October 5

October 5, 1907 - Canadian Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) plays its first game as Montreal defeats Toronto, 17-8 in Montreal, Quebec. The IRFU, also known as the Big 4 and the Western Interprovincial Football Union (founded in 1936) merged in 1958 to form the Canadian Football League.

October 5, 1985 - Legendary Grambling State University Head Coach Eddie Robinson notches a record 324th win in a football game. Coach ended up being the headman at Grambling for a total of 56 years and eventually ended his coaching career totaling a whopping 408 victories!

October 5, 1924 - The NFL's Kansas City Blues (later in 1925 to be known as the Cowboys) played the franchise's first game, a 3-0 loss to the Milwaukee Badgers per the Sportsencylopedia.com.

October 5, 1935 - Per princetontigersfootball.com/history-of-the-program/ Princeton head coach Herbert O. “Fritz” Crisler introduced to his team a black leather helmet with three stripes along its length and triangular “wings” meant to represent the folded-back ears of a tiger. The bold color combinations and distinctive design helped quarterbacks more easily identify receivers downfield. Crisler would later take this design with him to the University of Michigan after leading the Tigers to two of its record 28 National Championships.

October 5, 1986 - A new NFL overtime rushing record is reached, when Eric Dickerson of the LA Rams, sprints for a 42 yard touchdown run to lead the Rams over the Tampa Bay Bucs 26-20 in Anaheim Stadium.

October 5, 1991 - An NCAA record is tied when Fresno State reeled off 49 points in the 2nd quarter against New Mexico at home in Bulldog Stadium. The Bulldogs routed their guests 94-17 in the contest.

October 5, 2003 - Prolific return specialist Dante Hall of the Kansas City Chiefs returned a punt 93 yards to paydirt to help lead his team to a 24-23 victory over rival Denver. The game winner was the fourth consecutive return that Mr. Hall had taken a kick all the way back! 

October 5, 1911 - Bill Corbus was a guard from Stanford University.  The website footballfoundation.org tells the story that the 1933 Stanford Cardinal lineup consisted of nine sophomores who were referred to as the “Vow Boys”, since they took an oath to not lose to USC during their playing days at Stanford. They were true to their word as the Cardinal ripped off wins against their rival the Trojans those three straight years. The 1933 victory of the Vow series can be directly attributed to the accolades of Bill Corbus as he booted two second-half field goals to lift the Cardinal to a 13-7 win over Southern Cal. Bill was described by many as having cherub-like facial features and his 5-11, 195 pound frame, but he had the ferocity of a wolf in a chicken-coop when placed on the gridiron. Bill’s low center of gravity allowed him to get under opponents and knock them off balance, giving him a great advantage against larger opposition. Corbus was voted in as an Al-American in his final two seasons of collegiate football and in the classroom, he excelled with honors. Corbus was the student body president and he graduated magna cum laude from Stanford. Bill was hired by the A&P grocery chain after graduation and he clambered the organizational ladder to the rank of vice- chairman before his career with the chain was over.  Bill was honored by the Stanford Athletic Board  with their Distinguished Achievement Medal in 1978. His high school in Vallejo, California, named a stadium for him. The National Football Foundation voted Bill Corbus into their College Football Hall of Fame in 1957.

October 5, 1921 - Bill Willis was a tackle from Ohio State University. Bill joined the Cleveland Browns in 1946 andd entered into the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s museum of legends in 1977.

October 5, 1958 - Ken Margerum was a two-time Consensus All-American wide receiver from Stanford University.  When he graduated in 1980, MArgerum was the all-time leader in Cardinal history with 41 receptions for 2,430 yards and 30 touchdowns per the National Football Foundation’s website. Ken was a 1980 Second-Team Academic All-American and tied a Pac-10 Conference record when he had four TD receptions in one game. He was honored with the Pop Warner Memorial Trophy for being the West Coast’s most valuable senior player in 1980 and entered into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009.

October 5, 1977 - Sean Brewer was a defensive tackle from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. Sean is the only Division III defensive lineman to have ever reached the First-Team All-American Honors status in three different seasons according to the website footballfoundation.org. Sean finished his outstanding career with 435 tackles, 332 of them of the solo variety and a whopping 52 sacks of the quarterbacks! In recognition of his outstanding career, the Division III Defensive Lineman of the Year Award was named the Sean Brewer Award in 2013. The National Football Foundation voted Sean Brewer into their College Football Hall of Fame in 2015. After graduation Sean went into educational vocation and at last look was serving as the principal at Rosa Scott High School in Madison, Mississippi.