This Day in Sports History - 12/31/1972

Roberto Clemente dies when the chartered DC-& on which he is traveling crashes into the Atlantic Ocean one mile from San Juan, Puerto Rico. He is 38. The plane is carrying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. During his stellar 18-year career, all with the Pirates, Clemente batted .317 and collected exactly 3,000 hits. He won four betting titles, led the NL in hits twice, was named to 12 All-Star teams, and won 12 Gold Gloves. He was also the NL MVP in 1966 and the World Series MVP in 1971. He will be elected posthumously to the Hall of Fame in 1973.

This Day in Sports History - 12/17/1972

Falcons RB Dave Hampton loses a chance at a 1,000-yard rushing season during a 17 - 14 loss to Kansas City at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Hampton comes into the game, the last of the regular season, needing 70 yards to reach the coveted figure. A run early in the fourth period puts Hampton at exactly the 1,000-yard mark, and the game is stopped to present him with the football. But Hampton loses six yards on the next play when tackled on a pitch-out. Hampton gains only one more yard to finish the season at 995. He will fall just short again with a 997-yard season in 1973. He finally attains the 1,000-yard figure with 1,002 yards rushing in 1975 with 61 yards in the final game of the season.

This Day in Sports History - 9/24/1972

Oakland Raiders cornerback Jack Tatum sets an NFL record returning a fumble 104 yards during a 20 - 14 win over the Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Packers lead 7 - 3 in the first quarter when Tatum picks up running back MacArthur Lane's fumble in the Oakland end zone and sprints across the Green Bay goal line. The 104 yard fumble return breaks the 98 yards record set by George Halas when he played for the Chicago Bears in 1923. A review of the film shows that Lane's turnover was actually a muffed lateral and should have been ruled a touchback with Oakland gaining the ball on its own 20. Had the instant replay rule existed in 1972, it's likely that Tatum's touchdown would have been nullified. Tatum remains in the record books, however. His 104 yard fumble return will be tied by cornerback Aeneas Williams of the Arizona Cardinals on November 5, 2000.

This Day in Sports History - 9/5/1972

Eleven Israeli athletes, five terrorists and a German policeman are killed during a 23-hour drama that begins with an invasionof the Olympic village in Munich by terrorists. It ends in a shootout at a military airport some 15 miles away as the terrorists attempt to fly to Cairo with their Israeli hostages. The first two Israelis are killed earlier in the day when the terrorists, armed with automatic rifles, break into headquartersof the Israeli team and seize the nine others as hostages. The terrorists demand the release of more than 200 Arab commandos imprisoned in Israel. The bloodbath brings about a suspension of the Games and there is some doubt the Olympics will continue. However; Avery Brundage, chairman of the IOC, famously says, "The games must go on," and 34 hours later competition resumes.