1961 NFL Championship

Lore & Background

This was the first NFL championship game held in Green Bay. The Packers' only other championship home game until then was 22 years earlier in 1939, played at the State Fair Park in West Allis outside Milwaukee. Both teams were eager to shed the 'runner-up' label. The Giants were in their third championship game in four years, falling in 1958 and 1959 to the Baltimore Colts, and the Packers had lost the title game in 1960 to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants' last league title was in 1956 and the Packers in 1944. Temperature at game time hovered at 20 °F (−7 °C) and for several days the field had been covered with a tarp, topped by a foot (30 cm) of hay. The covering was particularly significant as just two days before, the temperature dipped to −15 °F (−26 °C). All the Packers players used cleats and about half of the Giants players, led by head coach Allie Sherman, chose sneakers. Green Bay had defeated the Giants 20–17 four weeks earlier at County Stadium in Milwaukee to clinch the Western title before a record crowd of 47,012. Injured in late October, Packer right guard Jerry Kramer was sidelined for the remainder of the season. Forrest Gregg moved in from right tackle to guard, and Norm Masters started at right tackle.

In Their Own Story

Inside the huddle, Bart Starr and Paul Hornung watched their words turn to mist in the sub-zero air. Lombardi's voice cut through the cold, sharp as a whistle: 'One play at a time.' The Giants' defense looked imposing until the ball snapped. Suddenly, the Packers' line surged with surgical precision, carving a lane that seemed to materialize out of thin ice. Hornung took the handoff, lowered his shoulder, and crashed through the middle, leaving New York defenders grasping at empty air as the crowd erupted in a roar that drowned out the wind. It wasn't just a touchdown; it was the first step toward an inevitable 37–0 coronation.

Reader's Guide

The game was a 37–0 shutout, the fifth shutout in NFL Championship game history. Packers Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler, and Paul Hornung were on leave from the U.S. Army. Hornung scored 19 points (a touchdown, three field goals, and four extra points) for the Packers and was named the MVP of the game, and awarded a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette from Sport magazine. The victory was the first of five NFL titles won in a seven-season span by the Packers and their head coach, Vince Lombardi. Lombardi used a strategy of fundamentally sound football (the Packers had no turnovers and only 16 yards in penalties) and to beat the opposition at their strength, in this case running the ball at the Giants linemen Andy Robustelli and Rosey Grier. This strategy allowed the Packers to control the game, running 63 offensive plays to only 43 for the Giants.

Did You Know?

• The 19 points that Paul Hornung scored was at the time the most ever in a championship game.
• One year earlier, in a 12-game season, Hornung scored an incredible 176 points, which remained a record - even though the season had been increased to 16 games - until 2006.
• With 40,000 tickets sold at $10 each and $615,000 in TV revenue, this game was the first NFL Championship to generate $1 million in revenue.
• Each player on the winning Packers team received $5,195, while Giants players made $3,340 each.