September 6

Here is what happened in Football History on September 6: A reflective look at a great Washington Husky player, Wildcat Wilson; study the rise of Alabama; and a first in Cleveland in our daily retrospective of gridiron chronicles for each football day! We did our homework on this football day as football events are all over the map and throughout many decades. It's all great stuff with incredible stories and events of football significance! Listen here on the embedded player below, Sports History Network, or your favorite podcast distribution app!

September 6, 1946 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium packs in 60,135 fans as the All American Football Conference has it's very first regular season game played with the Cleveland Browns blanking the Miami Seahawks 44-0.  The legendary Paul Brown coached the Brownies to victory while a 25 year old Otto Graham was under center.

September 6, 1980 - Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota ends college football's longest losing streak ever, 50 games, as they find victory on this football day. The Division III Scots, started their long losing streak in 1974.  The low point was probably in 1977 when they gave up an average 59.1 points per game, according to espn.com and in one of those contests they lost by the score of 97-6 as the Concordia Moorhead Cobbers set an NAIA record with 14 TDs in the game. The game that broke the streak on this day in 1980 was a very dramatic and emotional win. With 11 seconds remaining in the game against Mount Senario College with the game deadlocked at 14 a piece, Macalester Kicker Bob Kaye, nailed a 23-yard field goal to put an end to the losing streak. 

September 6, 1987 - A CFL record field goal is reached as Saskatchewan kicker, Dave Ridgeway booted a 60 yard field goal at Taylor Field in Regina, Saskatchewan. The record would hold up for over 14 years, that is when on October 27, 2001 veteran kicker Paul McCallum kicked a 62 yard field goal to break the record on the same field while also playing for Saskatchewan.

September 6, 1890 - Earl William Bill Sprackling was Brown University's quarterback during the 1909, 1910 and 1911 seasons. The 1910 season was special for Sprackling as not only he selected as an All-American but he also was rated as the best college football player in 1910. Walter Camp chose the smallish 155 lb Sprackling to three straight seasons as a member to the All-American team; 3rd team in 1909, 1st team in 1910 and 2nd team in 1911.

September 6, 1901 - George Wilson or Wildcat Wilson, was a halfback from the University of Washington.  Wildcat showed his importance to the the Huskies team in the 1926 Rose Bowl Game. Wilson's dominant performance for much of the first half of the "Grand Daddy of them All" had opponent Alabama on their heels and down by a couple of scores. The Crimson Tide finally got a break late in the second quarter when George Wilson left the game due to injury. The Tide rolled led by Johnny Mack Brown with 20 unanswered points and were driving down the field to score again when the banged up Wildcat Wilson re-entered the contest and was significant in stalling the 'Bama drive at the Husky 12 yard line. Wilson then guided the Washington offense down the field and capped off the drive with Wilson throwing a 20 yard scoring strike to John Cole. It was not enough as the Tide held ont win the game 20-19. The stat line of the game showed that with Wilson on the field, the Washington Huskies gained 317 yards and put up 19 points, when he was out they mustered a mere 17 yards and were shut out while the Cromson Tide scored all 20 of their points in that 22 minute absence of Wilson from the contest. It really put Alabama football on the map as a prominant football power in the college football landscape. The 1926 Rose Bowl has gone down in history known as "The game that changed the South." but it could have been a much different game had Wildcat Wilson played the whole game. Needless to say, the College Football Hall of Fame invited George Wilson into their exclusive club of legends in 1951.