1960: Paul Hornung Breaks Scoring Record vs. Bears, on Way to Record 176

After two seasons in the NFL, it appeared that Paul Hornung was on his way to being yet another Heisman-winning bust. A star quarterback at Notre Dame, he didn’t have the arm strength or throwing accuracy to play the position in pro football – as the team that made him the first selection in the 1957 draft, the Green Bay Packers, found out. The Packers were a losing team and Hornung was underachieving while constantly being shifted between fullback, where he lacked sufficient power, and halfback, where he lacked blazing speed.

The arrival of Vince Lombardi as head coach in 1959 changed things radically for the Packers as a team and for Hornung as a player. Lombardi quickly ascertained that the 6’2”, 220-pound Hornung had the all-around ability to fill the option halfback position that Frank Gifford had played with the New York Giants, where Lombardi had coached the offense. The individual skills may have seemed lacking, but the sum of all the parts proved to be far greater than anticipated.

The Packers went from 1-10-1 in 1958 to 7-5 in ’59, and Hornung, who also handled the placekicking, led the league with 94 points. In ’60, Hornung smashed Don Hutson’s 18-year-old single season scoring record in impressive fashion and proved conclusively that, as Lombardi said, “any time he gets within the 10 yard line, he smells the goal line”.

Against the Chicago Bears at Wrigley Field on December 4, Hornung put up a total of 23 points – tying his most in a game that season, and breaking Hutson’s record of 138 – in utilizing his various abilities. He kicked a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter to start the scoring, and a 41-yarder later in the period to give the Packers a 13-6 lead at the half.

Green Bay scored a total of five touchdowns, and Hornung successfully booted the extra points after each. Two of the TDs he accounted for himself – on a 17-yard pass from QB Bart Starr in the third quarter and a 10 yard run in the fourth quarter. Statistically, while FB Jim Taylor led the team in rushing (as usual) with 140 yards on 24 carries, Hornung ran the ball 14 times for 68 yards. He also caught three passes for another 32 yards.

The Packers rolled up 443 yards on offense in typically efficient fashion, with no turnovers, while the Bears lost a fumble and two interceptions (DE Willie Davis recovered the fumble for a score). The final score was 41-13 in favor of Green Bay.

The Packers, who came into the game at 5-4 after losing two straight, won three in a row to close out the regular season and topped the Western Conference with an 8-4 record. They lost the NFL Championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles. Chicago, at 5-3-1 prior to hosting Green Bay, went in the opposite direction, losing the remaining games and failing to score in either of the final two; they ended up in fifth place in the West with a 5-6-1 record.

Hornung scored a total of 176 points, which was the league record until finally broken by LaDainian Tomlinson of the Chargers 46 years later, in 2006 (and in 16 games, to Hornung’s 12). The breakdown on the scoring was: 15 touchdowns (13 rushing, 2 receiving), 15 field goals (out of 28 attempts), and 41 extra points (no misses).

As in the Bears game, his statistics didn’t dazzle – for the year he gained a respectable 671 yards on 160 carries for a 4.2-yard average gain, and caught 28 passes for 257 yards, averaging 9.2 yards. He completed 6 of 16 option passes for 118 yards with two TDs and no interceptions. But he was a unanimous first team All-NFL selection at halfback. And when it came to putting points on the board, there were few more proficient than the Golden Boy.

1961: Charley Hennigan Has Third 200-Yard Receiving Game of Season

The Houston Oilers, defending champions of the AFL, looked as though they wouldn’t defend their title very effectively when they got off to a 1-3-1 start in 1961. However, after owner Bud Adams dismissed Head Coach Lou Rymkus and replaced him with Wally Lemm, the team caught fire. On December 3, they hosted the top team in the Western Division, the San Diego Chargers, at Jeppesen Stadium. The result was a convincing 33-13 win, spurred by four George Blanda touchdown passes, three of them to flanker Charley Hennigan.

Hennigan was one of the key offensive performers behind Houston’s success, and on this day he caught 10 passes for 214 yards. It marked his third 200-yard game of the season, on the way to accumulating an overall pass receiving yardage record that would last for 34 years.

It hardly seemed likely that Hennigan would become a successful pro football player when he arrived at the team’s first training camp in 1960. He had drawn scant attention from the NFL when he came out of Northwest Louisiana in ’59, and had played briefly in Canada. Hennigan was teaching high school Biology in Jonesboro, Louisiana when he decided to take a shot at the new pro football league and signed with the Oilers. Fast but thin at 6’1”, 187 pounds, he didn’t do much in training camp or the preseason, but gained an advocate in assistant coach Mac Speedie, the former star end for the Cleveland Browns who coached the Houston receivers.

In the 1960 season opening game, Hennigan scored the first touchdown in team history on a 43-yard pass play from Blanda and had four catches for 85 yards in the first half – and then suffered a separated shoulder that required surgery and kept him out of action for three weeks. He came back to catch 44 passes for the Oilers in ’60, and did much more in 1961.

The team may have started slowly, but Hennigan didn’t as he went over a hundred yards in each of the first seven games, and twice went over 200 yards with a high of 272 yards on 13 receptions on October 13 at Boston. Two weeks later he caught 9 passes for 232 yards at Buffalo.

In all, Hennigan ended up with 10 hundred-yard games on the way to a season total of 1746 yards on 82 receptions (a 21.3 average gain) with 12 touchdowns (his three against the Chargers were his single-game high). The yardage total was finally exceeded in 1995 by both Jerry Rice of the 49ers (1848) and Isaac Bruce of the Rams (1781), and of course they did it in a 16-game season as opposed to 14. Oddly enough, Hennigan was even shut out in one game in ’61.

Hennigan and split end Bill Groman, who caught 50 passes for 1175 yards and 17 touchdowns (equaling the record at the time, held by Don Hutson and Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch) helped the Oilers to accumulate a team record 4392 yards through the air (not exceeded until 1980 by the Chargers). QB Blanda threw for 3330 of those yards, with a then-record 36 TD passes.

While Hennigan’s yardage total was eventually exceeded, the three 200-yard games in a season have not. Nor have the seven consecutive hundred-yard performances, although that was tied by Michael Irvin of the Cowboys in 1995, when, with 11, he also became the only NFL receiver to exceed Hennigan’s 10 hundred-yard games in ’61 (three others have also had 10). Granted, the level of competition in the AFL in 1961 was not on a par with the NFL or as high as it would be in just a few more years, but the numbers remain impressive decades later, when rules changes have significantly opened up the passing game.

Houston ended up winning nine consecutive games under Coach Lemm to finish the season, compiling an overall 10-3-1 record to again place first in the Eastern Division. They faced the Chargers, 12-2 and easily the best team in the West, in the AFL Championship game, which the Oilers won by the surprisingly low score of 10-3.

While Bill Groman’s numbers dropped off significantly after ’61, Hennigan remained one of the AFL’s best receivers and again led the league in pass receiving yards in 1964 (1546), the same year that he set a record with 101 receptions.

1985: Dolphins Hand Bears Only Loss of Season

The December 2, 1985 showdown at Miami’s Orange Bowl between the Dolphins (8-4) and Chicago Bears (12-0) may have been a regular season contest, but had all the feel of a playoff game. The game was scheduled for a Monday night, thereby increasing the exposure and hype (it remains the highest rated telecast in the history of Monday Night Football).

Under Head Coach Mike Ditka, the Bears not only had a perfect record coming into the game, but had typically dominated opponents throughout the season. The offense was solid, but the defense was what made the team special; utilizing defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan’s attacking 46 Defense, the team rolled up scores of 45-10 over Washington and 26-10 over the defending champion 49ers. They had recorded dominating back-to-back shutouts of the Dallas Cowboys (44-0) and Atlanta Falcons (36-0) in the previous two games.

The Dolphins, reigning AFC champs, weren’t in the same class defensively but featured an excellent passing game guided by third-year QB Dan Marino, who was coming off a record-setting year in 1984. Miami also was the only NFL franchise to have a team go undefeated throughout a season and continue on to win a championship, in 1972, a fact of which Head Coach Don Shula made sure his players were well aware. The frenzied crowd of 75,000 in attendance certainly was.

The Bears hadn’t allowed a touchdown in 13 quarters going into the game, but Marino ended that streak four minutes into the first quarter by firing a 33-yard TD pass to WR Nat Moore. Bears QB Steve Fuller, making his fourth consecutive start in place of injured starter Jim McMahon, hit WR Willie Gault on a 69-yard pass play down to the Miami 11 yard line and then tied the game with a one-yard TD on a quarterback sneak that tied the score at 7-7. However, when Fuad Reveiz responded with a 47-yard field goal, the Dolphins took the lead and never relinquished it.

Miami effectively put the game away in the second quarter. RB Ron Davenport scored twice from a yard out, with a 30-yard Kevin Butler field goal for the Bears sandwiched in between. The second Davenport score had been set up when the Dolphins converted two third downs – first, a 52-yard gain on a pass from Marino to WR Mark Duper on third and 12, and then 26 yards from Marino to WR Mark Clayton to the one yard line on third and 7. Shortly after the second Davenport TD, CB William Judson blocked a Maury Buford punt to give the Dolphins the ball at the Chicago six yard line. This set up Marino’s second TD pass to Moore to make the score 31-10 at halftime. Miami had scored on each of its first five possessions.

The Bears scored twice in the third quarter, but any possible comeback was negated by a poor kickoff by Kevin Butler after the first TD, giving the Dolphins good field position at the Chicago 46. Three plays later, Clayton scored on a 42-yard pass play from Marino (the ball was actually tipped by DE Dan Hampton) for a 38-17 lead. Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, and in the end it was a stunning Miami victory at 38-24.

In the statistical battle, the Bears outgained the Dolphins with 343 total yards to 335 and accumulated more first downs as well (23-17). But Chicago turned the ball over four times, three on interceptions, and Miami capitalized on the opportunities. They also out-sacked the Bears, 6 to 3.

Dan Marino completed just 14 of 27 passes, but they were good for 270 yards with three touchdowns against one interception. All of the receptions were made by wide receivers – Mark Duper and Mark Clayton each caught five passes, with Duper leading in yards with 107 to Clayton’s 88, and Nat Moore contributed 4 receptions for 75 yards, including two TDs. Miami gained 90 rushing yards on the tough Bears defense, with RB Tony Nathan leading the way with 74 yards on 15 carries. Chicago’s great RB Walter Payton had a typically solid performance in a losing cause, gaining 121 yards on 23 attempts; it was his record-setting eighth consecutive hundred-yard rushing game.

For the season, Marino didn’t match his awe-inspiring statistics of 1984, but all the same led the NFL in pass completions (336), passing yards (4137), and TD passes (30). Clayton caught 70 passes for 996 yards and four TDs while Duper, injured for half the season, hauled in 35 passes for 650 yards and three scores. The 34-year-old Moore had 51 catches for 701 yards – his highest totals since 1977 – and led all Miami receivers with 7 touchdown catches.

The Bears went undefeated the rest of the way, finishing at 15-1 and winning the NFC Championship. Miami also won its remaining regular season games, closing out at 12-4 atop the AFC East, but the anticipated Super Bowl rematch between the teams was derailed when New England upset the Dolphins in the AFC Championship game. Chicago easily won the ensuing Super Bowl over the Patriots by a 46-10 margin.

1940: Davey O’Brien Sets Passing Records in Career Finale at Washington

Quarterback Davey O’Brien of the Philadelphia Eagles proved to be one of the most prolific passers in pro football during his brief NFL career. Chosen by the Eagles in the first round of the 1939 draft out of Texas Christian, where he had won the Heisman Trophy, the diminutive (5’7”, 150 pounds) O’Brien received a $10,000 contract. Eagles Owner/Head Coach Bert Bell also took out a $1500 per game insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London and many sportswriters questioned whether he would hold up as a pro player.

Playing for a bad team (the Eagles went 2-19-1 in his two seasons), O’Brien proved to be both durable and a record-setting thrower. He twice set the league record for pass completions in a game in ’39, and finished with an NFL-record 1324 passing yards. With few other offensive weapons, and little protection from the line, the Eagles with O’Brien were the most prolific passing team in the league.

While his TCU teammate, end Don Looney, was brought in to provide him with a familiar target for the 1940 season, overall the situation was the same. Prior to the season finale, on December 1 at Washington’s Griffith Stadium, the player known as Slingshot Davey announced that he would retire to become an FBI agent.

The matchup was an appropriate one, because O’Brien’s predecessor as a passing tailback at TCU had been Sammy Baugh, the star passer for the Redskins. Prior to the game, Bell presented O’Brien with a plaque that read “Davey O’Brien, the greatest player of all time; retiring from pro football to serve his country. Small in stature with the heart of a lion. A living inspiration to the youth of America”.

The matchup against Baugh and the plaque inscription were a lot to live up to, but O’Brien certainly gave it his best shot. Passing on almost every down, he set single-game NFL records for pass attempts (60), completions (33), and yards (316). Looney was the primary recipient of his throws, also setting a new standard with 14 receptions (still the Eagles team record, since tied by RB Brian Westbrook in 2007). None of O’Brien’s passes were intercepted, establishing a record for most throws in a game without a pickoff that lasted until 1991.

Meanwhile, Washington scored on a 23-yard run by wingback Wilbur Moore in the second quarter (the extra point failed) and another run, by HB Dick Todd, of 6 yards in the third quarter to take a 13-0 lead. O’Brien led the Eagles on a 98-yard drive in the fourth quarter that culminated in a 19-yard TD pass to FB Frank Emmons that made the score 13-6 (the PAT attempt by Fran Murray was blocked). That ended up being the final tally; the Eagles drove from their own 31 yard line to the Redskins 22 as time ran out.

For the year, the Eagles finished at the bottom of the Eastern Division with a 1-10 record. Washington finished on top of the division at 9-2, although they were routed in the NFL Championship game, 73-0, by the Chicago Bears.

Davey O’Brien ranked second in the league (behind Baugh) with 1290 yards passing. Don Looney set a record with 58 pass receptions and also led the NFL with 707 yards.

O’Brien’s records from the game against the Redskins eventually were surpassed – some earlier (passing yards in 1942, pass completions in 1948) than others (pass attempts by George Blanda of the AFL in 1964). Don Looney’s pass receiving record was tied by Green Bay’s Don Hutson the very next year, 1941, and broken by Hutson in ’42; he played two more seasons and caught a total of just 17 more passes.

1959: Joe Foss Named Commissioner of AFL

The last week of November 1959 was a tumultuous one for the fledgling American Football League as it prepared to take the field for the 1960 season. The first draft of college talent was held on the 23rd, in order to get a head start against the established NFL. However, as the AFL owners met in Minneapolis, newspapers reported that the ownership group of the franchise slated to play in that city had been successfully wooed by the older league to become an expansion franchise for 1961. While the defection of the Minnesota franchise to the NFL didn’t become official until January of 1960 (it was replaced by Oakland), it was hardly the type of publicity that the new league was looking for.

On November 30, it was announced that Joe Foss would be the AFL’s commissioner. There had been other names floated in the preceding months, most significantly Frank Leahy, the former Notre Dame coach, and Fritz Crisler, former coach and current athletic director at Michigan. Bert Bell, the NFL commissioner, had even been sounded out in the hopes that he would extend his reach over both leagues and thus avoid warfare between the two. Bell politely turned the AFL’s overture down, and it became a moot point when he died in October.

Foss, ironically enough, had first been sounded out by one of the Minneapolis group whom he encountered while staying at the same hotel during a league organizational meeting. Unlike the other candidates for the job, he had no background in football. However, he was a well-known figure with an impressive personal history: a World War II fighter pilot who shot down 26 enemy aircraft in four months and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, and later a two-term Governor of South Dakota. A quintessential self-made man, he had a reputation for honesty, candor, and leadership that made up for his lack of previous involvement in the game.

Foss gave the AFL credibility, and proved to be an able administrator. He successfully concluded an all-important $36,000,000 television deal with NBC in 1964 and, when New York Titans owner Harry Wismer (a frequent Foss antagonist) was nearing bankruptcy, found a buyer for the team (a group headed by Sonny Werblin, who later also became a Foss antagonist).

While Foss was given a five-year contract extension following the 1961 season, he took his share of criticism and occasionally battled with each of the AFL’s owners. He invalidated a secret draft conducted in November of 1961, and on occasion fined owners and reviewed transactions (a deal with San Diego sending DE Earl Faison and DT Ernie Ladd to Houston was invalidated due to unspecified tampering by Oilers owner Bud Adams, who needless to say was infuriated). His frequent travels on behalf of the league often made him difficult to communicate with. And he took heat when an apparent deal to put an expansion team in Atlanta for the 1966 season was undercut by the NFL.

Foss resigned shortly before the merger agreement with the NFL was resolved in 1966 – he had advocated merging, but also didn’t want to see the league lose its identity.

In summing up, as well as explaining the timing of his resignation, Foss told Sports Illustrated, “Some owners became irritated because I would never be frightened or directed. I wouldn't call the owners and report to them all the time just to gain Brownie points…I guess I could have done a lot better job as commissioner as far as the owners and public are now concerned if I had stayed in my office and done public relations work. But that is not in my nature…It's time for me to take a rougher and bigger job. I was getting tired of looking at placid waters. Now that the league is prospering, I'm ready to move on. My mission is accomplished."

Al Davis, the head coach and general manager of the Oakland Raiders, succeeded Foss as commissioner. His reign was short – the merger was announced a few months later – and he returned to the Raiders as Managing General Partner.

Foss went on to host two syndicated television shows for outdoorsmen and was later president of the National Rifle Association. He didn’t return to the world of pro football, but his steady leadership in the AFL’s early days played a part in that league’s eventual success.

1987: Cunningham & Eagles Withstand Patriots Comeback to Win in Overtime

Quarterback Tom Ramsey didn’t have much of an NFL career, lasting just four seasons as a backup for the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts after coming over from the USFL. Injuries to Steve Grogan and Tony Eason put Ramsey in the starting lineup for three games in 1987, and in one, at Sullivan Stadium against the visiting Philadelphia Eagles on November 29, 1987, he passed for just over 400 yards and rallied the team to force overtime.

The Patriots stood at 5-5 while the Eagles were 4-6 coming into the contest. Philadelphia took a 17-7 lead in the first half, thanks to a Paul McFadden field goal, a 61-yard pass play from QB Randall Cunningham to WR Mike Quick, and a one-yard Cunningham bootleg.

While ex-Eagle Tony Franklin kicked a 21-yard field goal to narrow the score in the second quarter, the Eagles extended their lead to 24-10 in the third quarter with a one-yard run by FB Anthony Toney. Early in the fourth quarter it seemed as though Philadelphia would cruise to an easy win when Cunningham hit Quick for another score, this one covering 29 yards.

But Ramsey rallied the Patriots in the fourth quarter, completing 15 of 24 passes for 157 yards in the final period. He threw touchdown passes of 13 yards to WR Stanley Morgan and three yards to TE Willie Scott to narrow the margin to 31-24. With 1:05 remaining, Ramsey tied the game with a one-yard rush. New England got the ball back and nearly won the game in regulation, but a fumbled hold on an attempted field goal caused Franklin to miss from just 31 yards out to send the game into overtime.

Both teams missed field goals in the OT period, first the Patriots with Franklin’s 46-yard attempt falling short and then McFadden failed after the Eagles drove to the New England 22 yard line. The game finally turned on a forced fumble by Eagles FS Terry Hoage (who had an outstanding overall performance) on Patriots FB Mosi Tatupu that was recovered by LB Garry Cobb at the New England 39. Four plays later, McFadden redeemed himself by kicking the game-winning 38-yard field goal with 2:44 left to play.

Overall in defeat, Ramsey completed 34 of 53 passes for 402 yards and three touchdowns, against two interceptions. Considering that he threw for just 898 yards and 6 TDs for the season (and for that matter, 1285 yards and 7 scores in his NFL career), it was an amazing performance. He became just the fourth quarterback in team history to reach the 400-yard passing mark in a game.

RB Tony Collins caught 11 passes for 100 yards with a TD to lead the Patriots pass receivers, while the unfortunate Tatupu was the top ground gainer with 58 yards on 14 carries.

For the Eagles, Cunningham passed 31 times, completing 18, for 314 yards with the two scoring throws and one picked off. WR Quick, the recipient of the two TD passes, had 5 pass receptions for 121 yards. TE John Spagnola also caught 5 passes, for 58 yards. FB Toney, usually better known for his blocking than ball carrying, led all rushers with a career-high 123 yards on 24 carries with the one TD.

It was a breakout year for Randall Cunningham, who passed for 2786 yards and 23 touchdowns, and also ran for 505 yards. Mike Quick went to the Pro Bowl for the fifth consecutive season, catching 46 passes for 790 yards with 11 TDs.

The Eagles, a team on the rise under second-year Head Coach Buddy Ryan, ended the strike-shortened season with a 7-8 record (they were 7-5 in non-replacement player games), tied for third in the NFC East. New England, which used five quarterbacks during the season, concluded at 8-7 and tied for second in the AFC East.

1929: Ernie Nevers Scores 40 Points vs. Bears

Perhaps no player has ever so dominated a game as fullback Ernie Nevers did on November 28, 1929 when he scored all 40 points for the Chicago Cardinals in a Thanksgiving Day matchup at Comiskey Park against the usually more successful crosstown rivals, the Chicago Bears.

Nevers was an outstanding all-around athlete (he also played baseball and basketball professionally, although not nearly as successfully) who played his college football under legendary coach Pop Warner at Stanford and entered the NFL in 1926. After two years with the Duluth Eskimos, he was forced to sit out the 1928 season with an injury and then joined the Cardinals. In this era of smaller rosters and less specialization, the 210-pound, 26-year-old star was not only the starting fullback, but the placekicker, punter, and a linebacker as well.

The weather for the game against the Bears was bitterly cold, causing the field to be frozen and footing less than ideal. Six minutes into the first quarter, Nevers scored his first touchdown on a 20-yard run, but was wide on the PAT attempt. He plunged five yards for another before the opening quarter was done, and this time was successful on the extra point. Nevers scored another seven points with a six-yard TD and successful PAT in the second quarter to give the Cardinals a 20-0 lead.

The second half was more of the same: three Nevers touchdown runs followed by two successful Nevers extra points; another 20-point half. When it was over, the Cardinals had beaten the Bears soundly, 40-6. Nevers pulled himself out of the game with about five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and received a tremendous ovation from the crowd.

The six touchdowns remain the single-game record, since tied by Dub Jones of the Browns in 1951 and Gale Sayers of the Bears in 1965. However, Nevers remains the only player to score all six by rushing, and his 40 points are still the most ever accumulated by a player in a game; it is the oldest NFL record still unbroken.

Nevers had also scored all of the Cardinals’ points in the previous week’s game against the Dayton Triangles, a 19-0 win, so while it doesn’t show up in the record books, he actually scored 59 consecutive points for his team.

As it was, the Cardinals finished with a 6-6-1 record for fourth place in the twelve-team NFL. Ernie Nevers played a total of five years, taking a great physical toll – he was not an elusive outside dasher like his contemporary, Red Grange, but a straight-ahead inside runner who was also a rugged linebacker on defense. However, he was a first team All-NFL selection in all five seasons and, in 1963, became a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.