Olden Time Sports Stories by the Sportsball Nerd

Dutch Clark was a Detroit Lions legend!

Led the Lions to the 1935 NFL Championship.

The following season led them to a team rushing yards record. An overall record that stood until the undefeated Dolphins ran for more and their per game record still stands.

And he was one of the last player-coaches in the league to be a head coach and play full-time.

Unfortunately, his legend got overshadowed by a changing league and maybe even some rocky endings that led to his importance to the early game being buried by time. Including Dutch winning an award that arguably made him the 1st NFL MVP in history.

This is the tale of the gridiron’s Flying Dutchman. And many other historical early sports moments, like the birth of the Detroit Lions.

The Super Bowl is now one of the biggest sporting events in the world. However, the idea of a professional American football championship has its beginnings nearly 70 years before the first Super Bowl and the NFL has nearly 50 years of league championships predating it. This is the story of the pro football championships that paved the way for the Super Bowl we love today.

A holiday special looking at various games played throughout history around Christmas and other end of the year holidays. Including parlor games played by families and friends centuries ago. And then a look at the extensive history of college football bowl games watched by those same families and friends during the holidays.

Record books on American football date back to the mid-1800s. But is that really where the story begins? And either way, what is the story of American football’s birth and rise in popularity?

In 153 previous seasons of college football, the record books list 262 different claims for national championships and 385 different selections as national champion. And none of them are official NCAA national champs.

Let’s find out what that all means by taking a look at the history of what some have referred to as the “mythical” college football national championship.