Bryan Hextall

Bryan Aldwyn Hextall (July 31, 1913 – July 25, 1984) was a Canadian professional ice hockey forward who played for the New York Rangers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Considered one of the top wingers of the 1940s, he led the NHL in goal scoring twice and in points once. Additionally, he was named a first-team All-Star three times, and a second-team All-Star once.
Hextall scored the overtime winning goal that clinched the 1940 Stanley Cup for the Rangers. He is the father of one of hockey's greatest families, as his sons Bryan Jr. and Dennis, and grandson Ron all had lengthy NHL careers. Bryan Sr. was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969.
Playing career.
Born in Grenfell, Saskatchewan in 1913, Hextall grew up in Poplar Point, Manitoba. He played his first hockey there, winning the Manitoba juvenile championship in 1929–30. He played junior hockey with the Winnipeg Monarchs in 1931–32 before switching to the Portage Terriers with whom he won the Manitoba Junior Hockey League scoring title in 1932–33.
Hextall began his professional career in 1933–34 with the Vancouver Lions of the North West Hockey League (NWHL). He played three seasons in Vancouver, leading the NWHL in scoring with 27 goals in 1935–36. He moved onto the Philadelphia Ramblers of the International-American Hockey League the following year, again leading the league with 27 goals.
The New York Rangers brought Hextall up for three games in 1937, and he made the team full-time in 1937–38. A left-handed shooter, Hextall played his "off wing" – right wing – at a time before it was common practice. He scored at least 20 goals seven times in his career, mainly while playing on the Rangers' top line with Phil Watson and Lynn Patrick.
Hextall led the NHL in goal scoring and was named a first-team All-Star for the first time in 1939–40. He was one of the Rangers' top players during the 1940 Stanley Cup Final against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hextall scored a hat trick against the Leafs and added an assist to lead the Rangers to a come from behind victory in game two of the series, and scored the overtime winning goal in the sixth game that clinched the third Stanley Cup championship in Rangers history. The Rangers would not win another for 54 years.
A second All-Star selection followed in 1940–41 as Hextall again led the NHL in goal scoring and finished in a tie for second in overall points. He led the league in points in 1941–42; his total of 56 standing seven better than second place. Additionally, he was named to the first All-Star team for the third consecutive season.
Hextall scored career highs in goals, 27 and points, 59, in 1942–43 and was again named a post-season All-Star, this time on the second team. In addition to being a top scorer, Hextall was also durable. He appeared in 340 consecutive games for the Rangers between 1937 and 1944. His streak came to an end in 1944 when Canadian war authorities denied him a permit to cross into the United States. The Rangers' attempts to regain his services were unsuccessful, Unable to play in the NHL, Hextall regained his amateur status and played senior hockey briefly with the St. Catharines Saints in the Ontario Hockey Association's senior division.
The conclusion of World War II allowed Hextall to return to the Rangers in 1945–46, however his return was short-lived. He was hospitalized with a liver ailment, an illness that ruled him out of the season after just three games, and led to fears it would end his career. Hextall overcame doctors expectations, appearing in all 60 games for the Rangers in 1946–47. After a final season in the NHL in 1947–48, Hextall split the 1948–49 American Hockey League season between the Cleveland Barons and Washington Lions before announcing his retirement.
Hextall was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1969, and is an honoured member of the Manitoba Hockey Hall of Fame. Additionally, the Manitoba hall named him to its all-century second All-Star team.
Off the ice.
He was the first of three generations of Hextalls in the NHL. His sons Bryan Jr. and Dennis both had long careers, and his grandson Ron was a longtime goaltender in the league.
Hextall battled circulation problems in his lower legs following his retirement, an ailment that ultimately led to the amputation of both legs below the knee in 1978. Artificial legs allowed him to maintain his hobby of hunting. He died of a heart attack at his home of Poplar Point, Manitoba in 1984.


Bennie Osler

Benjamin Louwrens Osler (23 November 1901 – 28 April 1962) was a rugby union footballer who played internationally for South Africa. Osler played mainly at fly-half for both South Africa, and his provincial team of Western Province.
Osler was born at Aliwal North. He was first selected to play on 16 August 1924 against the Lions when they toured South Africa. This was the first of his 17 consecutive Test appearances for South Africa. Osler played in the other three Tests of the Lions tour, and contributed to South Africa winning three of the four Tests. The only Test of the series the Springboks did not win was their 3–3 draw in Port Elizabeth where Osler was temporarily knocked out.
The next Springbok (as the South African team is known) series was hosting New Zealand's All Blacks in 1928. The teams had met once before in a Test series, drawn 1–1 (with 1 match drawn) in New Zealand in 1921. The first Test was played in Durban and the Springboks won 17–0, with Osler scoring a world record 14 points in the match. Osler played in the remaining three Tests and the series was eventually drawn 2–2; just like in 1921.
Osler's first overseas tour was in 1931 when he captained the Springboks on their 1931–32 tour to the Home Nations. He captained the team and played in all four Tests; playing against England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Osler's Springboks became the second South African team, and only second of all time, to win a Grand Slam—a win over all four Home Nations on one tour. The tour continued into 1932 and the team eventually played 26 matches, with only one loss.
In 1933 Osler played in his last Test series when Australia toured South Africa. They played a five match series and Osler played in all five Tests, with the Springboks winning the series by 3 tests to 2. During the series he scored a try, conversion and drop-goal.
Osler is remembered as a fly-half who played a kicking game; that is, he would often kick for territory rather than run with the ball, or pass to his backs. His accuracy when kicking allowed South African teams he was in to play a forward oriented game, commonly referred to as ten-man rugby. His contributions to international rugby were acknowledged with his induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2007 and the IRB Hall of Fame in 2009.


Michael Irvin

Michael Jerome Irvin (born March 5, 1966) is an American sports commentator and former professional football wide receiver. Irvin played college football at the University of Miami, and was selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He spent his entire 12-year National Football League (NFL) career (1988-1999) with the team, before it ended due to a spinal cord injury. Irvin was nicknamed "the Playmaker" due to his penchant for making big plays in big games during his college and pro careers. He is one of three key Cowboys offensive players who helped the team attain three Super Bowl wins: he is known as one of "The Triplets" along with Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. He is also a former broadcaster for ESPN's "Sunday NFL Countdown" and currently an analyst for NFL Network. In 2007, he was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He competed in season 9 of "Dancing with the Stars" in 2009. Irvin was the ninth contestant to be eliminated.
College career.
The 15th of 17 siblings, Irvin was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. A Christian, he first attended Piper High School then went on to become a football star at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He was heavily recruited by the University of Miami to play for the Miami Hurricanes, one of the top collegiate football programs in the nation. At Miami, under coach Jimmy Johnson, Irvin set school records for career receptions (143), receiving yards (2,423—later broken by Santana Moss) and touchdown receptions (26). He was a member of Miami's 1987 national championship team, and made one of the most legendary plays in school history that year, scoring on a 73-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Steve Walsh that provided the margin of victory in Miami's triumph over archrival Florida State, which propelled them into the national championship game, the 1988 Orange Bowl, against the top-ranked Oklahoma Sooners.
Michael Irvin skipped his final year of eligibility at Miami and declared for the 1988 NFL Draft.
Michael Irvin was inducted into the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Professional career.
Dallas Cowboys.
Irvin was selected by the Dallas Cowboys with the 11th selection in the first round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He was the last first-round draft pick made by the Cowboys under the leadership of long-time general manager Tex Schramm, player personnel director Gil Brandt, and coach Tom Landry (Schramm predicted that Irvin would accelerate the Cowboys' "return to the living"). Irvin became the first rookie receiver in Cowboys' history to start a season opener in 20 years, in which he caught his first career touchdown. He also caught 3 touchdown passes in the Cowboys' win over the Washington Redskins, one of only three wins that season and the final one of Landry's career. He finished the season leading the NFC with a 20.4 yards per catch average.
While reunited with his college coach Johnson, the Cowboys' misfortunes continued the following year as they finished with a 1–15 record, the worst in franchise history, while injuries limited Irvin to only six games, after he was on a pace to gain more than 1,000 receiving yards, until tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee against the San Francisco 49ers and being placed on the injured reserve list. The injury prevented him from playing until the fourth game of the 1990 season, but registered his first catch until the seventh game and finished with just 20 receptions for 413 yards, but also averaged 20.7-yards per catch.
Before the injury, Irvin himself was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Raiders to help bring talent to the Cowboys and potentially pair Irvin up with Tim Brown, but Raiders owner Al Davis essentially talked Johnson out of the trade by saying, "You sure you want to do that? Who is going to catch passes for you?". This led to Johnson to trade the only other option he felt the team had as trade bait, Herschel Walker, in what would become the Herschel Walker trade.
In 1990, under the strength of players such as Jay Novacek, Troy Aikman, and Emmitt Smith, the team began to improve, finishing the season with a 7–9 record, and posting an 11–5 record in 1991. Irvin was a major reason for their playoff season of 1991, finishing with 93 receptions (second on the league), 1,523 receiving yards (led the league), 8 receiving touchdowns and set a franchise record with seven 100-yard games. He made the All-Pro team that year and was selected to the first of five consecutive Pro Bowls.
From 1991 through 1998, Irvin recorded 1,000-yard seasons in all but one year, racking up an impressive 10,265 yards over an eight-year span. Along the way, the Cowboys made four straight appearances in the NFC Championship Game (1992–1995) and captured three Super Bowl titles with back-to-back wins over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.
His best season was in 1995, when he set franchise records for receptions (111) and receiving yards (1,603), while also scoring 10 touchdowns and setting an NFL record with 11 games with over 100 yards receiving. He added seven receptions for 100 yards and two touchdowns against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game en route to the Cowboys' third Super Bowl win in a span of four seasons.
Irvin is the only player to play for each of the first four Cowboys coaches since the team has been owned by Jerry Jones (Landry, Johnson, Barry Switzer, and Chan Gailey). Irvin officially announced his retirement after Dave Campo became the fifth Cowboys coach, but Irvin never played on the field for Campo.
Irvin won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys.
Winning Super Bowls in the 1990s.
In 1992 and 1993, Irvin was a key player on the Cowboys' Super Bowl teams. In 1994, he enjoyed another stellar campaign with his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl season, but that year the Cowboys lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. For his part, however, Irvin had one of the most productive games in NFL playoff history, with 12 catches for an NFC championship record 192 yards and two touchdowns.
One of his greatest performances was in Super Bowl XXVII, where he caught seven passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns. His two touchdowns catches were both in the second quarter and occurred in a span of just 18 seconds, the fastest pair of touchdowns ever scored by one player in Super Bowl history. He also became only the second player ever to score 2 touchdowns in one quarter of a Super Bowl, after Washington Redskins wide receiver Ricky Sanders in Super Bowl XXII.
Irvin was also a key contributor in the Cowboys' victories in Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXX, recording five receptions for 66 yards in the first one, and five receptions for 75 yards in the second.
Career-ending injury.
Recovered from his collar bone injury, Irvin returned to have very solid years in 1997 and 1998. During the fifth game of the 1999 season, Irvin was tackled by Philadelphia Eagles defensive back Tim Hauck and went head-first into the turf.
Irvin was carted off the field on a stretcher and the play proved to be his last. He sustained a non-life-threatening cervical spinal cord injury and was subsequently diagnosed with a narrow spinal column (cervical spinal stenosis), which forced him into early retirement. Many of the Eagles fans in the crowd reportedly cheered once it became apparent Irvin was injured, and again when a stretcher was delivered onto the field.
Irvin was the last Tom Landry-coached player to retire from the NFL. Tom Landry died in the months between Irvin's last game and his official retirement announcement.
Records and honors.
Irvin finished his career with 750 receptions (tied with Charlie Joiner for 30th all-time in the NFL) for 11,904 yards (21st all-time in the NFL) and 65 touchdowns. His 47 100-yard receiving games is eighth-most in NFL history, tied with Torry Holt. Irvin was selected to five Pro Bowls (2 more than any other wide receiver in franchise history) and was named the MVP of the 1992 Pro Bowl (following the 1991 season) after catching 8 passes for 125 yards and a touchdown in the NFC's 21–15 triumph. Irvin was a key playmaker for the Dallas Cowboys that won 6 division titles and three Super Bowls. As part of Dallas' starting lineup on offense, Irvin was a consistent force to be reckoned with in the regular season but he also excelled in postseason play where his six career 100-yard receiving days are just two shy of the NFL mark held by Jerry Rice (8). His 87 postseason receptions place him second in NFL playoff history, again behind Rice (151), and his 1,315 postseason receiving yards ranks second to Rice (2,245), a Hall of Fame inductee.
At 6'2" and 207 pounds, Irvin was a big, physical receiver who manhandled cornerbacks and often was able to make tough catches in defensive traffic. In part because of Irvin's ability to push off the defender with such ease, the NFL eventually changed its rules to adjust to wide receivers who emulated Irvin's physical style.
For Dallas, Irvin was a vocal, emotional leader, who set every significant career receiving mark in team history, including catches and receiving yards. At the time of his retirement, he owned or was tied for 20 Cowboys receiving records. Despite his "Playmaker" style on the field and flashy personality that was evident in his animated, brash commentary as a top NFL analyst for ESPN, Irvin is most remembered by his fellow Cowboys as a consummate teammate. As Fox's Daryl Johnston told a national conference call: "Michael was the hardest working guy on our team. ... He was a guy who made some wrong decisions, but he never took anything public, and he never spoke out against anyone on our team. He wasn't a problem. He was more of an inspiration." Currently, Irvin has high regard for players who are from, as he likes to call the University of Miami, "The U," such as Frank Gore and Edgerrin James.
Along with his former Cowboy teammates Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith, Irvin was inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor on September 19, 2005.
Irvin became eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2005. He was not selected, however, in 2005 or 2006, his first two years of eligibility. However, on February 3, 2007, his third year of eligibility, Irvin was elected as one of the class of 2007 enshrinees, alongside Thurman Thomas, Bruce Matthews, Roger Wehrli, Charlie Sanders, and Gene Hickerson. Irvin was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 4, 2007, in Canton, Ohio.
Irvin became one of three former NFL players with Cowboys ties selected for induction into the 2007 class of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, all of whom were inducted at a February 2008 ceremony in Waco, Texas. (The other players were Jim Ray Smith of the Cleveland Browns who finished his career with the Cowboys (1963–64) and Ray Childress a five-time Pro Bowl defensive end for the Houston Oilers who wrapped up his NFL career with the Cowboys in 1996.) In 2007, he was named to FHSAA's All-Century Team that listed the Top 33 football players in the state of Florida's 100-year history of high school football.
Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.
On August 4, 2007, Irvin was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, delivering a tearful acceptance speech in which he referenced both his life as a football player and the many mistakes he has made in his life. His speech has been praised by many NFL commentators as heartfelt, including those who had been inclined to dislike him.
On October 14, 2007, Michael Irvin accepted his Hall of Fame ring at Texas Stadium during halftime of the Dallas Cowboys–New England Patriots game. In his speech, he proposed to Commissioner Roger Goodell that all drafted rookies will have a tour of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to better understand their football history.
Personal life.
Fabricated sexual assault allegation against Irvin.
In 1996, as the Cowboys prepared to play the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Divisional Playoff game, media reports stated that Irvin and teammate Erik Williams, while under the influence of cocaine, had sexually assaulted a Dallas Cheerleader, Nina Shahravan, and, with a gun to her head, videotaped the interaction. Despite Williams' and Irvin's denials of the allegations, the story overshadowed the game, which the Cowboys lost. The accuser was later proven to have fabricated the entire incident. She recanted her story, pled guilty to perjury and filing a false police report, and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and a fine. In the game against Carolina, Irvin was injured in the opening minutes and did not return to the game.
1998 Scissor Gate.
On July 29, 1998, Irvin allegedly assaulted a fellow Cowboys offensive lineman named Everett McIver. The initial dispute stemmed from Irvin demanding that McIver vacate a barber's chair so that Irvin would not have to wait for a haircut. During the course of the dispute, Irvin grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed McIver in the neck, barely missing his carotid artery. It was reported that Jerry Jones immediately brokered a six-figure settlement between Irvin and McIver in exchange for McIver's silence and to prevent McIver from pursuing criminal charges against Irvin.
Arrests since retirement.
A year following his retirement from the NFL, Irvin again was arrested on cocaine possession charges. In this case, Irvin was in a Dallas apartment with an unrelated woman. Neither answered the door when police drug task force agents arrived with a search warrant. Police entered the apartment forcibly, finding drugs. Irvin and the woman were placed under arrest, though charges against Irvin were later dropped.
Irvin was pulled over in Plano, Texas, for speeding on November 25, 2005. Irvin was arrested on an outstanding warrant on an unpaid speeding ticket in Irving, Texas, but was also cited for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after police searched his car and found a pipe, and plastic bags with marijuana residue. Irvin was arrested for a Class C misdemeanor. He was later released on bond.
On December 1, 2005, ESPN suspended Irvin for the Sunday and Monday night "Countdown" shows on December 4 and 5, 2005. He returned to both shows with no mention or consequence of the past incident.
2007 sexual assault allegation.
On July 4, 2007, Irvin was accused of sexual assault while he was at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Charges were never filed, but a civil suit was filed against him in 2010. Irvin filed a $100 million defamation countersuit, which was dropped when the case was settled out of court in January 2011.
Victim of alleged carjacking attempt.
Irvin claims that he was a victim of a possible carjacking attempt while stopped at a light in Dallas on January 12, 2009. He filed a police report claiming that two men flashed a gun at him, but eventually drove away after commenting that they were Cowboys fans. Dallas police suspended their investigation two weeks later, stating that Irvin had not cooperated in the investigation and that without more information from him, they could not proceed.
2017 sexual assault investigation.
In 2017, Fort Lauderdale police investigated Irvin for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman in Florida on March 22. He denied the allegations. On July 24, the Broward County State Attorney's Office announced that they had closed the investigation and would not charge Irvin in the case.
Statements.
Controversy continued to follow Irvin when during a November 2006 radio interview on the Dan Patrick show, Irvin joked that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo's athletic ability may have been due to African-American heritage, and jokingly remarked that Romo's maternal relatives might have been involved with "slave brothers". Irvin later apologized. He explained himself saying, "this is how I joke around with Romo when we're playing basketball. There's a difference from me the player and me the broadcaster".
On February 17, 2007, during its late edition of "SportsCenter", ESPN announced that Irvin was no longer with the network. ESPN Communications Vice President Josh Krulewitz said of Irvin, "We thank Michael for his contributions to ESPN and wish him well." However, eleven months later, in January 2008, Irvin rejoined ESPN as a host on ESPN Radio O&O KESN (103.3 FM) in Dallas, hosting "The Michael Irvin Show". This locally aired program ended on February 5, 2010, and Irvin was let go after his contract expired. An ESPN spokesman cited declining ratings and that news of a lawsuit filed against Irvin for a 2007 incident "simply expedited the situation".
On an episode of "The Rich Eisen Show", Irvin admitted to having snuck out of the locker room during the halftime of Super Bowl XXVII to watch Michael Jackson perform.
Entertainment career.
Irvin was a co-star in the 2005 remake of "The Longest Yard", starring Adam Sandler and Chris Rock. Irvin also guest starred in Sandler's film "Jack & Jill", which was released on November 11, 2011. He was one of the "Pros" on an episode of "Pros vs. Joes", which pitted former professional athletes against average people. He was the host of "4th and Long", a football-themed reality series which aired on Spike TV. The winner, Jesse Holley, earned a spot at the Dallas Cowboys' training camp. Irvin has a supporting role in the 2017 basketball drama "Slamma Jamma" as a sleazy sports agent.
Irvin spoke in a 2011 article in "Out" magazine. Irvin discussed his homosexual older brother, who died of stomach cancer in 2006. He claimed his initial feelings of homophobia in relation to his brother led to womanizing during his playing days, but eventual acceptance and feelings of love toward his older brother initiated his understanding for people with difficulty sharing their circumstances.
In August 2011, officials from the Elite Football League of India announced that Irvin would be among the primary investors and advisers for the league. Other prominent American backers include former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka, former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Ron Jaworski, and NFL linebacker Brandon Chillar.


List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York, honors individuals who have excelled in playing, managing, and serving the sport, and is the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, displaying baseball-related artifacts and exhibits. Elections of worthy individuals to be honored by induction into the Hall of Fame commenced in 1936, although the first induction ceremonies were not held until the hall opened in 1939. Through the elections for , a total of 333 people have been inducted, including 235 former major league players, 31 executives, 35 Negro leagues players and executives, 22 managers, and 10 umpires. Each is listed showing his primary position; that is, the position or role in which the player made his greatest contribution to baseball according to the Hall of Fame.
According to the current rules, players must have at least 10 years of major league experience to be eligible for induction. In addition, they must be retired for at least five years if living, or deceased for at least six months. Players meeting these qualifications must pass through a screening committee, and are then voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). Each writer may vote for up to 10 players; to be admitted into the Hall of Fame, a player must be approved by 75% of those casting ballots. Players receiving less than 5% approval are removed from future BBWAA ballots. The rules, as revised in July 2016, allow that all individuals eligible for induction but not for the BBWAA ballot—players who have not been approved by the BBWAA election process within 15 years of their retirement, umpires, managers, pioneers, and executives—may be considered by one of four voting bodies that have taken over the role of the former Veterans Committee, based on the era in which each individual candidate made his greatest contribution to the sport. On a few occasions, exceptions have been made to the guidelines in place at the time: Lou Gehrig was elected in 1939 following his diagnosis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Roberto Clemente was elected shortly after his death in 1972; and Addie Joss was elected in 1978 even though he completed only nine seasons before his death.
Between 1971 and 1977, nine players from the Negro leagues were inducted by a special Negro Leagues Committee, which was given the task of identifying worthy players who played in the Negro leagues prior to the breaking of baseball's color line. Since 1977, players from the Negro leagues have been considered by the Veterans Committee, and nine more individuals have been approved by that body. In 2005, the Hall announced the formation of a Committee on African-American Baseball, which held a 2006 election for eligible figures from the Negro leagues and earlier 19th-century teams; 17 additional Negro leagues figures were chosen in that election, including executive Effa Manley, the first woman inducted.
Members.
In the table below, "primary team" is based on the inductees' biographies at the Hall of Fame website. This does not necessarily match the cap logo on the inductee's Hall of Fame plaque (if applicable; those inducted as executives are shown without caps, and many early players are depicted without cap logos because logos were not in use during the individuals' careers).


Bob Lilly

Robert Lewis Lilly (born July 26, 1939), nicknamed "Mr. Cowboy", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle. After playing college football for the TCU Horned Frogs, he played for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons. Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1981.
Early life.
Born in Olney, Texas, Lilly grew up in Throckmorton, the son of John and Margaret (Redwine) Lilly. Lilly's father and grandfather were both involved in farming and ranching, but the severe 1950s Texas drought forced his family to move at the end of his junior year at Throckmorton High School, where he received All-District honors in football. In basketball, he was named All-District and Honorable-mention All-state.
In 1956, Lilly and his family relocated to northeastern Oregon to Pendleton—where his mother had family and jobs were available—for his senior year. At Pendleton High School, he was named All-state in football and second-team All-state in basketball for the Buckaroos.
College career.
Lilly accepted an athletic scholarship from Texas Christian University, where he was nicknamed 'Tiger' by his teammates. As a sophomore with the Horned Frogs, he was a part of the team that won the Southwest Conference Championship, where he was mainly a backup (one start).
He became a starter the next year, playing alongside All-SWC defensive tackle Don Floyd, while helping his team earn a tie for the Southwest Conference Championship with the University of Texas and the University of Arkansas. He also received All-Southwest Conference honors on a defense that allowed only eight points per game.
Lilly was a consensus All-American as a senior in 1960 and was a 2006 inductee to the East-West Shrine Game Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1980. He is a notable brother of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, Texas Gamma chapter.
Professional career.
The Dallas Cowboys traded their first round draft choice in the 1961 NFL draft, as part of the deal to get Eddie LeBaron from the Washington Redskins, so the Cowboys had to trade their first round pick (#4-Gary Collins) in the 1962 NFL draft along with offensive tackle Paul Dickson, in exchange for the Cleveland Browns first round draft choice (13th overall) in 1961, in order to select Lilly, the first draft choice in franchise history.
Lilly began his career as a defensive end in 1961, but midway through the 1963 (his third) season Cowboys coach Tom Landry moved him to defensive tackle. Lilly made the adjustment becoming the main man in Dallas's vaunted "Doomsday Defense". As a tackle, Lilly was a first-team All-NFL choice every year from 1964 through 1969, then again in 1971. In 1970, the Cowboys finally made the Super Bowl, against the Baltimore Colts, only to lose the game (V), 16-13, on a field goal in the final nine seconds; after the game, he infamously tossed his helmet in the air, frustrated at the loss. In 1971 he and the rest of the Cowboys convincingly won Super Bowl VI over the Miami Dolphins, 24-3. His 29-yard sack of Dolphin quarterback Bob Griese (an NFL Record) is one of the most memorable plays in Super Bowl defensive history. This was the signature play of his 14-year hall-of-fame career.
Lilly was named an All-Pro seven times, and was selected to play in 11 Pro Bowl games. He was also drafted in the second round (14th overall) in the 1961 AFL Draft by the Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs). His greatest assets were his pass-rushing skills and his ability to slice plays open with his agility and instincts. He had a distinct stance, the so-called four-point stance, placing both hands on the field instead of the more usual one, generating greater force when rushing straight ahead. Lilly's agility and quickness helped him score four defensive touchdowns in his career. His first was returning an interception 17 yards in 1964 while the other three came on fumble recoveries.
What separated Lilly from other defensive tackles was his combination of agility, conditioning and strength (although he didn't start lifting weights until his sixth season in the NFL), that allowed him to make tackles from sideline to sideline. NFL Films did an eight-minute feature on Lilly and called him the "unblockable, unstoppable, force of The Doomsday Defense". He was regularly double- and triple-teamed for the majority of his career due to his impact in the games. Although the head slap was legal when he played, he never liked to use it to gain an advantage over opponents. Lilly played in 196 consecutive regular-season games. The only NFL game he missed in his career was the 1973 NFC Championship Game loss (10-27) on December 30 against the Minnesota Vikings due to a leg injury. Lilly injured his hamstring in the Cowboys victory (22-10) against the Denver Broncos on December 2. In the first play of the 1973 NFC Divisional playoff game three weeks later on December 23 versus the Los Angeles Rams (Cowboys 27-Rams 16), he re-injured his same hamstring.
Affectionately known as "Mr. Cowboy," his name was the first inscribed in the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor, above Texas Stadium and the current AT&T Stadium. The Cowboys had a Bob Lilly Day on November 23, 1975, to honor him and make Lilly the first inductee into The Ring of Honor. He has attended every induction of each Ring of Honor inductee since.
Lilly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility, and was the first player who spent his entire career with the Cowboys to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He entered the Hall of Fame along with former teammate Herb Adderley (for two seasons), as well as David "Deacon" Jones and Jim Otto. The "Sporting News" named him a member of the All-Century NFL Team and "the greatest defensive tackle in NFL history". Lilly, Adderley, and Jones were all drafted in 1961. Tom Landry said of Lilly: "As I've said before, another Lilly won't come along in my time. We're observing a man who will become a legend". This comment is from the 1972 Street and Smith's Pro Football Yearbook. He also said that "Nobody is better than Lilly". He is a member of the National Football League 1960s All-Decade Team and National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team.
In 1999, he was ranked number 10 on "The Sporting News"' list of the "100 Greatest Football Players", the highest-ranking defensive lineman and the highest-ranking Cowboy. The only defensive players ranked ahead of Lilly were Dick Butkus and Lawrence Taylor. "Sports Illustrated" named him one of the ten most revolutionary defensive players.
Although the Cowboys do not have a practice to retire jersey numbers, Lilly is the only player to wear #74 in team history (with the exception of pre-season games).
Personal life.
When he began traveling with the Cowboys, Lilly regularly had his camera at his side. His interest in photography began when he was named to the College Football All-America Team in 1961, which was sponsored by Kodak. As a part of the honor, he was given a 35-mm camera and a year's supply of film by the company. Before and after games, he spent an increasing amount of time studying and photographing old sports stadiums. Lilly co-authored the 1983 book "Bob Lilly Reflections" with sportswriter Sam Blair, featuring scores of his black-and-white photographs of teammates in candid poses. He was also a photographer for the Texas Air National Guard where he was an Airman 2nd Class. Lilly spent two weeks in 1967 as part of the Texas National Guard at the Rhein-Main Air Base in West Germany.
After his retirement from pro football, Lilly moved to Waco, Texas, where he successfully operated a beer distribution business until 1982, when he saw the impact of a traffic accident caused by drunken driving and decided to sell the company and launch his landscape photography career. He lived in Las Cruces, New Mexico from 1984 to 1989, where he opened a photo art gallery, complete with both color and black-and-white darkrooms. In 1989, he moved back to Texas, settling in Graham, Texas. As of 2016, the grandfather of twelve and great-grandfather of three lived with his wife, Ann, whom he married in 1974, in Georgetown, Texas.


Dan Fouts

Daniel Francis Fouts (born June 10, 1951) is an American former football quarterback for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 to 1987. He led the NFL in passing yards four straight years from 1979 to 1982 and became the first player in history to throw for 4,000 yards in three consecutive seasons. The Chargers advanced to the AFC Championship Game twice during his career, but never reached the Super Bowl.
A member of the NFL 1980s All-Decade Team, Fouts was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He lives in Sisters, Oregon, and was a color analyst for NFL games on CBS television and Westwood One radio. He is the son of Bay Area Radio Hall of Famer Bob Fouts.
High school and college career.
Born in San Francisco, Fouts attended Marin Catholic High School, located just north of San Francisco in Kentfield, California, for his two first years, and was the varsity starter as a sophomore in the fall of 1966. He decided to transfer to St. Ignatius College Preparatory (San Francisco) for his final two years of high school, and graduated in 1969.
Fouts was somewhat of an unknown when he accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Oregon to play for the Ducks in Eugene. Things were quite different after the All-Pac-8 quarterback's college football career concluded, as he set 19 school records, including those for career passing yardage (5,995) and total offense (5,871). He was inducted into the university's hall of fame in 1992.
Professional career.
Selected in the third round with the 64th overall pick of the 1973 NFL Draft, Fouts helped lead the Chargers to the playoffs from 1979 to 1982 and twice to the AFC title game (1980 and 1981). Over that span, San Diego finished in the top-4 in the NFL in points scored each season, twice leading the league. Fouts led the league four times in passing yards; ending his career with over 40,000, the third player to surpass that landmark. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Fouts was a six-time Pro Bowl selection (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985) and compiled passer ratings over 90.0 for a 3-year stretch (1981–83). He was the first NFL player to surpass 4,000 passing yards in three consecutive seasons (1979–1981), led the NFL in passing yards in four consecutive seasons (1979–1982) and six times eclipsed the 20-touchdown mark with a career-high 33 in 1981. His career high of 4,802 passing yards during the 1981 season was an NFL record at the time.
Fouts set NFL season passing yardage records in three consecutive seasons from 1979 to 1981 with totals of 4,082, 4,715, and 4,802 yards. He broke Joe Namath's professional record of 4,007 set in the American Football League in 1967, and Dan Marino broke Fouts' record in 1984 with 5,084 yards. The Chargers in 1979 were the first AFC Western Division champion to run more passing plays (541) than rushing (481). Fouts was a runner-up to Earl Campbell in Associated Press (AP) voting for both its NFL Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Offensive Player of the Year Awards. The following season, Fouts set an NFL record with eight games of 300 yards or more passing and became the first quarterback to throw 30 touchdowns in a season since Daryle Lamonica in 1969. In 1982, a season shortened to 9 games because of a strike, Fouts averaged 320 yards passing per game, an NFL record that stood until Drew Brees averaged 342.25 in 2011. Highlights that season included back-to-back victories against the 1981 Super Bowl teams San Francisco (41–37) and Cincinnati (50–34) in which Fouts threw for over 400 yards in each game to lead the Chargers to shootout victories. That season, he was named the NFL MVP by Pro Football Writers Association and Newspaper Enterprise Association. He finished second in the AP poll behind Mark Moseley, the only kicker to ever win the award. However, AP voted him the league's Offensive MVP, as did Pro Football Weekly.
Fouts garnered All-Pro selections in both 1979 and 1982, while also being named 2nd Team All-Pro in 1980 and 1985. In addition, Fouts was also named 2nd Team All-AFC in 1981 and 1983. However, Fouts and the Chargers lost both AFC Championship Games in which they played.
Fouts's first few years in the league were inauspicious, but with the arrival of head coach Don Coryell in 1978 the Chargers' fortunes turned. Yet it was two years earlier, with the arrival of Bill Walsh as the Chargers' offensive coordinator, that the seeds of success were planted. Under Coryell, the Chargers were known as "Air Coryell" for the deep passing game and the involvement of the tight end as a key receiver. This required a tough, intelligent quarterback with a strong arm. Fouts fit the bill.
Fouts was not a mobile quarterback and the deep passing game led to many hits. Hall of Fame coach Bill Walsh, a Chargers assistant coach in 1976, said "Dan Fouts had a cool, steel-like nerve and courage ... He took a lot of beatings, a lot of pounding, but continued to play, hurt or otherwise. He played more physical football than anybody on his team, including the linebackers". Rarely using the shotgun, Fouts would drop back from center and look for one of a bevy of great receivers. Wide receiver Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow were the most famous, both now in the Hall of Fame, but John Jefferson and Wes Chandler, among others, were also key. Fouts's passing enabled Winslow to lead the NFL in receptions twice (1980,1981), while Winslow (1982) and Lionel James (1985) led the AFC in receptions on another two combined occasions. James set the NFL record (since broken) in 1985 for receiving yards by a running back at 1,027. Jefferson became the first receiver to have 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first three seasons in the NFL. Both Jefferson (1980) and Chandler (1982) led the NFL in receiving yards. Chandler's 129 yards receiving per game average in 1982 is still a league record. Both Jefferson (1978, 1980) and Chandler (1982) led the NFL in receiving TDs. In 1980, Winslow, Jefferson and Joiner became the first trio on the same team to have 1,000 yards receiving in a season. When he retired after 1986, Joiner was the NFL's all-time leader in receptions with 750.
Pass protection was also critical for such an offense. The Chargers had an excellent offensive line which protected Fouts well, and included four-time Pro Bowler Ed White, five-time Pro Bowler Russ Washington, three-time Pro Bowler Doug Wilkerson, Billy Shields and Don Macek. The Chargers led the league in passing yards an NFL record six consecutive years from 1978 to 1983 and again in 1985 under Fouts. They also led the league in total yards in offense 1980–1983 and 1985.
Despite going to the playoffs from 1979 through 1982 and playing in two AFC Championship Games, the Chargers never went to the Super Bowl under Fouts (although they went 7 years after his retirement). Usually this is attributed to poor defense and their unwillingness to run the ball. In Fouts's prime the defense was not as stellar, but the running game became far better with the addition of Chuck Muncie, traded from New Orleans in 1980, and the drafting of James Brooks from Auburn in 1981. However, the defense suffered a loss when Fred Dean, an All-Pro sack specialist, was traded away to the San Francisco 49ers in 1981 in a contract dispute, and Dean would win UPI NFC Defensive Player of the Year (while playing in only 11 games) that year en route to a Super Bowl victory and help the 49ers to another Super Bowl title three years later. Dean would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
"I can't say how much it affected us, because we did make it to the AFC championship game," said Chargers' All-Pro defensive lineman Gary "Big Hands" Johnson of the loss of Dean. "But I could say if we had more pass rush from the corner, it might've been different." "U-T San Diego" in 2013 called the trade "perhaps the biggest blunder in franchise history." Fouts himself would almost be traded in 1983 to the Baltimore Colts in exchange for the rights to John Elway due to a contract dispute, but would come to an agreement on an extension and Elway would be infamously traded to the rival Denver Broncos instead.
Overall, the Chargers achieved three wins against four losses in the playoffs under Fouts, who threw for over 300 yards in all but two of those games. One of their more notable wins was the 1982 playoff game known as "The Epic in Miami", where Fouts led his team to a 41–38 victory by completing 33 of 53 passes for a franchise-record 433 yards and three touchdowns on the hot and humid day. His completions, attempts, and yards in the game were all NFL postseason records at the time. The following week in the AFC championship game in Cincinnati, there was a 92 °F drop in temperature compared to the previous week in Miami, and the Chargers lost 27–7 in what is known as the Freezer Bowl.
The following season, he threw for 333 yards and 3 touchdowns in a 31–28 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Wild Card round. Fouts's playoff career ended in the AFC Divisional Playoff game against Miami, where he threw five interceptions to only one touchdown pass. Fouts went on to play for four more seasons with the Chargers, retiring in 1987 after 15 years with them. He ended his career as the Chargers' all-time leader in passing yards and touchdowns with 43,040 and 254 respectively.
Honors.
Fouts finished his 15 NFL seasons with 3,297 of 5,604 completions for 43,040 yards and 254 touchdowns, with 242 interceptions. He also rushed for 476 yards and 13 touchdowns
Fouts was the second quarterback in NFL history to record two consecutive 30-touchdown passing seasons, following only Y. A. Tittle. He was also the third quarterback in NFL history to pass for 40,000 yards, after fellow Hall of Famers Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton, and the first quarterback ever to throw for over 4,000 yards in back-to-back seasons.
Fouts's jersey number 14 is joined by only Lance Alworth's 19, Junior Seau's 55 and LaDainian Tomlinson's 21 among numbers retired by the San Diego Chargers.
In 1989, Fouts was also inducted by the San Diego Hall of Champions into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes both on and off the playing surface.
In 1999, he was ranked number 92 on "The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.
In 1992, he was inducted into the University of Oregon and State of Oregon Sports Halls of Fame.
Fouts was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, his first year of eligibility.
In 2009, he was picked by the fans as the "Greatest Charger Of All Time" for the Chargers 50th anniversary year.
In 2010, he received the Davey O'Brien Legends Award during Colt McCoy's award ceremony.
Broadcasting.
In 1988 through 1993, Fouts worked as an analyst on "NFL on CBS". He worked with a variety of play-by-play announcers including Dick Stockton, James Brown, Verne Lundquist, Brad Nessler, Jim Nantz, Jack Buck, and Tim Ryan.
Fouts left CBS in 1994 to become a sports anchor for KPIX-TV in his hometown of San Francisco. In the fall of 1997, Fouts returned to network television as an analyst, this time serving as a college football analyst for ABC Sports alongside play-by-play man Brent Musburger.
In 1998 Fouts made his big-screen debut, portraying himself in the football comedy "The Waterboy", starring Adam Sandler. Fouts and Musburger appeared late in the film as ABC Sports' broadcast team for the fictitious New Year's Day "Bourbon Bowl" game.
In 2000, Fouts moved into a commentator role on ABC's "Monday Night Football", alongside "MNF" anchor Al Michaels and comedian Dennis Miller.
In 2002, Fouts returned to broadcasting college football, calling Pac 10 action alongside legendary announcer Keith Jackson.
After Jackson's retirement from ABC in 2006, Fouts became a play-by-play announcer, adding his own commentary on the game at times since he was a former player and analyst. His broadcast partner for 2006 and 2007 was Tim Brant, now that Jackson had opted to permanently retire.
On February 11, 2008, ESPN announced they were not re-signing Fouts or his partner Tim Brant.
It was reported in "USA Today" on August 20, 2008, that Fouts was returning to CBS for NFL games with a variety of play-by-play announcers including Don Criqui, Ian Eagle, and Dick Enberg. In 2009, he was moved to partner with Enberg as the number 3 broadcasting team for the NFL on CBS. Fouts has since teamed with Eagle in the number three slot until 2014, when the pair was elevated to the number two team behind Jim Nantz and Phil Simms (and later, Tony Romo). Fouts and Eagle are often called "The Bird and the Beard".
Fouts has also helped call NFL games for Westwood One radio, including Super Bowl 50.
He had been the play-by-play voice for Chargers preseason games carried on CBS stations throughout Southern California for many years (2012–2016), alongside fellow Charger alum Billy Ray Smith.
Fouts also did color commentary for the football video game "NFL GameDay 2004". He partnered with long-time announcer Enberg.
In April 2020 it was announced that CBS had parted ways with Fouts.


Devil Diver

Devil Diver (1939–1961) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was twice voted American Champion Older Male Horse.
Background.
Devil Diver was foaled at Mrs. Payne Whitney's Greentree Stable in Lexington, Kentucky. A bay colt by Sir Germans, he was out of Dabchick, and a member of the same foal crop as Shut Out. Devil Diver was trained by the Hall of Fame conditioner John M. Gaver, Sr., who also trained Shut Out.
Racing career.
Both Shut Out and Devil Diver were pointed towards the 1942 Kentucky Derby, especially as Devil Diver had opened his three-year-old season winning the Phoenix Handicap and in the process beating Whirlaway who only the year before had won the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing.
The Hall of Fame jockey Eddie Arcaro believed Devil Diver to be the superior horse (he hadn't been out of the money in 13 starts), and so chose to ride him in the Derby only to come in sixth as Shut Out won the prestigious race under jockey Wayne Wright by two lengths over Alsab. At three, of the two best Whitney colts, Shut Out prevailed. But at four, Devil Diver came into his own, living up to the promise of his two-and-three-year-old seasons. At the end of 1943 he was named Champion Handicap Horse by the "Daily Racing Form" although the rival "Turf & Sports Digest" award went to Market Wise. In 1944 he was named Champion Handicap Horse in both major polls. In 1944, he came close to American Horse of the Year but lost the Pimlico Special to the filly Twilight Tear in a three horse race that included the very good Megogo.
Devil Diver holds a record that has so far never been broken. He won the Metropolitan Handicap in three consecutive years: 1943, 1944, and 1945. One of those wins, 1944, was accomplished under an unbroken record weight of 134 pounds. In his Suburban Handicap win, he gave the champion Stymie thirteen pounds. In 1944, the five-year-old Devil Diver won seven stakes race and in each he carried more than 130 pounds. Better with age, at five he competed at a variety of distances under a variety of weights, all heavy. In his last year, he was voted handicap horse of the season in both polls.
Stud record.
Devil Diver stood at stud at Greentree Farm. He was not outstanding, but over the years sired 18 stakes winners including Beau Diable, Call Over, Lotowhite, and the good broodmare Anchors Aweigh.
Devil Diver died in 1961.


Alex Jesaulenko

Alex Jesaulenko ( ; , ; born 2 August 1945 in Salzburg, Austria) is a former Australian rules footballer and coach who represented and in the Victorian Football League (VFL) from the 1960s to the 1980s.
He is regarded as one of the game's greatest-ever players and is an official Legend of the Australian Football Hall of Fame. He immortalised his reputation in the game by taking the most iconic mark in football history in the 1970 VFL Grand Final. In 2009 "The Australian" nominated Jesaulenko as one of the 25 greatest footballers never to win a Brownlow Medal.
Early life.
Jesaulenko was born in Salzburg, Austria. His father, Vasil, was Ukrainian and served as a German policeman during World War II. His mother, Vera, was born in Russia, and had survived the horrors of seeing her father shot dead by German soldiers and having her first child, whom she first gave the name Alex, taken away from her when she was in a German prison camp. The child was not heard of again until over fifty years later.
The family emigrated to Australia in 1949 and spent the first six months living at the Bonegilla Migrant Reception and Training Centre. According to Jesaulenko, the family name should have been spelt "Esaulenko", but immigration officials actually listed "Esaulenko" with a "J" in front, thinking that they had heard a "J" in his name.
From there, the family moved to Canberra where Vasil set up shop as a carpenter-cabinetmaker. The young Jesaulenko was enrolled at St Edmund's College, then Telopea Park High where he played soccer and rugby union. He did not start playing Australian rules football until he was fourteen years old. He began playing at the Eastlake Football Club in Canberra.
Playing career.
Jesaulenko has credited his time at Eastlake for instilling in him a winning culture. After breaking into the senior team, he quickly established himself as a star, playing in three consecutive premierships for Eastlake from 1964 to 1966.
On joining Carlton, Jesaulenko reflected in an interview with "The Canberra Times" that:
"[Eastlake] certainly provided a winning culture. I was lucky to play at a footy club that was on the way up that just had a new regime put in, with George Harris and his mob, appointed a new coach in Ronald Dale Barassi, they had experienced players and they recruited young guns ... and I just fitted into the mix."
Jesaulenko moved to Melbourne in November 1966, and during his first pre-season was soon left in no doubt the standard that Barassi required at Carlton:
Here was this raging, serious man who demanded excellence and perfection. I knew straight away if I didn't take this game seriously, if I didn't try to be the best, I would be in big trouble. But it only took me two or three practice matches to know myself these guys were just the same as me, no better than me, and it was just a matter of me getting myself into the thick of things.
Jesaulenko made his senior VFL debut in the opening round of the 1967 season against at Princes Park, where he had 14 touches and kicked two goals in a 94-point victory. He would play every game for Carlton that season, one of four players to do so. In that season's Brownlow Medal count, he would poll 15 votes to finish third behind eventual winner Ross Smith (24 votes) from and 's Laurie Dwyer (17 votes). Jesaulenko would go on to play in four Carlton premierships – in 1968, 1970, 1972 and 1979. Jesaulenko was selected for All-Australian honours in 1969 and 1972. He also has the dubious record at Carlton for the most inaccurate score of 5 goals and 12 behinds, against Hawthorn in 1969.
A spectacular and popular player, Jesaulenko was renowned for his high marking, mercurial ground play, superb balance and goalkicking. He kicked 115 goals in the 1970 season, breaking the club record and becoming the first (and, as of 2021, only) player to kick more than 100 goals in a season for Carlton. He went on to play in the famous 1970 VFL Grand Final against Collingwood. In front of an all-time record MCG crowd of 121,696 fans, Carlton came from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win by 10 points.
The 1978 VFL season began dreadfully for Carlton. After finishing top of the ladder in 1976 but losing the Preliminary Final by one point and then losing in the last round of the home-and-away season to miss out on the finals in 1977, they had brought Ian Stewart over from South Melbourne to replace Ian Thorogood as coach. By Round 6, they had only won one game and were sitting second-last on the ladder.
Jesaulenko's sporting achievements were recognized outside the football world as well; he was included in the 1979 New Year Honours list as a Member (Civil) of the Order of the British Empire "for service to the sport of Australian Rules football".
In 1979, Jesaulenko was the player-coach of Carlton's premiership team, perhaps his finest moment in football. "Jezza" was, in fact, the last player-coach in the VFL/AFL to win a premiership, and he is likely to remain so indefinitely.
Jesaulenko had pay disputes with Carlton in 1977. Subsequently, he tied his ongoing presence at the club to then-Carlton club president George Harris. At the end of the 1979 season, despite the premiership, Harris was ousted from his position and Jesaulenko cut all ties with Carlton.
St Kilda Football Club.
In a deal managed by trucking millionaire and St Kilda club president Lindsay Fox, Jesaulenko moved to the St Kilda Football Club in 1980. While initially appointed as an on-field player only, Jesaulenko was then appointed playing coach when the incumbent St Kilda coach, Mike Patterson, was sacked by Fox after Round 2. He played 23 games and kicked 20 goals for the Saints in 1980–1981 and stayed on for a further season as coach. Jesaulenko retired as player after Round 8 on 16 May 1981. He was the last person to serve as captain-coach in the VFL; however, Malcolm Blight was a playing coach until Round 16 of the same season but was not captain during this time.
Later years in football.
After leaving St Kilda, Jesaulenko went north to serve as captain-coach of Sandgate in the then-Queensland Football League. He retired at the end of 1984 after Sandgate lost their semi-final, after which he moved into the hotel business in Queensland for several years.
In the first half of the 1989 VFL season, Carlton was in disarray—communication had almost completely broken down between the players and coach Robert Walls, who only two seasons prior had guided the Blues to the flag. Carlton had fallen one game short of the Grand Final in 1988 but started the 1989 season with five straight losses. The defining point came after losing to the by three points in Round 10 at home, with Warwick Capper kicking the winning goal after the siren. At that stage, the Blues were second-last on the ladder with only two wins and in danger of "winning" their first-ever wooden spoon. Walls was sacked hours after the match.
Jesaulenko had not been back at Carlton since his acrimonious departure almost a decade earlier, when he was appointed caretaker coach for the remainder of the season. Holding his first press conference after training at Princes Park for the upcoming match against , he seemed confident in restoring Carlton's fortunes:
I don't think it will take too long to get back into the scene... The technique might have changed a bit but the basics are still the same. We'll play basic football at Carlton from now on.
Jesaulenko's optimism appeared to rub off on the Carlton players; they beat Sydney by 28 points and would win six more games to finish eighth. The Blues were expected to return to the top of the ladder in 1990 but won only fifty percent of their games, and Jesaulenko was replaced by David Parkin. His last coaching appointment, at Coburg for the 1993 season, was a total disaster, with the Lions losing all eighteen games during a losing sequence of thirty games in the dying days of the Victorian Football Association.
"Oh, Jesaulenko, you beauty!".
Jesaulenko's marking skill was perhaps best highlighted by a spectacular mark over big Collingwood ruckman Graeme Jenkin in the 1970 VFL Grand Final. The commentary has Mike Williamson shouting the now-famous phrase: "Oh, Jesaulenko, you beauty!". This "specky" is acclaimed by some to be the "Mark of the Century", and it was the first to be recognised officially as the Mark of the Year; the medal awarded to the annual winner is called the Alex Jesaulenko Medal. Jesaulenko has downplayed the specky, citing other marks he took—even during the same game—as greater feats. He later said: "The images make it look classical, like it was taken from the marking manual, ... It was against Collingwood, a Grand Final, the biggest crowd ever, Graeme's a six-foot-four ruckman, I guess there's a mystique in standing on top of him with your arms outstretched." The mark is captured in Jamie Cooper's painting "The Game That Made Australia", commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.
Post-football honours.
When Carlton set up their Hall of Fame in 1987, Jesaulenko was one of the inaugural inductees. He was also an inaugural inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and in 2008 was elevated to Legend status. In 1996, he was also named on the half-forward flank in the AFL Team of the Century.
In 1997, he was inducted as an official Legend of the Carlton Football Club. When the Carlton Team of the Century was announced, Jesaulenko was also named on the half-forward flank.
In 2002, he was inducted into the Ukrainian Sports Hall of Fame.
On 20 October 2010, he was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame.
In July 2013, Jesaulenko was named captain of the first Australia Post Multicultural Team of Champions.
Upon being elevated to Legend status in the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Jesaulenko was accorded tribute from the great contemporaries of his era.
The great Ron Barassi, Jesaulenko's first coach at Carlton, said:
"Aussie rules was very lucky that Alex chose our game. I've no doubt he would've been a brilliant international player for rugby or rugby league or soccer. I first saw his reflexes playing social tennis. He was at the net, he was unbelievable, and I remember thinking, 'Gee whiz, this guy's something special', and I had not even seen him kick a ball yet."
Of his induction as a Legend in the Hall of Fame, opponent Leigh Matthews said: "Jezza was the Buddy Franklin of his era. He was a fantastic mark, but was fantastic at ground level, and that combination doesn't exist in many players. Jezza was a freak. He was about 182 cm, only a couple inches taller than me. He was a bit like Darrel Baldock of the '60s; great balance, low centre of gravity, sensational overhead."
 opponent Kevin Bartlett regarded Jesaulenko as the most important player at Carlton during the years where the Richmond–Carlton rivalry reached its apex during the late 1960s and early 1970s:"When we played Carlton, it was always, 'How do we stop Jezza?' He was the talk of the day and if we got on top of him you killed the spirit of Carlton. He was such a devastating player, an inspirational player, and at Richmond, he was absolutely one of the players we had enormous respect for. He had the capability to be best on ground and had that magical quality to lift teammates. If he played well, he made another 10 players play well."
 opponent and Brownlow Medallist Malcolm Blight was equally generous in his praise for Jesaulenko:"Ahh, Jezza. He brings a smile to your face, doesn't he, and bit of excitement. Jezza ... gee, he was good. I still haven't seen anyone with quite as good a balance as Jezza. Whether it be on the ground going for a ball or in the air, his balance was uncanny. He is an icon of the game, absolutely, no question, and as they say in the classics, could play."
Relationship with Richard Pratt.
After retiring from football, Jesaulenko worked for billionaire and noted Carlton patron Richard Pratt at his recycling firm Visy Industries for 15 years in the sales and public relations department.
Jesaulenko first met Pratt when he arrived at Carlton in 1966, and remembered him fondly:
"He was a great businessman, a great bloke and a great Australian ... He touched people personally even though he was running such a big company. You'd think everyone he worked with was a personal friend of his. He used to come around every year like a footy coach and give everybody a confidence boost. He'd say 'This is what the company is doing ... let's get out there and kill 'em"".
He was adamant that Pratt saved Carlton when he became club president during 2007:
"He didn't only save [Carlton] with his money. I don't think money had much to do with it. [...] The club was losing its soul there for a long time. He got it back on track. Now it's going to be up to the people at Carlton now to keep it going."
When it was known that Pratt was in his last days in April 2009, Jesaulenko contemplated paying him a farewell visit at his mansion, but thought better of it lest he attracted too much attention.
Cultural references.
During the 1970s, when people spoke about football, it was common for people to refer to taking a high mark as "taking a Jezza". In a 1970s "Life. Be in it." advertisement, the character "Norm" says "Beauty Jezza" while watching football.
Jesaulenko is mentioned in the 1985 song "The Back Upon Which Jezza Jumped" by Melbourne band TISM (This Is Serious, Mum), appearing on the band's self-titled demo tape. The song depicts Graeme "Jerker" Jenkin being left to be forgotten because of Jezza's spectacular mark.
The main character in the Australian children's book "Jezza" is a dog named after Alex Jesaulenko. "Ordinary dogs chase tennis balls or fetch silly sticks. But not me. Football's my game. My new family called me Jezza because that was the name of a famous footballer. He was brilliant. I don't mean to brag, but I'm quite a footballer too." (Bell, 1991).
In 2006, Jesaulenko was featured in a Toyota Memorable Moments commercial with Stephen Curry and Dave Lawson, which involved spraypainting Jesaulenko's navy suit and trying several methods to recreate the famous mark he took in the 1970 Grand Final, including a small trampoline, a stepladder and finally successfully with a large crane.
In 2012, singer-songwriter Tex Perkins wrote and performed "Jesaulenko, You Beauty" exclusively for "The Marngrook Footy Show".


Tommy Dunderdale

Thomas Dunderdale (6 May 1887 – 15 December 1960) was an Australian-Canadian professional ice hockey forward. Born in Australia, he moved to Canada with his family in 1894. He played in Winnipeg for three seasons, from 1906 to 1910. In 1910, he joined the Montreal Shamrocks of the National Hockey Association (NHA), before moving on to the Quebec Bulldogs the following season. In 1911–12, he joined the Victoria Aristocrats of the newly formed Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA), playing nine seasons in total in Victoria. He split his seasons in Victoria with a three-season stint with the Portland Rosebuds between 1915 and 1918. After the PCHA folded in 1923, Dunderdale played one season in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), splitting the season between the Saskatoon Crescents and the Edmonton Eskimos. In 1974, he became the only Australian-born player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Dunderdale is credited with scoring the first penalty shot goal in ice hockey history.
Early life.
Dunderdale was born in Benalla in the Colony of Victoria (now part of Australia) on 6 May 1887. His parents were originally from England, but in 1904, the Dunderdales resettled to Ottawa, Ontario. Tommy first played organised ice hockey at the age of 17 with his Waller Street School team. In 1905 he moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba and played the 1905–06 season with the amateur Winnipeg Ramblers.
Playing career.
Dunderdale turned professional in 1906–07 with the Winnipeg Strathconas. He played three seasons for the franchise, which was also known as the Winnipeg Maple Leafs and the Winnipeg Shamrocks, scoring on average more than two points per game, with the majority of the points being goals. In 1909–10, Dunderdale moved east, and played with the Montreal Shamrocks, first with the Canadian Hockey Association, and later with the National Hockey Association (NHA). That season, he appeared in 15 games overall, and scored 21 goals. He played the 1910–11 season for the Quebec Bulldogs of the NHA, finishing second on the team in scoring, with 13 goals, even though he played only nine out of 16 games, and receiving 25 penalty minutes.
Dunderdale went back west in the 1911–12 season, joining the Victoria Aristocrats of the newly formed Pacific Coast Hockey Association (PCHA). He would spend the rest of his career playing in the west, having played only two seasons east of the Manitoba-Ontario border. Scoring 24 goals in 16 games, Dunderdale received his first out of six First All-Star team selections in the PCHA, as well as his first of four consecutive. In the next two seasons, Dunderdale recorded similar statistics to his first season in the PCHA, again scoring 24 goals in both seasons, and he was named to the First All-Star team in both seasons. The 1912–13 season saw the Victoria Aristocrats challenge the Quebec Bulldogs for the Stanley Cup. Although the Aristocrats won the series, their challenge was not accepted by the Stanley Cup trustees. The 1914–15 season saw Dunderdale named to the First All-Star team for his fourth consecutive time, as he scored 17 goals and assisted on 10 others, for 27 points in 17 games.
In the 1915–16 season, Dunderdale joined the Portland Rosebuds. In his first season with the Rosebuds, he dropped below a point per game for the first time in his career. The Rosebuds became the first American team to challenge for the Stanley Cup that year, losing a best-of-five series 3–2 to the Montreal Canadiens. Dunderdale played in all five games of the series, scoring two points. The following season, he scored 22 goals in 24 games, returning to his usual offensive output. However, he was more noted that season for his number of penalty minutes, setting a league record with 141 minutes. The 1917–18 season was his last in Portland, as he scored 14 goals in 18 games. Dunderdale left as their leading penalty minute getter, and as their second-most prolific goal scorer, with 50 goals.
Dunderdale rejoined the Victoria Aristocrats in the 1918–19 season. After recording only nine points in 20 games in his first season back with the Aristocrats, he scored 26 goals in 22 games in the 1919–20 season, en route to his fifth First All-Star team selection. Dunderdale played three more seasons for Victoria, which was renamed from the Aristocrats to the Cougars for the 1921–22 season, playing 75 games in total and scoring 41 points. He scored a bit under a point per game during the 1920–21 and the 1921–22 seasons, while in the 1922–23 season, his last with Victoria, he was limited to only two goals in 27 games. He was named to the First All-Star Team for the sixth time in 1922. Following the conclusion of the 1922–23 season, the PCHA folded. Dunderdale played another season in the Western Canada Hockey League (WCHL), splitting the 1923–24 season between the Saskatoon Crescents and the Edmonton Eskimos, scoring three points in 17 games overall.
Dunderdale is credited with scoring the first penalty shot goal in history. The first goal was scored on 12 December 1921 by Dunderdale on Hugh Lehman. The shot was taken from one of three dots painted on the ice from the goal. Players had to skate to the dot and shoot the puck from the dot.
Dunderdale retired at the end of the 1923–24 season. He retired as the PCHA's leading goal scorer, with 194 goals in total. He was a six-time PCHA First Team All-Star, and led the league in goals in three seasons, and in points in two. After retiring from playing, he coached and managed teams in Edmonton, Los Angeles, and Winnipeg. He died on 15 December 1960, and became the only Australian-born player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, in 1974.
Playing style.
Dunderdale, who most often held down the centre forward position on his team, but sometimes also played at wing or as a rover, was noted as being an excellent stickhandler and a fast skater, and prone to dangerous zig zag rushes down the ice. He also had a hard and accurate shot, which helped him score many goals wherever he played.
One self-detrimental aspect to Dunderdale's game was that he liked to rough it up physically on a consistent basis, which many times led to him being penalized by the referees and sent off to the sidelines. He often contended for the position as the "bad man" of the PCHA, which was the common epithet in the newspapers for the player with the most penalty minutes. During the 1916–17 season, with Portland, when he recorded far over 100 penalty minutes, it went so far that the "Vancouver Sun" gleefully cheered on him after a game against the Spokane Canaries when he succeeded in playing the whole game without getting penalized. The "Vancouver Daily World" made the same observation during the 1917–18 season, when Dunderdale went a game without a penalty, and pointed out that if the forward "would cut out the rough stuff and keep on the ice instead of the bench, he would be one of the most effective players in the league."


Jud Heathcote

George Melvin "Jud" Heathcote (May 27, 1927 – August 28, 2017) was an American basketball player and coach. He was a college basketball head coach for 24 seasons: five at the University of Montana and nineteen at Michigan State University Heathcote coached Magic Johnson during his two years at Michigan State, concluding with the 1979 national championship season. He also coached the University of Montana to a national handball championship in 1974.
Early years.
Born in Harvey, North Dakota, to Marion Grant Heathcote and Fawn (Walsh), Heathcote's father was a coach, but died in a 1930 diphtheria epidemic. His mother was a teacher and moved to live with her parents in Manchester, Washington, west of Seattle.
Heathcote developed into a fine three-sport athlete at South Kitsap High School in Port Orchard, and after a year in the Navy V-5 program as ended, he enrolled at Washington State College in Pullman and played basketball for the Cougars under head coach
Coaching career.
At age 44, Montana was the first for Heathcote as head coach of a college varsity program. Out of college, he coached for fourteen seasons at West Valley High School in Spokane, Washington, then at alma mater Washington State for seven years under Marv Harshman; five as freshman coach and two as frosh-varsity coach.
Montana had little historic success in the sport, but in his fourth season at Missoula in Heathcote led the Grizzlies to their first Big Sky Conference championship. They advanced to the NCAA Regionals, but lost by three in Portland in the Sweet Sixteen to eventual champion
Heathcote was hired by Joseph Kearney at Michigan State in April 1976 and began the most successful phase of his coaching career. In his third season in East Lansing, he guided the Spartans to the NCAA championship. Led on the court by sophomore Magic Johnson, MSU defeated the Larry Bird-led Indiana State Sycamores in the title game in
In his nineteen years at Michigan State, the Spartans made nine NCAA Tournament appearances and three National Invitation Tournament (NIT) appearances. As a coach, Heathcote was particularly noted for his excellent defensive strategies on the court and was second to none in blocking the opposing team from penetrating to the hoop. Heathcote retired after the 1994–95 season, having won 418 games and lost 275, for a .603 winning percentage. He was succeeded by Tom Izzo, a thirteen-year assistant coach and associate head coach for Heathcote's final five seasons.
Retirement.
After retiring from coaching, Heathcote returned to Spokane, where he lived until his death. He played handball until well into his seventies, and continued to play recreational golf. While Heathcote continued to follow Michigan State during the college season, his primary basketball interest in his final years was the local Gonzaga University; he attended all Bulldogs home games, and had a monthly lunch with head coach Mark Few.
On August 28, 2017, Heathcote died at the age of 90. "Michigan State has lost one of its icons today," current MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo said in a statement. "And yet, nothing can erase his impact on the program, the players he coached and the coaches he mentored. Spartan basketball is what it is today because of Jud Heathcote."