1960 NFL Championship Game - Background

Background

The game matched the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Eagles (10-2), who were making their first appearance in a championship game since 1949, against the Western Conference champion Green Bay Packers (8-4) who were making their first appearance since 1944. Due to the lack of lights at Franklin Field, the scheduled kick off time was set for 12 p.m. EST because the league was concerned about the possibility of sudden death overtime, as had occurred at the 1958 NFL Championship Game. The game was played on a Monday, as the NFL did not want to play on Christmas.

The Green Bay team came into the game with a record of eight wins and four losses, coached by future Pro Football Hall of Famer Vince Lombardi, finishing in first place in the Western Conference ahead of the Detroit Lions and San Francisco 49ers who had tied for second place with identical records of seven wins and five losses. The much-feared Baltimore Colts led by quarterback Johnny Unitas, had stumbled to fourth place and a record of six wins and six losses. Green Bay had won six league championships before, most recently in 1944, but the intervening years saw a decline with the team winning only one game in the 1958 season.

At the time, Lombardi was better known as having been an assistant coach for the New York Giants. He had received his first opportunity as a head coach when he was hired by the Packers in the 1959 season leading the team to a record of seven wins and five losses. On the field, the Packers were led by quarterback Bart Starr, another future Hall of Famer, who was then lightly regarded, having thrown eight interceptions to go with his four touchdown passes in the 1960 season. Starr had shared the quarterbacking responsibilities with Lamar McHan, who won all four of the games he started, while Starr had four losses to go together with his four wins. In his four previous seasons in the league Starr had more interceptions than touchdowns in each season and he finished the 1960 season having passed for 1,358 yards, completing 98 of 172 passes for a completion percentage of 57.0. Other names that would shine during the dynasty the Packers built during the 1960s, such as halfback / placekicker Paul Hornung, linebacker Ray Nitschke and fullback Jim Taylor, were also at early points in their playing careers. These three all would later be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The 1960 game represented a chance for Philadelphia to add to the two titles they had won in 1948 and 1949, but the team had declined to only two wins in 1958. Head coach Buck Shaw was in his third season with the Eagles, and in what turned out to be his final year as a head coach, and had turned around the team from a 2-9-1 record in 1958 to seven wins in 1959 to a divisional championship and the league's best record in 1960. The Eagles were led on the field by quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who was ranked second in the NFL with 2,471 passing yards and 24 passing touchdowns, behind Johnny Unitas of the Colts in both statistics, and was playing in his final game before he retired.