October 9 - Eddie Brown sets NFL record for punt returns in a game (11).
November 20 – Playing despite a 101 °F (38 °C) fever as a result of the flu, Chicago Bearsrunning backWalter Payton sets a new single-game NFL rushing record, gaining 275 yards in a 10–7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings.
December 11 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their second NFL season win their first ever game over the New Orleans Saints. The win ends their NFL record 26-game losing streak encompassing the entire 1976 season and the first 12 games in 1977.
Liverpool dominate English and European football, winning both the European Cup and the Football League Championship, but they miss out on a "treble" by losing in the FA Cup final.
January 18 – death of Luciano Re Cecconi (28), Lazio and Italy, who was shot during a hoax robbery
May 7: Hawthorn kick 25.41 (191) against St. Kilda. That score breaks by seven the record for the most behinds by a team in a match, and by six the most scoring shots. Neither record has been equalled.
January 19 – Ernie Banks is elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He won back-to-back MVP awards, but is best remembered for his famous line, "Let's play two".
12–17 March, Melbourne - Centenary Test played between Australia and England to commemorate 100th anniversary of first Test match. Australia won by 45 runs, exactly the same margin as in the first Test match in 1877.
Ryder Cup - United States won 12½ -7½ over Britain & Ireland in team golf. This was the last Ryder Cup to feature a side exclusively from the British Isles; the U.S. opponents in the next Ryder Cup, held in 1979 at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, would be drawn from all of Europe. The U.S.-Europe format has continued ever since.
83rd Five Nations Championship series is won by France who complete the Grand Slam and do so by using the same 15 players in all four matches, the first time that an unchanged team has won the Grand Slam
