Football History

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They say there's a great woman behind every great man, and the world of professional football is no exception. NFL wives have played many roles, from supportive spouses to savvy businesswomen and even philanthropists who leave their mark on the league. Today, we'll test your knowledge about one such power couple.

This legendary NFL player dominated the gridiron for over a decade, striking fear into the hearts of opposing defenses with his unparalleled passing ability. He was a multiple-time Pro Bowl selection and a cornerstone of his team's success. But who was the equally impressive woman standing by his side throughout his career?

In today's fun look at football factoids, we will have those questions posed to you.

The famous Princeton Tigers two-way end was good enough to be inducted to the College Football Hall of Fame. He had five football-playing brothers, and was the nephew of Edgar Allen Poe, the famous writer.

Art Poe, a name synonymous with early football brilliance, carved a remarkable path on the gridiron. Hailing from a family of football stars, Poe's athletic prowess was evident from the start. His collegiate career at Princeton University was nothing short of spectacular. A dynamic player, he was recognized as a Walter Camp All-American in both 1898 and 1899, a testament to his exceptional skills.

Poe's impact extended beyond the college field. He was a pivotal figure in the nascent professional football scene. As a member of the Homestead Library & Athletic Club, he clinched consecutive mythical professional football championships in 1900 and 1901. His journey continued with the Pittsburgh Stars in the inaugural National Football League, where he contributed to their championship victory in 1902.

Known for his speed, agility, and strategic play, Poe's contributions to the game were immense. His legacy is etched in the annals of football history, making him a true pioneer of the sport.

Beyond his athletic achievements, Poe's story is one of courage and resilience. His untimely passing at a relatively young age cast a shadow over his brilliant career. However, his impact on football remains enduring, inspiring generations of players and fans alike.

Born August 18, 1951 - Greg Pruitt was a runningback from Oklahoma who entered the College Football Hall of Fame as part of the induction class of 1999. Pruitt played in the NFL for 11 seasons most notably with the Cleveland Browns but also with the LA Raiders. He was selected to 5 Pro Bowls during his career. In Cleveland he made quite the one two punch with another Pruitt in the backfield, Mike, no relation.

Greg Pruitt's football career at the University of Oklahoma from 1969 to 1971, was exceptional. Pruitt dazzled fans with his electrifying speed and agility, making a significant impact on the Sooners' offense. His standout performances included leading the team to a national championship in 1971, and he earned All-American honors for his contributions. Pruitt’s ability to change the game with his dynamic playmaking skills made him a key player in Oklahoma’s storied football program, and his legacy endures as one of the great running backs in collegiate football history. These were some very translatable qualities to launch his NFL career.

Greg Pruitt was a dynamic playmaker in the NFL. Over 12 seasons, primarily with the Cleveland Browns, he amassed 5,672 rushing yards, showcasing his ability to break tackles and find the endzone.

As a versatile threat, Pruitt contributed significantly as a receiver, totaling 3,069 yards through the air. His impact extended beyond offense, as he excelled as a return specialist, setting an NFL record for punt return yards in a single season. Pruitt's combination of rushing prowess, receiving skills, and return abilities made him a formidable force in the league.

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We are presenting gridiron trivia in a whole new way. We took the style of a popular TV game show, and combined it with football history to amplify the fun factor.

It's a hangman-style quiz question where we will provide clues and letters to the name of an important player in football history while at the same time preserving the pigskin past and filling your football brain with gridiron information.

Take a look at the pigskin past with this pop quiz to test your grid IQ in a fun video format. It only takes seconds each day so subscribe and become a regular viewer.

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Watch to see if you're a gridiron encyclopedia! Ready to show off your football IQ? Hit that play button for the latest daily gridiron trivia question.

We push the boundaries of the football minds and memory banks each day with a challenging question, and today is no exception. Recharge your batteries and think of NFL football even in the off season.

Don't forget to like and subscribe for more football content!

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Choosing the top 4 players in Illinois Fighting Illini football history is no easy feat, given the program's rich history and numerous talented athletes. However, based on individual achievements, impact on the team, and lasting legacy, here are four contenders:

1. Red Grange (RB, 1923-25): Arguably the most iconic figure in Illini football history, Grange revolutionized the game with his dazzling speed and elusive moves. He won the 1925 Heisman Trophy, led the nation in rushing three times, and sparked the "Grangemania" phenomenon that captivated national attention.

2. Dick Butkus (LB, 1962-64): "Butkus" became synonymous with linebacker excellence. He won the 1963 Heisman Trophy, the Lombardi Award, and was a unanimous All-American. His ferocity, tackling prowess, and leadership anchored powerful Illini defenses.

3. Jeff George (QB, 1987-89): A controversial, yet undeniably talented quarterback, George holds multiple Illini records. He won the 1989 Sammy Baugh Award, passed for over 8,000 yards in just two seasons, and showcased raw NFL-caliber talent that landed him as the No. 1 overall draft pick.

4. Rashard Mendenhall (RB, 2004-07): Mendenhall rewrote the Illini rushing record books, holding the program record for single-season rushing yards (1,681) and career rushing touchdowns (44). He carried the offensive load during his time and was a key factor in the Illini's 2007 Rose Bowl appearance.

Honorable Mentions:

-Jim Grabowski (QB, 1964-66): Led the Illini to two Big Ten titles and became the NFL's first Jewish starting quarterback.

-McKinley Brown (DE, 1975-77): Holds the Illini record for career sacks and was a dominant force on the defensive line.

-Bobby Mitchell (WR, 1958-61): A pioneer for Black athletes in the Big Ten, Mitchell was a dynamic receiver and went on to NFL stardom.

It's important to note that this is just a starting point, and other players could be argued for based on different criteria.

Kidd Brewer Stadium is a stadium in Boone, North Carolina, United States. It is the home field of the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team, which competes in the Sun Belt Conference of the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. The stadium opened in 1962 and has a seating capacity of 30,400.

The stadium is named after Kidd Brewer, who served as the head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team from 1940 to 1960. Brewer led the Mountaineers to four Southern Conference championships and is considered one of the most successful coaches in the program's history.
Kidd Brewer Stadium has been the site of several memorable moments in Appalachian State football history, including the Mountaineers' upset victories over No. 5 Michigan in 2007 and No. 20 Tennessee in 2016.

The stadium has also hosted a number of other events, including concerts and high school football games.
Kidd Brewer Stadium is located on the Appalachian State University campus, just off Highway 321. The stadium is easily accessible by car and is also served by a number of public transportation options.


Here are some additional details about Kidd Brewer Stadium:
Address: 270 Stadium Dr, Boone, NC 28607, USA
Seating capacity: 30,400
Opened: 1962
Named after Kidd Brewer, head coach of the Appalachian State Mountaineers football team from 1940 to 1960
Notable events: Upset victories over No. 5 Michigan (2007) and No. 20 Tennessee (2016)

Born February 10, 1965, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, was the cornerback with World Speed from Purdue Rod Woodson.

Per his bio on the FootballFoundation.org website Rod was the 1986 runner-up for the Jim Thorpe Award and left Purdue holding 13 individual school records. He left Purdue as the career leader in solo tackles, interceptions, interception return yardage, interceptions returned for touchdowns, kickoff returns and kickoff return yardage, and he still ranks in the top five in nearly every category. Rod Woodson was honored with induction into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2016 after the National Football Foundation tallied their votes. Woodson was the tenth overall player taken in the 1987 NFL Draft picked by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

All he did was produce great stats for the majority of his career. In 1993 he was the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and was a six time All-Pro during his 17 year career. Rod picked off 71 career passes and held the NFL record for interception return yards at 1473 when he retired. Besides the Steelers , Woodson played with the 49ers, the Ravens and the Raiders. Rod Woodson was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. For more on this legend, check out these awesome posts below:

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The 1982 match-up where a well-meaning grounds crew member helped hi New England Patriots enjoy themselves at home.

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Football Archaeology's Timothy Brown shares the story of an interesting field equipment predicament that occurred in a 1974 college football game.

It is an odd case of game management versus fandom and how the outcome of a game was at stake.

-Transcribed Conversation with Timothy Brown on the Missing Goal Post

Hello, my football friends; this is Darin Hayes of PigskinDispatch.com. Welcome once again to The Pig Pen, your portal for positive football history, and welcome to another Tuesday where we get to go to footballarchaeology.com's Timothy P. Brown, pick his brain a little bit, and talk about one of his recent tidbits. Tim, welcome back to The Pig Pen.

Hey, thanks, Darin. Looking forward to talking again and talking about something that goes missing. Yeah, and we've been missing you since last week, but that's not the missing that we're going to be talking about today.

You're going to talk about a recent tidbit you titled, The Case of the Missing Goalposts.

It sounds like a Sherlock Holmes theater here for footballarchaeology.com. I can get that in my mouth, right?

Well, I was a Hardy Boys guy as a kid, so everything was The Case of the Treasure Chest. I think Nancy drew, too, but I wasn't into Nancy. Yeah, so this one, The Case of the Missing Goalposts, goes back to the old, I should say, Princeton and Rutgers.

They played the first intercollegiate soccer games in 1869. Note, I did say soccer there, but then eventually they started playing football, gridiron football. They're very close together geographically, and so they played 60-some times, whatever it was, over the years.

Princeton totally dominated the match or the matchups, but starting in the 60s, Rutgers started winning a lot. Then, they became the dominant team. It's somewhere along the lines in the 60s that, back then, there were a lot of... Nowadays, hardly anybody tears down the goalposts because they used to... Number one, they used to be constructed of primary wood, so they're easier to tear down.

We didn't have the same level of security, and there were a lot of those. The other thing was that a little bit later on, when goalposts got torn down, a couple of people got injured, and then they sued the universities and so on. Anyway, it's easier to get into Fort Knox now than it is to tear down some goalposts.

They just made it nearly impossible to tear down a goalpost. Back in the 60s, it was very common, 50s as well. People just tore them down all the time.

What happened in the Princeton and Rutgers series was that no matter where the game was being played, the winning team and their fans tore down the goalposts. Then, there were a couple of occasions where they tore them down before the game was over. That happened in 1974 when Rutgers scored a touchdown earlier in the game.

They didn't make the extra points. They were leading six nothing with three and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Princeton gets the ball and they start driving.

They drive all the way down. Partly during the time that they're driving, the Rutgers fans come onto the field and tear down the goalposts at both ends. Now the field doesn't have goalposts.

With 22 seconds left, Princeton scores. It's 6-6. They've got an opportunity to go for the extra point or the two-point conversion.

They want to go for the extra point, but there's no goalposts to kick towards. The officiating crew gets together, and then they bring the coaches in, and they're having a conversation. The Princeton AD tells the referee that they've got a spare goalpost sitting on the stands, and they can have it up in five minutes.

Somehow, that got lost in the translation, and the referee didn't hear that. He basically thought they could start building a new goalpost in five minutes. They start looking at whether they should go over to a practice facility outside the stadium. The referee didn't want to go there because they were already having control issues.

He's like, I don't even know how far away this practice facility is. Then, Princeton volunteered their cheerleaders, had one cheerleader mount and stand on the shoulders of another cheerleader, and held the crossbar in place. Then they'd attempt to kick.

I'm just imagining an errant kick, like the double doink, and taking a cheerleader out. Yeah, it's a risk to the profession. Ultimately, the ref just knows, Princeton, it's on your home field.

You're responsible for field security. It doesn't matter who tore the things down. No goalposts, you have to go for two.

So Princeton goes for two. They don't make it. So the game ends in a 6-6 tie.

But basically, after that, that game is 74. In 75, the NCAA had a requirement that facilities had to have a spare set of goalposts that could be put up rapidly if they fell down during the game. But again, it was this kind of stuff that kind of encouraged the adoption of the, some people call it the fork of a slingshot style, single post goalpost and then fortified with depleted uranium or something.

They make those things, titanium, whatever it is. Those things do not come down. Except for that Fanville commercial and Dr. Pepper commercial a couple of years ago, where Brian Bosworth is the cop, and he's looking for the missing goalposts.

One guy has a satellite dish up on it, and the other one across the street is a swing set, and he can't find the slingshot goalpost. Well, I know that a lot of people are fans of the Dr. Pepper commercials. I don't count in that group.

I just said it because I had the reference of the missing goalpost. That's actually pretty funny when you watch it. Kind of clever.

Yeah. Actually, some of them are pretty good. Yeah.

But that's just something that sounds so foreign. It sounds like something maybe would happen in 1911, but in 1974, this is modern-era football and a goalpost for two major colleges playing each other. That's just crazy.

It's unbelievable that within 50 years ago. Yeah. It's like anything else.

Until something happens, you don't make the rules, or you don't make the investment. It's just easier. Back then it was kind of like, well, yeah, the kids are going to tear them down.

So let's make them cheap because they're going to tear them down anyway. And then somebody went the other direction and said, I'm going to build me a fine goalpost. So that's what we have today.

Yeah. The next thing you know, we're going to have bands out on the field before the game's over. Oh wait, that did happen, too.

Yeah. Yeah. Oh boy.

Tim, that is some great stuff. And we always enjoy your tidbits each and every day for stories just like this and learn something new from 50 years ago or a hundred and some years ago. And we really appreciate that.

And there are folks out there who would like to get in on the action, too, and read your tidbits each and every day. Maybe you could give them some information to share. Sure.

The best way to get to the tidbits is to go to www.footballarchaeology.com and subscribe. You can subscribe for free, and then you'll get an email every day with that day's story. You can also get the Substack app or follow Football Archaeology.

You can also follow me on threads or on Twitter. And I post on both of those locations every day. All right.

Well, Timothy P. Brown, footballarchaeology.com. We really appreciate you. And we will talk to you again next Tuesday.

Very good.Thank you, sir.

Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai.