1962 NFL Championship

Lore & Background

The 1962 game was a rematch of the 1961 game, won by Green Bay at home, 37–0. 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 the 1962 season 10–0, including a 49–0 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, where they gained 628 yards to Philadelphia's 54. Before the game, 10,000 fans at a New York Knicks game in Madison 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. Due to the NFL's blackout policy which aimed to protect gate receipts, until 1973, 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. New York fans made reservations for motels in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut so they could watch the game out of the 75-mile (120 km) blackout zone, and even though the game was played in 17 °F (−8 °C) temperatures 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. Ticket prices for the game at Yankee Stadium ranged from eight to twelve dollars ($68.11 to $100.13 in 2018 valuation).

In Their Own Story

A gale whipped off the Hudson River, driving snowflakes that stung the faces of forty thousand shivering fans packed into Yankee Stadium. The field was a treacherous slush pit where every yard gained felt like an excavation. Bart Starr huddled his men, their breath pluming in the freezing air, staring down a New York defense that loomed like a wall of blue steel. When the ball snapped, the collision sounded less like football and more like a freight train derailing; yards were measured in painful inches, and every tackle carried the weight of a career-ending blow. In those final, nerve-wracking minutes, Willie Wood didn't just see the play develop—he anticipated it. He stepped into the passing lane, hands snatching the ball from the air before Gifford could react. The roar that erupted wasn't just for a stop; it was the sound of history being forged in snow, blood, and absolute grit.

Reader's Guide

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 so Willie Wood (later ejected for bumping back judge Tom Kelleher) could kick it off. After a Jerry 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 end Joe 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 linebacker Dan 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 Giants Phil King fumbled on their own 28, and Nitschke recovered. A halfback option pass from Paul Hornung to flanker Boyd 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. The weather worsened by halftime and the wind swirled dust around the stadium, tearing apart the ballpark's U.S. flag, and knocking over a television camera. Passing became even more difficult; the longest pass of the day was a 25-yard one from Tittle to Walton. After blocking a Max 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. Tittle led a desperation drive which ended at the Packer 7 as time ran out. Green Bay recovered all five of their fumbles during

Did You Know?

• A few hours after this game, Nitschke, who was the game's Most Valuable Player, appeared on CBS TV's What's My Line? wearing thick eyeglasses and a dark, conservative suit to hide his size. Panelists Martin Gabel and Ben
• As the game's outstanding player, Nitschke was awarded a 1963 Chevrolet Corvette by Sport magazine.
• Ed Sabol's film company, Blair Motion Pictures, paid $3,000 for the film rights for the game; the company would later become NFL Films.
• The 1962 Packers team is considered one of the best in NFL history. 11 members of the 1962 Packer team are in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
• 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