January 4
1970 – The Minnesota Vikings become the first expansion team to win the NFL championship, defeating the Cleveland Browns 27-7 in 8-degree temperatures in Bloomington, Minnesota.
1970 — Kansas City’s defense, highlighted by four interceptions (three in the final quarter), leads the Chiefs to a 17-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders in their last AFL championship game.
1976 — The Dallas Cowboys defeat the Los Angeles Rams 37-7 in the NFC Championship Game, becoming the first wild-card team to advance to the Super Bowl.
1986 — Eric Dickerson sets an NFL playoff record with 248 yards rushing and two touchdowns, leading the Los Angeles Rams to a 20-0 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.
1991 – 12-year-old Fu Mingxia from China won the women’s platform gold medal at the World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia, becoming the youngest world champion in the history of water sports.
1992 – New York Rangers’ Mike Gartner’s third-period power-play goal in a 6-4 loss to the New Jersey Devils Scored his 1,000th NHL point.
1997 – The Jacksonville Jaguars advance to the AFC Championship game the following year by defeating the Broncos in Denver.
2000 – One day after accepting the head coaching job with the New York Jets, Bill Belichick resigned and committed to the New England Patriots.
2000 – Preseason No. 1 Florida State defeats Virginia Tech 46-29 in the Sugar Bowl to go 12-0 and win the national championship. Florida State is the first team to be ranked wire-to-wire in the AP poll since preseason rankings began in 1950.
2002 – Washington Wizards forward Michael Jordan becomes the fourth player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points; he makes a free throw in the second quarter of an 89-83 victory over his former team, the Chicago Bulls. hit.
2003 – Bode Miller wins his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, moving into first place in the overall World Cup standings. This is the first time an American man has won the championship since Phil Mahre in 1983.
2005 – Matt Leinart throws five touchdown passes as USC beats Oklahoma 55-19 in the Orange Bowl. USC (13-0) is the first team to defend the AP national title since Nebraska in 1994-95, joining Florida State in 1999 as the only team to win from the preseason. A team that stays in first place from game to bowl game.
2006 – No. 2 Texas defeats the two-time defending national champions 41-38 in the Rose Bowl, snapping Southern California’s 34-game winning streak. The Longhorns also broke USC’s streak of 33 consecutive weeks as the No. 1 AP Top 25 team. The Longhorns won the national championship for the first time since 1969 with a unanimous selection.
2012 — Geno Smith ties an all-bowl game record with six touchdown passes, four to Tavon Austin, as West Virginia plays in the Orange Bowl Set a bowl game scoring record with a 70-33 victory over Clemson.
2013 – Mikaela Shiffrin becomes the first American woman to win two World Cups before turning 18. The 17-year-old won the slalom race in Zagreb, Croatia, by a huge margin of 1.19 seconds. Her first victory came last month in Sweden.
2014 — Andrew Luck throws four second-half touchdown passes and scores on a fumble to lead the Indianapolis Colts to a historic 45-44 comeback victory over Kansas in a wild-card game City Chiefs, coming back from four points down.