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| Date | December 26, 1955 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, California | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 87,695 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Kelley,Ken Coleman | ||||||||||||||||||
The1955 NFL Championship Game was the 23rdleague championship game, played on December 26 at theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum inLos Angeles,California.[1][2][3]
It was between the Eastern Conference championCleveland Browns (9–2–1), thedefending league champions, and theLos Angeles Rams (8–3–1), champions of the Western Conference. The attendance of 87,695 broke the NFL championship game record by nearly 30,000. This was the first NFL championship game played on a Monday and the first televised byNBC. In their sixth consecutive NFL title game, the Browns were six-point favorites.[4][5]
The Browns successfully defended the title and won their third NFL championship of the 1950s in a second straight rout, 38–14.[2][3] Their next (and most recent) league title was in1964, 61 years ago.
This was the Rams' fourth title game in seven seasons, with one victory in1951. They did not reach the league's big game again untilSuper Bowl XIV in January 1980, and did not win untilSuper Bowl XXXIV in January 2000, as theSt. Louis Rams.
Browns veteranLou Groza kicked off; Rams rookie halfbackRon Waller returned the kick, and Groza himself made the tackle. A subsequent Rams drive was stopped at the Cleveland 12 whenKenny Konz intercepted aNorm Van Brocklin pass.
Browns quarterbackOtto Graham, who had announced his retirement at the end of the season, drove Cleveland to the L.A. 26 where Groza's FG gave the Browns a 3–0 first quarter lead. The Browns scored again when DBDon Paul intercepted Van Brocklin's pass on the Browns 35 and raced 65 yards for a touchdown, making the score 10–0.
The Rams answered back when Van Brocklin connected with halfbackVolney "Skeet" Quinlan for a 67-yard touchdown, pulling the Rams to within 3 points, 10–7, and giving the large crowd hopes of an upset. But late in the second period, Van Brocklin threw his third interception of the half; defensive back Tom James, who had been beaten on the Rams'Tom Fears' title-winning touchdown on the same field four years earlier, grabbed the errant pass and took the ball back to midfield with time running out. The next play turned a close game into a rout; Otto Graham foundDante Lavelli with a 50-yard touchdown pass along the sideline and the Rams, who moments earlier were driving to take the lead, went to the locker room down 17–7.
Graham earned his place as the star of the game. After moving the Browns from the L.A. 46, Graham kept the ball and ran around right end from the 19 and scored to put the Browns ahead 24–7. On Los Angeles's next possession,Sam Palumbo intercepted Van Brocklin at the Ram 36. Graham drove the Browns to the 4, then scored himself on a sneak. Groza's conversion increased Cleveland's lead to 31–7 with two minutes left in the third quarter.
In the final period, Graham tossed a 35-yard touchdown pass toRay Renfro and Groza's kick gave the Browns a 38–7 lead. Late in the game, Waller ran four yards for a touchdown andLes Richter's conversion finished the scoring. In the final minutes coach Brown sent in reserve quarterbackGeorge Ratterman and allowed Graham to leave the field to an ovation from the Los Angeles crowd.
Cleveland, with its third title of the decade, represented the American/Eastern Conference in the championship game every year since its admission to the NFL, celebrated Graham's farewell. The Rams' Van Brocklin, who threw six interceptions, often was quoted that it was the worst game of hishall of fame career.
Monday, December 26, 1955
Kickoff: 1 p.m.PST[4][5]
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The NFL added the fifthofficial, the back judge, in1947;[8] the line judge arrived in1965, and the side judge in1978.
The gross receipts for the game, including radio and television rights, were over$504,000, the highest to date. Each player on the winning Browns team received $3,508, while Rams players made $2,316 each.[2][9]
Heaton, Chuck (December 26, 1955)."87,695 See Browns Keep Title".Cleveland Plain Dealer. Archived fromthe original on October 1, 2012. RetrievedDecember 12, 2007.
34°00′50″N118°17′13″W / 34.014°N 118.287°W /34.014; -118.287