The Greatest Game Ever Played

    On December 28, 1958 the Baltmore Colts, led by quarterback Johnny Unitas traveled to Yankee Stadium, "The House That Ruth Built" to met the New York Giants for the National Football Leagues championship. What happened that day was what has frequently been called by fans as "The Greatest game ever played". Both teams had 9-3 records in regular season play.
    The Giants struck first with a 36 yard field goal late in the first quarter. The Colts however owned the second quarter and took a 14-3 lead into the locker room at the half. In the third quarter the Colts threatened to put the game out of reach driving all the way down to the Giants one yard line before losing the ball on downs at the five yard line. Four plays later the Giants pulled within four points with a touchdown of their own. The Giants scored again early in the fourth quarter to take the led by three. The Colts ended up the ball on their own 14 yard line and two minutes to go. Unitas then showed the world what a 2 minute drill was, driving the ball all the way down to the Giants 13 yard line setting up a 20 yard field goal to tie the game.
   The game became the first to require overtime to find a winner. The Colts on their first possession drove the ball 80 yards to set up a one yard touchdown run to win the game and the championship. The two teams would meet again the following year for another championship game. Of those involved with the game 17 went on to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. If the game had been played by the coaching staff the Giants,who had Tom Landry as their defensive coordinator and Vince Lombardi as their offensive coordinator, would have won easily.
  As promised tomorrow we will look at a Baseball War.