Game of their Lives HBO Documentary 2001
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- Опубликовано: 14 окт 2024
- The NFL in the 1950's was a completely different world for players, their families, and fans than what would arrive a little over a decade later. This is a great documentary featuring many players who are sadly no longer with us. HBO Sports documentaries are hard to find about a year after their original run, so I thought I'd share...
© 2001 HBO. All TV promos, news clips, airchecks, etc. remain the sole property of the respective copyright holders. No videos are for sale, nor do they imply challenge to ownerships. They are intended strictly for entertainment, educational, and historical purposes, and fall under the "Fair Use" guideline.
First time I've seen this. I've been a Baltimore (not Indianapolis) Colts fan for 59 years. Still collect Colts programs & photos. Check ebay several times a day. Johnny Unitas was the original GOAT. Tom Brady is this era's GOAT. Unitas' George Shaw became Brady's Drew Bledsoe. In 1982 my wife, our two small sons & myself flew to New York from our home in Miami for vacation. The whole trip was scheduled around driving back through Baltimore so we could go to Unitas' restaurant on a Tuesday night. On Tuesday nights Unitas would always be there so he could greet and talk to the customers. He sat at our table for close to 45 minutes & autographed some of the items that I brought along including the 58 title game program. He was so nice & friendly. We even got several photos with him & my sons. My wife says she watched me turn into a twelve year old right before her eyes. Life & the world were so different when I was a kid. We used to wait outside the Orange Bowl to get autographs & talk to the players from different teams as they walked to their team buses. I sure miss those days.
The restaurant was "The Golden Arm" owned by both John and Bobby Boyd.
If Unitas played during the Brady Manning two hand touch rules he would have 2,000 Td passes. Note nobody ever got close to his 47 td pass record for 50 years, three guys suddenly passed it within two years. Gee, wonder why?
Great story, thanks for sharing. Baltimore should have kept the name/history like Cleveland did.
Gone since 2013, but I can still listen to Artie Donovan tell stories all day.
He was always great when he appeared on Letterman.
He was funny at WWF king of ring 1994 on commentary.
Me too
He was in an old NFL films video, and I just can't remember the name of it. I used to rent it quite a bit back in the day.
The same year with Pat Summerall him and Madden were the best
I started watching pro football on TV in 1965. I heard a lot about the older players, but this documentary sheds a lot of light on that older era of the game.
Same year for me just in time to remember Gale Sayers 6 TDs against the 49ers and Jim Brown final session
@@michaelleroy9281, and his final season.
Nice to see Art Donovan again. He’s a legend in Baltimore. RIP.
Always liked his stories he had fun playing the game
@@michaelleroy9281 I'll bet he's still telling stories.
I read Art Donovan's book, "Fatso: Football When Men Were Men". Loved it! His stories are wonderful!
I remember when this came on. Great documentary. Sadly we have lost many of these stars over the past few years.
I became a Colts fan in 1954. Gino Marchetti was my hero. I was 11 years old, and played full contact football for the Optimist club. I played through junior high. I mostly warmed the bench and was a blocking dummy in practice. I never was very good, but I loved the game until the 90s.
Johnny Sample was on the winning team in the two most-fateful games in NFL history. He played for the Colts in the '58 sudden death championship game and was there with the Jets to beat his former team in the Joe Namath Super Bowl in Jan '69. His coach in both games was Weeb Ewbank!
Unitas played in both those games too!
Sample was as dirty a player in 1958 as he was in 1968-1969.
STFU who wasn't in those day you didn't say anything about Chuck Bendnerick who was a dirty player playing for Eagles
First time I've seen this, love it, as an NFL historian this is sadly a mostly forgotten era that more people need to know about! Especially today's player
I'm an NFL historian as well. I'm writing this on May 7, Johnny Unitas' birthday, and I wrote about him in my journal for the first time. What a legend.
HI! not makin money off it, but im also an NFL Historian. Im not exactly an "HISTORIAN" so much as person who knows alot about NFL history, but I agree TOTALLY! I didn't even know who Hugh Mcelhinny was lol. But this generation needs to know about the old days! *i sound like a total elederly man, IM PART OF THIS GENERATION!!!!*
This.....was a fantastic viewing. Thanks for the upload. *I could listen to these tough guys all day, especially now in this pc era. *March 2021
Thanks. Saw this documentary a couple of times 20 years ago and looked for it ever since.
You're welcome!
Easily the best documentary that I've ever seen about the NFL. Just fantastic! HBO is so good at this. HBO's documentaries about Joe Namath and Vince Lombardi are also excellent.
Its been years since I've watched this special. As a football historian and LONG time autograph collector of these guys and those that came before and since I have the autograph of every single player featured in this special!
Except one. Never got am opportunity to add Hardy Brown to my collection. There's 3-4 guys from the1951Rams team roster I don't have but other than that I have the full.roster of every Championship Roster 1950-1959 .
I'm loving These old NFL.specials!
Another A+ documentary by legendary NFL Films
As a kid we used to drive to Western Maryland College in (Westminster Maryland ) to watch the Baltimore Colts practice......it was a thrill to see Johnny U, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Big Daddy Lipscomb, Raymond Berry, Art Donovan etc.....we grew up knowing the Baltimore Colts song, went to the games on Sunday and eventually become a season ticket holder........I am grateful to have been able to see some of the biggest names and best athletes in the NFL......
Great collection of Classics! Thank you so much for sharing and God bless everyone
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it
How in the f*** can anyone dislike this? This is THE BEST old-school football film EVER. It's beautiful
This is a good video. Things were even crazier in the NFL of the 1920's. During the 1920's, J. Mayo Williams (look him up on wikipedia) played NFL games on weekends, and he worked as an executive for Paramount records during the rest of the week. He was in the College Football Hall of Fame and the Blues Music Hall of Fame.
70 - Sam Huff, 26 - Jon Arnett, 82 - Raymond Berry, 24 - Lenny Moore. That 1958 championship game: I remember watching that on television. After all these years, I can't help noticing the Colts still won that game.
The Greatest Game Ever Played( as it was called)
I've watched a re-enactment of the game on you-tube with audio of the national radio announcers broadcasting, and I can remember at least two or three times, they had remarked, that it had been the "closest, and most interesting championship football game in the last few years" during the course of the game. They knew what they were witnessing as the game developed throughout.
Thank you so much for sharing this rare entertainment. Loved all of this growing up and have very fond memories which you helped me remember. God bless all from Patrick
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it
What a great combination...... pro football and music of the 1950's😀
Great, fantastic history of the sport I love so much ! Fantastic doc
Johnny Unitas still considered the “toughest” QB in NFL history! Played hurt many times and still got the job done too. In the 1950s, the defense was allow to really take the stuffing out of you! Not like in today’s protective NFL. It was war! Multiple gang QB tackles and the defense was allow to stayed on the pile for a long time before slowly getting up again. Johnny U was a different breed of man!
Yeah tougher but less skilled back then. Today’s guys wouldn’t last a quarter back then, like guys back then wouldn’t even make it to the league now
As a Packer fan I loved to hate Unitas.
@@gowersup6441 You're wrong if you think Unitas couldn't have played today or in any other era. He had a strong arm, good touch, the best QB brain in history (he called his own plays until rookie coach Shula arrived on the scene in Baltimore) AND toughness during an era that demanded it.
@@4orrcountry he had all those things for back then standard. All these QBs now have a better arm, better touch, better QB vision than QBs back then because of all the training they get.
I’m sorry but if you disagree there’s no point continuining this conversation, as that’s basic football knowledge.
@@gowersup6441 Unitas may not even make a roster today
Too small too slow weak arm.
Yeah he was a smart tough player but how far is that gonna get him in today's game
Johnny U would still be my QB pick to win a big game. Great leader.
He was special if there was enough time on the clock most likely he would come back and beat you...He truly believed in his ability to win with time on the clock...he was as cool as a cucumber when the chips were down...I loved that guy...He was a real baller.
@@earlismarks7108 Unitas was overrated
He had great players around him
@@lendrury2771 Ok perhaps you should ask Paton Manning....Oh by the way is Tom Brady overrated? He sure plays with a lot of great players huh...Dude Johnny U's passing record stood until Drew Brews broke it in recent years...Johnny Unitas is the godfather of the passing game QB....You cannot tell the NFL story without him...You don't have to like him but he is that guy He brought pro football into the modern era He made football popular and made it must watch TV... football on television was not really popular until Unitas and Colts won the title in 1958. championship game.
#1: 1958 NFL Championship Colts vs. Giants | Top 10 Overtime Finishes of All Time
ruclips.net/video/rjGxpE5BX0o/видео.html
Remember Magic played in a champioship series years later in NBA and it was not televised live but on tape delay. Whereas this 1st nationally televised nfl game takes place in 1958! So in 1980 the NBA was still not broadcasting their championship series live, wow.
@@earlismarks7108 he's more folklore than actual substance
Its not that I don't like Unitas and yes he was a crucial element in vaulting the league into mainstream popularity but from a talent and productive standpoint i just think he's overrated
Tom Brady is the most clutch player in the history of the NFL and correction
There were seasons that tom played with average players and he still found a way to lead the team to a championship
I realize that the game has changed but Unitas would be a backup quarterback to Tom Brady
That goes for me too! Unitas and Starr all the way!
Pat Summerall's story at the beginning is really telling. I still love to hear him talk.
Agreed. Summerall was a great knew who knew that he didn't have to talk us to death.
This is a gem. Thanks for posting!
You're welcome!
@@kevinbanks1264 Anything you're looking for specifically?
Wow thanks!! I never knew about this documentary.
You're welcome!
Absolutely amazing.
Thank you for this video! God bless.
@@EvidenceandReasons thank you for watching! I hope you enjoyed it
Gone since 2002 Johnny U is still one of the best
When current fans suggest Brady id the GOAT I ask them how long do you think Tom would have lasted in Johnny U's era?
Ebony joi is a big deal that is the best thing to do with the new girl and the other girl joi is
Johnny U is considered 'the Father' of the forward pass.
@@michaelrog6082 And who knew he could lay your kitchen floor?
Art Donovan: The prototype for everyone’s favorite Uncle!👍🏻
Thanks Uncle Larry for the recommendation! A good watch.
Johnny U will always be the best Quarterback of All Time!
Yes, indeed.
I can't talk about the 1950s without mentioning the Bears' halfback Willie Galimore (1957-1963), fullback Rick Casares (1955-1964), and wide receiver/halfback Johnny Morris (1958-1967) are some of the most amazing football players I've ever seen. And, as I told my substitute teaching at a high school class, recently, a class consisting mainly of Hispanics, underrepresented in the population and league vs today, a remarkably diverse group, that trio of teammates was: Galimore was black, Casares was Hispanic, and Morris was white. Morris had amazing moves after the catch and when used as a halfback, to go along with his blazing speed, and maybe the least celebrated today of the three athletes. All three belong in the HOF, so I was disappointed to see Ed Sprinkle get in recently, ahead of any of them, not that Sprinkle wasn't an outstanding player.
Ditka patterned himself after Casares a guy that he respected immensely.
Casares had one outstanding season(1956) when he gained 1126 yards . Otherwise a very pedestrian career. Morris and Galimore(rest in peace,Willie) did nothing to recommend them for the Hall of Fame.
Watching this video reminds me of when I very young with my father, my brothers and sometimes we would go to the stadium and watch high school games then we would watch the college games, then we would watch the NFL games on tv,and my father would always bet,and he taught my brothers to bet,and he bet heavy,but after a while he stopped, just watch the games and sometimes my mother would watch, we had 2 tvs,and now the NCAA is on Saturday and the NFL is on Sunday, and 1 game on Monday, and 1 game on Thursday, but I enjoy watching the games, as I don't bet, gets expensive as many people do bet, even in bars and restaurants
What an amazing film. I've never heard about the tackle/pin business before, but it would make the game go a lot faster. There'd be a lot more scoring.
I know a lot of people don't like it, but I'm glad the NFL and NFLPA have taken steps to make the game safer. There's still a lot more they could and should do. These guys had to live after football, and a large number of them did not live well.
To take your argument out to its logical ending, full extension, people playing today and in the past, should not have/have had pro football sports career, games to play in, at all.
There should not/should not be/should not have been any pro football, nor college/NILcollege money/semipro college/minor league/semipro, high school, junior high/middle school/ youth, football to play, at all. Organized ftball. should/should've/ be/should've been illegal, if you want to take your argument/point out all the way.
No, its fine to make the game safer, but not at the expense of its entertainment value and at the players on defense's expense. Hell, they are so confused sometimes as to how to hit someone now, that they don't bother to hit anyone. And, many are lousy at RUGBY-STYLE tackling.
And, the fact that the downfield middle receiver no longer has to worry about getting hit aggressively and on certain parts of the body, has turned the game into the 1990's CFL= almost all passing, with very little running game= no balance, and very predictable and boring to watch..Its a relatively very soft game now...
Soooo..
I'll pass on all pass and no or little mystery of what is coming on the next shotgun snap.
Also, if the players care more about the paycheck and their social media popularity than the pride of putting out effort in a game, putting out for their teammates, and the league cares more about TV studio football, and the NFL cares more about politics, and no one cares about the product on the field, then I will continue not bleepin' caring about it, at all.
PSSST..
Here is a hint to make sure football is safe for the players, with no after- career effects to worry about: TA DA!!
DON'T PLAY IT!
There now, that wasn't so hard, right?
If one plays football at any level, they are going to get hurt and if they play it longer, and in a higher level league, especially in college and the pros, one will have after-effects.
I don't care how you protect the players, they will have after-effects.
The question is: IS FOOTBALL GOING TO SURVIVE THIS less entertaining quality of play and all of the political crap?
We'll see.
Want to make football safer?
Don't play it.
Do I care what athletes think about public policy, and what politicians care about in athletics?
In a word..
NO..
I agree.
@@robertsprouse9282So you think people should be put at higher risk of life-impacting injury for your own personal entertainment.
i think this says a lot more about you than the NFL.
@@tommyl.dayandtherunaways820 ,
the day they walk on the field they're putting their lives in danger.
As far as my entertainment needs, you are the one going against your so-called "grain" by coming to a website about a contact sport.
Why would you want to promote and help ensure the existence of such a site that celebrates a game you abhor, but tolerate?
And, if these guys were not in the field of organized sports, they would be far less protected playing any form of wrestling oriented game in a park with little protection.
The movie about Vince Papale played by MARK WALBERG comes to mind.
The footballers in his movie were bouncing off of parked cars while playing.
Sorry..Its too late to prevent the invention of contact sports.
That cat has long been let out of its bag.
Since we cannot prevent them from being played, its better that they're played in a safer environment with pads, organization, helmets, etc.
The argument isn't your strawman: YOUR ENTERTAINMENT OVER THEIR HEALTH.
No, the argument is creating entertainment that no longer provides enough excellence of execution, quality of play, and theatre caused in large part by obstacles such as hitting to be popular enough to survive. The competition is no longer worth it to the fan or the competitor once no obstacle is there to be overcome with effort.
Once the game at its organized level doesn't survive, its right back to those parked cars again, one way or the other.
But, that is okay with you, right?
There is the argument.
No, if you or others don't want to be hurt, then don't play contact sports.
No, there is nothing wrong with making them safer, but in the entertainment world, they won't survive if indeed there is no longer the very thing that makes them thrive as attractive professional sports= professional pride and execution.
And, when they don't survive..its right back out on to the parking lots and parks with much fewer safeguards.
Make up your mind what you want..any day now.
YOUR MOVE, GENIUS..
Johnny Unitas to be specific. I will never forget the 1958 championship game. How many times did we hear Unitas to Berry.
12 times. You must have forgotten.
Great documentary thank you
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it
Great episode 👍👍
Bring back Miss Anti-Freeze, I say!
Classy and attractive women on TV. What a novel concept. That's why Miss Anti-Freeze and Audrey Hepburn are special.
Steve Sabol produced this special. I missed this on HBO. Wish they would release a Blu Ray box set of all their sports specials.
Every move I made was imitating Raymond Berry. I had no skill, but he was the greatest I’d ever seen. Still is..
Love the documentary combined with the great old music.
Johnny Unitus all time great
Sam Huff is from my home state of West Virginia.
12:03 -- Hey, that's coaching legend Lou Saban looking out the window of that plane. But Lou retired as a player in 1949, before the 1950s obviously. Still, it was cool to see him.
Wonderful program. Most of what we hear about the NFL is kind of corporate -- the mass-marketing that made it America's Sport. But these guys and their isolated pockets of fans really seem to have enjoyed a special kind of love affair. I envy those times.
I would love to go back in time and attend one of these games at the coliseum in LA or at Baltimore Memorial Stadium.
I can remember going to Ameche's on Reisterstown Road
We used to go to the one on Loch Raven.......
In the 1958 championship overtime game the Colts had a chip shot field goal opportunity but the spread was five points. Carroll Rosenbloom,the owner of the Colts,who had a few bucks on the game told Weeb Ewbank,"We're scoring a touchdown." The spread was covered.
If that's true, that's fantastic! If it's not true, it should be!
The game had many fumbles early, it didn't look like it was going to be " The Greatest Game Ever Played"
Great story but I dont believe it. Unitas wanted to go for the TD down 17-14 but Ewbank let Myhra kick the FG to tie it. In overtime, Unitas wanted Mutscheller, his TE to score the winning TD but he couldnt get his pass over the goalline. Ameche ended the game on the run. Unitas didnt want the kicker to get the glory.
Smart man and the ultimate QB calling his own plays, when QBs didnt have flak jackets to protect their ribs ...
I heard the same.
And of course Carol owned heavily favored Colts in Super Bowl III when league MVP QB Rarl Morrell didn't "see" a wide open Jimmy Orr....He drowned under suspicious circumstances.
Great start - the guy sitting at the desk signing autographs is the not-exactly-immortal Lloyd Colteryahn, of, naturally, the Colts. The low sleeve stripes tell you the year, 1956.
Tennessee Ernie ford intro sold me on this video before it even started
Was a great documentary!
It's a crime that the NFL let the Colts leave Baltimore.
You can blame Al Davis with Oakland to LA he got things like that rolling
When Indianapolis plays the Ravens the scoreboard reads INDY. They won't acknowledge their stolen name. The people of Baltimore who were devastated by the Colts move will never forgive Irsay. There's a reason he never returned to the city, he feared for his life.
"Go, go you Balmer Coats......"
@@robertrock8778 The same thing with Art Modell he never went back to Cleveland
Great doc. Any others like it on 50s nfl?
Every NFL CHAMPIONSHIP game film or sesson review from the 50s.
McElhanney never ran for 1000 yds in a season but the seasons were 12 games long
Hugh McEllhenny was on the first Vikings team 1961
Hugh had great moves and quickness. Could have been an All-Pro receiver as well.
I grew up watching this era. Of course there was no game of the week. All we got were the Giants. The great old days.
Why would you want to watch any other team?
@@kevinmadden1645 Because I gamble on football and I want to exactly how I get screwed .
@@gerrypellissier9551 Masochism has many forms.
@@kevinmadden1645 Amen !!
My dad told me how Bobby Lane would milk the clock and avoid scoring the go ahead touchdown until there was not enough time on the clock for the other team to score. He had to because his defense was not very good. Now a days that is the normal procedure but back in the day it was unheard of.
those were some tough guys!
Alley Oop. That's one I haven't heard of in a LONG while.
R.C. Owens
I don't know if this is an unpopular take or not, but for me some of Liev Schreiber's best work is the narration of these HBO sports documentaries.
Oh I totally agree, and it's not a slight at all. He really sets the tone for these documentaries and brings nuance to the films regardless of topic.
Artie came back as Gronkowski!! His expressions and he is funny as hell!
That's not how reincarnation works dummy. Gronk was in his 20's when Art died.
@@artistamisto Well, since reincarnation is a falsehood, who's the dummy?
@@stevep8445 what an idiot we all know we will be resurrected in Christ
@@quattrobajeena135 Or in Buddha, Hindi or Muslim - 2/3 of the world population isn't Christian, has never even heard of Christ (who was a Jew, by the way), so GET OVER YOUR RELIGION: Pray and let pray. Smh...
I would say Tony Siragusa is the later day Art Donovan. Both played in Baltimore.
It must have been tough dealing with George Preston Marshall
He was a racist. There were no Black players on his Redskins teams until the '60s.
Geez, some of those hits from the 1950s were so vicious. The rules were so much more lax than they are today. I'm surprised no players ended up dead as a result.
I swear, some of those hits (and from the 60s and 70s too) a guy looks like he was just murdered on the field, laying there, and the ref walks up and says "I'm going to need the ball to mark where you were down, excuse me"
The pre-game speech by Baltimore Head Coach Weeb Ewbank before the 58 Championship game was legendary. He could push the right buttons with his Colts and later Jets players ...
Back before all the pre madonna's, gang sign's being thrown after a touchdown and the Nation respected their own country. This was a golden era in America that's completely lost. These guy's were lucky to live at such a great time in America.
Dick Night Train Lane Scottsbluff Junior College(now Western Nebraska Community College)
I love the part 85 90 percent smoking. Unbelievable. I was a young child in 60s . Ash try’s every were. Be the size of a 5 gallon buckets
"Season Ticket prices $21". That's not even parking now. That like a hat without tax.
Johnny is and always will be the best.
Yep! I got to see Unitas play in ‘68 against the Cowboys, preseason game though
1. Cool Joe Montana (4-0 in NFL Championships/SB, never lost one, never threw an INT in one. Perfection.)
2. Brady> lost 3 SB
3. Starr (5 NFL Champ in 7 years, 3 in a row never duplicated, plus 1st 2 SB)
4. Unitas
Mixed bag in Championships. 3-2 if you count both Super Bowls. But he only played in the 4thQ of #3 and started but didn't finish #5. So then he's 2-1.
The game was better back then pure football. Original rules. I was born in 58 and saw many games of the mid 1960s and up. I wish I could have seen Night Train in his prime. Best cornerback ever. Bring back the white ball!
This is about the 50s, not the 60s.
22:05 Fancy Dan calisthenics Luv it
I love Mr. Bednarik's shirt. Quite appropriate except that it isn't green.
Yes guys we get it... tougher back then...... tougher or lack of skill? Idk. Guys today wouldn’t make it back then like guys back then wouldn’t make it today.
Fantastic documentary!! Thanks for uploading
An interesting comment, in light of your post, from Forrest Gregg, in his autobiography, "Winning in the Trenches: "today's football players are better athletes, but the players of my era were better football players" (I'm paraphrasing).
@@paulbloede4214 thanks for your comment. It’s a hard one isn’t it... like a case of my walk to school was longer than yours etc...
I don’t think either era could play in the other tbh. It’s a completely different game.
Guys back in the day really knew how to block. It was automatic for those guys.
These guys led the way for these players of today. Take any year between 1950-1959 choose the 30 best player;s from that era. Then take the 30 best players of the modern era. The modern era players would be favored to win. But use the rule book from the 50-59 and hands down the 50-59 players win.
Whoa... that block at 19:50!!!
now illegal of course
The circus poop story was amazing.
These guys didn't kneel. Solid men.
That was MAD COOL how the actor invited the Colts to his home
My father & uncle went to that 1958 NFL title game in Yankee Stadium. This was before I was born. I asked him how'd they get tickets, because they were both just young working class guys. They lived near Yankee Stadium at the time and my father said, "We just went to see if we could get in, and we got bleacher seats." I guess they weren't too expensive at the time. So just an ordinary guy could go to an NFL title game in 1958. What's often forgotten, or not mentioned, is that since that game was played in New York, it wasn't shown on TV in New York. It was blacked out! All NFL games, including championship games (and Super Bowls), were blacked out in local markets up to 1973. So the biggest game in NFL history up to that time, the one that supposedly put pro football on the map, wasn't even on TV in New York City, the country's biggest media market. So I wonder how true it is that this game was such a landmark in turning the country on to the NFL, or if this is all just a myth and legend that has grown over the years.
That's a cool story, thanks for sharing! Regarding your 2nd point, it's probably a little bit of both, don't you think? (Especially for markets where there was no team) That said, It was shortsighted for the NFL to blackout super bowls (or championship games) in those markets even when they were sellouts. A while back I remember reading a story of people who couldn't get tickets to super bowl VII leaving LA and driving out of market to watch the game.
@@deputay
Sitting in the cheap bleacher seats, my father would have gotten a better view of the winning touchdown than he would from the more expensive seats in the grandstands, because the touchdown was scored at the bleacher end of the stadium. The way the field was laid out for football, one end zone was along the first base line and the other was in left field. If you look at the film at 52:35, you can see the left field field level auxiliary scoreboard and also fans leaving through the left field bull pen (visitor's bullpen for baseball). I wish I had asked my father if he sat in the left field or right field bleachers for the game. When we went to baseball games at the pre-73 renovation Yankee Stadium, we always sat in the right field bleachers, so I guess he would have sat there and wouldn't have had as a good a view, but still better than from the grandstands. It's too late to ask him now because he's long gone.
Another sort-of myth for this game and about the Giants is that they had they had a long, glorious history playing in Yankee Stadium. 1958 was only their 3rd year in Yankee Stadium. Before 1956 they played in the Polo Grounds, and they only played in Yankee Stadium from 1956-1972, with 2 more games at the beginning of 1973.
With the NFL blackout rules of the time, it used to be a thing with NY football fans to drive out to a motel somewhere outside the 75 mile blackout zone, in New Jersey, upstate NY or Connecticut, and rent a room to watch the Giants games. I don't know if the AFL had the same blackout rules, pre-merger, because I seem to remember watching the 1968 Jets-Raiders AFL Championship game (Shea Stadium) on TV, but I was very young, only 7 years old, and maybe I'm confusing it with another game. The Jets and Raiders had some doozies in those days.
@@RRaquello The Jet/Raider game was blacked out as well
@@brianwolf6166
I figured that. Must have been another Jets-Raiders game I saw that year, maybe the Heidi game. In the early days of Monday Night Football, they never had games from either Shea or Yankee Stadium because they didn't want to have their prime time game blacked out in the biggest market, so the Jets or Giants would only be on for road games.
@@RRaquello In Dec 1963, my dad tried unsuccessfully to get tickets for the Giants-Steelers showdown in Yankee Stadium for the Eastern Conference Championship. We drove to the Pickwick Motor Inn in Plainview, LI to watch the game, since it was blacked out on NYC TV. I brought my radio with me to listen to Marty Glickman and Al De Rogatis.
My dad and I sat in the lounge area and we went crazy on that frigid December day as Y A led the Giants to victory. As the final seconds ticked off the clock, everyone at the Pickwick counted it down! What a day!
Unlike now the Browns and the Lions were the teams ot the 50's they played each other for championships 4 times
Bobby Layne was known to imbibe large amounts of beer at halftime.Some of his tacklers found his breath deadly!
@@barrykendrick3146 He even had whiskey on his breath at times.
@@barrykendrick3146 In Art Donovan's book, "Fatso: Football When Men Were Really Men", he tells the story of the 1957 season opener, Lions at Colts. Early in the 3rd quarter, Donovan said he tackled Layne and his breath smelled like a wine factory. Layne completed his next 12 passes consecutively, leading the Lions to a win over the Colts. Donovan says Bobby Layne was better drunk than Dan Marino and Joe Montana completely sober!
Bert Bell maybe the greatest commish of the big four sports in America.
I really pity anyone who missed the '50's, it was truly THE decade in which to be an American.
I lived 11 days of the 1950s.
I'd seen footage from the 20s in which this happened; but I didn't know the rugby standard of "if you aren't held in the tackle, you can get up and keep going" still applied in the 50s, as seen at 18:13 . They should bring it back - not having the option simply to smack the ball carrier to the ground, but actually having to *tackle* him would make the game much safer.
Johnny Sample played for the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
Heaven 19…..Baltimore 0…..RIP Johnny U.
Ms anti-Freeze of 1959 was super cute.
And I'm one of the, now, old guys who watched those early games including the fabled 1958 championship. The Colt - Giant game was NOT the greatest game ever played but it was the most important.The greates game would be the 1966 NFL championship game, Cowboys - Packers. The '58 game led directly to the birth of the AFL and thus the modern-day NFL.
I could just imagine how all the great patriarchs of the NFL such as George Halas, Art Rooney, Wellington Mara,
and George Preston Marshall must have felt to finally see the NFL reach popularity and mainstream acceptance in
the 50s, only to see the upstart AFL burst upon the scene a decade later and thrive after the NFL had spent 40
years laying the foundation.
I saw all of those great games too, but the '58 game really WAS the greatest game ever played - at least it was until Tom Brady led the Patriots in their legendary comeback win (after trailing 28-3) vs. Atlanta in the 2017 Super Bowl.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl_LI
It's pretty crazy to think that the two best teams of the decade at the time were the Browns and Lions
The Colts might argue about putting the Lions over them.
@@kbrewski1 the Colts became great when the decade was ending since they won their titles in 1958 and 1959. They were probably the third best team of the decade since the Browns and Lions won more. The Rams had a great team also and they had an offense that was way ahead of its time.
@greensmithfootball10
Yes, the Browns were 3-4 in NFL Champ in the 50s. The Lions were 3-1. The Colts were 2-0, the Giants were 1-3, and the Rams were 1-2. I had forgotten the Lions won 3. So for 50s Team of the Decade:
1. Browns
2. Lions
3. Colts
4. Giants
5. Rams
Plus the Browns were 1-3 in NFL Championships in the 60s, and they played in 4 of the last 6 NFL Championships!
@@kbrewski1 you should check out the documentary if you haven't already called Game of their Lives it talks all about the NFL in the 1950s. It's actually on here if you wanted to search for it. I've watched it a handful of times myself.
Frank Gifford took the defensive players he faced best shots and didn't complain, they were all jealous of him, That hit that Bednarik gave him in 1960 would get a player thrown out of the league today. Frank came back to the giants a year and a half later, changed position to wide receiver and was named to the pro bowl at his 3rd different position. The only man in football history to accomplish that feat
He said took a long time for a B 24 to climb over mountains?
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Peter say dont ya calll me cuz i cant go. .... i owe my soul to the company store.
13:02 Try to outdo each other with the 52...Luv it.
My God did anyone see Chuck bedneriks fingers especially his right hand at least 2 fingers were dislocated so badly they bent outward and this is the interview probably 20 years after he played
Upton Bell Bert Bells son is wearing one hell of a hair piece @ 5:10
It will never be this good again. America built things, people worked hard for what they had, People loved God and their family and men were MEN.
Tom brady said a few years ago that the NFL was soft, I respect Tom for that, because he knows as well as anyone else there is no way in the fuck that today's players could have played professional football in the 1950s,60s,70s or 1980s
Players are bigger and faster today but everything went back then. Tom Brady wouldn't last 10 years back then. A personal foul meant taking a gun out and shooting the other guy. To me john unitas was the epitome of a quarterback. He had a dignity and a bearing like no one before or since.
Ha! "Personal foul, #64 defense, attempted murder. 15 yards, first down."
Very good if you love 🏈‼️