Logo of a college football program that has been a powerhouse for a long time, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. This logo is from the 1950s and ’60s, an era that saw the beginning of the long-time coaching career of the legendary Paul “Bear” Bryant, who won 6 national championships. Also during this era, some famous future NFL players suited up for the Tide, including Hall of Fame quarterbacks Bart Starr and Joe Namath, and long-time Dallas Cowboy linebacker Lee Roy Jordan.
Logo of another top college football program, the Arkansas Razorbacks. This logo was used from 1955 until 1963, a time frame that saw the beginning of the Frank Broyles coaching era, which lasted 19 years and was one of the most successful in school history. The Razorbacks played in the old, now defunct Southwest Conference at the time, winning conference titles and a national championship in ’64. Two well known players who starred as Razorbacks during the era of this logo are Lance Alworth and future coach Barry Switzer.
After recently featuring the logo of the Army football team, it’s only fitting to also highlight the logo of the Naval Academy. This particular logo was used by the school’s football team from 1959 until 1971, an era that featured the Midshipmen’s most famous player, quarterback Roger Staubach. The school produced 2 Heisman Trophy winners in this era also – Staubach in 1963 and Joe Bellino in 1960. Navy’s biggest rival, of course, is Army, but they also play annual rivalry matches against the Air Force Academy and Notre Dame.
Logo of the West Point Academy football team, used from 1962 until 1993. The team is better known as the Army Black Knights, and is an independent college program that competes on a major college level. Their main rivalry games each year are against the Air Force Academy and, in one of the most storied rivalries of all time, against the Naval Academy. Over the years, the team has had a lot of famous coaches, including Paul Dietzel, Lou Saban and Bobby Ross as head coaches, and Vince Lombardi and Bill Parcells as assistants.
This is the logo of NFL Films, a team that hasn’t won any championships but certainly revolutionized the game of pro football over the years. Ed Sabol founded the company as Blair Motion Pictures in 1962, convincing the NFL to allow him to produce a highlight film of the ’62 championship game between Green Bay and the New York Giants. Pete Rozelle, NFL commisioner at the time, saw the potential of Sabol’s work and convinced the league’s owners to finance the company, which was renamed NFL Films. The small film company, whose headquarters are located in Mount Laurel, NJ, has played an integral part in promoting the game over the years. Sabol was inducted into the game’s Hall of Fame in 2011 as a major contributor.
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.