NFL Championship Game, 1958
Encyclopedia
The 1958
National Football League
Championship Game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
. It was the first ever National Football League (NFL) playoff game to go into sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts
23, New York Giants
17. The game has since become widely known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". The game was the 26th annual NFL championship game.
The game marked the beginning of the NFL's popularity surge, and eventual rise to the top of the United States
sports market. A major reason was that the game was televised across the nation by NBC
. Baltimore receiver Raymond Berry
recorded 12 receptions for 178 yards and a touchdown. His 12 receptions are a championship record that stands to this day.
Baltimore started off the season winning their first six games before losing to New York 24-21 in week 7 of the regular season. However, Colts starting quarterback Johnny Unitas
was injured at the time and did not play in the game. Two weeks later, Unitas returned to lead the Colts to a critical come-from-behind win against Hall of Fame
quarterback Y. A. Tittle
and his San Francisco 49ers
. Trailing 27-7 at the end of the first half, Baltimore stormed back to win the game 35-27, clinching the NFL's Western Conference championship and allowing them to rest their starters for the final two games of the year.
New York started the season 2-2 before going on to win 7 of their last 8 games, including a critical 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions
. In that game, New York fell behind late when the offense lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Later on, however, they stopped Detroit punter Yale Lary
on a fake punt attempt and drove for the go-ahead score. They then secured the win by blocking a Lions field goal attempt as time expired in the game. In their final game, the Giants managed to defeat the Cleveland Browns
with Pat Summerall
's game-winning 49-yard field goal on the final play (the longest field goal made in the entire season among all NFL kickers). The win enabled them to advance to the Eastern conference playoffs, where they played the Browns again, this time shutting them out 10-0.
forced a fumble while sacking Johnny Unitas
. Defensive back Jimmy Patton
recovered the ball at the Colts 37. One play later, Baltimore took the ball back when defensive end Gino Marchetti
forced a recovered fumble from quarterback Don Heinrich
. But all the Colts managed to do with their next drive was lose another turnover when a Unitas pass was picked off by Lindon Crow
. After forcing a punt, Unitas completed a 60-yard pass to Lenny Moore
at the Giants 26-yard line. But Baltimore's drive was halted at the 19 and Steve Myhra
's field goal attempt was blocked by Huff.
On the Giants next drive, Heinrich was replaced by Charley Conerly for the rest of the game. New York then drove to the Colts' 30-yard line, featuring a 38-yard run by Frank Gifford
.
On third down, Conerly threw a pass to wide-open fullback Alex Webster
, but he slipped before the ball arrived and it fell incomplete. Pat Summerall
then kicked a 36-yard field goal to put New York on the board. In the second quarter, Baltimore defensive end Ray Krouse
recovered a fumble from Gifford to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Colts running back Alan Ameche
. On their next drive, New York got a big scoring opporunity when they recovered a fumbled punt from Jackie Simpson on the Colts 10-yard line. But a few plays later, Gifford fumbled again, and Baltimore lineman Don Joyce recovered on his own 14. The Colts subsequently drove 86 yards in 15 plays, including a 16-yard scramble by Unitas on 3rd and 7, to score on Unitas' 15-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Berry
, giving them a 14-3 halftime lead.
That fumble by Gifford and the fumble later were forced by defensive back Milt Davis
of the Colts — despite playing with two broken bones in his right foot — and both led to touchdowns for the Colts.
Then early in the third quarter, Baltimore reached the New York 1-yard line. But on third down, Ameche was stopped for no gain, and the Colts turned it over on downs after Ameche was tackled trying to go wide at the 5-yard line on a great play by linebacker Cliff Livingston
, on a fourth down halfback option play
. It was a huge reversal of momentum.
The Giants then went 95-yards in just four plays, scoring on Mel Triplett
's 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 4, with a score of 14–10. The drive was highlighted by an unforgettable 86-yard pass play from deep within the Giants own territory at the closed end of the stadium: Quarterback Charlie Conerly
threw to Kyle Rote
downfield left-to-right across the middle where Rote then broke an arm tackle at about mid-field; then Rote fumbled when hit from behind at the Colts 25, but NY Giant running back Alex Webster, who was trailing the play, picked up the ball and ran it all the way to the 1-yard line where he was knocked out of bounds.
The Giants then went ahead early in the fourth quarter with Conerly's 46-yard completion to tight end Bob Schnelker
setting up his 15-yard touchdown pass to Gifford. On both of Baltimore's next drives they moved the ball into scoring range, but came up empty both times. First they drove to the Giants 39-yard line, only to have Bert Rechichar
miss a 46-yard field goal. Then they got the ball back on the New York 42 following a fumble recovery by Joyce. But after driving to the 27-yard line, Unitas was sacked twice in a row (once by Andy Robustelli
and once by Dick Modzelewski
), moving the ball back 20 yards and pushing the Colts out of field goal range.
Faced with fourth down and inches on their own 40-yard on their ensuing drive, New York decided to punt with a little over two minutes left in the game (on the third down play before the punt, Marchetti was knocked out of the game with a broken ankle. He refused to leave for medical treatment and watched the rest of the game sitting up on a stretcher on the sidelines). The Colts took over at their own 14-yard line and Unitas engineered one of the most famous drives in football history—a 2-minute drill before anyone called it that. After starting the drive with two incompletions, Unitas made a critical 11-yard completion to Moore on third down. Following one more incompletion, he threw three consecutive passes to Berry, moving the ball 62 yards to the Giants 13-yard line This set up a 20-yard tying field goal by Myhra with seven seconds left to send the game into sudden-death overtime—the first overtime game in NFL playoff history. As Unitas later stated, the players had never heard of overtime before the game. "When the game ended in a tie, we were standing on the sidelines waiting to see what came next. All of a sudden, the officials came over and said, 'Send the captain out. We're going to flip a coin to see who will receive.' That was the first we heard of the overtime period." An NFL preseason exhibition game played three years earlier in Portland, Oregon, had been settled by sudden-death overtime, but this was the first time an NFL game of any significance needed overtime to determine a winner. Bert Bell
, the commissioner of the NFL, had just implemented the sudden-death overtime rule for this game.
The overtime rule stipulated that a coin toss would be held at midfield. The available player-captains of the respective teams would attend it and the visiting team would choose heads or tails. The winning side of the toss would choose whether to receive the ball or kick off. Unitas called for the Colts and lost the toss. With Marchetti injured and on the sidelines, head referee Ron Gibbs gave the instructions to Colt co-captain Unitas, and Giants' co-captains Rote and Bill Svoboda
:'The first team to score, field goal, safety, or touchdown, will win the game, and the game will be over.'
Don Maynard
received the opening kickoff for the Giants and fumbled the catch, but recovered it on the Giants 20 yard line. After a three-and-out series, the Giants punted. On their ensuing drive, Baltimore drove 80 yards in 13 plays (all called by QB Johnny Unitas) on a tired NY defense. Ameche made several critical plays on the drive, catching an 8-yard pass on 3rd and 8 from the Colts 33, and later rushing 22 yards to the Giants 20-yard line. Berry also made a big impact, catching two passes for 33 yards, including a 12-yard reception on the New York 8. Following a 1-yard run by Ameche and a 6-yard catch by tight end Jim Mutscheller
, Ameche scored on a third down 1-yard touchdown run to win the game, 23–17. This drive is considered one of the best in NFL history.
During overtime, when the Colts were on the eight-yard line of the Giants, someone ran out onto the field of Yankee Stadium, causing the game to be delayed. Rumor has it, it was actually an NBC
employee who was ordered to create a distraction because the national television feed had gone dead. The difficulty was the result of an unplugged TV signal cable, and the delay in the game bought NBC enough time to fix the problem before the next play.
. They are:
would form the American Football League
, which began play with 8 teams in the 1960 season. The growth of the popularity of the sport, through franchise expansion, the eventual merger with the AFL
, and popularity on television, is commonly credited to this game, making it a turning point in the history of football.
The game is, to date, the only NFL
championship game ever decided in overtime. The drive by Baltimore at the end of regulation, with Unitas leading the team quickly down the field to set up the game-tying field goal, is often cited as the first instance of a "Two Minute Drill", for which Unitas became famous.
The Baltimore head coach was Weeb Ewbank. He would coach Baltimore to a second straight championship game win over New York the next season
. Ewbank would eventually be fired from the Colts, and would take the job of head coach for the New York Jets
. Ewbank led the Jets to victory over the Colts in Super Bowl III
, also considered a monumental victory in the history of pro football.
The Giants head coach was Jim Lee Howell
, and he was aided by two coordinators who went on to greatness themselves. The defensive coordinator was Tom Landry
, who left the team in 1960 to take over the then-expansion Dallas Cowboys
and led them to two Super Bowl championships. The offensive coordinator was Vince Lombardi
, who left the team following the game to take the head coaching position with the Green Bay Packers
. Lombardi led the Packers to five championships in the 1960s, including the first two Super Bowls, and had the Super Bowl Trophy
named after him after his death.
Writer Mark Bowden
, at the urging of his editor Morgan Entrekin
, set out to write a book about the game in 2006, looking ahead then to the 50th anniversary. Bowden credited Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule
with the "best game ever" phrase which he chose for his book title. Eagles' coach Andy Reid
helped him analyze the film footage he was able to secure. Bowden said that while many who played in the game whom he interviewed (particularly Giants) maybe quibbled with the "best" characterization, they, "to a man, remark[ed] on how radically the popularity of the game jumped after that season." Bowden dedicated his book to David Halberstam
. Halberstam's book The Fifties provided source information and context for The Best Game Ever, and Halberstam's sports books also were inspiring to Bowden. Asked about any insight writing the book had given him, Bowden remarked in part, "I wonder, if you got a group of New York Giants from 2006 or ’07 together 50 years from now, whether you would get the same sort of hilarity and knee-slapping comradeship that you find still exists among these [surviving 1958-game-veteran] players."
presented this game to a national audience on December 13, 2008. This presentation is a two-hour documentary which includes restored footage with colorization as well as a living room approach which included players past and present and fans. This was put together by ESPN Films and NFL Films
. Expert Jeffrey Muttart was asked to reconstruct the controversial call on the field, and after research and utilization of today's technology, he denied the Giant's first down (therefore, the call made by the officials was correct).
1958 NFL season
The 1958 NFL season was the 39th regular season of the National Football League.The Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants, 23–17, in the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL Championship Game...
National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
Championship Game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. It was the first ever National Football League (NFL) playoff game to go into sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
23, New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
17. The game has since become widely known as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". The game was the 26th annual NFL championship game.
The game marked the beginning of the NFL's popularity surge, and eventual rise to the top of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sports market. A major reason was that the game was televised across the nation by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Baltimore receiver Raymond Berry
Raymond Berry
Raymond Emmett Berry is a former football wide receiver. He played for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins. He later had a career in coaching, highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots...
recorded 12 receptions for 178 yards and a touchdown. His 12 receptions are a championship record that stands to this day.
Background
Both teams finished the 1958 season with a 9-3 record. For the Giants, it was their fifth consecutive winning season, a stretch that included an NFL Championship in 1956. In contrast, 1958 was only the second winning season in Colts' history since the team's founding in 1946.Baltimore started off the season winning their first six games before losing to New York 24-21 in week 7 of the regular season. However, Colts starting quarterback Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas , known as Johnny Unitas or "Johnny U", and nicknamed "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football...
was injured at the time and did not play in the game. Two weeks later, Unitas returned to lead the Colts to a critical come-from-behind win against Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
quarterback Y. A. Tittle
Y. A. Tittle
Yelberton Abraham Tittle , better known as Y. A. Tittle, is a former football quarterback in the National Football League and All-America Football Conference who played for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and the New York Giants...
and his San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
. Trailing 27-7 at the end of the first half, Baltimore stormed back to win the game 35-27, clinching the NFL's Western Conference championship and allowing them to rest their starters for the final two games of the year.
New York started the season 2-2 before going on to win 7 of their last 8 games, including a critical 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
. In that game, New York fell behind late when the offense lost a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. Later on, however, they stopped Detroit punter Yale Lary
Yale Lary
Robert Yale Lary is a former American football player.After graduating from North Side High School in 1949, he attended Texas A&M University, where he was a standout in football and baseball...
on a fake punt attempt and drove for the go-ahead score. They then secured the win by blocking a Lions field goal attempt as time expired in the game. In their final game, the Giants managed to defeat the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
with Pat Summerall
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.-High school:...
's game-winning 49-yard field goal on the final play (the longest field goal made in the entire season among all NFL kickers). The win enabled them to advance to the Eastern conference playoffs, where they played the Browns again, this time shutting them out 10-0.
Game summary
The game got off to a rough start for both teams. On Baltimore's first drive, New York linebacker Sam HuffSam Huff
Robert Lee "Sam" Huff is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982....
forced a fumble while sacking Johnny Unitas
Johnny Unitas
John Constantine Unitas , known as Johnny Unitas or "Johnny U", and nicknamed "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football...
. Defensive back Jimmy Patton
Jimmy Patton
James Russell Patton was an American football defensive back in the National Football League for the New York Giants. He was a five-time Pro Bowler...
recovered the ball at the Colts 37. One play later, Baltimore took the ball back when defensive end Gino Marchetti
Gino Marchetti
Gino John Marchetti is a former professional American football player in the National Football League. A defensive end, he played in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and from 1953 to 1966 for the Baltimore Colts.-Early years:...
forced a recovered fumble from quarterback Don Heinrich
Don Heinrich
Donald Alan Heinrich was an American collegiate and Professional Football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Washington, and also played professionally for the NFL's New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, and in the American Football League for the Oakland Raiders in...
. But all the Colts managed to do with their next drive was lose another turnover when a Unitas pass was picked off by Lindon Crow
Lindon Crow
Lindon Oscar Crow is a retired American football cornerback who played professionally in the National Football League.-Professional career:...
. After forcing a punt, Unitas completed a 60-yard pass to Lenny Moore
Lenny Moore
Leonard Edward Moore is a former American football halfback who played for Penn State in college and the Baltimore Colts. He came to the Colts in 1956, and had a productive first pro season and was named the NFL Rookie of The Year...
at the Giants 26-yard line. But Baltimore's drive was halted at the 19 and Steve Myhra
Steve Myhra
Steve Myhra was a professional American football player who played offensive line and placekicker for six seasons for the Baltimore Colts....
's field goal attempt was blocked by Huff.
On the Giants next drive, Heinrich was replaced by Charley Conerly for the rest of the game. New York then drove to the Colts' 30-yard line, featuring a 38-yard run by Frank Gifford
Frank Gifford
Francis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
.
On third down, Conerly threw a pass to wide-open fullback Alex Webster
Alex Webster
Alex Webster is an American bass player, who is best known as a member of the American death metal band Cannibal Corpse. He is one of two current members who were of the original lineup of Cannibal Corpse, the other being drummer Paul Mazurkiewicz...
, but he slipped before the ball arrived and it fell incomplete. Pat Summerall
Pat Summerall
George Allen "Pat" Summerall is a former American football player and television sportscaster, having worked at CBS, Fox, and ESPN.Summerall is best known for his work with John Madden on NFL telecasts for CBS and Fox.-High school:...
then kicked a 36-yard field goal to put New York on the board. In the second quarter, Baltimore defensive end Ray Krouse
Ray Krouse
Raymond Francis Krouse was an American football defensive lineman in the National Football League for the New York Giants , the Detroit Lions , Baltimore Colts and Washington Redskins .He attended Western High School before going on to the University of Maryland .He...
recovered a fumble from Gifford to set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Colts running back Alan Ameche
Alan Ameche
Lino Dante "Alan" Ameche , nicknamed "The Horse", was an American football player who played six seasons with the Baltimore Colts in the National Football League after winning the Heisman Trophy in college at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in each of his first...
. On their next drive, New York got a big scoring opporunity when they recovered a fumbled punt from Jackie Simpson on the Colts 10-yard line. But a few plays later, Gifford fumbled again, and Baltimore lineman Don Joyce recovered on his own 14. The Colts subsequently drove 86 yards in 15 plays, including a 16-yard scramble by Unitas on 3rd and 7, to score on Unitas' 15-yard touchdown pass to Raymond Berry
Raymond Berry
Raymond Emmett Berry is a former football wide receiver. He played for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins. He later had a career in coaching, highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots...
, giving them a 14-3 halftime lead.
That fumble by Gifford and the fumble later were forced by defensive back Milt Davis
Milt Davis
Milton Eugene Davis was a defensive back who played four seasons in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts. He had 27 career interceptions with the Colts, and he led the NFL in interceptions in 1957 and 1959....
of the Colts — despite playing with two broken bones in his right foot — and both led to touchdowns for the Colts.
Then early in the third quarter, Baltimore reached the New York 1-yard line. But on third down, Ameche was stopped for no gain, and the Colts turned it over on downs after Ameche was tackled trying to go wide at the 5-yard line on a great play by linebacker Cliff Livingston
Cliff Livingston
Clifford Lyman Livingston was a professional American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants, the Minnesota Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams. He was born in Compton, California and played college football at UCLA...
, on a fourth down halfback option play
Halfback option play
The halfback option play is an unorthodox play in American football. It resembles a normal running play, but the running back has the option to throw a pass to a wide receiver or tight end before crossing the line of scrimmage....
. It was a huge reversal of momentum.
The Giants then went 95-yards in just four plays, scoring on Mel Triplett
Mel Triplett
Melvin C. Triplett was an American football running back in the National Football League who played for eight seasons for the New York Giants. He played college football at the University of Toledo and was drafted by the Giants in the 1955 NFL Draft, where he played for six seasons...
's 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 4, with a score of 14–10. The drive was highlighted by an unforgettable 86-yard pass play from deep within the Giants own territory at the closed end of the stadium: Quarterback Charlie Conerly
Charlie Conerly
Charles Albert Conerly, Jr. was an American football quarterback in the National Football League for the New York Giants from 1948 through 1961. Conerly was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966.-College career:Conerly attended and played college football at the University of...
threw to Kyle Rote
Kyle Rote
William Kyle Rote, Sr. was an American football player and sports announcer.-Early life:Rote attended Thomas Jefferson High School in San Antonio, Texas, where he was an all-state basketball and football player....
downfield left-to-right across the middle where Rote then broke an arm tackle at about mid-field; then Rote fumbled when hit from behind at the Colts 25, but NY Giant running back Alex Webster, who was trailing the play, picked up the ball and ran it all the way to the 1-yard line where he was knocked out of bounds.
The Giants then went ahead early in the fourth quarter with Conerly's 46-yard completion to tight end Bob Schnelker
Bob Schnelker
Robert Bernard Schnelker is a former American football wide receiver who played for nine seasons in the National Football League, mainly with the New York Giants. Schnelker was a two-time Pro Bowler. After retiring from football, he was an assistant coach with the Green Bay Packers and the...
setting up his 15-yard touchdown pass to Gifford. On both of Baltimore's next drives they moved the ball into scoring range, but came up empty both times. First they drove to the Giants 39-yard line, only to have Bert Rechichar
Bert Rechichar
Albert Daniel Rechichar was an American football defensive back who played with the National Football League's Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers from 1952 to 1960, and the American Football League's New York Titans in 1961...
miss a 46-yard field goal. Then they got the ball back on the New York 42 following a fumble recovery by Joyce. But after driving to the 27-yard line, Unitas was sacked twice in a row (once by Andy Robustelli
Andy Robustelli
Andrew Richard "Andy" Robustelli was an American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. He played college football at Arnold College and was drafted in the nineteenth round of the 1951 NFL Draft...
and once by Dick Modzelewski
Dick Modzelewski
Richard Blair Modzelewski is a former American football defensive tackle in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants, and the Cleveland Browns. He also served as interim head coach of the Browns in the final game of the 1977 season...
), moving the ball back 20 yards and pushing the Colts out of field goal range.
Faced with fourth down and inches on their own 40-yard on their ensuing drive, New York decided to punt with a little over two minutes left in the game (on the third down play before the punt, Marchetti was knocked out of the game with a broken ankle. He refused to leave for medical treatment and watched the rest of the game sitting up on a stretcher on the sidelines). The Colts took over at their own 14-yard line and Unitas engineered one of the most famous drives in football history—a 2-minute drill before anyone called it that. After starting the drive with two incompletions, Unitas made a critical 11-yard completion to Moore on third down. Following one more incompletion, he threw three consecutive passes to Berry, moving the ball 62 yards to the Giants 13-yard line This set up a 20-yard tying field goal by Myhra with seven seconds left to send the game into sudden-death overtime—the first overtime game in NFL playoff history. As Unitas later stated, the players had never heard of overtime before the game. "When the game ended in a tie, we were standing on the sidelines waiting to see what came next. All of a sudden, the officials came over and said, 'Send the captain out. We're going to flip a coin to see who will receive.' That was the first we heard of the overtime period." An NFL preseason exhibition game played three years earlier in Portland, Oregon, had been settled by sudden-death overtime, but this was the first time an NFL game of any significance needed overtime to determine a winner. Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
, the commissioner of the NFL, had just implemented the sudden-death overtime rule for this game.
The overtime rule stipulated that a coin toss would be held at midfield. The available player-captains of the respective teams would attend it and the visiting team would choose heads or tails. The winning side of the toss would choose whether to receive the ball or kick off. Unitas called for the Colts and lost the toss. With Marchetti injured and on the sidelines, head referee Ron Gibbs gave the instructions to Colt co-captain Unitas, and Giants' co-captains Rote and Bill Svoboda
Bill Svoboda
William Ray Svoboda was an American football linebacker who played nine seasons in the National Football League for the Chicago Cardinals and New York Giants. He played college football at Tulane University and was drafted in the third round of the 1950 NFL Draft. Svoboda died after suffering a...
:'The first team to score, field goal, safety, or touchdown, will win the game, and the game will be over.'
Don Maynard
Don Maynard
Donald Rogers Maynard is a former American football player who played collegiately for Texas Western College and professionally with the National Football League's New York Giants and the American Football League's New York Jets and the World Football League's Shreveport Steamer.After having been...
received the opening kickoff for the Giants and fumbled the catch, but recovered it on the Giants 20 yard line. After a three-and-out series, the Giants punted. On their ensuing drive, Baltimore drove 80 yards in 13 plays (all called by QB Johnny Unitas) on a tired NY defense. Ameche made several critical plays on the drive, catching an 8-yard pass on 3rd and 8 from the Colts 33, and later rushing 22 yards to the Giants 20-yard line. Berry also made a big impact, catching two passes for 33 yards, including a 12-yard reception on the New York 8. Following a 1-yard run by Ameche and a 6-yard catch by tight end Jim Mutscheller
Jim Mutscheller
Jim 'Bucky' Mutscheller is a former professional American football player who played tight end for nine seasons for the Baltimore Colts...
, Ameche scored on a third down 1-yard touchdown run to win the game, 23–17. This drive is considered one of the best in NFL history.
During overtime, when the Colts were on the eight-yard line of the Giants, someone ran out onto the field of Yankee Stadium, causing the game to be delayed. Rumor has it, it was actually an NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
employee who was ordered to create a distraction because the national television feed had gone dead. The difficulty was the result of an unplugged TV signal cable, and the delay in the game bought NBC enough time to fix the problem before the next play.
Scoring summary
- NYG – FG Summerall 36 3–0 NYG
- BAL – Ameche 2 run (Myhra kick) 7–3 BAL
- BAL – Berry 15 pass from Unitas (Myhra kick) 14–3 BAL
- NYG – Triplett 1 run (Summerall kick) 14–10 BAL
- NYG – Gifford 15 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick) 17–14 NYG
- BAL – FG Myhra 20 17–17 TIE
- BAL – Ameche 1 run 23–17 BAL
Players in the Hall of Fame
Seventeen individuals (including coaches and administration) who were involved in this game are members of the Pro Football Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. They are:
New York Giants
- OL Rosey BrownRosey BrownRoosevelt "Rosey" Brown, Jr. was an American football offensive lineman in the National Football League for the New York Giants from 1953 to 1965....
- HB Frank GiffordFrank GiffordFrancis Newton "Frank" Gifford is a Hall of Fame former American football player and American sportscaster.-Early life:Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California, the son of Lola Mae and Weldon Gifford, an oil driller....
- LB Sam HuffSam HuffRobert Lee "Sam" Huff is a former American football linebacker in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1982....
- WR Don MaynardDon MaynardDonald Rogers Maynard is a former American football player who played collegiately for Texas Western College and professionally with the National Football League's New York Giants and the American Football League's New York Jets and the World Football League's Shreveport Steamer.After having been...
- DE Andy RobustelliAndy RobustelliAndrew Richard "Andy" Robustelli was an American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants. He played college football at Arnold College and was drafted in the nineteenth round of the 1951 NFL Draft...
- DB Emlen TunnellEmlen TunnellEmlen Lewis Tunnell was an American football player. He was the first African American to play for the New York Giants, and was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1967. He played in the National Football League for the Giants and Green Bay Packers...
- Offensive Coordinator Vince LombardiVince LombardiVincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
- Defensive Coordinator Tom LandryTom LandryThomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...
- Owner Tim MaraTim MaraTimothy James "Tim" Mara was the founder and administrator for the New York Giants of the National Football League. The Giants', under Mara, would win NFL championships in 1934, 1938, and 1956 and divisional titles in 1933, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1958, 1959.-Early life:Mara was born into poverty...
- Vice President / Secretary Wellington MaraWellington MaraWellington Timothy Mara was the co-owner of the NFL's New York Giants from 1959 until his death, and one of the most influential and iconic figures in the history of the National Football League. He was the younger son of Tim Mara, who founded the Giants in 1925...
Baltimore Colts
- WR Raymond BerryRaymond BerryRaymond Emmett Berry is a former football wide receiver. He played for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins. He later had a career in coaching, highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots...
- DL Art DonovanArt DonovanArthur Donovan, Jr. is a former American football defensive tackle, better known as Art 'How much does dat guy weigh?' Donovan, who played for three National Football League teams, most notably the Baltimore Colts...
- DL Gino MarchettiGino MarchettiGino John Marchetti is a former professional American football player in the National Football League. A defensive end, he played in 1952 for the Dallas Texans and from 1953 to 1966 for the Baltimore Colts.-Early years:...
- HB/WR Lenny MooreLenny MooreLeonard Edward Moore is a former American football halfback who played for Penn State in college and the Baltimore Colts. He came to the Colts in 1956, and had a productive first pro season and was named the NFL Rookie of The Year...
- OL Jim ParkerJim Parker (American football)James Thomas "Jim" Parker was a college and professional American football player in the 1950s and '60s. He is a member of the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame.-College career:...
- QB Johnny UnitasJohnny UnitasJohn Constantine Unitas , known as Johnny Unitas or "Johnny U", and nicknamed "The Golden Arm", was a professional American football player in the 1950s through the 1970s, spending the majority of his career with the Baltimore Colts. He was a record-setting quarterback, and the National Football...
- Head Coach Weeb Ewbank
Aftermath
An estimated 45 million people watched the game on television in the United States. This audience could have been even greater except that because of NFL restrictions, the game was blacked out in the greater New York City area. Still, the impact from this game is far reaching. One year later, Texas billionaire Lamar HuntLamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt was an American sportsman and promoter of American football, soccer, basketball, and ice hockey in the United States and an inductee into three sports' halls of fame. He was one of the founders of the American Football League and Major League Soccer , as well as MLS predecessor the...
would form the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
, which began play with 8 teams in the 1960 season. The growth of the popularity of the sport, through franchise expansion, the eventual merger with the AFL
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
, and popularity on television, is commonly credited to this game, making it a turning point in the history of football.
The game is, to date, the only NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
championship game ever decided in overtime. The drive by Baltimore at the end of regulation, with Unitas leading the team quickly down the field to set up the game-tying field goal, is often cited as the first instance of a "Two Minute Drill", for which Unitas became famous.
The Baltimore head coach was Weeb Ewbank. He would coach Baltimore to a second straight championship game win over New York the next season
NFL Championship Game, 1959
The 1959 National Football League Championship Game was played on December 27, 1959 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. The game was a rematch of the 1958 championship game that went into overtime. The 1959 game was the 27th annual NFL championship game...
. Ewbank would eventually be fired from the Colts, and would take the job of head coach for the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
. Ewbank led the Jets to victory over the Colts in Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl". This game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history...
, also considered a monumental victory in the history of pro football.
The Giants head coach was Jim Lee Howell
Jim Lee Howell
James Lee Howell was an American football player and coach for the National Football League's New York Giants. Howell was born in Arkansas and played college football and basketball at the University of Arkansas. He was drafted by the Giants in the 1937 NFL Draft and played wide receiver and...
, and he was aided by two coordinators who went on to greatness themselves. The defensive coordinator was Tom Landry
Tom Landry
Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods...
, who left the team in 1960 to take over the then-expansion Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
and led them to two Super Bowl championships. The offensive coordinator was Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
, who left the team following the game to take the head coaching position with the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. Lombardi led the Packers to five championships in the 1960s, including the first two Super Bowls, and had the Super Bowl Trophy
Vince Lombardi Trophy
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl.-History:...
named after him after his death.
Writer Mark Bowden
Mark Bowden
Not to be confused with Mark Bowden, U.N. Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Somalia.Mark Robert Bowden is an American writer and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he is a 1973 graduate of Loyola University Maryland...
, at the urging of his editor Morgan Entrekin
Morgan Entrekin
Morgan Entrekin is the president and publisher of Grove/Atlantic Inc. Books in New York City. He is one of six owners of the publishing company. He is from Nashville, Tennessee.-Timeline:...
, set out to write a book about the game in 2006, looking ahead then to the 50th anniversary. Bowden credited Sports Illustrated writer Tex Maule
Tex Maule
Hamilton Prieleaux Bee Maule, commonly known as Tex Maule was the lead American football writer for Sports Illustrated in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.-Career:...
with the "best game ever" phrase which he chose for his book title. Eagles' coach Andy Reid
Andy Reid
Andrew Walter "Andy" Reid is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, a post he has held since 1999. Since 2001, he has also been the team's executive vice president of football operations...
helped him analyze the film footage he was able to secure. Bowden said that while many who played in the game whom he interviewed (particularly Giants) maybe quibbled with the "best" characterization, they, "to a man, remark[ed] on how radically the popularity of the game jumped after that season." Bowden dedicated his book to David Halberstam
David Halberstam
David Halberstam was an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and historian, known for his early work on the Vietnam War, his work on politics, history, the Civil Rights Movement, business, media, American culture, and his later sports journalism.-Early life and education:Halberstam...
. Halberstam's book The Fifties provided source information and context for The Best Game Ever, and Halberstam's sports books also were inspiring to Bowden. Asked about any insight writing the book had given him, Bowden remarked in part, "I wonder, if you got a group of New York Giants from 2006 or ’07 together 50 years from now, whether you would get the same sort of hilarity and knee-slapping comradeship that you find still exists among these [surviving 1958-game-veteran] players."
Documentary
ESPNESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
presented this game to a national audience on December 13, 2008. This presentation is a two-hour documentary which includes restored footage with colorization as well as a living room approach which included players past and present and fans. This was put together by ESPN Films and NFL Films
NFL Films
NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...
. Expert Jeffrey Muttart was asked to reconstruct the controversial call on the field, and after research and utilization of today's technology, he denied the Giant's first down (therefore, the call made by the officials was correct).
Final statistics
Source:The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football, (1973), p. 111, Macmillan Publishing Co. New York, NY, LCCN 73-3862Statistical comparison
| Baltimore Colts | New York Giants | |
|---|---|---|
| First downs | 27 | 10 |
| First downs rushing | 9 | 3 |
| First downs passing | 17 | 7 |
| First downs penalty | 1 | 0 |
| Total yards | 460 | 266 |
| Passing yards | 322 | 178 |
| Passing – Completions-attempts | 26–40 | 12–18 |
| Passing – Yards per attempt | 8.1 | 9.9 |
| Interceptions-return yards | 0–0 | 1–5 |
| Rushing yards | 138 | 88 |
| Rushing attempts | 39 | 31 |
| Yards per rush | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| Penalties-yards | 3–15 | 2–22 |
| Fumbles-lost | 2–2 | 6–4 |
| Punts-Average | 4–50.8 | 6–45.6 |