A Christmas Message from the Gridiron Uniform Database

A Christmas Message from the Gridiron Uniform Database
by Tim Brulia

This is our first Christmas at the Gridiron Uniform Database.

I have been doing the serious research on NFL Uniforms for nearly 10 years.

Bill Schaefer and I connected in September of 2009.

Rob Holecko made contact with Bill and me on May 14th. So the research man, the graphic artist and the web-meister all came together. And, with Rob working feverishly, we were able to officially launch gridironuniforms.com on June 12th. That is our Christmas gift to all of you, the fans of pro football, history and uniforms.

Since our launch, we have numerous corrections, made even more discoveries, and have put up, literally as they trot on the field, the uniform matchups for the 2011 season.

For 2012, we hope to maintain the same standards that we have set for 2011. We will do all we can to continue to be as accurate as possible on uniform detail.

We want to thank those of you who have made contributions to that accuracy with your finds and discoveries. We may ask some of you to help contribute to our blog in the coming weeks and months. We also wish to thank those of you for simply visiting our site and hope you find it of value and enjoyment.

We also take this time and opportunity to give special thanks to our friends at Uni Watch, namely Paul Lukas and Phil Hecken for their help and support, first to send the word out to help with the graphics in 2009 and then earlier this year for the call to enlist help for the website. It goes without saying that without Bill and Rob answering those "calls," I would still be sitting on a pile of valuable historical information, without anyone to share it with. I owe them every morsel of gratitude.

So, on behalf of Bill and Rob, we'd like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and the Best of the Holiday Season.

Peace on Earth.

The Gridiron Uniform Database

Now here's Rob with today's "On This Day..."

~ ~ ~

"On This Day..."

by Rob Holecko

On Christmas Eve 1977, like yesterday's Immaculate Reception game, the Raiders and Colts played another memorable AFC Divisional Playoff game.  This game is fondly remembered as "Ghost To The Post."  In 1977, Christmas fell on Sunday, so the NFL played the two AFC Divisional Playoffs on Christmas Eve, and the two NFC games on Monday.  The Raiders were the defending champions, coming off of  Super Bowl XI victory, and the Colts were an aging team seven years removed from their Super Bowl V victory, and were looking to bring a championship during the Bert Jones years to Baltimore.  The Wikipedia write-up is as follows:

Ghost to the Post is a significant play in NFL history. It refers specifically to a 42-yard pass from Ken Stabler to Dave Casper, nicknamed "The Ghost" after the cartoon character, that set up a game tying field goal in the final seconds of a double-overtime playoff game played between Casper's Oakland Raiders and the then-Baltimore Colts on December 24, 1977. Casper also caught the last pass of the game, a 10-yard touchdown pass. The game is currently the fourth-longest in NFL history, and has become synonymous with the play that made it famous.

To this date, the game is still the fourth-longest in pro football history. The game marked the last playoff appearance for the Baltimore-based Colts. The Raiders would go on to lose the AFC championship game that year to the Broncos 20-17. Hall of Fame coach John Madden has called the moment one of the most memorable of his coaching career. Dave Casper has been named one of the best Tight Ends in NFL History and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and this catch is cited as the most memorable in his career.

The Raiders won the game, but lost the following week in the AFC Championship to Denver.  Ken Stabler would not see another championship, as the Raiders, in the coming years, would go on to win Super Bowl XV and, after moving to Los Angeles, XVIII, but they would be with Jim Plunkett under center.  The Colts would never again play a playoff game or have another winning season in Baltimore, posting records of 5-11 (twice), 2-14 and 0-8-1 in the following years, before leaving in the middle of the night for Indianapolis in 1984.

You can see the NFL Films show on this game on Hulu here.

We are proud to add this game to Gridiron Uniform Database's collection of randomly added single-game matchups.

You can view other randomly added past games here.