1962 NFL Championship Game

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 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. The weather during the game was so cold that television crews used bonfires to thaw out their cameras, and one cameraman suffered frostbite. The conditions also made throwing the ball difficult. 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 quarterback Y. A. Tittle who had passed for 3,224 yards and 33 touchdowns in the regular season. Ticket prices for the game at Yankee Stadium ranged from eight to twelve dollars.

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 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.

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. 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, 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.

Led by Taylor, the Packers advanced the ball down to the New York end of the field, where Kramer kicked a third field goal 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 the game, while the Giants lost both of theirs.

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.
• 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.