Much of this post features quotes from The Game before the Money Podcast.
On November 25th, 1951, the Cleveland Browns invaded Chicago to play the Bears. It was the first ever regular season game between the two teams. The Browns had won 7 straight games and the Bears had won 5 of 6.
Dub Jones spoke about how the game might have been a preview to the 1951 NFL Championship Game on The Game before the Money Podcast. “The Bears were leading their division and we were leading our division.”
The teams fought to a scoreless first quarter.
Then Dub scored from 2 yards out in the second quarter to give the Browns a 7-0 lead. Later that quarter, Dub scored again on a 34-yard pass from Otto Graham. Jones then scored a touchdown the next three times he touched the ball. That gave him 5 touchdowns on the day.
Jones told The Game before the Money, “(The first 5 touchdowns) just happened. I mean it wasn’t planned. It just happened that I scored 5 touchdowns. They had called from the press box, and said, ‘Dub Jones has scored 5 touchdowns and if he scores 1 more touchdown, he would tie the record.’ I went back in the game. Otto thew me a pass and I caught it. That was the only play of the game that was specifically planned for me to score.”
Embed from Getty ImagesPHOTO: Dub Jones celebrates his 6 TD game with teammates.
Most Touchdowns in an NFL Game
Dub scored 6 touchdowns that day: 4 rushing and 2 receiving. Oddly enough, his fifth touchdown was a 43-yard rush and his sixth touchdown was a 43-yard reception. His 6 touchdowns in 1 game tied the record that Ernie Nevers created in 1929. Nevers also scored 6 touchdowns against the Bears. Gale Sayers matched the record with 6 touchdowns for the Bears against the Forty Niners in 1965.
In the first 100 seasons that the NFL played, Dub Jones, Gale Sayers and Ernie Nevers were the only 3 people to score 6 touchdowns in 1 game. A strange fact about that is that even though those games were played in 1929, 1951, and 1965, George Halas was the Bears’ head coach in all 3 of those games.
Alvin Kamara 6 TDs
Alvin Kamara became the fourth player in NFL history to score six touchdowns in one game on Saturday, December 25, 2020. He scored 6 touchdowns for the New Orleans Saints against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day in 2020. Kamara is the only player in NFL history to score 6 TDs in a game that George Halas wasn’t coaching!
Ernie Nevers and Alvin Kamara are the only two players to score 6 rushing touchdowns in a single game, as of 2020. Dub Jones and Gale Sayers are the only two players to score 6 TDs in a variety of ways in a single NFL game.
Most Penalties in an NFL Game
Dub shared with us another fact about the game in which he scored 6 touchdowns. “It set a record for the most penalties,” he said. “So, it wasn’t a pushover game.”
There were almost 375 yards worth of penalties between the two teams that day. The refs flagged the Browns 21 times. One of the penalties negated a 94-yard interception return for a touchdown by Don Shula. Yes, that Don Shula.
The Browns topped the Bears 42-21. The win gave the Browns an 8-1 record on the season. Cleveland finished 11-1 in the 1951 NFL season. The team lost the 1951 NFL Championship to the Los Angeles Rams.
Listen to the full Dub Jones podcast documentary and interview in the player below!
Embed from Getty ImagesPHOTOS: Dub Jones also wore both #40 and #86 with the Browns.
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