Tag: Birthday

Twitter celebrates Champ Bailey’s 42nd birthday

Broncos Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey turns 42 today!

Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Champ Bailey celebrated his 42nd birthday on Monday. Here’s a sampling of Twitter users reaching out to the former cornerback:

Bailey started his career with the Redskins before being traded to the Broncos in 2004. A 12-time Pro Bowler, Bailey totaled 52 interceptions in his career. He will be remembered as the greatest cornerbacks of all time.

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June 4, 1974: The date the NFL awards Seattle a franchise

The Seahawks recently celebrated a birthday (of sorts) – June 4, 1974, the date the National Football League awarded the city a franchise.

June 4 is a day Seattle Seahawks fans everywhere should celebrate, or at least crack open a beer to say cheers, as it is a sort-of birthday for the team.

On June 4, 1974, the National Football League awarded the City of Seattle its 28th franchise, which would have its inaugural season in 1976. The news of professional football coming to Seattle was the culmination of several years worth of work trying to acquire a team, dating back to even the late 1950s.

What was once a long-held desire soon appeared to be within grasp, thanks to the 1970 NFL-AFL merger which was looking to expand the league. With the possibility of acquiring a team seeming to be growing, Seattle businesses and community leaders worked tirelessly in the early 1970s to ensure this would finally become a reality.

Their hard work paid off on June 4, 1974. The NFL was finally coming to the Pacific Northwest, and the league hasn’t looked back since.

Of course, the iconic nickname of the team didn’t come into fruition until the following year, when out of 20,000+ entries in a public naming competition, the name “Seahawks” was selected.

Despite considerable struggles in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, the Seahawks in the 21st century have become one of the league’s more consistent, and most recognizable franchises. Of course, all the success the team – and 12th Man – has enjoyed in recent years wouldn’t have been possible without the hard work in the ’70s to convince the NFL to come to the Emerald City in the first place.

From all of us at the SeahawksWire team, cheers to June 4!

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Watch: Remembering the late Sam Mills on his 61st birthday

Former New Orleans Saints linebacker Sam Mills, a key piece of the Dome Patrol defense, was featured in an episode of “A Football Life.”

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The New Orleans Saints are honoring the life of famed “Dome Patrol” linebacker Sam Mills, who rose to prominence while teaming up with Pat Swilling, Vaughan Johnson, and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Jackson to form one of the NFL’s greatest defenses. They combined for 18 Pro Bowl appearances from 1986 to 1992, making NFL history by sending all four linebackers to the 1992 all-star game.

Mills died in 2005; Wednesday, June 3rd, would have been his 61st birthday. He joined the expansion-team Carolina Panthers after a prolific career with the Saints, coining the NFC South-rival’s motto of “Keep Pounding” and earning a bronze statue in his remembrance outside their home stadium in Charlotte.

To celebrate the occasion, the Saints shared a video highlighting Mills’ legacy in New Orleans from their official Twitter account — you can see it where we’ve embedded it above. It’s sampled from an episode centering on Mills from “A Football Life;” the full video can be found here, though it requires an NFL Game Pass subscription. Fortunately, a free trial is currently available through July.

Mills and his teammates set the standard for the Saints for decades to come, and it’s great to see that he’s still remembered and respected so well. Hopefully the Hall of Fame voters will one day agree that he’s deserving of a bust in Canton not too far from Jackson’s. Or maybe the Saints could get their own memorial up in front of the Superdome someday immortalizing all four members of the Dome Patrol.

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Notre Dame Legend, Unexpected Heisman Winner Turns 76 Today

Things didn’t go that way for the Irish though, losing 20-17 to close the year at the Coliseum.  What did happen though was John Huarte, pretty much a complete unknown to the nation just months before, walked away with Notre Dame’s sixth Heisman Trophy in program history.

Before there was Joe Burrow or Cam Newton coming out of absolutely nowhere to win the Heisman Trophy, there was a young man by the name of John Huarte.

Huarte split time at quarterback with Frank Budka in 1963 as Notre Dame went just 2-7 in what was a truly awful year.  One fall later though, the Fighting Irish had hired Ara Parseghian and began one of the all-time turnarounds in college football history.

Week One of the 1964 campaign saw Notre Dame win big at Wisconsin, 31-7 behind touchdown passes of 61 and 42 yards from Huarte to Jack Snow.  Snow would finish the season with 1114 receiving yards and nine touchdowns in what was an all-time turnaround.

What was the 2-7 Irish a year before soared from un-ranked to number one after wins over Purdue, Air Force, UCLA, Stanford and Navy to start the season. Once top-ranked they’d then beat Pitt, Michigan State and Iowa in succession to move to 9-0 and a win over USC away from one of the most unlikely national championships in college football history.

Things didn’t go that way for the Irish though, losing 20-17 to close the year at the Coliseum.  What did happen though was John Huarte, pretty much a complete unknown to the nation just months before, walked away with Notre Dame’s sixth Heisman Trophy in program history.

Huarte won the Heisman after setting a dozen Notre Dame passing records in 1964 while also setting a pair of NCAA passing records.

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Huarte would go on to play professionally from 1965-75 before calling it a football career. He’d go on to found Arizona Tile a couple years later and turned a small business into a chain of more than 25 stores out west.  Just a couple years ago Huarte repaid his alma-mater with a one-million dollar donation.

Happy 75th to an all-time Notre Dame legend!

Drew Brees turns 41 ahead of critical 2020 Saints offseason

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is celebrating his 41st birthday in Washington, D.C., supporting former teammate Steve Gleason.

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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is celebrating his 41st birthday in Washington, D.C., where he’ll be supporting former teammate and Saints living legend Steve Gleason during a ceremony at Capitol Hill. Gleason is receiving the Congressional Gold Medal for his efforts in raising awareness of and promoting research in ALS, the degenerative nerve disease that he’s battled since 2011.

Brees and Gleason are two icons in Saints history, and the legacy Brees will leave behind when he steps away from the game is something that’s often been on his mind in recent years. He’s made a point to reach out to younger athletes ranging from LSU Tigers quarterback Joe Burrow and New Orleans Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson to rising tennis phenom Madison Keys, doing what he can to recognize the next generation of star talent.

It all precedes what could be a tumultuous offseason in New Orleans. The Saints have suffered three frustrating playoffs exits in the twilight of Brees’ career, finally finding a winning formula after spending much of the 2010’s in mediocrity. Brees has admitted he’s playing on borrowed time right now, and is acutely aware that his window to win another elusive Super Bowl is closing.

All three Saints quarterbacks — Brees, Teddy Bridgewater, and Taysom Hill — will be free agents in March, barring contract extensions with the team. It’s possible the Saints find ways to retain each of them, but it won’t be easy. As always, the Saints are pressed for salary cap space, and Bridgewater can’t be expected to wait forever to take the reins once Brees hangs up his cleats. The team could be forced to make some dramatic personnel decisions in the months ahead.

But for now, we’ll focus on the greatness Brees has brought to New Orleans. He’s played 216 regular season games (and 15 playoff matchups) at a Hall of Fame-worthy level, putting himself among the greatest passers of all time. He delivered the first championship title in Saints history, seeing the team through a period of sustained success that past generations of fans could only dream about. On the occasion of his birthday, he’ll rightly take some time to reflect on how he’s gotten here, and what may be in store for him in the future. Saints fans should take that same approach and be thankful that they’ve even gotten here.

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Notre Dame Football: A Lou Holtz Stat in Honor of his 83rd Birthday

Instead of giving some biography on how Lou Holtz stunk as coach of the New York Jets or how he had the famous out-clause to Notre Dame while head coach at Minnesota, we’ve heard those time and time again and although enjoyable, I’d offer nothing new.

So instead, let’s look at a crazy stat from his time as head coach at Notre Dame, a post he held from 1986-1996.

Legendary football coach and the man that helped lead Notre Dame to their last championship in football is celebrating a birthday today as Lou Holtz turns 83.

Instead of giving some biography on how Lou Holtz stunk as coach of the New York Jets or how he had the famous out-clause to Notre Dame while head coach at Minnesota, we’ve heard those time and time again and although enjoyable, I’d offer nothing new.

So instead, let’s look at a crazy stat from his time as head coach at Notre Dame, a post he held from 1986-1996.

In 11 years as Notre Dame head coach, Lou Holtz and the Fighting Irish played 54 games against AP Top 25 opponents, an average of just under five per season (4.9).  In those games the Irish went 33-19-2 in such games, with nine occuring in bowl appearances of which Holtz and Notre Dame were 5-4.

Holtz departed Notre Dame after that 1996 season and in the 23 seasons since the Fighting Irish have won a total of 36 games against AP Top 25 teams since, going 36-45 in 81 such games since.

By comparison to Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham and Charlie Weis before him most Notre Dame fans have been pretty aware of the steps the program has taken to winning 10 games in three straight seasons.

However, even Kelly has won just 20 games against ranked teams in ten years while he’s dropped exactly 20 as well.  His .500 percentage in such games feels tiny when put next to Holtz’s 33-19-2 (.629).

Even Kelly’s last three years that have seen the program take such a great stride see Notre Dame 9-6 against ranked foes, good for a mark of 60%.  As great as that relatively seems, it’s still short of Holtz’s .629 percentage overall, but especially in his best three year run from ’88 to ’90 in which Holtz and the Irish went 15-3 against ranked teams, good for a mark just north of 83%.

A great number to celebrate Lou on his 83rd.

Happy birthday, coach!

Happy Birthday to Two Longhorn Legends

Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby shared the field to make one of the best receiving cores in UT history. They also share the same birthday.

Not only did Jordan Shipley and Quan Cosby share the field to make up one of the greatest receiving cores in Longhorn history, but they also share the same birthday. Cosby turns 37 years old today, while Shipley turns 32.

The two player’s best season came in 2008 with potential Hall of Fame quarterback Colt McCoy. Cosby led the team in receptions and receiving yards, while Shipley had more touchdowns. Between the two of them, they had a combined 181 receptions, 2,183 receiving yards, and 21 touchdowns in 2008.

One of Shipley’s best moments at Texas came in the 2008 Red River Shootout. Down 11 early in the second quarter, Shipley returned a kick off for a touchdown, giving the Longhorns a spark in the game. Texas went on to win 45-35, securing their third victory over Oklahoma in four years.

After Texas was left out of the Big 12 and National Championship later in the 2008 season, they were set up with Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. Losing 21-17 and driving with under 30 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Cosby came up huge for the Longhorns. Running across the middle of the field from the slot, McCoy found Cosby, who broke free and dove into the end zone to secure another BCS bowl victory for Texas.

Both had short careers in the NFL and are now retired. Both Cosby and Shipley are in the top five in career receptions, career receiving yards and career receiving touchdowns at Texas. Two of the best to ever do it for the Longhorns, we wish both of them a very happy birthday!

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On 31st birthday, Russell Wilson says he wants to play until he’s 45

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson reiterated on his 31st birthday that he hopes to play in the NFL until he is 45.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson, celebrating his 31st birthday on Friday, reiterated to media members that he hopes to continue playing football until age 45.

“That’s just what I feel like I can do,” Wilson said. “It’s my eighth season I feel like I’m just getting started. I feel like I haven’t done anything yet. That’s a good feeling. I’m fortunate to be able to play every game and be out there every play. I just feel really young and more vibrant than ever. Arm feels great, mind feels better, heart feels even better than that. Got a great organization, great people around me. I’ve just invested in my body, my mind, making sure my mind is ready to go every week, every season and in the offseason.”

Wilson may not feel like he has done anything yet, but five Pro Bowl appearances and a Super Bowl ring is certainly not nothing. He’s also on an MVP pace so far this season, and is all but a lock to make his sixth Pro Bowl appearance as well.

Wilson takes inspiration from a handful of athletes, from a variety of sports, for his longevity goals.

“My favorite athlete is [former Yankees shortstop] Derek Jeter, I just remember when he retired playing 20 years for the New York Yankees and tipping his hat,” Wilson continued. “I think that 20 years is kind of in my head. I got a long ways to go. Eight years in and I feel better than ever. And then obviously seeing Tom [Brady] do it, I’ve gotten to know Tom over the past several years, just talking to him and seeing where he’s at. I think for me it’s realistic and I feel great.”

Wilson has had a profound impact on the game of football, as a mobile quarterback who has bucked the trend by being injury-free and not seeing his performance decline as he aged.

If he is able to play into his 40’s, he will not only be a surefire Hall of Famer, he’ll have cemented his legacy as a trendsetter for dual-threat quarterbacks.

For now, Wilson will hope to celebrate his birthday weekend with a win over Minnesota on Monday night, which would bring the Seahawks to 10-2 on the season.

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