The 1959 NFL Championship Game was the 27th NFL championship game, played on December 27 at Memorial Stadium in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore wa ...

. It was a rematch of the 1958 championship game that went into overtime. The defending champion

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 ...

(9–3) again won the Western Conference, while 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 divisio ...

(10–2) repeated as Eastern Conference champions. The Colts were favored to repeat as champions by 3½ points. This game also went down to the last quarter, but the Colts did not need any heroics in overtime. Trailing 9–7 at the start of the fourth quarter, Baltimore scored 24 straight points and won, 31–16. This was the only NFL championship game played in Baltimore.

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 27, 1959''
Kickoff: 2:05 p.m. EST *First quarter **BAL – Lenny Moore 60 yard pass from

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 ...

( Steve Myhra kick), BAL 7–0 **NYG – FG

Pat Summerall George Allen "Pat" Summerall (May 10, 1930 – April 16, 2013) was an American football player and television sportscaster who worked for CBS, Fox, and ESPN. In addition to football, he announced major golf and tennis events. Summerall ann ...

23, BAL 7–3 *Second quarter **NYG – FG Summerall 37, BAL 7–6 *Third quarter **NYG – FG Summerall 22, NYG 9–7 *Fourth quarter **BAL – Unitas 4 yard run (Myhra kick), BAL 14–9 **BAL –

Jerry Richardson Jerome Johnson Richardson Sr. (born July 18, 1936) is an American businessman, former NFL player and former owner in the National Football League (NFL). He established the Carolina Panthers franchise, which he owned for 23 years. Early life and ...

12 yard pass from Unitas (Myhra kick), BAL 21–9 **BAL – Johnny Sample 42 yard interception return (Myhra kick), BAL 28–9 **BAL – FG Myhra 25, BAL 31–9 **NYG – Bob Schnelker 32 yard pass from

Charlie Conerly Charles Albert Conerly Jr. (September 19, 1921 – February 13, 1996) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants from 1948 through 1961. Conerly was inducted into the College Football Ha ...

(Summerall kick), BAL 31–16

Officials

*Referee:

Ron Gibbs Ron Gibbs (born 14 April 1962), also known by the nickname of "Rambo", is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played professionally in Australia and England. An Australian Aboriginal and Country New South Wales representative three ...

*Umpire:

Lou Palazzi Louis Joseph Palazzi (June 25, 1921 – January 7, 2007) was an American football player who later officiated from 1952 through 1981 as an umpire in the National Football League (NFL). Palazzi was the umpire in three Super Bowls, IV, VII and XI; ...

*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 ...

*Back Judge: Cleo Diehl *Field Judge: Chuck Sweeney *Alternate: William Downes *Alternate: Joe Connell *Alternate: John Highberger *Alternate: Stan Jaworowski *Alternate:

Herm Rohrig Herman Francis "Stumpy" Rohrig (March 19, 1918 – July 14, 2002) was a former player in the National Football League. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the sixth round of the 1941 NFL Draft and would play three seasons with the team. Fo ...

The NFL had five game officials in ; the line judge was added in and the side judge in .

Players' shares

The gross receipts for the game, including radio and television rights, were just over $666,000, slightly below the previous year. Each player on the winning Colts team received $4,674, while Giants players made $3,083 each.

References

{{NFL on NBC Championship Game National Football League Championship games Baltimore Colts 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 ...

1950s in Baltimore Sports competitions in Baltimore American football in Baltimore