Football history is full of unforgettable moments, and September 22 is a date packed with them. From a landmark NFL player strike that changed the League forever to legendary coaches reaching monumental milestones, this day has seen it all. But it’s not just about the pros—September 22 also marks the birth of college football icons who revolutionized the game with their athleticism and innovation. Get ready to dive into a captivating look at the gridiron’s past, celebrating the birthdays and significant events of football greats who left their mark on September 22.
Bartholomew, Charles Lewis ‘Bart’, 1869-1949
September 22 American Football History Timeline
- September 22, 1987 – The NFL Players’ Association started a strike that lasted 24 days. The players wanted Free Agency to be part of the agreement between the NFLPA and the NFL owners. They had technically had free agency for almost a decade by then. Still, a clause in the contract, known as the “Rozelle Rule,” stipulated that if a team signed a player, the Commissioner could review the transaction and compensate the team losing that player with draft picks or players from the new team.
As the 1987 season began, negotiations weren’t going the way the players wanted, so in week four they walked out and went on strike. The NFL owners retaliated by bringing in replacement players, and it proved a disastrous experiment for ownership. The quality of play dropped considerably, and fans demanded the same high standard the League had started the season with. But star players such as Joe Montana, Mark Gastineau, and Steve Largent started breaking ranks and crossed the picket line. This eventually led all players to return to work in week 7. Interestingly, the games played by the replacement players were counted in the team’s overall record.
- September 22, 1991 – Miami Dolphins Head Coach Don Shula won his 300th NFL game! Shula began his NFL head-coaching career in 1963 with the Baltimore Colts at age 33. He spent 7 seasons there, tallying 71 wins, before leaving for warmer weather in Miami and staying for 26 seasons. Don Shula won 1 NFL Championship in 1968 with the Colts and then won two Super Bowls at the helm of the Dolphins, including the NFL’s only undefeated Super Bowl team in 1972!
September 22 Football Hall of Fame Birthdays
Happy Birthday to these iconic gridiron figures! As we look at September 22, we celebrate a lineup spanning more than a century of football history—from 19th-century kicking pioneers and Notre Dame legends to Hall of Fame wideouts and executive masterminds.
- Alex Moffat [1862]- A 19th-century kicking sensation and 1971 College Football Hall of Fame inductee at Princeton, Moffat was renowned for his ambidextrous drop-kicking ability, famously booting field goals with both feet and captaining the Tigers to an undefeated 1884 season.
- Hunk Anderson [1898] – A consensus All-American guard at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne, Anderson helped anchor the line for the Chicago Bears in the 1920s before succeeding Rockne as the Fighting Irish head coach and later serving as co-head coach of the Bears.
- Larry Bettencourt [1905] – A consensus All-American center and linebacker at Saint Mary’s under Slip Madigan, Bettencourt was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and played in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers alongside a career in Major League Baseball.
- Ray Evans [1922] – The first player in Kansas Jayhawks history to have his number (#42) retired, Evans was a two-time All-American who led the nation in both passing and interceptions before earning enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame.
- George Young [1930] – A five-time NFL Executive of the Year and Class of 2020 Pro Football Hall of Famer, Young revitalized the New York Giants as general manager from 1979 to 1997, drafting cornerstone players like Lawrence Taylor to construct two Super Bowl championship rosters.
- Harold Carmichael [1949] – Standing a towering 6-foot-8, Carmichael used his rare size and catch radius to become the Philadelphia Eagles’ all-time receiving leader, earning four Pro Bowl selections, 1970s All-Decade Team honors, and enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
- Bob Crable [1959] – A two-time consensus All-American linebacker who remains Notre Dame’s all-time tackling leader (521 career tackles), Crable is immortalized for his leaping 1979 blocked field goal against Michigan and his enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame before playing six NFL seasons with the New York Jets
Big thanks to the sources we used to create this fact-filled page for your football enjoyment, including Pro-Football-Reference.com, Newspapers.com, NFF.com, and NFL.com, among others.
Details on the image of the day:
Cover illustrated by Lon Keller, program published by the University of Illinois Athletic Association, courtesy of a kind uploader to Wikimedia Commons.
