Leading Up to the '58 Championship Game

[jimv]

Except for the loss in the Championship Game, 1958 is one of my favorite seasons even though I had to listen to the home games on the radio.  It was at the height of the Giants/Browns rivalry.  (As Jim Brown said, "The best defense I ever played against; they had a scheme that allowed Sam Huff to wrap himself around my legs."  Tom Landry said, "You couldn't stop Jim Brown all the time but we had more success at it than other teams.")  The Giants stood at 8 - 3 (beating the Browns twice but losing to the Eagles, Cardinals & Steelers), & the Browns were 9 - 2 (losing to the Giants & some other team) going into the last game of the season against each other.

The Giants next to last game was at the Lions.  They had to win that game to have a chance to tie the Browns for that last game.  The Giants were leading 19 - 17 with the clock ticking down.  The Lions set up for a short game winning FG.  And, Carl Karilivacz (the only year he played) blocked it, saving us for the final showdown.

Well Dec 14th dawned cloudy & cold with a threat of snow in the air.  The Browns won the toss and started the game on their own 20.  Jim Brown took the opening play ball & went down the field for an 80 yard TD!  As he was on that romp, the first flakes started to fall.  It snowed through the whole game.  I don't recall the order of scoring but the Brown had a FG & the Giants a FG and a TD pass from Frank Gifford to Bob Schnelker.  So, going into the last few minutes it was 10 - 10.  A final tie score would give the Browns the Eastern Division title.  The Giants HAD to win the game in order to force a playoff for Division title.  The Giants were someplace around the Browns 40 yard line; nobody knew for sure because the snow obliterated the yard markers.  It was 4th down and Jim lee Howell sent Summerall in for a 50 yard (more or less) FG.  As he  entered the huddle, Conerly asked him, "What the hell are you doing here?"  (Remember, FGs of that distance, especially in the snow, were almost unheard of in those days.)  Well, he hit it!  13 - 10, Giants.

A coin toss that decided the game would be in Yankee Stadium.  The Giants won 10 - 0, holding Brown to only 10 yards.

The heck with that miserable Championship game.  If it were only possible to watch those games against the Lions & Browns...