The 1959 NFL Championship Game was the 27th NFL

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 on December 27 at Memorial Stadium in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. 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 division. ...

(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 Leonard Edward Moore (born November 25, 1933) is an American former professional football player who played both halfback and flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts from 1956 to 1967. He played college football f ...

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 Steve Myhra (April 2, 1934 – August 4, 1994) was a professional American football player who played as a guard, linebacker and kicker for six seasons for the Baltimore Colts. Football career After playing at the University of North Dakota, ...

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 announ ...

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 John B. Sample Jr. (June 15, 1936 – April 26, 2005) was an American football defensive back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts (1958–1960), Pittsburgh Steelers (1961–1962), and Washington Redskins (1963� ...

42 yard interception return (Myhra kick), BAL 28–9 **BAL – FG Myhra 25, BAL 31–9 **NYG –

Bob Schnelker Robert Bernard Schnelker (October 17, 1928 – December 12, 2016) was an American football tight end who played for nine seasons in the National Football League, mainly with the New York Giants. Schnelker played college football at Bowling Gree ...

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 Hall ...

(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 fath ...

*Back Judge: Cleo Diehl *Field Judge:

Chuck Sweeney Charles A. "Chuck" Sweeney (May 5, 1914 – August 4, 1999) was an American football end at the University of Notre Dame. He was a consensus All-American in 1937. In later life, he became a National Football League game official. Playing career ...

*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. F ...

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 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 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