October 4

Here is what happened in football history on October 4: We cover some legendary players such as Bowden Wyatt and Sam Huff but before we get to them we will reflect on the records achieved by the legendary Jim Brown and talk about the longest running North American pro football franchise, the Toronto Argonauts!

October 4, 1873 - The Argonaut Rowing Club's rugby-football squad forms.The significance is that they eventually became the CFL's Toronto Argonauts Football Club and are listed as the oldest professional team in North America still using the same name. According to argoalumni.com the rowing club sported a rugby team and it morphed for over a decade until about 1886 when the team played rules similar to their counterparts in the North Eastern US colleges, using a line of scrimmage and eventually downs. The team played in smaller leagues until 1958 when the CFL was created by merging the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" (founded in 1907) and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in 1936). The Argos have won the coveted Grey Cup a record 17 times, 10 of those before the creation of the Canadian Football League.

October 4, 1959 - Cleveland Browns running back, the legendary Jim Brown, sets a team high single game record for rushing attempts with 37 as the Browns dropped the Chicago Cardinals 34-7. According to NFL.com, Jim Brown played for 9 seasons totalling 118 games played, and held a 5.2 yard average for his 2359 career rushing attempts. Brown scored 106 touchdowns which averages just under one TD per game played. If fantasy football existed in that era it would have made for some interesting draft parties!

October 4, 2003  - Texas Tech Red Raiders' quarterback B.J. Symons set a Big 12 Conference record with 8 touchdown passes, leading Texas Tech to a dominating 59-28 victory over rival Texas A & M.

October 4, 2018 - New England Patriots signal caller, Tom Brady tosses his 500th scoring pass to receiver Josh Grodon to become only the third quarterback in NFL history to reach the 500 career TD plateau. In the game at the friendly confines of Foxborough Stadium, Brady and the Pats knocked off a strong Indianapolis Colts team 38-24.

October 4, 1917 - Bowden Wyatt an end from the University of Tennessee.  Per the University of Tennessee’s website utsports.com, Wyatt was the captain of the 1938 Vols team under head Coach General Robert R. Neyland. Coach Neyland’s group of legends that included the All-American Wyatt, Tom Milinski, George Cafego and Bob Suffridge as two way players, ended the season undefeated at 11-0. Six of the 11 games were shutouts. Bowden Wyatt was crucial to the final shutout in the game against  Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl as he anchored the stingy defensive line and  kicked a field goal for the 17-0 victory. Wyatt returned to Tennessee in 1955 to become the squad’s head coach. Wyatt was selected to enter into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1972 as a player and then again in 1997 as a coach.

We are honored to have an expert introduce our next hall of Famer that is being remembered for October 4. Larry Schmitt is a New York City pro football historian who specializes in the New York Football Giants, a research partner for Gridiron Uniform Database, and a frequent contributor to Big Blue Interactive and when we have a topic from pro football in the Big Apple we go to the Guru Of the NYC Gridiron, Larry Schmitt. Today we have the great pleasure of having Larry tell the story of one truly great Giants HOF player on the anniversary of their birth.

October 4, 1934 - Sam Huff was a 6-1, 225-lb Guard from West Virginia University. Huff led the Mountaineers to a 31-7 record in his four years at the school. According to the National Football Foundation, Sam, in 1955, was an All-American and served as the captain of the East West Shrine Game and also the Senior Bowl. Huff was drafted by the New York Giants in the 3rd round of the 1956 NFL Draft, where he was converted into a Middle Linebacker, in what would become a revolutionary 4-3 defense. Huff became a star at his new position, leading the NFL's top ranked defense to the 1956 NFL title. He brought acclaim and recognition to defensive play for the first time, and was the first professional football player to appear on the cover of time Magazine, in 1959, and was the first player to be featured in his own television special, "The Violent World of Sam Huff" in 1960, where he gave the public a feel for what it was to be like on a football field by being the first player ever to wear a microphone. Huff helped the Giants to six Eastern titles over his eight seasons in New York before being traded to Washington in 1964, where he finished his 13-year, 168-game career as a player/coach. He was First Team All-Pro in 1958 & 1959, All-NFL three times, played in five Pro Bowls and was named to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1950s. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982, where he was presented by his former defensive coach Tom Landry.

Thanks for that Larry! Again you can find Larry's Schmitt's work on the Gridironuniforms.com, the BigBlueInteractive.com as well as some spaterings of his research work and knowledge here at your Pigskin Dispatch.