December 24, 1950: The Cleveland Browns Make Their Point

The winning field goal, kicked by Groza, then wearing Number 50.

He would later switch to 76, which the Browns retired for him.

Note the snow on the field.

December 24, 1950, 75 years ago: The NFL Championship Game is held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The weather was bitterly cold, but the action was hot.

In 1945, the Cleveland Rams had won the NFL Championship, but had low attendance. Team owner Dan Reeves (no relation to the later NFL coach of the same name) moved them to Los Angeles, where they became a runaway success at the box office, and on the field as well. In 1949, they won the NFL Western Division, and reached the NFL Championship Game. But, contrary to the image of sunny Southern California, a rainstorm hit the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and the Rams lost to the Philadelphia Eagles.

They played the 1950 season as if on a benzedrine kick, with the most potent offense the NFL has ever seen. The "Greatest Show On Turf" that the St. Louis version of the Rams had half a century later had noting on this bunch.

Alternating quarterbacks between Bob Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin, their runners included former Army Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis, Verda Thomas Smith (known as V.T. or "Vitamin"), Dick Hoerner, early black star "Deacon" Dan Towler, and one of the earliest NFL players from a "historically black" school, Paul "Tank" Younger of Grambling State University in Louisiana. Waterfield and Van Brocklin could throw to any of them, and to receivers Tom Fears and Elroy Hirsch, who was so fast, he was nicknamed "Crazy Legs."

The Rams went 9-3, and one of the losses was a 56-20 embarrassment against the Eagles. The other 2 losses came against the Chicago Bears. But on October 22, 1950, the Rams answered this question: "What would happen if the best offense in NFL history played the worst defense in NFL history?" The Rams ended up scoring more points per game in a season than any other, and the Baltimore Colts ended up allowing more per game than any other. Result: Rams 70, Colts 27. To this day, it's still the 3rd-highest-scoring single-game performance in NFL history. In addition, they hung 65 point on the Detroit Lions, 51 and 45 on the Green Bay Packers, 45 and 43 on the New York Yanks (not "Yankees"), and 35 on the San Francisco 49ers.

But the Cleveland Browns could match them for firepower. After winning the All-America Football Conference in all 4 seasons of its existence, 1946 to 1949, the Browns were invited to join the NFL from it, as were the 49ers and the Colts. The opening game of the 1950 season was against the defending Champion Eagles, in Philadelphia, and the Browns embarrassed the allegedly superior league's top team, 35-10.

Head coach Paul Brown was an offensive genius, and he built a team to carry out that genius: Quarterback Otto Graham, running back Marion Motley, and ends Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli were weapons that any team would be lucky to have. Blocking for them were guard Bill Willis and tackles Lou Groza and Mike McCormack. All of these men would join Brown in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Motley and Willis were the men who provided the premiering AAFC with its racial integration, as the Rams' Kenny Washington and Woody Strode had done for the NFL. Alas, by 1950, neither Washington nor Strode was still with the Rams, but Younger and Towler were.

The Browns went 10-2, their only losses to the New York Giants, by a total of 10 points. In addition to the 35 they scored on the Eagles, they scored 45 each on the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Washington Redskins, 34 each on the 49ers and the Chicago Cardinals, and 31 on the Colts.

The Rams and the Browns won their respective Divisions, and, as it was the Eastern Division Champion's turn to host the NFL Championship Game, they met in Cleveland on a frigid Christmas Eve on the shore of Lake Erie. It was the team that did make it in Cleveland vs. the one that didn't in spite of bringing the city a title. It was also the 1st game back in Cleveland for the Rams, as the NFL did not yet allow crossover games from one Division to the other, except in the Championship Game.

The Rams wasted no time: On their 1st play from scrimmage, Waterfield passed to Davis, and he went 82 yards for a 7-0 Ram lead. The Browns responded with their own touchdown, but the Rams came back with another, leading 14-7 at the end of the 1st quarter.

The Browns scored a touchdown in the 2nd quarter, but a high snap caused Groza, also the team's main kicker, to miss the extra point. Waterfield, also the Rams' main kicker, attempted a field goal as the half ran out, from only 15 yards, but the stiff wind blasting in off the lake stopped it, and it was 14-13 Los Angeles.

In the 3rd quarter, Graham threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Lavelli, giving the Browns a 20-14 lead. But the Rams scored 2 touchdowns, and it was 28-20 Rams after 3 quarters. With 10 minutes to go, the Browns faced 3 4th-down conversion attempts, and made them all. Graham threw another touchdown pass, and it was 28-27 Rams.

With 1:49 left, the Browns got the ball on their own 31-yard line. Graham threw for 1st downs, and ran for 2 of them himself. With 28 seconds left, Groza was sent on to attempt a 16-yard field goal. It was perfect, and it was 30-28 Cleveland. The Rams had 1 more chance, but could do nothing with it. The Browns had won, in their 1st season in the League, and, by staying in the city, gave Cleveland its 1st pro football championship defenders since the 1924 Cleveland Bulldogs.

Paul Brown called it the best game he ever saw, and never changed his mind. NFL Commissioner Bert Bell, who had orchestrated the sort-of-merger between the NFL and the AAFC, called the Browns "the greatest team ever to play football." The Browns may have dominated an inferior league, but now, they had won the superior one. They had made their point.

But it is more than that: By being the winning coach, Paul Brown, having coached Ohio State in 1942, became 1st head coach ever to win both a college football National Championship and an NFL Championship. It would take until the Super Bowl era before that happened again: Jimmy Johnson, with 1987 Miami and the 1993 and 1994 Dallas Cowboys; Barry Switzer, 1974, 1975 and 1985 Oklahoma and the 1996 Cowboys; and Pete Carroll, 2003 and 2004 USC and the 2014 Seattle Seahawks.

In 1981, historian John Thorn left his comfort zone, baseball, and published Pro Football's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game.

The same teams faced each other again the following year. But in 1951, at the Coliseum, the Rams beat the Browns for Los Angeles' 1st major league sports championship. They would play each other again in 1955, with the Browns winning in L.A. It would be Graham's last game, as he retired. The Browns had been to the AAFC or NFL Championship Game every year for 10 straight years. After missing in 1956, they made it 11 out of 12 in 1957. They beat the Detroit Lions in 1954, but lost to them in 1952, '53 and '57.

The fact that the Browns', the Lions', and the Chicago (now Arizona) Cardinals' titles came before the advent of the Super Bowl means that they get discounted: Even before the distance of time became what it is now, NFL fans have come to regard any title won before the Super Bowl, NFL or AFL, as not a "real" championship. This is unfair: A title is a title.

October 21 & 22, 1975: The Carlton Fisk Game... and the Joe Morgan Game

October 21, 1975, 50 years ago: I wrote a post for the entirety of the month of October 1975, for the 50th Anniversary of a month in which so much happened. But this is one of the most talked-about games in baseball history, and is worth a separate post.

In The Curse of the Bambino, his somewhat skewed history of his beloved Boston Red Sox, Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy called it "a brilliant autumn day in New England," following a 3-day delay for rain. Brilliant though the Tuesday afternoon may have been, Game 6 of the 1975 World Series is played at night at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox, Champions of the American League after winning its Eastern Division and beating the 3-time defending World Champions, the Oakland Athletics, in the AL Championship Series, trail the Cincinnati Reds, a.k.a. the Big Red Machine, Champions of the National League after winning its Western Division and beating the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, 3 games to 2, and must win to force a Game 7.

The Sox haven't won the World Series in 57 years, including a loss as recently as 1967. The Reds haven't won the World Series in 35 years, including 2 Series losses in this decade already. Boston is looking for its 1st title since 1918; Cincinnati, for its 1st since 1940. Both teams need it badly. Something's gotta give.

Just 14 years later, Shaughnessy wrote, "Game Six has taken on a life of its own in the years since it was played, and it gets larger and more thrilling in each retelling. Some distance allows that there may be other contenders for the title of The Greatest Game Ever Played, but by any measure, 1975's Game Six will stand as one of the top ten games in World Series history, and one that came at a time when baseball needed it most." Shaughnessy was right.

In The New Yorker magazine, Roger Angell wrote, "Game Six... what can we say of it without seeming to diminish it by recapitulation or dull it with detail?" Roger, one of the greatest writers ever on the subject of baseball, was wrong on this one: The details are necessary.

Due to the rain, Sox manager Darrell Johnson was able to start Luis Tiant, winner of Games 1 and 4, on full rest. Reds manager Sparky Anderson started Gary Nolan. Fred Lynn, who, that season, became the 1st player ever to be awarded his league's Rookie of the Year and its Most Valuable Player award in the same season, hit a home run that gave the Sox a 3-0 lead in the 1st inning, and Tiant pitched shutout ball through 4.

But, as they would say in English soccer, Three-nil, and they fucked it up. The Reds got 2 men on in the 5th, and Ken Griffey Sr. sent Lynn to the wall. Lynn crashed, telling NBC's Bob Costas years later that he'd hurt his ribs, and that, for a moment, he was barely conscious and couldn't feel his legs. Griffey's triple scored 2 runs, and then Johnny Bench singled Griffey home to tie the game. A 2-run double by George Foster in the 7th and a solo homer by Cesar Geronimo in the 8th gave the Reds a 6-3 lead, with just 6 outs to go for the title.

Typical Boston choke, leading to a Reds win? As ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!" Six-three, and they fucked it up. In the bottom of the 8th, Reds reliever Pedro Borbon (who, like Griffey, would later see his son and namesake play in the major leagues) gave up a single to Lynn and a walk to Rico Petrocelli.

Sparky brought in Rawley Eastwick, who struck out Dwight Evans and got Rick Burleson to line out to left. He got 2 strikes on Bernie Carbo, a former Red, pinch-hitting for pitcher Roger Moret (who had relieved Tiant in the 8th), but Carbo drove one to dead center, and tied it up.

In the bottom of the 9th, Denny Doyle drew a leadoff walk. Carl Yastrzemski singled him over to 3rd. Sparky brought in reliever Will McEnaney, and had him intentionally walk Carlton Fisk. Did Sparky have a premonition? If so, it didn't help him later on.

Lynn flew to left, and Foster threw home. Doyle tagged up and broke for home, because he thought Sox 3rd-base coach Don Zimmer was telling him, "Go, go, go!" In fact, Zim was saying, "No, no, no!" Doyle was out at the plate. Had he scored, winning it for the Sox right there, this would still have been a superb game, but not the legendary game that it became -- except within New England. Outside those 6 States, few baseball fans would have ranked it as an all-time great game. Instead, it went to extra innings.

Dave Concepcion singled and stole 2nd with 1 out in the top of the 10th, but Sox reliever Dick Drago stranded him. Pat Darcy sent the Sox down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 10th.

Pete Rose led off the top of the 11th, and turned to Sox catcher Fisk, and said, "Can you believe this game?" (Some sources have Rose's comment as, "Some kind of a game, isn't it?") Fisk may not have taken kindly to that, because Drago -- who would bean Thurman Munson in a Yanks-Sox game at Fenway 3 years later -- hit Rose with a pitch.

Griffey bunted, and, unlike the Ed Armbrister play in Game 3, did not even appear to interfere with Fisk, who threw Rose out at 2nd. With Griffey on 1st and 1 out, Joe Morgan, who would be named the NL's MVP that season and the next, drove the ball to right field, and at Fenway the right-field fence was, and remains, only 3 feet high. Evans reached over the fence to make a great catch, and then started a double play, throwing to Yaz, who threw to Burleson who had run over to cover 1st, to eliminate Griffey and end the Reds' rally.

The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the 11th. In the top of the 12th, Tony Pérez and Foster singled off Rick Wise, but Wise stranded them.

At 12:34 AM on October 22, 1975, Fisk led off the bottom of the 12th against Darcy, and hit a 1-0 pitch down the left-field line. It had enough distance. But would it be fair? Or would it be foul? Fisk, as though it would actually influence the flight of the ball, waved his arms to his right. The ball hit the pole near its top, for a home run. Final score, Boston 7, Cincinnati 6. The Series was tied, and would go to a Game 7.

John Kiley, the organist at Fenway Park (and also at the Boston Garden, thus the answer to the corny old trivia question about "the only man to play for the Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins"), played George Friedrich Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus." Then he played "Stout-Hearted Men." Then he played "The Beer Barrel Polka." ("Roll out the barrel, we'll have a barrel of fun.") Then he played "Seventy-six Trombones" from the Broadway musical The Music Man. (I have no idea why he played that one.)

The shot of Fisk thinking he can wave the ball fair, which I've dubbed the Fenway Twist, is the most familiar clip in the history of televised sports. (As they had with every World Series since 1947, NBC was televising it, although they would begin to alternate with ABC starting with the 1977 season, until 1989.)

From seeing this clip so much, and hearing so much talk about Game 6 of '75 from Red Sox fans, a reasonable person might have asked (through 2004 anyway), "Wait a minute. The Red Sox haven't won the World Series since 1918. That means... they lost Game 7! So why do people make such a big deal about this homer?" Well, it won one game, not a World Series, but it was still one of sports' greatest epics.

Game 6 of the 1975 World Series has been called "The Greatest Baseball Game Ever Played" by many people. Certainly, it is in the discussion, along with Game 8 in 1912 (Game 2 was tied when called due to darkness), Game 7 in 1924, Game 7 in 1960, and Game 7 in 1991, and also with the 1951 Giant-Dodger Playoff and the 1978 Yanks-Sox Playoff.

In 1981, baseball historian John Thorn published Baseball's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as one of them. In 2010, the MLB Network listed this game on top of their list of MLB's 20 Greatest Games -- limited in scope, due to the availability of surviving videotape, to 1975 onward. Due to the timing -- 1975 to 1980 -- along with the Bucky Dent Game, it was 1 of 2 games to make both lists.

Dick Stockton, born in Philadelphia but grew up in Queens, then the 32-year-old lead broadcaster on Sox games for WSBK-Channel 39, and previously for Boston Celtics games on WBZ-Channel 4, then an NBC station, was the lead broadcaster for NBC in this Series.

A 22-year-old writer from Quincy named Lesley Visser was part of The Boston Globe's coverage. Stockton and Visser would both go on to become key cogs in CBS Sports' programming. Supposedly, they met on this night. Other sources say they met at another Boston-based event in 1982. Either way, they married in 1983, but got divorced in 2010, and each has since married someone else.

And, of course, this game has also been cited in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting, discussed by the characters played by Robin Williams and Matt Damon.

Of course, as Shaughnessy pointed out in his book, in the 1986 World Series, Game 6 would prove disastrous for the Red Sox. So now, if you're in New England, or in the presence of a Red Sox fan anywhere else, and you say the words, "Game Six," they have to ask, "Which one?"

*

October 22, 1975: Just 20 hours after Fisk's home run finished Game 6, the Reds and the Red Sox have to play Game 7 of the World Series at Fenway Park, to decide the championship of the baseball world. And, while not talked about as much, and with a less dramatic ending, Game 7 would also be an absolute classic.

Before the game, Reds manager Sparky Anderson says of his starter, Don Gullett, "No matter what happens in this game, my starter's going to the Hall of Fame." Told by the reporters that Anderson had said that, Red Sox starter Bill Lee says, "No matter what happens in this game, I'm going to the Eliot Lounge."

The Eliot was a popular Boston watering hole, at the convenient intersection of Massachusetts and Commonwealth Avenues, known for local athletes dining and drinking there. Essentially, it was Boston's answer to Toots Shor's in New York or The Pump Room in Chicago. But since its closing in 1996, people who knew it well have argued that it was not a "sports bar," as if that term diminishes what the Eliot meant to the sports fans of Boston.

The Sox take a 3-0 lead in the 3rd, just as they had in Game 6. And, just as they had in Game 6, as they would say in English soccer, "Three-nil, and you fucked it up." Lee decided to try a blooper pitch against Pérez, and the man known as Big Doggie crushes it, sending it well over the Green Monster. That makes it 3-2 Boston.

Lee allows another run – some sources say he'd developed a blister, or maybe I'm confusing this with Roger Clemens in 1986 – and the game is tied.

Jim Willoughby finishes up the 7th for Boston, and also pitches the 8th. But in the 9th, Sox manager Darrell Johnson pinch-hits Cecil Cooper for Willoughby. Johnson brings in Jim Burton to pitch, and Burton allows 2 runners. Joe Morgan, about to win the 1st of back-to-back National League Most Valuable Player awards, and maybe the best all-around player in baseball at this point, singles up the middle to bring home Ken Griffey Sr. to make it 4-3 Cincinnati. 

Joe Morgan

Will McEnaney takes the mound for the bottom of the 9th. He gets Juan Beníquez to fly out to right. He gets Bob Montgomery to ground out to short. (Montgomery will retire after the 1979 season, making him the last remaining player, "grandfathered in" under the rule, to bat without wearing a batting helmet.) Carl Yastrzemski, the Boston Captain, the man Sox fans most wanted to see come to the plate as the tying run with 1 out to go, come to the plate. But McEnaney gets Yaz fly out to center fielder César Gerónimo to end it.

The Reds thus win their 3rd World Series, but their 1st in 35 years. The Red Sox have now gone 57 years without winning one, and New England will have to wait.

Many Sox fans wonder what could have been: If Johnson hadn't brought in Dick Drago and blown Lee's 2-1 lead in the 9th in Game 2; if Ed Armbrister hadn't interfered with Carlton Fisk in Game 3; if umpire Larry Barnett had called interference on that play; if the Sox hadn't blown a 1-0 lead in the 4th in Game 5; if Lee hadn't thrown the blooper to Pérez; if Johnson hadn't pinch-hit for Willoughby; if Johnson had relieved Willoughby with someone other than Burton; and if rookie outfielder Jim Rice hadn't been injured late in the regular season, rendering him unavailable for the Series...

But, between that blooper pitch and his horrid performance in the Summer of 1978, which caused the next Red Sox manager, Don Zimmer, to drop him from the starting rotation -- personal feelings had nothing to do with it -- Bill Lee is more responsible for the Red Sox not winning the World Series in the 1970s, possibly even for the entirety of the 86-year drought, than any single person. Sox fans choose not to consider this, because no Sox player has ever hated the Yankees more, and thus they love him.

This Series has been regarded as one of the best ever, maybe the best. For the Red Sox, Yastrzemski, Fisk and Rice have been elected to the Hall of Fame, and some people think Tiant and Evans should also be elected. For the Reds, Anderson, Morgan, Pérez and Bench have been elected; and Rose, named MVP of this Series, would have been elected to the Hall if he hadn't been caught betting on baseball.

However, despite Anderson's prediction, his Game 7 starter, Don Gullett, developed a shoulder problem, and a promising career was cut short, and he did not achieve election to the Hall. He did, however, help the Reds win the Series again the next year, and then signed with the Yankees as a free agent, and won another, before his shoulder injury ended his career in 1978.

The Reds repeated as World Champions in 1976, sweeping the Yankees in the World Series. Then "The Big Red Machine" began to be broken up by management. It would take until 1990 for them to rebuild and win another Pennant and World Series. Through 2025, they have never won another.

The Red Sox would go through close calls in 1977, 1978, 1986, 1999 and 2003 -- the '78 and '86 editions being particularly painful -- before finally winning the World Series in 2004. And again in 2007. And again in 2013. Each time, aided by steroids. They won again in 2018. That time, aided by Apple Watches.

For the 1975 World Champion Cincinnati Reds, 17 of their players are still alive. Johnny Bench, Tony Pérez, Dave Concepcion, George Foster, César Gerónimo, Ken Griffey Sr., Dan Driessen, Doug Flynn, Fred Norman, Will McEnaney, Gary Nolan, Jack Billingham, Rawly Eastwick, Darrel Chaney, Terry Crowley, Clay Carroll and Pat Darcy.

For the 1975 Boston Red Sox, there are 18 surviving players from their World Series roster: Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans, Rico Petrocelli, Rick Burleson, Cecil Cooper, Bernie Carbo, Bill Lee, Rick Wise, Juan Beníquez, Bob Montgomery, Tim Blackwell, Bob Heise, Rick Miller, Jim Willoughby and Dick Pole.

October 10, 1924: The Washington Senators Win the World Series

October 10, 1924, 100 years ago: With the score tied at 3-3 and one out in the bottom of the 12th in Game 7 of the World Series at Griffith Stadium in Washington, Muddy Ruel, catcher for the Washington Senators, lifts a high catchable foul pop-up, which New York Giants catcher Hank Gowdy misses when he stumbles over his own mask.

Given a second chance, Ruel doubles. Earl McNeely then hits a grounder that strikes a pebble, and soars over the head of rookie Giant 3rd baseman Freddie Lindstrom, and drives home Ruel with the winning run making the Senators World Champions.

Walter Johnson, who had brilliantly toiled 18 seasons for a team known as "Washington: First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," and had lost Games 1 and 4, pitched the 9th through 12th innings in relief, and not only had finally won a World Series game, but had won a World Series.

President Calvin Coolidge, running for a term in office in his own right after succeeding the late Warren Harding the year before, and his wife Grace were in attendance. He didn't like baseball, but Grace did.

The Senators had their 1st World Championship in 24 years of trying. Outfielder George "Showboat" Fisher was the last survivor of the 1924 Senators, living until 1994, age 95. It took 95 years for another Washington baseball team has won another postseason series, but Nationals, having squandered National League Eastern Division titles in 2012, '14, '16 and '17, won the 2019 World Series.

In 1981, baseball historian John Thorn published Baseball's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as one of them.

December 17, 1933: The 1st NFL Championship Game

Hewitt's lateral to Karr

December 17, 1933, 90 years ago: The 1st official NFL Championship Game is played. Appropriately, it's between the League's founding team, the Chicago Bears; and its team in the biggest market, the New York Giants.

There had been controversies for the League title in 1921 and 1925, so having a definitive title game would have helped. In 1932, the Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans (who became the Detroit Lions in 1934) finished tied for first: The Bears were 6-1-6, the Spartans 6-1-4. (At the time, ties were not counted in winning percentage.) So a playoff game was set, and the Bears won it, 9-0.

So, for the 1933 season, the NFL was divided into Eastern and Western Divisions, and the winners were to meet in a Championship Game. The Giants won the East, going 11-3. The Bears won the West, 10-2-1. So the decider was set for Wrigley Field. (Until the Super Bowl began, regardless of which team had the better record, the West winners would host the game in odd-numbered years, and the East winners would do so in even-numbered years.

Coached by Steve Owen, the Giants had some fantastic players: Quarterback Harry Newman, running back Ken Strong, end Ray Flaherty, and the man regarded for decades to come as the best center in NFL history, Mel Hein.

George Halas, one of the co-founders of the NFL, coached the Bears. They had 2 of the defining players of NFL history, speedy halfback Harold "Red" Grange and bruising fullback Bronislau "Bronko" Nagurski. They also had center George Trafton, tackles Link Lyman and George Musso, and end Bill Hewitt, who famously played without a helmet, at a time when that was still allowed, even though everybody knew it was a bad idea. All of them are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Another difference in this new season was a liberalization of the passing rules. The Bears, the 1st NFL team to use the T formation, took advantage of this. The Giants had not done so as much. Nevertheless, when meeting with the officials before the game, Newman told them the Giants would be trying some trick plays, checking to ensure they would be legal.

The game kicked off at 1:45 PM Central Time (2:45 Eastern). It was broadcast on Chicago radio station WGN and a few other stations, but not on a national network. Nor was it broadcast on radio in New York.

Early in the game, the Giants' offensive line shifted, so that Hein was now on the end, and thus an eligible receiver. Hein snapped the ball to Newman, who handed it right back to him, then ran out to fake a run. While the Bears keyed on Newman, Hein took off. By the time the Bears caught on and caught up with him, he had gotten to the Bears' 15-yard line. But Chicago managed to, as their later fight song said "Bear Down," and hold the Giants to a field goal attempt, which the normally reliable Strong missed.

Jack Manders, so reliable he was known as "Automatic Jack," kicked field goals in each of the 1st 2 quarters, and the Bears led 6-0. But just before the half, Newman threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Badgro, and the Giants went into the locker room up 7-6.

Manders kicked another field goal in the 3rd quarter, but a Giant drive resulted in Max Krause scoring from the 1-yard line, making it 14-9 New York. Finally, late in the quarter, Nagurski, not known as a passer, or as a jumper -- his style was to take the ball, crash into the line, and let the defenders fall where they may -- threw a jump pass to Bill Karr, who ran it in 8 yards for a touchdown, and the Bears led, 16-14.

The Giants had another trick play in them, early in the 4th quarter. Newman took off on a 30-yard run, then lateraled to Strong, who finished the touchdown, and then kicked the extra point. It was 21-16 Giants.

The minutes ticked away, and another Manders field goal would have done the Bears no good. Quarterback Carl Brumbaugh drove them to the Giants' 36 with less than 2 minutes left. He passed to Hewitt, and the Giant defense was ready to tackle him. But pulled the "hook and ladder play": He spun and lateraled to Karr, who took it in for a touchdown. The Bears led, 23-21.

The Giants got the ball back, and there was still time for them to get within Strong's field goal range. They got to their own 40, and again set Hein up as an eligible receiver. Running back Dale Burnett tried an option pass, and Hein was wide open on the Bear 30. But the pass was a bad one, and fell well short.

There was time for one more play. Newman passed to Badgro, who was ready to copy the earlier Hewitt-to-Karr hook and ladder. But this was the era of two-platoon football, where, no matter how big a star you were, you had to play both offense and defense. And there was no bigger star in football than Grange. He immediately figured out what was about to happen, and ran to Badgro, and wrapped his arms around Badgro's arms. Any lateral Badgro made wouldn't go very far. The clock ran out. Halas, eventually the grand old man of football, would later call it the greatest defensive play he ever saw.

The Bears were NFL Champions for the 3rd time, having won it in controversial fashion in 1921, and then definitively in 1932. The Giants had won in 1927, and would get revenge over the Bears in 1934, in the Polo Grounds, in a frigid contest known as The Sneaker Game.

These 2 teams would also meet in the NFL Championship Game in 1941, 1946, 1956 and 1963, with the Giants winning only in 1956. They've since met in the NFC Playoffs in the seasons of 1985, with the Bears winning; and 1990, with the Giants winning; and, each time, it was a good omen, as the winner went on to win the Super Bowl.

In 1981, John Thorn left his comfort zone, baseball, and published Pro Football's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as the earliest of them.