vince
05-05-2010, 06:29 AM
On September 12, the Philadelphia Eagles open their 2010 season at home with a game in which they recently announced they will wear the kelly green uniforms (http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/Birds_Break_Out_the_Kelly_Green.html) the team wore back in 1960 – the year of their last NFL championship. That championship was won by defeating the Green Bay Packers, the same opponent they’ll face when they don their old throwbacks from 50 years ago.
As we know, the Packers are also reaching into the archives of history this season with throwbacks of their own as they commemorate what is almost undisputedly the richest legacy in all of professional football. Ironically, the very game that Philadelphia is celebrating against the Packers is one of the few championship black marks in Green Bay’s storied tradition. There are many (Lombardi included) who feel that game, which would have been the first of an unprecedented championship run of 6 in 8 seasons, was unfairly taken from them.
If today’s modern Packers have developed any appreciation for the tradition of the team for which they play, perhaps they may be able to summon the ghosts of Packers past for an added lift to start this year. And maybe Philadelphia will provide the carma for the Packers to make this year the one in which they atone for the lost championship of 1960. The one that (just barely) wasn't to be for the Packers.
The 1960 NFL Championship
If there is one game that stuck in the craw of Vince Lombardi until the day he died, it would have to have been that 1960 championship game played on the day after Christmas at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
It was a hard fought battle right to the very end – a bitter end for Green Bay fans. Down 10-6 at the time, Green Bay stopped Philadelphia at its own 4 late in the third quarter, and then recaptured the lead on a 7-yard TD pass from Bart Starr to Max McGee.
Late in the fourth quarter though, the Eagles scored what would be the deciding points on a 5-yard burst by Ted Dean. Here is the picture published the next day, with the following caption.
The Eagles took the ‘60 title on this fourth period play, a smash by Ted Dean (35), who was aided by an offensive holding violation – caught by the photographer but not the officials. Philly blocker Billy Barnes is clearly guilty of holding defensive end Bill Quinlan (83).
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1960ChampionshipGame-small.jpg
Despite the overlooked infraction, Green Bay responded by driving deep into Eagles’ territory in the final minute of the game. On the final play though, Philadelphia’s Chuck Bednarik stopped Jim Taylor at the 8 yard line, and then laid on him and refused to let him up to allow the referees to set the ball and give the Packers a last attempt to score the deciding points. Instead, the final seconds ticked off the clock and time expired on the Packers’ title run that year. Lombardi was furious after the game. But in the locker room, he took a more measured approach with the players. In classic Lombardi fashion, he used the game to drive his team for the future – one which has never been equaled before or since.
"This will never happen to us again." (http://vimeo.com/11488780)
It was a great year for the Packers, but that was little consolation for the team following the bitter loss in the championship. Paul Hornung scored 176 points in 12 games that year, a record that would stand for 46 years until LaDanian Tomlinson finally broke it in 2006, needing 16-games to do so.
Lombardi’s teams went on to finish no lower than second from 1960-67 and became the standard of football excellence. In nine years, Lombardi went 98-30-4 (.766), including 9-1 in postseason, winning his final nine playoff games. But it was that one loss that stuck in his craw the most.
Maybe, just maybe, the stars are aligned for the ghosts of Packers past to help uplift this year’s team to great heights once again. If the stars in the sky aren’t properly aligned yet, chances are that, like a half-century ago, Lombardi is up there coaching them up for that big championship push.
As we know, the Packers are also reaching into the archives of history this season with throwbacks of their own as they commemorate what is almost undisputedly the richest legacy in all of professional football. Ironically, the very game that Philadelphia is celebrating against the Packers is one of the few championship black marks in Green Bay’s storied tradition. There are many (Lombardi included) who feel that game, which would have been the first of an unprecedented championship run of 6 in 8 seasons, was unfairly taken from them.
If today’s modern Packers have developed any appreciation for the tradition of the team for which they play, perhaps they may be able to summon the ghosts of Packers past for an added lift to start this year. And maybe Philadelphia will provide the carma for the Packers to make this year the one in which they atone for the lost championship of 1960. The one that (just barely) wasn't to be for the Packers.
The 1960 NFL Championship
If there is one game that stuck in the craw of Vince Lombardi until the day he died, it would have to have been that 1960 championship game played on the day after Christmas at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
It was a hard fought battle right to the very end – a bitter end for Green Bay fans. Down 10-6 at the time, Green Bay stopped Philadelphia at its own 4 late in the third quarter, and then recaptured the lead on a 7-yard TD pass from Bart Starr to Max McGee.
Late in the fourth quarter though, the Eagles scored what would be the deciding points on a 5-yard burst by Ted Dean. Here is the picture published the next day, with the following caption.
The Eagles took the ‘60 title on this fourth period play, a smash by Ted Dean (35), who was aided by an offensive holding violation – caught by the photographer but not the officials. Philly blocker Billy Barnes is clearly guilty of holding defensive end Bill Quinlan (83).
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c343/twernke/Packers/1960ChampionshipGame-small.jpg
Despite the overlooked infraction, Green Bay responded by driving deep into Eagles’ territory in the final minute of the game. On the final play though, Philadelphia’s Chuck Bednarik stopped Jim Taylor at the 8 yard line, and then laid on him and refused to let him up to allow the referees to set the ball and give the Packers a last attempt to score the deciding points. Instead, the final seconds ticked off the clock and time expired on the Packers’ title run that year. Lombardi was furious after the game. But in the locker room, he took a more measured approach with the players. In classic Lombardi fashion, he used the game to drive his team for the future – one which has never been equaled before or since.
"This will never happen to us again." (http://vimeo.com/11488780)
It was a great year for the Packers, but that was little consolation for the team following the bitter loss in the championship. Paul Hornung scored 176 points in 12 games that year, a record that would stand for 46 years until LaDanian Tomlinson finally broke it in 2006, needing 16-games to do so.
Lombardi’s teams went on to finish no lower than second from 1960-67 and became the standard of football excellence. In nine years, Lombardi went 98-30-4 (.766), including 9-1 in postseason, winning his final nine playoff games. But it was that one loss that stuck in his craw the most.
Maybe, just maybe, the stars are aligned for the ghosts of Packers past to help uplift this year’s team to great heights once again. If the stars in the sky aren’t properly aligned yet, chances are that, like a half-century ago, Lombardi is up there coaching them up for that big championship push.