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| Date | December 30, 1962 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Yankee Stadium The Bronx, New York City,New York | ||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ray Nitschke (Linebacker; Green Bay) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Green Bay by 6½ to 7 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Emil Heintz | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 64,892 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Schenkel,Ray Scott | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ken Coleman,Ted Moore | ||||||||||||||||||
The1962 NFL Championship Game was the 30thNFL title game, played on December 30, 1962, atYankee Stadium inNew York City. It matched theNew York Giants (12–2) of the Eastern Conference andGreen Bay Packers (13–1) of the Western Conference, thedefending league champions.[2][3][4][5][6]
The Packers were led byhall of fame head coachVince Lombardi, in his fourth year, and the Giants byAllie Sherman, in his second season. Green Bay was favored by 6½ points.[7] The attendance for the game was 64,892,[4] and the weather during the game was so cold that television crews used bonfires to thaw out their cameras, and one cameraman sufferedfrostbite. The conditions also made throwing the ball difficult.[8]
Green Bay won 16–7, behind the performances of gameMost Valuable Player linebackerRay Nitschke, and fullbackJim Taylor.[3][4][5] Right guardJerry Kramer, filling in as placekicker for the injuredPaul Hornung,[2] scored ten points with three field goals and an extra point.[8] The Giants fumbled twice, with Nitschke recovering both for the Packers, while the Packers recovered all five of their own fumbles and intercepted a Giants pass.[9]
This was the third and final NFL title game played at Yankee Stadium; the others were in1956 and1958, with the Giants winning the first. The state next would host a league championship game intwo years later in Buffalo, while the borough ofQueens in New York City hosted once more when theNew York Jets hosted the1968 AFL Championship Game atShea Stadium in Queens, winning over theOakland Raiders.
Afterwards, the area commonly known as the NYC metropolitan area had a lengthy hosting drought, as the next league championship game was theSuper Bowl XLVIII on February 2014 atMetLife Stadium inEast Rutherford, New Jersey (commonly known as aninner suburb of New York City), which resulted in theSeattle Seahawks defeating theDenver Broncos 43–8.
Previous championship games hosted by the Giants in New York were played across theHarlem River at thePolo Grounds in1934,1938,1944, and1946; the Giants won the first two. An additional title game was played at the Polo Grounds in1936, hosted by theBoston Redskins and won by thePackers.
The 1962 game was a rematch of the1961 game, won by Green Bay at home, 37–0.[10] It was the Packers' third straight appearance in the championship game, and the Giants' fourth in five seasons, and fifth in the last seven.
Green Bay began the1962 season 10–0, including a 49–0 victory over thePhiladelphia Eagles, where they gained 628 yards to Philadelphia's 54.[11] Before the game, 10,000 fans at aNew York Knicks game inMadison Square Garden spontaneously began chanting "Beat Green Bay! Beat Green Bay!", and when the 18,000 tickets available to non-season ticket holders went on sale, they sold within three hours.[12]
Due to the NFL'sblackout policy which aimed to protect gate receipts, until1973, fans in a team's home market could not watch their team's regular season and playoff games on television, even if they were title games.[13] New York fans made reservations for motels inPennsylvania,New Jersey, andConnecticut so they could watch the game out of the 75-mile (120 km) blackout zone,[1][14] and even though the game was played in 17 °F (−8 °C) temperatures[5] with 35–40 mph (56–64 km/h) winds, only 299 of the 65,000+ Giant fans who bought tickets to the sold out game stayed home.[15]
Although the weather was temperate the previous day,[13] during the contest it became so cold due towind chill that a cameraman filming the game sufferedfrostbite, and television crews used dugout bonfires to thaw out their cameras.[16] BroadcasterArt Rust, Jr. later described the weather as "barbaric".[17] The cold conditions favored the Packers who used a run-oriented offense led by Taylor, while the Giants featured a more pass-heavy offense led by quarterbackY. A. Tittle who had passed for 3,224 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season.[13][18]
Ticket prices for the game at Yankee Stadium ranged from eight to twelvedollars ($68.11 to $100.13 in 2018 valuation).[2][19]
The wind caused the ball to be blown off the tee three times during the opening kickoff, and a Green Bay player had to hold the ball onto the tee soWillie Wood (later ejected for bumping back judgeTom Kelleher) could kick it off.[18] After aJerry Kramer field goal made the score 3–0 in favor of Green Bay in the first quarter, the Giants drove to the Green Bay 15 yard line behind short passes from Tittle. Tittle then tried to hit tight endJoe Walton near the goal line, but a timely Packer blitz by Forester and Nitschke allowed the latter to deflect the pass which was intercepted by fellow linebackerDan Currie. During most of the first and second quarter, the teams ran the ball for short gains. The Giants repeatedly hit Taylor hard, and he suffered cuts to his arm and tongue. Near halftime, the GiantsPhil King fumbled on their own 28, and Nitschke recovered. A halfback option pass fromPaul Hornung to flankerBoyd Dowler took the Packers to the Giants seven-yard line. On the following play Taylor used an outside fake before going back inside to run untouched into the end zone.[20]
The weather worsened by halftime and the wind swirled dust around the stadium, tearing apart the ballpark'sU.S. flag, and knocking over a television camera.[21] Passing became even more difficult; the longest pass of the day was a 25-yard one from Tittle to Walton.[17] After blocking aMax McGee punt and recovering it for a touchdown to pull the game to 10–7 in the third quarter, the Giants defense forced the Packers into a three and out on their next possession.Sam Horner fumbled on a punt return at the Giants 42-yard line however, and Nitschke recovered. Five plays later, Kramer kicked a field goal to make the score 13–7. Tittle, with the aid of two Packers penalties, then drove the Giants from their own 20 to the Green Bay 18 on the ensuing drive. New York then incurred two holding penalties, pushing them back to their own 40-yard line and ending their drive (holding penalties at the time were assessed from the spot of the foul). Led by Taylor, who repeatedly ran for key first downs, the Packers advanced the ball down to the New York end of the field, where Kramer kicked a third field goal (on five attempts) to make the score 16–7 with under two minutes to play.[21][22] Tittle led a desperation drive which ended at the Packer 7 as time ran out. Green Bay recovered all five of their fumbles during the game, while the Giants lost both of theirs.[18] Kramer had not played in theprevious year's title game, after a lower leg injury in late October sidelined him for the rest of the1961 season.
A few hours after this game, Nitschke, who was the game's Most Valuable Player,[23] appeared onCBS TV'sWhat's My Line? wearing thick eyeglasses and a dark, conservative suit to hide his size.[24] PanelistsMartin Gabel andBennett Cerf, both of whom were at the game and both Giants fans, recognized him.[25] As the game's outstanding player, Nitschke was awarded a1963Chevrolet Corvette bySport magazine.[26]
Ed Sabol's film company, Blair Motion Pictures, paid $3,000 for the film rights for the game; the company would later becomeNFL Films.
The 1962 Packers team is considered one of the best in NFL history. 11 members of the 1962 Packer team are in theHall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.[11]
Sunday, December 30, 1962
Kickoff: 2:05 p.m.EST[2]
The NFL had five game officials in1962; the line judge was added in1965 and the side judge in1978.
The gross receipts for the game, including$615,000 radio and television rights, were just under $1,243,000, the highest to date. Each player on the winning Packers team received $5,888, while Giants players made $4,166 each.[30]
I don't remember ever being hit so hard. I bled all game. They really came to play.
— Taylor, who rushed for 85 yards on 31 carries in the game.[21]
That was the only time all day they didn't kill me. It felt funny.
— Taylor, referring to his second-quarter touchdown run.[20]
That was the hardest football game I ever played in.
— Hornung[23]
It was the coach's backyard and his first time back in the big city in a playoff game. We knew how much it meant to him. There was considerable pressure and we understood it was going to be a substantial battle.
— Kramer, referring to Lombardi who was an offensive coach for Giants before becoming the Packers head coach.[13]
Several times we noted that the benches on the sideline, those heavy benches that they sat on over there, they were blown over during the course of the game.
— Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr[13]
The ball was like a diving duck. I threw one pass and it almost came back to me. The short ones worked, but the long ball broke up. We needed the long one.
— Tittle[31]
We knew it was going to be a hard-hitting game and that's what football was. It was a great game just as far as making tackles and just whacking guys. I'm sorry we lost. It was horrible.
— Giants defensive back Dick Lynch.[13]
We're still the better team.
— Frank Gifford[31]
40°49′37″N73°55′41″W / 40.827°N 73.928°W /40.827; -73.928