- Jan 1 17th Orange Bowl: #10 Clemson beats #15 Miami (FL), 15-14
- Jan 1 17th Sugar Bowl: #7 Kentucky beats #1 Oklahoma, 13-7
- Jan 1 37th Rose Bowl: #9 Michigan beats #5 California, 14-6
Richards #2 Goal Scorer
Jan 10 Maurice Richard scores his 16th career hat trick in the Montreal Canadiens' 3-0 win over NY Rangers to bring his career total to 274 goals; passes Howie Morenz as NHL's #2 all-time leading goal scorer
Charles vs. Oma
Jan 12 Ezzard Charles TKOs Lee Oma in 10 for heavyweight boxing title
American Conference Prevails
Jan 14 1st NFL Pro Bowl, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum: American Conference beats National Conference, 28-27; MVP: Otto Graham, Cleveland Browns, QB
- Jan 18 1951 NFL Draft: Kyle Rote from SMU first pick by New York Giants
- Jan 18 NFL rules tackles, guards & centers ineligible for forward pass
- Jan 18 NFL takes control of failing Baltimore Colts
Baseball Hall of Fame
Jan 26 Mel Ott and Jimmie Foxx are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame
- Jan 31 Australian Championships Women's Tennis: Nancye Wynne Bolton beats Thelma Coyne Long 6-1, 7-5 for her 6th and last Australian singles crown
- Jan 31 Australian Championships: American Dick Savitt wins his only Australian title; beats Ken McGregor of Australia 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
Baseball Players
Basketball Stars
Boxers
Footballers
NFL Stars
Tennis Champions