Football
How the Forward Pass Saved Football
With football now dominated by rocket-armed quarterbacks and fleet-footed receivers, it’s hard to imagine the sport without the forward pass. The play, however, was illegal for nearly four decades after the sport’s inception. When passing was finally permitted in 1906, to improve ...read more
7 Stunning College Football Bowl Game Upsets
With a national championship on the line, heavy favorites Arkansas (1966), Texas (1971) and Miami (1986 and 1993) flopped. Here's a look at seven of the most stunning upsets in college football bowl game history: 1. 1949 Rose Bowl: Northwestern 20, California 14 What made it ...read more
Tailgating: How the Pre-Game Tradition Can Be Traced to Ancient Times
Tailgating before college and professional football games is an American tradition. Starting in late summer and continuing through early winter, temporary tent cities pop up in stadium parking lots across the country. A haze of charcoal smoke fills the air along with laughter, ...read more
In epic Super Bowl upset, Jets make good on Namath guarantee
On January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, the New York Jets of the American Football League defeat the NFL's Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in Super Bowl III—a result considered one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Days earlier, Jets quarterback Joe Namath guaranteed a ...read more
The NFL's Bizarre 'Blizzard Bowl' and the Star Who Nearly Missed It
Few football games have been played in as bizarre conditions as the “Blizzard Bowl,” the Chicago Cardinals-Philadelphia Eagles NFL Championship Game on December 19, 1948. Stunned by an early morning storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow on the Philadelphia area, neither team ...read more
The Surprising Stories of 7 Heisman Trophy Winners
The Heisman Trophy is awarded annually by the Downtown Athletic Club to the top player in college football’s highest division. While many of those who have hoisted the trophy named for football coach and pioneer John Heisman initially pursued careers in the NFL, the lives of ...read more
7 Momentous College Football Coaching Hires
Some college football coaching hires have shifted the balance of power in the sport. Others have made major headlines and captured the public's attention but ultimately fizzled. Here are seven hires that shaped the game: 1. 1951: Woody Hayes leaves Miami (Ohio) for Ohio State ...read more
Weird and Wondrous: Evolution of Super Bowl Halftime Show
Duke Fields was only 19 in 1967 when he played in the halftime show at Super Bowl I between the Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers. A veteran of big shows with Grambling State University's renowned marching band, he remembers looking into the stands at Los Angeles Coliseum ...read more
Colts win NFL title in 'Greatest Game Ever Played'
On December 28, 1958, the Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants, 23-17, in overtime in the NFL Championship Game—a back-and-forth thriller that later is billed as "The Greatest Game Ever Played.” The nationally televised championship—the league's first overtime contest—is ...read more
NFL's Rams announce move to St. Louis
On January 17, 1995, the Los Angeles Rams announce they are leaving Southern California after 49 years and moving to St. Louis. The team, which reportedly lost $6 million in 1994, is lured to Missouri with a package that includes a new $260 million stadium and a $15 million ...read more
Dallas Cowboys win playoff game on 'Hail Mary' pass
On December 28, 1975, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach throws a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson in the waning seconds to beat the Minnesota Vikings in a playoff game, 17-14. Afterward, Staubach calls the miraculous touchdown a "Hail Mary," thus cementing the term ...read more
First NFL playoff game is played indoors
On December 18, 1932, the Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans, 9-0, in the NFL's first playoff game—and first game played indoors. The victory gives the Bears the championship and leads to a playoff system for the first time. Because of frigid weather and ...read more
The NFL's First Playoff Game Was Played Indoors in a Hockey Arena
On December 18, 1932, with waist-deep snow and frigid weather plaguing Chicago, the Bears moved their NFL championship game against the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans from Wrigley Field to the indoor arena of the city's NHL team. The league's first playoff game—and first contest ...read more
NFL's Greatest Play: The Immaculate Reception
In the decades before 22-year-old rookie Franco Harris' "Immaculate Reception—considered the greatest play in NFL history—the Pittsburgh Steelers were mostly awful. From its inception in 1933 to 1971, the team posted seven winning records and no playoff victories. "They were a ...read more
The NFL's Last Helmetless Player Didn't Even Like Hats
By the 1930s, leather helmets were a standard part of football uniforms—except for Dick Plasman. The Chicago Bears' receiver never liked hats, and he particularly despised the era’s uncomfortable football helmets that constantly dropped over his eyes and obscured his vision while ...read more
How Military Service Teams Dominated College Football During World War II
With football fields viewed as proving grounds, the military fielded teams that competed against top college programs during World War II. The Fort Knox Armoraiders, Iowa Pre-Flight Seahawks and other service teams played the likes of Notre Dame, Michigan and Ohio State. Military ...read more
How the NFL Popularized Thanksgiving Day Football
Thanksgiving football dates to at least 1876, when Yale defeated Princeton, 2-0, on a cold, bleak afternoon in Hoboken, New Jersey. By the 1890s, many college and high school teams played on the holiday. But the tradition didn't become a bonafide institution in professional ...read more
7 Unforgettable Thanksgiving Day NFL Games
Thanksgiving Day professional football games date to 1920. But the modern iteration of the tradition dates to 1934, when Detroit Lions owner George Richards made the holiday game a bonafide institution. Richards, a radio executive, helped line up a 94-station radio network to ...read more
First Thanksgiving college football game played
On November 30, 1876, Yale defeats Princeton, 2-0, in Hoboken, New Jersey in the first collegiate football game played on Thanksgiving. Nearly 1,000 fans attend the game, played in cold, rainy weather. "The friends of both colleges mustered in good force," the New York Times ...read more
Ernie Davis becomes first Black player to win Heisman Trophy
On December 6, 1961, Syracuse running back Ernie Davis becomes the first Black player to win the Heisman Trophy—college football's top individual award—beating Ohio State fullback Bob Ferguson. Earlier in day, Davis meets with President John Kennedy at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel ...read more
Two Days After JFK's Assassination, the Dallas Cowboys Faced Backlash
Two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the Dallas Cowboys played the Browns in front of angry, anguished and hostile fans in Cleveland. Many blamed Dallas, a hotbed of far-right extremism in the early 1960s, for JFK's ...read more
Chicago Bears beat Philadelphia Eagles in freaky Fog Bowl
On December 31, 1988, the Chicago Bears defeat the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-12, in a playoff game plagued by a thick fog starting late in the first half. Playing conditions at Soldier Field in Chicago become problematic, and fans in attendance and television viewers struggle to ...read more
Miami Dolphins beat Kansas City Chiefs in NFL's longest game
On December 25, 1971, Garo Yepremian boots a 37-yard field goal in the second overtime of an AFC playoff game to give the Miami Dolphins a 27-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the longest game in NFL history. Game time elapsed for the Christmas contest: 82 minutes and 40 ...read more
Minnesota Vikings' Jim Marshall runs wrong way with recovered fumble
On October 25, 1964, after recovering a fumble against the 49ers in San Francisco, Minnesota Vikings star defensive end Jim Marshall runs 66 yards the wrong way into his own end zone. The four-year veteran believes he has scored a touchdown, so he throws the ball out of bounds in ...read more