September 15 Football History
The middle of September is right in the heart of most football seasons. Teams and players are starting to find their “sea-legs” as the season commences, and some interesting events have unfolded through the years on the day.
Our podcast version of the day’s events.
New League Starts
September 15, 1940 – The 3rd edition of the American Football League plays its first game. The Milwaukee Chiefs overcame the Columbus Bullies by the score of 14-2.
Innovation Ahead of Its Time
September 15, 1959 – George A. Sarles’ patent on a radio transmitter device for inside a quarterback’s helmet is published. HELMET RADIOS INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER. US Patent 2904645A
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s website, two inventors from Ohio, George Sarles and his partner John Campbell, had a concept of improving communication from the sideline to players on the field. The two men approached Cleveland Brown’s legendary Head Coach, Paul Brown, in 1956 with the idea. Brown loved the idea and agreed to have the inventors put a prototype into Cleveland quarterback George Ratterman’s helmet. The radio transmitter was carefully installed into Ratterman’s head protector, and Paul Brown made the project of testing the device top secret. Campbell and Sarles tested the transmission in a wooded area behind John Campbell’s house. It worked great for a bit as Sarles put on the helmet and walked off into the woods. Soon, though, the signal weakened and then went quiet on Campbell’s end.
John went to try to find his friend, and eventually he did. Sarles was talking with a local police officer who had picked up the transmission signal on his police radio. Luckily enough, the policeman was a big fan of the Browns and promised to keep the secret. The inventors made sure to change the frequency they were using, though. Paul Brown covertly used the helmet transmitter in a preseason exhibition game against the Detroit Lions.
The keen Lions staff noticed that Brown was not using his regular substitution platoon to run plays from the sideline to the huddle. One Lion assistant was so suspicious that he investigated further and found the transmitter hidden behind a wooden pole. The secret was out. The rest of the league attempted to devise their own devices, but none matched the quality of Sarles and Campbell’s design. The Browns used the transmitter for 3 more games until Commissioner Bert Bell made that type of device illegal in the NFL. John Campbell donated Ratterman’s helmet to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and it is on display for all to see.
September 15, 1975 – Notre Dame defeats Boston College 17-3 at Foxboro Stadium in the first-ever meeting between the two Catholic universities. The series has been dubbed the ‘Holy War” by some.
September 15, 1979 – The 12th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs hosted the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Athens, Georgia, for the season’s opening game. The Demon Deacons came prepared and surprised the Bulldogs by piling up 31 first downs and running 91 offensive plays, as they amassed 570 yards of total offense. Wide out Wayne Baumgardner caught a pair of first-quarter TD passes from Jay Venuto for Wake’s points, but the Deacons trailed 21-13 at the end of the second stanza.
The Demon Deacons came out fired up after halftime and held the Bulldogs scoreless in the second half. Wake Forest then pulled to being down 21-16 on a 34-yard field goal by Frank Harnisch in the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, the Deacons took a 22-21 lead on a 9-yard pass from Venuto to James McDougald and never looked back. Wake Forest defensive back Larry Ingram intercepted a pair of passes from Buck Belue in the fourth quarter to help seal the win. McDougald finished with 189 yards rushing on 30 carries, and Venuto was named Sports Illustrated’s College Player of the Week.
