2018 Score football card of former pro wide receiver John Brown, who played 9 seasons in the NFL for 7 different franchises. Nicknamed “Smoke” for his speed, Brown’s most productive years were his first 4 spent with Arizona, but his best season statistically was the 2019 season in Buffalo, where he was a main target of Josh Allen. He is currently considered a free agent and is not officially retired as a player.
The Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans clash on the week 4 NFL schedule, and for this week’s Throwback Thursday post we will feature a game played between these 2 franchises in the Dolphins’ inaugural expansion season of 1966. The Titans were the Houston Oilers at that time, and although they won the first 2 American Football League championships, they were on a steep decline when this game was played on December 18, 1966. Miami had managed 2 wins so far in their first year, and 1 of them was earlier in Houston over the Oilers at Rice Stadium. Houston came into this matchup, the final regular season game for both clubs, with only 3 wins. Needless to say, in spite of being at the end of a lost year, they did not want to suffer the embarrassment of being defeated twice in a season by an expansion team.
Houston quarterback Don Trull found running back Hoyle Granger for a 27 yard touchdown pass to get the scoring started in the first quarter, and then hooked up with Larry Elkins in the second from 11 yards out to give his Oilers a 14-0 lead. Miami signal caller John Stofa then began what would become a career day by hitting Joe Auer with a 27 yard scoring toss. The Dolphins added a 2 point conversion (which was only a rule in the AFL, not the NFL, back then). Trull was unfazed, and upped the Oiler lead to 21-8 with a 2 yard TD pass to Bob McLeod. Stofa was the man in the second half. He provided the only score of the third quarter with a 48 yard bomb to flanker Frank Jackson. Trull’s 1 yard QB sneak gave Houston a 28-15 advantage, but Stofa capped his performance with a pair of touchdown drives that ended with his third and fourth TD throws – 4 yards to Bill Cronin and 14 to Auer. Gene Mingo’s successful extra point kicks on those 2 scores put Miami up 29-28 and they hung on to hand the Oilers another loss. Auer had 87 rushing yards in addition to his 2 receiving TDs, while Jackson amassed 110 receiving yards on 4 catches from Stofa.
Two years later Stofa would be traded to Cincinnati prior to their expansion draft to enter the AFL in ’68, officially becoming the first Bengal player in team history, only to return to the Dolphins for the ’69 and ’70 seasons.
John Stofa, Pride of University of Buffalo
Secondary logo of a college football team that plays in the Mid-American Conference, the University of Buffalo Bulls. The school began play in 1894 but suspended the program in 1970. They restarted football again in 1977 and jumped to Division I level in 1999. They have won 4 division titles and a conference championship. Former Bulls who have gone on to play in the pros are John Stofa, Gerry Philbin, Willie Evans, James Starks, Steven Means, Naaman Roosevelt, Trevor Scott and current players Khalil Mack, Malcolm Koonce, K.J. Osborn, Cam Lewis, Ja’Marcus Ingram and Joe Andreessen.
1966 Topps football card of former pro receiver Frank Jackson, who played 7 seasons in the American Football League for Dallas/Kansas City and Miami. He helped the Dallas Texans win the AFL title in 1962 and was an All Star in ’65. He was picked by the Dolphins in the expansion draft and played 2 years there before retiring. Jackson became a lawyer after his playing days ended and was both a prosecutor and defense lawyer, and also served as assistant district attorney in Dallas. His older brother Charlie also played pro football.
We’re headed into week 3 of the NFL season already, and one of the matchups is between 2 old franchises, the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. We will travel back to December 4, 1966 for a contest involving these teams, who were bitter Eastern Division rivals at that time. Throughout the 1950s they were top clubs, and between 1961 and 1965 either the Giants (’61, ’62 and ’63) or Browns (’64 and ’65) represented the East in the NFL title game.
In ’66 the Browns were coming off back-to-back Eastern crowns, while the Giants were on a steep decline, having lost the field general responsible for their earlier glory, Y.A. Tittle, to retirement after the ’64 season. This was week 12 of a 14 game season, and the Giants had only a single victory to show for their efforts so far, while the Browns were in pursuit of the up and coming Dallas Cowboys, who led the division. When New York’s Clarence Childs returned the opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and Giants’ QB Gary Wood ran 5 yards for another score to put the Giants up quickly 14-0, Cleveland knew they were in for a fight from a team that might have been down, but still held contempt for their rival. The Browns steadied themselves and put together a drive that ended with a 1 yard touchdown plunge by Leroy Kelly to cut the deficit in half. The Giants were determined, however. Wood scrambled for another score, from 16 yards out, and after Cleveland matched that with a short TD pass from Frank Ryan to Gary Collins, New York took over the rest of the second quarter and added a 33 yard touchdown pass from Wood to Joe Morrison and a Pete Gogolak field goal. Entering the halftime locker room the Browns found themselves staring at a shocking 31-14 deficit.
Pete Gogolak, pro football’s first soccer style kicker
The lead was bumped up to 20 points when Gogolak opened the second half scoring with another field goal. Kelly, who had taken over from the retired Jim Brown as Cleveland’s featured back in ’66, sandwiched a pair of short touchdown runs around another Gogolak three-pointer, and the Giants’ lead after 3 quarters was cut to 37-28. Gogolak booted his fourth field goal to start the final quarter to put his club up 40-28, but the Browns’ winning DNA took over from there. Ryan, who to this day is still the last Cleveland signal caller to guide the Browns to a championship, connected on scoring throws of 19 yards to Ralph Smith and 31 yards to Ernie Green and it was 42-40 in favor of Cleveland. The defense added some icing to the cake when defensive end Bill Glass scooped up a Giants’ fumble and rambled 13 yards to the end zone to put the game away for good with a final count of 49-40. It was a good scare by a losing club against their bitter long-time rival, but the cream eventually rose to the top.
Future Hall of Fame back Leroy Kelly
This interesting and somewhat disturbing logo belongs to a small college football team of the past, the Los Angeles State Diablos. They began play in 1951 and in 1980, when the school was rebranded to Cal State Los Angeles University, the team’s nickname was changed to the Golden Eagles. As members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association they won 3 conference titles and the UPI small college championship in 1964. Former players from the school who went on to play pro football include Walter Johnson, Jim Weatherwax, Tom Kennedy, Johnnie Gray, Howard Kindig and Bobby Kemp.
1966 Philadelphia football card of former pro halfback/defensive back Clarence Childs, who played 5 seasons in the NFL for the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. Nicknamed “Poppa”, he was drafted by the AFL’s Boston Patriots in 1961, but due to a stint in the military didn’t begin his football career until 1964 when he joined the Giants. Childs was a two-way player in college, manning spots on both offense and defense, but made his mark in pro ball as a kick returner.
It’s week 2 of the NFL season, and for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we’ll go with a team for the second straight week, as the Los Angeles Rams meet the Arizona Cardinals. Last week we went back to 1963 for a Rams’ contest, and we’ll venture back another decade, to November 15, 1953 this week. The game wasn’t necessarily an important one, and the end result was of the “kissing your sister” variety, a 24-24 tie. There was no overtime in those days, and teams would routinely finish their season with 2 or 3 ties on their record.
This was supposed to be a one-sided affair, as the Rams were a Western Division contender at 5-2 while the Cardinals, based in Chicago back then, were winless in 7 contests. The lowly Cardinals, determined to show some pride in front of their Comiskey Park home crowd, came out firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Jim Root found back Johnny Olszewski, affectionately known as “Johnny O”, for a 62 yard touchdown to open the scoring, and future broadcaster Pat Summerall added a 16 yard field goal. The defense then joined the fray. Ray Ramsey took 1 of his 2 interceptions of Norm Van Brocklin 37 yards to paydirt and suddenly the home club found themselves with a 17-0 first quarter lead.
The Rams found their footing in the second quarter, and got on the scoreboard twice, first on a Ben Agajanian field goal and then on a Skeet Quinlan 2 yard scoring plunge to cut their halftime deficit to 17-10. The Cards began to revert to their bumbling selves again in the second half. They allowed L.A. to tie the game when Dick “Night Train” Lane scooped up a fumble and raced 26 yards for the only third quarter score. When Deacon Dan Towler scored on a 1 yard run to put the Rams in the lead for the first time at 24-17, it appeared that they had finally righted the ship and taken command. That’s when Chicago turned to their quintuple threat future Hall of Famer, back Charley Trippi, to salvage the tie. Back in those days, positions weren’t as specialized as they are today, including even the quarterback spot. Trippi, primarily a halfback, could do it all. He was adept at running, passing, receiving, was the team’s punter and also excelled at safety on defense. Running an offense with a full house backfield (4 backs) he completed 11 of 16 passes for 117 yards, and connected with Don Paul on a 17 yard TD pass to earn the tie. QB Root, by contrast, only threw 7 passes, 3 which were complete, for a paltry 79 yards. Trippi also led the team in rushing with 96 yards on 15 carries, punted, returned punts and played defense.
The Rams would only lose 1 more game the rest of the year, but finished third in a highly competitive Western race, while the Cardinals would manage only a single win the rest of the way that season. Trippi held the distinction of being the oldest living Hall of Famer until he passed away in 2022 at the age of 100.
Rams’ Skeet Quinlan attracts Cardinal defenders as he fights for yardage
Logo of a pro football team that plays in the West Division of the Canadian League, the Edmonton Elks. Known as the Eskimos until 2021 when they changed the name, the team was founded in 1949. They have won 14 Grey Cups (CFL equivalent of the Super Bowl) over the years, the most recent in 2015. Notable Edmonton players from their past include Johnny Bright, Henry “Gizmo” Williams, Dave Cutler, Tommy Joe Coffey and Warren Moon. Their list of past coaches is impressive – Frankie Filchock, Pop Ivy, Darrell Royal, Kay Stephenson and Ron Lancaster.
1952 Bowman football card of former pro back Don Paul, who played 9 years in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals and Cleveland Browns. A versatile player, he played halfback, cornerback on defense and excelled as a kick return specialist. Paul was a four-time Pro Bowler and played on 2 NFL championship teams, in 1954 and ’55, for the Browns. After his playing days ended, he served as general manager for 4 different professional soccer teams in the North American Soccer League (NASL). Paul passed away in 2001.