1961 — George Blanda passes for three touchdowns and kicks a field goal and the extra points to give the Houston Oilers a 24-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers in the first AFL championship game.
1965 — The New York Jets sign Alabama quarterback Joe Namath for a reported $400,000, the most lucrative rookie contract in football history.
1966 — Jim Taylor and Paul Hornung gain 201 yards in four inches of snow at Lambeau Field to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 23-12 victory over the Cleveland Browns and their third championship in five years.
1977 — Atlanta Braves owner Ted Turner is suspended one year by commissioner Bowie Kuhn for tampering in the free-agent signing of Gary Matthews.
1982 — Rolf Benirschke’s 29-yard field goal at 13 minutes, 52 seconds of overtime ends one of the wildest and highest-scoring playoff games as the San Diego Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins, 41-38. San Diego’s Dan Fouts completes 33 of 53 passes for 433 yards and three TDs. Miami quarterback Don Strock completes 29 of 43 passes for 403 yards and four TDs.
1984 — Miami defeats Nebraska, 31-30, in the Orange Bowl for the national championship.
1985 — UNLV beats Utah State, 142-140, in triple overtime, with both teams setting an NCAA record for total points. The Runnin’ Rebels score a record 93 points in the second half, and coach Jerry Tarkanian gets his 600th victory.
1986 — Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders becomes the 11th NHL player to score 500 goals. Bossy scores No. 500 on an empty-netter with 17 seconds remaining to clinch a 7-5 victory against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum. Bossy reaches the milestone in 647 games, fewer than anyone in NHL history at that time.
1987 — No. 2 Penn State beats No. 1 Miami, 14-10, in the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship.
1989 — Notre Dame beats West Virginia, 34-21, in the Fiesta Bowl to finish the season at 12-0. The Irish are named national champion in the polls.
1996 — No. 1 Nebraska demolishes No. 2 Florida, 62-24, in the Fiesta Bowl and is the first repeat champion in 16 years.
2001 — Jose Theodore is the sixth NHL goalie to score a goal in a regular-season game, the goal coming during Montreal’s 3-0 victory over the New York Islanders.
2002 — Carolina’s Ron Francis becomes the fifth NHL player to record 500 goals and 1,000 assists when he scores in the Hurricanes’ 6-3 loss to Boston.
2009 — Utah finishes 13-0 with a 31-17 victory over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. The Utes are the first team from a non-BCS conference to win two BCS bowls.
2009 — Doug Weight becomes the eighth American-born player to reach 1,000 points after his two assists for the New York Islanders in a 5-4 loss to Phoenix.
2011 — Seattle becomes the first sub-.500 division champ in league history with a 16-6 win over St. Louis. The Seahawks finish as champs of the NFC West at 7-9, the first playoff team with a losing record — not counting the 1982 strike-shortened season — since the merger in 1970.
2018 — Vegas defeats Nashville 3-0 for its eighth straight victory and earns at least one point in 13 consecutive games, both NHL records for a first-year team.
