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Most Significant Sports History on October 22nd
Learn about October 22nd's most significant sports history including the NFL's 1st TV broadcast, the single-game NFL rushing record, and more!
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Of the numerous events with great historical significance that have occurred on this day, the debut of professional football on live television remains the most important. In addition to the catalyst for the sport’s dominance, incredible feats were achieved in the NFL exactly fifty years apart. Joining the ranks of the Babe and Mr. October, ‘The Machine’ fell just a grand slam away from a “home run cycle” in the World Series as well. These are some of the most significant sports history events on October 22nd.
1939 - NBC's experimental station W2XBS aired the first live televised professional football game when the Philadelphia Eagles played the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Besides the 500 home viewers, it was simulcast at the World's Fair in New York, in the RCA Pavilion. pic.twitter.com/nPWdLwWUYm
— Today In TV History (@tvhistorytoday) October 22, 2018
YEAR: 1939
SIGNIFICANCE: The very 1st televised professional football game was broadcasted on NBC
On this day over eight decades ago, NBC broadcasted the very first televised professional football game — a now-essential relationship that created exponential booms for both industries. Choosing a game featuring the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Eagles, NBC brought live football to roughly 500 homes in New York along with the RCA Pavilion at the World’s Fair.
Enjoying this new idea to the fullest, the Brooklyn faithful got to witness a Dodgers victory from the comfort of their homes, without needing to buy a ticket. The game lasted exactly 2:33:10, likely due to the lack of commercial interruptions and the crew consisted of just eight people. The stadium’s shadows, however, ruined the picture at times which forced a reversion to radio broadcast until the sun came back out — telling for the time’s primitive technology. Safe to say, the game and TV broadcasts have come along way since this trailblazing day 81 years ago.
.@Bengals RB Corey Dillon set a then-record with 278 rushing yards in a SINGLE GAME. It held up for nine years!
— NFL (@NFL) December 2, 2018
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📺: #DENvsCIN Sunday (1pm ET) on CBS https://t.co/8mu8S7Ui3H
YEAR: 2000
SIGNIFICANCE: Corey Dillon broke Walter Payton‘s single-game rushing record with 278 yards
Facing the league’s second-best rush defense in the 4-3 Denver Broncos, the winless Cincinnati Bengals were still reeling from the resignation of HC Bruce Coslet just a month earlier. At 63 years old, defensive coordinator Dick LeBeu took over, becoming the oldest interim HC in NFL history. The Cincinnati QBs (Akili Smith, Scott Mitchell) completed just 2-of-14 attempts for 34 yards, but their presence was nothing but a formality as the team rushed for a whopping 407 yards en route to a 31-21 victory.
Fourth-year RB Corey Dillon ripped off 278 yards himself, breaking Walter Payton’s single-game record from November 1977 on just 22 carries. A much more efficient outing than Payton’s, who needed 40 carries to amass those historic 275 yards, Dillon finished with an average of 12.6 yards per attempt — nearly double that of Payton’s (6.8). Supplementing his average with scores of 31 and 65 yards, WR Peter Warrick also scored on a 77-yard rush as well. The record would last just under three years, when Jamal Lewis would rip his former team for 295 rushing yards in September of 2003.
YEAR: 2011
SIGNIFICANCE: Albert Pujols became the 3rd player in MLB history to hit 3 HRs in a single WS game
On this day in 2011, Albert Pujols became just the third player in World Series history to have a three-home run game. Pujols joined Babe Ruth and “Mr. October“, Reggie Jackson, as the only players ever to have a slugging outburst of that magnitude in the Fall Classic. Interestingly, Pujols clobbered his first home run of the night in the 6th inning, relatively late to begin the quest for a three-dinger game. He then followed that up with bombs in the 7th and 9th innings, finishing the night 5-for-5 with six RBI and making a case for one of the greatest individual offensive performances in World Series history. The Machine’s monster Game 3 performance was pivotal in the Cards 7-game series victory in 2011.
in 1950 the Los Angeles @RamsNFL set an #NFL record by defeating the #Baltimore Colts 70-27. It was a record score for a regular season game. pic.twitter.com/Nz15lQNoks
— OTBS Online (@OTBSonline) October 22, 2018
YEAR: 1950
SIGNIFICANCE: Los Angeles Rams became the 1st NFL team to score 60+ points 2x in a season (in consecutive games)
In what was the third highest-scoring regular season game in NFL history at the time, the Los Angeles Rams defeated the Baltimore Colts by a score of 70-27 on this day seven decades ago. Three of the Rams’ QBs tossed a TD pass to four different receivers and three players registered rushing TDs while compiling 547 total yards. Following it up with a 65-24 victory over the Detroit Lions — the fourth-highest scoring game at the time — the Rams officially put together the most prolific two-week stretch in NFL history, accumulating 1,029 total yards (786 passing) and 135 points.
They became the very first team in NFL history to record 60+ points twice in a season — in consecutive weeks nonetheless! In the third quarter of the second game, they would set another record with a total of 41 points on six TDs in a single quarter. Chock full of future Hall-of-Famers, the 1950 Los Angeles Rams were undoubtedly one of the single-greatest offensive units in early NFL history that was simply unstoppable for the 1950 NFL competition.
YEAR: 1996
SIGNIFICANCE: Bernie Williams hit record-tying 6th HR of the postseason; NYY’s 6th straight road playoff win tied record
New York Yankees CF Bernie Williams extended the Yankees’ Game 3 one-run, 8th inning lead with a two-run home run off reliever Greg McMichael. That home run was Williams’ sixth of the 1996 postseason, which at the time tied a record shared by Bob Robertson (1971), Lenny Dykstra (1993), and Ken Griffey Jr. (1995) for the most in a single postseason. Williams hit three bombs in the ALDS against the Texas Rangers, and two in the ALCS vs. Baltimore.
The long-time Yankees CF is often forgotten when looking back at the late ’90s Bronx Bombers dynasty, but he could be considered the most valuable player on the team during their late-90’s run. The proclaimed “core four” does not include Williams since he wasn’t there in 2009, but his early success opened the door for Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Andy Pettitte, and Mariano Rivera to get called up. Williams’ 1.5 WPA (win probability added) in ’96 ranks as the fifth highest of all-time for a single postseason. He also currently stands second, behind only Manny Ramirez (29 HR), for the most career postseason home runs ever with 22.
That Game 3 World Series win also gave New York their sixth consecutive road win that postseason, tying an all-time single-postseason record. They beat the Texas Rangers twice at The Ballpark in Arlington, and defeated the Baltimore Orioles three times in the confines of Camden Yards. The Yankees would eventually beat the Braves all three games at Fulton County Stadium to extend their record, culminating with a 8-0 record on the road through a dominant 1996 playoff run.
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