Sports74 Gold: NFL 1974

The mid-'70s may have been an era of labor strife, but not enough to interfere with a lot of gridiron action.

Super Bowl IX is the Pittsburgh Steelers' first Super Bowl victory; the AFC champs defeat the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings 16-6. Franco Harris is the game's MVP with 158 yards on 34 rushes, including the first touchdown.

The game gets a rating of 42.3 and a share of 78. An estimated 29.44 million households watch the game on NBC television Jan. 12, 1975.

It is the first Super Bowl in which a safety is made. Fran Tarkenton is sacked in the second quarter to give the Steelers the first points of the game.

These playoffs are the third in a row in which the Steelers and Oakland Raiders meet and the first of three consecutive playoff years in which the two teams play for the AFC championship.

What will be remembered as the game of the season is the Dec. 21 divisional playoff contest between the Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. The fourth-quarter play that wins the game for Oakland is a catch that running back Clarence Davis makes despite the Dolphin coverage that will go down in history as "The Sea of Hands."

The MVP according to the AP (and in the players' vote for the Jim Thorpe Trophy) is Raiders QB Ken Stabler, who leads the league with 26 touchdown passes.

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is second-year St. Louis Cardinals coach Don Coryell, who improved his team from a 4-9-1 record to a 10-6 record. For the AFC, it's Sid Gillman, who led the Houston Oilers from a 1-13 record that even his skills couldn't prevent to a 7-7 record in his coaching swan song.

Los Angeles Rams DT Merlin Olsen, a 13-year veteran, wins the Bert Bell Trophy for MVP, presented by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.

The AP names Steelers DT Joe Greene Defensive Player of the Year and gives teammate Jack Lambert, a linebacker, the honor of Defensive Rookie of the Year.

San Diego Chargers running back Don Woods wins awards from UPI as AFC Rookie of the Year, from the AP as Offensive Rookie of the Year, and from the Newspaper Enterprise Association as overall Rookie of the Year. Woods has 1,162 rushing yards, second-best in the NFL, and 10 touchdowns for rushing and receiving combined. UPI's NFC Rookie of the Year is New York Giants offensive guard John Hicks.

Chuck Foreman of the Vikings is the NFC Player of the Year according to The Sporting News. He has 777 yards on 199 rushes, 586 yards on 53 receptions, and a league-best 15 touchdowns combined on runs and catches.

UPI's NFC Player of the Year is Jim Hart, the Cardinal QB. The undisputed all-NFC signal caller, he leads two game-winning drives, and he passes for 2,411 yards and 20 touchdowns, but he also throws eight interceptions, or a league-high 2.1 percent of his pass attempts.

Washington Redskins quarterback and five-time Pro Bowler Sonny Jurgensen plays his last season and leads the NFC in passer rating with 94.5. His final TD is in the Skins' regular-season finale against the Bears, and he goes 6 for 12 with three interceptions in Washington's playoff loss to the Rams.

The leading rusher in the AFC -- and the league -- is the Denver Broncos' Otis Armstrong with 1,407 yards. In the two years before and the two years after, that is Buffalo Bills back O.J. Simpson's honor.

Besides Armstrong, Harris, Simpson, and Woods, Larry McCutcheon of the Rams is also a thousand-yard rusher, the NFC's only one.

This time, Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals is the leader in quarterback rating with a mark of 95.7, which is 1.2 better than Stabler's.

The Baltimore Colts' Lydell Mitchell rushes a record 40 times Oct. 20 in a 35-20 Colts win at Shea Stadium against the New York Jets. Mitchell has 72 receptions this year, a record for a running back thus far and the leading figure for any player in the season.

Emmitt Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs is the first since 1964 to get 12 interceptions in a season. By the way, those INT's go for 214 yards.

An NFL franchise for Tampa is awarded April 24, and Seattle joins that city June 5. The latter could have been the Seattle Kings, whose ownership group felt it was guaranteed the franchise and promoted it greatly, but the $16 million fee and the labor dispute are factors leading the group to concede to Seattle Professional Football, a more local group of owners, which gets the franchise Dec. 5.

A six-week NFLPA strike precludes the Chicago College All-Star Game -- an event in which the Dolphins as reigning champs would have played college all-stars, one that will only be held twice more -- but no regular-season games are canceled or delayed. The point of contention is free agency, and the slogan is "no freedom, no football." The union gets back to work before the season starts.

This dispute will be settled by a federal ruling Dec. 20 that by one contemporary account puts "the game's structure in doubt," ultimately ushering in free agency. District Court judge William T. Sweigert rules in the Joe Kapp case that a team signing someone who has played out his option is not obligated to compensate the team losing that player, striking down a rule (named for Commissioner Pete Rozelle) that had been in standard contracts.

This is the first season in which games outside of the playoffs can go to sudden-death overtime. This might be prompted by the use of overtime in the WFL.

Among other rule changes possibly influenced by the WFL's rules: the moving of the goalposts to behind the end zone, kickoffs from the 35-yard line, and a new rule for missed field goals.

The Giants play at the Yale Bowl again this year. They will play at Shea Stadium, also home of the Jets, in 1975.

With the first pick in the '74 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys get Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a 6-foot-9 Tennessee State defensive end.

Throughout the season, the Dolphins maintain their home winning streak, which started in 1971, and extend it to 27 games. That's where the streak will be left when they lose their first regular-season home game in '75.

On Oct. 13, Dennis Morgan of the Cowboys returns a Cardinals punt for a 98-yard touchdown. He is the third player to do so for that many yards, and no one will go longer until 1994.

Mack Herron of the New England Patriots breaks Gale Sayers's single-season record of 2,440 all-purpose yards in a season by accumulating 824 running, 474 receiving, and 1,146 returning. The new record, four better than Sayers', will last one year.

Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw only plays eight regular-season games. He is, however, the starter for all three playoff games, and as such he is credited with the fourth-quarter comeback and game-winning drive against the Raiders. His time to shine, though, will be '75.

With 2,598 passing yards, Tarkenton gets ahead of Y.A. Tittle (33,070) on the all-time list. His 35,846 career yards are at this time second only to the figure put up by Johnny Unitas.

Cowboys QB Roger Staubach's .528 completion percentage is, and will be, his personal worst for a season of 200 attempts or more.

Jets QB Joe Namath has 20 touchdown passes, a high level he hadn't reached since 1967. Also, 22 of his passes are intercepted.

Harris, a third-year player who was the consensus Rookie of the Year in '72, has 1,006 yards on 208 carries. He scores five rushing touchdowns in the regular season and six in the playoffs.

After four games with the Chiefs, future Hall of Fame DT Curley Culp is traded to the Oilers.

Norm Van Brocklin's time as Falcons sideline general, which is in its seventh year, comes to an end Nov. 5.

Ron Smith of the Raiders finishes a ten-year career with 6,922 yards returning 275 kickoffs. Billy Johnson of the Oilers begins a fifteen-year career of returning 282 punts for 3,317 yards.

Raiders kicker George Blanda, who reaches the age of 47 early in the season, plays his next-to-last year and wins the Man of the Year Award.

Far from being Man of the Year is Conrad Dobler, Cardinals offensive guard, who wears a cast on his left arm that he uses to strike opponents. This is in addition to the kicking and biting that opponents have come to expect after two seasons.

Speaking of meanness: In one of the Steelers' two meetings with the Bengals, Pat Matson, Cincinnati offensive guard, tries to limp off the field, but Greene approaches him and urges him to stay on the gridiron.

During the strike and a soccer-style kicker fad, Sal Casola is drafted by the Bills and gets cut. He lands a spot on the Chiefs, but he decides the NFL's not for him and gets his brother to assume his identity. John Casola looks different, as Bills head coach Lou Saban notices Aug. 12, and Saban tells his opponent, Hank Stram, about it before the preseason game. Saban's amused and Stram isn't. The Chiefs' head coach has to wait until the half to end this short non-career.

In his third year as Colts owner and with a reputation for being meddlesome, Robert Irsay (during the Sept. 29 game against the Philadelphia Eagles) tells Howard Schnellenberger that quarterback Bert Jones should be put in. The coach doesn't comply, so Irsay fires him.

At halftime of the Nov. 17 game in Miami, Simpson encourages his fellow Bills to play a more physical game to hinder the Dolphins later on in the division race. On the second play, he taunts linebacker Nick Buoniconti and winds up having to limp off the field. With Simpson ineffective for the rest of the game, Buffalo loses 35-28.

In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Lance Rentzel and Fred Dryer, members of the NFC runner-up Rams, pose as reporters, complete with old-time clothing, and try to be funny. "Do you think the zone defense is here to stay," Rentzel asks Steelers head coach Chuck Noll, "and if not, where'd it go?"

Besides Lambert and Swann, other future Hall of Famers making their debut this year are Raiders TE Dave Casper, Steelers WR John Stallworth, Steelers center Mike Webster, and Steelers defensive back Donnie Shell.

Besides Jurgensen, other retiring players this year include future Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Deacon Jones, Bob Lilly, Jim Otto, and Dave Robinson. Coaching for his final year is another man to be enshrined at Canton, that being Gillman.

One of the latest Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees is tackle and place-kicker Lou Groza. Another is defensive halfback and cornerback "Night Train" Lane. The rest of the class consists of two-way back Tony Canadeo and linebacker Bill George.

Roy Blount's About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, a.k.a. About Three Bricks Shy... and the Load Filled Up, is published. This is an acclaimed book about the '73 Steelers.

Former cornerback and current blaxploitation star Fred Williamson has a short-lived gig joining Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Former Detroit Lions DT Alex Karras replaces Williamson on the program early in the season.

The NFL is reportedly intent on organizing a six-team league in Europe starting in 1975. That will come to pass in 1995.

Jack Kent Cooke becomes the majority stockholder of the Redskins after the last of deceased founder George Preston Marshall's stock is retired.

After her breast-cancer surgery in late September, the Redskins present first lady Betty Ford with a football.

The Raiders' Bubba Smith, in his second year away from the Colts organization, sues for the incident in Tampa two years before that led to him missing a full season (see NFL '73 entry). Official Ed Marion and the NFL are on the other side of a $2.5-million lawsuit, as is local man Robert Lastra, who had been hired to hold the first-down marker. One version of the story is that Smith hit the marker and Lastra didn't let go.

Ed Meadows, who as a Chicago Bears defensive tackle in 1956 was infamous for a late hit on Bobby Layne of the Lions, one that ignited an already hot discussion about football violence, shoots and ends it all Oct. 22. He was 42, and he had played for four teams over six years.

Don McCafferty, the Lions' head coach, dies of a heart attack July 28.

Does it feel a bit drafty? A selection of hockey events from the '74-75 season is coming Sept. 27.

[EDIT 5:59-6:02 a.m.: A couple of sources seem to differ with the account of Schnellenberger's firing. I am removing a few details that Football Hall of SHAME may have embellished.]

[EDIT 9-8, 11:32-33 p.m.: Changed font size.]

[EDITS 9-9, 9:28-9:50 a.m.: The Super Bowl was on NBC that time, not CBS. Also, made some adjustments.]

[EDIT 12-8, 6:53-54 a.m: Gillman's name is in bold on first reference, so it doesn't need to be later on. Removed that boldface and the first name from the future Hall of Famers retiring item.]

Sports74 Gold: College Football '74

Another season of pigskin fast approaches, so let's focus our attention on the one that took place half a century ago.

The winning team at the Rose Bowl is Southern California, which defeats Ohio State 18-17. The UPI coaches' poll, the FWAA, and the National Football Foundation all decide the Trojans are the No. 1 team in the country, but the AP ranks USC second and gives the national title to 11-0 Oklahoma, whose Big 8 champion team is on probation and prevented from playing in bowls.

The Sooners are undefeated for a second year in a row. In fact, this will become a 28-game winning streak and 37-game unbeaten streak that ends in 1975. Head coach Barry Switzer wins his first national championship.

Once again, Michigan and Ohio State are tied for the Big Ten crown. The athletic directors, for a second season in succession, choose the Buckeyes to face the Pacific-8 champions on New Year's Day. This time it's a 5-4 vote, with Michigan State's A.D. being a faithless elector and voting for his school. From next season on, there will be a different way of deciding which Big Ten team plays in the Rose Bowl.

Notre Dame ekes out a 13-11 victory in the Orange Bowl over SEC champion Alabama, sending head coach Ara Parseghian off as a winner and knocking the Crimson Tide out of the No. 1 spot in the coaches' poll.

The Sugar Bowl, played on New Year's Eve, is a 13-10 victory for Nebraska against Florida.

In a big Nov. 30 game against rival Notre Dame, USC is down 24-6 at halftime but makes it an incredible 55-24 victory, shutting out the Fighting Irish in the second half.

Ohio State halfback Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy, and he will win that award again the next year. On 256 carries, he has 1,695 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Maxwell Award goes to Steve Joachim, quarterback for independent, 8-2 Temple. Joachim has 1,950 passing yards and 20 TDs; he has a 150.1 rating. His 2,227 yards of total offense in 10 games are a University Division (Division I) best for the year.

Defensive tackle Randy White, playing for ACC champion Maryland, wins the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. The Dallas Cowboys will make this unanimous All-American the second overall pick in '75.

The writers and coaches agree: third-year Baylor coach Grant Teaff is Coach of the Year. The Bears improve from a 2-9 season in '73 to an 8-4 season, Southwest Conference title, and subsequent Cotton Bowl appearance (lost 41-20 to Penn State) for '74.

Steve Bartkowski of 7-3-1 Pac-8 member California is the leading passer in terms of completions, going 182 for 325. He throws for 2,580 yards and 12 touchdowns. The consensus All-American will be the first player picked in the '75 NFL Draft and join the Atlanta Falcons.

Future pro star Walter Payton plays his last season at Jackson State. His totals are 3,600 yards in 598 attempts, and he has scored 63 TDs. Payton is the leading rusher in the Senior Bowl with 77 yards. In '75, he will be the fourth player picked overall in the NFL Draft and start a great career with the Chicago Bears.

Texas loses the Gator Bowl to Auburn two days short of a year after the Longhorns lost the Cotton Bowl to Nebraska. In both games, U.T. only manages a field goal.

Heisman runner-up Anthony Davis of USC sets a record for kickoff return average with a mark of 35.1 yards per return over three seasons. Davis is a consensus All-American running back (along with Griffin and Oklahoma's Joe Washington) whose 301 rushing attempts in '74 go for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Also from USC, Charles Phillips attains a single-season high with 302 yards on interceptions.

Talking about interceptions, John Provost finishes his three years playing at Holy Cross (5-5-1 indie in '74) with 27 of them. This mark is second only to the standard set by Al Brosky of Illinois two decades past (29 from '50 to '52).

Louie Giammona of independent, 8-3 Utah State is the season's University Division rushing leader with 1,534 yards on 329 carries. He is also the all-purpose yards leader with 1,984.

Dwight McDonald of San Diego State (Pacific Coast Athletic Association, 8-2-1) is the receiving leader with 86 catches in 11 games. He gets 1,157 yards and 7 TDs.

Chris Kupec, the N.C. State quarterback, sets a record with his .693 completion percentage (minimum 150 attempts).

The Senior Bowl, Jan. 11, 1975, is a 17-17 tie between North and South. The Blue defeats the Gray 29-24 in the Dec. 17 Blue-Gray Classic, and the East wins the Dec. 28 Shrine Game 16-14 against the West.

Colorado State seems to win its Oct. 5 game against fellow WAC member BYU 34-33. However, the tying TD is followed by fans getting on the field and disrupting the game, and the Rams get a penalty. The extra point goes wide, but referee Jack Moyers can't find the ball to hold up for the end-of-game signal, so he holds up his hands without the ball. The scoreboard says CSU wins, but the conference officials' supervisor tells celebrating players that it's a 33-all tie.

In the College Division, Central Michigan wins the Division-II Camellia Bowl 54-14 over Delaware, and Central College (Iowa) defeats Ithaca 10-8 at the Division-III Stagg Bowl.

In a time of financial difficulty, the University of Vermont ends its football program, and reportedly some hard-up programs long for the days when players stayed in the game on both offense and defense.

Chris Sizemore finishes at Bridgewater College with 32.7 rushes per game over three years, a record for Division III.

The winners of the NAIA championship games are Texas A&I, defeating Henderson State (Arkansas) 34-23, and Texas Lutheran, with a 42-0 shutout against Missouri Valley.

Macalester College (St. Paul, Minn.) embarks on a 50-game losing streak. This run of failure for the Scots will span the second half of the decade, lasting until the 1980 season.

Former Michigan center Gerald Ford becomes U.S. President on Aug. 9.

Amateur hour is done, and the game gets all too business-like, from players on the picket lines to an overbearing owner. The NFL in 1974 is coming Sept. 6.

[EDIT 10:02 a.m. EDT: Small but important Davis change]

[EDIT 10:03 a.m. EDT: Correcting inconsistent font]

[EDITS 8/20 2:04-2:22 p.m.: A few small things that might make this look a little better on mobile devices]

Sports74 Gold: NFL 1973

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

[EDIT 1/3/2024: Small adjustments to the first entry, plus a late addition]

Fifty years ago, the playoffs went into January at a time of 14-game seasons and only one wild card. These days, the champion team isn't decided until a month later.

The Miami Dolphins defend their title by beating the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 at Super Bowl VIII. Larry Csonka runs for 145 yards on 33 carries and scores both Miami touchdowns. As was the case last time, the Dolphins never lose the lead, and the other team's only score is in the fourth quarter.

With a record-setting 2,003 rushing yards (including 250 in the first game of the season Sept. 16), O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills is the consensus MVP of the NFL. Simpson's mark is 140 yards better than Jim Brown's 1963 record, and each man was playing in a 14-game season. The record will last until 1984, by which time there will be 16 games in a season.

LATE ADDITION 1-3-24, 6:19-20 p.m.: Alan Page, the Vikings' All-Pro tackle, is named best defensive player in a Newspaper Enterprise Association poll. He won that award and the AP's version in 1971, but for '73, the AP instead chooses Dolphins safety Dick Anderson.

The AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and the league's Rookie of the Year as selected by Pro Football Weekly is the Vikings' Chuck Foreman, who goes 801 yards on 182 carries and gets 362 yards on 37 receptions.

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is Chuck Knox, who brings the Los Angeles Rams from 6-7-1 to 12-2 in his first year with the team. For the AFC, it's John Ralston of the Denver Broncos, a second-year coach who brings his team from 5-9 to 7-5-2.

Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys is the leader in quarterback rating for the year of its introduction with 94.6. The Vikings' Fran Tarkenton is second with 93.2. Roman Gabriel of the Philadelphia Eagles -- who leads the NFL with 3,219 passing yards and ties with Staubach for the passing touchdowns lead -- is fifth with 86.3.

Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler has an .862 completion percentage in a game against the Baltimore Colts, breaking the single-game record .857 Sammy Baugh set in '45.

Staubach's .626 completion percentage for the season is, and will be, his personal best.

The receptions leader is Harold Carmichael of the Eagles with 67 for 1,116 yards.

Offensive guards launching Hall of Fame careers this year: John Hannah of the New England Patriots and Joe DeLamielleure of the Bills. Wide receivers doing the same: Cliff Branch of the Raiders and Drew Pearson of the Cowboys.

Johnny Unitas, quarterback for the San Diego Chargers this season only, wraps up his great career. His 471 passing yards give him a total of 40,239. Unitas' final completion is a seven-yard pass, his only one of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Meanwhile on the Chargers, new quarterback and future Hall of Famer Dan Fouts makes his debut.

New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath misses eight games, seven in a row due to a separated shoulder. In the 1974 offseason, a commercial for Beautymist Panty Hose with him modeling said wares is broadcast on television.

Ray Guy of the Raiders punts 3,127 yards in 69 attempts to begin his career as the century's best punter.

Don Maynard, a former Jets receiver now with the St. Louis Cardinals and playing his final season, makes an 18-yard reception Sept. 16 at Veterans Stadium. This is the 663rd catch for him, and his total is brought to 11,834 yards. Both are records at this point. He makes no receptions in his only other game.

Paul Warfield of the Dolphins scores four touchdowns in the final game of the regular season Dec. 15. He gets six passes for 103 yards at home against the Detroit Lions. His 11 TDs this season are among 29 receptions.

John Brodie finishes his career with 31,548 passing yards and 214 passing touchdowns. For now, he can be considered the second-best quarterback the San Francisco 49ers have ever had, with Y.A. Tittle being the first.

Fred Dryer forces two safeties for the Rams in a game against the Green Bay Packers Oct. 21.

Besides Unitas and Maynard, other retiring players who will make it to the Hall of Fame one day are Bob Brown, Dick Butkus, Gene Hickerson, and Leroy Kelly. This is also Weeb Ewbank's last year coaching.

Extensive renovations of Yankee Stadium begin, and progress on the new stadium in New Jersey hasn't gotten far past the groundbreaking, so the New York Giants play part of this season and all of the next at the Yale Bowl. Their final game in the Bronx is a 23-23 tie with the Eagles Sept. 23, and their first New Haven home game of the regular season is a 16-14 loss to the Packers Oct. 7.

Rich Stadium, home of the Bills, opens Aug. 17 to a crowd of 80,020. The Bills lose the preseason game to the Washington Redskins 37-21 at this new stadium just outside of Buffalo.

George Burman, Redskin center, claims a third of his team is on amphetamines.

At the Pro Bowl in Kansas City, Mo., Garo Yepremian of the Dolphins kicks five field goals for all of the AFC's 15 points. The NFC scores the game's only touchdown, but the blue conference comes up two points short.

This is the first season in which first-down markers have rubber caps at the bottom instead of metal points. Some call this the Bubba Smith Rule after the Colts defensive end who was injured by getting caught in the chains at a 1972 preseason game in Tampa and missed the subsequent season because of it.

Pete Gent's North Dallas Forty is published. The novel is a fictionalized, autobiographical account of being an NFL player.

Starting this 1973 season, there are no blackouts for games that sell out 72 hours before kickoff. Although there are 63 percent more no-shows in '73 than in '72, it reportedly isn't as bad for the NFL as Commissioner Pete Rozelle will continue to say it is.

Two days after a post-season owners' meeting in Florida Feb. 25 in which Rozelle announces a four-year deal worth $60 million a year with the networks, the commissioner gets a ten-year extension on his contract and is given power to arbitrate.

For Super Bowl VIII, the least expensive ticket at Rice Stadium is $15. It will set someone back at least $20 to be at Tulane Stadium for Super Bowl IX.

Stevens Wright, whose wife works for NFL Properties, designs a new logo for the Bills, one whose stripe is what some see as a potent suggestion of the bison's movement. The team will begin to use it in 1974.

Hockey entry, including some minor-league material, coming Dec. 8

Dedicated to the memory of Steven H. Miles, 1960-2023; "I'm gonna be like you, Dad"

Sports74 Gold: College Football '73

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

[EDIT 12/31/2023: Changing title]

[EDIT 2/9/2024: Changing title again]

Every three weeks, I will post a newly expanded version of the retrospective from 2013-14. This is the first in an 18-part series, featuring not just the greatest hits, but the greatest misses. What follows is a generous sampling of the season that ended with the bowl games of 1973 and '74.

Notre Dame defeats Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl. The AP declares the 11-0 Fighting Irish champions, but the coaches' poll sticks with the 11-1 Crimson Tide.

Penn State defeats LSU 16-9 in the Orange Bowl. Nittany Lions halfback John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy as well as its less prestigious parallel, the Maxwell Award. The consensus All-American running back has 1,522 yards on 286 rushes and 17 rushing touchdowns.

Ohio State wins the Rose Bowl 42-21 against USC. The Buckeyes actually tie for the Big Ten championship with archrival Michigan, but a 6-4 vote among the conference schools' athletic directors determines Ohio State will play in Pasadena. Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler says "petty jealousies were involved."

Buckeyes offensive tackle John Hicks wins the Outland Trophy for best interior lineman and the Lombardi Award for best overall lineman. Hicks is also the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

Alabama's Bear Bryant is named Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. The FWAA gives Johnny Majors of Pittsburgh that honor, as the Panthers improved from 1-10 in '72 to 6-5-1, including a Fiesta Bowl loss to Arizona State, in '73.

Tom Osborne coaches Nebraska for the first of what will prove to be 25 years (finishing the initial campaign with a 19-3 Cotton Bowl win against Texas). The Cornhuskers go 9-2-1, as they had the year before, having slipped from going undefeated in '70 and '71.

Barry Switzer begins his 17 years as Oklahoma head coach. Steve Davis begins a three-season, 32-1-1 run as Sooners QB.

This is the first season as Pitt head coach for Majors and the first of four years on the Panthers for running back Tony Dorsett, both of whom will help the team win a national title in 1976.

The consensus All-American quarterback is Dave Jaynes of Kansas with 196 completions for 2,349 yards and 14 touchdowns. His marks in the Big 8 (172 completions, 2,131 yards, 13 touchdowns) are tops in the conference.

The passing leader and total offense leader is Jesse Freitas of San Diego State (Pacific Coast Athletic Association, 9-1-1) with 227 completions in 11 games. He throws for 2,293 yards and 21 touchdowns, and his total offense is 2,901 yards.

Mark Kellar of independent, 6-5 Northern Illinois is the leading rusher in the University Division with 1,719 yards in 11 games. In second and third place for that stat are Dorsett (1,670) and Cappelletti (1,591).

Jay Miller of 5-6 Western Athletic Conference member Brigham Young University gets 22 catches in a game Nov. 3 against New Mexico. This is a record that will stand until 1994. Miller is the receptions leader for the season with 100 in 11 games. He has 1,181 yards and 8 TDs.

During the Texas-Texas A&M game Nov. 22, Aggies center Ricky Seeker isn't on the field when he's needed with seconds to go before halftime. Seeker expected the team to try a field goal and use a different center for that, but he was wrong. Texas leads 21-7 at halftime and wins 42-13.

Florida State goes 0-11, with its players having been subjected to "The Room" prior to spring practice. Head coach Larry Jones would have players do drills and fight as they bent to avoid chicken wire just four feet above the floor. Twenty-eight players quit the team, and at the end of it all, FSU is on probation and Jones is no longer the head coach.

This is the University of Kentucky's first year at Commonwealth Stadium.

In the College Division (as opposed to the University Division), the first-ever Division II champions are the Bulldogs of Louisiana Tech. The first-ever Division III champions are the Tigers of Wittenberg University.

In the Senior Bowl, a postseason all-star game, Lynn Swann of USC (Pac-8 leader with 37 receptions) catches the winning touchdown pass for the North. The Pittsburgh Steelers will pick the consensus All-American in the first round of the '74 draft.

From passer rating to pantyhose commercials, the NFL in 1973 is coming Nov. 17.

Gitcher Program

Ah, 1974. Somewhat like 2022, most of it was the Year of the Tiger if you're not referring to the Detroit kind. To very prematurely celebrate the 50th anniversary (for which I think I'll have some Sports74 Gold posts), here's my selection of 50 scorecard, program, media guide, and yearbook covers from that year.

I do this because for a few days my attention has been on SportsPaper.info, a site with a bunch of those covers. The wiki could use some work.

BASEBALL

ALCS program for the "Once More in '74" Oakland A's; reuses the yearbook art.

Scorecard for the A.L. East champion Baltimore Orioles; the cover mistakenly calls it a "Golden Glove."

Media guide for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who won the National League pennant with Walter Alston at the helm for the seventh time.

Program for the N.L. East champion Pittsburgh Pirates, Pirates, Pirates, Pirates, Pirates, Pirates, Pirates (it was this or the album cover-looking yearbook).

Yearbook for the Atlanta Braves, with the big moment of '74 anticipated.

Yearbook for the New York Yankees, second place in the A.L. East in their first of two Shea Stadium seasons.

Scorecard for the four-games-out-of-first Cincinnati Reds with the image of Don Gullett; the crossword is filled in on the Joe Morgan version. 

Media guide for the second-place Texas Rangers, who hired Billy Martin late in '73 and watched him go to the Yankees in '75.

The All-Star Game program, with Hank Aaron and Roberto Clemente as "All-Time All-Stars."

The World Series program, with a neat concept someone had to think up sometime.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL (with final '74 AP rankings; chosen for teams and not designs)

Program for Oct. 5 game, No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 12 Michigan State (ND won 19-14). 

Program for Oct. 12 game, No. 18 Texas vs. No. 1 Oklahoma (OU won 16-13).

Program for Nov. 23 game, No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 4 Ohio State (OHST won 12-10). Look at that Big Ten logo, so true to the name and compact in geographical area.

Program for Liberty Bowl, No. 20 Tennessee vs. No. 13 Maryland (TENN won 7-3).

Program for Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, No. 11 N.C. State vs. No. 19 Houston (31-31 tie).

Program for Sugar Bowl, No. 9 Nebraska vs. No. 15 Florida (NEB won 13-10). Note the bicentennial logo at the top-right.

Media guide for No. 5 Alabama, with newcomer Bear Bryant.

THE NFL

Program for Super Bowl VIII, the second with the trophy on the front (VII was the last without it).

Program for the canceled Chicago College All-Star Game. Not the only charity exhibition game of the year, I could see while browsing.

Media guide for the Super Bowl IX champion Pittsburgh Steelers. Simple and symbolic.

Media guide for the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings.

Program for the Nov. 24 game between the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers, Johnny Unitas having finished his career with the former the year before (GB won 34-0) 

Program for the Dec. 21 playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders (OAK won 28-26).

WORLD FOOTBALL LEAGUE

Program for the Aug. 28 game between the Portland Storm and Southern California Sun (SC won 45-15), teams with distinctive uniforms (not pictured). 

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Media guide for the '74 Final Four, with action from the previous year's UCLA-Memphis State game in St. Louis (it says KPLR).

Media guide for the '74-75 UCLA Bruins, with John Wooden prominently featured.

THE NBA

Playoff program for the Finals-bound '73-74 Boston Celtics.

Playoff program for the Capital Bullets in their only season under that name.

Playoff program for the champion '73-74 Milwaukee Bucks.

Media guide for the '74-75 Portland Trail Blazers, with Bill Walton's distinctive face and figure.

Program for a New Orleans Jazz vs. Kansas City-Omaha Kings game Nov. 5 at Omaha (KCO won 115-97).

THE ABA

Media guide for the '73-74 Kentucky Colonels, with a very '70s font.

Program for the '74 All-Star Game at the Norfolk Scope.

Playoff program for the Western champion Utah Stars. Groovy stripes and Rick Mount.

Program for the '74 Western runner-up Indiana Pacers' interleague game against the Milwaukee Bucks. How'd they make that picture?

Media guide for the '74-75 Pacers, whose new arena had just opened.

Yearbook for the reigning champion New York Nets of '74-75.

Media guide for the "new" Denver Nuggets, who with the name change had more of a claim to "new" than the Squires.

Media guide for the "new" Virginia Squires. Only that of the San Antonio Spurs was plainer that season.

THE NHL

Media guide for the Stanley Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers. Bobby Clarke had 37 goals in '72-73, not 36.

Playoff program for the Eastern champion Boston Bruins. Speaking of arithmetic, sometimes you'd get a program that explicitly stated the actual price plus tax. 

Media guide for the '74-75 California Golden Seals, whose Schulz-created mascot would be around for only two years.

Media guide for the expansion Washington Capitals.

THE WHA

Program for the '74-75 Quebec Nordiques (from 5th place in East to first in Canadian), with Rejean Houle in his Summit Series uniform.

Media guide for the reigning Avco Cup champion Houston Aeros.

Program for the '73-74 Eastern champion New England Whalers' Oct. 19 game against the blink-and-you'll-miss-them Michigan Stags (NE won 2-1 in OT).

AUTO RACING

Program for the 450-mile Daytona 500, whose winner is on the cover, Richard Petty also having won in '73.

Program for the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, won by David Pearson.

Program for the Indianapolis 500, held on the same day as the World 600 for the first of many times and won by Johnny Rutherford.

SOCCER

Program for the West Germany-Holland World Cup final, featuring a few flags no longer in use.

EDIT 6:55 p.m. EDT: Did some more underlining and corrected category of the Orioles item.

EDIT July 16, 7:55-8:01 a.m. EDT: Added Houston's final AP ranking and deleted an unnecessary "an."

EDIT Jan. 17, 2023, 1:32-1:43 p.m. EST: Added a period after Rutherford's name, re-worded part about Braves yearbook, and kind of fixed broken link to Rangers media guide.

EDIT June 15, 2023, 12:06-12:17 p.m. EDT: Fixed some more broken links, I hope.

EDIT Nov. 30, 2023: 2:25 p.m. EDT: Introduced the "football" label.

Cliff Branch, 1948-2019

Cliff Branch died Saturday.

He was a Houston native who went to Wharton County (Texas) Junior College and the University of Colorado. The Oakland Raiders made him a fourth-round draft pick in 1972 and brought him on as a punt returner. By 1974, he bolstered the team's passing game and gave Ken Stabler another favorite receiver. With 60 receptions to the veteran Fred Biletnikoff's 42, Branch finished fourth in total receptions in the NFL, but he led the league in yards with 1,092 and in touchdowns with 13. That performance made him a unanimous All-Pro selection.

Branch's best game of the year may have been the Dec. 1 game against the New England Patriots, one of three in which he took the ball over the goal line twice. Those catches and four others gave him a total of 138 yards. His total of 1,092 for the season was just five ahead of the Dallas Cowboys' Drew Pearson, but he caught three more passes for touchdowns than did Isaac Curtis of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Branch scored a 72-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Raiders' playoff game Dec. 21 against the defending NFL champion Miami Dolphins, a close game from which the black and silver emerged victorious.

Two years later, the team put together its first of three seasons as a Super Bowl winner, and Branch was there for all of them.

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

Ken Stabler, 1945-2015 (Belated Tribute)

The following was prepared July 10, soon after Stabler's death. I thought I had posted it, but I didn't. I am very sorry.

Ken Stabler, whom the AP named the NFL's MVP in 1974, died Thursday.

Forty-one years ago, he quarterbacked the Oakland Raiders to a nine-game winning streak, going 11-2 overall (missing the next-to-last game) with a win and a loss in the playoffs. All those losses were close except the one December 29 against Pittsburgh.

That year, his fifth season in the NFL, he passed for a league-leading 26 touchdowns, and two years later he beat that mark by one. He had three fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives, the two sets containing the exact same games (Oct. 13 at San Diego, Oct. 20 vs. Cincinnati, and Dec. 21 vs. Miami). And this was the only season in which he was a consensus First-Team All-Pro.

His Approximate Value on Pro Football Reference is the team's second-highest. The Raiders had the second-highest Offensive SRS figure in the NFL (highest being that of the 7-7 Patriots), as well as the sixth-best Defensive SRS figure (down quite a bit from the year before). They rushed a lot more than they passed (#3 in rushing attempts, #23 in passing attempts), but got the most net yards per pass attempt and the most passing TDs. Stabler had two really good receivers in Cliff Branch and Hall of Famer Fred Biletnikoff, which is a luxury for some QBs and even better for someone having such a good season. Branch led the league in receiving TDs with 13.

It was because of good performances from him and others that two years later the Raiders won the Super Bowl for the first time. He might be on a level of quarterbacks not with Bradshaw and Namath but with Ron Jaworski and Roman Gabriel, but the Raiders were fortunate to get even that kind of quarterback. And to think, like a few other QBs, he could've been a baseball player.

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

High School Football Players in '73

I came across a copy of Prep All-America Football 1973-74, and I found three Canton-enshrined players in the listings. While this isn't strictly 1974, it should be a treat for readers (if I had any).

James Lofton got 1,402 passing yards (or is it receiving yards?) and 333 rushing yards for LA's Washington High School. He also made 79 punts for an average of 39.6 yards. Lofton was named to the All-City and All-Southern League teams, and in '72-73, he was captain of the track team.

Joe Montana passed for 1230 yards and rushed for 436. Attending Ringgold High School in Monongahela, Pennsylvania, he was a Parade All-American in 1973 and AP and UPI 2nd Team All-State. Montana also played baseball and basketball, earning a Section 4 Honorable Mention in the latter in '72-73.

Ozzie Newsome, an end and halfback for for Colbert County High School in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, got five interceptions and three end-around touchdowns in 1973. He was All-3A State and Super State. Newsome played baseball and basketball well, and his GPA was 3.8.

I didn't find a listing for Earl Campbell, but I did see he made the Prep All-America Super 11. The back for John Tyler High School in Tyler, Texas, ran for 2,036 yards in his high school career and scored 28 touchdowns in 1973. Campbell was "All-State, All-District[,] and All-East."

Another familiar name in the Super 11 is back Willie Wilson, who scored 401 points in football and over a thousand points in basketball for Summit High School in Summit, New Jersey. He was "All-Conference and All-State" in football and All-County in basketball and baseball. Though the major leagues sought him in high school, Wilson went to college and eventually played for the Kansas City Royals.

Also of note is LB/FB/G Clay Matthews, father of the player currently in the NFL. Named to the Prep All-America 100 Squad for his play at New Trier East High School in Winnetka, Illinois, he was an All-State linebacker and received many other honors. He averaged 11 tackles per game and rushed 200 yards on 30 carries. In '73-74, Matthews also played basketball.

It's always good to find something new for this blog, and I hope this special entry adds something.

Source: Keith, Dwight, ed. Prep All-America Football 1973-74. Montgomery, AL: Coach and Athlete, 1974.

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

NFL: The 1974 Season

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

Super Bowl IX is the Pittsburgh Steelers' first Super Bowl victory; they beat the Minnesota Vikings 16-6. Franco Harris is the MVP with 158 yards on 34 rushes, including the first touchdown of the contest.

The game gets a rating of 42.3 and a 78 share. An estimated 29.44 million households watch CBS on Jan. 12, 1975.

It is also the first Super Bowl in which a safety is made. Fran Tarkenton is sacked in the second quarter to give the Steelers the first points of the game.

These playoffs are the third in a row in which the Steelers and Oakland Raiders meet and the first of three consecutive playoff years in which the two play for the AFC championship.

What is remembered as the game of the season is the divisional playoff game Dec. 21 between the Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. The winning play for the Raiders was a catch that running back Clarence Davis makes despite the Dolphins coverage that would be known as "The Sea of Hands."

The MVP of the league according to the AP is Raiders QB Ken Stabler, who led the league with 26 touchdown passes.

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is second-year St. Louis Cardinals coach Don Coryell, who led his team from a 4-9-1 record to a 10-6 record. For the AFC, it's Sid Gillman, who led the Houston Oilers from a 1-13 record that even his skills couldn't prevent to a 7-7 record in his coaching swan song.

Los Angeles Rams DT Merlin Olsen, a 13-year veteran, wins the Bert Bell Trophy for MVP as voted by the Maxwell Club of Philadelphia.

The AP names Steelers DT Joe Greene Defensive Player of the Year and gives Steelers linebacker Jack Lambert the honor of Defensive Rookie of the Year.

San Diego Chargers running back Don Woods is the AFC Rookie of the Year according to the UPI and Offensive Rookie of the Year according to the AP. He has 1,162 rushing yards, second-best in the NFL, and 10 TDs for rushing and receiving combined.

Chuck Foreman of the Vikings is the NFC Player of the Year according to The Sporting News. He has 777 yards on 199 rushes, 586 yards on 53 receptions, and a league-best 15 touchdowns for rushing and receiving combined.

The leading rusher in the AFC – and the league – is the Denver Broncos' Otis Armstrong with 1,407 yards. In the two years before and the two years after, that is O.J. Simpson's honor.

This time, Ken Anderson of the Cincinnati Bengals is the leader in QB rating with a mark of 95.7, which is 1.2 points better than Stabler's.

The Baltimore Colts' Lydell Mitchell rushes a record 40 times Oct. 20 in a 35-20 Colts win at Shea Stadium against the New York Jets. Mitchell has 72 receptions this year, a record for a running back thus far and the leading figure for any player in the season.

Emmitt Thomas of the Kansas City Chiefs is the first since 1964 to get 12 interceptions in a season. By the way, those INT's go for 214 yards.

Tampa is awarded an NFL franchise April 24, and Seattle joins them June 5. The ownership group for the latter could have been the Seattle Kings, who felt they were guaranteed the franchise and promoted it greatly, but the $16 million fee, the labor dispute, and the WFL are factors leading them to concede to Seattle Professional Football, a more local group of owners, who get the franchise Dec. 5.

An NFLPA strike precludes the Chicago College All-Star Game – an event in which the Dolphins as reigning champions would have played college all-stars, one that will only be held twice more – but no regular-season games are cancelled. The point of contention is free agency, and the slogan is "no freedom, no football." The union gets back to work, and this whole thing will be settled by a federal ruling Dec. 20 that ushers in free agency.

This is the first season in which games outside of the playoffs can go to sudden-death overtime. This might be a move prompted by the use of overtime in the WFL.

Among other rule changes influenced by the WFL's rules: the moving of the goalposts to behind the end zone, kickoffs from the 35-yard line, and a new rule for missed field goals.

The New York Giants play at the Yale Bowl again this year. They will play at Shea Stadium, also home of the Jets, in 1975.

With the first pick in the '74 NFL Draft, the Dallas Cowboys get Ed "Too Tall" Jones, a 6'9" defensive end from Tennessee State.

Throughout the season, the Dolphins maintain their home winning streak, which started in 1971. At the end of the season, the streak is 27, and that's where it will be left when they lose their first regular-season home game in '75.

On Oct. 13, Dennis Morgan of the Cowboys returns a Cardinals punt for a 98-yard touchdown. He is the third player to do so for that many yards, and no one will go longer until 1994.

Mack Herron of the New England Patriots breaks Gale Sayers's single-season record of 2,440 all-purpose yards in a season by accumulating 824 running, 474 receiving, and 1,146 returning. The new record, four better than Sayers's, will last one year.

Besides Lambert and Swann, other future Hall of Famers making their debut this year are Raiders TE Dave Casper, Steelers WR John Stallworth, and Steelers center Mike Webster.

Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw only plays eight regular-season games. His breakout will not be until '75.

With 2,598 passing yards, Tarkenton gets past Y.A. Tittle (33,070) on the all-time list. His 35,846 career yards are second only to Johnny Unitas.

Roger Staubach's 52.8 completion percentage is, and will be, his personal worst for a season of 200 attempts or more.

Joe Namath has 20 TD passes, a level he hadn't reached since 1967. Also, 22 of his passes are intercepted.

Harris, consensus Rookie of the Year in '72, has 1,006 yards on 208 carries. He scores five rushing TDs in the regular season and six in the playoffs.

After four games with the Chiefs, future Hall of Fame DT Curley Culp is traded to the Oilers.

Raiders kicker George Blanda, who reaches the age of 47 early in the season, plays his next-to-last year and wins the Man of the Year Award.

Washington Redskins quarterback and five-time Pro Bowler Sonny Jurgensen plays his last season and leads the NFC in passer rating with 94.5. His final TD is in the Skins' regular-season finale against the Bears, and he goes 6 for 12 with three interceptions in Washington's playoff loss to the Rams.

Besides Jurgensen, other retiring players this year include future Hall of Famers Bobby Bell, Deacon Jones, Bob Lilly, and Jim Otto. Sid Gillman, another future Hall of Famer, coaches for his final year in '74.

One of the latest Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees is tackle and place-kicker Lou Groza. Another is defensive halfback and cornerback "Night Train" Lane.

Roy Blount, Jr.'s About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, a.k.a. About Three Bricks Shy... and the Load Filled Up, is published. This is an acclaimed book about the '73 Steelers.

Former cornerback and current blaxploitation star Fred Williamson has a short-lived gig joining Frank Gifford and Howard Cosell on Monday Night Football. Ex-Detroit Lions DT Alex Karras replaces him on the program early in the season.

Jack Kent Cooke becomes the majority stockholder of the Redskins after the last of deceased founder George Preston Marshall's stock is retired.

Bubba Smith sues for the incident in Tampa (see NFL '73 section). Official Ed Marion, local man hired to hold the first-down marker Robert Lastra, and the NFL are on the other side of a $2.5-million lawsuit. One version of the story is that Smith hit the marker and Lastra didn't let go.

On Oct. 22, Ed Meadows, the Chicago Bears DT who was infamous for a late hit on Bobby Layne of the Lions in 1956, one that ignited an already hot nationwide discussion about football violence, shoots and ends it all. He was 42, and his six-year career took him to four teams.

NFL '74 homepage on Pro-Football-Reference
NFL, WFL, and CFL standings on The Pro Football Archives
The beginning of the Steel Curtain in retrospect from the New York Daily News
The art of Super Bowl IX on Bolding Sports Research
The Sea of Hands game according to the Raiders' official site
The Rams, featuring Merlin Olsen on Rams Talk
The Steelers' '74 draft class represented in the Pro Football HOF
The '74 players' strike on SI's Monday Morning Quarterback
The '76 expansion teams on the Pro Football HOF Web site
The men who could have been Kings on SportsPress Northwest

NEXT MONTH: The hockey highlights of the early '74-75 season, including the return of Ken Dryden, the Soviets thrashing the WHA stars, Esposito's 500th goal, Taro Tsujimoto, and more.

College Football: The 1974 Season

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Introducing the "football" label]

I'm happy that it's summer and I've got time to enjoy that period around graduation. But I can't deny that college football season is around the corner, so here's my piece about pigskin.

USC defeats Ohio State 18-17 at the Rose Bowl. The coaches' poll, the Football Writers, and the National Football Foundation all declare the Trojans national champions, but the AP ranks USC second and gives the title to Oklahoma, whose team – although they won all 11 of their games – is on probation and prevented from playing in bowl games. The Sooners are undefeated for a second year in a row.

Notre Dame wins the Orange Bowl 13-11 over Alabama. The Sugar Bowl on New Year's Eve is a 13-10 victory for Nebraska against Florida.

In their game against Notre Dame, USC trails at halftime, but then scores 55 points.

Ohio State halfback Archie Griffin wins the Heisman Trophy, and he will win that award again the next year. He has 1,695 yards on 256 attempts and 12 touchdowns.

The Maxwell Award goes to Steve Joachim, a Temple quarterback with 1,950 passing yards and 20 TDs; he has a 150.1 rating. His 2,227 yards of total offense in 10 games are a Division I best.

Maryland defensive tackle Randy White wins the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award. Dallas will make this unanimous All-American the second overall pick in '75.

Steve Bartkowski of California is the leading passer in terms of completions, going 182 for 325. He throws for 2,580 yards and 12 TDs. The consensus All-American will be the first player picked in the '75 NFL Draft and join the Atlanta Falcons.

Future pro star Walter Payton plays his last season of a low-key career at Jackson State. His totals are 3600 yards in 598 attempts, and he has scored 63 TDs. Payton is the leading rusher in the Senior Bowl with 77 yards. In '75, he will be the fourth player picked overall in the NFL Draft and start a great career with the Chicago Bears.

John Provost finishes his three-year career at Holy Cross with only 27 interceptions. This record is second only to the one set by Al Brosky of Illinois (29 INTs from '50 to '52).

Heisman runner-up Anthony Davis of USC sets a record for kickoff return average with a mark of 35.1 over three seasons. Davis is a consensus All-American running back (along with Griffin and Oklahoma's Joe Washington) whose 301 rushing attempts in '74 go for 1,421 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Also from USC, Charles Phillips sets a single-season record with 302 yards on interception returns.

The writers and coaches agree: third-year Baylor coach Grant Teaff is Coach of the Year. The Bears improve from a 2-9 season last year to an 8-4 season and Cotton Bowl appearance for '74.

Louie Giammona of Utah State is the rushing leader with 1,534 yards on 329 carries. He is also the all-purpose yards leader with 1,984.

Dwight McDonald of San Diego State is the receiving leader with 86 catches in 11 games. He gets 1,157 yards and 7 TDs.

Chris Sizemore finishes at Bridgewater College with 32.7 rushes per game over three years, a Division III record.

Former Michigan center Gerald Ford is sworn in as President August 9.

A Sooners retrospective from the Tulsa World Web site
What OU's probation started, according to Berry Tramel on NewsOK.com
The USC-Notre Dame game and other highlights of the teams' rivalry from ESPN
Archie Griffin on ESPN Classic
Walter Payton's college football career on the Division II Football Hall of Fame Web site
1974 season homepage at Sports Reference

NFL: The 1973 Season

[EDIT 6/22/2015: Apostrophe groundskeeping]

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Removing justification and introducing "football" label]

A little late? Maybe not. After all, the 2013 NFL regular season ends tomorrow.

 

The Miami Dolphins defend their title by defeating the Minnesota Vikings 24-7 at Super Bowl VIII. Larry Csonka runs for 145 yards on 33 carries and scores both of the Dolphins' touchdowns. Just like last time, Miami never loses the lead, and the other team's only score is in the fourth quarter.

 

With a record-setting 2,003 rushing yards, O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills is the consensus MVP of the NFL. In the first game of the season Sept. 16, he runs for 250 yards. Simpson's mark is 140 yards better than Jim Brown's 1963 record, and each man was playing in a 14-game season. The record will last until 1984, by which time there will be 16 games in a season.

 

The AP Offensive Rookie of the Year and the league's Rookie of the Year as selected by Pro Football Weekly is the Vikings' Chuck Foreman, who goes 801 yards on 182 carries and gets 362 yards on 37 receptions.

 

The UPI Coach of the Year for the NFC is Chuck Knox, who brings the Los Angeles Rams from 6-7-1 to 12-2 in his first year with the team. For the AFC, it's John Ralston of the Denver Broncos, a second-year coach who brings his team from 5-9 to 7-5-2.

 

Roger Staubach of the Dallas Cowboys is the leader in quarterback rating for the year of its introduction with 94.6. The Vikings' Fran Tarkenton is second with 93.2. Roman Gabriel of the Philadelphia Eagles – who leads the NFL with 3219 passing yards and ties with Staubach for the passing touch­downs lead – is fifth with 86.3.

 

Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler has an 86.2 completion percentage in a game against the Baltimore Colts, breaking the single-game record 85.7% Sammy Baugh set in '45.

 

Staubach's 62.6 completion percentage for the season is, and will be, his personal best.

 

The receptions leader is Harold Carmichael of the Eagles with 67 for 1,116 yards.

 

Offensive guards launching Hall of Fame careers this year: John Hannah of the New England Patriots and Joe DeLamielleure of the Bills.

 

Johnny Unitas, quarterback for the San Diego Chargers this season only, wraps up his career and is bound for Canton. His 471 passing yards give him a total of 40,239. His final completion is a seven-yard pass, his only one of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

 

Meanwhile on the Chargers, new quarter­back and future Hall of Famer Dan Fouts makes his debut.

 

New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath misses eight games, seven in a row due to a separated shoulder.

 

Ray Guy of the Oakland Raiders punts 3,127 yards in 69 attempts to begin his career as the best punter ever.

 

Don Maynard, a former Jets receiver now with the St. Louis Cardinals and playing his final season, makes an 18-yard reception at Veterans Stadium September 16. This is catch number 663 for him, and his total is brought to 11,834 yards. Both are records at this point. He makes no receptions in his only other game.

 

Paul Warfield of the Dolphins scores four touchdowns in the final game of the regular season Dec. 15. He gets six passes for 103 yards at home against the Detroit Lions. His eleven TDs this season are among 29 receptions.

 

John Brodie finishes his career with 31,548 passing yards and 214 passing touchdowns. For now, he is the best quarterback the San Francisco 49ers have ever had.

 

Fred Dryer forces two safeties for the Rams in a game against the Packers Oct. 21.

 

Besides Unitas and Maynard, other retiring players who will make it to the Hall of Fame one day are Bob Brown, Dick Butkus, Gene Hicker­son, and Leroy Kelly. This is also Weeb Ewbank's last year coaching.

 

Extensive renovations of Yankee Stadium begin, and progress on the new stadium in New Jersey hasn't gotten far past the groundbreaking, so the New York Giants play part of this season and all of the next at the Yale Bowl. Their final game in the Bronx is a 23-23 tie with the Eagles Sept. 23, and their first New Haven home game of the regular season is a 16-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers Oct. 7.

 

Rich Stadium, home of the Bills, opens August 17 to a crowd of 80,020. The Bills lose the preseason game to the Washington Redskins 37-21 at this new stadium just outside of Buffalo.

 

At the Pro Bowl in Kansas City, Garo Yepremian of the Dolphins kicks five field goals for all of the AFC's 15 points. The NFC scores the game's only touchdown, but they come up two points short.

 

This is the first season in which first-down markers have rubber caps at the bottom instead of metal points. Some call this the Bubba Smith Rule after the Colts defensive end who was injured by getting caught in the chains at a 1972 preseason game in Tampa and missed the subsequent season because of it.

 

Pete Gent's North Dallas Forty is published. The novel is a fictionalized, autobio­graph­ical account of being an NFL player.

 

Starting this season, there will be no blackouts for games that sell out 72 hours before kickoff. Though there are 63% more no-shows in '73 than in '72, it isn't as bad for the NFL as Commissioner Pete Rozelle will continue to say it is.

 

Two days after a post-season owners' meeting in Florida February 25 in which Rozelle announces a four-year deal worth $60 million a year with the networks, the commissioner gets a ten-year extension on his contract and is given power to arbitrate.

 

For Super Bowl VIII, the least expensive ticket at Rice Stadium is $15. It will cost at least $20 to be at Tulane Stadium for Super Bowl IX.

 

LINKS

1973 season overview at Pro Football Reference

Stats leaders

The story of Giants Stadium

Fred Dryer's two-safety game

Pete Rozelle's objection to the blackout rule

Super Bowl VIII, according to NFL.com

Happy New Year. Next month, 1973-74 in the NHL and the WHA.

College Football: The 1973 Season

[EDIT 6/22/2015: Assuring apostrophe uniformity]

[EDIT 11/30/2023: Removing justification and introducing "football" label]

I've laid out a monthly schedule for this blog, but I haven't edited the list of bullet points so it isn't boring. Here's the first installment.

Notre Dame defeats Alabama 24-23 in the Sugar Bowl. The AP declares the 11-0 Fighting Irish champions, but the coaches' poll sticks with the 11-1 Crimson Tide.

Penn State defeats LSU 16-9 in the Orange Bowl. Ohio State wins the Rose Bowl 42-21 against USC.

 

Penn State halfback John Cappelletti wins the Heisman Trophy as well as its less prestigious parallel, the Maxwell Award. The consensus All-American running back has 1,522 yards on 286 rushes and 17 rushing touchdowns.

 

Ohio State offensive tackle John Hicks wins the Outland Trophy and the Lom­bardi Award, both of which are awards for line­men, the former for interior line­men. Hicks is also the runner-up for the Heisman.

 

Alabama's Bear Bryant is named Coach of the Year by the American Football Coaches Association. The FWAA gives Johnny Majors of Pittsburgh that honor, as the Panthers improved from 1-10 in '72 to 6-5-1, including a Fiesta Bowl loss to Arizona State, in '73.

 

Tom Osborne coaches Nebraska for the first of what would prove to be 25 years. The Cornhuskers go 9-2-1, as they had the year before; they went 11-0-1 in 1970 and 13-0-0 in 1971.

 

Barry Switzer begins his 17 years as Oklahoma head coach. Steve Davis begins a three-season, 32-1-1 run as Sooners QB.

 

The consensus All-American quarterback is Dave Jaynes of Kansas with 196 completions for 2,349 yards and 14 touchdowns.

 

Mark Kellar of Northern Illinois is the leading rusher with 1,719 yards in 11 games.

 

The passing leader and total offense leader is Jesse Freitas of San Diego State with 227 completions in 11 games. He throws for 2,293 yards and 21 touchdowns, and his total offense is 2,901 yards.

 

Jay Miller of Brigham Young University gets 22 catches in a game Nov. 3 against New Mexico. This is a record that will stand until 1994. Miller is the receptions leader for the season with 100 in 11 games. He has 1,181 yards and 8 touchdowns.

 

This is the University of Kentucky's first year at Commonwealth Stadium.

 

The first-ever Division II champions are Louisiana Tech. The first-ever Division III champions are Wittenberg University.

 

In the Senior Bowl, a postseason all-star game, Lynn Swann of USC catches the winning touchdown pass. The Pittsburgh Steelers will pick the consensus All-American in the first round of the '74 draft.

LINKS

More on the '73 season from Sports-Reference.com

Week-by-week AP polls

Bowl game results

 

 

NEXT MONTH: The '73 NFL season