11/24/63

Special Note from The Sports Time Traveler™

11/22/63 is one of the most tragic dates in American history, right alongside 9/11 in this century.

And yet, while most of the sports world was at a standstill, mourning the fallen president, just 2 days later, on 11/24/63, the NFL demanded that it’s full slate of games proceed.

This is the story of the NFL games of 11/24/63.

For me this story is somewhat personal. I was born just 2 months prior to the Kennedy assassination, and as a child I became a “fan” of the fallen president. I read books about him and I followed the news of the conspiracy investigations into the assassination that were extremely popular in the late 1970s, culminating with the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations report in 1979 that concluded, “Kennedy was probably assassinated as a result of a conspiracy. The committee was unable to identify the other gunmen or the extent of the conspiracy.”

Several decades later, in 2011, Stephen King published his only historical fiction book, 11/22/63, about a man who travels back in time to try and prevent the Kennedy assassination.

I was enamored with King’s book, 11/22/63, for 2 reasons:

1 - I had always been fascinated with time travel, and a time travel story about the Kennedy assassination was particularly intriguing to me. I would go as far to say that the idea for The Sports Time Traveler™ might not have sprung in my mind if not for Stephen King’s book.

2 - I have an indirect personal connection to Stephen King. One of King’s 65 novels was dedicated to my cousin, Ed Ferman. Eddie, as my family calls him, is the former editor and publisher of Fantasy and Science Fiction magazine. Stephen King credits Eddie with giving him his first big break when he published one of his early stories in the magazine.

In Stephen King’s book, The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger, this is the dedication he wrote:

“TO ED FERMAN who took a chance on these stories, one by one”

Naturally, The Sports Time Traveler™ had to make this trip back to 11/24/63 to do my own investigation of the assassination, understand why the NFL played, and find out what happened in the games of 11/24/63.

The byline for the story is New York on 11/25/63 because I based my virtual trip in that city and as always, I had to wait until the newspapers were published the morning after the games.

11/24/63

NEW YORK - November 25, 1963

The Sports Time Traveler™ is back here in 1963, in a time of national sadness, just days after president Kennedy was gunned down in Dallas.

This is my first virtual time travel trip in which I’m not just experiencing sports history, but American history.

New York governor, Nelson Rockefeller, has declared today, a Monday, a legal holiday in observance of president Kennedy’s funeral.

And yet yesterday the New York Giants and all other NFL teams played their regular Sunday games.

In Yankee Stadium yesterday, the opening kickoff was less than 48 hours after John F. Kennedy was declared dead.

Television networks chose not to cover the NFL games.

CBS, which covers the NFL nationwide, canceled all entertainment programming over the weekend.

The New York Times reported on Saturday (the day after the assassination), “Sports activity throughout the nation came to a virtual halt yesterday with the news of President Kennedy’s death, and there were indications last night that much of it would not be resumed until after the funeral… virtually all sports activities in progress yesterday or scheduled for last night were called off. These included the NBA’s 4 game slate, college and high school football games.”

The Los Angeles Times on Saturday ran a banner headline at the top of the sports section that read:

“SPORTS NEAR STANDSTILL AS U.S. MOURNS”

And the great sports columnist of the L.A. Times, Jim Murray, declared just below that, “No Time for Fun,” in the headline of his daily read.

Murray wrote in his column, “Sport lost a friend in President Kennedy. Fitness was as big a passion with him as freedom. If the free weren’t fit they wouldn’t be long free, he held… He welcomed athletes into the White House, not for their notoriety but for their example.”

The young American Football League (AFL), announced they were postponing all 4 of their games on Sunday.

NFL Commissioner Rozelle Decides to Press On

However, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle made the decision to press on with Sunday’s games. The Chicago Tribune’s George Strickler wrote in Saturday’s paper that Rozelle, “notified NFL clubs last night that the 7 game schedule for tomorrow would be played, and ordered visiting teams to proceed to the site of the contests… In light of yesterday’s tragedy in Dallas he proposed no team introductions and no halftime entertainment. Each contest, Rozelle urged, should open with both squads on the field for a moment of silent prayer.”

Yesterday’s New York Times quoted Rozelle’s explanation for his decision, “It has been traditional for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy. Football was Mr. Kennedy’s game. He thrived on competition.”

Several teams were against the decision. Philadelphia Eagles president, Frank McNamee, told the AP that he would not go to the Eagles game. And the mayor of Philadelphia asked Pete Rozelle to postpone the game against the Washington Redskins, informing Rozelle that neither team wanted to play.

The New York Times reported that Pittsburgh and Cleveland both wanted their home games postponed.

They also reported that several callers to the New York Times, inquiring about the status of the Giants game, were “‘shocked,’ ‘aghast,’ ‘upset,’ ‘ashamed,’ or ‘horrified,’ that the game was to go on.”

But this morning, in the Los Angeles Times, Pete Rozelle was further quoted with an affirmation of his decision, “Everyone has a different way of paying respects. I went to church today and I imagine many of the people here at the game did too. I cannot feel that playing the game was disrespectful nor can I feel that I have made a mistake.”

And so the NFL played. The teams had no choice. It was a decision by the league.

Yet despite the protests of a minority of fans, stadiums were actually filled.

The 5th place Rams had 48,555 come to the L.A. Coliseum to see Johnny Unitas and the Colts. This was actually 3,000 more fans than came to see the Rams west coast rivals, the 49ers, last month.

And 4 of the 7 NFL games were sellouts.

But no games were broadcast on national TV (although WGN in Chicago broadcast the Bears - Steelers game live from Pittsburgh).

Note from The Sports Time Traveler™

I interrupt this article for a special note about President Kennedy.

Whether you agree or disagree with his policies, one thing is certain, Kennedy was a great writer and orator.

He is the only president to ever win a Pulitzer Prize.

Some of the quotes in his speeches are incredibly inspirational and timeless.

In the class I developed and teach on business creativity & innovation at the University of North Florida, I refer to Kennedy’s speech in Congress on May 25, 1961 in which he declared,

“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.”

I use this as an example of a great innovation objective statement. And I personally believe it’s the greatest innovation objective statement in history, as it galvanized the work of hundreds of thousands of Americans to successfully complete the greatest scientific exploration mission of all-time. It culminated in the landing of Apollo 11 on the moon and it’s safe return.

50 years later we are struggling to replicate that feat.

Kennedy also popularized a quote originally attributed to the ancient Greeks when he said, “The Greeks defined happiness as the full use of your powers along the lines of excellence.”

I bring this quote to light because it gets to the heart of what I’m attempting to deliver to you in my sports time travels. Each of my articles recounts the travails of great athletes from the past as they strive for excellence in their sport. Whether they achieve it or not, we’re celebrating their golden opportunity to pursue that happiness at a time long ago when they were at the height of their powers.

Now back to 11/24/63 and to the games that were played.

THE GAMES OF 11/24/1963

Cardinals at Giants

A capacity crowd of 63,800 filled Yankee Stadium for the game.

But it was not the usual atmosphere at all for a Giants game, particularly one in which the Giants came into the game in sole possession of 1st place in the Eastern Division, for the 1st time this season, and were facing a team that was tied for 2nd place, just 1 game back.

Arthur Daley captured the mood of the fans and the players in a piece he wrote this morning in The New York Times, “There was an air of unreality to the Giants-Cardinals game yesterday, almost as if it had become part of the national nightmare. This was not the buoyant eager crowd that storms into the stadium. It was subdued and listless in the early stages unable to shake off the pall of President Kennedy’s assassination. The players also acted as if their minds were not entirely on their jobs. But as the action grew more heated, there was a gradual return to normalcy.”

Further adding to the pall, was the knowledge by some, just prior to the start of the game, that the suspected assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, had just been killed in Dallas.

You can watch nearly the entire game in a video that was taken for the Game of the Week show that is to be broadcast sometime later. Experience the game as I did here:

Here’s my recap of the highlights:

The Cardinals led 3 - 0 at the end of a lackluster 1st quarter. Then watch on the tape at 16:23 mark as the Giants get a great opportunity when they sack Cardinals QB Charley Johnson and recover his fumble on the Cardinals 15 yard line. But the Giants promptly fumbled the ball at the 10 yard line, thus losing a great scoring opportunity.

After the Cardinals couldn’t move the ball and punted, the Giants mounted their first big drive, culminating in a great 35 yard TD throw by Y.A. Tittle to tight end Aaron Thomas who made a leaping catch. You can see it at the 18:52 mark on the tape. This gave the Giants a 7 - 3 lead.

The Giants then added a field goal to increase their lead to 10 - 3.

Skip ahead to the 24:43 mark on the tape to see the wild final play of the 1st half as Cardinals QB Charley Johnson gets away from pass rushers who had him in their grasp, fumbles, recovers the ball and then tries to make something happen.

The half ends with the Giants still ahead 10 - 3.

Early in the 3rd quarter, at the 27:37 mark on the tape, Giants pass rushers have Johnson desperately scrambling again, and after he laterals the ball on the broken play the Cardinals fumble and recover it again. On the next play the Cardinals get a long run deep into Giants territory. 2 plays later Johnson throws an 11 yard TD pass to tie the game at 28:24 on the tape.

GIANTS 10 CARDINALS 10 - Middle of the 3rd Quarter

At the 33:24 mark on the tape, Tittle is intercepted and the Cardinals have great field position on the Giants 20. And 2 plays later the Cardinals run into the end zone to take a 17 - 10 lead.

Late in the 3rd quarter, at 35:28 on the tape, after Tittle had driven the Giants to the Cardinals 45, he ran a trick play in which Tittle handed off to running back Joe Morrison who then tossed an 18 yard strike to Frank Gifford. It was part of an 80 yard 11 play Giants TD drive that culminated with a short pass by Tittle at 37:15 on the tape. The game was now tied at 17.

GIANTS 17 CARDINALS 17 - Early 4th Quarter

At 39:55 on the tape, after the Giants defense had stopped the Cardinals, the Giants punt returner fumbles the ball, giving the Cardinals the ball at the Giants 20. They took advantage of the field position and scored the go ahead touchdown on a 3 yard Johnson pass.

In the middle of the final quarter Tittle showed incredible toughness at 42:22 when he scrambled for 15 yards to the Giants 40 yard line. After completing a short pass to midfield, watch Tittle’s bomb to Shofner at the the 42:58 mark. Shofner, who was ahead of the Cardinals defensive back Jimmy Hill, but he gets taken down in a great ankle grab by Hill at the 2 yard line. Otherwise Shofner would have scored the tying touchdown.

Now the Giants have it 1st and goal needing a touchdown to tie. On 3 successive plays Tittle couldn’t get the Giants into the end zone and they had to bring out the field goal unit.

The Giants faked the field goal and back up QB Glynn Griffing, who was the holder, tried to run it in. Watch at the 44:12 mark as he appears like he will get in for the score and then gets stopped.

The Giants got one more chance.

They had pinned the Cardinals back on their own 2 yard line where they had to punt. Watch the punt at the 45:10 mark on the tape. The punter just has enough room to get it off and the ball goes out the 42 yard line where the Giants Eddie Dove runs it back all the way to the Cardinals 7.

CARDINALS 24 GIANTS 17 - 2:15 left to play in the game

This was it for the Giants. 2 minutes to go and just 7 yards from the end zone for the tie. On 1st down, Tittle threw a screen for a 3 yard loss. On 2nd down he was sacked at the 17. On 3rd down he threw behind his receiver at the 2 yard line for an incomplete pass. And then on 4th down he was sacked again.

The Cardinals defense had saved the game for St. Louis. Cardinals win it 24 - 17.

The win put the Giants and Cardinals in a tie for first. Whether it would become a 3 way tie depended on the outcome of the game in Cleveland.

Cowboys at Browns

This was the strangest game of the day. Dallas players felt numb after the assassination had taken place in their hometown.

Fritz Howell of the AP called it a somber contest.

And the Browns PR director said he received 75 or 80 calls protesting the playing of the game.

Jim Brown had an off game, rushing 17 times for just 51 yards for 3 yards a carry, 4 below his average for the season.

That prevented Brown from breaking his own single season NFL rushing record. He needs just 29 more yards with 3 games to play to set a new single season NFL standard.

Brown’s running mate, Ernie Green, made up for Brown’s performance by gaining 97 yards on just 7 rushes.

And the Cleveland defense intercepted Don Meredith 4 times in leading the Browns to a 27 - 17 victory.

The win put the Browns into a 3 way tie for the Eastern Division crown with the Giants and Cardinals, who are all at 8 - 3.

Bears at Steelers

In Pittsburgh, the Western Division leading Bears faced the Steelers in front of a sellout crowd at Forbes Field.

You can watch highlights of this game in the video below:

Watch at the 1:33 mark as Bears QB Billy Wade throws a short pass to tight end Mike Ditka who then goes on terrific multi-tackle breaking 67 yard play before being brought down deep in Pittsburgh territory. See Ditka lying exhausted on the field after his long run following the catch.

The play set up a field goal with 4 minutes to play in the game that salvaged a 17 - 17 tie for the Bears.

NFL Standings after November 24 games:

EASTERN DIVISION

New York 8 - 3

Cleveland 8 - 3

St. Louis 8 - 3

Pittsburgh 6 - 3 - 2

Dallas 3 - 8

Washington 3 - 8

Philadelphia 2 - 8 - 1

WESTERN DIVISION

Chicago 9 - 1 - 1

Green Bay 9 - 2

Baltimore 5 - 6

Detroit 4 - 7

Minnesota 4 - 7

Los Angeles 4 - 7

San Francisco 2 - 9

Additional Notes from The Sports Time Traveler™

In my virtual time travels back to the time of the Kennedy assassination I uncovered two interesting finds.

First, regards the conspiracy theories around the assassination.

The first attending physician to see President Kennedy upon his arrival at Dallas’ Parkland Hospital was Dr. Malcolm Perry. Dr. Perry performed the tracheotomy, that was conducted in vain on the President, even though all who attended to him knew his condition was fatal. Dr. Perry rarely spoke about the tragic day throughout the rest of his life.

But in an interview on the afternoon of the assassination, as cited in both local Dallas newspapers and in syndicated press reports, about 2 hours after Kennedy died, Perry told reporters, “There was an entrance wound below his adam’s apple.”

Dr. Perry later changed his mind when speaking to the Warren Commission saying, “I believe it was an exit wound.”

The significance of this is the requirement of a 2nd shooter if in fact the neck wound was an entrance wound coming from the front, as Oswald was perched behind Kennedy in the book depository building.

No shot from Oswald could have entered from Kennedy’s front.

The second interesting historical finding was the transcript of the speech that Kennedy was to have delivered in Dallas after his motorcade arrived at the intended destination. The New York Times printed the entire text of the speech. It would have been a fantastic speech. It was supposed to end with these words:

“We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility - that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint - and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men. That must always be our goal - and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as it was written long ago, ‘Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain.’”

POSTCRIPT

Former NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, many years later, called playing the games on 11/24/63, “the worst decision I ever made,” according to an article that appeared in Sports Illustrated a few days ago on 11/21/2023.

But the article also noted that it is believed the Rozelle made that statement in response to the many criticisms he received over the years and that down deep he felt he made the right choice.

38 years after the Kennedy Assassination, when the 9/11 terror attacks occurred, the NFL postponed the games that were to take place 5 days later on Sunday, September 16th. Those games were made up in January.

Thanks for reading.