Thursday, November 18, 2010

This Day in Football History - November 18th

*November 18, 1911- Harvard begins its school-record 33-game unbeaten streak with a 5-3 win over Dartmouth at The Stadium. Harvard remains unbeaten through the entire 1912, 1913 and 1914 seasons and the first four games of 1915. Cornell finally put a halt to Harvard's streak with a 10-0 win on October 23, 1915. The Crimson built up their streak with 30 wins and 3 ties before Cornell shut them down.

*November 18, 1985- The Most Horrific Hit in NFL History. During the second quarter of a "Monday Night Football" game between the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins at RFK Stadium, linebacker Lawrence Taylor ended Joe Theismann's NFL career with a ghastly sack. Two bones in Theismann's right leg snapped in gruesome fashion as Theismann crumpled awkwardly beneath Taylor.

Prior to the hit, the Redskins had called a flea-flicker pass play. Running back John Riggins took the hand-off from Theismann and drove toward the line of scrimmage. An instant before Giants linebacker Harry Carson tackled Riggins on the line, the running back pitched the ball back to Theismann. As the pocket started to collapse around him, Theismann described the seconds leading up to the hit that ended his career.

"I remember handing the ball to John, getting it back and then looking downfield. I couldn't find Art [Monk] deep, and then I looked to my right for [tight end] Donnie [Warren]. At that point, I was feeling some pressure, and the next thing I knew, I heard what sounded like a shotgun going off -- Pow! Pow! -- and felt this excruciating pain. Then I was on the ground."

Taylor, a Hall of Fame linebacker and never one to shy away from any opportunity to punish an opposing quarterback, knew immediately after hitting Theismann something was horribly wrong. Following the hit, Taylor leaped to his feet and frantically signaled to the Washington trainers as he ran for their sideline, desperate to get the Redskins’ medical staff on the field.

Theismann's right leg had been mangled. His fibula bone was shattered and his tibia bone had snapped completely in two, with one end of the bone protruding through the skin of his leg. The medical staff made every effort to clean debris – grass, dirt, jersey remnants – from the wound before placing Theismann on a stretcher.

Fans many years later voted the hit as one of the most horrific plays in NFL history. Theismann never played another down in the NFL, but has since gone on to a solid broadcasting career.

To this day he has not seen a video replay of the hit.


*November 18, 2007- Dallas Cowboy wide receiver Terrell Owens sets a new career-high and ties a Dallas franchise record when he scores four touchdowns in a 28-23 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Also that day - The Green Bay Packers defeat the Carolina Panthers 31-17 in The Geriatric Bowl. The game featured the oldest starting quarterback duo (82 years, 44 days) in NFL history when Panther quarterback Vinny Testaverde (44 years, 5 days old) took to the field against Packer quarterback Brett Favre (38 years, 39 days old). Favre finished the day with a decent 218 yards passing and two touchdowns, outdueling the older Testaverde, who threw for 258 yards and two touchdowns, but also was picked off twice. Now, if Testaverde could play until he was 44 years old and Favre is now only 41 years old...


Check back later tonight for Chicago at Miami game predictions...

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