CLEVELAND- Labor Day has its own meaning to all of us. For most of our working society, the day means a long weekend off from work and the chance to rest and spend time with family. And often times, spending time at home also means spending time in front of the television, watch our favorite sporting events.
A little more than 30 years ago, the NFL approved the addition of the two-point conversion in all league games. The rule afforded teams the chance to go for two points after a touchdown instead of kicking for a single extra point.
Add this fact to the philosophy of the NFL selecting Labor Day as its official starting point for each season. Just as the Labor Day weekend symbolically represents the end of the summer, the NFL has used the Labor Day date on the calendar as its symbolic end to the summer and the start of football season.
And with the stage set, the story of Labor Day weekend in 1994 and a game between the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals, a game that normally would have had very little significance, became a benchmark in NFL history. In that game, former Ohio State quarterback and Cleveland Browns punter, Tom Tupa, scored the first two-point conversion in NFL history. Tupa, who held for extra points as the backup quarterback for the Browns, lined up as the holder on a traditional extra point kick attempt and took the ball after the snap and ran to his left end behind offensive tackle Orlando Brown, broke a tackle, and scored the first two-point conversion in pro football history. The play came in the first quarter and gave the Browns an 11-0 lead over the Bengals. The Browns were coached at the time by Bill Belichick who would later go on to win multiple Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.
So, Labor Day can have special meaning for all of us. For the fans in Cincinnati on that day in 1994, they can always say that they witnessed football history. For most of us, it will probably be a day off from work.
Labor Day was first celebrated in 1887 in the state of Oregon who was the first state to officially recognize the day as a holiday. It later became a federal holiday in 1894, interestingly enough, 100 years before Tom Tupa’s famous run for the NFL’s first two-point conversion!
I wonder if Tom Tupa knew he was making Labor Day history in the NFL exactly 100 years after it became a holiday? Hmmm…I am sure he was thinking that when those 300-pound NFL linemen were chasing him!
