The 1938 NFL Championship Game was the sixth

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

played in the

National Football League 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 ...

(NFL). It was played on December 11 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 ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, with an attendance of 48,120, a record crowd for a title game. The game matched the

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. ...

(8–2–1), champions of the Eastern Division, against the Western Division champion

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 ...

(8–3–0). The Giants had won the regular season game with Green Bay 15–3 at the Polo Grounds three weeks earlier on November 20, but Green Bay was without

hall of fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

end

Don Hutson Donald Montgomery Hutson (January 31, 1913 – June 26, 1997) was an American professional football player and assistant coach in the National Football League (NFL). He played as an end and spent his entire 11-year professional career with the ...

; there was no clear favorite for the title game. This was the Giants' fourth championship game appearance, their previous victory was in the famous "Sneakers game" of

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and they were runners-up 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 ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...

. It was the Packers' second trip, winning in

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – George V of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, dies at his Sandringham Estate. The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King E ...

. New York also won the

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 * ...

NFL title when the championship was awarded to the team with the best season record. Green Bay had similarly won three straight league titles in

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1930 Events January * January 15 – The Moon moves into its nearest point to Earth, called perigee, at the same time as its fullest phase of the Lunar Cycle. This is the closest moon distance at in recent history, and the next one will be ...

, and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

. At halftime, Packers head coach

Curly Lambeau Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau (April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native George Whitney Calho ...

accidentally made a wrong turn going to the team's locker room and walked out of the Polo Grounds, locking himself out. Hurrying to the front gate, Lambeau tried to get back into the Grounds, but the guards at the gate believed Lambeau was a random fan and refused him entry. As Lambeau loudly protested, a couple of sportswriters inside heard the commotion, and identified Lambeau: the guards allowed him back in, by which time halftime was nearly over. After trailing by two points at halftime, Green Bay took the lead in the third quarter with a short field goal, but New York responded with a touchdown and held on through a scoreless fourth quarter to win, 23–17. With the victory, the Giants became the first team to win two Championship Games since the league was split into two divisions in

. The two teams met again in the Championship Game the following year in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, with the Packers winning 27-0.

Ed Danowski Edward Frank Danowski (September 30, 1911 – February 1, 1997) was an American football player who played quarterback and halfback in the National Football League (NFL). He grew up in Aquebogue, his father, Anton, was a Polish immigrant. Foot ...

became the first Giants starting quarterback to win two NFL Championships for the team (the other is

Eli Manning Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member of the Manning football dynasty, he is the youngest son o ...

). The Giants' next title was 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 ...

, and was won at

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 ...

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 11, 1938''
Kickoff: 2 p.m. EST *First quarter **NYG – FG

Ward Cuff Ward Lloyd Cuff (August 12, 1913 – December 24, 2002) was an American football halfback and placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants, Chicago Cardinals, and Green Bay Packers. He played college football at Marqu ...

14, 3–0 NYG **NYG – Leemans 6 run (

Johnny Gildea John Thomas Gildea (March 9, 1910 – November 20, 1979) was an American football quarterback, punter and halfback who played four seasons in the National Football League with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New York Giants. Early life Gilde ...

kick failed), 9–0 NYG *Second quarter **GB – Carl Mulleneaux 40 pass from Arnie Herber ( Tiny Engebretsen kick), 9–7 NYG **NYG – Barnard 21 pass from

(Cuff kick), 16–7 NYG **GB –

Clarke Hinkle William Clarke Hinkle (April 10, 1909 – November 9, 1988) was an American football player. He played on offense as a fullback, defense as a linebacker, and special teams as a kicker and punter. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame ...

1 run (Engebretsen kick), 16–14 NYG *Third quarter **GB – FG Engebretsen 15, 17–16 GB **NYG –

Hank Soar Albert Henry Soar (August 17, 1914 – December 24, 2001) was an American football running back and defensive back in the National Football League who went on to have a long career as an umpire in Major League Baseball. Soar played nine seasons f ...

23 pass from Danowski (Cuff kick), 23–17 NYG *Fourth quarter **''no scoring''

Officials

*Referee: Bobby Cahn *Umpire:

Tom Thorp Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

*Head Linesman: Larry Conover *Field Judge: L.C. Meyer The NFL had only four game officials in ; the back judge was added in , the line judge in , and the side judge in .

Players' shares

The victory earned each winning Giant player $504 and each Packer $368.

References

{{NFL pre-sb Green Bay Packers postseason New York Giants postseason

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

1938 NFL Championship Game Sports in Manhattan American football in New York City Sports competitions in New York City

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 ...

1930s in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan