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Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers put on a masterful performance in the National Football League's Week 4 this past weekend. The signal caller, in his seventh year, passed for 408 yards and four touchdowns and also rushed for a pair of TDs in the Packers' 49-23 win over the Denver Broncos. In doing so he became the first player in NFL history with at least 400 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and two rushing TDs in the same game.

His dominating performance also launched him to the top of the very small and elite fraternity. Since 1960 Rodgers is only the fifth quarterback to have four passing TDs and two rushing touchdowns in a game. The last player to do this was Michael Vick who basically had his own "Welcome to Philadelphia" party against the Washington Redskins on a Monday Night game last season.

I find the first quarterback on this list, Eric Hipple of the Detroit Lions, to be rather fascinating, only because the performance came during the first start of his career. Even more impressive is that Hipple started the 1981 season as the team's third-string thrower. Detroit's starter leading into that year was Gary Danielson but he dislocated his wrist in the fourth game of the season. That made way for backup Jeff Kolmo but he played so poorly that the team finally handed the ball to Hipple for the team's Oct. 19 Monday Night match-up against the Redskins.

I imagine Hipple, who was in his second year out of Utah State, was excited about his opportunity to play but he faced a daunting task. Not only were the Lions desperate for a win with a 2-4 record, but the team would be without All-Pro running back Billy Sims who injured his toe in the previous week's game.

Hipple however played magnificently as he led the Lions to 48-17 rout of the Bears. The Lions' point total was actually the highest the team had scored since 1957. Hipple completed 14 of 25 passes for 336 yards and four TDs, including a 94-yarder to Leonard Thompson. He also rushed for two also to account for all six of Detroit's touchdowns and led the club to 485 yards in total offense.

Not surprisingly, Hipple remained the Lions' starter for the rest of the season and guided Detroit to six wins in the last ten games. His 2,358 yards and 14 TDs on the season helped him earn the team Offensive MVP nod by his fellow teammates

4 Pass TDs, 2 Rush TDs in One Game Since 1960
Date	Player	Team	Opp.	Passing	Rushing	Result
Oct. 2, 2011	Aaron Rodgers	Green Bay	Denver	408 yards, 4 TDs	9 for 36 yards, 2 TDs	W, 49-23
Nov. 15, 2010	Michael Vick	Philadelphia	Washington	333 yards, 4 TDs	8 for 80 yards, 2 TDs	W, 59-28
Dec. 7, 2003	Jeff Garcia	San Francisco	Arizona	252 yards, 4 TDs	5 for 32 yards, 2 TDs	W, 50-15
Nov. 27, 1983	Bill Kenney	Kansas City	Seattle	311 yards, 4 TDs	3 for 7 yards, 2 TDs	L, 48-51
Oct. 19, 1981	Eric Hipple	Detroit	Chicago	336 yards, 4 TDs	4 for 13 yards, 2 TDs	W, 48-17

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Monday night's game between the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins made history. It may not have been the most exhilarating type of football but it was still one for the record books. Both teams combined for an NFL record-tying nine field goals during the Cowboys' 18-16 win at Cowboys Stadium.

Rookie Cowboys kicker Dan Bailey booted six field goals, including the go-ahead 40-yarder with 1:52 left in the game, while the Redskins Graham Gano connected on three field goal attempts. A new NFL record would have been established had Gano's 36-yard attempt not been blocked in the second quarter.

A total of nine field goals in one game has been accomplished on three other occasions in NFL history. The first time was on Sept. 29, 1996 when San Diego Chargers kicker John Carney (5) and the Kansas City Chiefs Pete Stoyanovich (4) battled in a show of kicking strength. The total would have been 10 but Stoyanovich's fifth attempt was blocked with 28 seconds remaining in the game. The failed kick preserved a 22-19 win for San Diego.

The next nine field goal game came on Oct. 17, 1999 when Miami Dolphins kicker Olindo Mare set a club record with six field goals and Adam Vinatieri chipped in three field goals for the New England Patriots. The Dolphins escaped Foxboro Stadium with a 31-30 victory.

Before last night, the most recent time two teams combined for nine three-pointers was on Oct. 7, 2007 at Reliant Stadium. The Houston Texans' Kris Brown helped lift his team to a 22-19 win over the Dolphins thanks in part to his five field goals. A.J. Feely contributed four three-pointers to bring the total to the record-tying sum.


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Week 1 Win Equals Long-Term Success

Finally, we're "back to football." There has been much speculation leading into this past weekend's games as to which teams will make the playoffs, win their division, and win the Super Bowl. Now with Kickoff Weekend under our belt we can take a look at the first true litmus test of the entire league's chances for the postseason.

Since 1978 when the NFL went to a 16-game schedule (not including the strike-shortened '82 season) 251 of the 474 teams which won their opener went to the playoffs. A total of 147 of those teams actually won their division. Conversely, of the 474 teams who lost the first game of the season only 106 advanced to the playoffs and a mere 63 won their division.

There is a popular saying that "one game does not make a season," but analyzing the Kickoff Weekend efforts of all NFL teams seems to prove otherwise.

How about all the Super Bowl teams? How many of them won their season-opener? Let's take a look both teams that made it to the yearly big game.

Super Bowl	Winner	Opener Result	Loser	Opener Result
I	Green Bay	win	Kansas City	win
II	Green Bay	tie	Oakland	win
III	N.Y. Jets	win	Baltimore	win
IV	Kansas City	win	Minnesota	loss
V	Baltimore	win	Dallas	win
VI	Dallas	win	Miami	tie
VII	Miami	win	Washington	win
VIII	Miami	win	Minnesota	win
IX	Pittsburgh	win	Minnesota	win
X	Pittsburgh	win	Dallas	win
XI	Oakland	win	Minnesota	win
XII	Dallas	win	Denver	win
XIII	Pittsburgh	win	Dallas	win
XIV	Pittsburgh	win	Los Angeles	loss
XV	Oakland	win	Philadelphia	win
XVI	San Francisco	loss	Cincinnati	win
XVII	Washington	win	Miami	win
XVIII	L.A. Raiders	win	Washington	loss
XIX	San Francisco	win	Miami	win
XX	Chicago	win	New England	win
XXI	N.Y. Giants	loss	Denver	win
XXII	Washington	win	Denver	loss
XXIII	San Francisco	win	Cincinnati	win
XXIV	San Francisco	win	Denver	win
XXV	N.Y. Giants	win	Buffalo	win
XXVI	Washington	win	Buffalo	win
XXVII	Dallas	win	Buffalo	win
XXVIII	Dallas	loss	Buffalo	win
XXIX	San Francisco	win	San Diego	win
XXX	Dallas	win	Pittsburgh	win
XXXI	Green Bay	win	New England	loss
XXXII	Denver	win	Green Bay	win
XXXIII	Denver	win	Atlanta	win
XXXIV	St. Louis	win	Tennessee	win
XXXV	Baltimore	win	N.Y. Giants	win
XXXVI	New England	loss	St. Louis	win
XXXVII	Tampa Bay	loss	Oakland	win
XXXVIII	New England	loss	Carolina	win
XXXIX	New England	win	Philadelphia	win
XL	Pittsburgh	win	Seattle	loss
XLI	Indianapolis	win	Chicago	win
XLII	N.Y Giants	loss	New England	win
XLIII	Pittsburgh	win	Arizona	win
XLIV	New Orleans	win	Indianpolis	win
XL	Green Bay	win	Pittsburgh	win

When looking at the numbers it is quite evident if you want to make it to the Super Bowl, you want to win the first game of the season. Of the 45 Super Bowl winners, only seven lost in Week One. Interestingly, one less or six of all the Super Bowl runners-up lost the first game of the season.

Airing it out

Kickoff Weekend 2011 also set a new bar in terms of passing yardage. There was a total of 8,419 gross passing yards logged by all 32 NFL teams during this past weekend's action which represents an all-time high for any single week in NFL history.

NFL offenses have become more and more pass oriented since the league was founded in 1920. Anyone can easily see proof of that by looking at the total yards compiled by all teams each decade.

Decade	Passing Yards
1920s	Unavailable
1930s	69,444
1940s	159,117
1950s	269,009
1960s	660,967
1970s	677,888
1980s	951,087
1990s	1,025,543
2000s	1,135,331

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The opening weekend of the 2011 NFL season will mark the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. In honor of that moment, the NFL, its players and fans will take time to remember the courage and resilience that followed the events of that tragic day with special tributes in all its games on Sunday, September 11.

Ten years does not seem like a long time ago, but it is incredible when looking back at how much our country has changed since that dreadful day. It really goes without saying that our entire way of living was altered with that horrendous event. Instantly gone were the seemingly carefree days we enjoyed in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Ten years ago I was excited and looking forward to a new NFL season. Kickoff Weekend 2001 had just concluded and the big thought in my mind on the Tuesday after was how the Denver Broncos were going to rebound after losing wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. The Pro Bowl receiver had just suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 31-20 Monday night victory against the New York Giants.

That day, instead of reporting to my office at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, I assisted in the Hall's efforts at our annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Charity Golf Classic at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Glenmoor County Club in Canton. The event, which is an important fundraiser for the Hall of Fame, is always a nice break from our everyday routine and a great opportunity to interact with our Hall of Fame members. Each year about 25 of the game's greatest come back to Canton to play in the event and support the Hall.

Group photo before the start of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Golf Classic on Sept. 11, 2001

The Hall of Fame staff performs a variety of duties to help pull off the function each year and one of my early duties that day was to stand guard at hole number seven, which is an intimidating 185-yard par 3 over water. My job was to watch the hole from 9 to 11:00 AM to serve witness in case one of the players hit a hole-in-one. If someone was lucky enough to pull off that type of shot they would win a free car. I guess my role was to guard against any chicanery.

Just as the event was about to start, which was around 8:55 AM, an attendant at one of the vendor stations located around the course told me that a small plane had crashed into one of the towers at the World Trade Center. My initial thought was that the plane must have lost control and steered into the building. That was all I heard for the next two hours. None of the players I chatted with as they were playing through made any mention of the incident.

At 11:00 AM I headed back to the clubhouse. While on my way I crossed paths with John Muhlbach who at the time was the Chairman of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Board of Trustees. I casually asked him if he had heard about that "small plane" that hit the World Trade Center. He proceeded to throw me into a state of shock when he detailed what had occurred. Two separate commercial jets had flown into each tower at the World Trade Center and one into the Pentagon. Both towers had collapsed and the entire country was in a state of emergency.


I didn't believe him. I couldn't. How could all of that have occurred in the short time I was sitting near a putting green on a golf course? It wasn't until I went inside the clubhouse and saw on television all of lower Manhattan immersed in smoke that the painful reality of what he just told me was confirmed. The rest of the day seems like a blur as I and most of the staff stared in horror at the nonstop coverage on TV.

It took great amount of time for the county to get back on its feet again. I think that the healing process was aided immensely by the sport of professional football. It is one of the few things that can bind all walks of life. No matter what a person's age, gender, race or income is, all can easily unite over their love and passion for football. This unique thread helped seamlessly stitch a weary nation back to great standing.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has several items in the collection that were worn by players and officials in that first game after 9/11. They have been proudly exhibited in the Hall's traveling display Pro Football and the American Spirit for close to 10 years.



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