October 24, 1971: Chuck Hughes dies on the field at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. And they didn't even stop the game. Think of what a scandal that would be today.
Charles Frederick Hughes was born on March 2, 1943 in Philadelphia, and grew up in Abilene, Texas. A receiver, he went to Texas Western University, now known as the University of Texas at El Paso. He still holds several records there, including most receptions and most all-purpose yards in a single game -- and not in the same game. UTEP elected him to their Athletics Hall of Fame, and it was legitimate, not a sympathy vote for how he died.
He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, and played for them in the 1967, '68 and '69 seasons, including the '68 home finale in which the Eagle fans booed a man dressed as Santa Claus and pelted him with snowballs.
Before the 1970 season, he was traded to the Detroit Lions. As did the Eagles, the Lions used him mainly on special teams, and in his 5 seasons -- well, 4 1/2 -- in the NFL, he only caught 15 passes. Had the incident I'm about to describe not happened, he'd probably be forgotten outside of the El Paso area.
Nevertheless, he did help the Lions win the NFC Wild Card Playoff berth in 1970 (only 1 berth per Conference at the time), and they were 4-1 in 1971, going into their home game against the Bears on October 24. A sellout crowd of 54,418 was on hand at Tiger Stadium (the Lions sharing it with baseball's Tigers from 1938 to 1974).
Late in the 4th quarter, the Bears led, 28-23. Head coach Joe Schmidt, a Hall of Fame linebacker on the Lions' NFL Championship-winning teams of the 1950s, sent Hughes into the game as an injury replacement. Quarterback Greg Landry (no relation to Dallas Cowboys coach Tom) threw to Hughes, and he caught it and took it 32 yards, to the Bears' 37-yard line.
Three plays later, Landry threw to Charlie Sanders, who looked like he would take it in for a touchdown, but he dropped the ball. Hughes was a decoy on the play. There was 1:02 left on the clock, and a field goal would not have helped the Lions. Hughes ran back to the huddle. But when he got to the 20-yard line, he clutched his chest and fell.
Bears linebacker Dick Butkus saw him go into convulsions, and started waving for the trainers to come onto the field. As with Lawrence Taylor after breaking Joe Theismann's leg 14 years later, if Dick Butkus drops his usual mean facade to try to help somebody, that was a sign that this was no ordinary injury.
Both teams' trainers and doctors tried to help them. So did a doctor attending the game as a fan. An ambulance was called, and Hughes was taken to Henry Ford Hospital. The last 62 seconds of the game were played, in front of a crowd stunned into silence. The Lions could not advance the ball, and the Bears' 28-23 lead held.
After the game, the Lions stayed in their locker room. They eventually got the call that Hughes had been pronounced dead at 5:34 PM. An autopsy showed that he had undiagnosed and advanced arteriosclerosis: One of his coronary arteries was 75 percent blocked. While he wasn't pronounced dead on the field, that's where his heart stopped, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation was begun. Therefore, Hughes is considered the only NFL player to have died on the field during a game.
He was 28 years old, and survived by his wife, Sharon, and a son, Brandon, not yet 2 years old. The Lions retired his Number 85. Thankfully, he remains the last American professional football player, to date, to have died as the result of an in-game condition. He was preceded by Stan Mauldin of the 1948 Chicago Cardinals, Howard Glenn of the 1960 New York Titans (Jets), and Stone Johnson of the 1963 Kansas City Chiefs.
*
October 24, 1971 was a Sunday. This was also the day on which Don McLean released the single "American Pie." I have a separate entry for that event.
In the other NFL games:
* The New York Giants lost to their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The New York Jets lost to the Miami Dolphins, 30-14 at Shea Stadium.
* The Atlanta Falcons beat the New Orleans Saints, 28-6 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Houston Oilers, 23-16 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Denver Broncos beat the Cleveland Browns, 27-0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 26-14 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the other Native American-themed team in the NFL, the Washington Redskins, 27-20 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the New England Patriots, 44-21. This was the 1st-ever game at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas. I have a separate entry for that event. The Cowboys had played their home games in their 1st 11 seasons, and their 1st 2 home games of this season, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-13 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
* The Oakland Raiders beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 31-27 at the Oakland Coliseum.
* The day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the Buffalo Bills, 20-3 at San Diego Stadium (later renamed Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium).
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Minnesota Vikings beat the Baltimore Colts, 10-3 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
The baseball season ended a week earlier, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Baltimore Orioles in Game 7 of the World Series.
There were 4 games played in the NBA:
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-93 at the Cleveland Arena.
* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets, 113-103 at the Hofheinz Pavilion (now the Fertitta Center) in Houston. Elvin Hayes had 35 points and 19 rebounds for the Rockets, but, for the Lakers, Gail Goodrich scored 31, Flynn Robinson had 23, and Wilt Chamberlain had 17. Jerry West did not play.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Phoenix Suns, 105-104 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Cincinnati Royals, 119-101 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
There were 3 games in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets lost to the Memphis Pros, 111-103 at the Mid-South Coliseum. Rick Barry scored 44 for the Nets, but it wasn't enough.
* The Utah Stars beat the Pittsburgh Condors, 119-116 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* And the Kentucky Colonels beat the Miami Floridians, 116-110 at Freedom Hall in Louisville. Dan Issel scored 44 for the Colonels.
And there were 6 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins played to a tie, 1-1 at the new Madison Square Garden.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The St. Louis Blues beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* The California Golden Seals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 6-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 6-3 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
* And the Montreal Canadiens and the Toronto Maple Leafs were not scheduled.
No comments:
Post a Comment