The 1949 NFL Championship Game was the 17th title game for 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), played on December 18 at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Conceived as a hallmark of civic pride, the Coliseum was commissioned in 1921 as a mem ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is remembered for the driving rain that caused the field to become a mud pit. Its paid attendance was 27,980, with only 22,245 in the stadium. The game featured the Eastern Division champion

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

(11–1), the defending NFL champions, against the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

(8–2–2), winners of the Western Division. This was the first NFL title game played in the

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

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. The Rams had last appeared in a title game in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II and the fall of Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan. It is also the only year in which nuclear weapons have been used in combat. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. Januar ...

, a victory and the franchise's final game in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. The Eagles were favored by a touchdown, and won 14–0 for their second consecutive shutout in the title game. Running back

Steve Van Buren Stephen Wood Van Buren (December 28, 1920 − August 23, 2012) was a Honduran–American professional football player who was a halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from 1944 to 1951. Regarded as a powerf ...

rushed for 196 yards on 31 carries for the Eagles and their defense held the Rams to just 21 yards on the ground. Philadelphia head coach Earle "Greasy" Neale did not like to fly, so the Eagles traveled to the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

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. On the way west, they stopped in

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 ...

for a workout at

Stagg Field Amos Alonzo Stagg Field is the name of two successive football fields for the University of Chicago. Beyond sports, the first Stagg Field (1893–1957) is remembered for its role in a landmark scientific achievement of Enrico Fermi and the Metall ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

on Wednesday morning.

Scoring summary

''Sunday, December 18, 1949''
Kickoff: 1:30 p.m. PST *First quarter **''no scoring'' *Second quarter **PHI -

Pete Pihos Peter Louis Pihos (; October 22, 1923August 16, 2011) was an American football player and coach. Pihos played college football, principally as an end and fullback, for Indiana University from 1942 to 1943 and 1945 to 1946. He was selected as a ...

31-yard pass from

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American Republican politician who most recently served as interim president of the University of Wisconsin System from 2020 to 2022. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served ...

(

Cliff Patton John Clifton "Cliff" Patton (July 29, 1923 – November 9, 2002) was a professional American football player who played guard for six seasons for the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now ...

kick) 7–0 PHI *Third quarter **PHI -

Leo Skladany Leo Bernard Skladany (August 9, 1927 – March 18, 2003) was an American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants. He had a blocked punt return touchdown in the 1949 NFL C ...

2-yard block punt return (Patton kick) 14–0 PHI *Fourth quarter **''no scoring''

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: Joseph Crowley *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 fathe ...

*Back Judge: Robert Austin *Field Judge: William McHugh *Alternate: Rawson Bowen *Alternate: Cletus Gardner The NFL added the fifth

official An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their ...

, the back judge, in ; the line judge arrived in , and the side judge in .

Players' shares

The Eagles players earned $1,090 each and the Rams got $789, about one-third of what was expected with fair weather. Anticipating 70,000 or more in attendance and a large payoff from the gate, the players and owners wanted to postpone the game for a week, but were overridden by

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the National Football League (NFL) commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he introduced competitive parity into the NFL to improve the league's comme ...

, reached at home in Philadelphia. Ticket prices were five dollars between the goal lines and $3.60 elsewhere.

Television

This was the first NFL game which was broadcast on television, although only on the

, under the auspices of Bell.Lyons: 156–157 The ''traditional'' 60–40 player bonus for playing in a championship game was augmented by $14,000 (presently, $) from the NFL. Although sources are unclear, a source writes the NFL received $20,000 (presently, $) from the broadcasting rights.Coenen: 155–156

Sources

* Lyons, Robert S. (2010). ''On Any Given Sunday, A Life of Bert Bell''. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. 978-1-59213-731-2 * Coenen, Craig R. (2005). ''From Sandlots to the Super Bowl: The National Football League, 1920–1967''. Knoxville, TN: The University of Tennessee Press.

References

External links

1949 NFL Championship Game
{{DEFAULTSORT:1949 Nfl Championship Game Championship Game, 1949 National Football League Championship games Los Angeles Rams postseason Philadelphia Eagles postseason

NFL Championship 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 ...

1949 in Los Angeles Sports competitions in Los Angeles American football in Los Angeles