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Owner of the Indianapolis Colts, Jim Irsay, has a framed newspaper from the Colts’ 1958 Championship game hanging in his office, and for good reason. Dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” the then Baltimore Colts, defeated the New York Giants 23-17 on December 28 for the NFL Championship, 64 years ago today. A game that will live on in Colts’ history.
The Game
It was late in December 1958, and there had never been a game quite like this one. With over 60,000 fans packed into Yankee Stadium, a young Johnny Unitas, quarterback for the Colts, took the field against the favorited Giants.
The game was a back-and-forth contest, highlighted by the sheer star power on both sides of the ball. In total, there were 17 future Professional Football Hall of Famers in the game between coaches, players, and executives. The Giants were led in part by assistant coaches Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi, and the Colts were led behind hall of famer and ‘American Legend’ Johnny U.
According to historians of the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, fueling the excitement for the game was the ‘sudden death’ ending that had yet to be seen on such a prominent and national stage. At the end of regulation, the Colts and Giants were tied 17-17, and like a scene out of a sports movie, the game went into sudden death overtime, with the next score winning. The Giants won the coin toss to receive opening possession in overtime, but the Colts defense was able to force a punt after the Giants went three-and-out on the opening drive of overtime.
The Colts victory was cemented in history when fullback Alan Ameche carried the ball across the goal line for the game-sealing touchdown with just ten seconds remaining in overtime. The touchdown run capped off a riveting 13-play 80-yard drive engineered by the future hall-of-fame quarterback Unitas. Colts’ wide receiver Ray Berry, known as having the ‘surest hands’ in the league, was a star for the Colts in the Championship game, hauling in 12 passes for 178 yards. After the game Berry called the win the greatest thing to ever happen.
Exploding in Popularity
Today, football is king when it comes to ratings. In 2021 the NFL had five of the top 10 most-watched events of the year. But it hasn’t always been that way, back in the late 1950s, when the NFL was in its infancy, the sport did not dominate the zeitgeist like it does today, ranking quite low in popularity across the nation. The 1958 NFL Championship changed that dynamic.
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the championship game “captured the collective attention” of sports fans across America, with the popularity of the sport growing exponentially from that point. The 1958 NFL Championship was one of the first nationally televised games in history. With the game capping off a Christmas weekend, audiences across the country were tuning into professional football for the very first time, and it was a game for the ages.
“By the mid-1960s, professional football became the nation’s favorite sport to watch and has remained on top ever since.” Wrote the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
With the 2022 season nearing its end with no hope of the playoffs, Colts’ fans can look back in history and smile knowing their team was victorious in the “greatest games ever played.”
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