fame inducted him into their museum of legends in 1996. 

October 14, 1964  - Was the birthday of Paul Palmer who was a great running back that played for the Temple Owls. Palmer had a tremendous season in 1986 under Temple University’s Head Coach Bruce Arians, as he was number one in the nation as he rushed for 1866 yards, and averaged over 169 yards per game on the ground. Paul’s all-purpose yards that season of ‘86 broke the NCAA record held by Hall of Famer Marcus Allen! He placed second in the Heisman voting that year behind Vinny Testeverde. When he completed his collegiate career, Paul Palmer was Temple’s all-time leading rusher with 4,895 yards. The National FOotball Foundation placed Paul Palmer into their College Football Hall of Fame in 2018.