September 11, 1897 - Stan Keck was a former guard and tackle for Princeton University. Stan was selected as an All-American in 1920 and 1921 for his great line play. The College Football Hall of Fame enshrined him in 1959 after a National Football Foundation vote. After his playing days Keck ended up getting into coaching and he served as the head coach at Waynesburg University from 1947 through the 1950 season.
September 11, 1924 - Tom Landry the former Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys for 29 seasons. When one thinks of Coach Landry the image of a well dressed, poised man in a fedora pacing the sidelines comes to mind. He had a demeanor unlike most coaches, he rarely showed emotion from the sideline, neither in anger or in exhuberation. Landry was from Mission, Texas and he attended the University of Texas where he played football for the Longhorns. Landry was a pretty talented player at that and well rounded as he played, cornerback, punter, quarterback and halfback. Most people don't realize that he played professionally as well, being drafted 128th over all in the All-American Football Conference's 1948 Draft by the New York Yankees. Tom played with the Yanks and then after the AAFC folded in 1949 he switched to the NFL to play with the New York Giants who had drafted him in the 1947 NFL Draft and held his league rights. Landry received his first glimpse of coaching as a Giant when Head Coach Steve Owen asked the young Landry to explain the 6-1-4 defense to his teammates. He stayed with the Giants for multiple seasons and was voted in as an All-Pro in 1954. In 1954 and 1955 with Steve Owen out as coach Landry served as a player/assistant coach under new head man Jim Lee Howell. Landry was the defensive coordinator while a man named Vince Lombardi was in charge of the Giants offense. Coach Landry ended his career after the 1955 season with 32 interceptions in a mere 80 games played. Early in 1960 before they even officially existed, Tom Landry was hired as the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys. The first year coach had some tough sledding as his team went 0-11-1. The Cowboys owner, Clint Murchison Jr., had faith in Landry though as he promptly signed him to a 10 year extension. The patience paid off as the team improved and in 1966 the team won 10 games and earned the right to play Lombardi's Packers in the NFL Championship game. His tenure as the Dallas head man lasted an amazing record of 29 years. He developed the 4-3 defense while in New York creating the position of middle linebacker, brought the use of the shot gun offense out of mothballs, innovated the flex defense and trained his running backs to run through any open space, not to a specific hole opened up by design. He taught his players to fully concentrate on their tasks and so as not to lose focus he trained them in almost mechanical shifts and player sets during the offensive cadence. He was to have said that since he and his players were so busy concentrating on doing their jobs that they had no time to be emotional. Landry coached teams in Dallas made the Super Bowl 5 times, winning two of them and he was a Bart Starr QB sneak in the Ice Bowl away from a sixth. 1990 Coach Landry was selected to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
September 11, 1978 - Ed Reed was a former Safety for the University of Miami Hurricanes. The prolific safety was drafted as the 24th overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens, and Reed played his entire 12 year career there. Reed started all 16 games as a rookie, ended up being the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year and played in 6 Pro Bowls. Ed was a ball hawk as he had 64 interceptions in 167 games played scoring 7 touchdowns. Ed Reed was selected to enter both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the College Football Hall of Fame.
Special thanks to the Pro Football Reference website.
