Logo, used from 1974 until 1993, of a college football program that today is a major powerhouse, the Oregon Ducks. Yes, the duck used in the logo is Disney favorite Donald Duck, who became the school’s mascot in a handshake deal between Walt Disney and Oregon athletic director Leo Harris in the 1940s. The school boasts 5 players in the Pro Football Hall of Fame – Norm Van Brocklin, Dave Wilcox, Gary Zimmerman, Dan Fouts and Mel Renfro.
Logo of a football team from the Canadian Football League, the Montreal Alouettes, used from 1964 until 1969. Although the current club is one of the most successful in CFL history, the Als had little success during the era of this logo, registering nothing but losing seasons throughout the decade of the 1960s. During this era, team owner Ted Workman traded star QB Sam Etcheverry without consulting general manager Perry Moss, who had signed Etcheverry to new contract with a “no-trade” clause a day earlier. “Alouette” translates in English to “Skylark”, which explains the little bird in the logo.
Logo of a football team that had a head coach, but actually never existed – the Atlantic Schooners. They were to be awarded an expansion franchise in the Canadian Football League to begin play in 1984, located in the Canadian Atlantic provinces – Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, with the stipulation that a suitable stadium be built. John Huard was hired as coach and this logo developed to represent the team, but the stadium never was built and the franchise application was officially withdrawn in 1983.
Logo of the National Football League’s Detroit Lions, used by the franchise from 1961 until 1969. It’s a good logo to feature at this time, since it represents the era in which Alex Karras, who recently passed away, was a star defensive lineman for the team. The Lions had some decent teams in the 1960s but usually played second fiddle to the powerhouse Green Bay Packer teams of the era. Some of the club’s top players during this time, besides Karras, were Milt Plum, Joe Schmidt, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Yale Lary, John Gordy, Roger Brown, Wayne Walker, Dick LeBeau and Pat Studstill.
Logo of one of the oldest franchises in major league baseball, the Boston Red Sox. The team was founded in 1901, and has played in their current stadium, Fenway Park, since 1912. This particular logo was used from 1979 until 2008. That era includes one of the lowest moments in franchise history – the ground ball passing through the legs of Bill Buckner and eventual World Series loss to the Mets in 1986, and arguably a couple of the best moments – their World Series wins in 2004 and 2007.
Logo of a football team from the Canadian Football League, the Ottawa Rough Riders, used from 1950 until 1960. The club was founded in 1876, and is one of the oldest pro sports franchises in North America. The 3 banners used in the logo stand for “Ottawa Football Club”, and during the era when this logo was used, the club made history a couple of times by playing games internationally. In 1950 and ’51, they hosted the NFL’s New York Giants in exhibition games, and in 1958, the Riders and Hamilton Tiger Cats met at Philadelphia’s Franklin Field, the first time a regular season CFL game was played on American soil.
Logo of the Brooklyn Tigers, a football franchise that played one season in the National Football League, 1944. The team played as the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1930 until 1943, changed their name to the Tigers for the ’44 season, then merged with the Boston Yanks in 1945. The fact that they were winless, with an 0-10 record, in their lone season as the Tigers probably explains why the franchise didn’t survive. They had 3 different coaches during that season, and their best player was undoubtedly Hall of Famer Bruiser Kinard.
Logo of a Canadian Football League team, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, used from 1963 until 1994. The franchise was born in 1930 and over the years has won a total of 10 Grey Cup CFL championships. Four of those came in the late 1950s and early ’60s when their head coach was Bud Grant, who would go on to coach the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings. Their roster over the years includes 39 players, coaches, or “builders” who have been inducted into the CFL Hall of Fame.
Logo of the Chicago Blitz football team, a club that played in the United States Football League in 1983 and ’84. The team was quarterbacked by former Chicago Bears’ QB Vince Evans, and its roster included some pretty good players, including Trumaine Johnson, Larry Canada, Frank Minnifield, Greg Landry and Joe Ehrmann. The Blitz’s biggest claim to fame was that its coaches for the only 2 years of existence were the legendary George Allen and Marv Levy.
Logo of a baseball team that played in both the Negro American and National Leagues, the Baltimore Black Sox. The club actually spent most of its’ existence as an independent team and also was one of the original franchises in the Eastern Colored League. In 2007, the Baltimore Orioles wore Black Sox throwback uniforms to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the team’s 1932 season.