List of the Day: Best Rushing Seasons, 1940s NFL

Steve Van Buren

TOP 10
1- Steve Van Buren, 1949 Philadelphia Eagles
1146 yards, 263 att., 4.4 avg., 11 TD

2- Tony Canadeo, 1949 Green Bay Packers
1052 yds., 208 att., 5.1 avg., 4 TD

3- Steve Van Buren, 1947 Philadelphia Eagles
1008 yds., 217 att., 4.6 avg., 13 TD

4- Steve Van Buren, 1948 Philadelphia Eagles
945 yds., 201 att., 4.7 avg., 10 TD

5- Steve Van Buren, 1945 Philadelphia Eagles
832 yds., 143 att., 5.8 avg., 15 TD

6- Frank Akins, 1945 Washington Redskins
797 yds., 147 att., 5.4 avg., 6 TD

7- Bill Paschal, 1944 New York Giants
737 yds., 196 att., 3.8 avg., 9 TD

8- Bill Dudley, 1942 Pittsburgh Steelers
696 yds., 162 att., 4.3 avg., 5 TD

9- Charlie Trippi, 1948 Chicago Cardinals
690 yds., 128 att., 5.4 avg., 6 TD

10-Elmer Angsman, 1949 Chicago Cardinals
674 yds., 125 att., 5.4 avg., 6 TD


Tony Canadeo


Bill Dudley


Charlie Trippi

BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers: Merl Condit, 1942*
647 yards, 129 att., 5.0 avg., 2 TD

Detroit Lions: Camp Wilson, 1948
612 yds., 157 att., 3.9 avg., 2 TD

Los Angeles Rams: Dick Hoerner, 1949
582 yds., 155 att., 3.8 avg., 6 TD

Chicago Bears: Harry Clarke, 1943
556 yds., 120 att., 4.6 avg., 2 TD

Boston Yanks: John Grigas, 1946**
426 yds., 84 att., 5.1 avg., 2 TD

New York Bulldogs: Joe Osmanski, 1949***
267 yds., 66 att., 4.0 avg., 2 TD


*Brooklyn folded after 1944 season
**Yanks played from 1944-48
***Bulldogs records for 1949 only


Bill Paschal


Elmer Angsman

List of the Day: Best Pass Receiving Seasons, 1930s NFL

Don Hutson

TOP 10 RECEPTIONS*
1 (tied)- Don Hutson, 1937 Green Bay Packers
41 rec., 552 yds., 13.5 avg., 7 TD

1 (tied)- Gaynell Tinsley, 1938 Chicago Cardinals
41 rec., 516 yds., 12.6 avg., 1 TD

3- Gaynell Tinsley, 1937 Chicago Cardinals
36 rec., 675 yds., 18.8 avg., 5 TD

4 (tied)- Don Hutson, 1936 Green Bay Packers
34 rec., 536 yds., 15.8 avg., 8 TD

4 (tied)- Don Hutson, 1939 Green Bay Packers
34 rec., 846 yds., 24.9 avg., 6 TD

6- Perry Schwartz, 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers
33 rec., 550 yds., 16.7 avg., 3 TD

7 (tied)- Don Hutson, 1938 Green Bay Packers
32 rec., 548 yds., 17.1 avg., 9 TD

7 (tied)- Vic Spadaccini, 1939 Cleveland Rams
32 rec., 292 yds., 9.1 avg., 1 TD

9- Red Ramsey, 1939 Philadelphia Eagles
31 rec., 359 yds., 11.6 avg., 1 TD

10-Charley Malone, 1937 Washington Redskins
28 rec., 419 yds., 15.0 avg., 4 TD


Gaynell Tinsley


Red Ramsey


BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
New York Giants: Tod Goodwin, 1935
26 rec., 432 yds., 16.6 avg., 4 TD

Pittsburgh Pirates: Sam Boyd, 1939
21 rec., 423 yds., 20.1 avg., 2 TD

Chicago Bears: Luke Johnsos, 1932 & 1935
19 rec., 321 yds., 16.9 avg., 2 TD (1932)
19 rec., 298 yds., 15.7 avg., 4 TD (1935)
Dick Plasman, 1939
19 rec., 403 yds., 21.2 avg., 3 TD

Detroit Lions: Ernie Caddel, 1936
19 rec., 150 yds., 7.9 avg., 1 TD

St. Louis Gunners: Paul Moss, 1934**
6 rec., 131 yds., 21.8 avg., 1 TD

Cincinnati Reds: Jim Mooney, 1934***
6 rec., 36 yds., 6.0 avg., 0 TD

Staten Island Stapletons: Ken Strong, 1932****
5 rec., 56 yds., 11.2 avg., 0 TD

*Statistics available from 1932 on
** Gunners played three games in 1934
*** Reds played in 1933-34
**** Stapletons folded after 1932 season


Charley Malone


TOP 10 YARDS*
1- Don Hutson, 1939 Green Bay Packers
846 yds., 34 rec., 24.9 avg., 6 TD

2- Gaynell Tinsley, 1937 Chicago Cardinals
675 yds., 36 rec., 18.8 avg., 5 TD

3- Don Hutson, 1937 Green Bay Packers
552 yds., 41 rec., 13.5 avg., 7 TD

4- Perry Schwartz, 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers
550 yds., 33 rec., 16.7 avg., 3 TD

5- Don Hutson, 1938 Green Bay Packers
548 yds., 32 rec., 17.1 avg., 9 TD

6- Don Hutson, 1936 Green Bay Packers
536 yds., 34 rec., 15.8 avg., 8 TD

7- Gaynell Tinsley, 1938 Chicago Cardinals
516 yds., 41 rec., 12.6 avg., 1 TD

8- Jeff Barrett, 1937 Brooklyn Dodgers
461 yds., 20 rec., 23.1 avg., 3 TD

9- Andy Farkas, 1939 Washington Redskins
437 yds., 16 rec., 27.3 avg., 5 TD

10-Charley Malone, 1935 Boston Redskins
433 yds., 22 rec., 19.7 avg., 2 TD


Andy Farkas


BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
New York Giants: Tod Goodwin, 1935
432 yds., 26 rec., 16.6 avg., 4 TD

Pittsburgh Pirates: Sam Boyd, 1939
423 yds., 21 rec., 20.1 avg., 2 TD

Cleveland Rams: Jim Benton, 1938
418 yds., 21 rec., 19.9 avg., 5 TD

Chicago Bears: Dick Plasman, 1939
403 yds., 19 rec., 21.2 avg., 3 TD

Philadelphia Eagles: Joe Carter, 1938
386 yds., 27 rec., 14.3 avg., 7 TD

Detroit Lions: Harry Ebding, 1934
264 yds., 10 rec., 26.4 avg., 2 TD

St. Louis Gunners: Paul Moss, 1934**
131 yds., 6 rec., 21.8 avg., 1 TD

Cincinnati Reds: Algy Clark, 1933***
82 yds., 5 rec., 16.4 avg., 0 TD

Staten Island Stapletons: Grassy Hinton, 1932****
69 yds., 4 rec., 17.3 avg., 0 TD

*Statistics available from 1932 on
** Gunners played three games in 1934
*** Reds played in 1933-34
**** Stapletons folded after 1932 season


Harry Ebding

1970: Don Shula Leaves Colts for Dolphins

After four seasons of existence, the Miami Dolphins had gone a combined 15-39-2 under Head Coach George Wilson. Moreover, they were not drawing well, averaging less than half the capacity of the 75,000-seat Orange Bowl. Managing partner Joe Robbie concluded that radical steps were necessary and on February 18, 1970 he signed Don Shula away from the Baltimore Colts to become the new head coach.

Shula demanded a great deal to leave the Colts – not only a large and long-term contract, but a percentage of the team; he was also made a vice-president. It was determined by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle that Robbie had been guilty of tampering in his pursuit of Shula, and so the Dolphins also had to surrender their first draft pick for 1971 to the Colts as well (Baltimore used the pick to select RB Don McCauley from North Carolina).

Shula came to Miami with a solid reputation. He was hired by the Colts in 1963 at the age of 33 to succeed Weeb Ewbank, who had built the team into a championship club in 1958 and ’59. By his second season, the Colts were champions of the Western Conference, and they won a league title in ’68, although they lost the subsequent Super Bowl to the AFL’s New York Jets. His record after seven seasons in Baltimore was 71-23-4 for a very healthy .755 winning percentage, although the Colts had underachieved in the postseason, going 2-3.

Shula was still young, at 40, and if he had encountered problems in the playoffs, he had certainly built teams that could be counted on to contend regularly.

“I’m not a miracle worker,” said the new coach upon taking the job. “I have no magic formulas. The only way I know is hard work.”

While not a great deal was initially expected, Shula did have talent to work with. On offense, QB Bob Griese had shown poise and promise in his first three pro seasons, although he had certainly taken plenty of lumps. The second most significant offseason acquisition after Shula had been WR Paul Warfield, who was obtained from the Browns and was well established as one of the best deep threats in the NFL. They also picked up TE Marv Fleming from Green Bay, a further asset to the passing game.

FB Larry Csonka had been considered something of an underachiever after coming out of Syracuse in 1968. He was matched in the backfield with overachieving HB Jim Kiick. The aging offensive line had gained unsung guard Larry Little in ’69.

Defensively, the team had strong performers in second-year DE Bill Stanfill and veteran LB Nick Buoniconti, who had been obtained from the Patriots the year before. DT Manny Fernandez was another rising talent on the line. Dick Anderson had a tough second season at safety, while young players like Lloyd Mumphord and Tim Foley were available in the defensive backfield.

There may not have been any miracles or magic formulas, but the Dolphins did far better than expected. After breaking out to a 4-1 start, three mid-season defeats (two of them crushing shutouts) evened Miami’s tally at 4-4. But they won the remaining six contests to end up with a stunning 10-4 record and wild card spot in the postseason.

The running game was the best in the AFC, generating a total of 2082 yards at a healthy 4.2 yards-per-carry clip. Csonka led the way with 874 yards, finally realizing his potential. Kiick contributed 658 yards and was the only running back to make the Top 10 in both rushing yards and pass receptions in the conference (42 catches for 497 yards). An added bonus was HB Eugene “Mercury” Morris, almost exclusively a kick return specialist in his 1969 rookie season but Shula worked him into the offense as an outside running threat and he averaged 6.8 yards-per-attempt on 60 carries for 409 yards.

Griese suffered growing pains at quarterback, but benefited from the improved ground game and the enhanced receiving corps. Warfield caught just 28 passes (he missed three full games due to injury), but they were good for 703 yards and a whopping 25.1 yards-per-reception and six touchdowns. The much-maligned offensive line of 1969 improved markedly under the guidance of assistant coach Monte Clark, especially Little and Bob Kuechenberg at guard and tackles Norm Evans and Doug Crusan.

The bend-but-don’t-break defense gave up yards but surrendered an AFC-lowest 228 points. Rookies Mike Kolen and Doug Swift became starters at linebacker, flanking Buoniconti, with good results, and newcomers Jake Scott at free safety and cornerback Curtis Johnson helped to upgrade the secondary. Another newcomer, Garo Yepremian, also contributed by connecting on 22 of 29 field goal attempts to lead the league with a 75.9 percentage.

The stage was thus set for Shula to lead the Dolphins to three consecutive conference championships and two Super Bowl victories (finally removing the stigma of failing in big games). Over the course of 26 seasons in Miami, through 1995, his teams accumulated 257 wins against 133 losses with two ties for a winning percentage of .659. The Dolphins went to the playoffs in 16 of those campaigns, going 17-14 while reaching the Super Bowl five times and winning two of them.

Including the years in Baltimore, Shula ended up as the winningest coach in NFL history with 328 victories. He certainly proved to be worth the price Joe Robbie and the Dolphins paid to get him, steep as it might have appeared at the time.

List of the Day: Best Passing Yardage Seasons, 1930s NFL

Davey O'Brien

TOP 10*
1- Davey O’Brien, 1939 Philadelphia Eagles
1324 yards, 99-201, 49.3 %, 6 TD, 17 INT

2- Arnie Herber, 1936 Green Bay Packers
1239 yards, 77-173, 44.5 %, 11 TD, 13 INT

3- Parker Hall, 1939 Cleveland Rams
1227 yards, 106-208, 51.0 %, 9 TD, 13 INT

4- Sammy Baugh, 1937 Washington Redskins
1127 yards, 81-171, 47.4 %, 8 TD, 14 INT

5- Arnie Herber, 1939 Green Bay Packers
1107 yards, 57-139, 41.0 %, 8 TD, 9 INT

6- Frank Filchock, 1939 Washington Redskins
1094 yards, 55-89, 61.8 %, 11 TD, 7 INT

7- Ace Parker, 1939 Brooklyn Dodgers
977 yards, 72-157, 45.9 %, 4 TD, 13 INT

8- Harry Newman, 1933 New York Giants
973 yards, 53-136, 39.0 %, 11 TD, 17 INT

9- Bernie Masterson, 1939 Chicago Bears
914 yards, 44-113, 38.9 %, 8 TD, 9 INT

10-Ace Parker, 1938 Brooklyn Dodgers
865 yards, 63-148, 42.6 %, 5 TD, 7 INT


Arnie Herber


Sammy Baugh


Frank Filchock

BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
Pittsburgh Pirates: Ed Matesic, 1936
850 yards, 64-138, 46.4 %, 4 TD, 16 INT

Chicago Cardinals: Pat Coffee, 1937
824 yards, 52-119, 43.7 %, 4 TD, 11 INT

Portsmouth Spartans/Detroit Lions: Glenn Presnell, 1933
774 yards, 50-125, 40.0 %, 6 TD, 12 INT

St. Louis Gunners: Manny Rapp, 1934**
175 yards, 6-16, 37.5 %, 1 TD, 6 INT

Staten Island Stapletons: Doug Wycoff, 1932***
140 yards, 10-31, 32.3 %, 0 TD, 2 INT

Cincinnati Reds: Lew Pope, 1933 & 1934****
115 yards, 5-21, 23.8 %, 0 TD, 2 INT (1933),
115 yards, 10-42, 23.8 %, 0 TD, 10 INT (1934)


*Statistics available from 1932 on
** Gunners played three games in 1934
*** Stapletons folded after 1932 season
**** Reds played in 1933-34


Ace Parker


Glenn Presnell

List of the Day: Best Rushing Seasons, 1930s NFL

TOP 10*
1- Beattie Feathers, 1934 Chicago Bears
1004 yards, 119 att., 8.4 avg., 8 TD

2- Cliff Battles, 1937 Washington Redskins
874 yards, 216 att., 4.0 avg., 5 TD

3- Tuffy Leemans, 1936 New York Giants
830 yards, 206 att., 4.0 avg., 2 TD

4- Ace Gutowsky, 1936 Detroit Lions
827 yards, 191 att., 4.3 avg., 6 TD

5- Jim Musick, 1933 Boston Redskins
809 yards, 173 att., 4.7 avg., 5 TD

6- Swede Hanson, 1934 Philadelphia Eagles
805 yards, 146 att., 5.5 avg., 7 TD

7- Dutch Clark, 1934 Detroit Lions
763 yards, 123 att., 6.2 avg., 8 TD

8- Cliff Battles, 1933 Boston Redskins
737 yards, 136 att., 5.4 avg., 3 TD

9- Bill Osmanski, 1939 Chicago Bears
699 yards, 121 att., 5.8 avg., 7 TD

10-Dutch Clark, 1936 Detroit Lions
628 yards, 123 att., 5.1 avg., 7 TD


Cliff Battles



Tuffy Leemans



Ace Gutowsky


BEST BY FRANCHISES NOT IN TOP 10
Chicago Cardinals: George Grosvenor, 1936
609 yards, 169 att., 3.6 avg., 4 TD

Pittsburgh Pirates: Whizzer White, 1938
567 yards, 152 att., 3.7 avg., 4 TD

Green Bay Packers: Clarke Hinkle, 1937
552 yards, 129 att., 4.3 avg., 5 TD

Brooklyn Dodgers: Bobby Wilson, 1936
505 yards, 104 att., 4.9 avg., 3 TD

Cleveland Rams: Parker Hall, 1939
458 yards, 120 att., 3.8 avg., 2 TD

Staten Island Stapletons: Doug Wycoff, 1932**
454 yards, 135 att., 3.4 avg., 1 TD

Cincinnati Reds: Red Corzine, 1933***
239 yards, 100 att., 2.4 avg., 1 TD

St. Louis Gunners: Swede Johnston, 1934****
84 yards, 35 att., 2.4 avg., 1 TD

*Statistics available from 1932 on
** Stapletons folded after 1932 season
*** Reds played in 1933-34
****Gunners played three games in 1934


Dutch Clark



Whizzer White



Clarke Hinkle

1997: Bill Parcells Becomes Head Coach of New York Jets

On February 11, 1997 the New York Jets finally were able to sign the head coach they wanted, Bill Parcells. It was not an easily done deal for the franchise that had gone 4-28 in two seasons under Rich Kotite and had not been over .500 in any of the previous eight years.

Bill Parcells had established himself as a winning NFL coach with New York’s other team, the Giants, where he led the club to two championships and five postseason berths from 1983 through ’90. After retreating to the broadcast booth for two years, he had turned around a New England Patriots team that had been in a prolonged slump and reached the playoffs twice more, including a Super Bowl appearance following the 1996 season.

However, before the Patriots faced Green Bay in the Super Bowl there was already speculation that Parcells wanted to leave. He clashed with owner Robert Kraft and was dissatisfied with his level of input into player personnel decisions. Following the 35-21 loss to the Packers, Parcells left the Patriots.

Parcells wasn’t ready to step away from the sideline and sought to fill the Jets opening. Kraft made clear that Parcells had to abide by the terms of his contract, which meant he couldn’t coach any team but the Patriots in 1997. The Jets therefore announced that they would hire Parcells as a consultant to the team, and his chief assistant coach, Bill Belichick, would become head coach.

Kraft was not about to accept such an arrangement, and Commissioner Paul Tagliabue was forced to intervene. The commissioner agreed with Kraft that the consulting arrangement was unacceptable, and brokered an agreement between the teams that freed Parcells to become coach of the Jets at the expense of four draft picks, including a first round choice in 1999.

The Jets finally had Parcells as head coach; Belichick settled for assistant head coach (he would, of course, eventually make his way back to the Patriots with significant results). The new coach set about changing the makeup and attitude of the team. Following the 1-15 record of 1996, the ’97 Jets went 9-7 and nearly made the postseason. RB Adrian Murrell had a second straight thousand-yard rushing season (1086). The youthful receiving corps made progress, led by brash second-year WR Keyshawn Johnson (70 catches for 963 yards). The linebacking corps that included Marvin Jones and Mo Lewis, as well as aging ex-Giant Pepper Johnson, and CB Aaron Glenn highlighted the defense.

Quarterback was a problem area, where veteran Neil O’Donnell ran afoul of Parcells and was replaced by the gunslinging Glenn Foley until Foley fell to a knee injury. The offensive and defensive lines were ordinary at best, and the same could be said of the secondary aside from Glenn. Still, the club gave up far fewer points in ’97 (287) as opposed to the disastrous 1996 season (454)

The Jets took a major plunge into the free agent market for 1998 and it paid off with key acquisitions in QB Vinny Testaverde, RB Curtis Martin (who had played for Parcells in New England), C Kevin Mawae, and LB Bryan Cox. All excelled – in particular Testaverde – and the team surged to 12-4, making it all the way to the AFC Championship game before falling to the Denver Broncos.

The Jets dropped to 8-8 in 1999, the last season with Parcells at the helm. While he failed to make the Super Bowl with the Jets, as he had with the Giants and Patriots, his overall record was 29-19 in the regular season, 1-1 in the playoffs. It was a significant turnaround for the franchise, and the team put together winning records in the next three seasons following Parcells’ departure. The price for landing the coach known as “the Big Tuna” had been high, but he had brought much-needed respectability.

1961: AFL Approves Move of Chargers From LA to San Diego

The Los Angeles Chargers of the new American Football League had a very solid first season on the field. Owned by hotel executive Barron Hilton, the Chargers entered the AFL’s first year with the best known of the new league’s head coaches, Sid Gillman, who had been in charge of the Rams from 1955-59. He also served as general manager after Frank Leahy, the former Notre Dame head coach who originally served in the position, resigned due to bad health. Unlike many of the franchises in the fledgling league, there was ample money to spend on the organization and Hilton was willing to do so.

Gillman was an innovative thinker when it came to offense in general and the passing game in particular. The Chargers had the top-ranked passer in the league in 1960 with QB Jack Kemp (pictured with Gillman below), a native Southern Californian who had played college football at Occidental and been rejected by the NFL. HB Paul Lowe was the AFL’s second-ranked rusher with 855 yards for a league-high 6.3 yards-per-carry. They were both All-AFL selections, as were rookie OT Ron Mix and CB Dick Harris. Other standouts were offensive end Howard Clark, OT Ernie Wright, DE Ron Nery, DT Volney Peters, and linebacker/punter Paul Maguire. The team easily won the Western Division with a 10-4 record and lost an exciting league championship contest to the Houston Oilers (see Jan. 1).


However, the problem was that in Los Angeles, few seemed to notice and turnout was low. Average attendance for the seven home games was 15,768, which didn’t compare badly to some of the other teams but was far too low for Los Angeles, particularly when playing in the cavernous Memorial Coliseum (capacity for football at that time was over 101,000). A low turnout of 9928 as the Chargers hosted Denver was particularly embarrassing, and just 11,457 were present for the final home game against the New York Titans.

Hilton had lost some $900,000 over the course of the season and decided before it was concluded that he would move the franchise. Jack Murphy, a respected sportswriter for the San Diego Union, became aware of the situation with the Chargers and spearheaded a drive by civic leaders in San Diego to persuade Hilton to move the club down the coast.

It was agreed that the local football field, Balboa Stadium (pictured above in 1964), would be double-decked to increase the seating capacity from 15,000 to 34,000 and that the Chargers would be rent-free tenants. On February 10, 1961 the American Football League granted approval to Hilton to move the team to San Diego. It was the league’s first franchise shift, and the only one following the ’60 season.

San Diego proved more welcoming to the Chargers, where they didn’t have to compete directly against an NFL team – or, for that matter, a major league club in any other sport - and were immediately embraced by the community. 20,216 fans attended the home opener in ’61 against the weak Oakland Raiders, and the crowds steadily grew with each game to a high of 33,788 when the Dallas Texans came to town. The overall average was 27,859 as the team again won the division title. They hosted the championship game, and lost again to the Oilers before a somewhat disappointing Christmas Eve crowd of 29,556. But the league showed its commitment to San Diego as Balboa Stadium hosted the first AFL All-Star game on January 7, 1962.

The Chargers remained an exciting and competitive team throughout the decade of the AFL’s existence prior to the merger in 1970, winning a championship along the way. Barron Hilton sold his controlling interest in the team in 1966. Sid Gillman remained with the organization beyond the merger until 1971, taking a hiatus from coaching during the ’69 season due to health issues; he returned for ten games in ‘71 before leaving the front office as well as the sideline. Overall, he accounted for an 86-53-6 regular season record, although the Chargers were just 1-4 in the postseason.