By Darin September 12 marks a historic day of professional debuts and unprecedented winning streaks on the gridiron. From the Seattle Seahawks playing their very first regular-season game in 1976 under the Kingdome roof to the newly relocated Cardinals bringing Monday Night Football to Phoenix in 1988, this date is packed with franchise milestones. Take a deep dive into the origins of the NFL’s oldest continuous franchise, a bizarre World War II team merger, and the legendary college players who literally forgot how to lose.
September 12 American Football History Timeline
- September 12, 1976 – The Seattle Seahawks play their inaugural regular-season game in a loss to St. Louis, 30 to 24.
Jack Patera was the head coach of the Hawks as they played in front of a sold-out Kingdome, and the Seahawks played hard in close games but still started the franchise off by losing five straight to begin the inaugural season.
A pair of legendary rookies gained valuable early-season experience as quarterback Jim Zorn was under center for Seattle, and his favorite career target, Hall of Famer Steve Largent, was at wideout. Jim Hart quarterbacked the Cardinals that day as the Cardinals rolled.
- September 12, 1988 – This is the very first NFL game played in Phoenix, Arizona, as the newly transplanted Cardinals hosted the Dallas Cowboys.
The second matchup was a Monday Night Football game that week, and the Cowboys spoiled the party in the desert with a 17-14 victory over the Redbirds.
When you peek at the box score, you have to take a second look as it shows Jay Novacek of Phoenix catching a 23-yard pass for a score from Cardinals quarterback Neil Lomax in the final score of the game. One could easily forget that Novacek played five seasons for the Redbirds before making his mark in Big D with the boys.
The Cardinals have a long history, and we actually are the oldest franchise still playing in the NFL.
The origin of the franchise goes all the way back to 1898 when a man named Chris O’ Brien formed the Morgan Athletic Club team, which, a few years later, bought and had their team wear cast-off, faded uniforms from the University of Chicago Maroons. O’ Brien described the uniforms as Cardinal Red, and the nickname stuck, helping to set the team colors for years to come.
That season, they played their home games at 61st and Racine Street and were dubbed the Racine Street Cardinals.
As far as the NFL goes, there were charter members of the league and started off in Chicago with the Cardinals name in 1920 and played in Windy City until 1959, except for the 1944 season when they combined with Pittsburgh to create a team called the Card Pitts due to a player shortage caused by World War II. From 1961 through the 1987 seasons, they played as the St. Louis Cardinals.
A more recent move in 1988 to the desert had them play as the Phoenix Cardinals until 1993 when they changed their location name to the Arizona Cardinals for better representation of the area.
September 12 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays
- September 12, 1891 – John Bay Brown played for the Navy as a guard. Babe was a first-team college football American at guard in the 1913 season.
The 1913 Army-Navy game ended in a 6 -0 Midshipmen win, as Brown scored all the points with two field goals. Brown later served as the president of the National Football Foundation, which oversees the College Football Hall of Fame.
In 1955, the voters placed the story of his collegiate football career into the College Football Hall of Fame. Brown ended up being a Vice admiral in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
- September 12, 1964 – Lynn Thompson was a defensive tackle of Agostana College, and he was born on his date. He is the only player in college football history to start 50 games over four years and never lose a game.
The Augustana Vikings teams that Thompson played for from 1983 through the 1986 seasons were an amazing 49 wins, zero losses, and one tie. They also won four, yes, four NCAA Division III championships during those years.
Lynn was an All-American in the 1986 season in Division III and was the Defensive Player of the Year in the College Conference of Illinois. The College Football Hall of Fame enshrined and selected Thomas to join their ranks in 1997’s entry class.
Conclusion
The milestones of September 12th weave a rich tapestry of football’s enduring evolution, spanning from the birth of the 1898 Morgan Athletic Club to the modern NFL expansion era. Whether it is celebrating the early chemistry of Jim Zorn and Steve Largent, tracking the nomadic history of the Cardinals, or honoring the undefeated legacy of Hall of Famer Lynn Thompson, this date reminds us how deep the roots of the game run. For more positive football news, comic strips, and daily historical deep dives, be sure to explore Pigskin Dispatch and our partners at the Sports History Network.