Football

Born April 24, 1918, was a legendary football player and executive Fred Gehrke. Fred was on the Cleveland Rams team that won the NFL Championship in 1945. Fred Gehrke went to college and suited up for the Utah Utes and also went on and played in the NFL for the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Cardinals from 1940 through 1950.

Fred started a trend that we can appreciate today.To boost team morale, Gehrke designed and painted the Los Angeles Rams logo in 1948, which was the first painted on the helmets of an NFL team.

-Frequently Asked Question

-Who was the first to paint a logo on a helmet? The answer in the pro game is Fred Gehrke of the Rams in 1948, check out more about it in the story: First Helmet Logo.

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Born January 12, 1920, in Odell, Illinois, was the great end from Utah, Mac Speedie. The Pro Football Hall of Fame says that Mac Speedie was the Detroit Lions' 15th-round pick in the 1942 NFL Draft, but he enlisted in the Army to serve his country rather than play pro ball, at least at first.

After the War, he signed on with the AAFC’s Cleveland Browns and led the League in receiving 3 out of the League's League four years, also setting AAFC records. He was an All-Pro three times, All-NFL twice, and All-AAFC in four seasons. The Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrined Mac Speedie 100 years after his birth in 2020.

More than just statistics, Speedie's story resonates with his resilience and pioneering spirit. He defied expectations, proving that size and past challenges could not hold him back. In a league dominated by hulking running backs and bruising linemen, Speedie carved his niche as a smaller, faster player who excelled with his skill and intelligence.

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It wasn't just a toss, it was a revolution. On September 5, 1906, amidst the mud and roar of St. Louis's World's Fair, Bradbury Robinson hurled a leather-bound rebellion. That seemingly simple act – the first legal forward pass in American football history – wasn't just a technicality; it was a seismic shift, a crack in the dam of a ground-bound game.

Before the pass, football was a battlefield of trenches and brute force. Running attacks dominated, often leaving players mangled and crowds bored. But Robinson, quarterback for Saint Louis University, saw a future painted in the sky. He saw the potential for aerial ballet, for strategy soaring beyond the scrum.

His first attempt, sailing incomplete, was a whisper amidst the rumble, but it carried the weight of change. His second, a 20-yard touchdown to Jack Schneider, echoed across the gridiron like a sonic boom. It was a turning point, a declaration that the air itself could be conquered, that touchdowns could be painted on the canvas of the sky.

The pass faced resistance. Purists cried sacrilege, clinging to the game's ground-bound traditions. But the genie was out of the bottle. The forward pass spread like wildfire, transforming the game into a three-dimensional chess match. Quarterbacks became generals, receivers their agile pawns, and the vertical threat altered defensive landscapes forever.

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Forget your flashy modern heroes, their carefully curated Instagram feeds and meticulously crafted personas. Today, we dip into a different era, a time when swagger was earned in blood and mud, and legends weren't manufactured, they were forged in the furnace of gridiron battle. Step back with us into the golden age of football, where a name reverberated through the coliseums of concrete and steel: Chic Harley.

Chic wasn't a nickname; it was an essence. He oozed confidence, a swagger born not from entitlement, but from years of back-breaking practice and an unyielding fire in his belly. He wasn't just a quarterback; he was a gunslinger, a magician with a slingshot, an artist sculpting touchdowns from pure grit and audacity.

Imagine, if you will, a time before million-dollar contracts and helmet commercials. A time when giants roamed the sidelines, men like Jim Brown and Johnny Unitas, and Chic Harley held his own amongst them. He wasn't the biggest, the fastest, but he possessed something more potent: an unshakeable belief in himself and a burning, insatiable desire to conquer every field he set foot on.

His story is woven from the fabric of American football folklore. From leading his high school team to an undefeated season to engineering comeback victories that defied logic, Chic etched his name on the trophy of every opponent he vanquished. He wasn't afraid to take risks, to dance on the edge of disaster, and more often than not, emerge victorious, a grin splitting his face and a defiant fire in his eyes.

But Chic wasn't just about stats and trophies. He was a showman, a performer who treated the gridiron like his personal stage. He'd juke defenders into oblivion, launch lasers of passes that defied physics, and celebrate with a flourish that left fans breathless. He was the embodiment of the game's raw joy, the infectious spirit that made people fall in love with football.

So, buckle up, folks, because we're about to take a deep dive into the legend of Chic Harley.

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The Buzz is real Electric FOotball stall stands as a fun way to enjoy the game

Football History Rewind: A glance at how football developed in stages especially in post Civil War America

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A look back at some of the early coaching clinics and educational venues for football coaches

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A football Archaeology salute to the team of the Butte Football Club Miners.

The National Football Foundation or better known as NFF, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and developing amateur American football on all levels throughout the United States. They aim to:
Support amateur football: This includes providing resources and funding to local youth leagues, high school programs, and college teams.
Develop leadership: They emphasize the importance of sportsmanship, teamwork, and competitive spirit in young athletes, fostering valuable skills beyond the field.
Recognize excellence: The NFF honors outstanding players, coaches, and contributors to the sport through awards and recognition programs.
Preserve history: They maintain the College Football Hall of Fame, celebrating the legends and traditions that have shaped the sport.
Promote academic achievement: The NFF emphasizes the importance of education for athletes, encouraging them to excel in academics alongside their athletic pursuits.
Overall, the National Football Foundation plays a crucial role in fostering the growth and appreciation of amateur football while also promoting essential values among young athletes.

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Football Archaeology digs up some events where fans and players got into altercations with officials over a call.