13 December in Sports History

In this edition of the Sports Break, we cover the top events in sports history along with the players and athletes that were a part of them on December 13. As a bonus, we place the jersey number worn at the time with the athlete as well.

Sports history is made every day of the year. We will preserve at least a small sampling from some great athletes every day based on the uniform number they wore.

10 - 9 - 6 - 21 - 2 - 33 - 18 - 7 - 8 - 41

December 13, 1936 - National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: Green Bay Packers beat Boston Redskins, 21-6. For the Packers franchise it was their 4th NFL title. For the Redskins it signalled a move to Washington, D.C. for 1937 season

December 13, 1960 - Ballon d'Or: Barcelona midfielder Number 10, Luis Suárez was named best football player in Europe ahead of Real Madrid's Hungarian forward Number 10, Ferenc Puskás and Hamburg striker Number 9, Uwe Seeler

December 13, 1989 - Denver Nuggets player, Number 6, Walter Davis  had his NBA free throw streak of 53 games come to an end.

December 13, 1991 - Seattle Supersonics player, Number 21, Ricky Pierce had his NBA free throw streak of 75 games come to an end.

December 13, 1997 - 63rd Heisman Trophy Award was won by Michigan cornerback/ returner, Number 2, Charles Woodson.

December 13, 1999 - 65th Heisman Trophy Award was won by Wisconsin running back, Number 33, Ron Dayne,

December 13, 2003 - 69th Heisman Trophy Award was won by Oklahoma Quarterback, Number 18, Jason White

December 13, 2004 - Ballon d'Or: Milan's Ukrainian striker Number 7, Andriy Shevchenko was named best football player in Europe ahead of Deco (Porto/FC Barcelona) and Barcelona midfielder Number 10, Ronaldinho 

December 13, 2010 - 76th Heisman Trophy Award was won by Auburn Quarterback, Number 2, Cam Newton

December 13, 2014 - 80th Heisman Trophy Award was won by Oregon Quarterback, Number 8, Marcus Mariota

December 13, 2015 - 81st Heisman Trophy Award was won by Alabama running back, Number 2, Derrick Henry

December 13, 2018 - German basketball forward Dirk Nowitzki takes the court for his record 21st NBA season wearing the Number 41, with the Dallas Mavericks, surpassing Kobe Bryant's 20 seasons with the LA Lakers.  Nowitzki had his number 41 jersey retired by Dallas Mavericks early in 2022.

A Very Special thanks to information obtained from the following brilliant internet sites: On This Day Sports, the Sports Reference's family of website databases & Stathead.com.

Banner photo is courtesy of Wikimedia Commons of Football, from the Games and Sports series for Old Judge Cigarettes by the Goodwin & Company circa 1889