Football

Football was very different in the 1950’s. There was very limited television exposure, so fans relied on shows such as “The College Football Scoreboard” or they looked in the Sunday paper to read about scores and game briefs. The rules were dramatically different in college football also. Players played both offense and defense, if a player was taken out of the game he was not able to return until there were 4 minutes to go in the half. If you played in a bowl game the year prior you were not allowed to play in a bowl game the following year. The game was completely different then what it is like now. Many parts and rules of the game didn’t even make sense.

Not as many teams were around yet in the NFL.

Big players:

Pat Summerall- A place kicker who played with the Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals, and New York Giants throughout his career in the 1950’s. In 1959, Summerall had his best season statically. He was 30 for 30 in extra point kicks and 20 for 29 in field goal kicking. He scored an overall of 90 points. After the 1961 season Summerall retired and began working as a sports announcer

Frank Gifford-  Began his career with the New York Giants as an offense and defensive player. MVP in 1956.

1950:
 * NFL Championship—Cleveland Browns 30, Los Angeles Rams 28
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1950)—
 * Rose Bowl, Ohio State 17, California 14
 * Cotton Bowl, Rice 27, North Carolina 13
 * Orange Bowl, Santa Clara 21, Kentucky 13
 * Sugar Bowl, Oklahoma 35, LSU 0
 * Heisman Trophy—Vic Janowicz (Ohio State, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Toronto Argonauts 13, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 0

1951:
 * NFL Championship—Los Angeles Rams 24, Cleveland Browns 17
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1951)—
 * Rose Bowl, Michigan 14, California 6
 * Cotton Bowl, Tennessee 20, Texas 14
 * Orange Bowl, Clemson 15, Miami 14
 * Sugar Bowl, Kentucky 13, Oklahoma 7
 * Heisman Trophy—Dick Kazmaier (Princeton, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Ottawa Rough Riders 21, Saskatchewan Roughriders 14

1952:
 * NFL Championship—Detroit Lions 17, Cleveland Browns 7
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1952)—
 * Rose Bowl, Illinois 40, Stanford 7
 * Cotton Bowl, Kentucky 20, Texas Christian 7
 * Orange Bowl, Georgia Tech 17, Baylor 14
 * Sugar Bowl, Maryland 28, Tennessee 13
 * Heisman Trophy—Billy Vessels (Oklahoma, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Toronto Argonauts 21, Edmonton Eskimos 11

1953:
 * NFL Championship—Detroit Lions 17, Cleveland Browns 16
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1953)—
 * Rose Bowl, USC 7, Wisconsin 0
 * Cotton Bowl, Texas 16, Tennessee 0
 * Orange Bowl, Alabama 61, Syracuse 6 Sugar Bowl, Georgia Tech 24, Mississippi 7
 * Heisman Trophy—John Lattner (Notre Dame, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Hamilton Tiger-Cats 12, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 6

1954:
 * NFL Championship—Cleveland Browns 56, Detroit Lions 10
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1954)—
 * Rose Bowl, Michigan State 28, UCLA 20
 * Cotton Bowl, Rice 28, Alabama 6
 * Orange Bowl, Oklahoma 7, Maryland 0
 * Sugar Bowl, Georgia Tech 42, West Virginia 19
 * Heisman Trophy—Alan Ameche (Wisconsin, FB)
 * Grey Cup—Edmonton Eskimos 26, Montreal Alouettes 25

1955:
 * NFL Championship—Cleveland Browns 28, Los Angeles Rams 14
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1955)—
 * Rose Bowl, Ohio State 20, USC 7
 * Cotton Bowl, Georgia Tech 14, Arkansas 6
 * Orange Bowl, Duke 34, Nebraska 7
 * Sugar Bowl, Navy 21, Mississippi 0
 * Heisman Trophy—Howard Cassady (Ohio State, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Edmonton Eskimos 34, Montreal Alouettes 19

1956:
 * NFL Championship—New York Giants 47, Chicago Bears 7
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1956)—
 * Rose Bowl, Michigan State 17, UCLA 14
 * Cotton Bowl, Mississippi 14, Texas Christian 13
 * Orange Bowl, Oklahoma 20, Maryland 6
 * Sugar Bowl, Georgia Tech 7, Pittsburgh 0
 * Heisman Trophy—Paul Hornung (Notre Dame, QB)
 * Grey Cup—Edmonton Eskimos 50, Montreal Alouettes 27

1957:
 * NFL Championship—Detroit Lions 59, Cleveland Browns 14
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1957)—
 * Rose Bowl, Iowa 35, Oregon State 19
 * Cotton Bowl, Texas Christian 28, Syracuse 27
 * Orange Bowl, Colorado 27, Clemson 21 Sugar Bowl, Baylor 13, Tennessee 7
 * Heisman Trophy—John Crow (Texas A&M, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21, Winnipeg Blue Bombers 7

1958:
 * NFL Championship—Baltimore Colts 23, New York Giants 17
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1958)—
 * Rose Bowl, Ohio State 10, Oregon 7
 * Cotton Bowl, Navy 20, Rice 7
 * Orange Bowl, Oklahoma 48, Duke 21
 * Sugar Bowl, Mississippi 39, Texas 7
 * Heisman Trophy—Pete Dawkins (U.S. Military Academy, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 28

1959:
 * NFL Championship—Baltimore Colts 31, New York Giants 16
 * College Bowls (January 1, 1959)—
 * Rose Bowl, Iowa 38, California 12
 * Cotton Bowl, Air Force 0, Texas Christian 0
 * Orange Bowl, Oklahoma 21, Syracuse 6
 * Sugar Bowl, LSU 7, Clemson 0
 * Heisman Trophy—Billy Cannon (LSU, HB)
 * Grey Cup—Winnipeg Blue Bombers 21, Hamilton Tiger-Cats 7