October 2

Here is what happened on October 2 in football history: We have a plethora of gridiron goodies for you! The Washington Football Team's very first game; the Packer put up 49; the Cardinals Bob Shaw hauls in 5 TD catches in a game and many legends are celebrating birthdays and we have it covered in the history headlines!

October 2, 1932 - The Washington Commanders franchise has its very first NFL game under the guise of the Boston Braves. They played the Brooklyn Dodgers at Braves Field in Boston but lost by a couple of scores 14-0.

October 2, 1950 - The Chicago Cardinals, Bob Shaw sets an NFL record with 5 touchdown catches from Redbird quarterback Jim Hardy, who had a total of 6 on the day. The Cards blasted the Baltimore Colts 55-13 in the contest.

October 2, 1983 - Washington Redskins legendary receiver Art Monk starts the first game of  his 183 consecutive streak having a reception. The Washington club used every catch they could get from Monk in a 37-35 nailbiter victory over the LA Raiders.

October 2, 1983 - The Green Bay Packers put up an NFL record 49 first half points against the Buccaneers at Tampa Stadium in a 55-14 drubbing of the Bucs. The point tirade was reached with 35 of them being tallied in the second quarter.

October 2, 1994 - The first time in NFL history that the opposing coaches are father and son as the Don Shula led Miami Dolphins played the Cincinnati Bengals coached by his son David Shula. The older version prevailed as the Dolphins toppled the Bengals 23-7.

October 2, 1999- We had a college football barn-burner when the 21st ranked Alabama Crimson Tide upset number 3 Florida and their 30 game home win streak in a tight one, 40-39. Shaun Alexander, the future Seattle Seahawk standout, crossed the stripe between the pylons 4 times to help the Tide roll!

October 2, 2005 - The first NFL regular season game outside of the United States in Mexico City as the Arizona Cardinals triumphed over the San Francisco 49ers 31-14 south of the border.

October 2, 1903 - Myles Lane was a former halfback from Dartmouth College in the 1925 through the 1927 seasons. The National Football Foundation voted Mile Lane into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1970 and provides the following information on this legend of the game. Myles just may be the greatest scoring weapon that has ever worn the Dartmouth football colors. This is exemplified by his 102 total season points as a sophomore in 1925 ranked second in the nation as Dartmouth won the National Championship honors per the decision of Parke H. Davis and the Dickinson System. Again Myles showed his scoring prowess in the 1927 game against the Temple Owls when Lane crossed the opponents pylon stripe 5 times and tallied a total of 33 points in the game. That same year he finished with a total of 18 touchdowns and 125 points leading the country in that category! Myles was a terrific hockey player as well earning All-Intercollegiate honors. He also had the smarts in school graduating as an honors student. After graduating he played pro hockey for the NHL’s New York Rangers and later the Boston Bruins, helping the Bruins win the 1929 Stanley Cup. After he left the ice he went back to the gridiron to coach Boston University and later assisted at Harvard. During World War II he became a U.S. Naval Commander, entered politics and eventually was voted into the New York State Supreme Court.

October 2, 1909 - Joe “Tarzan” Kendall was a Kentucky State halfback, place kicker, punter and passer. Football Foundation.org informs us that Kendall often used his running ability to avoid oncoming rushers, scrambling to buy time to let his receivers get open down field, and then delivering the goods to them. Kendall excelled at West Kentucky, a junior college in 1932 and earned 3rd team All-America honors before enrolling to play for the Kentucky State Thorobreds. Kentucky State ran a wide open offensive system and this suited Joe’s talents and he thrived. The National Football Foundation voted Joe Kendall into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007.

October 2, 1922 - End Bill Swiacki of Columbia University is born. Swiacki’s education started at Holy Cross and then was interrupted by Bil serving in the armed forces during World War II, he then enrolled at Columbia when he returned home to civilian life. Bill is noted by the National Football Foundation as the man that brought down Army, and rightfully so! In October of 1947 the Army Black Knight football team entered Columbia University's Baker Field with an unbelievable 37 game winning streak in tow. The game was hard fought and close throughout, much closer than most expected it to be. A little known end for the Lions would make his mark in football history. It was late in the fourth quarter and Columbia quarterback Gene Rossides received the snap and dropped back, he fired a low fast ball that made most of the crowd groaned thinking that the bal was going skip off the turf when almost out of nowhere the long lanky fingers of Swiaki pled the ill fated ball out of the air just before it could touch the green grass and made the reception at the Army Three yard-line! Two plays later the Lions punched the ball into the end zone and came away with the 21-20 victory, ending Army’s winning streak. Bill had 9 receptions and one was for a touchdown. The National Football Foundation voted Bill Swiacki into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

October 2, 1939 - Bob Schloredt a quarterback from the University of Washington. He is most noted as being the first ever two-time Rose Bowl Most Valuable Player. In the 1960 version of the “Grand Daddy of them All” Bob was the Co-MVP of the game defeating Wisconsin 44-8. That same season he was voted in as the First Team All-American Quarterback. The next season he suffered from a collarbone injury early but rebounded later in the season to guide Washington to victory in the 1961 Rose Bowl over Minnesota 17-7 as the Huskies won the National Championship. He was also credited with a 71 yard punt in a game in his sophomore season. One of the most remarkable things is that Bob was legally blind in his left eye, only having 5% vision in it since a childhood fireworks accident stripped him of his sight in the eye. The National Football Foundation voted him into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

October 2, 1948 - Chuck Dicus a wide receiver from the University of Arkansas. He was voted as an All-American in 1969 and the 1970 seasons.Chuck averaged over 16 yards per catch during his 3 year career in college and had over 1800 yards, a pretty good number for that era of college football.  The National Football Foundation voted Chuck Dicus into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1999.