December 9, 1984: The Los Angeles Rams beat the Houston Oilers, 27-16 at Anaheim Stadium -- now named Angel Stadium of Anaheim -- in the Los Angeles suburb of Anaheim, California. Eric Dickerson rushes for 215 yards, including 2 runs ending in touchdowns. In so doing, he finishes the game with 2,007 yards rushing on the season. This breaks the NFL's single-season rushing record, 2,003, set by O.J. Simpson of the Buffalo Bills in 1973.
The Rams played 1 more game in that regular season, traveling to face their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers. Dickerson added 98 yards to his total, raising it to 2,105. (The 49ers won, 19-16 at Candlestick Park.)
This remains the NFL record. In 1985, Herschel Walker ran for 2,411 yards for the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League. But, just as Dickerson needed a 15th game to surpass Simpson (O.J. still holds the record for most rushing yards in the 1st 14 games of a season), Walker played an 18-game season. What's more, the USFL was not highly regarded. Dickerson himself said, "The difference is, I did it in the majors, and he did it in the minors." The next year, Walker came to the NFL, with the Dallas Cowboys. His peak total in the NFL was 1,514 yards, in 1988.
There have now been 8 2,000-yard rushing seasons in NFL history. Since Simpson and Dickerson: Barry Sanders had 2,053 for the 1997 Detroit Lions, Terrell Davis had 2,008 for the 1998 Denver Broncos, Jamal Lewis had 2,006 for the 2003 Baltimore Ravens, Chris Johnson had 2,006 for the 2009 Tennessee Titans, Adrian Peterson had 2,097 for the 2012 Minnesota Vikings, and Derrick Henry had 2,027 for the 2020 Titans.
For comparison's sake: The highest single-game total for Jim Brown, who held the single-season record before Simpson, at 1,863 in 1963, was 237; Walter Payton, the 1st man to rush for more yards in a game than Simpson (275), and eventually surpassed Brown as the NFL's all-time rushing leader, topped out at 1,852 yards in a season; and Emmitt Smith, who surpassed Payton and remains the all-time rushing leader, topped out at 237 for a game and 1,773 for a season.
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December 9, 1984 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:
* The New York Giants lost to the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 31-21 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.
* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots, 27-17 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.
* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the New Orleans Saints, 24-21 at the Superdome in New Orleans.
* The Washington Redskins beat their arch-rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, 30-28 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.
* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-20 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
* The Miami Dolphins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 35-17 at the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis.
* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 20-14 at Soldier Field in Chicago.
* The Denver Broncos beat the San Diego Chargers, 16-13 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Minnesota Vikings, 51-7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. The Niners finished 15-1 in the regular season, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Seattle Seahawks, 34-7 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.
* The day before, the New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills, 21-17 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Los Angeles Raiders beat the Detroit Lions, 24-3 at the Silverdome in the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, Michigan.
There were 5 games played in the NBA that day:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 110-94 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 128-127 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 48 points.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Kansas City Kings, 123-120 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, Utah. Adrian Dantley scored 38 points.
* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 126-123 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.
* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Houston Rockets, 96-90 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.
And there were 4 games played in the NHL:
* The Washington Capitals beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-0 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.
* The Quebec Nordiques and the Buffalo Sabres played to a tie, 4-4 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-2 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota North Stars, 4-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.
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