Logo of a small college football team that plays in the Big South Conference, the Robert Morris University Colonials. They are a relatively new program in that they began play in 1994, but have won 6 conference titles in that span. They are coached by former NFL player Bernard Clark, and former Colonials who have played pro ball include Hank Fraley, Robb Butler and Tim Hall.
1955 Bowman football card of former pro halfback/end Earl “Jug” Girard, who played 10 seasons in the NFL for 3 franchises. He was a multiple sport athlete in school and showed great versatility in the NFL, playing end, halfback, quarterback, defensive back, punter and kick returner. Girard had his most success while playing for Detroit, helping the Lions win championships in 1952 and ’53. After retiring he ran a bar in Detroit called “The Lion’s Den”. He passed away in 1997 at age 69.
The NFL is entering week 10 of it’s regular season schedule beginning tonight, and a game featured on the slate is between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots. We’ll throw it back to January 21, 2007 for this week’s Throwback Thursday post, for a contest that pitted 2 of the era’s top quarterbacks, the Colts’ Peyton Manning and the Pats’ Tom Brady, in a duel for the 2006 AFC Championship and a trip to the Super Bowl.
In the first of what would be a day full of freakish touchdowns, New England’s Logan Mankins recovered a fumble in the end zone to give his team a 7-0 lead. Former Patriot Adam Vinatieri got the Colts on the board with a field goal to close out the opening quarter, but the Patriots surged in the second. Corey Dillon scored on a 7 yard run, then Asante Samuel added another off the wall TD when he picked off Manning and returned it 39 yards to the end zone for a 21-3 New England lead. It was beginning to look like another case of Brady getting the best of Manning in their rivalry. After Vinatieri closed out the first half with another field goal, another odd scoring play got the Colts to within 21-13 when Manning scored on a play he never ran, a 1 yard sneak. Indy then tied the game with a 1 yard touchdown pass from Manning to defensive tackle Dan Klecko, of all people, who was a tackle eligible on the play, and a successful 2 point conversion.
New England went the traditional route to go ahead 28-21 when Brady found Jabar Gaffney open for a 6 yard touchdown pass, but the Colts squared the score again to start the fourth quarter on another freak play – center Jeff Saturday’s end zone recovery of a fumble. The placekickers took over at that point, with Vinatieri sneaking in a 36 yarder between a pair of three pointers from New England’s Steven Gostkowski from 28 and 43 yards out. With a minute left in the contest, the Colts completed the comeback when Joseph Addai ran in from 3 yards out to give his club a 38-34 win and a trip to the Super Bowl. Although he didn’t figure in any of the scoring, Colts’ tight end Dallas Clark was an unsung hero, catching 6 passes from Manning for 137 valuable yards. Indianapolis would finish the job with a rain-soaked 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in the big game to give Manning and coach Tony Dungy their first titles.
QB Manning at work against Pats’ defense
Logo of a college football team that plays in the Southland Conference, the Lamar University Cardinals. They began play in 1923 and have racked up 5 conference titles. The school has made 3 bowl appearances and won 2 of them. Former Cardinals who have gone on to play pro ball include Wayne Moore, Dudley Meredith, Johnny Fuller, Bobby Jancik and Eugene Seale.
1997 Pacific Philadelphia football card of former pro placekicker Adam Vinatieri, who played an amazing 24 seasons in the NFL for New England and Indianapolis. He is a four-time Super Bowl champion, a three-time Pro Bowler and a member of both the Team of The Decade for the 2000s and the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All Time team. Vinatieri is the NFL’s All Time leading scorer and the only player in league history to account for 1,000+ points for 2 different teams. He retired in 2021 and won’t be eligible for the Hall of Fame for a couple more years, but he’s a shoe-in for induction.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans clash on this week’s NFL schedule, and for Throwback Thursday we’ll travel back to the AFC Championship game of the 1979 season, played at Three Rivers Stadium on January 6, 1980 between these 2 franchises. The Steelers were defending champs and seeking their fourth trip to the Super Bowl in the decade of the ’70s, while their opponents were still located in Houston as the Oilers. The 2 teams were fierce division rivals at the time in the old AFC Central, and were meeting in the title game for the second straight year.
The Oilers were humiliated 34-5 in the previous season’s title game, and coach Bum Phillips and his squad were determined to get revenge this time. They got off to a rousing start when Vernon Perry picked off a Terry Bradshaw pass and returned it 75 yards for the opening touchdown. The teams traded field goals before Bradshaw got back on track and tossed scoring passes of 16 yards to tight end Bennie Cunningham and 20 yards to John Stallworth to lift his team to a 17-10 halftime lead.
The defenses stiffened in the third quarter, but late in that period a play occurred that would change the course of future NFL games. Houston quarterback Dan Pastorini hit receiver Mike Renfro with an apparent game tying touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone. None of the officials originally signaled a TD, or any other call for that matter. After one of their annoying little “conferences”, the call was made that the pass was incomplete because Renfro had not gotten both feet down inbounds. There was no official instant replay at the time, but television replays clearly showed that the play should have been a touchdown. Phillips vehemently argued the call but there was no recourse at the time, and the Oilers settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 17-13. The Steelers tightened up on defense after that, and the Oilers seemed to lose their momentum. Bradshaw engineered drives that led to another field goal and a 4 yard Rocky Bleier touchdown run to earn their Super Bowl trip 27-13.
The Renfro play wasn’t forgotten, however. It was the impetus for the league to begin serious discussion about using replay as a tool to get calls correct, and since change moves slowly among tradition-bound NFL owners, it was finally implemented in 1986.
Mike Renfro’s non-catch in AFC title game
Logo of a team that plays in the AFC South division of the National Football League, the Tennessee Titans. Born in 1960 as the Houston Oilers, original members of the American Football League, the franchise moved to Tennessee in 1997. They played in Memphis as the Tennessee Oilers until their new stadium in Nashville was completed. They began play there in 1999 and rebranded as the Titans, reaching the Super Bowl that year, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams.
1982 Topps football card of former pro wide receiver Mike Renfro, who played 11 seasons in the NFL in the state of Texas, split between the Houston Oilers and Dallas Cowboys. He had a solid career as a go-to “possession” receiver, and was the MVP of a downtrodden Cowboy team in 1985. Renfro’s father Ray was a star receiver for the Cleveland Browns in the 1950s and ’60s. His dad was a coach for the Cowboys when they won the Super Bowl in 1971, and Mike was a team ball boy and earned a Super Bowl ring.
This week’s Throwback Thursday feature game was played on a Monday night, October 8, 1980 between a pair of clubs who meet on this week’s NFL slate. They are the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins.
If you’re as old as I am, you’ve witnessed a number of “where were you when you heard the news?” moments in your life. The Kennedy assassination, the space shuttle Challenger explosion and of course, the 9/11 terrorist attacks. This week’s feature game was one of those “where were you when you heard the news” moments for a lot of football fans. The game itself was not a very memorable one. The first 3 quarters were a boring field goal fest, with New England’s John Smith hitting a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter, and Miami’s Uwe Von Schamann matching him in the third quarter. Both clubs finally found the end zone in the final quarter. The Patriots took a 13-6 lead when Matt Cavanaugh found tight end Russ Francis open for a 38 yard touchdown pass. Then Dolphin QB David Woodley hooked up with Nat Moore from 8 yards out to tie the game.
The shocking moment then came after the telecast returned from a commercial break, with Smith taking the field to try a winning field goal with 3 seconds left. Then play-by-play man Frank Gifford implored his counterpart, Howard Cosell, that he had to let the viewing public know the news they had just confirmed. Cosell reluctantly agreed:
“Remember, this is just a football game, no matter who wins or loses. An unspeakable tragedy confirmed to us by ABC News in New York City: John Lennon, outside of his apartment building on the West Side of New York City — the most famous, perhaps, of all the Beatles — shot twice in the back; rushed to Roosevelt Hospital; dead on arrival. Hard to go back to the game after that news flash, which, in duty bound, we have to take.”
It was a terrible moment that gets permanently etched in your memory. Watching the game myself, I remember my first thought was “why the hell would anyone shoot John Lennon? He was all about peace and love.” Lennon was a friend of the Monday night crew, and especially Cosell, having been present at an earlier game in 1975 where Cosell interviewed him at halftime. It was reported by MNF producers later that the crusty announcer struggled to break the news as he was overcome with emotion.
For the record, Miami blocked Smith’s field goal attempt to send the game to overtime, and Von Schamann eventually won it 16-13 for the Dolphins with, of course, a field goal. John Smith had a 10 year career as the Patriots’ placekicker, but his name will be forever linked in my mind to that tragic announcement on a Monday night in December of 1980.
Howard Cosell interviewing John Lennon on MNF (11/20/75)
Logo of a college football team, used from 1979 until 2002, that plays in the Pioneer League, the University of San Diego Toreros. The school began it’s football program in 1956 and has compiled 12 conference championships over the years. Notable USD alumni who have enjoyed pro football careers include Josh Johnson, Jamal Agnew, Ray Schmautz and Ross Dwelley.