Football History on 10th of January

January 10, 1982 - Candlestick Park, San Francisco - The NFC Championship Game. In what has become one of the most iconic moments in NFL history and the defining play that established the dynasty of the 1980’s. With 58 seconds remaining Quarterback Joe Montana scrambled right and was under heavy pressure from the DoomsDay Defense when he let a pass sail high, seemingly to those observing it out of bounds. But suddenly, appearing almost out of nowhere was Dwight Clark’s leaping, outstretched fingertip catch for a touchdown to give the Niners the lead and the sixth lead change of the day. The Cowboys were not done yet according to an NFL Network, NFL 100 Minute: Relive the Catch clip. Down by one, Cowboys QB Danny White connected with Drew Pearson for a 31 yard hook up that drove Dallas to the San Fran 44 yard line. The Cowboys called timeout and then the next play White was strip sacked and the 49ers recovered to hang on to a 28-27 victory.

The Greatest Show on Turf, St Louis Rams seemed poised for another run at the Super Bowl on January 10, 2004, when they met the Carolina Panthers in the 2003 NFC Divisional playoffs. The Panthers had something else in mind as Carolina led 23-12 with less than three minutes remaining. The Rams turned on their offense with a flurry of points in the final moments to tie the game at 23. In the second overtime session, Steve Smith hauled in a Jake Delhomme pass and raced 69 yards for the game-ending touchdown.

January 10, 1892 - Jersey City, New Jersey - Army’s strong tackle, Alex Weyand was born. Alex was a three time All-Eastern player and the captain of the 1915 Army squad. He is considered one of the top tackles in the game of his era. The National Football Foundation voters chose the name and statistics of Alex Weyand to enter into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1974.

January 10, 1982 - Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati - The San Diego Chargers had to put on their parkas and travel to chilly Cincinnati to play the Bengals in the AFC Championship Game. We found a great story on this game on FullPressCoverage.com where they tell that game time temperatures were 9 degrees below 0 on the fahrenheit thermometers! With a constant 27 MPH wind the wind chills were recorded at -59°F! If you remember back to our December 31 post we said that the 1967 NFC Championship game fondly remembered as the Ice Bowl had a temperature of -13°F and that was the coldest NFL game ever played, that game did not have the windchill factor that the Freezer Bowl did though. So windchill-wise the Freezer Bowl in the coldest NFL game on record. The Chargers coming from Southern California were not used to the cold and it froze their “Air Coryell” offense. The Bengals had a secret weapon, their head coach, Forrest Gregg was a hall of Fame tackle that played on that Green Bay squad that had won the Ice Bowl some decade and a half earlier. The Cincinnati Bengals had a true homefield advantage in this one as they cruised past the San Diego Chargers, 27-7.

We reflect on what happened in football History on January 10. The biggest play in San Francisco 49ers history; as well as many more Hall of Fame Legendary stories and birthdays As we flip the calendar page, we delve into another chapter of pigskin history. From legendary comebacks that defied th...