Logo of a historically black college football team that plays in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, the Texas Southern University Tigers. The program, which began play in 1947, has won 4 conference titles and a pair of Black College national championships. TSU alumni who have gone on to play pro football include Julius Adams, Ken Burrough, Brent Maxie, Ernie Holmes, W.K. Hicks and Pro Football Hall of Famers Michael Strahan and Winston Hill.
1977 Topps football card of former pro football fullback Sam “Bam” Cunningham, who played 10 seasons in the NFL, all for the New England Patriots. Known for his bruising running style, he was a Pro Bowler in 1978 and is a member of the Patriots’ Hall of Fame. His younger brother is Randall Cunningham, who enjoyed a long NFL career as a quarterback. Cunningham passed away in 2021 at the age of 71.
We’re headed into the home stretch of the NFL season, and one of this week’s games matches the team with the best record, the Arizona Cardinals, against the club with the worst mark, the Detroit Lions. These 2 teams met in a game played on October 1, 1967 at St.Louis’ Busch Stadium, when the Cardinals were located in the Gateway To The West city. Both of these teams were perennial also-rans in the 1960s, but it didn’t keep them from providing fans with some exciting games during the decade. This game veered from the usual “three yards and a cloud of dust” style of 1960s NFL football. It turned into what qualified as a shootout in that era between Detroit veteran signal caller Milt Plum and the Cardinals’ young second year gunslinger, Jim Hart.
The Lions came out swinging and took an early 7-0 lead with a drive that ended on a one yard scoring plunge by Mel Farr. Detroit then pinned the Cards deep in their own territory, and when Hart tried to throw out of his own end zone Larry Hand picked it off at the 2 yard line and walked into the end zone to up the lead to 14-0. St. Louis finally found their bearings in the second quarter and Hart guided them to a couple of scores, with halfback Johnny Roland finding paydirt from a yard out and Jim Bakken booting a 39 yard field goal to put the game within striking distance at 14-10. Plum took to the air and found his favorite target, Pat Studstill, on a 37 yard touchdown throw to extend the lead to 21-10. When Roland found the end zone again for the Cards, on another 1 yard run, the gap was closed to 21-17 at the half.
The Cardinals came out of the locker room rejuvenated in the second half, and took the lead when Hart hit his tight end, Jackie Smith, with a 57 yard touchdown bomb. Roland scored his third rushing touchdown, from 6 yards out, to end the third quarter scoring, and St. Louis suddenly found themselves up 28-17. The Lions fought back in the final quarter, and Plum and Studstill connected again, on a 23 yard scoring pass. Plum finished with 206 yards passing for the day, a sizable amount for a game in those days, with Studstill amassing 107 of those yards on 5 catches. Hart had a favorite target that day also in split end Billy Gambrell, who also had 5 receptions, for 117 yards. The biggest of the connections for the Cardinal duo resulted in a 48 yard touchdown that completed the scoring. When the final gun sounded, St. Louis had themselves a hard-fought 38-28 victory.
Johnny Roland stopped by the Lions’ defense
Both clubs settled into their usual mediocrity as the season wore on, with the Cardinals finishing third in the league’s Century Division at 6-7-1, and Detroit also winding up third in the Central Division at 5-7-2. There was at least a hint of hope in Detroit in the ’67 season as the Lions boasted both the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of The Year in Farr and Lem Barney.
Cards vs. Lions game program
Menacing-looking logo of a Football Subdivision college team that plays in the Southland Conference, the Northwestern Louisiana State Demons. Their program began play in 1907 and they have won 12 conference titles over the years. Despite their small college status, there have been many former Demons who have made a big impact in pro football, including Joe Delaney, John Stephens, Terrence McGee, Bobby Hebert, Monte Ledbetter, Mark Duper, Gary Reasons, Jackie Smith, Charlie Tolar, Marcus Spears, Odessa Turner and Al Edwards. Ed Orgeron, national championship-winning coach at LSU, is also an alumnus of the school.
1969 Topps football card of former pro football running back Johnny Roland, who played for 8 years in the NFL, all but 1 for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was voted as Rookie of The Year in 1966 and a two-time Pro Bowler. Roland has had a long 27 year career as an assistant coach for 7 different NFL teams, and also served as an assistant at Notre Dame for a year. He was a member of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl-winning staff in 1985. His post-playing days also include ownership of radio stations in St. Louis and rural Alabama.
The oldest rivalry in pro football gets renewed this week on the NFL schedule as the Chicago Bears take on the Green Bay Packers. For this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we’ll travel back to November 4, 1973 for a matchup between these 2 historic franchises. By the ’73 season, the Packers were long past the Vince Lombardi dynasty years, and the Bears’ founder, owner and coach George “Papa Bear” Halas had moved from the sideline into the front office to run the club. The teams were now coached by a couple of forgettable names – Dan Devine with Green Bay and the large, jovial Abe Gibron for the Bears. Both teams were foundering, with the Packers at 2-3-2 and Chicago a lowly 2-5, entering the game.
Bears’ coach Abe Gibron, large and in charge
The Bears’ quarterback at the time was an NFL enigma. A novelty in 1973 but perhaps a player well ahead of his time, he was Bobby Douglass, a 6’4″ 225 lb. corn-fed Kansas boy. Douglass was a couple of things that didn’t mesh with NFL football quarterbacks at the time. He was left-handed, and he was a runner rather than an effective passer. His career passing statistics are cringe-worthy – in 10 seasons, he threw for 36 touchdowns and 64 interceptions and had a career QB rating of 48.5. Nevertheless, he paved the way for southpaw throwers like Ken Stabler and later Steve Young to be accepted despite being lefty and having run game skills. It could be argued that Douglass was the original lab experiment and Young the perfected final product.
Back to the November 1973 game. It was at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, an intimidating place for visiting teams in the Lombardi era but not so much now. This was a matchup between Douglass and the heir apparent to Bart Starr, a not-so-legendary signal caller named Scott Hunter. The pair traded first quarter touchdowns as Douglass opened the scoring on a 1 yard run, with Hunter answering on a 5 yard scoring toss to MacArthur Lane. In the second stanza Hunter ran in from a yard out and the clubs traded field goals, putting Green Bay ahead 17-10 at the half. The second half turned out to be the Bobby Douglass show. He accounted for all the scoring with 3 more short TD runs, giving him a total of 4 six-pointers on the day as he amassed an even 100 yards rushing on 18 carries. His passing stats were unspectacular but efficient, as he hit on 10 of 15 throws for 118 yards in his team’s 31-17 victory. In all the Bears rushed for 230 yards while their defense made life miserable for Hunter. He completed only 3 of 15 passes for a meager 17 yards. The only offensive bright spot for the Packers was the 119 yards gained on the ground by Lane and John Brockington, who was a very underrated running back in the post-Lombardi Packer era. Unfortunately for the Bears, this would be the last game they won in the ’73 season as they finished 3-11 for last place in the NFC Central Division. Green Bay managed a bit more success, but not much more as they wound up just ahead of the Bears in the standings at 5-7-2.
Packer defenders spent the day chasing Douglass
Logo of a Division II college football team that plays in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, the Hillsdale College Chargers. They play their home games at Frank “Muddy” Waters Stadium, named after the man who coached the team from 1954 until 1973. Despite their small school status, the Chargers have sent a number of players on to pro careers, including Chester Marcol, Andre Holmes, Jared Veldheer and Howard Mudd.
1974 Topps football card of former pro football quarterback Scott Hunter, who played for 4 different teams in an 8 year career in the NFL. He had the unenviable task of replacing the legendary Bart Starr as Green Bay’s quarterback in 1972 when Starr was hurt, and never lived up to those standards. He was a journeyman backup for most of his pro football time. After his playing days ended, Hunter has worked as an investment broker and a sportscaster for nearly 2 decades. He is also a commercial pilot with over 4,000 flying hours to his credit.
This week on the NFL schedule, the Dallas Cowboys meet the New Orleans Saints, and we’ll feature these 2 teams as our Throwback Thursday game. They met on October 17, 1971 at Tulane Stadium, the Saints’ home field at the time. The Saints, who entered the league as an expansion team in 1967, hadn’t gotten off the ground in the first 4 years of their existence, but in 1971 were ready to finally find some success behind their shiny new rookie quarterback, Archie Manning. The ’71 season started slowly for the Saints, as they entered this contest with a 1-2-1 mark, while Dallas, having endured a crushing last-second Super Bowl loss in 1970, won 3 of their first 4 games. Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry, trying to get his club past the “can’t win the big one” curse, brought in seasoned veterans for the ’71 campaign who had won titles with other clubs, players like Mike Ditka, Herb Adderley, Lance Alworth and Gloster Richardson. New Orleans had at least shown some respectability and competitiveness so far this season, but this was a chance to show they were ready to emerge as a rising team.
They did just that as they came out playing inspired football, dominating the first half. Manning threw a 29 yard touchdown pass to Tony Baker for the only scoring in the first quarter. In the second quarter, Charlie Durkee connected on a field goal and Manning finished a drive by taking matters into his own hands, scrambling 13 yards for a score to give his team a shocking 17-0 lead at halftime over the defending NFC champs. Landry made the decision at the half to replace ineffective starter Craig Morton, who had been intercepted twice, at QB with the dangerous Roger Staubach, who was a scrambler that could create some offense. The move worked, as Staubach fired a 41 yard touchdown pass to Richardson for the only score of the third quarter, then hit “Bullet” Bob Hayes from 16 yards out to bring the Cowboys to within 3 at 17-14. However, when Manning ran in from 2 yards out for another score, the Saints secured a 24-14 win and sent their fans home happy and with hope for a winning season.
It didn’t work out that way, as New Orleans stumbled to a last place 4-8-2 record. Dallas, on the other hand, took some positives from the loss. Landry, who had foolishly entered the year with a plan of alternating quarterbacks with Morton and Staubach, eventually settled on Roger the Dodger as the starter, and he led the Cowboys to their first Super Bowl title that season, a resounding victory over the young Miami Dolphins. The club’s first championship win, exorcising the losing demons at last, took place right back at the site of this game, Tulane Stadium.
Saints’ Archie Manning challenges the Doomsday Defense
An alternate logo, used from their inaugural season of 1967 through 1984, of the National Football League’s New Orleans Saints. The franchise failed to complete a winning season in any of those years, with a pair of 8-8 records being the best they could do. Despite all the losing, the Saints of the early years included some Hall of Famers, (although they all earned the honor playing for other teams) like Jim Taylor, Doug Atkins, Ken Stabler and coach Hank Stram. Other notable early Saints’ players are Danny Abramowicz, Archie Manning, Tom Dempsey, Bill Kilmer, Dave Whitsell, John Gilliam, Joe Scarpati, Elijah Pitts, Joe Federspiel and Chuck Muncie.