September 15

Here is what happened in football history on September 15: We remember Ohio State's first superstar Chic Harley: Helmet radio history is made; and Happy Birthday to Dan Marino, Merlin Olsen and more! Listen to the podcast player below and subscribe to hear us everyday when the show releases!

Football fans, delve into the past! Today's date is etched in NFL history. From legendary trades that shook the league to record-breaking performances on the gridiron, exciting moments unfolded on this very day. We'll explore game-changing events, iconic players who dominated the field, and pivotal decisions that altered the course of franchises. So, buckle up and get ready to revisit the fascinating stories that make NFL history so captivating!

September 15, 1940 - The 2nd edition of the American Football League plays it's first game. The Milwaukee Chiefs overcame the Columbus Bullies by the score of 14-2.

September 15, 1959 - George A. Sarles patent on a radio transmitter device for inside a quarterback’s helmet is published. HELMET RADIOS INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER. US Patent 2904645A . According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website two inventors from Ohio; George Sarles and his partner John Campbell had  a concept of improving communication from the sideline to players on the field. The two men approached Cleveland Brown’s legendary Head Coach Paul Brown in 1956 with the idea. Brown loved the idea and agreed to have the inventors put a prototype into Cleveland quarterback George Ratterman’s helmet. The radio transmitter was installed carefully into Ratterman’s head protector and Paul Brown made the project of testing the device be top secret. Campbell and Sarles tested the transmission in a wooded area behind John Campbell’s house. It worked great for a bit as Sarles put on the helmet and walked off into the woods. Soon though the signal weakened and then went quiet on Campbell’s end. John went to try and find his friend, and eventually he did. Sarles was talking with a local police officer who had picked up the transmission signal on his police radio. Luckily enough the policeman was a big fan of the Browns and promised to keep the secret. The inventors made sure to change the frequency they were using though. Paul Brown had the helmet transmitter covertly used in a preseason exhibition game against the Detroit Lions. The keen Lions staff noticed that Brown was not using his normal substitution platoon to run plays from the sideline to the huddle. One Lion assistant was so suspicious that he investigated further and found the transmitter hidden behind a wooden pole. The secret was out. The rest of the league tried to come up with devices of their own, but none were the quality of Sarles and Campbell’s design. The Browns used the transmitter for 3 more games, until Commissioner Bert Bell made that type of device illegal in the NFL. John Campbell donated Ratterman’s helmet to the Pro Football Hall of Fame and it is on display for all to see.

September 15, 1975 - Notre Dame defeats Boston College 17-3 at Foxboro Stadium in the first ever meeting between the two Catholic universities. The series has been dubbed the ‘Holy War” by some.

September 15, 1979 - Wake Forest traveled to Athens, Ga. to serve as the Georgia Bulldogs’ opening game opponent. But the 12th-ranked Bulldogs didn’t expect a potent Demon Deacon team that piled up 31 first downs, ran 91 offensive plays and piled up 570 yards of total offense. Wake Forest trailed 21-13 at half despite turning the ball over six times in the first two quarters. Wide receiver Wayne Baumgardner caught a pair of first quarter TD passes from Jay Venuto for Wake’s points. The Deacons held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Wake Forest pulled to 21-16 on a 34-yard field goal by Frank Harnisch in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the Deacons took a 22-21 lead on a 9-yard pass from Venuto to James McDougald. Wake Forest defensive back Larry Ingram intercepted a pair of Buck Belue passes in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. McDougald finished with 189 yards rushing on 30 carries and Venuto was named Sports Illustrated’s college player of the week.

September 15, 1887 - John McGovern was a quarterback from the University of Minnesota. In 1909, the Walter Camp Foundation named the Golden Gopher QB to the All-American Team. The National Football Foundation selected him to enter their College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

September 15, 1894 - Charles Wesley Harley was born in Chicago Illinois. From a young age all of his friends and family referred to him as Chic. In 1912 Chic’s family moved from Chicago to Columbus, Ohio. He attended East High School in the capital city of Ohio and his play in high school drew crowds larger than that of Ohio State’s games at old Ohio Field! Chic Harley only played in one game at East High where his team lost, and that would have been his last game of his senior season at the school to rival North High School. He enrolled into OSU and played out his freshman season on the frosh team. In that era of college football, students in their freshman seasons were not permitted to play varsity ball, they had to play on the freshman teams of their respective schools. Chic Harley was reportedly 5 foot 7 inches tall and weighed about 170 pounds nothing much to draw attention to his as being a football star, but when he got on the main Buckeye team in 1916, the star in him started to shine. With just over a minute to play against the defending Western Conference (precursor of the Big 10) champion Illinois, Chic dropped back to pass, scrambled around a bit, pump faked and then took off like lightning to pay dirt through the sloppy muddy field. Harley then called a time out, matter of factly put on a clean shoe and tied it, then kicked the game winning point in the 7-6 victory! It was Illinois' first home loss in 4 seasons!  That same season the Buckeye knocked off an undefeated Wisconsin squad by the score of 14-13, and Harley scored all of the points for Ohio State in that one too. The Ohio State teams that had Chic Harley playing for them had an amazing record of 21-1-1. The Buckeyes won every Western Conference championship game as well, except for the very last game Chic played in, and you guessed it the defeat came at the hands of the University of  Illinois, the team that Harley stole a winning streak from earlier. 

 This last game of his was some 16 years prior to the Heisman Trophy being awarded to the nation’s top college football player, but many speculate he may have been the winner of multiple Heisman’s had it existed when he played. Harley brought Ohio State football to the forefront of national attention as he became the school’s very first consensus first team All-American as well as the first 3-time All-America selection. Chic Harley played for the Buckeyes in the 1916, 1917 and 1919 seasons, he missed the 1918 season when he spent the year as a fighter pilot in World War I. To put into perspective just how good Harley was, let’s look at the 1950 Associated Press All-Star college team of the first half of the twentieth century. Chic Harley was listed as the first team running back alongside Jim Thorpe while Red Grange was on the second team as a running back! Harley is one of the few Ohio State four sport lettermen in history. Besides football he was a starting guard on the basketball team, set a then Big Ten record in the 50-yard dash in track and was a three year starter in the outfield of the baseball team  Chic was enshrined into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1951.

September 15, 1908 - Gene McEver was a halfback from the University of Tennessee. In McEver’s 3 seasons on the varsity team (1928, 1929 and 1931) at Tennessee the Vols were undefeated. He was a two time All-American and was “Mac” of the famous “Hac and Mac” backfield of the 1929 volunteers with teammate Buddy Hackman.  Gene’s 98 yard kickoff return helped put the University of Tennessee’s football program on the map as it helped them knock off formerly highly ranked Alabama team 15-13, which was a tremendous upset at the time. McEver was selected to enter the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954.

September 15, 1924 - John Green played for Tulane in 1942 and then for Army as a guard in the 1943 through 1945 seasons. Green was a two time All-American at Army as he and the Black Knights enjoyed back to back national championships in 1944 and 1945.  He entered into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989

September 15, 1928 -  Francis “Reds” Bagnell was a University of Pennsylvania quarterback. He grew up in West Philadelphia, and fittingly enough the house he grew up in is now part of the extended Pennsylvania University Campus. At Penn he earned 9 varsity letters, 3 each in baseball, basketball and football. The highlight of his collegiate career had to be the 1950 game against Dartmouth College when Reds Bagnell had an amazing 490 total offensive yards in the contest! Bagnell also threw 14 straight completions as the Quakers rolled to a 42-26 win at Franklin Field in Philly.  The National Football Foundation selected him to enter their College Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

September 15, 1940 - Merlin Olsen was a Defensive Tackle from Utah State. Olsen was an All-American in college and also the winner of the coveted Outland Trophy for the country’s top interior lineman. At 6 foot 4 inches tall and weighing in at 270 pounds, Merlin was drafted as the number one pick of the Rams in the 1962 NFL Draft. With the Rams he became one of the pillars of the “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line. Merlin won the 1962 NFL Rookie of the Year and was an All NFL recipient 6 times. Olsen went to the NFL Pro Bowl a record 14 times in a row, missing only his final season. That is an NFL record for consecutive trips to the NFL's game of all-stars. The National Football Foundation selected him to their College Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined him in 1982.  Merlin Olsen went on to become an actor and an NFL broadcaster after he cleaned out his NFL locker.

September 15, 1961 - Dan Marino was a former quarterback of the University of Pittsburgh football team. As a freshman in 1979 Dan led the Panthers to wins over local rivals West Virginia and PennState. The 1980 version of the team finished the year ranked number 2 in the nation. After the 1981 college season Marino was selected as an All-American. The Miami Dolphins selected him as the 27th overall pick in the 1983 NFL Draft, with five other quarterbacks chosen ahead of him including Ken O’Brien, Tony Eason, Jim Kelly, Todd Blackledge and John Elway. Dan played with Miami for 17 seasons and rewrote not only the Dolphins passing record books but most of the NFL passing records too. He played in only one Super Bowl in his second season where the Dolphins fell to the 49ers after Dan passed for over 300 yards. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined this prolific passer in 2005 and entered the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

September 15, 1971 - Will Shields was a 6 foot 3 inch, 320 pound guard from the University of Nebraska. With the Cornhuskers he was a consensus All-American and won the Outland Trophy. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted the big guy in the third round of the 1993 NFL Draft and he entered the line up in his first game after an injury to a teammate and then never missed a game in his 14 year career.  That is 223 starts in 224 games! WIll Shields went to 12 straight Pro Bowls in his career.  The National Football Foundation and thier College Football Hall of Fame welcomed Shields in 2011 and he entered the  Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.

Special thanks also to the Pro Football Reference website.