December 15, 17, 18 & 19, 2022: The Craziest Weekend In NFL History

December 15, 2022 was a Thursday. It was the beginning of the craziest weekend in NFL history.

The "weekend" began on the Thursday, with the San Francisco 49ers beating the Seattle Seahawks, 21-13 at Lumen Field in Seattle. The 49ers thus clinched the NFC Western Division, while the Seahawks lost at home to the team they consider to be their arch-rivals (but not vice versa, as the Niners' main rivals are the Los Angeles Rams), and probably ruined any chance they had at making the Playoffs. But that was one of the least remarkable games on the weekend.

Baseball was out of season. There were 4 games in the NBA:

* The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 142-101 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.

* The Miami Heat beat the Houston Rockets, 111-108 at the Toyota Center in Houston. Tyler Herro scored 41 points.

* The Utah Jazz, who used to be the New Orleans Jazz, beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 132-129 in overtime at the Vivint Arena (now again named the Delta Center) in Salt Lake City. Jordan Clarkson scored 39 points.

* And the Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 111-95 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.

There were 12 games in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the Philadelphia Flyers, 2-1 at the Prudential Center.

* The Anaheim Ducks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Boston Bruins, 3-2 in a shootout at the TD Garden in Boston.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Washington Capitals, 2-1 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Seattle Kraken, 3-2 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the Amalie Arena (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Florida Panthers, 4-2 at the FLA Live Arena in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida. (It's now named the Amerant Bank Arena.)

* The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-1 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg. Kyle Connor won the game with a goal with 1:29 left in overtime.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2 at the Ball Arena in Denver.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3 in a shootout at Rogers Place in Edmonton.

* And the New York Islanders, the Detroit Red Wings, the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames, the San Jose Sharks, the Ottawa Senators, the Arizona Coyotes and the Minnesota Wild were not scheduled.

*

December 16, 2022 was a Friday. There were no NFL games that day. There were 2 bowl games in college football. In the Bahamas Bowl, the University of Alabama at Birmingham beat Miami University of Ohio, 24-20 at Thomas Robinson Stadium in Nassau. (Robinson was a Bahamian sprinter in the 1950s and '60s, and while he won Gold Medals at sub-Olympic tournaments, he never won a medal at the Olympics.)

And in the Cure Bowl -- sponsored by Cure Auto Insurance, not anything medicine-related -- Troy University, based in Troy, Alabama and ranked Number 23, beat the University of Texas at San Antonio, 18-12 at Exploria Stadium in Orlando (home of Orlando City SC).

There were 10 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Chicago Bulls, 114-91 at the United Center.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Toronto Raptors, 119-116 at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Kyrie Irving scored 32 points for the Nets, Fred Van Vleet 39 for the Raptors.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Boston Celtics, 117-109 at the TD Garden.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Golden State Warriors, who used to be the Philadelphia Warriors, 118-106 at the Wells Fargo Center (now the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia. Joel Embiid scored 34 points.

* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 125-106 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 130-110 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 112-110 at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Indiana Pacers, 118-112 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Detroit Pistons, 122-113 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets, 126-108 at the Crypto.com Arena. LeBron James scored 30 points.

And there were 3 games in the NHL:

* The Islanders lost to the Coyotes, 5-4 at the Mullett Arena, the new arena on the campus of Arizona State University, in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. It seats only 4,600 people, making it by far the smallest venue in North America's big five sports. At least they're selling it out.

* The Blackhawks beat the Wild, 4-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* And the Blues beat the Flames, 5-2 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

*

December 17, 2022 was a Saturday. There were 3 NFL games. The new version of the Cleveland Browns beat the Baltimore Ravens, who were the old version of the Browns, 13-3 at FirstEnergy Stadium (now named Huntington Bank Field) in Cleveland.

In a snowstorm at the original Highmark Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium and Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York, the Buffalo Bills trailed the Miami Dolphins, 29-21 with 12 minutes left in regulation. But the weather favored Buffalo, not Miami, and the Bills came from behind, and Tyler Bass kicked a 25-yard field goal as time ran out, giving the Bills a 32-29 victory. This clinched a Playoff berth for the Bills.

But neither game could match what went on at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Indianapolis Colts led the Minnesota Vikings 33-0 with 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Up by 33 with 24 minutes to go. It was shaping up to be one of the upsets of the season. The Vikings needed about a touchdown every 5 minutes to avoid it.

Then the Vikings came back, outscoring the Colts 36-3 the rest of the way. With 2:15 left in regulation, Kirk Cousins threw a 64-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook, and the 2-point conversion was successful. That sent the game to overtime, and with 3 seconds left in that period, Greg Joseph kicked a 40-yard field goal to win it: Vikings 39, Colts 36.

The 33-point erasure was the biggest comeback in NFL history -- and the biggest blown lead. It surpassed the Bills' 35-3 comeback to beat the Houston Oilers 41-38 in overtime in a Playoff game in the 1992-93 season.

The Colts' quarterback was Matt Ryan. Ryan had also been the Atlanta Falcons' quarterback when they built a 28-3 lead over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI in 2017, only to lose, 34-28 in overtime. Ryan has now been part of the biggest blown leads in regular-season and Super Bowl history. He is the anti-Frank Reich: Reich had been part of what were once (but both records have since been broken) the biggest comeback in college football history and, in the aforementioned Bills-Oilers game, the biggest comeback in NFL history (and still the biggest in NFL Playoff history).

There were 6 bowl games that day:

* I don't know whose idea it was to stage a bowl game at Fenway Park, since Boston is usually very cold at this time of year. But the University of Louisville beat the University of Cincinnati, 24-7 in the Fenway Bowl. Both teams were once members of the Big East Conference, but now, Louisville are in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), and Cincinnati are in the American Athletic Conference (AAC).

* In the Lending Tree Bowl, the University of Southern Mississippi beat Rice University, 38-24 at Hancock Whitey Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, home field of the University of Southern Alabama.

* In the Frisco Bowl, Boise State beat North Texas, 35-32 at Toyota Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Frisco, Texas. Toyota Stadium is usually the home of Major League Soccer team FD Dallas.

* In the New Mexico Bowl, Brigham Young University beat Southern Methodist University: BYU 24, SMU 23, at University Stadium in Albuquerque, home of the University of New Mexico.

* In the Las Vegas Bowl, Number 17 Oregon State beat Florida, 30-3 at Allegiant Stadium in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada, home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

* The LA Bowl isn't quite held in Los Angeles, but at SoFi Stadium in adjoining Inglewood. Fresno State beat Washington State, 29-6.

There were 7 games in the NBA:

* The Cavs beat the Mavs, 100-99 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

* The Bucks beat the Jazz, 123-97 at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

* The Thunder beat the Grizzlies, 115-109 at the Paycom Center.

* The Blazers beat the Rockets, 107-95 at the Toyota Center.

* The Heat beat the San Antonio Spurs, 111-101 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* The Suns beat the Jazz, 118-114 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Devin Booker scored 58 points.

* And the Clippers beat the Wizards at the Crypto.com Arena.

There were 13 games in the NHL:

* The Rangers beat the Flyers, 6-3 at the Wells Fargo Center.

* The Islanders beat the Golden Knights, 5-2 at the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise.

* The Devils lost to the Panthers, 4-2 at the Prudential Center.

* The Lightning beat the Canadiens, 5-1 at the Bell Centre.

* The Bruins beat the Blue Jackets, 4-2 at the TD Garden.

* The Leafs beat the Caps, 5-2 at the Capital One Arena.

* The Stars beat the 'Canes, 5-4 at the PNC Arena. Martin Necas scored the winning goal with 2:41 left in overtime.

* The Senators beat the Red Wings, 6-3 at the Little Caesars Arena.

* The Avalanche beat the Predators, 3-1 at the Ball Arena.

* The Sabres beat the Coyotes, 5-2 at the Mullett Arena.

* The Ducks beat the Oilers, 4-3 at Rogers Place.

* The Kings beat the Sharks, 3-2 in a shootout at the Crypto.com Arena. (The Sharks consider the Kings their arch-rivals, but the Kings' are the Ducks.)

* The Jets beat the Canucks, 5-1 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

* And the Blackhawks, the Penguins, the Blues and the Kraken were not scheduled.

*

December 18, 2022 was a Sunday. There were 10 NFL games. I'll work my way up from least to most interesting.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Arizona Cardinals, 24-15 at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver. The Cards led 9-3 in the 3rd quarter and blew it, but that's about the only interesting thing about this game.

* The New Orleans Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons, 21-18 at the Superdome in New Orleans. Aside from each team being the other's arch-rival, this one wasn't very interesting.

* The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Carolina Panthers, 24-16 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. About all I can say about this one is that the Steelers' Chris Boswell and the Panthers' Eddy Pineiro each kicked a field goal of at least 50 yards.

* The New York Giants beat the Washington Commanders, 20-12 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland. The Giants' Graham Gano hit 2 50-yard field goals, while the Commanders' Joey Slye kicked one 51 yards. The Giants moved to within 1 win of a Playoff berth, while the Commanders still have a chance.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 25-20 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago. The Eagles clinched a Playoff berth, although quarterback Jalen Hurts got, well, hurt, and might end up missing the next game, against potential Playoff opponent Dallas.

* The Detroit Lions beat the New York Jets, 20-17 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. Jared Goff threw a 51-yard touchdown pass to Brock Wright with 1:49 left. Both teams were 7-7 after the game, but the Lions had been surging, while the Jets, as usual, had been crashing.

* The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans, 17-14 at SoFi Stadium. The Titans tied it on a Ryan Tannehill touchdown run with 48 seconds left in regulation, but the Chargers had enough time to get within field goal range, and Cameron Dicker kicked one 43 yards with 4 seconds left. The Titans remained in 1st place in the AFC South Division, while the Chargers stayed in the Playoff hunt.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 34-23 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. The Bucs blew a 17-0 lead, despite having Tom Brady at quarterback. I guess the cheating isn't working anymore. The Bucs still lead the NFC South, while the Bengals lead the AFC North.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Houston Texans, 30-24 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston. The Texans, with the worst record in the NFL, 1-11-1 coming into the game, actually led 14-7 late in the 2nd quarter, and 21-16 early in the 4th. But Jerick McKinnon won it with a 26-yard touchdown run with 5:13 left in overtime. The Chiefs clinched the AFC West, while the Texans will get the top pick in a draft that doesn't have a player that currently stands out -- although history may end up saying otherwise.

(UPDATE: As it turned out, the 1st pick went to the Chicago Bears, and the Texans got the 2nd pick. The Bears traded their pick to the Carolina Panthers, and got quarterback Bryce Young. The Texans made a trade with the Cardinals, and thus had the 2nd and 3rd picks, using them on quarterback C.J. Stroud and linebacker Will Anderson Jr.)

* The Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Dallas Cowboys, 40-34 at TIAA Bank Field (now EverBank Stadium) in Jacksonville. The Cowboys led this one 21-7 with 11 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, and thought they had it won when Dak Prescott threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Noah Brown with 3:02 left, to make it 34-31.

But Riley Patterson kicked a 48-yard field goal on the last play of regulation. And with 6:52 left in overtime, Rayshawn Jenkins intercepted a Prescott pass, taking it 52 yards for a game-winning touchdown. The Jags kept their slim Playoff hopes alive, while the Cowboys still clinched a Playoff berth due to losses by other teams.

* Then there was the game between the New England Patriots and the Las Vegas Raiders, at Allegiant Stadium. Whether the Raiders play in Las Vegas, Los Angeles or Oakland, they have priors with the Patriots, with strange occurrences benefiting each team. But Patriot coach Bill Belichick didn't have Brady to save him this time.

The Raiders led 17-3 at the half. But the Patriots scored 21 unanswered points to take a 24-17 lead with 3:43 to go. With 32 seconds left, Derek Carr threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole, and it was 24-24.

The Raiders kicked off, and the result was a touchback. The Patriots got to their own 45-yard line with 3 seconds left. The smart thing to do would have been to take a knee, run out the clock, and go to overtime. The gutsy thing to do would have been to attempt a 62-yard field goal, and hope that, if it missed, their defense prevented the Raiders from returning it for a touchdown.

Instead of doing either of these things, quarterback Mac Jones handed off to Rhamondre Stevenson, who gained a few years as time ran out, enough for a 1st down, but not nearly enough for a touchdown. So he lateraled the ball to Jakobi Meyers. It was reminiscent of "The Play," the six-lateral play that the University of California used to beat Stanford in 1982; and "The Music City Miracle," the single-lateral play that the Titans used to beat the Bills in a Playoff game in 2000. Reminding everyone of the Cal-Stanford play, an announcer told the TV audience, "No sign of the Stanford Band!"

Just as he said that, Meyers tried a 2nd lateral, passing the ball back, possibly intending it for quarterback Jones. Instead, it was caught by Raider linebacker Chandler Jones at the Patriots' 48-yard line, and he ran it into the end zone for a touchdown. Ballgame over: Raiders 30, Patriots 24.

It was as if the Patriots had forgotten that the game was tied, and that their chances in overtime were better than their chances of a last-play win. Announcers, studio analysts, and fans all over the country were thinking of similar boneheaded plays: The wrong-way run of Jim Marshall of the Vikings in 1964, the fumble by Joe Pisarcik of the Giants that led to an Eagles win in "The Miracle in the Meadowlands" in 1978, the Cowboys' Leon Lett messing up a missed field goal to give the Dolphins a win on Thanksgiving Day in 1993, and Mark Sanchez's "Butt Fumble" that embarrassed the Jets against the Patriots on Thanksgiving 2012.

All those men, if they weren't already, are now off the hook: This was the dumbest play in NFL regular-season history. (Pete Carroll calling a pass at the end of Super Bowl XLIX remains the all-time standard.) It kept the Raiders' slim Playoff hopes alive, and seriously damaged the Pats' hopes. And the Colts and their fans were probably saying, "Yeah, we looked bad, but at least we didn't do that!"

There were 7 games in that NBA that day: 

* The Knicks beat the Pacers, 109-106 at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

* The Nets beat the Pistons, 124-121 at the Little Caesars Arena.

* The Magic beat the Celtics, 95-92 at the TD Garden.

* The Warriors beat the Raptors, 126-110 at the Scotiabank Arena.

* The Timberwolves beat the Bulls, 150-126 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.

* The Nuggets beat the Hornets, 119-115 at the Ball Arena.

* And the Lakers beat the Wizards, 119-117 at the Crypto.com Arena.

And there were 5 games played in the NHL:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the Rangers beat the Blackhawks, 7-1 at the United Center. The Rangers pulled off the unusual feat of having 7 different scorers: Filip Chytil, Artemi Panarin, Kaapo Kakko, Jacob Trouba, Vincent Trochck, Vitali Kravtsov and Jonny Brodzinski.

* The 'Canes beat the Pens, 3-2 at the PNC Arena.

* The Wild beat the Senators, 4-2 at the Xcel Energy Center.

* The Flames beat the Sharks, 5-2 at the SAP Center in San Jose.

* And the Kraken beat the Jets, 3-2 at the Canada Life Centre.

Oh, yes, there was also a soccer game on this day. The World Cup Final, played at Lusail Iconic Stadium in Lusail, Qatar. This event was also crazy. I have a separate entry for it.

*

Finally, December 19, 2022 was a Monday. The week's Monday Night Football game was comparatively tame, as the Green Bay Packers beat the Los Angeles Rams, 24-12 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In spite of the time of year, which could well have heavily favored the Packers over the Rams, the weather was unremarkable, the Packers kept their slim Playoff hopes alive, while the Rams' ended.

There was a college football bowl game that night, the Myrtle Beach Bowl: Marshall University beat the University of Connecticut, 28-14 at Brooks Stadium in Conway, South Carolina, home field of Coastal Carolina University.

There were 9 games in the NBA:

* The 76ers beat the Raptors, 104-101 in overtime at the Wells Fargo Center. Pascal Siakam scored 38 for the Raptors, while Embiied led the Sixers with 28.

* The Hawks beat the Magic, 126-125 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Trey Young scored 37 points.

* The Bucks beat the Pelicans, 128-119 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 42 points.

* The Spurs beat their arch-rivals, the Rockets, 124-105 at the Toyota Center.

* The Thunder beat the Blazers, 123-121 at the Paycom Center.

* The Cavs beat the Jazz, 122-99 at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

* The T-Wolves beat the Mavs, 116-106 at the Target Center.

* The Suns beat the Lakers at the Footprint Center.

* And the Hornets beat the Kings at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. D'Aaron Fox scored 37 for the Kings.

And there were 8 games in the NHL:

* The Islanders lost to the Avalanche, 1-0 in a shootout at the Ball Arena.

* The Bruins beat the Panthers, 7-3 at the TD Garden.

* The Caps beat the Wings, 4-3 at the Capital One Arena. Dmitri Orlov scored the winning goal with 22 seconds left in overtime.

* The Predators beat the Oilers, 4-3 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Alexandre Carrier scored the winning goal with 2:48 left in overtime.

* The Stars beat the Jackets, 2-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus.

* The Canadiens beat the Coyotes, 3-2 at the Mullett Arena. Mike Hoffman scored the winning goal with 3:52 left in overtime.

* The Sabres beat the Knights, 3-2 at the T-Mobile Arena.

* And the Blues beat the Canucks, 5-1 at the Rogers Arena.

December 18, 1976: The Ben Dreith Game

Ray Hamilton closes in on Ken Stabler.

This may not be the play in question.

Even if it is, the photo doesn't make an answer conclusive.

December 18, 1976: The New England Patriots play the Oakland Raiders in an AFC Divisional Playoff game at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

The Patriots had won the AFC Eastern Division, their 1st Division title and 1st Playoff berth in 13 years. The Raiders, Champions of the AFC Western Division, had the best record in the League, 13-1. But their only loss was to the Patriots, by a whopping 48-17.

So New England fans were looking forward to the team's 1st Super Bowl. (Even if the team, known as the Boston Patriots from their 1960 founding until 1970, had won the AFL Championship Game in 1963, they would not have played the NFL Champion Chicago Bears for the world championship.) This was the 1st time the Patriots really captured New England's attention, after the Celtics had just won their 2nd title in 3 years and their 13th overall, the Bruins were still in their biggest glory period, and the Red Sox had won a Pennant the year before.

The Patriots scored first, a touchdown, and a Raider field goal made it 7-3 at the end of the 1st quarter. The Raiders scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to take a 10-7 halftime lead. Quarterback Steve Grogan led the Pats to 2 touchdown drives in the 3rd quarter, making it 21-10 New England.

But as the 3rd quarter moved to the 4th, Raider quarterback Ken Stabler led a touchdown drive that closed the Silver and Black to 21-17. Grogan got to the Raiders' 28-yard line, and appeared to have gotten a 1st down on a quarterback sneak. But referee Ben Dreith flagged them for offsides. That made it 4th down, and Chuck Fairbanks, who had coached the University of Oklahoma to 3 Big Eight Conference titles, sent John Smith in to try a 50-yard field goal, and it was off target.

That gave the Raiders 72 yards to go for a winning touchdown, and 4:12 left in which to get it. Stabler got them into Patriot territory, but got sacked by Mel Lunsford. It was 3rd & 18 on the Patriot 36. Stabler threw an incomplete pass. But Dreith struck again, ruling roughing the passer on Ray Hamilton. That gave the Raiders a 1st down on the Patriot 13, with 57 seconds left. Stabler scored on a quarterback draw with 14 seconds left, giving the Raiders a 24-21 win.

The Patriots were furious. Fairbanks said, "It looked to me like Ray Hamilton hit the ball first. If he did deflect the ball, it was an incorrect call." Julius Adams, at the beginning of a career that would see him become the team's best defensive end ever, said, "That was one of the worst-called games I have ever seen in my life."

Raider head coach John Madden, naturally, disagreed: "If you could sit there for 60 minutes and say the officials turned that game around with penalties at the end, you were wasting your time. You were eating a hot dog somewhere, instead of watching what was going on. There was some great football out there."

Having looked at the play myself, I can see that Hamilton's hand did hit Stabler's face mask. That was inadvertent. But Stabler was still in mid-throw. That is not "roughing the passer." The correct call would have been an inadvertent face mask call, a 5-yard penalty, which would have made it 4th & 13 on the Patriot 31, with a little over a minute to go. That doesn't mean the Raiders wouldn't have gotten the 1st down on the next play, and even if they had, it wouldn't have meant that they would have gone on to win. But it would have made things a lot harder for them. Dreith made a bad call. 

The Raiders went on to win the Super Bowl. To this day, Patriot fans call this The Ben Dreith Game, and say they were robbed. There would be other incidents to come between these 2 teams, favoring each side.

Dreith was an original AFL official from 1960, who was accepted into the NFL's officiating ranks after the 1970 merger. This would remain the only game in which fans of a team said he robbed them. In a 1986 game, Marty Lyons of the New York Jets sacked Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and punched him in the head. Dreith flagged him, and mistakenly identified the offending player as Mark Gastineau (who, to be fair, was better known for that kind of behavior), telling the crowd, "There's a persona foul, on Number 99 of the defense. After he tackled the quarterback, he's givin' him the business down there. That's a 15-yard penalty."

In 1990, having reached the mandatory retirement age of 65, he was demoted from referee (and thus, as they would say among baseball umpires, crew chief) to the instant replay booth. He refused to accept this, and was demoted to line judge, and then fired after the season. He sued, and later settled for $165,000. He died in 2021, at the age of 96, mostly forgotten -- but not by Patriot fans.

UPDATE: The Patriots have a team Hall of Fame. From their 1970s teams, they have inducted founding owner Billy Sullivan, quarterback Steve Grogan, running back Sam Cunningham, guard John Hannah, tackle Leon Gray, linebacker Steve Nelson, cornerback Mike Haynes, and broadcaster Gil Santos.

*

December 18, 1976 was a Saturday. There was 1 other NFL Playoff game played that day: The Minnesota Vikings beat the Washington Redskins, 35-20 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

There was a college football bowl game played that day: Oklahoma State beat Brigham Young University, 49-21, in the Tangerine Bowl, at the stadium of the same name in Orlando, Florida. The game and the stadium would later be renamed the Citrus Bowl, and the stadium is now named Camping World Stadium.

There were 8 games played in the National Basketball Association:

* The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 115-113 at Madison Square Garden. Spencer Haywood had 35 points and 19 rebounds.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Washington Bullets, 115-110 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Atlanta Hawks, 117-110 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The New Orleans Jazz beat the Houston Rockets, 110-106 at The Summit in Houston. "Pistol" Pete Maravich scored 36 points. (The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.")

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Indiana Pacers, 97-93 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Chicago Bulls, 111-106 at the McNichols Arena in Denver. 

* The Kansas City Kings beat the Phoenix Suns, 90-89 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 115-111 in overtime at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 35 points and grabbed 16 rebounds. Bill Walton had 28 points and 26 rebounds. While the Blazers lost this game, they went on to win the NBA Championship.

The entire National Hockey League played that day, all 18 teams:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers played the Chicago Black Hawks to a tie, 3-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Colorado Rockies, 4-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Cleveland Barons beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at The Coliseum in the Cleveland suburb of Richfield, Ohio.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Atlanta Flames, 6-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-0 at the St. Louis Arena.

* And the Montreal Canadiens beat the Los Angeles Kings, 2-0 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

There were 4 games played in the World Hockey Association:

* The New England Whalers beat the Birmingham Bulls, 6-2 at the Hartford Civic Center (now the PeoplesBank Arena).

* The Minnesota Fighting Saints beat the Cincinnati Stingers, 4-3 at the St. Paul Civic Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Calgary Cowboys beat the Quebec Nordiques, 4-2 at the Stampede Corral in Calgary.

* And the San Diego Mariners beat the Houston Aeros, 4-3 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena).

Also, Arsenal beat Manchester United, 3-1 at Highbury in North London.

December 13, 2007: The Mitchell Report Is Released

December 13, 2007: The Report to the Commissioner of Baseball of an Independent Investigation into the Illegal Use of Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Substances by Players in Major League Baseball is released the public. Since the leader of the investigation was George J. Mitchell, the document becomes popularly known as The Mitchell Report.

Mitchell had a distinguished career in politics. He was a U.S. Attorney in his native Maine, and a Judge of the U.S. District Court. When his mentor, Senator Ed Muskie, resigned in 1980 to become U.S. Secretary of State, Mitchell ran for his seat, and won it, being elected to a full term in 1982 and re-elected in 1988. At that point, his Democratic colleagues elected him to be the Senate Majority Leader, a post he held for the rest of his term. He did not run again in 1994.

Instead, being of Irish descent, he accepted a post as U.S. Special Envoy for Northern Ireland, and was among the negotiators of the Good Friday Accord that ended "The Troubles" in 1998. His ancestral homeland was grateful, and he was appointed the Chancellor of the Queen's University in the Northern Irish capital of Belfast. Officially, he held this post for nearly 10 years, from 1999 to 2009, even as he served as Vice Chair of the 9/11 Commission in November and December of 2002.

In 2006, in the wake of Congressional hearings the year before that tainted the reputations of several current and former players, Major League Baseball Commissioner Allan H. "Bud" Selig asked Mitchell to lead an investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs by players.

After 20 months of investigations, Mitchell released a report running 409 pages, and including the names of 89 former and (then) current players, claiming evidence of use of steroids or other substances prohibited by MLB. Among them were former Yankees Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and David Justice; and some stars from other teams, including Barry Bonds, who already held the records for most home runs in a season and most home runs in a career.

This was just a few weeks after the Boston Red Sox had won their 2nd World Series in 4 seasons. And it did not escape the notice of some people in the media that Mitchell was a member of the board of directors of the Fenway Sports Group, owners of the Red Sox. But the report mostly let the Red Sox off the hook. It was as if Mitchell was trying to say, "The Red Sox are clean, and their recent victories were won fairly. But the Yankees, the team that Red Sox fans hate the most, won their recent Pennants and World Series unfairly."

It was a dark moment for Yankee Fans. Just 3 years and change earlier, they could legitimately say that their last title was in 2000, and Boston's last was in 1918. Now, it was generally accepted by baseball people, official and unofficial alike that the Red Sox had won 2 of the last 4 World Championships, while the Yankees hadn't "really" won one since 1978.

On July 30, 2009, The New York Times reported that 104 players had failed steroid tests in 2003, and that 2 of them were David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, the 2 biggest hitters on those Boston title teams. Just like that, the Sox' 2004 and 2007 titles were exposed as frauds.

What's more, The Mitchell Report was also exposed as a fraud, because it said nothing about Ortiz and Ramirez. Mitchell, already a behind-the-scenes political operative when Richard Nixon was digging himself a deeper hole in the Watergate scandal, should have known: It's not the crime that really gets you, it's the cover-up. He had accused, with evidence that held up better with some players than with others, but had covered up the "crimes" of players for his own team.

It is a tremendous stain on the career of a great public servant. And it destroyed The Mitchell Report's credibility completely.

*

December 13, 2007 was a Thursday. And, wouldn't you know it, New England beat New York that night. The New England Patriots beat the New York Jets, 20-10 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. Speaking of cheating: This was the year that the Patriots had been exposed in the "Spygate" scandal.

I have to give Bill Belichick credit for one thing: He didn't lie about it. Whereas the Red Sox and their fans still insist that everything they've won since 2004 is legit, Belichick basically said, "Yeah, I cheated. What the hell ya gonna do about it, huh?"

There were 2 games played in the NBA that night. The Washington Wizards beat the Miami Heat, 104-91 at the American Airlines Arena (now named the Kaseya Center) in Miami. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Antonio Spurs, 102-97 at the Staples Center (now named the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

There were 10 games played in the NHL that night:

* Here's one where the New York Tri-State Area beat New England: The New Jersey Devils beat the Boston Bruins, 3-1 at what's now named the TD Garden in Boston. The Scarlet & Black got a goal from Brian Gionta, and 2 from Jamie Langenbrunner.

* The New York Islanders beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 3-2 at the Nassau Coliseum. (The New York Rangers were not scheduled.)

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 4-1 at the Wachovia Center (now named the Xfinity Mobile Arena) in Philadelphia.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-1 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh (then known as the Mellon Arena, before reverting to its original name).

* The Calgary Flames beat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 9-6 at the St. Pete Times Forum (now the Benchmark International Arena) in Tampa.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Nashville Predators, 2-1 at the Sommet Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Edmonton Oilers bear the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 in a shootout at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Florida Panthers beat the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the ScotTrade Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis.

* The Dallas Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California. 

December 12, 1982: The Snowplow Game

December 12, 1982: The New England Patriots host the Miami Dolphins at what was then named Schaefer Stadium in the Boston suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Dolphins had dominated the AFC Eastern Division since the AFL-NFL merger of 1970, although the Patriots had had their moments. This game would feature another.

The weather heavily favored the Pats. It rained before the game, soaking the AstroTurf. Then, on the day of the game, a cold snap came, freezing the water on the field. Finally, it snowed on the morning of the game, and it kept snowing during the game.

The Patriots had occasionally played in Winter weather, but, this far in their history, nothing like this. The Dolphins, used to playing in the warmth of South Florida, were totally unsuited to this.

An emergency ground rule was put into play, where the officials could call time-out and allow the ground crew to use a snowplow to clear the yard markers. Despite this rule, the ground crew could not plow often enough to keep the field clear. With today's weather forecasting and NFL scheduling policy, a decision would have been made ahead of time to postpone it to Monday night.

Neither team's players could get a good footing on the field, and the game remained scoreless, late in the 4th quarter. With 4:45 left in regulation, Patriots coach Ron Meyer wanted to kick a field goal. He later told the media that it was quarterback Steve Grogan who suggested asking for the snowplow to clear the ground for the kick. (Grogan only attempted 5 passes all game long, completing 2, for 13 yards.)

It wasn't actually a snow plow: It was a small John Deere tractor with a shovel attached to it. The driver was Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar out of prison on a work-release program. He knew why he was there, and that it was within the rules. He told the media that his reaction was, "What are they going to do, throw me in jail?"

A path was clear for John Smith, the left-footed kicker from Oxfordshire, England, to attempt a 33-yard go-ahead field goal. It was good.

Dolphin coach Don Shula was furious: “I wanted to go out there and punch him out,” Shula told The Boston Globe, meaning Henderson. “In retrospect, I should have laid down in front of the snowplow.” And he told the Los Angeles Times, “I think it’s the most unfair thing I’ve ever been associated with in coaching. It’s the most unsportsmanlike act that I’ve ever been around.”

It wasn't. Late in the game, when the Dolphins could have tried a game-winning field goa, they were also offered the use of the snowplow by the head referee. Shula refused. The Patriots held on to win, 3-0. It became instantly known as The Snowplow Game, and it remains the most famous touchdown-less game in NFL history.

With the history of the Patriots having changed considerably in the intervening 40 years, with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady leading them to victory with proven accusations of cheating, it is easy to say that the Patriots' cheating goes back to The Snowplow Game. In fact, the rule, agreed upon by both organizations before the game, meant that Henderson's actions, and Meyer's request thereof, were legal at the time.

But the Patriots' organization was wary: Shula, already one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, was on the NFL's Competition Committee, and there was concern that he might lead Commissioner Pete Rozelle to overturn the result. It didn't happen: No NFL result has ever been overturned in the League's 100+-year history. But Shula did get the rule changed for the next season, so such a thing could never happen again.

"Mark Henderson" is a common name, common enough that, when the Patriots wanted to invite the plow driver to the final regular-season game at Schaefer Stadium, which became Sullivan Stadium in 1983 and Foxboro Stadium in 1989, to be held on December 22, 2001, they discovered, incorrectly, that he was dead. It was another Mark Henderson who lived in New England and had a criminal record. When they kept digging and found the right one, they brought him onto the field -- by then, real grass -- and he received a standing ovation.

Mark Henderson, 2007, on the 25th Anniversary

Looking him up for this post, I found the same problem: Multiple Mark Hendersons who had passed away, including 2 in 2022. All I can say for sure about Mark Henderson the plow driver is that he lived long enough to give an interview to The Boston Globe in 2010, had a son also named Mark, and that the son confirmed that the father had never been in legal trouble again after his release.

What I can confirm is that the John Deere tractor was preserved, and now sits in the New England Patriots Hall of Fame, a museum at the north end of Gillette Stadium, which was built next-door to the old stadium in Foxborough.

*

December 12, 1982 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Jets beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 32-17 at Shea Stadium.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints, 35-0 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 13-0 at Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Cincinnati Bengals beat their arch-rivals, the Cleveland Browns, 23-10 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-10 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Baltimore Colts, 13-10 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Washington Redskins beat the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals, 12-7 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Los Angeles Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 21-16 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Denver Broncos beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-24 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Chicago Bears, 20-14 at the Kingdome in Seattle.

* The day before, the New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-7 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* Also the day before, the San Diego Chargers beat the San Francisco 49ers, 41-37 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys beat the Houston Oilers, 37-7 at the Astrodome in Houston.

Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Boston Celtics beat the Denver Broncos, 126-112 at the Boston Garden. Larry Bird scored 36 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers, 120-108 at the Milwaukee Exposition, Convention Center and Arena, or "The MECCA." Since 2014, it has been named the UW-Panther Arena.

* And the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Phoenix Suns, 99-94 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

And there were 6 NHL games that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils, 4-0 at Madison Square Garden. It would be years before the neighbors would be on the same level, enough to make it a real rivalry.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat their in-State rivals, the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Capitals beat the Boston Bruins, 4-3 at the Capital Centre in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Hartford Whalers beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-1 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Calgary Flames, 7-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

November 22, 2012: The Butt Fumble

November 22, 2012: The New York Jets have had many embarrassing moments in their history. Most of them have unfolded before a local audience. Butt... this one happened in front of a national audience, on a national holiday.

In 2009 and 2010, under head coach Rex Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez, the Jets reached the AFC Championship Game, including beating their arch-rivals, the cheating New England Patriots, in the 2010-11 Playoffs. But in 2011, they faltered, finishing 8-8. And in 2012, they got off to a 4-6 start, including a loss to the Patriots in Foxboro.

Jets vs. Patriots had become a New York Tri-State Area vs. New England rivalry to, well, rival those of Yankees vs. Red Sox, Knicks vs. Celtics and Rangers vs. Bruins. The fans of each team hated each other, and the players didn't much like each other, either. And now, they were going to play at MetLife Stadium, at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, Bergen County, New Jersey in front of a nationwide audience on Thanksgiving Night.

At the end of the 1st quarter, it was 0-0. Jet fans were thinking they had a chance. But that chance evaporated in the 2nd quarter. Shonn Greene fumbled, and the Patriots recovered. Tom Brady threw an 83-yard touchdown pass to Shane Vereen.

Then came the ignominious moment. Sanchez took the ball, tried to run the ball up the middle, and ended up running up the middle of guard Brandon Moore, crashing into his rear end, and fumbling the ball. Steve Gregory picked it up, and ran it 32 yards for a touchdown. It was 14-0 Patriots, and, with social media already a factor, it quickly became known as "The Butt Fumble."

Steve Gregory (28), celebrating his Thanksgiving hors d'oeuvre

with Tom Brady (12) and Vince Wilfork (75)

People not familiar with the Jets could have presumed that things couldn't get any worse. People who were familiar with the Jets knew that it can always get worse. Joe McKnight took the opening kickoff, was hit by Devin McCourty, and fumbled. Julian Edelman picked it up, and returned it for a touchdown.

It was 21-0, and, as the great New York sportscaster Warner Wolf could have said, "Turn your sets off right there." The final score was Patriots 49, Jets 19.

The Jets finished the season 6-10. Once known as "The Sanchise," Sanchez remained the Jets' starting quarterback for the rest of the 2012 season, but missed the entire 2013 season with a shoulder injury. He remained in the NFL through the 2018 season, with 4 other teams, playing 17 more games, making 11 starts. Since 2019, the former USC All-American has been part of ESPN's college football coverage.

*

November 22, 2012 was a Thursday, and a Thanksgiving. The teams that usually host NFL games on Thanksgiving did so. The Detroit Lions lost to the Houston Texans, 34-31 in overtime at Ford Field. Shayne Graham kicked the winning field goal.

At least the Lions didn't lose to their arch-rivals. The Dallas Cowboys did, falling to the Washington Redskins, 38-31 at Cowboys Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The stadium is now named AT&T Stadium.

Unusually, there were no college football games played that day. There were high school games, including my alma mater, East Brunswick in Middlesex County, New Jersey, losing to arch-rival Old Bridge, 34-0 at Vince Lombardi Field in Old Bridge.

The NHL team owners had locked the players out, so there were no games scheduled for the night. The NHL and the NBA usually don't play on Thanksgiving, anyway, and the NBA didn't.

October 31, 2004: The NFL's Longest Winning Streak Ends

Ben Roethlisberger (left) and Tom Brady

October 31, 2004: The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the New England Patriots, 34-20 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh. This ends the longest winning streak in NFL history.

Coached by Bill Belichick, the Patriots surprised the football world in the 2001 season, losing starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe to injury early, and then replacing him with Tom Brady, and going on a run that ended with victory over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. After missing the Playoffs in the 2002 season, they won it all again for 2003.

On September 28, they lost away to the Washington Redskins, and ran the table the rest of the way, starting on October 5, home to the Tennessee Titans. They won their last 12 of the season, beat the Titans again in the AFC Divisional Playoff, beat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship Game, and beat the Carolina Panthers to win Super Bowl XXXVIII. That made 15 straight wins.

They won their 1st preseason exhibition game, then lost their next 3, but that didn't break the official streak. They jumped out to a 6-0 start in 2004, for a total of 21 straight wins. The previous longest winning streak belonged to the 1972 and '73 Miami Dolphins: After losing Super Bowl VI, they went 14-0 in the '72 regular season, won the Super Bowl to complete the NFL's only undefeated full season to this day, and won their '73 opener before losing their 2nd game, for a total of 18 straight. The Patriots' 19th straight was their October 10, 2004 home win over, perhaps appropriately, the Dolphins.

Two Sundays later, on October 24, a concurrent streak, the longest unbeaten run in the history of top-flight English soccer, came to an end, as Arsenal, who had gone 49 Premier League games without a loss, were defeated by Manchester United. The Patriots won that day, beating the New York Jets, 13-7 at home, for 21 straight.

But on the afternoon of Halloween, they went into Pittsburgh for a tough one. Patriots vs. Steelers is not one of the NFL's bigger rivalries, but the Pats had eliminated the Steelers from the Playoffs in 1996 (when the quarterbacks were still Bledsoe for New England and Kordell Stewart for Pittsburgh) and 2001, with the Steelers beating the Patriots in 1997. Now, with Ben Roethlisberger as their quarterback, the Black & Gold were ready to take the defending Champions down.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal to give the Pats an early lead, but a season-ending injury to Ty Law was a green light for Roethlisberger, as he exploited the new weakness for 2 touchdown passes. Deshea Townsend intercepted Brady and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Steelers a 21-3 lead before the 1st quarter ran out.

The Steelers then pounded the Pats with the running game, with Duce Staley gaining 125 yards and Jerome Bettis 65 plus a 3rd-quarter touchdown. The Steelers won, 34-20, and looked ready to take over as the leading team in the AFC.

It didn't happen: The Steelers hosted the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, and got lit up, 41-27. The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXIX, beating the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers won 3 of the next 5 AFC Championships, but, each time, the Patriots got knocked out before the Steelers had to face them. The Patriots beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game again in the 2016 season.

Did the Patriots cheat in their streak? Did they cheat in Super Bowl XXXIX? There has never been a serious accusation of it. But think of it this way: We have more proven instances of Belichick and/or Brady cheating, and the other benefiting from that cheating, than we have proven instances of them not cheating. So which is more likely: That these were the only times they cheated, or that they cheated in many more games?

*

October 31, 2004 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended 4 days earlier, with the Boston Red Sox ending their 86-year World Series drought by completing a 4-game sweep over the St. Louis Cardinals. The NBA season started 2 days later. And the NHL team owners had locked the players out, eventually leading to the cancellation of the entire season.

These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-13 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Baltimore Ravens, 15-10 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Redskins, 28-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Tennessee Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 27-20 at The Coliseum (now Nissan Stadium) in Nashville.

* The Houston Oilers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 20-6 at Reliant Stadium (now NRG Stadium) in Houston.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Detroit Lions, 31-21 at Texas Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Irving, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Arizona Cardinals, 38-14 at Ralph Wilson Stadium (formerly Rich Stadium) in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, New York.

* The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 23-13 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Indianapolis Colts, 45-35 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the Denver Broncos, 41-28 at Invesco Field at Mile High (now Empower Field at Mile High) in Denver.

* The San Diego Chargers beat their arch-rivals, the Oakland Raiders, 42-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 23-17 at Qwest Field (now Lumen Field) in Seattle.

* The next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the New York Jets beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-14 at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* And the Cleveland Browns, the New Orleans Saints, the St. Louis Rams and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a bye week.

October 24, 1971: The Opening of Texas Stadium

October 24, 1971: After playing their 1st home game of the season at their original home, the Cotton Bowl, the Dallas Cowboys open Texas Stadium in the suburb of Irving, Texas. They beat the New England Patriots 44-21.

They will go on to win Super Bowl VI at the end of the season. It will remain their home through the 2008 season, including 7 Super Bowl berths, winning 5 of them.

In the 1970s and '80s, they seemed to be on CBS so often, people begin to wonder if the Network's initials stood for Cowboys Broadcasting System. Like the Steelers, the Miami Dolphins, and the Oakland Raiders, the Cowboys gained a national following, because some of America's biggest TV markets didn't have much success.

Texas Stadium had a roof that covered the seating areas, but not the field. In other words, there was a hole in the roof. Cowboy fans joked it was there "so that God could look down on his favorite team." If God cared who won a sporting event, the Cowboys would never have gotten into a Super Bowl. I called the stadium "the Hole Bowl."

But Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wanted more money than the revenue of Texas Stadium could provide, and so he built AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington. The last game at Texas Stadium was a 33-24 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on December 20, 2008. It was demolished on April 11, 2010.

*

October 24, 1971 was a Sunday. Don McLean released his single "American Pie" the same day. I have a separate entry for that event.

This was also the day on which Chuck Hughes became the only NFL player to die on the field during a game. I have a separate entry for that event. In that game, the Chicago Bears beat Hughes' Detroit Lions, 28-23 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. 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 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.