Thursday, September 23, 2010

This Day in Football History - September 23rd

*September 23, 1970 - Official ground-breaking ceremonies begin for the construction of the Patriots' new stadium in Foxboro, MA. The stadium opened nearly one year later.

*September 23, 1973 – In their final game at Yankees Stadium, the New York Giants tied the Philadelphia Eagles 23-23. On the same day, the Oakland Raiders stun the defending Super Bowl Champion Miami Dolphins by defeating them 12-7 on four George Blanda field goals. The loss snaps Miami's win streak at 18 games.

*September 23, 1979 - Two of the biggest comebacks in NFL history occurred. The Seattle Seahawks, playing on the road in Denver, took a 34-10 lead on the Broncos early in the 3rd quarter. The Broncos rallied to score 27 unanswered points to win the game by a final score of 37-34. That same day, the Cincinnati Bengals jumped out to an early 24-0 lead at home against the Houston Oilers. The Bengals only managed 3 more points the rest of the game and ended up losing before the home crowd, 30-27.

*September 23, 2001 – After a two-week lockout, regular officials return to work. The NFL and its officials agreed to a new six-year Collective Bargaining Agreement a few days earlier (September 19, 2001).

*September 23, 2003 - Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett filed suit against the NFL, challenging the rule that a player must be out of high school three years to be eligible for the draft. Clarett initially was ruled eligible for the NFL draft by U.S. District Judge Shira A. Scheindlin in New York on February 5, 2004. However, a three-judge panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overruled the ruling of the lower court ruling on April 19, 2004.

With the NFL's 2004 draft only days away, Clarett filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court on April 20, 2004 and asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to block the appeals court ruling that prevented Clarett from entering the draft. The NFL argued that it would be unfair to a team that picked Clarett if he were later ruled ineligible by the Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg refused to intervene. Clarett filed a second emergency appeal with Justice John Paul Stevens, but Justice Stevens turned the request down.

One month later, after the NFL draft had taken place, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Clarett on May 24, 2004. The ruling made Clarett ineligible for a supplemental draft.

After sitting out the 2004 season, Clarett was surprisingly drafted in the third round by the Denver Broncos. The Broncos later released Clarett one month after signing him on August 28, 2005, before he played a single down in the NFL.

Recently, following various run-ins with the law, Clarett signed a contract on August 30, 2010, to play for the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League.


Tomorrow, Week 3 game predictions and starting "If Real Football Used Fantasy Scoring..." lineups.

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