- Associated Press - Friday, December 25, 2020

Dec. 26

1908 - Jack Johnson becomes the first black man to win the world heavyweight boxing title, with a 14th-round knockout of Tommy Burns in Sydney.

1917 - Toronto’s Harry Cameron becomes the first defenseman to score four goals in a game as the Maple Leafs beat the Montreal Canadiens 7-5.

1943 - Sid Luckman throws five touchdown passes to lead the Chicago Bears to a 41-21 victory over the Washington Redskins for the NFL championship.

1946 - The U.S. wins the Davis Cup with a 5-0 sweep of Australia, the worst defeat for a defending champion.

1954 - Otto Graham scores three touchdowns and passes for three more to lead the Cleveland Browns to a 56-10 rout of the Detroit Lions for the NFL title.

1955 - The Cleveland Browns intercept six passes, one returned 65 yards for a touchdown by Don Paul, in a 38-14 victory over the Los Angeles Rams for the NFL championship.

1960 - The Philadelphia Eagles come from behind twice on a 35-yard pass to Tommy McDonald from Norm Van Brocklin and a 5-yard run by Ted Dean to beat the Green Bay Packers 17-13 for the NFL title.

1964 - Wray Carlton and Jack Kemp each score touchdowns and Pete Gogolak kicks two field goals to give the Buffalo Bills a 20-7 victory over the San Diego Chargers in the AFL championship.

1965 - The Buffalo Bills win their second straight AFL championship with a 27-0 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers get inside Buffalo’s 25-yard line only once.

1986 - Center Doug Jarvis of the Hartford Whalers plays his 915th consecutive game, setting an NHL record.

1999 - Mike Vanderjagt’s 21-yard field goal with four seconds left gives the Indianapolis Colts a 29-28 win over the Cleveland Browns. Indianapolis, which went 3-13 in 1998, makes NFL history by winning 10 more games than it did the previous season.

2001 - Colorado’s Patrick Roy becomes the first NHL goalie to win 500 games, recording his seventh shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over Dallas.

2004 - Peyton Manning breaks Dan Marino’s single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 48th and 49th of the season, rallying Indianapolis from a 31-16 fourth-quarter deficit to win 34-31 in overtime over San Diego.

2007 - Chris Summers kicks a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the Motor City Bowl, lifting Purdue to a 51-48 win over Central Michigan. The 99 points ties the second-highest total in a bowl game that ended in regulation, trailing only the 2003 Insight Bowl, where California beat Virginia Tech 52-49.

2011 - Drew Brees sets the NFL record for yards passing in a season, breaking a mark Dan Marino held since 1984, and the New Orleans Saints clinch the NFC South title with a 45-16 victory over the Atlanta Falcons. Brees throws for four touchdowns and his final pass gives him 5,087 yards passing to break the mark by three yards.

___

Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC.

Please read our comment policy before commenting.