The 1949 NFL Championship Game was the 17th title game for the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL), played on December 18 at the

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. 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, which was a low in attendance not reached until

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, which drew 24,835 because of global pandemic restrictions. 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

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

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

(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 ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Rams had last appeared in a title game in

1945 1945 marked the end of World War II, the fall of Nazi Germany, and the Empire of Japan. It is also the year concentration camps were liberated and the only year in which atomic weapons have been used in combat. Events World War II will be ...

, a victory and the franchise's final game in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

. 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 halfback who played for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL) from 1944 to 1951. Regarded as a powerful and p ...

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 by

train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

. On the way west, they stopped in

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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), named for famed coach, Alonzo Stagg, is remembered for its role in a landmark scientific ac ...

at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

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, 1923 – August 16, 2011) was an American professional football player who was an end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League (NFL). Pihos played college football as an end and fullback ...

31-yard pass from

Tommy Thompson Tommy George Thompson (born November 19, 1941) is an American politician who served as the 19th United States secretary of Health and Human Services from 2001 to 2005 in the Presidency of George W. Bush, cabinet of President of the United State ...

( Cliff Patton 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 Ch ...

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 fat ...

*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 (politics), mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual Office, working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (eithe ...

, 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 incl ...

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the fifth chief executive and second commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 until his deat ...

, 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 West Coast, 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 NFL 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 ...

1949 in Los Angeles American football competitions in Los Angeles