Greatest Games Archives ‑ History.com

The NFL’s Bizarre ‘Blizzard Bowl’ and the Star Who Nearly Missed It

Philadelphia’s Steve Van Buren took public transportation to get to the 1948 NFL Championship Game against the Chicago Cardinals.

The NFL’s First Playoff Game Was Played Indoors in a Hockey Arena

On December 18, 1932, with waist‑deep snow and frigid weather plaguing Chicago, the Bears moved their NFL championship game against the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans from Wrigley Field to the indoor arena of the city’s NHL team. The league’s first playoff game—and first contest played indoors—produced what an Ohio newspaper called a “sham battle on Tom Thumb […]

NFL’s Greatest Play: The Immaculate Reception

In the decades before 22‑year‑old rookie Franco Harris’ “Immaculate Reception—considered the greatest play in NFL history—the Pittsburgh Steelers were mostly awful. From its inception in 1933 to 1971, the team posted seven winning records and no playoff victories. “They were a poem that didn’t rhyme,” says Bill Hillgrove, the team’s longtime radio play‑by‑play broadcaster. “Hapless, helpless and hopeless,” […]

Two Days After JFK’s Assassination, the Dallas Cowboys Faced Backlash

Two days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on November 22, 1963, the Dallas Cowboys played the Browns in front of angry, anguished and hostile fans in Cleveland. Many blamed Dallas, a hotbed of far‑right extremism in the early 1960s, for JFK’s death—and by extension the city’s National Football League team. “We […]

The Dramatic NFL Championship Game Nearly the Entire Country Missed

On Christmas Eve 1950, the Cleveland Browns beat the Los Angeles Rams in an epic matchup featuring 12 future Hall of Fame players. But the game wasn’t televised nationally, limiting its legacy.

The Most Dramatic Home Run in World Series History

The World Series has produced many moments of incredible drama, but only in 1960 has the Fall Classic ended with a Game 7 home run. That World Series was among the wildest in baseball history as the New York Yankees outscored the Pittsburgh Pirates, 55‑27, and second baseman Bobby Richardson won the Most Valuable Player […]

The Freezer Bowl: The Coldest Game in NFL History

Frosty temperatures are typical for National Football League playoff games, but never have football fans and players shivered as much as they did on January 10, 1982, when the Cincinnati Bengals hosted the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Championship Game. With a kickoff temperature of nine degrees below zero and a minus 59 degree wind […]

The NFL’s Longest Game: How a Soccer Player‑Turned‑Kicker Secured the Win

The longest game in NFL history featured 13 future Hall of Fame players, two future Hall of Fame head coaches, starting quarterbacks who would finish their careers with a combined three Super Bowl titles and an unlikely star for the losing team. But the 1971 Christmas Day playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas […]

When Frank Gifford Was Knocked Out by One of the Most Vicious Tackles in NFL History

The Philadelphia Eagles‑New York Giants rivalry intensified during the 1960 season. Intent on ending New York’s two‑year reign atop the NFL’s Eastern Conference, Philadelphia carried a half‑game lead on its big‑market adversary going into the teams’ November 20 meeting. One non‑scoring play in that game—Chuck Bednarik’s “perfectly legal,” knockout tackle of Frank Gifford, a future […]

Fog Bowl: The Most Bizarre Game in NFL History

Foul weather, from ice, snow and below‑freezing temperatures to downpours and excessive heat, has adversely affected NFL games since the dawn of the league more than 100 years ago. But no game in NFL history matches the weird weather at the “Fog Bowl” playoff game between the Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears on December 31, […]

How Roger Staubach and Drew Pearson Made the ‘Hail Mary’ Pass Famous

In 1975, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach popularized the term “Hail Mary” to describe his miracle, winning touchdown pass to fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Drew Pearson in a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. Hail Mary thus became ingrained in the American sports lexicon, but the term was used decades earlier. READ MORE: […]