Football History of July 11

From transient road teams to tectonic shifts in sports media, July 11th stands as a fascinating cross-section of gridiron history. Imagine an NFL franchise born in Los Angeles that never actually played a single game in Southern California, or the massive summer stadium crowds that greeted the birth of the World Football League in 1974. This midsummer calendar date has played host to major milestones, from the retirement announcements of modern icons like Michael Irvin and Mike Vrabel to the birthdays of multi-talented Hall of Fame aerial game-changers like Cecil Isbell and Andre Johnson.

July 11 American Football History Timeline

• July 11, 1926 – The Los Angeles Buccaneers franchise forms. The team dissolved after playing just one season. According to the American Football Database website, the Buccaneers were a traveling team in the National Football League during the 1926 season. The team never actually played a league game in Los Angeles. It was operated out of Chicago with players from California colleges. According to the Database article, historian Michael McCambridge stated that the Buccaneers originally planned to play in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, but after the Coliseum Commission banned pro teams from its stadium, the franchise became a road team. The Bucs did have some success, though, as a traveling team, posting a respectable 6-3-1 record in the NFL in 1926. The last game of the Buccaneers’ existence was an exhibition game against their first AFL “cross-town” rivals, the Los Angeles Wildcats, in San Francisco, in which the Buccaneers were shut out, 17-0, on January 23, 1927. Just to note, the Wildcats never played a game in LA either in the first edition of the AFL.

The Newspapers.com Football History Headline of the Day comes from the July 11, 1974 edition of the Daily Reporter in Dover, Ohio, when they printed these block letters at the top of the page:

WFL is Born! Crowds bigger than predicted at openers

• July 11, 1974 – The World Football League debuts as teams play in their first games. Now, the bulk of the opening games were played the night prior on Wednesday, July 10, 1974, but the final action of the inaugural week was scheduled for Thursday. The WFLFootball.tripod.com says the scores for week one were as follows:

Memphis 34, knocking off Detroit 15, in front of a crowd of 30,122. Hawaiians lost to Florida 7-8, as 18,625 looked on.
Houston 0 at Chicago 17  with 42,000 in attendance.
Portland got beaten up by Philadelphia 8-33, with a crowd of 55,534 watching, and 5 Southern California 7 at Birmingham 11, with a nice group of fans numbering 53,231.
Thursday, July 11, in the week one finale, New York was in Jacksonville and took one on the chin, 7-14, in front of a summertime crowd of 59,112. (Source)

• July 11, 1976 – The first American football club formed in Austria was called the FAAFC. Football in Austria has since developed into a league that plays according to NCAA rules.
  2007 – Ladainian Tomlinson wins honors at the 15th Annual ESPY Awards.
  July 11, 2000 – Future Hall of Fame Dallas wide receiver Michael Irvin retired.  According to NFL.com, Michael was a 3-time Super Bowl Champion, a 5-time Pro Bowl selection, and a 1991 1st-Team All-Pro, the year he led the NFL with 1,523 receiving yards. He was also selected to the 1990’s All-Decade Team 11 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays
  Happy Birthday to these exceptional aerial game-changers! As we look ahead to July 11, we celebrate two distinct eras of passing greatness—from a pre-WWII dual-threat pioneer to one of the most physically dominant wide receivers of the modern era.
  Here is the list in order of birth:
  Cecil Isbell [1915] A phenomenal, versatile single-wing halfback for Purdue, Isbell excelled as a runner, punter, and passer, factoring into 15 of the Boilermakers’ 23 touchdowns in 1936 before earning All-America honors in 1937. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967, he went on to form a legendary professional passing tandem with Don Hutson for the Green Bay Packers, leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns twice.
  Andre Johnson [1981] A physically imposing, elite wide receiver who won a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes, Johnson was selected third overall in the 2003 NFL Draft and became the definitive foundational superstar for the Houston Texans franchise. The Class of 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee led the league in receiving yards twice, earned seven Pro Bowl nods, and retired with 1,062 catches and 14,185 yards, making history as the first Texan ever enshrined in Canton.
  Conclusion
  Whether charting the short-lived journeys of early pro franchises or celebrating the permanent legacies of Canton icons, July 11th showcases the relentless growth of football. The history captured on this day highlights how much the sport has transformed—expanding into international waters like Austria, breaking single-season league attendance records, and elevating individual superstars into household names. As we reflect on these moments, they remind us that the structural foundation and athletic standard of modern football were built by the pioneers who stepped onto the field on hot July days.m. Number 88 played for 12 seasons with the Cowboys and retired as the Cowboys’ all-time leader in receptions with 750 & 11,904 receiving yards (now 2nd behind Jason Witten in both categories).
  July 11, 2011 – Linebacker Mike Vrabel retired as a player. Vrabel, too, was 3-time Super Bowl champion, but with the Patriots. NFL.com informs the readers that Mike was a 2007 1st-Team All-Pro & 2008 Pro Bowl selection. The great backer played 14 seasons in the League with the Steelers, Patriots & Chiefs. He is currently the head coach of the Tennessee Titans.

July 11 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays

Happy Birthday to these exceptional aerial game-changers! As we look ahead to July 11, we celebrate two distinct eras of passing greatness—from a pre-WWII dual-threat pioneer to one of the most physically dominant wide receivers of the modern era.

Here is the list in order of birth:

• Cecil Isbell [1915] A phenomenal, versatile single-wing halfback for Purdue, Isbell excelled as a runner, punter, and passer, factoring into 15 of the Boilermakers’ 23 touchdowns in 1936 before earning All-America honors in 1937. Inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1967, he went on to form a legendary professional passing tandem with Don Hutson for the Green Bay Packers, leading the NFL in passing yards and touchdowns twice.
• Andre Johnson [1981] A physically imposing, elite wide receiver who won a national championship with the Miami Hurricanes, Johnson was selected third overall in the 2003 NFL Draft and became the definitive foundational superstar for the Houston Texans franchise. The Class of 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee led the league in receiving yards twice, earned seven Pro Bowl nods, and retired with 1,062 catches and 14,185 yards, making history as the first Texan ever enshrined in Canton.

Conclusion

Whether charting the short-lived journeys of early pro franchises or celebrating the permanent legacies of Canton icons, July 11th showcases the relentless growth of football. The history captured on this day highlights how much the sport has transformed—expanding into international waters like Austria, breaking single-season league attendance records, and elevating individual superstars into household names. As we reflect on these moments, they remind us that the structural foundation and athletic standard of modern football were built by the pioneers who stepped onto the field on hot July days.