The 1944 NFL Championship Game was the 12th

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) title game, played on December 17 at the Polo Grounds in

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 46,016. The game featured 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 ...

(8–2), champions of the Western Division versus the Eastern Division champion New York Giants (8–1–1). The Packers were led by longtime 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 Cal ...

and its stars were running back

Ted Fritsch Theodore Leo Fritsch (October 31, 1920 – October 4, 1979) was an American baseball, basketball, and football player who played running back for the National Football League's Green Bay Packers from 1942 to 1950. He also played two seasons for ...

, 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 th ...

, and quarterback

Irv Comp Irving Henry Comp Jr. (May 17, 1919 - July 11, 1989) was an American football player. He played his entire seven-year National Football League (NFL) career with the Green Bay Packers and was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 198 ...

. The Giants were led by head coach Steve Owen, running back

Bill Paschal William Avner Paschal Jr. (May 28, 1921 – May 25, 2003) was an American football running back in the National Football League for the New York Giants and the Boston Yanks. Early life Paschal was born in Atlanta, Georgia and attended Tech ...

, former Packers quarterback Arnie Herber, and a dominant defense. The Packers were slight favorites, despite the Giants' 24–0 shutout win four weeks earlier. Prior to the game, the Packers had spent over a week preparing in Charlottesville, Virginia; they had completed their regular season on November 26, while the Giants finished on December 10. If the title game ended in a tie, the teams would share the championship. Green Bay scored two touchdowns in the second quarter then yielded one early in the fourth to win 14–7 for their sixth and final league title under Lambeau, their first since 1939. The Packers did not return to the championship game for sixteen years, and won the following year in 1961, the first of five titles in seven seasons in the 1960s under head coach

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 17, 1944''
Kickoff: 2 p.m. EWT (EDT) *First quarter **''no scoring'' *Second quarter **GB –

1 run (

kick), 7–0 GB **GB – Fritsch 28 pass from

(Hutson kick), 14–0 GB *Third quarter **''no scoring'' *Fourth quarter **NY –

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 ...

1 run (

Ken Strong Elmer Kenneth Strong (April 21, 1906 – October 5, 1979) was an American football halfback and fullback who also played minor league baseball. Considered one of the greatest all-around players in the early decades of the game, he was inducted ...

kick), 14–7 GB

Officials

*Referee:

Ronald Gibbs Ronald James Gibbs (June 29, 1900 – March 12, 1985) was an American football player, coach, and referee. Coaching career Gibbs was a graduate of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He served as the school's head football coa ...

*Umpire: Carl Brubaker *Head Linesman:

Charlie Berry Charles Francis Berry (October 18, 1902 – September 6, 1972) was an American athlete and sports official who enjoyed careers as a catcher and umpire in Major League Baseball and as an end and official in the National Football League. His fath ...

*Field Judge: Eugene Miller 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 players' shares were the highest to date: each Packer player received about $1,500 while each Giant saw about $900.

References

{{NFL pre-sb

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 ...

National Football League Championship games Green Bay Packers postseason New York Giants postseason 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 ...

1940s in Manhattan Washington Heights, Manhattan