The middle of September is right in the heart of most football seasons. Teams and players are starting to find their “sea-legs” as the season commences, and some interesting events have unfolded through the years on the day.
Our podcast version of the day’s events.
September 15 American Football History Timeline
- September 15, 1928 – The First team to wear numbers on the FRONT of their jersey, according to FootballArchaeology.com, was the San Francisco Presidio (Ninth Corps Area) football team (sometimes called the West Coast Army) against the Pacific Fleet Eleven on Armistice Day.
- September 15, 1940 – The 3rd edition of the American Football League plays its first game. The Milwaukee Chiefs overcame the Columbus Bullies by the score of 14-2.
- September 15, 1959 – George A. Sarles’ patent on a radio transmitter device for inside a quarterback’s helmet is published. HELMET RADIOS INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER. US Patent 2904645A
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website, two inventors from Ohio, George Sarles and his partner John Campbell, had a concept of improving communication from the sideline to players on the field. The two men approached Cleveland Brown’s legendary Head Coach, Paul Brown, in 1956 with the idea. Brown loved the idea and agreed to have the inventors put a prototype into Cleveland quarterback George Ratterman’s helmet. The radio transmitter was carefully installed into Ratterman’s head protector, and Paul Brown made the project of testing the device top secret. Campbell and Sarles tested the transmission in a wooded area behind John Campbell’s house. It worked great for a bit as Sarles put on the helmet and walked off into the woods. Soon, though, the signal weakened and then went quiet on Campbell’s end.
John went to try to find his friend, and eventually he did. Sarles was talking with a local police officer who had picked up the transmission signal on his police radio. Luckily enough, the policeman was a big fan of the Browns and promised to keep the secret. The inventors made sure to change the frequency they were using, though. Paul Brown covertly used the helmet transmitter in a preseason exhibition game against the Detroit Lions.
The keen Lions staff noticed that Brown was not using his regular substitution platoon to run plays from the sideline to the huddle. One Lions assistant was so suspicious that he investigated further and found the transmitter hidden behind a wooden pole. The secret was out. The rest of the league attempted to devise their own devices, but none matched the quality of Sarles and Campbell’s design. The Browns used the transmitter for 3 more games until Commissioner Bert Bell made that type of device illegal in the NFL. John Campbell donated Ratterman’s helmet to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it is on display for all to see.
- September 15, 1974 – The Steel Curtain Dynasty Officially Kicks Off: The Pittsburgh Steelers opened their regular season at Three Rivers Stadium with a dominant 30–0 shutout victory over the Baltimore Colts. The game marked the official regular-season start of Pittsburgh’s historic 1974 campaign—powered by the legendary 1974 rookie draft class (Lynn Swann, Jack Lambert, John Stallworth, and Mike Webster)—which culminated four months later in the franchise’s very first championship at Super Bowl IX.
- September 15, 1975 – Notre Dame defeats Boston College 17-3 at Foxboro Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two Catholic universities. The series has been dubbed the ‘Holy War” by some.
- September 15, 1979 – The 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs hosted the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Athens, Georgia, for the season’s opening game. The Demon Deacons came prepared and surprised the Bulldogs by piling up 31 first downs and running 91 offensive plays, as they amassed 570 yards of total offense. Wide out Wayne Baumgardner caught a pair of first-quarter TD passes from Jay Venuto for Wake’s points, but the Deacons trailed 21-13 at the end of the second stanza.
The Demon Deacons came out fired up after halftime and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Wake Forest then pulled to being down 21-16 on a 34-yard field goal by Frank Harnisch in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the Deacons took a 22-21 lead on a 9-yard pass from Venuto to James McDougald and never looked back. Wake Forest defensive back Larry Ingram intercepted a pair of passes from Buck Belue in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. McDougald finished with 189 yards rushing on 30 carries, and Venuto was named Sports Illustrated’s College Player of the Week.
- September 15, 1996 – John Elway’s 35th Fourth-Quarter Comeback: Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway added another chapter to his clutch fourth-quarter legacy against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Trailing late, Elway orchestrated a signature 14-play, 80-yard game-winning drive, culminating in a touchdown strike to Shannon Sharpe to secure a 27–23 victory and keep Denver on track for their 13–3 campaign.
September 15 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays
As we do each day of the year, here are the College and Pro Football Hall of Fame players with September 15 birthdays:
- John McGovern [1887] – An elite field general for the University of Minnesota, McGovern directed the Golden Gophers’ high-powered attack and earned Walter Camp All-American honors in 1909 before his enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
- Chic Harley [1894] – Ohio State’s very first three-time All-American, Harley transformed Buckeye football into a national powerhouse, leading OSU to a 21-1-1 mark across three seasons and sparking the immense fan support that justified building Ohio Stadium. The 1951 College Football Hall of Fame inductee was a dynamic four-sport athlete who served as a World War I fighter pilot between championship campaigns.
- Gene McEver [1908] – A two-time All-American halfback who never lost a varsity game at the University of Tennessee, McEver starred alongside Buddy Hackman in the Volunteers’ legendary 1929 “Hac and Mac” backfield. Enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1954, his famous 98-yard kickoff return against powerhouse Alabama in 1928 permanently announced Tennessee as a national gridiron force.
- John Green [1924] -A standout guard first for Tulane and then for Army during the height of World War II, Green earned back-to-back All-American honors while anchoring the Black Knights’ interior line during their consecutive national championship seasons in 1944 and 1945. His dominant collegiate blocking earned him enshrinement into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.
- Francis “Reds” Bagnell [1928] – A versatile, nine-letter athlete who grew up in the shadow of Franklin Field, Bagnell starred at quarterback for the University of Pennsylvania, highlighted by an unforgettable 1950 performance against Dartmouth where he racked up 490 yards of total offense and completed 14 consecutive passes. The Maxwell Award winner and 1977 College Football Hall of Fame inductee remains one of the greatest single-game playmakers in Ivy League history.
- Merlin Olsen [1940] – An Outland Trophy winner at Utah State, Olsen became the 1962 NFL Rookie of the Year and anchored the Los Angeles Rams’ legendary “Fearsome Foursome” defensive line across 15 dominant seasons. Enshrined in both the College (1980) and Pro Football (1982) Halls of Fame, the 14-time Pro Bowler later became a beloved television actor and premier network broadcaster.
MERLIN OLSEN
- Dan Marino [1961] – An All-American passer at the University of Pittsburgh who famously slipped to the 27th pick in the historic 1983 NFL Draft, Marino spent 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins rewriting virtually every major professional passing record with his lightning-fast release. The 1984 NFL MVP and dual College (2003) and Pro Football (2005) Hall of Famer finished his career with 61,361 passing yards and 420 touchdown passes.
DAN MARINO
- Will Shields [1971] – An Outland Trophy winner and consensus All-American at Nebraska, Shields became the ultimate iron man at guard for the Kansas City Chiefs, playing in 224 consecutive games and earning 12 straight Pro Bowl selections from 1995 to 2006. Inducted into both the College (2011) and Pro Football (2015) Halls of Fame, he was named the 2003 Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year for his extraordinary community leadership.
