Who Were The Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL)?

The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's Wildcats) was a traveling team of the first American Football League that was not based in its nominal home city but in Chicago, Illinois (it trained in Rock Island). Coached by Jim Clark, the team was designed to be a showcase for University of Washington star back George “Wildcat” Wilson. Compared to most traveling teams in professional football, the Wildcats were successful, compiling a 6–6–2 record in the only season of the team's – and the league's – existence.

The existence of the Wildcats began with the 1926 formation of the American Football League by C. C. Pyle, a sports agent who represented star back Red Grange. Pyle's application for a National Football League franchise in New York was rejected as Tim Mara, owner of the New York Giants objected to Pyle proposed intrusion into the Giants’ territory. Armed with a five-year lease at Yankee Stadium, Pyle subsequently announced the formation of the American Football League as a showcase for his client.

The league was also a showcase for another Pyle client who was an All-American on the West Coast: Wildcat Wilson. Because of the limitations of train (or bus) travel, the National Football League extended only from the Atlantic coast westward to Kansas City, Missouri, and Pyle wanted to tap the talent of college football players along the Pacific. His solution was novel (and one that the more established NFL would copy quickly): establish a traveling team nominally representing Los Angeles and headed by Wilson. The team would be based in Moline, Illinois (home of the Rock Island Independents, which jumped from the NFL to the AFL) and would have no home stadium. Virtually all of the players of the team attended colleges sited west of the Rocky Mountains.

The team was owned by C. C. Pyle and Red Grange, who also owned another AFL team (the New York Yankees) and had stock in a third (the Chicago Bulls). The three teams and league champion Philadelphia Quakers were the only four teams (of the original nine) still in existence at the end of league play on December 12, 1926. Upon the completion of a barnstorming tour, the Wildcats closed up shop after only one year of existence.

As the team began league play, it became evident that Wilson was not the only weapon that the Wildcats had. Coach Jim Clark had the versatile Mal Bross for either rushing and receiving duties; ends Ray Flaherty and Jim Lawson dutifully caught passes from Wilson, while Duke Morrison ran when Wilson did not take the ball. Furthermore, no fewer than four Wildcats handled the kicking job at one time or another.

Originally scheduled to play only 10 games, the Wildcats played additional contests as last-minute “fill-in” opponents as one team after another in the American Football League folded or otherwise left the league. Immediately after tying the Chicago Bulls in Comiskey Park, the team trekked to Toronto’s Maple Leaf Stadium for a game with the New York Yankees, which also played games on back-to-back days. The Yankees won, 29–0. It was not the first weekend in which the Wildcats played on consecutive days (they actually did so on three other weekends); their Thanksgiving Day contest with the Bulls (a scoreless tie) was their third in a five-day stretch.

By the end of October, the Cleveland Panthers and Newark Bears have closed up shop; the Brooklyn Horsemen merged with their NFL cousins, the Brooklyn Lions in early November, and the Boston Bulldogs, a team that was subsidized by Pyle’s money dropped out. In the four weeks from the departure of Cleveland and the exit of Boston, scheduling “holes” were filled by the two traveling teams of the AFL: the Wildcats and the Rock Island Independents... that is, until November 21, when the Independents – charter members of both the NFL and the AFL – joined the exodus from the younger league by calling it quits after a 3–0 loss to the Bulls. With only two weeks remaining in the season, the Wildcats, Yankees, and Bulls – three teams owned (or co-owned) by Pyle and Grange – and the Philadelphia Quakers were the last teams remaining, with only the Quakers reporting a profit.

Only two official AFL games were left to play in December 1926. On the 5th, the Wildcats shut out the Bulls 5–0 on a frozen field in Comiskey Park, while the Bulls hosted the Yankees the following Sunday as the visiting team wrapped up the 1926 season of the American Football League with a 7–3 victory. At the same time, in a snowstorm at the Polo Grounds, the league champion Quakers were crushed, 31–0, by the New York Giants in a game that marked the end of the American Football League, December 12, 1926.

Two days after the end of the 1926 season (and of the AFL), the Wildcats and the New York Yankees started a series of exhibition games as the two Pyle-owned teams went on a barnstorming tour of the American South and West. The two teams competed in Atlanta (a 7–7 draw), Birmingham, Alabama (a 14–3 Yankees win), Dallas, Texas (a 17-14 Yankees win), Beaumont, Texas (a 34–0 Wildcats win), and San Antonio (a 20–14 Yankees win) before traveling to California for games against the independent Hollywood Generals (whom the Wildcats defeated, 26–7, in Wrigley Field of Los Angeles) and the NFL's traveling team, the Los Angeles Buccaneers (the Wildcats won, 17–0, in a game played in San Francisco).

With the dissolution of the American Football League (Pyle's Yankees were preparing to join the NFL under an arrangement with New York Giants owner Tim Mara, who acquired the assets of the defunct Brooklyn Horsemen), the Wildcats ceased to exist after the game in San Francisco. Wildcat Wilson joined the Providence Steam Roller for the 1927 NFL season. Wilson was not the only 1926 Wildcat to join an NFL roster for the 1927 season. Mal Bross played for the Green Bay Packers. Ted Bucklin played for the Chicago Cardinals. Walden Erickson played for the Pottsville Maroons. Ray Flaherty played for the New York Yankees. Ted Illman played for the Chicago Cardinals. Jim Lawson played for the New York Yankees. Ray Stephens played for the New York Yankees. John Vesser played for the Chicago Cardinals Flaherty continued to play until 1935 (taking 1930 off to teach college football), then became head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1937. He became a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.

Sources

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/

https://www.profootballarchives.com/index.html

https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Football_Wiki

https://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/GUD/controller/controller.php?action=main

https://www.profootballhof.com/hall-of-famers/

1926 American Football League from Elias Sports Bureau and Pro Football Research Association Linescore Committee Archived June 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

 Schedules and scores of the teams in the 1926 American Football League Archived July 13, 2009, at the Wayback Machine – “Ghosts of the Gridiron”

 "Grangemen and Wildcats Tie, 7-7, in Muddy Contest". The Atlanta Constitution. December 15, 1926. p. 13. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 "Wildcats Lose To Red Grange Team". Selma Times-Journal. AP. December 17, 1926. p. 6. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 "Small Dallas Crowd Sees Red Grange's Team Beat Wilson's". The Austin American. AP. December 20, 1926. p. 5. Retrieved August 2, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 "Wilson Wildcats Defeat Grange". The Austin Statesman. December 23, 1926. p. 8. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 "Grangemen Win At San Antonio". The Austin Statesman. December 27, 1926. p. 2. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 "Wilson's Wildcats Win". Pittsburgh Gazette Times. January 10, 1927. p. 10. Retrieved August 13, 2020 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon

 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present (St. Martin’s Press 1994), ISBN 0-312-11435-4

Who Were The Chicago Bulls (AFL)?

The Chicago Bulls were a professional American football team that competed in the first American Football League in 1926. Owned by Joey Sternaman (brother of Chicago Bears co-owner Dutch Sternaman), the Bulls also had AFL founders C. C. Pyle and Red Grange as shareholders (Pyle and Grange were also the co-owners of the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Wildcats of the AFL). Joey Sternaman was also the coach and blocking back for the Bulls throughout their brief existence.

The newly minted Bulls had adverse effects on the more established NFL. First, the Bulls leased Comiskey Park, forcing the Chicago Cardinals to play in the (older and much smaller) Normal Field. Second, the Bulls made an offer for Cardinals star Paddy Driscoll that the reigning NFL champions could not match (Cardinals owner Chris O'Brien arranged a trade with the Bears, who did match the Bulls' offer to Driscoll, keeping him in the established league but knocking the Cardinals out of championship contention). Failing to sign Driscoll, the Bulls built up their roster by signing up men who played their college football in the American Midwest.

Despite playing in front of 16,000 people in their first home game (against the Yankees on October 17, 1926), the Bulls were generally a poor attraction despite the star power of Joey Sternaman. Most of the Bulls games – both at home and away – were played in front of 4000 people or fewer. Attendance at Bulls games were often a reflection of the drawing power of their opponents. The team's first game (at Newark) was played in front of only 2000 people in Davids' Stadium on September 26; the Bulls played the last three official games of the American Football League: in front of 15,000 in Yankee Stadium on November 28 against the Yankees, in front of 3000 in Comiskey Park on December 5 against the Wildcats, and in front 8000 in Comiskey Park on December 12 against the Yankees. With the conclusion of the last game. The AFL and the Chicago Bulls became history, and Sternaman returned to the Chicago Bears.

Upon the completion of a New York Yankees' 7-3 victory over the Bulls in Comiskey Park on December 12, 1926, the first AFL was officially dead. Although Joey Sternaman was the official owner of the team, the bills were paid by C. C. Pyle, who decided to cut his losses by dissolving his (and Red Grange's) interest in the team as the Yankees and the Wildcats went on a barnstorming tour of the American South and West Coast. As a result, the Bulls were no more viable as an entity than the AFL. Its fate was officially sealed when Sternaman returned to the Chicago Bears and the Yankees entered the National Football League (with New York Giants owner Tim Mara technically the owner in a lease arrangement for the defunct Brooklyn Lions franchise).

As Sternaman continued his career, he was not the only former Chicago Bull to join an NFL team's roster after the dissolution of the AFL. Mush Crawford played for 1927 New York Yankees. John Fahay played for 1929 Minneapolis Red Jackets. Aubrey Goodman played for 1927 Chicago Cardinals. Ojay Larson played for 1929 Chicago Bears, 1929 Chicago Cardinals. Dick Stahlman played for 1929 & 1930 New York Giants, 1931–1932 Green Bay Packers, 1933 Chicago Bears. Red Strader played for 1927 Chicago Cardinals (later became head coach for the 1948–1949 New York Yankees (AAFC), 1950-51 New York Yanks (NFL), and 1955 San Francisco 49ers). Jim Tays played for 1927 Dayton Triangles, 1930 Newark Tornadoes, 1930 Staten Island Stapletons. Buck White played for 1927–1929 Chicago Bears. While Garland Buckeye's professional football career ended with the folding of the Bulls, his major league baseball career continued, pitching for the Cleveland Indians in 1927–1928 and the New York Giants in 1928.

Sources

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/

https://www.profootballarchives.com/index.html

https://americanfootballdatabase.fandom.com/wiki/Football_Wiki

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https://www.profootballhof.com/hall-of-famers/

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 George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN 0-385-13091-0

 "A.F.L. Fields Nine Teams The New York Times, July 17, 1926

 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present (St. Martin's Press 1994), ISBN 0-312-11435-4

 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present (St. Martin's Press 1994), ISBN 0-312-11435-4

 1926 American Football League from Elias Sports Bureau and Pro Football Research Association Linescore Committee Archived June 5, 2015, at the Wayback Machine

 The Grange League – Professional Football Researchers Association (1997)

 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present (St. Martin's Press 1994), ISBN 0-312-11435-4

 George Gipe, The Great American Sports Book (Doubleday 1978) ISBN 0-385-13091-0

 David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Rick Korch, The Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History of Professional Football, From 1892 to the Present (St. Martin's Press 1994), ISBN 0-312-11435-4

 John Thorn and Pete Palmer with Michael Gershman, Total Baseball: The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Baseball, Third Edition (HarperPerennial 1993) ISBN 0-06-273189-0

The Story And Significance Of Bob Waterfield - Won MVP And An NFL Title As A Rookie

Robert Stanton Waterfield was an American professional football player and coach. He played quarterback for the UCLA Bruins and Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. His No. 7 jersey was retired by the Los Angeles Rams in 1952. He was also a motion picture actor and producer.

Born in Elmira, New York, Waterfield moved to Los Angeles as an infant. He played college football for the UCLA Bruins in 1941, 1942, and 1944. In 1942, he led UCLA to a Pacific Coast Conference championship and its first Rose Bowl and was selected as the quarterback on the All-Pacific Coast team.

From 1945 to 1952, he played quarterback for the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League. He led the Rams to NFL championships in 1945 and 1951 and was selected as the NFL's most valuable player in 1945. He was the first-team All-Pro quarterback in 1945, 1946, and 1949. Known as one of the best passers, punters, and place-kickers in the NFL, he set NFL career place-kicking records with 315 extra points and 60 field goals, as well as a single-season record with 54 extra points in 1950, and a single-game record with five field goals in a game.

Waterfield was married to movie actress Jane Russell from 1943 to 1968. During the 1950s, Waterfield also worked in the motion picture business, initially as an actor and later as a producer. He remained involved in football as an assistant coach during the 1950s and served as the head coach of the Rams from 1960 to 1962.

Waterfield was drafted by the Cleveland Rams in the fifth round (42nd overall pick) of the 1944 NFL Draft. He signed with the Rams in June 1945.

As a rookie, Waterfield won the starting quarterback job and led the 1945 Rams team to the NFL championship with a 9–1 record. Waterfield led the NFL with 1,627 yards of total offense, 14 touchdown passes and an average of 9.4 yards per attempt. He also led the league with 17 interceptions. As a defensive back, he intercepted 6 passes.

On Thanksgiving Day 1945, Waterfield completed 12 of 21 passes for a season-high 329 yards in a 28–21 victory over the Detroit Lions. Jim Benton caught 10 of Waterfield's passes for an NFL record of 303 receiving yards in a single game.

On December 16, 1945, in the 1945 NFL Championship Game, Waterfield led the Rams to a 15–14 victory over Sammy Baugh's Washington Redskins in below zero weather in Cleveland. One sports writer opined that Waterfield "literally" beat the Redskins "singlehanded." Waterfield was responsible for both Cleveland touchdowns on passes of 37 and 44 yards, and his punts kept the Redskins pinned deep in their territory. Rams owner Dan Reeves announced that, before the game, Waterfield had signed a three-year contract for $20,000 per year, which made him the highest-paid player in pro football.

After the season, Waterfield received the Joe F. Carr Trophy as the NFL's Most Valuable Player, outpacing Steve Van Buren by a tally of 65 points to 38. He was also a consensus pick as the first-team quarterback on the 1945 All-Pro Team.

In January 1946, less than a month after winning Cleveland's first NFL championship, the Rams announced that they would move to Los Angeles for the 1946 NFL season. In their first season in Los Angeles, the Rams compiled a 6–4–1 record and finished in second place in the NFL's Western Division. Waterfield firmly established himself as one of the NFL's multi-talented players. As a passer, he led the NFL in pass attempts (251), completions (127), and passing touchdowns (17) and ranked second with 1,747 passing yards and a 67.6 passer rating. He was also the league's second leading scorer (61 points). He led the NFL with 37 extra points out of 37 attempts and field goal percentage (66.7%) and finished third in the league with an average of 44.7 yards per punt. At the end of the season, he was selected by both the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press (UP) as the first-team quarterback on the 1946 All-Pro Team.

In 1947, the Rams dropped to fourth place in the NFL's West Division, and Waterfield did not rank among the league's leaders in any passing category except interceptions. He did, however, lead the NFL with seven field goals and had an 86-yard punt that was the longest in the NFL during the 1947 season.

In 1948, the Rams finished in third place in the West. Waterfield ranked among the NFL leaders with 15.6 yards per pass completion (first), 14 passing touchdowns (fourth), and 18 interceptions (third), and for the second year had the longest punt in the league, this one measuring 88 yards. On October 4, 1948, Waterfield led the Rams to a 28–28 tie with the NFL champion-to-be Philadelphia Eagles; the Rams trailed, 28–0, in the third quarter, but Waterfield completed 17 of 35 passes for 263 yards and three touchdowns to lead the comeback.

In his first four NFL seasons, Waterfield also played defense and intercepted 20 passes.

Waterfield and Rams returned to the NFL's elite during the 1949 season. The Rams won the NFL's Western Division championship with an 8–2–2 record and lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1949 NFL Championship Game. In 12 regular season games, Waterfield compiled career highs and ranked among the NFL leaders with 154 completed passes (third), 296 pass attempts (fourth), 2,168 passing yards (second), and 24 interceptions (first). For the third time in his career, he was selected as the quarterback on the 1948 All-Pro Team, receiving first-team honors from the AP and UP.

In 1950, Waterfield shared the quarterback position with Norm Van Brocklin with each starting six games. Waterfield's 57.3% completion percentage was the best in the NFL for the 1950 season. The 1950 Rams compiled a 9–3, won the National Conference championship, defeated the Chicago Bears in a divisional playoff game, and lost to the Cleveland Browns in the 1950 NFL Championship Game. In the playoff game against the Bears, Waterfield came off the bench suffering from the flu and completed 14 of 21 passes for 280 yards, including touchdown passes of 68, 28, and 22 yards to Tom Fears; Waterfield also kicked a 43–yard field goal and three extra points in the game. After the game, George Halas called the Rams "the finest passing team I've ever played against." On the first play from scrimmage in the 1950 NFL Championship Game, Waterfield threw an 82-yard touchdown pass to Glenn Davis, but the Browns prevailed, 30–28.

During the off-season following the 1950 season, Waterfield tried his hand at an acting career. He starred with Johnny Weissmuller in "Jungle Manhunt" (also known as "Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land"), playing the part of a football player stranded in the jungle.

In the fall of 1951, Waterfield resumed his role as the Rams' regular starting quarterback, starting 10 of the Rams' 12 games at the position. He led the 1951 Rams to an 8–4 record and the NFL championship. During the 1951 season, Waterfield led the NFL with an 81.8 passer rating, an average of 17.8 yards per completion, and 13 field goals made. He ranked second in the league with 98 points scored. He also had the longest pass in the NFL during the 1951 season, a 91-yard touchdown pass to Elroy Hirsch in a 42–17 victory over the Chicago Bears. At the end of the 1951 season, Waterfield played in his second Pro Bowl and was selected by the UP as the second-team quarterback (behind Otto Graham) on the 1951 All-Pro Team.

In 1952, Waterfield shared the Rams' quarterback job with Norm Van Brocklin, each starting six games. The Rams compiled a 9–3 and lost a divisional playoff game against the Detroit Lions. He announced his retirement on December 1, 1952, and was honored with Bob Waterfield Day for the Rams' final home game on December 14, 1952. The Rams retired Waterfield's No. 7 jersey and presented Waterfield with gifts in pregame ceremonies.

At the time of his retirement in December 1952, Waterfield held four NFL career records (315 extra points and 60 field goals), a single-season record with 54 extra points in 1950, and a single-game record with five field goals in a game, and was tied for another single-game record with nine extra points in a game.

During eight seasons with the Rams, he led the team to two NFL championships and four divisional championships. He averaged 42.4 yards as a punter, and he completed 814 passes for 11,849 yards and 97 touchdowns.

Sources

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/

https://www.profootballarchives.com/index.html

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https://www.profootballhof.com/hall-of-famers/

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The Story And Significance Of Steve Van Buren - First Player To Have Multiple 1,000 Yard Rushing Seasons

Stephen Wood Van Buren was a Honduran–American professional football player who was a halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League from 1944 to 1951. Regarded as a powerful and punishing runner with excellent speed, through eight NFL seasons he won four league rushing titles, including three straight from 1947 to 1949. At a time when teams played 12 games a year, he was the first NFL player to rush for over ten touchdowns in a season, a feat he accomplished three times and the first to have multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons. When he retired, he held the NFL career records for rushing attempts, rushing yards, and rushing touchdowns.

Van Buren played college football for Louisiana State University, where he led the NCAA in scoring in his senior season for the LSU Tigers. After leading LSU to victory in the Orange Bowl, he was drafted by the Eagles with the fifth overall pick in the 1944 NFL Draft. Van Buren acquired many nicknames over his career in reference to his running style, including "Wham Bam", "Moving Van", and "Supersonic Steve". He was the driving force for the Eagles in the team's back-to-back NFL championships in 1948 and 1949; he scored the only touchdown of the 1948 NFL Championship Game against the Chicago Cardinals, and in the next year's championship game against the Los Angeles Rams he set postseason records with 31 carries and 196 rushing yards.

After his playing career, Van Buren coached in minor league football, winning an Atlantic Coast Football League (ACFL) championship with the Newark Bears in 1963. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. Van Buren is a member of the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, the National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team and the National Football League 100th Anniversary All-Time Team. Considered one of the greatest players in Eagles franchise history, his number 15 jersey is retired by the team, and he is enshrined in the Philadelphia Eagles Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame. For his college career, he was inducted into the Louisiana State University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1944 and the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 1961.
While still enrolled at LSU, Van Buren was drafted into the National Football League by the Philadelphia Eagles with the fifth overall pick of the 1944 NFL Draft. A month later, on May 19 he resigned from the university due to an eye infection that had been bothering him since the Orange Bowl game. The Eagles gave Van Buren a $4,000 contract with no signing bonus. But Van Buren, modest to a fault, took three weeks to sign the contract because he did not feel he was good enough to play professionally. He played as a running back and return specialist in the NFL for eight seasons, all of them with the Eagles. He spent the first seven of them under head coach Earle "Greasy" Neale, who dubbed Van Buren "the best halfback in modern times."

Van Buren played in nine games during his first season with the Eagles, rushing for 444 yards as a running back and recording five interceptions on defense as a defensive back. His first NFL return touchdown came in the third game of the season, on a 55-yard punt return in the second quarter of a 38–0 shutout win against the Boston Yanks. Three games later, he returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown against the New York Giants, which was the longest kickoff return by any player that season. His 15.3 yards per punt return also led the league. Van Buren was named to the Associated Press's All-Pro first team following the season, the only rookie so named for 1944.

In 1945, Van Buren led the NFL in rushing yards for the first time, and also led the league in scoring, yards from scrimmage, and kickoff return yards. He set an Eagles single-season record with 15 rushing touchdowns, a mark that stood until 2011. His 18 total touchdowns broke Don Hutson's league record by one, set three seasons earlier. He again had the longest kickoff return of the season, this time with a 98-yard return touchdown against the Giants. In that game he also rushed for 100 yards and two more touchdowns as he scored all of the Eagles' touchdowns in the 28–21 loss. At least six major publications named him a first-team All-Pro for the season, including the Associated Press and United Press.

By 1946, Van Buren was considered one of the best players in the league. Before the season, he signed a three-year contract to remain with the Eagles, dispelling rumors that he planned to join the rival All-America Football Conference. He returned just five punts in the 1946 season, but ran one of them back 50 yards for a touchdown against the Boston Yanks in the final game of the year. It was the last punt Van Buren returned in his career. He finished the season with 529 rushing yards, third-most behind leader Bill Dudley of the Pittsburgh Steelers and rookie Pat Harder of the Chicago Cardinals. He was named a first-team All-Pro by the New York Daily News and a second-team All-Pro by the United Press.

After the Eagles' loss to the Steelers during the 1946 season, Eagles coach Greasy Neale gave Dudley high praise during a conversation with Steelers coach Jock Sutherland. Sutherland then offered to trade Dudley to the Eagles. In return he wanted Van Buren, but according to Les Biederman of The Pittsburgh Press, "before [Sutherland] finished the second syllable of that name, Neale had fled the table."
Van Buren claimed his second rushing title in 1947, which was the first in a string of three straight. His 1,008 rushing yards broke the single-season record of 1,004 set by Beattie Feathers with the Chicago Bears in 1934. He was no longer returning punts for the team, as the role was taken over by halfback Bosh Pritchard, though he still returned kickoffs. His 95-yard kickoff return touchdown against the Washington Redskins in the first game of the season was again the longest kickoff return by any player that season, as well as the last kick return touchdown of his career.

The Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers both finished the 1947 regular season atop the Eastern Conference with an 8–4 record, so the two teams met for a tiebreaker game to determine the conference champion. During the week before the game, the Steelers ran workouts concentrating on a means of stopping Van Buren's running. In the game, the Steelers' defensive line held Van Buren to 45 rushing yards and no rushing touchdowns, but he scored the game's first touchdown on a 15-yard reception from quarterback Tommy Thompson. The Eagles won with a 21–0 shutout, setting them up to face the Chicago Cardinals in the NFL Championship Game, the first championship game appearance in franchise history. Against the Cardinals' "Million Dollar Backfield", Van Buren was held in check, as the Eagles were defeated 28–21 in a back-and-forth contest.

The 1948 season was the second straight that Van Buren led the league in carries, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and yards from scrimmage. In Week 3, in the first quarter against the New York Giants Van Buren scored his 39th career rushing touchdown, surpassing Ernie Nevers as the all-time leader. That game—a 45–0 shutout win—was the first in an eight-game winning streak for the Eagles in which they scored 275 points total and allowed 49. The team finished the regular season with the best record in the Eastern Division and were to meet the Chicago Cardinals again for the league championship.

Having posted similar offensive statistics in the regular season, the Eagles and Cardinals were expected to play a tight game. Played in a blizzard at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, the game's only score was a fourth quarter rushing touchdown by Van Buren from five yards out. The 7–0 win gave the Eagles their first league title. Van Buren finished with 98 yards on 26 carries, though he nearly missed the game entirely. Thinking the game would not be played in the blizzard, he remained home until coach Greasy Neale called him and told him the game was still on. He had to catch three trolleys and walk six blocks in order to make the game on time. "I looked out my bedroom window that morning, saw the snow and went back to bed," he later explained. "I was sure the game would be postponed."

By 1949, Van Buren's annual salary was $15,000. Despite the Eagles franchise struggling financially the previous season, Neale was willing to pay him more, but Van Buren declined. "I could have gotten a good deal more," he said. "But you acted a little different when your team lost money." He came into his sixth NFL season needing 104 rushing yards to break Clarke Hinkle's career record of 3,860, which he set after ten seasons with the Packers. Van Buren passed Hinkle's mark against the Detroit Lions in the second game of the season, and by the end of the year had broken his own single-season record as he rushed for 1,146 yards. He became the first running back in NFL history to achieve three consecutive rushing titles. Jim Brown twice, Earl Campbell, and Emmitt Smith have since managed the feat. The Eagles clinched the Eastern Division title in the tenth game of the season with a win over the Steelers. With Pittsburgh's defense designed to stop him, Van Buren ran for 205 yards on 27 carries, setting an Eagles single-game franchise record for rushing yards that stood for over 60 years. The Eagles won their final two games and advanced to their third NFL championship game in as many seasons.

In the 1949 NFL Championship Game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum against the Los Angeles Rams, as in the previous season's game, Van Buren carried the Eagles' offense. Although he failed to score, he carried the ball 31 times for a championship game–record 196 yards on the heavily muddied field. The Eagles won 14–0, becoming the first—and as of 2016, the only—team in league history to win consecutive championship games with a shutout. Following the game, Rams coach Clark Shaughnessy called Van Buren one of the greatest ball carriers he had seen in forty years of football. "He is equal to any player I've ever seen," said Shaughnessy. Van Buren was named the outstanding athlete of the year by the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association.

Back, leg, and neck injuries began to take a toll on Van Buren in 1950, and his production dropped. He broke his toe in the 1950 off-season and suffered from bone spurs, which caused him to miss the team's four preseason exhibition games and regular season opener. He returned to lead the league in carries for the fourth straight season, but lost the rushing title for the first time in four years and had career-lows in touchdowns and yards per carry. The Eagles finished with a 6–6 regular season record. Greasy Neale was fired by the Eagles the following February and replaced by Bo McMillin. In 1951, Van Buren played alongside his brother, halfback and linebacker Ebert, whom the Eagles selected in that year's draft out of LSU. The elder Van Buren continued to play through injuries, taking several shots of Novocaine before each game. He had a career-low 327 rushing yards for the season, as the Eagles finished with a losing record for the first time since 1942.

During training camp prior to the 1952 season, Van Buren tore a knee ligament and required surgery. He missed the entire season and retired as a player in September 1953, but remained on the Eagles payroll in a public relations capacity. He finished his career having carried 1,320 times for 5,860 yards and 69 touchdowns. He also scored three times returning kickoffs, three times on receptions, and twice on punt returns for a total of 77 touchdowns. On defense, he intercepted nine opponents' passes.

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The Story And Significance Of Sid Luckman - All-Time NFL Record Holder For Touchdown Percentage

Sidney Luckman was an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League from 1939 through 1950. During his twelve seasons with the Bears, he led them to four NFL championships (1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946).

Sportswriter Ira Berkow wrote that Luckman was "the first great T-formation quarterback", and he is considered the greatest long-range passer of his time. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1943. Luckman was also a 3× NFL All-Star (1940–1942), 5× First-team All-Pro (1941–1944, 1947), 2× Second-Team All-Pro (1940, 1946), 3× NFL passing yards leader (1943, 1945, and 1946), 3× NFL passing touchdowns leader (1943, 1945, and 1946), 3× NFL passer rating leader (1941, 1943, and 1946), named to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team, had his Chicago Bears No. 42 retired, and tied the NFL record of 7 touchdown passes in a game. To this day, Luckman still holds the all-time NFL record for touchdown percentage, at 7.9 percent.

Luckman was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965, and in 1988 he was declared a joint winner of the Walter Camp Distinguished American Award. Following his retirement from playing, Luckman continued his association with football by tutoring college coaches, focusing on the passing aspect of the game.

Hearing of Sid Luckman's exploits as a single-wing tailback at Columbia University, Chicago Bears owner and coach George Halas believed Luckman had the ability to become an effective T-formation quarterback, and traveled to New York to watch him play. Halas then convinced the Pittsburgh Pirates (later the Steelers) to draft Luckman second overall and then trade him to the Bears, because he was interested in using Luckman's skills to help him restructure the offensive side of the game. However, despite his successes at Columbia University, Luckman initially declined any further interest in pro football, instead preferring to work for his father-in-law's trucking company. Halas went to work on convincing him otherwise. After gaining an invitation to Luckman's tiny apartment for a dinner which Luckman's wife Estelle prepared, Halas produced a contract for $5,500 ($105,900 today), which Luckman immediately signed. At that time both at the college and pro levels, offenses were a drab scrum of running the ball with only occasional passes. In what was then the predominant single-wing formation, the quarterback was primarily a blocking back and rarely touched the ball. Most passing was done by the tailback, and then usually only on third down with long yardage to go. Halas and his coaches, primarily Clark Shaughnessy, invented a rather complex scheme building on the traditional T-formation, but needed the right quarterback to run it properly.

Upon starting with Halas, Luckman mastered an offense that revolutionized football and became the basis of most modern professional offenses. Eventually, Luckman tutored college coaches across the Big Ten, Notre Dame and West Point in the intricacies of the passing game.

In 1940, during his second season with the Bears, Luckman took over the offense and led the Bears to the title game against Sammy Baugh and the Washington Redskins. The Redskins had beaten the Bears, 7–3, during the regular season. Using the "man-in-motion" innovation to great advantage, the Bears destroyed the Redskins, 73–0, stated to be "the most one-sided game in the history of the sport". Luckman passed only six times, with four completions and 102 yards in the rout.

From 1940 to 1946, the Bears displayed their dominance in the game, playing in five NFL championship games, winning four, and posted a 54–17–3 regular-season record. In 1942, the Bears posted a perfect 11–0 record and outscored their opponents, 376–84, however, they lost the championship game to the Redskins. Although the T-formation had been used many years before Luckman joined the Chicago Bears, he was central to Chicago's successful use of this style of play because of his game-sense and versatility. Perfecting Halas' complex offensive scheme of fakes, men in motion, and quick-hitting runs, Luckman added the dimension of accurate downfield throwing. He was instrumental in his team's record-setting 73–0 win over the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL championship game. Sportscaster Jimmy Cannon once said in reference to Luckman's years at Columbia, "You had to be there to realize how great Sid was." Luckman later became a sought-after tutor and instructor for universities wishing to install the T-formation as an offense.

In 1943, as soon as the season had ended, Luckman volunteered as an ensign with the U. S. Merchant Marine. He was stationed stateside and while he could not practice with the team, he did receive permission to play for the Bears on game days during the following seasons. He returned again to the Bears, as a full-time occupation, in 1946 and led them to a fifth NFL championship.

During his career, Luckman completed 51.8% of his passes for 14,686 yards and 137 touchdowns with 132 interceptions. He averaged 8.4 yards per attempt, second all-time only to Otto Graham (9.0), and also has a career touchdown rate (percentage of pass attempts that result in touchdowns) of 7.9 percent.

In 1943, Luckman completed 110 of 202 passes for 2194 yards and 28 touchdowns. His 13.9% touchdown rate that year is the best ever in a single-season, while his 10.9 yards per attempt is second all-time. During one game that year, Luckman threw for 443 yards and seven touchdowns, still tied for the most passing touchdowns in one game; it was also the first 400-yard passing game in NFL history. His 28 touchdown passes in 1943 (in only 10 games) was a record that lasted until 1959, a 12-game season.

Luckman led the NFL in yards per attempt an NFL record seven times, including a record five consecutive years from 1939 to 1943, and led the NFL in passing yards three times. Luckman was a five-time All-NFL selection, was named the National Football League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1943, and led the "Monsters of the Midway" to championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946. Despite the fact that his career ended in 1950, Luckman still owns several Bears' passing records, including: Intercepted: career (132), season (31 in 1947) and Yds/Pass Att: career (8.42), season (10.86 in 1943).
Upon retiring as a player, Luckman remained with the Bears as a vice president. In 1954, he became the team's quarterbacks coach on a part-time basis, a position he held through the 1960s.

After departing the NFL, he went to work for Cel-U-Craft, a Chicago-based manufacturer of cellophane products, eventually becoming its president. The company was a part of the Rapid American Corporation of which he also obtained shares. In 1969, Rapid American was the subject of an Internal Revenue Service investigation over the payment of these shares and dividends, a case that Luckman and his wife appealed.

Luckman's wife, Estelle Morgolin, died of cancer in 1981, and he underwent a triple heart bypass operation the following year. Luckman eventually retired to Aventura, Florida, where he died on July 5, 1998, at the age of 81. He was survived by a son, Bob, and two daughters, Gale and Ellen.

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The Story And Significance Of Otto Graham - The Quarterback That Went To Ten Title Games in Ten Years

Otto Everett Graham Jr. was an American professional football player who was a quarterback for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League . Graham is regarded by critics as one of the most dominant players of his era, having taken the Browns to league championship games every year between 1946 and 1955, making ten championship appearances, and winning seven of them. With Graham at quarterback, the Browns posted a record of 57 wins, 13 losses, and one tie, including a 9–3 win–loss record in the playoffs. He holds the NFL record for career average yards gained per pass attempt, with 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, at 0.810. Long-time New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, a friend of Graham's, once called him "as great of a quarterback as there ever was."

Graham grew up in Waukegan, Illinois, the son of music teachers. He entered Northwestern University in 1940 on a basketball scholarship, but football soon became his main sport. After a brief stint in the military at the end of World War II, Graham played for the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL), winning the 1945–46 championship. Paul Brown, Cleveland's coach, signed Graham to play for the Browns, where he thrived. Graham's 1946 NBL and AAFC titles made him the first of only two people to have won championships in two of the four major North American sports (the second was Gene Conley). After he retired from playing football in 1955, Graham coached college teams in the College All-Star Game and became head football coach for the Coast Guard Bears at the United States Coast Guard Academy. After seven years there, he was hired as head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1966. Following three unsuccessful years with them, he resigned and returned to the Coast Guard Academy, where he served as athletic director until his retirement in 1984. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

By the time Graham was discharged from the Navy late in the summer of 1946, training camp for Brown's new team, the Cleveland Browns, had already begun. Concerned that Graham was not ready to start, Brown put in Cliff Lewis at quarterback in the first game of the season. Graham, however, soon replaced Lewis in Brown's T formation offense. Handing the ball to fullback Marion Motley and throwing to ends Dante Lavelli and Mac Speedie, Graham led the team to a 12–2 regular-season record and a spot in the championship game against the AAFC's New York Yankees. The Browns won that game, touching off a period of dominance. The team won each of the AAFC's four championships between 1946 and 1949, and had professional football's second perfect season in 1948 by finishing undefeated and untied. By doing this the Browns became pro football's first undefeated championship team. Between 1947 and 1949 the Browns played 29 consecutive games without a defeat.

Graham's play was crucial to Cleveland's success. He averaged 10.5 yards per pass and had a quarterback rating of 112.1 in 1946, a professional football record until Joe Montana surpassed it in 1989. Graham was named the AAFC's Most Valuable Player in 1947 and shared the Most Valuable Player award with Frankie Albert of the San Francisco 49ers in 1948. He led the league in passing yards between 1947 and 1949. The AAFC dissolved after the 1949 season, and three of its teams, including the Browns, merged into the more established National Football League. Graham was the AAFC's all-time leading passer, throwing for 10,085 yards and 86 touchdowns.

Graham became the Browns' uncontested leader, but he was also "just one of the guys", tackle Mike McCormack said in 1999. "He was not aloof, which you see a lot of times today." He was good at spinning and moving in the pocket, skills he learned playing basketball. In his autobiography, Paul Brown praised Graham's ability to anticipate his receivers' route-running by watching their shoulders. "I remember his tremendous peripheral vision and his great athletic skill, as well as his ability to throw a football far and accurately with just a flick of his arm", Brown said. His short passes were hard and accurate, teammates later said, and his long balls were soft. "I used to catch a lot of them one-handed", Lavelli said. "He had great touch in his hands." He was nicknamed "Automatic Otto" for his consistency and toughness.

With Graham at the helm, the Browns continued to succeed when they joined the NFL in 1950. Graham led the Browns to a 10–2 record, which set up a playoff against the New York Giants for a spot in the championship game. The Browns' only two losses of the season had come against the Giants, but in a frozen Cleveland Stadium on December 17, Cleveland beat New York. With the game tied 3–3 in the fourth quarter, Graham gained 45 yards by running with the ball on a long drive to set up a 28-yard Lou Groza field goal that put the Browns ahead 6–3. A safety after the ensuing kickoff made the final score 8–3.

The win put Cleveland in the NFL championship game against the Los Angeles Rams. Graham's rushing and passing were again key to the Browns' 30–28 victory. He drove the offense downfield as time expired to set up a last-minute Groza field goal that sealed the win. Graham had 99 yards rushing in the game, adding 298 yards of passing and four touchdowns.

Cleveland posted an 11–1 record in 1951, losing their only game to the San Francisco 49ers in the season opener. That gave the Browns another spot in the championship game, again against the Rams. This time, however, the Rams won 24–17. Graham fumbled the ball in the third quarter, setting up a touchdown that put the Rams ahead 14–10. Three of his throws were intercepted, but he put up 280 yards of passing and a touchdown. After the season, Graham was named the league's Most Valuable Player.

With Graham at quarterback, Cleveland finished the 1952 season with a 9–3 record and faced the Detroit Lions in the NFL championship game. Despite gaining 384 total yards to Detroit's 258, Graham and the Browns lost their second straight championship, 17–7. Cleveland had several long drives that ended with missed field goals, and a fourth-quarter touchdown was negated because Graham's throw to Pete Brewster was first tipped by receiver Ray Renfro; under rules in place at the time, balls deflected by offensive teammates were automatic incompletions. After the season, as Graham was practicing for the Pro Bowl in Los Angeles on January 2, 1953, his six-week-old son Stephen died from a severe cold.

The 1953 season began with a 27–0 win over the Green Bay Packers in which Graham passed for 292 yards and ran for two touchdowns. It was the first of 11 straight victories for the Browns, whose only loss came in the final game of the season to the Philadelphia Eagles. Near the end of the season in a game against the 49ers, Graham took a forearm to the face from Art Michalik that opened a gash on his chin requiring 15 stitches. Graham's helmet was fitted with a clear plastic face mask, and he came back into the game; the injury helped inspire the development of the modern face mask. Despite an 11–1 record, Cleveland lost in the championship game for the third year in a row, falling to the Detroit Lions 17–16. Two of Graham's passes were intercepted. He said after the game that he wanted to "jump off a building" for letting his teammates down. "I was the main factor in losing", he said. "If I had played my usual game, we would have won." Still, Graham finished the season as the NFL's leading passer and again won the Most Valuable Player award.

Before the start of the Browns' 1954 training camp, Graham was questioned as part of the Sam Sheppard murder case. Sheppard, an osteopath, was accused of bludgeoning his pregnant wife to death, and Graham and his wife, Beverly, were friends with the couple. Graham told police that while he and Beverly liked the Sheppards, they did not know much about their relationship.

The 1954 season was a transitional one for the Browns. Many of the players who joined the 1946 team had retired or were nearing the end of their careers. Graham, meanwhile, told Brown that he would retire after the season. After losing the first three games, Cleveland won eight in a row and earned another shot at the championship, again against the Lions. This time, the Browns won 56–10 as Graham ran for three touchdowns and passed for three more. He announced his retirement after the game.

After Graham's potential replacements struggled during the 1955 training camp and preseason, Brown convinced Graham to come back and play one more year. He was offered a salary of $25,000 ($250,000 today), making him the highest-paid player in the NFL. The Browns lost the opener against the Washington Redskins, but went on to a 9–2–1 regular-season record and another chance at a championship. Graham threw two touchdowns and ran for two more as the Browns beat the Rams 38–14. When Brown took Graham out of the game in the fourth quarter, the crowd in the Los Angeles Coliseum gave him a standing ovation. It was the final performance of a 10-year career in which Graham's team reached the championship each year and won seven. "Nothing would induce me to come back", he said later. He was the NFL's passing leader and Most Valuable Player in 1955. He also won the Hickok Belt, awarded to the best professional athlete of the year. Without Graham, the Browns floundered the following year and posted a 5–7 record, their first-ever losing season.

Graham and head coach Paul Brown created the modern T-formation quarterback position and the modern pro offense. Graham led his league in every major passing category each in multiple seasons and finished his career with a career all-time pro record Yds/Att of 9.0. Until a few years ago he held the record for career rushing touchdowns by a pro quarterback with 44. The Browns' record with Graham as starting quarterback was 57–13–1, including a 9–3 record in the playoffs. He still holds the NFL career record for yards per pass attempt, averaging 8.63. He also holds the record for the highest career winning percentage for an NFL starting quarterback, with 0.810. Graham was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965. Having won seven championships in 10 seasons and reached the championship game in every year he played, Graham is regarded by sportswriters as one of the greatest winners of all time and one of the best professional quarterbacks ever to play the game. He never missed a game in his career.

Graham wore number 60 for much of his career, but he was forced to change it to 14 in 1952 after the NFL passed a rule requiring offensive linemen to wear jersey numbers 50–79 so referees could more easily identify ineligible receivers. The Browns retired his number 14, while 60 remains in circulation. While at Northwestern, Graham wore number 48.

When Graham retired from football, he planned to focus on managing the insurance and appliance businesses he owned. However, in 1957 Graham signed on as an assistant coach for the college squad in the annual College All-Star Game, a now-defunct exhibition contest between the NFL champion and a selection of the best collegiate players from around the country. The next year, he was named head coach of the team. With Graham coaching the all-stars in 1958, the team beat the Detroit Lions 35–19.

Following his convincing win in the all-star game, Graham's friend George Steinbrenner helped get him a job as the head football coach for the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Graham, by then 37 years old, was also named athletic director and given a salary "in five figures". School officials said the hiring did not mean Coast Guard would "go big time"; the Division III school played a relatively short schedule at the time against smaller schools in New England. The Coast Guard team had a 3–5 record in Graham's first year as coach in 1959, but improved steadily over the ensuing three years. The team went undefeated in 1963, earning the academy its first-ever post-season bowl appearance. Coast Guard lost to Western Kentucky 27–0 in the Tangerine Bowl. Graham continued to coach in the College All-Star Game while at Coast Guard, and his college team beat Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers in a 20–17 upset in 1963. Graham was offered coaching jobs in the NFL numerous times during his tenure at Coast Guard, but he said in 1964 that he was content to stay at the small school on a $9,000 salary. He said he deplored the "win at all costs philosophy" that was necessary to be successful in the professional ranks.

Despite his reservations about the professional game, Graham, who moonlighted as a television and radio commentator for the American Football League's New York Jets in 1964 and 1965, left the Coast Guard Academy after seven years in 1966 to become head coach and general manager of the NFL's Washington Redskins, Graham's three seasons (1966–1968) were similarly unsuccessful, with an overall record of 17–22–3. In 1968, calls for his firing had intensified as the team's performance worsened from 7–7 in 1967 to 5–9; The Washington Daily News called for his firing in a front-page editorial in November. Vince Lombardi took over as the Redskins' head coach in 1969.

After being dismissed as the Redskins' coach, Graham returned to the Coast Guard Academy as athletic director and said he planned to stay there until he retired. He coached the college team in the College All-Star Game in 1970 for his tenth and final time. The college stars lost for the seventh time in a row that year, falling 24–3 to the Kansas City Chiefs. He was replaced in 1971 by Blanton Collier, who had retired after succeeding Brown as Cleveland's head coach.

In 1974, Graham was named Coast Guard's football coach once again, although he resigned two years later to focus on his duties as athletic director. In nine years of coaching, Graham's Coast Guard teams had a combined record of 44–32–1. After eight more years as the school's athletic director, Graham retired in 1984.

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