1960: Van Brocklin & Bednarik Spur Eagles Past Packers for NFL Title

The NFL Championship game on December 26, 1960 featured two clubs that had not vied for titles since the 1940s and had not been expected to contend in ’60. The Philadelphia Eagles, leaders of the Eastern Conference with a 10-2 record, had been perennial also-rans since winning back-to-back championships in 1948 and ’49. Representing the Western Conference, the Green Bay Packers had been through many years in the doldrums after last going the distance in 1944.

The Eagles had steadily improved since the arrival of Buck Shaw as head coach in 1958 who, at age 61, was hoping to retire with a championship. 34-year-old QB Norm Van Brocklin (pictured above), who also came to Philadelphia in ’58 in a deal with the Rams, was seeking to do likewise. The quarterback known as The Dutchman was the key to the offense and had an MVP year in 1960. While the running game was ordinary, the passing attack was not as Van Brocklin had a good corps of receivers in diminutive flanker Tommy McDonald and ends Pete Retzlaff and Bobby Walston. Chuck Bednarik, a former All-Pro linebacker who had moved exclusively to center in recent years, had been forced to play both ways due to injuries in the linebacking corps and provided leadership, as well as outstanding performance, to the defense. Two rookies, HB/FB Ted Dean and LB Maxie Baughan, also contributed to the team’s success.

Green Bay was benefiting from the guidance of second-year Head Coach Vince Lombardi. After posting a 7-5 record in 1959, the first winning tally for the club in 12 years, the Packers had started off at 4-1 in ’60, lost three of four, and then won their final three games to vault past the Lions, 49ers, and Colts with an 8-4 tally. HB/PK Paul Hornung scored a record 176 points and, in combination with FB Jim Taylor, was part of a running attack that ranked second in the league. QB Bart Starr was still a work in progress, the receiving corps good, and the offensive line outstanding. The defense was tough, particularly the line and linebackers.

With the addition of temporary seating, there were 67,352 fans filling Philadelphia’s Franklin Field for the title contest and the weather was sunny and in the mid-40s. Things did not start out well for the Eagles when Van Brocklin tossed a swing pass that HB Bill Barnes couldn’t hold on to and was intercepted by Green Bay DE Bill Quinlan at the Philadelphia 14 yard line. Three running plays gained eight yards, and Lombardi chose to go for the first down on fourth-and-two at the six. The Eagles defense stopped Taylor short and Philadelphia took over on downs.

However, the reprieve was a short one when Dean, at the end of a ten-yard run, fumbled the ball back to the Packers at his own 22. Handing off to Hornung and Taylor, Green Bay got down to the eight yard line, but an offsides penalty backed the Packers up and two passes by Starr into the end zone were incomplete. Hornung kicked a 20-yard field goal to give Green Bay a 3-0 lead.

The Eagles were only able to get one first down during the opening period, but the defense was showing an ability to stop Green Bay’s inside running game in key situations. Heading into the second quarter, the Packers drove into Eagles territory and reached the 14 yard line. Once more the possession stalled at that point and Hornung kicked a 23-yard field goal to make the score 6-0.

Philadelphia’s passing game came alive midway through the second quarter as Van Brocklin completed a 22-yard pass to McDonald down the middle and then threw to McDonald again, this time on an outside route that resulted in a 35-yard touchdown. With Walston’s successful extra point, the Eagles led by a point (McDonald pictured below).


After getting the ball back, Van Brocklin completed a 41-yard pass to Retzlaff to the Green Bay 33. A swing pass to Dean gained 22 more, but the next three passes were incompletions and Philadelphia settled for a 15-yard Walston field goal. With time running out in the first half, the Packers responded with a 73-yard drive to the Eagles’ seven yard line, but Hornung missed a 14-yard field goal attempt on the final play before halftime. Philadelphia held a 10-6 lead at the intermission.

In the third quarter, the Packers once again moved the ball well and faced a third-and-two situation at the Eagles’ 26. In a key play, Hornung was not only stopped short but knocked out of the game when he suffered a shoulder injury after being hit hard by Bednarik. With Green Bay bypassing another field goal attempt (Hornung was at least temporarily unavailable for kicking as well as playing halfback), the Eagles stopped Taylor and regained possession.

It seemed as though the Eagles might add to their lead as Van Brocklin completed passes of 33 yards to McDonald and 25 to Walston. But at the Green Bay four he threw a pass that was intercepted by CB John Symank.

The Packers didn’t move on their next possession, but end Max McGee, who was also the team’s punter, ran out of punt formation for a 35-yard gain to the Philadelphia 46. Starr followed up with a 17-yard pass to TE Gary Knafelc, and after runs by Taylor and HB Tom Moore (Hornung’s replacement) for first downs, McGee caught a seven-yard touchdown pass from Starr. Hornung’s kick put the Packers back in the lead by a 13-10 score.

However, Dean returned the ensuing kickoff 58 yards to the Green Bay 39. The Eagles kept the ball on the ground as they drove to a first down, but Van Brocklin was sacked by LB Ray Nitschke for a seven-yard loss. However, The Dutchman recovered with a 13-yard pass to Barnes and then Barnes carried for a five-yard gain and first down at the nine.

With the Packers expecting a pass, Van Brocklin handed off twice to Dean, the second resulting in a five-yard run for a touchdown (pictured below). The successful extra point gave the Eagles a four-point lead with 5:21 to play.


Green Bay battled back, but McGee fumbled after catching a 12-yard pass from Starr at the Philadelphia 48 and Bednarik recovered for the Eagles. Getting the ball back at their own 35 with less than three minutes remaining on the clock, Starr completed four passes on a drive that also included a nine-yard run by Taylor. But at the Philadelphia 22 and with time for only one play, Starr, seeing his deep receivers covered in the end zone, dumped a pass off to Taylor who charged down to the 10, was slowed by DB Bobby Jackson, and then finally wrestled down by Bednarik as time ran out. The Eagles had held on to win, 17-13.

The Packers significantly outgained the Eagles with 401 yards to 296 and had 22 first downs to Philadelphia’s 13. They also turned the ball over just once, to three suffered by Philadelphia. But the Eagles took better advantage of their opportunities.

Norm Van Brocklin completed 9 of 20 passes for 204 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and six of those completions covered 22 yards or more. Tommy McDonald caught three passes for 90 yards and a TD while Bobby Walston also caught three, for 38 yards. Ted Dean led the running game with 54 yards on 13 carries, including the game-winning touchdown, caught a pass for 22 yards, and had the key 58-yard kickoff return.


35-year-old Chuck Bednarik (pictured at right) had an outstanding performance in his two-way role. Of the game’s 142 plays, he was on the field for 139 of them and made several key defensive plays, including the game-clinching stop of Taylor on the last play.

For the Packers, Bart Starr was successful on 21 of 34 passes for 178 yards with a TD and no interceptions, but his longest completion of the day was for 20 yards. Jim Taylor gained 105 yards on 24 carries and accumulated another 46 yards on 6 catches. Paul Hornung ran the ball 11 times for 61 yards and caught four passes for 14 before having to leave the game (other than for placekicking). Gary Knafelc also caught 6 passes and gained 76 yards.

The Packers came back from the title game loss to win the next two NFL championships, and posted an extraordinary five in nine seasons under Lombardi. Things did not go as well for the Eagles. Buck Shaw retired following the title game, as did Van Brocklin. Assistant coach Nick Skorich was elevated to the head coaching job and, while the Eagles with Sonny Jurgensen at quarterback came close to winning the Eastern Conference in ’61, from 1962 on the club fell into a long dry spell. They did not return to the postseason (other than the meaningless Playoff Bowl) until 1978.

Norm Van Brocklin, having gone out on top to conclude his Hall of Fame playing career, had fully expected to succeed Shaw as head coach of the Eagles. When he didn’t, the embittered Dutchman became the first coach of the expansion Minnesota Vikings in 1961.

1964: Tarkenton’s Heroics Lead Vikings to First-Ever Win Over Packers

The Minnesota Vikings had endured the typical growing pains of an NFL expansion team in the first three years of existence (1961-63). Under Head Coach Norm Van Brocklin, there was reason for optimism entering the 1964 season that the pieces were coming together. They had gone 5-8-1 in ’63 and nearly upset the Bears and Colts – two of the most powerful teams in the Western Conference – along the way (they fought the eventual-champion Bears to a late-season tie).

24-year-old QB Fran Tarkenton had grown along with the team and, while his propensity for scrambling away from the pocket grated on Van Brocklin, it made him one of the most exciting quarterbacks in the league as well as one of the most promising. The running back tandem of HB Tommy Mason and FB Bill Brown was a good one, and split end Paul Flatley was coming off of an outstanding rookie season. The offensive line was anchored by C Mick Tingelhoff and OT Grady Alderman. The defense contained some good players, including DE Jim Marshall, DT Paul Dickson, and linebackers Bill Jobko and Rip Hawkins, and they were being joined by first draft choice DE Carl Eller.

The Vikings beat Baltimore in the opening game but were coming off losses to the Bears and Rams as they prepared to take on the Green Bay Packers at City Stadium on October 4, a club they had never beaten in six tries.

After winning the Western Conference title three straight years, including NFL Championships in 1961 and ’62, Head Coach Vince Lombardi’s team had barely lost out to the Bears in 1963. They were 2-1 and the only loss had come by one point against the Colts. However, the Packers were missing star FB Jim Taylor due to a shoulder injury; Tom Moore, normally a halfback, took his place in the lineup. Also out were two more future Hall of Famers, CB Herb Adderley and DT Henry Jordan.

Tarkenton utilized his scrambling ability throughout the game to keep the Packers defense off balance and complete key passes. In their second possession, the Vikings covered 67 yards in 10 plays, highlighted by passes of 25 and 32 yards to end Tom Hall. Bill Brown went straight ahead for a TD on the first play of the second quarter to give Minnesota the early lead.

The Packers bounced back as QB Bart Starr connected with flanker Boyd Dowler on a 50-yard pass play for a TD that featured Dowler leaping high and bouncing off of two Vikings defenders. However, the extra point attempt by Paul Hornung was blocked by Rip Hawkins.

Minnesota responded with a 14-play, 78-yard drive that again ended with a short carry by Brown for the touchdown. Tarkenton set up the score with a 12-yard run. Green Bay again came back to score, with Hornung diving in for a TD and successfully converting the PAT attempt with 43 seconds left in the half. The Vikings led 14-13 at halftime.

Green Bay got a break on the first play from scrimmage of the third quarter when Brown fumbled and safety Willie Wood recovered at the Minnesota 32. The Packers took advantage as Starr hit Dowler for a second TD pass completion, this time covering 32 yards. Hornung’s point after was good and Green Bay was ahead for the first time, 20-14.

The Vikings were subsequently able to keep the Packers pinned deep in their own territory thanks to good punts. Later in the third quarter, Hornung fumbled at the end of a nine-yard run on the Green Bay 19 and Bill Jobko recovered for the Vikings. Five plays later, from the six yard line, Tarkenton scrambled all the way back to the 20 before connecting with Hall for a touchdown.

In the fourth quarter and down by a point, Starr directed the Green Bay offense on a drive that finally stalled at the Minnesota 10. Hornung booted a 20-yard field goal with 4:52 left to play and the Packers were once again in the lead at 23-21.

Green Bay appeared to have the win sewn up when the Vikings, in the ensuing possession, faced a fourth-and-22 situation at their own 36 yard line with under a minute remaining on the clock. At that point, the biggest play of the game occurred when Tarkenton, seeing no receivers open, scrambled for time and barely eluded the grasp of DE Willie Davis to complete a 43-yard pass to TE Gordon Smith down to the Green Bay 21. Shortly thereafter, Fred Cox kicked a 27-yard field goal and the Vikings were the winners by a score of 24-23.

The statistics reflected the closely-fought nature of the game. Minnesota had slight edges in total yards (332 to 325), rushing yards (179 to 128), and first downs (21 to 17). Each team surrendered three sacks and turned the ball over once.

Fran Tarkenton completed 11 of 16 passes for 177 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions; he also ran for 49 yards on six carries. Tom Hall led the receivers with 6 catches for 97 yards and a TD. Bill Brown (pictured below) was the top runner with 67 yards on 24 carries and the two short touchdowns while HB Tom Michel, playing in place of the injured Tommy Mason, added another 55 yards on 16 attempts.


For Green Bay, Bart Starr was successful on 11 of 21 passes for 216 yards and two TDs against no interceptions. Boyd Dowler grabbed 6 passes for 128 yards and two scores. Tom Moore, in place of Jim Taylor, gained 68 yards on 12 carries and Paul Hornung was right behind at 60 yards, also on 12 attempts, with a touchdown but also the one costly fumble.

It was the second one-point loss of the season for the Packers, and in both instances a missed extra point attempt by Hornung had made the difference in the final score. Hornung had missed the 1963 season due to a suspension by the commissioner for gambling, and while he was still a capable halfback, his kicking woes were a nagging issue throughout the year – he didn’t miss any further extra points, but he was good on only 12 of 38 field goal attempts.

However, on this day, as the Vikings defeated the Packers for the first time, the bigger story was Tarkenton’s performance. Vince Lombardi expressed admiration for the young quarterback, talking about “fantastic catches on passes other quarterbacks wouldn’t even throw…That Tarkenton is a tough little guy.” Willie Davis added, “You think you have him and he just gets away.”

His own coach, Van Brocklin, said, “We try to keep him in the pocket, but his ability to get away sure is a plus for him.” On this day, The Dutchman could not complain.

The Packers turned the tables on the Vikings four weeks later in Minnesota by a convincing 42-13 margin. But overall, both teams ended up tied for second place in the Western Conference with 8-5-1 records. For Green Bay, it was a disappointing season, but for the Vikings it was the first winning record in franchise history and a sign of progress (a fleeting sign, however, as they dropped to 7-7 in ’65 and didn’t post another tally over .500 until 1968, in Bud Grant’s second year as head coach).

For the year, Fran Tarkenton ranked second in the league in yards per attempt (8.2), completion percentage (55.9), and percentage of touchdown passes (7.2), third in passing (91.8 rating) and TD passes (22), and fourth with 2506 passing yards.

1959: Vince Lombardi Hired as Head Coach/GM of Packers

By the late 1950s, the Green Bay Packers franchise was at a critical juncture. Once one of the perennial powers in the NFL, they had not been over .500 since 1947. The last of the small-city Midwestern teams that had been the bedrock of the league in its early stages, there was grumbling among the hierarchy that perhaps it was time for the Packers to go. The fans were frustrated with losing, and had endured a succession of disappointing coaches since Curly Lambeau stepped aside after the ’49 season.

The most recent of those coaches, Ray “Scooter” McLean, had been forced to resign after a dreadful 1-10-1 campaign in 1958. The directors who ran the team knew that a bold choice was in order, especially after the failure of the genial McLean. While there were several candidates under consideration, respected figures around the league recommended the assistant coach who ran the New York Giants offense, Vince Lombardi.

Lombardi hadn’t been a head coach above the high school level, but he had been an assistant under Red Blaik at Army and Jim Lee Howell with the Giants. He had gained a reputation as intelligent and in the forefront of modern developments in offensive game planning in New York, and had been granted total control of the offense by Howell (Tom Landry exercised similar authority over the defense).

On January 28, 1959 the Packers named Lombardi not only head coach, but general manager – control that the previous coaches hadn’t been given. He made it clear that he was in charge, and that he was used to winning.

The Packers had not been well coached in recent years, but personnel director Jack Vainisi had managed to accumulate some talent. Some of that talent had been misused – most notably Paul Hornung, who had done poorly as a quarterback and fullback – and there were plenty of diamonds in the rough, like QB Bart Starr and FB Jim Taylor. There were solid veterans in All-Pro center Jim Ringo and offensive end Max McGee, and other young players like guards Jerry Kramer and Forrest Gregg (moved to OT), linebackers Ray Nitschke and Bill Forester, offensive tackles Norm Masters and Bob Skoronski, in addition to Hornung, Starr, and Taylor. To that core, Lombardi added rookie Boyd Dowler, a college quarterback who was converted to flanker. He also traded an established star offensive end, Billy Howton, to Cleveland for two young defensive linemen, DE Bill Quinlan and DT Henry Jordan, and also dealt with the Colts for guard Fred “Fuzzy” Thurston. Another acquisition, Lamar McHan, started the season at quarterback. And he acquired 34-year-old safety Emlen Tunnell from the Giants to bring stability to the defensive backfield.

The Packers won their first three games, including a 9-6 home-opening victory over the Bears that had the team carrying the new coach off the field on their shoulders (pictured below). But they then lost five straight games, and Lombardi turned the offense over to Starr for the remainder of the season; Green Bay finished with four wins and an overall record of 7-5. It was good enough for a third-place tie with San Francisco in the Western Conference and was the team’s best showing since 1945.

Hornung’s performance was the most stunning of that first season – he had gone from misfit to versatile standout in the offense, thriving in the option halfback position and handling the placekicking while leading the NFL in scoring with 94 points and the team in rushing with 681 yards. Starr was still developing at quarterback, but had outplayed the veteran McHan. Dowler led the club in pass receiving with 32 catches; McGee was the deep threat, averaging 23.2 yards-per-catch on 30 receptions for 695 yards and five touchdowns. As anticipated, the veteran Ringo anchored the promising offensive line.

The defense emerged as a key asset, with the linebacker corps of Forester, Dan Currie, and Tom Bettis proving to be a very good unit, while backup Nitschke was developing fast. Quinlan and Jordan became stars on the line. Jesse Whittenton emerged at defensive halfback, as did safety John Symank.

The stage was set for a progression to the Western Conference title in ’60 and, in ’61, the first of two consecutive league championships. There would be five NFL titles in all before Lombardi retreated exclusively to the front office following the 1967 season. Several of the young players of that 1959 season would end up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

As has been pointed out many times, Lombardi was not the most innovative head coach in pro football history, but he was outstanding at adapting other coaches’ methods and was a great teacher and motivator. When it came to the fundamentals, and performing the basics well, Lombardi’s teams excelled. The power sweep was the signature play of his offense over the years, and the Packers ran it with skill because they practiced it relentlessly and executed with precision.

Over nine seasons, the Packers compiled an 89-29-4 regular season record under Lombardi’s guidance, for a .754 winning percentage, and were 9-1 in the postseason. Considering his significant influence on coaching methods and the game in general, his nine years with Green Bay (he also coached one last year in Washington in 1969) seems surprisingly brief. But he set a standard for pro football coaches that others in the years since have sought to measure up to; it is only fitting that the Super Bowl winner’s trophy is named after him.