The 1963 NFL Championship Game was the 31st annual championship game, played on December 29 at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The game pitted the visiting

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

(11–3) of the Eastern Conference against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

(11–1–2) of the Western Conference. Originally,

NFL Commissioner The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

Pete Rozelle Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle (; March 1, 1926 – December 6, 1996) was an American businessman and executive. Rozelle served as the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) for nearly thirty years, from January 1960 until his retirement i ...

had asked Bears owner/coach

George Halas George Stanley Halas Sr. (; February 2, 1895October 31, 1983), nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr. Everything", was an American professional football player, coach, and team owner. He was the founder and owner of the National Football League's Chic ...

to move the game to

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

due to its higher

seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...

and lights, and the possibility the game could extend into multiple overtime periods; Wrigley Field did not have lights until

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. After Halas declined the request, Rozelle moved the game's starting time up to 12:05 p.m. CST for increased daylight, similar to the situation in

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

Franklin Field Franklin Field is a sports stadium in Philadelphia, United States, at the eastern edge of the University of Pennsylvania's campus. It is the home stadium for the Penn Relays, and the University of Pennsylvania's stadium for football, track and fi ...

. The Championship Game was played in temperatures under . The Giants were in their third consecutive championship game and fifth in the last six seasons. They lost to the

Baltimore Colts The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...

in 1958 and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

and 1962. The Bears were in their first Championship Game since a loss to the Giants in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

, and had last won in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

, defeating the Giants at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

. This was the fifth and final NFL Championship Game at Wrigley Field, which hosted the first in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

, as well as

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

, and

1943 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 – WWII: The Soviet Union announces that 22 German divisions have been encircled at Stalingrad, with 175,000 killed and 137,650 captured. * January 4 – ...

. The Bears won four, with the only loss in 1937. Tickets were $12.50, $10, and $6.

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

paid the league $926,000 for the broadcast rights.

Background

The Giants, coached by

Allie Sherman Alex "Allie" Sherman (February 10, 1923 – January 3, 2015) was an American football player and coach who played 51 games in six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as a quarterback and defensive back, and afterward served as head coa ...

, were known for their powerful offense, which scored 448 points in 14 games. They were led by

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

Y. A. Tittle who threw 36 touchdown passes during the season, then an NFL record. Other contributing players on offense were

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

ers

Del Shofner Delbert Martin Shofner (December 11, 1934 – March 11, 2020) was an American football wide receiver who played for eleven seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants from 1957 to 1967 in the National Football League (NFL). Early ...

and

Frank Gifford Francis Newton Gifford (August 16, 1930 – August 9, 2015) was an American football player, actor, and television sports commentator. After a 12-year playing career as a halfback and flanker for the New York Giants of the National Foo ...

. Wide receiver Shofner caught 64 passes for 1,181 yards and 9

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

. Another target was flanker Gifford, who had 42 receptions for 657 yards and 7 touchdowns. Formerly a star halfback, he had switched to the flanker position in 1962, having sat out the

season following a devastating hit by linebacker

Chuck Bednarik Charles Philip Bednarik (May 1, 1925 – March 21, 2015), nicknamed "Concrete Charlie", was an American professional football player in the National Football League (NFL). He has been ranked one of the hardest hitting tacklers in NFL history an ...

in November

. The Giants also used a plethora of players at running back, with the main two being Phil King and Joe Morrison. Although neither one had significant individual statistics, they combined for 1,181 rushing yards and 6 touchdowns. The Giants defense allowed 280 points, ranking fifth overall in the 14-team NFL. This group was led by future

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Sam Huff Robert Lee "Sam" Huff (October 4, 1934 – November 13, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants and the Washington Redskins. He played college foot ...

. Other contributing players on defense were defensive linemen,

Jim Katcavage James Richard Katcavage (October 28, 1934 – February 22, 1995) was an American football defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) who played thirteen seasons for the New York Giants. From 1952 until 1956, Katcavage played c ...

, and

John LoVetere John Manning LoVetere (May 31, 1936 – October 27, 2012) was an American football defensive tackle who played seven seasons in the National Football League for the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants. He played college football at Compton ...

; linebacker Tom Scott; and

defensive backs In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Erich Barnes Erich Theodore Barnes ( ; July 4, 1935 – April 29, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Purdue Boilermakers (1956–1958), wh ...

and

Dick Lynch Richard Dennis Lynch (April 29, 1936 – September 24, 2008) was an American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants. He was a one-time Pro Bowler in 1963, when he led the NFL ...

. Meanwhile, the Bears were known for their defense, nicknamed the

Monsters of the Midway The Monsters of the Midway is most widely known as the nickname for the National Football League's Chicago Bears—particularly the dominant teams of 1940 and 1941. The name was revived when the 1985 Chicago Bears proved to be similarly dominant, ...

. Led by

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

George Allen George Allen may refer to: Politics and law * George E. Allen (1896–1973), American political operative and one-time head coach of the Cumberland University football team * George Allen (Australian politician) (1800–1877), Mayor of Sydney and ...

, this unit yielded 144 points in 14 games. The defensive line consisted of

Ed O'Bradovich Edward O'Bradovich (born May 21, 1940 in Melrose Park, Illinois) is a former American football defensive end in the NFL that was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the seventh round (91st pick) of the 1962 NFL Draft; he spent his entire ten-year c ...

, Fred Williams, Stan Jones, and future hall of famer

Doug Atkins Douglas Leon Atkins (May 8, 1930 – December 30, 2015) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end for the Cleveland Browns, Chicago Bears, and New Orleans Saints in the National Football League (NFL). He played colleg ...

. The linebacking corps was led by Joe Fortunato, Bill George, and

Larry Morris Larry Cleo Morris (December 10, 1933 – December 19, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Chicago Bears. The 1950 graduate of Decatur High School ...

, while the defensive backs were led by

Richie Petitbon Richard Alvin Petitbon (born April 18, 1938) is am American former professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Petitbon first attended Loyola University New Orleans on a track and field scholarship and left afte ...

and

Rosey Taylor Roosevelt "Rosey" Taylor (July 4, 1937May 29, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a safety for the Chicago Bears, San Francisco 49ers, and Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college foot ...

. Accomplishments by the Bears defense during the regular season included making 36 pass interceptions, surrendering only 1 touchdown in two games versus the

, and not allowing any passing touchdowns in its two games against quarterback

Johnny Unitas John Constantine Unitas (; May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Baltimore Colts. Following a career that spanned from 1956 ...

and the

. Writers in New York were especially fearful of the trio at linebacker, stating that Tittle had yet to see a group like them all year. Chicago's offense did not come close to the Giants' in terms of points scored or yards gained. The group only scored 301 points, ranking 10th out of the league's then-14 teams. The offense was led by quarterback

Bill Wade William James Wade (October 4, 1930 – March 9, 2016) was an American football quarterback who played professionally in the National Football League (NFL). He is considered one of the greatest athletes in Nashville and Vanderbilt University h ...

, the first overall pick of the

1952 NFL draft The 1952 National Football League Draft was held on January 17, 1952, at Hotel Statler in New York. Selections made by New York Yanks were assigned to the new Dallas Texans. This was the sixth year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick de ...

. Wade ran a simplified game plan, nicknamed "three yards and a cloud of dust," in which they would play it safe by running the ball or tossing short passes to the ends or backs instead of risking giving up an interception. Wade threw almost as many passes as Tittle in 1963 - 356 vs. 367 - but Y.A. favored longer throws, as evidenced by 8.6 yards-per-attempt vs. Wade's 6.5. Wade's favorite targets were

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

Mike Ditka Michael Keller Ditka (born Michael Dyczko; October 18, 1939) is an American former football player, coach, and television commentator. A member of both the College (1986) and the Pro (1988) Football Halls of Fame, he was UPI NFL Rookie of Year i ...

and wide receiver,

Johnny Morris Johnny or Johnnie Morris may refer to: * Johnnie Morris (actor) (1887–1969), American comedian and actor *Johnny Morris (television presenter) (1916–1999), British television presenter *Johnny Morris (footballer) (1923–2011), English football ...

. The Giants entered the title game as slight favorites.

Game summary

The Giants opened the scoring in the first quarter when Tittle led New York on a 41-yard drive capped off by a 14-yard touchdown pass to Frank Gifford. The drive was set up by Billy Wade's fumble on the Bears' 41-yard line, which was recovered by former Bear

. Later in the first period, Larry Morris hit Tittle's left knee with his helmet as the quarterback threw. The injured Tittle was much less effective for the rest of the game.The Chicago Bears Wins the 1963 NFL championship

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

, Larry Kart, retrieved May 24, 2013: "Grit, savvy and sheer brutality—those are classic Chicago traits, no matter the endeavor, and they brought the National Football League championship to Chicago on this date..." After Del Shofner failed to hang onto a Tittle pass in the end zone, Morris intercepted Tittle's screen pass and returned the ball 61 yards to the Giants' 6-yard line. Two plays later, Wade scored a touchdown on a two-yard quarterback sneak to tie the game at 7. In the second quarter, the Giants retook the lead, 10–7, on a 13-yard field goal. But on New York's next drive, Tittle reinjured his left knee on another hit by Morris. With Tittle out for two possessions, the Giants struggled, only able to advance 2 yards in 7 plays. Allie Sherman even punted on third down, showing no confidence in backup Glynn Griffing. The score remained 10–7 at

halftime In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in ...

. Tittle came back in the third period, but needed

cortisone Cortisone is a pregnene (21-carbon) steroid hormone. It is a naturally-occurring corticosteroid metabolite that is also used as a pharmaceutical prodrug; it is not synthesized in the adrenal glands. Cortisol is converted by the action of the enzy ...

Novocaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. Owing to the ubiquity of ...

, and heavy taping and bandaging to continue. For the rest of the game, he was forced to throw off his back foot (poor mechanics for a quarterback). An interception on another screen pass by the Bears' Ed O'Bradovich was brought deep into Giant territory, setting up Wade's 1-yard touchdown to give Chicago a 14–10 lead. The score held up, and the Bears iced the game on Richie Petitbon's interception in the end zone with 10 seconds left. It was Tittle's 5th interception. Defensive coordinator George Allen was given the game ball due to his defense's spectacular play. Tittle was held to only 11 completions in 29 attempts, and the Bears' superior scouting was shown by their success defending against the Giants' screen passes. Although the young

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

(AFL) was completing its fourth season, the NFL still regarded itself as the premiere professional league of American football, as reflected in WGN radio broadcaster

Jack Quinlan John Charles Quinlan (January 23, 1927 – March 19, 1965) was an American sportscaster. He was best known for doing radio play-by-play for the Chicago Cubs, first on WIND (1955-56) and then on WGN- (1957–64). His broadcast partners were Lou ...

's comment as the clock ticked to zero on the final play: "The Chicago Bears are world's champions of professional football!" It was 22 years before the Bears won another league championship.

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 29, 1963''
Kickoff: 12:05 p.m. CST *First quarter **NYG –

14 pass from Y. A. Tittle (

Don Chandler Donald Gene "Babe" Chandler (September 5, 1934 – August 11, 2011) was a professional American football player. He was a punter and placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons in the 1950s and 1960s. Chandler played coll ...

kick), 7:38, 7–0 NYG **CHI –

2 yard run (

Bob Jencks Robert William Jencks (July 15, 1941 – September 6, 2010) was an American football kicker and end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears and the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Miami University and wa ...

kick), :16, 7–7 TIE *Second quarter **NYG – FG Chandler 13, 9:49, 10–7 NYG *Third quarter **CHI – Wade 1 yard run (Jencks kick), 2:12, 14–10 CHI *Fourth quarter **''no scoring''

Officials

*Referee: (56)

Norm Schachter Dr. Norm Schachter (April 30, 1914 – October 5, 2004), born in Brooklyn, New York, was an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) for 22 years from 1954 to 1975. Over his career in the NFL, he worked three Super B ...

*Umpire: (15) Ralph Morcroft *Head Linesman: (36) Dan Tehan *Back Judge: (47) Ralph Vandenberg *Field Judge: (21)

Fred Swearingen Fred Swearingen (September 25, 1921 - December 16, 2016) was a former official in the National Football League, serving as both a referee and field judge from 1960 through 1980. He wore uniform number 21 for the majority of his career. He worked S ...

*Alternate:

Art McNally Arthur Ignatius McNally (July 1, 1925 – January 1, 2023) was an American football executive who was director of officiating for the National Football League (NFL) from 1968 to 1991. Before becoming director of officiating—succeeding Mark ...

*Alternate: Herman Rohrig *Alternate: Jack Nix The NFL had five game officials in ; the line judge was added in and the side judge in .

Players' shares

The gate receipts for the game were about $500,000 and the television money was $926,000. For the first time, the NFL tried a closed-circuit telecast in the local blackout area, with 26,000 viewing on large screens in four locations:

McCormick Place McCormick Place is the largest convention center in North America. It consists of four interconnected buildings and one indoor arena sited on and near the shore of Lake Michigan, about south of downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States. McCor ...

International Amphitheatre The International Amphitheatre was an indoor arena located in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1934 and was demolished in 1999. It was located on the west side of Halsted Street, at 42nd Street, on the city's south side, in the Canaryville n ...

Chicago Coliseum Chicago Coliseum was the name applied to three large indoor arenas in Chicago, Illinois, which stood successively from the 1860s to 1982; they served as venues for sports events, large (national-class) conventions and as exhibition halls. The f ...

, and

Chicago Stadium Chicago Stadium was an indoor arena in Chicago, Illinois, that opened in 1929, closed in 1994 and was demolished in 1995. It was the home of the National Hockey League's Chicago Blackhawks and the National Basketball Association's Chicago Bulls. ...

; tickets ranged from $4 to Gross receipts were $1,493,954, with $35,402 from the closed-circuit telecast. Each player on the winning Bears team received $5,899, while Giants players made $4,218 each. Both were a record, each a slight increase over the previous year at

, despite a significantly lower attendance due to the venue.

References

External links

Riger, Robert. ''Best Plays of the Year: 1963.'' Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. 1964. *https://web.archive.org/web/20060901192238/http://www.cogsci.indiana.edu/farg/rehling/bears/1963.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20060723083116/http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=champ63 {{NFL on NBC Radio Championship Game, 1963 National Football League Championship games Chicago Bears postseason New York Giants postseason

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

December 1963 sports events in the United States Wrigley Field 1960s in Chicago American football in Chicago Sports competitions in Chicago

Background

Game summary

Scoring summary

Officials

Players' shares

See also

References

External links