Ice Bowl (NFL)

The Ice Bowl was the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. It is widely considered one of the greatest games in NFL history.

Related Topics:
1967 - NFL - Green Bay Packers - Dallas Cowboys

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The game, played on December 31, 1967 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin (USA), remains one of the coldest NFL games on record. The official game-time temperature was -13°F / -25°C, with a windchill around -48°F / -44°C. The bitter cold overwhelmed Lambeau's new turf heating system, leaving the playing surface hard as a rock and nearly as smooth as ice. The officials were unable to use their whistles after the opening kickoff, when the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of play and it froze to his lips. For the rest of their games, the officials used their voices to end plays. Several players, including Dallas defensive tackle Jethro Pugh and Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr, claim to still suffer occasionally from mild effects of the frostbite they incurred that day.

Related Topics:
December 31 - 1967 - Lambeau Field - Green Bay, Wisconsin - Defensive tackle - Jethro Pugh - Quarterback - Bart Starr - Frostbite

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Green Bay won 21-17, as Starr executed a quarterback sneak behind guard Jerry Kramer's block through the defensive line, scoring a touchdown with 16 seconds remaining. The final play was selected in a sideline conference between Starr and Packer coach Vince Lombardi. As reported in the book, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, by David Maraniss (1999), the coach wanted to get the game over with, one way or another, before conditions became worse, rather than attempting a tying field goal. The field goal try was no certainty given the conditions, and if it was successful it likely would have sent the game into a grueling overtime period.

Related Topics:
Quarterback sneak - Jerry Kramer - Vince Lombardi

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As reported in the Maraniss book and also in The Packers!, by Steve Cameron (1995), the actual play was to be a handoff. Starr decided (but did not tell anyone) that he would keep the ball and avoid the risk of a fumble. The Packers then had to kick off to the Cowboys, but Dallas was unable to advance the ball in the closing seconds, and Green Bay had the victory.

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Green Bay went on to finish the postseason by defeating the AFL champion Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II. A highlight film of the game, shown on television for years afterwards, included John Facenda's dramatic intonation of "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field", which has subsequently become a catch phrase.

Related Topics:
AFL - Oakland Raiders - Super Bowl II - Television - John Facenda - Tundra - Catch phrase

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