CHICAGO - The field conditions were icy at Comiskey Park for the 1947 NFL Championship Game. The Chicago Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles were both making their inaugural appearance in the title game, and the slippery conditions made traction nearly impossible.
Perhaps inspired by previous games played on frozen surfaces, Cardinals star running back Charley Trippi switch shoes for the game, wearing basketball sneakers rather than the traditional football spikes. One of the best all-around players in the game, Trippi served as the Cardinals top rusher, receiver, and punt returner, and was a star defensive back, as well.
On this day, he stole the show. Gaining 206 total yards between his rushes and his returns, Trippi scored twice against the Eagles, scoring on a 44-yard run in the first quarter and a 75-yard punt return in the third. Trippi wasn't the only star, though, as Cardinals back Elmer Angsman scored on a pair of 70-yard rushes.
The long plays from their two backs were enough to propel the Cardinals to a 28-21 victory for the championship. The two teams would meet again in the title game the next year, with the Eagles winning 7-0 in a blizzard. The Cardinals' victory in the 1947 title game marks their most recent NFL championship, a drought of 63 years that is the longest in the NFL.
HONORABLE MENTION
December 29, 1957: DETROIT - With backup quarterback Tobin Rote filling in admirably for starter Bobby Layne, the Lions crushed the Browns 59-14 in the NFL Championship. While the title was the Lions' third in four years, they haven't won one since, the second-longest streak in the NFL. In fact, the Lions haven't even appeared in a championship game since then, making their streak of futility arguably more pathetic than the Cardinals'.
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Eagles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Philadelphia Eagles. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
December 19, 1948: Let it snow
PHILADELPHIA - The snow was endless and unrelenting. A blizzard had hit Philadelphia, and the weather was so bad that the NFL considered postponing the 1948 Championship Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Cardials. But the players wanted to play, and besides, it was the first championship game scheduled to be televised, so the league went ahead with the game as scheduled.
Before the game, the grounds crew needed help from the two teams to get the tarp off the field - so much snow had fallen that the tarp was too heavy to move otherwise. Eagles quarterback Steve Van Buren didn't help with that task, though - he hadn't gotten there yet. He had tried to get to the game first by trolley, then by subway, before finally giving up and walking the final eight blocks in the driving snow.
Once the tarp was up, the teams could finally play, and they proceeded to put on a display of offensive ineptitude. It's no surprise, really - it was next to impossible to get any traction in that weather. The game entered the fourth quarter scoreless.
Finally, there was a break in the armor. The Cardinals fumbled deep in their own territory early in the 4th quarter, and Philadelphia gladly fell on it to set up the first good scoring opportunity of the game. The Eagles took advantage, with quarterback Steve Van Buren plunging in from a yard out to put the Eagles ahead 7-0.
And that was it. Driving the length of the field was a daunting task in that weather, and the Cardinals couldn't answer, failing to defend their championship.
It was the first championship for the Eagles; they would win again the next year and once more in 1960. For the Cardinals, though, it was the start of a drought. Through 50 years and three cities, the Cardinals didn't make it back to the championship game until the 2008 season, when the Arizona Cardinals advanced to the Super Bowl. Their current championship drought is the longest in the NFL.
Before the game, the grounds crew needed help from the two teams to get the tarp off the field - so much snow had fallen that the tarp was too heavy to move otherwise. Eagles quarterback Steve Van Buren didn't help with that task, though - he hadn't gotten there yet. He had tried to get to the game first by trolley, then by subway, before finally giving up and walking the final eight blocks in the driving snow.
Once the tarp was up, the teams could finally play, and they proceeded to put on a display of offensive ineptitude. It's no surprise, really - it was next to impossible to get any traction in that weather. The game entered the fourth quarter scoreless.
Finally, there was a break in the armor. The Cardinals fumbled deep in their own territory early in the 4th quarter, and Philadelphia gladly fell on it to set up the first good scoring opportunity of the game. The Eagles took advantage, with quarterback Steve Van Buren plunging in from a yard out to put the Eagles ahead 7-0.
And that was it. Driving the length of the field was a daunting task in that weather, and the Cardinals couldn't answer, failing to defend their championship.
It was the first championship for the Eagles; they would win again the next year and once more in 1960. For the Cardinals, though, it was the start of a drought. Through 50 years and three cities, the Cardinals didn't make it back to the championship game until the 2008 season, when the Arizona Cardinals advanced to the Super Bowl. Their current championship drought is the longest in the NFL.
Van Buren scoring the game's only touchdown
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
December 7, 1941: The last game
WASHINGTON - On the field, the Redskins and the Eagles were playing out the string, finishing up a meaningless game to close out a disappointing season. What was happening on the field wasn't important. Not as far as the history books are concerned.
The first announcements starting coming in during the first quarter. Military officers left and right were asked to report to their offices. Nobody was saying why.
Some people knew, of course. Nearly everybody in the press box was aware that the bombs had fallen on Pearl Harbor earlier that day, but most people in the crowd didn't know. The players surely didn't. Redskins president George Marshall wouldn't allow an announcement of the bombing over the loudspeakers, meaning the fans and players in Griffith Stadium were among the last in America to know.
It was hard not to know something was up, though. Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh took notice of all the announcements, one after the other after the other. It was very unusual to hear that many. And yet the players kept playing.
Before long, the Redskins were 20-17 winners, and the 1941 NFL season was over, at least for Washington and Philadelphia. A few fans ran onto the field toward the goalposts, but most filed out of the stadium still oblivious. That wouldn't last. From the newsboys holding up newspapers and barking out the headlines to passersby on the street telling each other, it soon became painfully clear what had happened, why all those announcements were coming over the loudspeakers.
The game lost meaning. The players who minutes before had been playing a game suddenly wondered when, not if, they'd be drafted. Some players jumped the gun and enlisted themselves. One, Nick Basca of Philadelphia, enlisted three days later with his brother and was shipped to Europe. His brother made it back.
Baugh got a deferment, allowed to stay on his ranch and raise cattle. Throughout the war, he flew on weekends to play for the Redskins. His career lasted until 1952, and he went into the Hall of Fame nine years later.
Eventually football, and all sports, resumed normal activities, and rosters eventually went back to their pre-war quality and quantities. It's hard to imagine there will ever again be a game where time stood still, where nobody inside knows just how much the world outside had changed. For two hours on December 7, 1941, in Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., there was no bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was no war that the United States was now fully engaged in. There was just football. The last moment of innocence before four years of heartache.
The first announcements starting coming in during the first quarter. Military officers left and right were asked to report to their offices. Nobody was saying why.
Some people knew, of course. Nearly everybody in the press box was aware that the bombs had fallen on Pearl Harbor earlier that day, but most people in the crowd didn't know. The players surely didn't. Redskins president George Marshall wouldn't allow an announcement of the bombing over the loudspeakers, meaning the fans and players in Griffith Stadium were among the last in America to know.
It was hard not to know something was up, though. Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh took notice of all the announcements, one after the other after the other. It was very unusual to hear that many. And yet the players kept playing.
Before long, the Redskins were 20-17 winners, and the 1941 NFL season was over, at least for Washington and Philadelphia. A few fans ran onto the field toward the goalposts, but most filed out of the stadium still oblivious. That wouldn't last. From the newsboys holding up newspapers and barking out the headlines to passersby on the street telling each other, it soon became painfully clear what had happened, why all those announcements were coming over the loudspeakers.
The game lost meaning. The players who minutes before had been playing a game suddenly wondered when, not if, they'd be drafted. Some players jumped the gun and enlisted themselves. One, Nick Basca of Philadelphia, enlisted three days later with his brother and was shipped to Europe. His brother made it back.
Baugh got a deferment, allowed to stay on his ranch and raise cattle. Throughout the war, he flew on weekends to play for the Redskins. His career lasted until 1952, and he went into the Hall of Fame nine years later.
Eventually football, and all sports, resumed normal activities, and rosters eventually went back to their pre-war quality and quantities. It's hard to imagine there will ever again be a game where time stood still, where nobody inside knows just how much the world outside had changed. For two hours on December 7, 1941, in Griffith Stadium in Washington, D.C., there was no bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was no war that the United States was now fully engaged in. There was just football. The last moment of innocence before four years of heartache.
Friday, December 3, 2010
December 3, 1950: No passing fad
CLEVELAND - The Philadelphia Eagles weren't convinced. Neither were many of the other teams in the NFL, actually, but the Eagles especially weren't sold on the talent of the Cleveland Browns. The Browns had joined the NFL from the AAFL at the beginning of the 1950 season, and in their first game had laid a 35-10 thrashing on the defending champion Eagles. Still, though, the Eagles weren't convinced. "You can't win in the NFL by just throwing the ball," they said. "Cleveland only does it because they're not tough enough to run it in our league."
OK, thought Cleveland. We'll see about that.
And so Cleveland bided their time, piling up more and more wins - losing only two games, both to the Giants - before pulling into their December 3 rematch against Philadelphia in a first-place tie. They remembered what everybody had said, that they weren't tough enough to run. They remembered that everybody had discounted their win over the Eagles as a fluke. They remembered.
So they invited the Eagles into Cleveland Stadium, on a cold December day on Lake Erie, and the Browns ran the ball. And they ran and ran some more, running the ball right down the Eagles' throats. Sure, it was the smart thing to do - the weather was getting worse, the field was getting sloppy. It made sense to shift to a run-first offense. In fact, the Browns had been running a lot more than they'd been passing for the last three games. But this time, it was different. This time, they were trying to prove a point.
The results of their game plan were mixed. The Browns only ran for 69 yards in the game, but they still won 13-7, behind two field goals and an interception returned for a touchdown. It wasn't pretty, but they had won a game without attempting a single pass.
In the process, they proved a couple points. The first was that they were good enough to win in the NFL by running the ball. In this, they had proven their detractors wrong. The second point was one they may not have been trying to prove, but it was one that inadvertently showed that their game plan in the first meeting against Philadelphia wasn't that wacky. The Browns had shown that it was foolish for any NFL team at that point to ignore the pass. The time of NFL teams being able to plunge into the line over and over was through. It simply couldn't be done any more. Teams had to pass now, even if it was just a few passes a game.
The Browns 13-7 win over Philadelphia on December 2, 1950, remains the last NFL game in which a team did not attempt a single forward pass. The next week, their point proven, the Browns passed for 321 yards against Washington to wrap up a tie for the American Conference championship. They won the NFL title two weeks later.
OK, thought Cleveland. We'll see about that.
And so Cleveland bided their time, piling up more and more wins - losing only two games, both to the Giants - before pulling into their December 3 rematch against Philadelphia in a first-place tie. They remembered what everybody had said, that they weren't tough enough to run. They remembered that everybody had discounted their win over the Eagles as a fluke. They remembered.
So they invited the Eagles into Cleveland Stadium, on a cold December day on Lake Erie, and the Browns ran the ball. And they ran and ran some more, running the ball right down the Eagles' throats. Sure, it was the smart thing to do - the weather was getting worse, the field was getting sloppy. It made sense to shift to a run-first offense. In fact, the Browns had been running a lot more than they'd been passing for the last three games. But this time, it was different. This time, they were trying to prove a point.
The results of their game plan were mixed. The Browns only ran for 69 yards in the game, but they still won 13-7, behind two field goals and an interception returned for a touchdown. It wasn't pretty, but they had won a game without attempting a single pass.
In the process, they proved a couple points. The first was that they were good enough to win in the NFL by running the ball. In this, they had proven their detractors wrong. The second point was one they may not have been trying to prove, but it was one that inadvertently showed that their game plan in the first meeting against Philadelphia wasn't that wacky. The Browns had shown that it was foolish for any NFL team at that point to ignore the pass. The time of NFL teams being able to plunge into the line over and over was through. It simply couldn't be done any more. Teams had to pass now, even if it was just a few passes a game.
The Browns 13-7 win over Philadelphia on December 2, 1950, remains the last NFL game in which a team did not attempt a single forward pass. The next week, their point proven, the Browns passed for 321 yards against Washington to wrap up a tie for the American Conference championship. They won the NFL title two weeks later.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
September 16, 1950: A win for the little brother
PHILADELPHIA - The Cleveland Browns had waited five years for this opportunity.
When the All-American Football Conference formed in 1946, the Browns quickly established themselves as the dominant team in the league. They won the league championship each of the first four years, running up an incredible 47-4-3 record in the process. Every year after winning the championship, they challenged the NFL champion to a game to determine the best team in the country. Each year, the NFL refused.
The NFL had reasons to refuse the game. As the established league, they didn't want to give any unnecessary credibility to the AAFC and risk threatening their status as the premier league in the country. Also, there were many questions about the legitimacy of the AAFC, based on how easily the Browns won the championship every year.
Finally, after four years, a peace was reached. Though the AAFC drew more fans on average than the NFL, most of their teams were losing money. The NFL agreed to absorb three teams from the AAFC for the 1950 season, taking the Browns along with San Francisco and Baltimore. When the merger was announced, the Browns had hoped it would lead to a championship matchup against the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles, but the NFL still didn't allow it.
They did, however, throw the Browns a bone by scheduling the two defending champions to play in the opening game of the 1950 season in Philadelphia. The NFL did so with the intention of proving once and for all that their league had been the superior one. The Eagles certainly believed the hype, as they didn't even bother scouting the Browns' preseason games.
Though it was an opening-week regular season game, the game was treated like a playoff game. It was moved from the Eagles' normal home of Shibe Park to Municipal Stadium to take advantage of the increased seating capacity; in all, 71,000 people attended, more than in any previous NFL or AAFL championship game and even more than attended the first Super Bowl 15 years later.
Inspired by finally getting their chance against the NFL champions, the Browns took full advantage, dominating from the beginning. They shut down the Eagles offensively and, perhaps more importantly, found holes in the vaunted Eagles Defense, one that had been much-feared and widely imitated in the NFL for years. A 14-3 halftime lead was extended to a 35-10 Cleveland victory, silencing at least for a week the critics who doubted the talent of the supposedly inferior league.
Cleveland didn't stop there. The Browns finished the season 10-2, earning a place in the league championship game, where they beat the powerful Los Angeles Rams 30-28 for their fifth straight league title. The Browns had proven that they were the best football team in America, and they stayed near the top for a decade, winning seven titles in a 10-year span.
When the All-American Football Conference formed in 1946, the Browns quickly established themselves as the dominant team in the league. They won the league championship each of the first four years, running up an incredible 47-4-3 record in the process. Every year after winning the championship, they challenged the NFL champion to a game to determine the best team in the country. Each year, the NFL refused.
The NFL had reasons to refuse the game. As the established league, they didn't want to give any unnecessary credibility to the AAFC and risk threatening their status as the premier league in the country. Also, there were many questions about the legitimacy of the AAFC, based on how easily the Browns won the championship every year.
Finally, after four years, a peace was reached. Though the AAFC drew more fans on average than the NFL, most of their teams were losing money. The NFL agreed to absorb three teams from the AAFC for the 1950 season, taking the Browns along with San Francisco and Baltimore. When the merger was announced, the Browns had hoped it would lead to a championship matchup against the NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles, but the NFL still didn't allow it.
They did, however, throw the Browns a bone by scheduling the two defending champions to play in the opening game of the 1950 season in Philadelphia. The NFL did so with the intention of proving once and for all that their league had been the superior one. The Eagles certainly believed the hype, as they didn't even bother scouting the Browns' preseason games.
Though it was an opening-week regular season game, the game was treated like a playoff game. It was moved from the Eagles' normal home of Shibe Park to Municipal Stadium to take advantage of the increased seating capacity; in all, 71,000 people attended, more than in any previous NFL or AAFL championship game and even more than attended the first Super Bowl 15 years later.
Inspired by finally getting their chance against the NFL champions, the Browns took full advantage, dominating from the beginning. They shut down the Eagles offensively and, perhaps more importantly, found holes in the vaunted Eagles Defense, one that had been much-feared and widely imitated in the NFL for years. A 14-3 halftime lead was extended to a 35-10 Cleveland victory, silencing at least for a week the critics who doubted the talent of the supposedly inferior league.
Cleveland didn't stop there. The Browns finished the season 10-2, earning a place in the league championship game, where they beat the powerful Los Angeles Rams 30-28 for their fifth straight league title. The Browns had proven that they were the best football team in America, and they stayed near the top for a decade, winning seven titles in a 10-year span.
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