If you’re looking for some black humor on this Pearl Harbor Day, check out this story I unearthed a while back — specifically the lead. It showed up on commentary pages in 1991, the 50th anniversary of Japan’s attack.
I call attention to it because, yes, the NFL did wrap up the 1941 regular season on Dec. 7. There were three games that day — in New York, Washington and Chicago. But the Packers didn’t play in any of them. They had completed their schedule the week before and were waiting to see if there would be a playoff with the Bears to decide the West Division title. (There would, indeed. George Halas’ team beat the crosstown Cardinals on Dec. 7 to finish tied with Green Bay at 10-1.)
Let that be a cautionary tale, all you J-schoolers out there. It’s always a bad idea to reminisce about things that never happened, especially when it’s so easy to verify whether they did. Even if you don’t get caught right away, you might get exposed 23 years down the road by some curmudgeon like me. (Assuming, that is, I’m the first curmudgeon to arrive at the scene.)
OK, where was I? Right, Dec. 7, 1941. For the record, this is what the NFL scoreboard looked like at the end of the day:
To give you a feel for what it was like at one of the games, here’s the Brooklyn Eagle’s coverage of the inter-borough Giants-Dodgers battle:
Sportswriting in that period was just fabulous, wasn’t it? Now that I’ve read this, I can hardly wait to describe a player as “a dark-brown warrior from the Iowa corn belt.”
It was Tuffy Leemans Day, by the way, at the Polo Grounds. The Giants’ Hall of Fame back was given a silver tray inscribed by his teammates and $1,500 in defense bonds. Two years later, the Steelers and Eagles merged into the “Steagles” — just to keep going. The Rams, meanwhile, shut down for the season and dispersed their players — the few, that is, that weren’t in the military — among the other clubs in the league.
Dec. 7, 1941. The Packers, as I recall, were off that day.
If Woody Strode is remembered today, it’s probably as an actor, not as one of the two players to reintegrate the NFL in 1946 with the Los Angeles Rams. His most famous role was as the title character in Sergeant Rutledge (directed by the legendary John Ford). He also played the Grand Mogul in the classic Batman TV series. But his most famous scene was in Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus, when he fought Kirk Douglas in one of the great cinema battles of all time. Take a look:
Awesome, no? (Yes, that’s Laurence Olivier taking the knife to Woody at the end.) Steven Spielberg certainly has a high opinion of it:
Anyway, how did we get from that exercise in thespian manhood to this? By this, I mean Strode’s wrestling match — date unknown — with Gorgeous George, one of the daintiest grapplers ever to climb in the ring? If you’ve never seen George’s shtick before, you’re in for a treat. The guy took Muhammad Ali’s “I’m so pretty” to a whole new level.
Besides his football and film careers, Strode also did some rolling around on the mat. He even wrestled Primo Carnera, the former heavyweight boxing champ — Sept. 27, 1956, according to wrestlingdata.com. (Alas, I couldn’t find any more information about it.) The character of Mountain Rivera in Rod Serling’s Requiem for a Heavyweight (played in this trailer by Anthony Quinn). is loosely based on Carnera.
Speaking of boxing, Strode refereed some bouts, too — including one in Ogden, Utah, in 1956 involving light-heavyweight champ Archie Moore. Moore’s victim was a wrestler-turned-boxer, Roy Shire, who — get this — had faced Woody a few months earlier.
OK, that’s enough backstory. Here it is, tonight’s main event: Woody Strode, who was built like a Greek god, vs. Gorgeous George, who would have been the first on his block to use Grecian Formula (if it had been around then).
Too bad Woody didn’t work that “long pitchfork,” as Spielberg called it, from Spartacus into his act.
On Dec. 8, 1940, the Chicago Bears barreled into Washington’s Griffith Stadium and beat the Redskins 73-0 in the NFL championship game — the biggest smackdown in league history. What follows is an attempt to recreate that game, with the help of newspaper accounts, play by plays, video highlights and my own interviews with some of the players. The figures might be a yard off here and there, but they’re mostly accurate. (You’d be amazed at how inexact record keeping was in the prewar years.)
I’ve inserted comments and notes throughout to (hopefully) add to your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
Bears end Ken Kavanaugh: “I bought 26 tickets for friends of mine from Arkansas, Louisiana and around Chicago, and I think three of ’em were picked up. So when we get to Washington, I’ve got 23 tickets at $4 a head in my pocket. Our bus arrives at the stadium, and I go out in front and start selling the tickets. It takes me about a half-hour or so, but I finally get rid of them.
“Later I’m in the locker room getting dressed, and [coach George] Halas says, ‘Where the hell have you been, eating another sandwich?’ He used to get on me because I’d eat a sandwich before games. We didn’t have any pregame meal or anything, you see. We just went out and played. Anyway, I said, ‘George, I had 23 tickets to sell at $4 apiece, and I don’t know if we’re going to make that much playing this game, so I was out front selling ’em. Are we ready to go out [for warmups]?’ And he says, ‘In about 10 minutes.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s all I need.'”
Note: Kavanaugh needn’t have worried. The winning Bears each received $873.99, which would have more than covered the cost of the 23 tickets he got stuck with.
Weather: Sunny, 40 degrees.
Attendance: 36,034.
FIRST QUARTER
Bears win toss, elect to receive.
Note: Among the officials were referee Red Friesell (he of the famous Fifth Down in the Cornell-Dartmouth game earlier that year) and linesman Irv Kupcinet (the Chicago Times sportswriter and erstwhile Philadelphia Eagle).
(Sound of whistle blowing.)
[table],Redskins kick 55 yards from WAS 40 to CHI 5. Ray Nolting to CHI 25 for 20 yards.
1-10-C25,George McAfee up the middle to CHI 32 for 7 yards.
2-3-C32,Bill Osmanski left end for 68 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Jack Manders extra point is GOOD.,
,CHICAGO 7\, WASHINGTON 0\, 2 plays\, 68 yards.,
[/table]
Note: Osmanski’s way was paved by one of the greatest blocks of all time. Bears end George Wilson wiped out not one but two Redskins along the sideline.
[table],Bears kick 56 yards from CHI 40 to WAS 4. Max Krause to CHI 40 for 56 yards.
1-10-C40, Jimmy Johnston right tackle to CHI 34 for 6 yards.
2-4-C34, Johnston right tackle to CHI 28 for 6 yards.
1-10-C28,Ed Justice left tackle to CHI 26 for 2 yards.
2-8-C26,Johnston right end to CHI 26 for no gain.
3-8-C26,Sammy Baugh pass to Charlie Malone dropped at CHI 5.
4-8-C26,Bob Masterson 32 yard field goal is NO GOOD.
[/table]
Comment: Dropping a Baugh pass took some doing. Sammy laid it out there on a pillow. Malone somehow managed, though.
[table nl=”~~”],,
1-10-C20,McAfee left end to CHI 24 for 4 yards.
2-6-C24,Nolting right tackle to CHI 27 for 3 yards.
3-3-C27,Osmanski right tackle to CHI 49 for 22 yards.
1-10-C49,Nolting up the middle to WAS 48 for 3 yards.
2-7-W48,Nolting up the middle to WAS 45 for 3 yards.
3-4-W45,McAfee left end to WAS 39 for 6 yards.
1-10-W39,Nolting right tackle to WAS 37 for 2 yards.
2-8-W37,McAfee left tackle to WAS 31 for 6 yards.
3-2-W31,McAfee left guard to WAS 28 for 3 yards.
,Timeout #1 by CHI
1-10-W28,Nolting right tackle to WAS 27 for 1 yard.
2-9-W27,Osmanski right tackle to WAS 21 for 6 yards.
3-3-W21,McAfee to WAS 19 for 2 yards.
4-1-W19,Nolting through tackle to WAS 14 for 5 yards.
1-10-W14,Sid Luckman flat pass to Nolting to WAS 2 for 12 yards.
1-2-W2,Osmanski right tackle to WAS 2 for no gain.
2-2-W2,Osmanski right tackle to WAS 2 for no gain.~~FUMBLES (Erny Pinckert hit)\, RECOVERED by CHI-Joe Stydahar at W3.~~Stydahar to W1 for 2 yards.
3-1-W1,Luckman up the middle for 1 yard\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Bob Snyder extra point is GOOD.
,CHICAGO 14\, WASHINGTON 0\, 17 plays\, 80 yards.
[/table]
Comment: A 17-play drive. Ouch. The Redskins went with a five-man line on defense pretty much the whole way. That’s what had worked for them earlier in the season, when they shut down the Bears’ revolutionary T formation in a 7-3 victory. As teams would soon learn, though, the T — in the early stages, at least — was most vulnerable to a seven-man front, which made it easier to pressure the passer and turn sweeps inside.
[table]
,Bears kick 60 yards from CHI 40 to end zone\, Touchback.
1-10-W20,Baugh flat pass to Johnston to W14 for -6 yards.
2-16-W14,Baugh pass incomplete over middle. (Bulldog Turner nearly intercepts.)
3-16-W14,Baugh pass through hands of Bob McChesney at W42.
4-16-W14,Baugh punts 28 yards to W42 (partially blocked).
[/table]
Comment: Are you getting the impression this isn’t the Redskins’ day? They’ve already had two drops, a missed field goal, a near INT and a deflected punt. And it’s still the first quarter.
[table],,
1-10-W42,Joe Maniaci left end for 42 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Phil Martinovich extra point is GOOD.
,CHICAGO 21\, WASHINGTON 0\, 1 play\, 42 yards.
[/table]
Note: This was essentially the same play Osmanski scored on. Again, a five-man line wasn’t as effective against the wide stuff the T threw at you (thanks, among other things, to the quick-strike capability of the man-in-motion).
[table nl=”~~”]
,Bears kick out of bounds. Redskins ball at WAS 45.
1-10-W45,Frank Filchock flat pass to McChesney. FUMBLES\,~~RECOVERED by WAS-Bo Russell at WAS 39 for -6 yards.
2-16-W39,Filchock pass incomplete to Bob Hoffman.
3-16-W39,Filchock long pass incomplete to Wilbur Moore.
4-16-W39,Filchock punts 36 yards to CHI 25\, McAfee to CHI 42 for 17 yards.
[/table]
Comment: Baugh shared the quarterback duties with Filchock, so it was never unusual to see Frankie come into the game. Despite the change, though, the Redskins continued to kill themselves on first down. They’d begun two straight series with a 6-yard loss — and would begin their next with an interception.
[table nl=”~~”],,
1-10-C42,Luckman overthrows lateral pass to Nolting\,~~ball goes out of bounds at CHI 28 for -14 yards.
2-24-C28,Luckman quick-kicks 58 yards to WAS 14. Moore to WAS 20 for 6 yards. Quarter ends.
[/table]
Comment: A rare goof by the Bears. So what did they do? They played it safe with a three-touchdown lead and punted on second down. Welcome to 1940s strategy.
SECOND QUARTER
[table],,
1-10-W20,Filchock long pass for Moore INTERCEPTED by Scooter McLean at 50. No return.
[/table]
Note: McLean dropkicked an extra point in the ’41 title game — the last successful dropkick in the NFL until Doug Flutie booted one for the Patriots in 2005.
[table nl=”~~”],,
1-10-50,Harry Clark right tackle to WAS 49 for 1 yard.
2-9-W49,Off fake reverse\, Maniaci right tackle to WAS 43 for 6 yards.
3-3-W43,Maniaci right guard to WAS 39 for 4 yards.
1-10-W39,Luckman pass to Maniaci to WAS 11 for 28 yards.
1-10-W11,McLean FUMBLES handoff from Luckman\,~~RECOVERED by WAS-McChesney at W19 for -8 yards.
[/table]
Comment: Another reminder the Bears didn’t play a perfect game.
[table],,
1-10-W19,Filchock up the middle to WAS 22 for 3 yards.
2-7-W22,Filchock pass incomplete down middle to Dick Todd.
3-7-W22,Filchock flat pass to Hoffman to WAS 29 for 7 yards.
1-10-W29,Filchock long pass to Wayne Millner to CHI 29 for 42 yards.
3-10-C18,Filchock pass to Millner to CHI 18 for 11 yards.
,Timeout #2 by CHI
1-10-C18,Filchock pass batted down by Plasman.
2-10-C18,Filchock pass to McChesney dropped at CHI 5.
3-10-C18,Filchock pass incomplete to Moore in end zone.
4-10-C18,Filchock pass incomplete to McChesney.
[/table]
Note: McChesney reportedly played with his right hand in a splint. That might explain his problems on the second down play.
[table],,
1-10-C18,Manders right end to CHI 18 for no gain.
2-10-C18,Luckman pass to Bobby Swisher to WAS 46 for 36 yards.
1-10-W46,McLean left end to WAS 26 for 20 yards.
1-10-W26,Osmanski runs to WAS 26 for no gain.
2-10-W26,McLean runs to WAS 24 for 2 yards.
3-8-W24,Luckman pass to Plasman at WAS 12 knocked down by Todd
4-8-W24,Martinovich 32-yard field goal is NO GOOD.
[/table]
Note: Plasman, a 6-foot-3, 218-pound end, was the last NFLer to play without a helmet. He went bareheaded through the ’41 season. As he explained it, whenever he looked up for a pass, “the flap [of his headgear] always fell down over my eyes so that I couldn’t follow the flight of the ball. . . . One day, after a pass bounced off my chest, Halas said I wouldn’t have to wear a helmet anymore.”
[table nl=”~~”],,
1-10-W20,Filchock scrambles to WAS 37 for 17 yards.
1-10-W37,Filchock pass nearly intercepted by Plasman.
2-10-W37,Filchock long pass to Millner INTERCEPTED by Nolting at CHI 34.~~Nolting for 10 yards to CHI 44.
[/table]
Note: The Redskins’ eight interceptions are still the all-time record for the postseason. But get this: In the previous year’s title game, the Packers threw six INTs and won, 28-0. It was, indeed, a different time. Offenses were much looser with the ball.
[table],,
1-10-C44,Nolting right tackle to WAS 47 for 9 yards.
2-1-W47,Nolting up the middle to WAS 42 for 5 yards.
1-10-W42,Osmanski runs to WAS 42 for no gain.
2-10-W42,Luckman laterals to Osmanski\, who runs to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31,Nolting right tackle to WAS 28 for 3 yards.
2-7-W27,Osmanski runs to WAS 29 for -2 yards.
3-9-W29,Luckman pass to Ken Kavanaugh in end zone for 29 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Snyder extra point is GOOD.
,CHICAGO 28\, WASHINGTON 0\, 7 plays\, 56 yards.
[/table]
Comment: Kavanaugh was surrounded by so many top players during his years with the Bears that he’s never been properly appreciated. Look at it this way: 52 of his 168 receptions in the NFL, regular season and postseason, went for touchdowns — 31 percent. You won’t find a higher TD rate in league history (among receivers with that many catches, anyway). Jerry Rice’s rate was less than half that.
[table],Bears kick 60 yards to goal line. Filchock to WAS 25 for 25 yards.
1-10-W25,Filchock pass incomplete to Millner.
2-10-W25,Baugh pass complete over middle to Andy Farkas to WAS 44 for 19 yards.
1-10-W44,Baugh pass to Johnston to CHI 49 for 7 yards.
2-3-C49,Baugh pass to Hoffman to CHI 48 for 1 yard.
3-2-C48,Baugh long pass incomplete to Johnston.
4-2-C48,Baugh pass complete over middle to Johnston to CHI 41 for 7 yards.
1-10-C41,PENALTY on WAS\, delay of game\, 5 yards\, enforced at CHI 41.
1-15-C46,Baugh long pass complete to Malone to CHI 5 for 41 yards.
1-5-C5,PENALTY on WAS\, delay of game\, 5 yards\, enforced at CHI 5.
1-10-C10,Baugh pass to Farkas INTERCEPTED by Osmanski at CHI 6. Half ends.
[/table]
Note: Judging from the newspaper stories, the Redskins were penalized for calling timeouts they didn’t have, not for taking too much time to get off plays. When you were out of timeouts in those days, you either faked an injury or took a five-yard penalty.
THIRD QUARTER
[table nl=”~~”],Bears kick 35 yards from CHI 40 to WAS 25. Malone to WAS 34 for 9 yards.
1-10-W34,Johnston right end to WAS 34 for no gain.~~PENALTY on WAS\, holding\, 15 yards\, enforced at WAS 34.
1-25-W19,Baugh flat pass to Johnson INTERCEPTED by Hamp Pool at WAS 19.~~Pool for 19 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Plasman extra point is GOOD.
,CHIGAGO 35\, WASHINGTON 0.
[/table]
Note: No fewer than 11 players in the game — enough for a team — went on to be NFL or AFL head coaches. Pool (Rams) was one, along with teammates Scooter McLean (Packers), Bob Snyder (Rams), Joe Stydahar (Rams), Bulldog Turner (New York Titans), George Wilson (Lions, Dolphins) and, on the Redskins side, Sammy Baugh (New York Titans, Houston Oilers), Turk Edwards (Redskins), Frank Filchock (Broncos), Wayne Millner (Eagles) and Dick Todd (Redskins). Stydahar (1951 Rams) and Wilson (’57 Lions) even won championships.
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick from CHI 40. PENALTY on CHI\, offside\, 5 yards\, enforced at CHI 40.~~Bears kick from CHI 35 to end zone. Ed Justice FUMBLES and recovers\, Touchback.
1-10-W20,Baugh pass to Malone to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31,Baugh flat pass to Masterson to WAS 38 for 7 yards.
2-3-W38,Baugh pass to Johnston incomplete.~~PENALTY on CHI\, Pass Interference\, Spot of Foul\, enforced at WAS 43 — No Play.
1-10-W43,Johnston up the middle to WAS 46 for 3 yards.
2-7-W46,Baugh pass to Justice to 50 for 4 yards.
3-3-W50,Baugh FUMBLES snap. RECOVERED by WAS-Johnston for -16 yards.
4-19-W34,Baugh long pass to Malone incomplete.
[/table]
Notes: Down 35-0, the Redskins went for it on fourth-and-forever in their own territory. This is how bad becomes worse. . . . Botched snaps by Washington in this quarter resulted in losses of 16 and 17 yards — and soon were followed by Bears touchdowns.,
[table ni=”~~”],,
1-10-W34,On reverse\, Nolting right end to WAS 23 for 11 yards.
1-10-W23,Nolting up the middle for 23 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.~~Plasman extra point is NO GOOD.
,CHICAGO 41\, WASHINGTON 0\, 2 plays\, 34 yards.
[/table]
Comment: Two plays, 68 yards. One play, 42 yards. Two plays, 34 yards. (And later: one play, 2 yards.) The Redskins defense sure got the ball back quickly for the offense.
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick 60 yards to end zone\, Touchback.
1-10-W20,Seymour left tackle to WAS 20 for no gain.
2-10-W20,Roy Zimmerman pass INTERCEPTED by McAfee at WAS 34.~~McAfee for 34 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Stydahar extra point is GOOD.
,CHICAGO 48\, WASHINGTON 0.
[/table]
Redskins quarterback Roy Zimmerman: “A nightmare [day]. I had two interceptions run back for touchdowns. On that one [by McAfee], I broke [teammate] Charley Malone’s ribs trying to make the tackle. I was coming at [McAfee] from an angle, Charley was coming up from behind, and I hooked [McAfee] with my arm and got swung into Charley and broke his ribs.” (You can see the collision at the end of the clip.)
Comment: Had the game had been played in the 1920s, the officials probably would have shortened the last two periods from 15 minutes to 12 or 10. Back then, the attitude was: No sense belaboring the obvious.
[table ni=”~~”]
,Bears kick 60 yards to end zone. Zimmerman to WAS 33 for 33 yards.
1-10-W33,Bob Seymour left guard to WAS 34 for 1 yard.
2-9-W34,Zimmerman pass to Seymour incomplete.
3-9-W34,Zimmerman pass to Masterson to WAS 49 for 15 yards.
1-10-W49,Ray Hare left end to CHI 44 for 7 yards.~~PENALTY on CHI\, offside\, 5 yards\, enforced at WAS 49 — No Play.
1-5-C46,Seymour right end to CHI 31 for 15 yards.
1-10-C31,Zimmerman sacked at CHI 43 for -12 yards.~~PENALTY on CHI\, roughing the quarterback\, 15 yards\, enforced at CHI 43.
1-10-C28,Zimmerman pass to Hare in end zone incomplete.
2-10-C28,Zimmerman pass to Masterson to CHI 16 for 12 yards.
1-10-C16,Seymour runs to CHI 16 for no gain.
2-10-C16,Zimmerman back to pass\, rushed\, throws it away.
3-10-C16,Zimmerman pass to Masterson incomplete.
4-10-C16,Zimmerman overthrows Dick Farman in end zone on guard-eligible play,
[/table]
Comment: A guard-eligible play. Imagine that. (And naturally, Farman was wide open.) Such trickery was possible, though, in the Redskins’ single wing, where the unbalanced line looked like this:
E G C G T T E
To make the guard eligible for passes, all you had to do was have the weak side end (in this case, Bob Masterson) line up as the wingback — and move the right halfback to the line of scrimmage (to give you the required seven linemen). This turned the guard into, technically, the end. Observe:
G C G T T E RHB
E
The Redskins had beaten the Eagles two years before with a guard-eligible play to 6-1, 247-pound Bill Young. Farman was a little more ambulatory at 219.
[table],,
1-10-C20,McAfee right tackle to CHI 24 for 4 yards.
2-6-C24,Osmanski right end to CHI 26 for 2 yards.
3-4-C26,McAfee halfback option pass to wide-open Plasman\, who drops it.
4-4-C26,McAfee punts 38 yards out of bounds to WAS 36.
[/table]
Comment: Things were starting to get chippy. In this series, Bears back Ray Nolting, who went 5-foot-11, 185 pounds, threw a punch at Redskins tackle Wee Willie Wilkin, a 6-4, 261-pound monster. Nolting was a tough nut. Bob Snyder once told me that in his first scrimmage with the Bears, he was lying on the ground after being tackled, thinking the play was over, only to have Nolting come along and unload on him. When Snyder complained about his new teammate’s lack of, uh, fraternity, Nolting was unmoved. “What did ya expect me to do,” he said, “kiss ya?”
[table ni=”~~”],,
1-10-W36,Zimmerman runs to WAS 38 for 2 yards.
2-8-W38,Bad center snap RECOVERED by WAS-Zimmerman at WAS 21 for -17 yards.
3-25-W21,Zimmerman pass over the middle to Seymour INTERCEPTED by Bulldog Turner at WAS 24.~~Turner for 24 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Maniaci extra point is BLOCKED by Clyde Shugart.
,CHICAGO 54\, WASHINGTON 0.
[/table]
Comment: The Bears were having their jollies at this point, letting everybody but the trainer try a PAT. It wasn’t unusual in the single-platoon era for a club to use multiple kickers in a game, but the Bears used seven.
Bears quarterback Sid Luckman: “When the score got to be 54-0, somebody in the huddle said, ‘Ah, let’s take it easy on ’em. That’s enough.’ And you know, 10 guys jumped down his throat. This is not an exaggeration. This is a true fact.”
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick 39 yards to WAS 21. Pinckert to WAS 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-W31,Zimmerman pass over middle to Hare dropped.
2-10-W31,Zimmerman flat pass to Seymour to 50 for 19 yards.~~PENALTY on WAS\, offside\, 5 yards\, enforced at WAS 31 — No Play.
2-15-W26,Zimmerman pass to Seymour to WAS 33 for 7 yards.
3-8-W33,Zimmerman pass to Sandy Sanford incomplete.
4-8-W33,Zimmerman punts 61 yards to CHI 6. Clark to CHI 15 for 9 yards.
[/table]
Comment: Zimmerman, the Redskins’ No. 3 quarterback, threw 12 passes in the game. That’s as many as he threw in any of his three seasons with the team. But Redskins coach Ray Flaherty was so desperate he was willing to try anybody. Zimmerman, by the way, developed into a fine passer-punter-kicker after he was traded to the Eagles in 1943. In fact, the three Washington quarterbacks were as good a group as you’ll find. Baugh is iconic, of course — even though he was dreadful on this day — and Filchock had a passer rating of 111.6 in ’39 (when he completed a stunning 61.8 percent of his throws). Frankie also took the Giants to the title game in ’46.
[table],,
1-10-C15,Clark right end to CHI 26 for 11 yards. Quarter ends.
[/table]
FOURTH QUARTER
[table ni=”~~”],,
1-10-C26,Gary Famiglietti left tackle to CHI 29 for 3 yards.
2-7-C29,Famiglietti off tackle to CHI 32 for 3 yards.
3-4-C32,Clark up the middle to CHI 42 for 10 yards.
1-10-C42,On end-around\, Bob Nowasky to CHI 48 for 7 yards.
2-3-C49,Solly Sherman left end to CHI 49 for no gain.~~PENALTY on WAS\, slugging\, 15 yards\, enforced at CHI 49 — No Play.
1-10-W36,Sherman sacked by Millner at WAS 44 for -8 yards.
2-18-W44,Clark runs to WAS 44 for no gain.
3-18-W44,Sherman to Famiglietti to Clark on reverse to end zone for 44 yards,
,Famiglietti extra point NO GOOD.
,CHICAGO 60\, WASHINGTON 0\, 7 plays\, 74 yards.
[/table]
Comment: The Redskins apparently didn’t like that end-around Chicago ran with a 54-0 lead. On the next snap, one of them slugged a Bear. Chicago responded by scoring yet another touchdown — on a third-and-18 reverse. You don’t see retribution like this anymore.
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick 48 yards to WAS 12. Filchock to WAS 24 for 12 yards.
1-10-W24,Filchock pass to Millner to WAS 36 for 12 yards.~~PENALTY (unspecified) on WAS\, 15 yards\, enforced at WAS 27 — No Play.
1-22-W12,Filchock pass to McChesney incomplete.~~PENALTY on CHI\, Pass Interference\, Spot of Foul\, enforced at WAS 19 — No Play.
1-10-W19,Filchock sacked\, FUMBLES\, RECOVERED by CHI-Jack Torrance at WAS 2.
[/table]
Note: Torrance was nothing special as a tackle, but he held the world shot put record longer than any man in modern times — almost 14 years — after throwing it 57 feet, 1 inch, in 1934.
[table ni=”~~”],,
1-10-W2,Famiglietti left guard for 2 yards\, TOUCHDOWN.~~Sherman pass to Maniaci in end zone\, extra point is GOOD.
,CHICAGO 67\, WASHINGTON 0\, 1 play\, 2 yards.
[/table]
Note: After Famiglietti’s score, the referee informed the Bears that the Redskins had run out of footballs. So rather than kick the last ball into the stands, they passed on their final two PAT attempts.
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick 55 yards to WAS 5. Farkas to WAS 40 for 35 yards.
1-10-W40,Filchock pass to Millner to WAS 48 for 8 yards.
2-2-W48,Filchock long pass off hands of Bears’ Chet Chesney\, INTERCEPTED by Maniaci.~~Maniaci to WAS 42.
[/table]
Note: That’s the same Chet Chesney who was elected to Congress from Illinois’ 11th District in 1948.
[table ni=”~~”],,
1-10-W42,Maniaci left tackle to WAS 37 for 5 yards.~~PENALTY on CHI\, offside\, 5 yards\, enforced at WAS 42 — No Play.
1-15-W47,Snyder sacked by Millner at CHI 43 for -10 yards.
2-25-C43,Snyder pass to Kavanaugh to CHI 45 for 2 yards.
3-23-C45,Snyder pass to Joe Mihal on tackle-eligible play to WAS 41 for 14 yards.
4-9-W41,Snyder pass to Maniaci to WAS 21 for 20 yards.
1-10-W21,Clark left end to WAS 13 for 8 yards.
2-2-W13,Maniaci right guard to WAS 6 for 7 yards.
1-6-W6,Maniaci right tackle to WAS 1 for 5 yards.
2-1-W1,Clark runs for 1 yard\, TOUCHDOWN.
,Snyder’s pass to Maniaci in end zone knocked down\, extra point NO GOOD.
,CHICAGO 73\, WASHINGTON 0\, 8 plays\, 58 yards.
[/table]
Comment: I’ve sometimes wondered whether Millner truly belongs in the Hall of Fame. After all, he caught just 124 passes in seven seasons and never led the league in any receiving category. But as this game shows, he was a terrific two-way end. He led all receivers with six grabs for 94 yards (depending on your source) and also had two sacks. This, after having a huge title game against the Bears in ’37 (nine catches, 160 yards, touchdowns of 55 and 78). The guy was clearly a prime-time player.
[table ni=”~~”],Bears kick returned to WAS 40.
1-10-W40,Filchock pass to Millner to CHI 48 for 12 yards.
1-10-C48,Filchock pass to Millner to CHI 39 for 9 yards.
2-1-C39,Filchock long pass to Millner INTERCEPTED by Maniaci\, laterals to Clark at CHI 35.~~PENALTY on CHI\, forward lateral\, 15 yards\, enforced at CHI 35.
[/table]
Note: Up 73-0, the Bears are LATERALING and trying to score again.
[table],,
1-10-C20,Snyder flat pass to Famiglietti to CHI 31 for 11 yards.
1-10-C31,Snyder fakes pass and runs up the middle to CHI 33 for 2 yards.
,GAME OVER.
[/table]
Comment: As if the lateral on the interception wren’t enough, the Bears called a pass and a fake pass on the last two plays. They basically taunted the Redskins the entire second half. Afterward, Washington owner George Preston Marshall accused his players of quitting, but then he thought about it some more and decided: “They simply lost their heads.” That sounds about right.
One final thought on the Biggest of Blowouts: The Bears were even better the next season, when Sid Luckman had another year of experience and they added Norm Standlee, a Nagurskiesque fullback. But a game like this, well, you only have one of those.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Official NFL Encyclopedia, The National Forgotten League, pro-football-reference.com.
Arthur “Tarzan” White was semi-famous even before he made his NFL debut with Giants in 1937. After all, not many players are nicknamed Tarzan — or have the personality White possessed. When his Alabama team went west to play in the Rose Bowl after the 1934 season, the Los Angeles Times couldn’t help writing about him, despite the fact he was just a “sub” on a line that had Don Hutson at one end and Bear Bryant at the other.
”Tarzan” weighs 200 pounds despite his abbreviated stature of 5 feet, 7 inches. His real name is Arthur, which sounds harmless and in direct contrast to the “Tarzan” nickname. As a youngster White became tremendously interested in the so-called comic strip, by Edgar Rice Burroughs, featuring the exploits of the famous man of the jungle. So impressed was the Alabama youth by these pictures and yarns that he built himself a house in the trees. He actually practiced swinging through the trees . . . and is said to have been very proficient. White also practiced with the bow and arrow and achieved such perfection that he could go out and bring down wild game with these primitive weapons. Whether he ever wrestled with a lion or tried to ride an alligator bareback is something they neglected to tell me.
Speaking of Burroughs, he once tried to stop White and other wrestlers from appropriating Tarzan’s name, believing they lacked the virtue, athleticism and unspoiled innocence normally associated with his character. (What do you suppose gave him that idea?)
“The other self-christened Tarzans are apes, all right,” he told the United Press, “only they’re muscle-bound and have broken noses. Tarzan is a copyrighted trademark, and if these plug uglies insist on using it, I’m going to insist on the right to license them and stencil the copyright number on their chests.”
Naturally, the “self-christened Tarzans” ignored him.
Tonight’s bout, from the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, pits Tarzan against the aptly named Chest Bernard. (As broadcaster Russ Davis says, “This guy is called The Chest, and with justifiable reason. Hel-looooo!”) If Bernard was The Chest, then White could just as easily have been The Back. The fur on it was so thick it could have been mistaken for the the Real Tarzan’s native habitat.
“Tarzan White sits around the dressing room and plays solitaire by the hour,” Davis says. “[I] walked in tonight to see him before the bout. There he was, playing solitaire and whistling a tune. . . . And he never cheats with himself.”
No, Tarzan always played the good guy in the ring. Bernard was the villain, refusing to shake his hand at the outset and constantly pulling his hair and grabbing hold of his trunks. (Davis: “Mr. Bernard, sir, you are a stinker, sir.”)
Tarzan gave away 37 pounds in the match, weighing 225 to The Chest’s 262, which wasn’t unusual, apparently. According to Davis, he was “one of the smallest of the heavyweights.” He was naturally strong, though, and dead-lifted Bernard — in the days, mind you, before iron-pumping was in vogue — several times.
Wrestlingdata.com says Tarzan’s career spanned from 1939 to ’64. The following bout took place Jan. 25, 1952, when he was 36 and had been out of pro football for six years. He spent his first three seasons with the Giants, the next two with the Chicago Cardinals, then returned to the Giants in 1945 after a serving in the Air Force during World War II.
Tarzan was never busier in the ring, in fact, than in ’52, wrestling (at least) 75 times. His bout with The Chest was one fall with a 30-minute time limit. All set? Here we go . . .
Broadcaster Davis was right. “He’s a mean one, this Bernard.”
With the holiday season upon us, it might be a good time to roll out an idea that’s been rattling around in my head: the NFL’s All-Time Drinking Team. Let’s face it, the connection between pro football and alcohol — in stadiums, at tailgate parties, in sports bars and living rooms — has always been stronger than 100-proof whiskey. It’s in this spirit, if you’ll pardon the expression, that I present the following squad:
● Bob Margarita, B, Bears, 1944-46 — Was a big help to Chicago during the war years, when manpower was scarce. Best reason to raise a glass to him: In ’45 he finished third in the NFL in rushing yards (463), 10th in receiving yards (394) and, on the other side of the ball, tied for second in interceptions (6).
● Rich Martini, WR, Raiders/Saints, 1979-81 — Scored TDs in his second and third pro games. Best reason to raise a glass to him: He played special teams for the Raiders in their run to the title in 1980.
● Ed Champagne, T, Rams, 1947-50 — Appeared as a backup in the NFL championship game his last two seasons. Best reason to raise a glass to him: He was fined $300 by the league in 1950 — which was a lot of money back then — after he pushed an official while protesting a call. The Long Beach Press-Telegram said Champagne, who was ejected, “blew his cork.”
● Herb Stein (T-E, Buffalo/Toledo/Frankford/Pottsville, 1921-22, ’24-26, ’28) and Russ Stein (T-E, Toledo/Frankford/Pottsville/Canton, 1922, ’24-26) — Hey, you can’t drink beer without a couple of Steins, right? These rugged brothers were all-stars in the NFL’s early years. (The first five teams Herb played on posted a combined record of 44-9-7.) Best reason to raise a glass to them: They starred on the ’25 Pottsville Maroons club that got gypped out of the title because of a dubious league ruling.
● Terry Barr, WR, Lions, 1957-65 — OK, so there’s an extra “r.” It was either him or Garvin Mugg (T, Lions, 1945), and Mugg played only three NFL games. Barr, on the other hand, was a fine all-around talent who, in addition to his offensive exploits, intercepted three passes and returned a kickoff for a touchdown in 1958. Best reason to raise a glass to him: He had back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in 1963 and ’64 and went to the Pro Bowl both years.
● Bourbon Bondurant, T-K, Evansville/Bears, 1921-22 — Believe it or not, Bourbon was his given name. Best reason to raise a glass to him: He kicked six extra points for the Crimson Giants in 1921.
● Napoleon “Let’s Roll Out The” Barrel, C, Oorang Indians, 1923 — If that wasn’t his nickname, it should have been. At 5-foot-8, 200 pounds, Barrel was even shaped a little like a barrel. Best reason to raise a glass to him: He played for the Oorang Indians, a team made up of Native Americans (the most famous of which was Jim Thorpe). Oorang, by the way, wasn’t a tribe, it was the name of a kennel near Marion, Ohio, that specialized in Airedales and sponsored the franchise for two seasons. Some of Barrel’s other teammates were Joe Little Twig, Ted Lone Wolf and Long Time Sleep (otherwise known as Nick Lassa).
● Jack Daniels, TB, Milwaukee, 1925 — His NFL career lasted just one game, but there’s no way you can leave him off the squad. Best reason to raise a glass to him: That Badgers juggernaut he played on finished 0-6 and was outscored 191-7. If anybody needed a drink, it was Jack Daniels.
had four sacks and a forced fumble in Seattle’s 33-6 victory over the Rams in 2007.
● Joe Brandy, coach, Minneapolis, 1924 — Brandy’s Marines were another of the pre-draft, pre-revenue sharing Have Nots, going 0-6 and putting up just 14 points. Best reason to raise a glass to him: At Notre Dame he played under Knute Rockne and in the same backfield with George Gipp.
Indeed, the Bucs, now in their 39th year, have never reeled off seven victories in a row, not even the season they won the Super Bowl. The Browns, meanwhile, haven’t had a seven-gamer since ’68, and the Bengals (‘73) and Cardinals (’74) haven’t put one together in nearly as long.
I point this out because the Patriots are on their annual seven-game roll. Well, maybe not annual, but they’ve certainly been Frequent Streakers in the Belichick-Brady Era. This is their seventh run of seven games or more; a couple of times, they didn’t stop until they reached 21 and 18.
The only other team in the 2000s that’s had more than four such streaks is Peyton Manning’s team. Manning had five with the Colts, and has added a sixth — a 17-gamer — with the Broncos.
A look at the Patriots’ streaks (which become even more impressive when you realize that no other club in the AFC East has had even one in the 2000s):
PATRIOTS’ REGULAR-SEASON WINNING STREAKS OF 7 OR MORE SINCE 2000
[table width=”500px”]
Games,Years,Result,Broken By\, Score
21,2006-08,Lost Super Bowl in ’07,Dolphins\, 38-13
18,2003-04,Won Super Bowl in ’03 & ’04,Steelers\, 34-20
10,2010-11,Lost first playoff game in ’10,Bills\, 34-31
9,2011-12,Lost Super Bowl in ’11,Cardinals\, 20-18
Teams that haven’t had a seven-game streak in the 2000s: Bengals, Bills, Browns, Bucs, Cardinals, Dolphins, Jaguars, Jets, Raiders.
How do the Patriots stack up against other teams over the decades led by Hall of Fame quarterbacks? Pretty favorably — keeping in mind, of course, that Brady is in his 13th full season as a starter (Roger Staubach was the Cowboys’ QB of record for just nine) and that schedules are now 16 games (Sid Luckman never played more than 12).
MOST WINNING STREAKS OF 7 GAMES OR MORE, REGULAR SEASON
[table width=”350px”]
Years,Quarterback\, Team,7+ Streaks
2001-14,Tom Brady’s Patriots, 7
1999-10,Peyton Manning’s Colts, 6
1980-90,Joe Montana’s 49ers, 6
1946-55,Otto Graham’s Browns, 6*
1992-07,Brett Favre’s Packers, 4
1991-99,Steve Young’s 49ers, 4
1983-98,John Elway’s Broncos, 4
1970-82,Terry Bradshaw’s Steelers, 4
1971-79,Roger Staubach’s Cowboys, 4
1967-80,Bob Griese’s Dolphins, 4
1956-72,Johnny Unitas’ Colts, 4
1939-50,Sid Luckman’s Bears, 4
[/table]
*Includes years in the All-America Conference (1946-49).
Note: “Years” denotes the span of seasons the quarterback was the team’s starter. Obviously, a QB didn’t get credit for a streak unless he started all or virtually all of the games. (Backup Earl Morrall, for instance, filled in for the injured Unitas when the Colts won eight straight in ’68 – and did likewise for Griese when the Dolphins went undefeated in ’72.)
In case you were wondering, Bart Starr’s Packers had a mere two runs of seven games or longer during the Lombardi years (1959-67) — which just shows how much more competitive the NFL was back then. We’re talking, after all, about arguably the greatest dynasty in pro football history.
The NFL has moved the Bills-Jets game to Detroit this week because the show, of course, must go on. Even when the president of the United States gets assassinated, the show must go on in pro football. In the current case, it’s due to an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Mother Nature, who dumped six feet of snow on Orchard Park and forced the Bills to find another venue. So the game will be played Monday night, not Sunday afternoon, and the site will be Ford Field, not Ralph Wilson Stadium.
It wasn’t always thus. In the days before TV mega-contracts, postponements and even cancellations were hardly unheard of. Sometimes all it took was slow sales ticket sales or the threat of bad weather to get owners to reschedule — or to bag the game entirely. Why don’t we revisit some of these episodes so you can get a better feel for The Way Things Were?
We begin with a couple of games in New York that were snowed out Dec. 5, 1926 — one between the Giants and Bears at the Polo Grounds, the other between the Brooklyn Horsemen and Duluth Eskimos at Ebbets Field. (And yes, I’m as surprised as anybody that a game involving the Eskimos could be snowed out.) Here’s how The New York Times reported it:
What’s interesting about the first game is that it was the second of back-to-backers for the Bears. They’d lost the day before to the Frankford Yellow Jackets in Philadelphia — their only loss of the season, it would turn out, and one that would leave them second behind the Yellow Jackets in the final standings. (This was before the league staged a title game to determine its champion.)
I’m kind of amazed George Halas, their owner/coach/end, didn’t insist that the game be played at a later date — for the New York payday as much as for the potential W. But as you can see from the Bears’ 1926 results, it was just canceled (though they did play twice more before calling it a season).
Then there was the time in 1936 the Eagles and Pirates (as the Steelers were called then) got the brilliant idea to move one of their games to Johnstown, Pa. Naturally, there was a flood that caused a postponement. Well, almost a flood. The Pittsburgh Press put it this way:
Two years later, Pittsburgh owner Art Rooney caused a stir by putting off a game against the Cleveland Rams because — brace yourself — he had too many players banged up. The Rams were none to pleased about it, as you can see in this Press story:
What’s interesting about this tempest in a leather helmet is that the teams wound up playing the game in December in New Orleans. It was the first NFL game ever played in the Big Easy. (Why New Orleans, you ask? Answer: During the Depression, clubs that didn’t draw well at home would play anywhere they could get a decent guarantee. The next year, the Rams played their season finale against the Eagles in Colorado Springs.
Moving along, in 1954 the Browns pushed their Oct. 3 home game against the Lions back to Dec. 19 because they weren’t sure if the Indians would need Cleveland Stadium for a World Series game against the New York Giants. (The Indians didn’t. The Giants completed their shocking sweep the day before.)
This created a bizarre situation. When the Browns and Lions finally did meet, all the other teams had completed their schedules — and Browns and Lions had already wrapped up their conference titles. So they played on consecutive Sundays in Cleveland . . . with the whole pro football world watching. The Lions won the first game 14-10, and the Browns won the one that really mattered 56-10. What’s that, a 50-point swing in the space of a week?
I could go on, but I’ll finish with the infamous Bills-Patriots postponement in 1961. The game was supposed to be played on a Friday night in Boston but, with Hurricane Gerda looming, was held over to Sunday. Almost predictably, Gerda ended up being the Brian Bosworth of storms — dozens of area high school contests went on as planned that night — and Buffalo coach Buster Ramsay was convinced the delay was “a deliberate attempt to upset my team. . . . A bush-league trick.”
The Patriots actually had to get the city council approval to reschedule to Sunday. They were using Boston University’s Field, you see, and BU didn’t have a permit for games on the Sabbath, according to The Boston Globe.
When the Bills and Pats finally did play, the weather — 35 degrees with 25-to-30 mph winds — was far worse than it had been Friday night. A mere 9,398 showed up to shiver, and Ramsey’s worst fears were realized: His club came out flat and fell behind 45-0 in a 52-21 loss.
At least we know Buffalo’s postponement this weekend wasn’t “a deliberate attempt to upset” the Jets. There’s real snow on the ground — alps of it. And it’s nice nobody had to go to the Detroit city council to get them to OK a Sunday game. Now Rex Ryan’s bunch just has to keep the Bills from running off to a 45-0 lead.
Spent the better part of the morning trying to put together sets of Triplets — quarterback, running back, receiver — who share the same last name (even if they didn’t play on the same club or in the same era). There was no fudging allowed, either. For instance, you couldn’t try to team Kerry Collins with Cris Collinsworth or Trent Green with BenJarvus Green-Ellis or, heaven forbid, Rob Gronkowski with Bruce Gradkowski. The receiver could, however, be a wideout or a tight end. The rules weren’t totally inflexible.
Anyway, it was harder than I thought it would be. There just aren’t many surnames that are very common in NFL/AFL history. I almost hurled my laptop, Frisbee style, when I was two-thirds of the way to paydirt with Jim and Leroy Kelly — Hall of Famers both — but couldn’t come up with a receiver any better than Reggie, the underwhelming tight end for the Bengals and Falcons.
Smith is another one. You’d think that would be a gimmie — Emmitt at running back, Jerry (or Jimmy or Steve or Rod or Jerry) at receiver and . . . good luck finding a quarterback worth a darn.
If you work at it, though, you can dig up some nice threesomes. Here are my nominees for:
Only a few of these guys didn’t make at least one Pro Bowl or — in the case of pre-Pro Bowl players — all-pro team. Flipper Anderson didn’t, for example, but, hey, he holds the record for receiving yards in a game (336). In fact, he’s held it for 25 years, which is pretty remarkable considering how long receiving marks tend to last. And granted, Scott Mitchell was nothing special as a quarterback, but he did throw 32 touchdown passes one year for the Lions.
The first three listed are my gold, silver and bronze medalists. As for the others, you can order them however you like. I’m not sure it makes much difference. It’s kind of cool, by the way, that
Spec Sanders
Dub and Bert Jones are a father-son pairing. Dub, of course, is one of three NFL players to score six TDs in a game.
One last thing: I was fibbing about the no-fudging rule. Spec Sanders wasn’t technically a quarterback; he was a single-wing tailback for the New York Yankees of the All-America Conference in the ’40s. (He did play one season in the NFL, however, and intercepted 13 passes as a DB to lead the league.)
I included Spec because in 1947 he had one of the greatest offensive seasons of all time, throwing for 1,442 yards and 14 touchdowns and rushing for 1,432 yards and 18 TDs. (In his spare time, he ran a kickoff back 92 yards for another score.)
One day I spent a couple of hours on the phone with him, reminiscing about his playing days. He was utterly self-effacing, not the least bit impressed with his football feats. Just makes me want to keep his name alive.
In fact, here are two of them. The first is Stephen Gostkowski, who went over 100 points for the season in the Patriots’ ninth game. He’s only the second pure kicker in NFL/AFL history to get to 100 points — 101, actually — that fast. The other is Lawrence Tynes with the Giants two years ago (102).
But . . . three running backs and four multitaskers — guys who played an offensive position and doubled as kickers — also have accomplished the feat. Two of the seven did it twice. The details:
NFL/AFL PLAYERS WHO HAVE SCORED 100 POINTS IN THE FIRST NINE GAMES
[table]
Year,Player\, Team,TD,FG,PAT,Pts (Final Total*)
2014,K Stephen Gostkowski\, Patriots,0,34,29,101 (TBD)
1960,RB-K Paul Hornung\, Packers,11,11,30,129 (176*)
1958,RB Jim Brown\, Browns,17,0,0,102 (108*)
1942,WR-K Don Hutson\, Packers,15,0,29,119 (138*)
[/table]
*led league
Notes: Hornung reached 100 in just seven games in 1960 (100 exactly) and again in 1961 (101). Cappelletti had 100 through eight games in ’61, and Hutson had 104 through eight in ’42. . . . Hornung missed two games in ‘61 because of a military commitment.
Anyway, that’s a pretty impressive bunch. Hornung, Brown and Hutson are in the Hall of Fame, and Tomlinson figures to join them soon enough.
The second kicker I wanted to call to your attention is Shayne Graham, currently with the Saints. I say “currently” because Graham has certainly been making the rounds lately. Since he left the Bengals as a free agent in 2010, he’s been with 10 different teams and played at least one regular season game with five of them.
● 2011 – Redskins (cut in camp), Cowboys (cut before season), Dolphins (2 games), Ravens (1).
● 2012 – Texans (16 games).
● 2013 – Browns (cut in camp), Steelers (on their roster for a game but wasn’t active), Saints (2).
● 2014 – Saints (9 games and counting).
How do ya like them frequent-flyer miles? But here’s the thing: Despite his job tenuousness, Graham has kicked the ball very well. In fact, in these five seasons — or parts thereof — he hasn’t missed a field goal try under 40 yards. The breakdown:
SHAYNE GRAHAM’S FIELD GOAL KICKING BY DISTANCE, 2010-14
[table]
0-19,20-29,30-39,40-49,50+,Made,Missed,%
2-2,22-22,22-22,18-14,10-5,65,9,87.2
[/table]
(Numbers below distances are field goals attempted and made.)
To live out of a suitcase — well, practically — for five years and still perform at this level is . . . the definition of a pro. A guy like that deserves to kick in a dome at this stage of his career. He’s earned it.
Source: pro-football-reference.com
Much-traveled Shayne Graham has made 14 of 15 field goal tries for the Saints this season.
Not every militarized NFL player saw action in World War II. Some played football on various service teams and/or helped sell war bonds. Here’s one of a series of ads that ran in newspapers in 1943. Featured is Norm Standlee, the Bears’ Nagurski-esque fullback.
It was Tuffy Leemans Day, by the way, at the Polo Grounds. The Giants’ Hall of Fame back was given a silver tray inscribed by his teammates and $1,500 in defense bonds. Two years later, the Steelers and Eagles merged into the “Steagles” — just to keep going. The Rams, meanwhile, shut down for the season and dispersed their players — the few, that is, that weren’t in the military — among the other clubs in the league.
