Records and Reckoning

Introduction from The Sports Time Traveler™

I’m pleased to be continuing my coverage of the 1963 NFL season. I’ve been following the key games from each weekend precisely 60 years ago going back to late October.

We’re now in week 12 of the 14 week season. The games are becoming critically important as only the two division winners will play in the post season for NFL championship.

Everyone else goes home.

Legacies can’t be created if you don’t play for the title.

If you’ve missed any of the prior 5 weeks in my coverage you can find them here.

The underlined titles of the articles are clickable links.

A Tale of Two Takedowns - This article covers games played 12/27/63

Football in America: Nov 2 - 3, 1963

This Week in Football Nov 9 - 10, 1963

A Record for Jim Brown & Football Games from Nov 16 - 17, 1963

11/24/63

Special Note Regarding the Kennedy Assassination

As I read the newspapers in my time travels back to 1963, I can’t help but also look at the coverage of the Kennedy assassination which took place on 11/22/63.

In looking at the newspapers around this week’s games, I have made an astonishing discovery of a few items I’ve never heard of before related to the assassination. I have included these findings at the end of the article after the football coverage below.

Now let’s go back to the NFL games played on Sunday, December 1, 1963.

Records and Reckoning

New York - December 2, 1963

I’m reporting to you from New York City on Monday, December 2, 1963, regarding the NFL games played yesterday.

VIKINGS vs. BEARS at Wrigley Field

The Western Division leading Chicago Bears (9 -1 -1) hosted the Minnesota Vikings (4 - 7) who are in a 3 way tie for 4th place, and out of playoff contention.

The Bears beat the Vikings handily in Minnesota 28 - 7 in week 2.

But now things are different. We’re getting to crunch time.

The Bears hold a slim half game lead on the 2-time defending NFL champion Packers (9 - 2 - 1) who tied the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.

For the Bears, who have not won the division since 1956, this week’s game is a reckoning. It’s a grand opportunity to take clear command of the division.

After the Bears beat the Packers for the 2nd time this season, 26 - 7, 2 weeks ago, it was looking like the Bears might just cruise to the division title.

Then they went to Pittsburgh where they could only manage a 17 all tie in the strange environment that pervaded across the NFL when all teams were ordered by the league to play their scheduled games just 48 hours after President Kennedy had been killed.

Now back home, the Bears needed to re-establish their ground against this much weaker opponent.

You can see the highlights of the game in this short video below.

At the start of the video there is an intriguing aerial view of Wrigley Field as it is set up for football.

After the teams traded field goals in the 1st quarter, the Vikings engineered an impressive 2nd quarter drive led by back-up QB Ron VanderKelen, a rookie, who hasn’t played in 2 months.

VanderKelen, is playing for the injured Fran Tarkenton. In the 1st play on the highlights tape he hits Gordie Smith on a perfectly executed play action pass for 30 yards, down to the Bears 2. A moment later the Vikings score and take a surprising 10 - 3 lead.

Later in the 2nd quarter, at the 50 second mark on the tape, watch as VanderKelen deftly avoids a sack on his own 38. He then throws on the run to Gordie Smith again. Smith catches the ball at the Bears 40 and sprints all the way to the end zone.

The Vikings now have a 14 point lead on the team with the NFL’s best record.

Vikings 17 Bears 3 - Halftime

It’s only the 2nd time this season the Bears have been down by 14+ points in a game.

The only other time was in their inexplicable loss to the league’s worst team, the 49ers, back on October 20th, when the 49ers raced to a 17 - 0 halftime lead and stunned the Bears 20 - 14 for the Bears only loss.

In the 3rd quarter the Bears came out playing hard. Watch as Bears running back Willie Galimore bulls his way to the Vikings 5, leading to a touchdown that claws the Bears back into the game.

Still, Chicago trailed 17 - 10 entering the 4th quarter.

Midway through the final period, the Bears caught a big break.

Watch at the 1:41 mark on the tape as Vikings running back Tommie Mason fumbles at his own 31 yard line. Then watch on the tape at 2:04 as Bears QB Billy Wade connects with Joe Marconi in the end zone for a TD that ties the game.

And that’s how it remained.

Vikings 17 Bears 17 - FINAL SCORE

The Bears have now played to a 17 all tie in 2 consecutive games.

Had they won, they would have been up 1.5 games with 2 to play.

With the tie, they still retain sole possession of 1st place, but their lead over the Packers is just a half game with 2 games remaining. The Bears, however, do have the tiebreaker over the Packers if it comes to that.

GIANTS vs. COWBOYS at the Cotton Bowl

The New York Giants came to Dallas to play the first game since the assassination took place here 9 days earlier.

The Giants entered the game in a 3 way tie for 1st place in the Eastern Division with the Cleveland Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals.

A victory over the 3 - 8 Cowboys is necessary to have a strong chance of claiming the Eastern title.

The Giants have won the title in 4 of the past 5 years, but have lost in the NFL championship game each time.

To get back to the title game it is vital that they beat Dallas, a team they defeated easily in New York, 37 - 21 on October 20th.

At the 17:26 mark of the video below you can see a couple of quick highlights of this game.

Things started perfectly for the Giants.

Watch at the 17:30 mark for one of the most remarkable plays you will ever see.

As Cowboys QB Don Meredith throws a screen pass from his own 5 yard line, the ball is batted high up into the air by Giants linebacker Jerry Hillebrand. The ball flying several feet over Hillebrand’s head is on a short flight towards the end zone where Hillebrand follows it and reels it in for a pick 6.

It’s the 1st touchdown of Hillebrand’s career and it gives the Giants the early 7 - 0 lead.

But after capturing the early lead, the Giants offense sputtered. Y.A. Tittle was intercepted 3 times and the Giants defense couldn’t stop the running of the Cowboys who gained 126 yards rushing in the first half.

The Cowboys scored 2 TDs in the 1st quarter and 2 more in the 2nd quarter to take an impressive 13 point halftime lead.

Cowboys 27 Giants 13 - Halftime

The Giants defense regrouped after halftime. Hillebrand intercepted Meredith again giving the Giants the ball at the Dallas 5. But this time the Giants failed to score.

Still down 14 points, the Giants got the ball again and this time Tittle led them on a 74 yard drive that ended with him running 1 yard for the TD. The Giants had pulled to within 6 points at 27 - 21 after 3 quarters.

Early in the 4th quarter the Giants cut the lead to 3 on a Don Chandler 11 yard field goal.

Then with 5 minutes to go in the game and facing 4th down at midfield, the Giants brought in Chandler again. He was kicking from his own 47 yard line.

Watch at the 17:43 mark on the tape watch as Don Chandler ties the game with a 53 yard field goal with just 5 minutes remaining.

The 53 yard field goal by Chandler set a New York Giants record and is the 3rd longest in NFL history up to this time.

It ties Chandler with Sam Baker of Dallas for the longest field goal up to this point in the 1960s.

The only longer field goals in NFL history at this time are a 54 yarder by Glen Presnell of Detroit in 1934, and the 56 yarder by Bert Rechichar of Baltimore in 1953 that represents the NFL record.

Chandler boasted in the locker room to a New York Times reporter, “I could’ve kicked a field goal for 60 yards today. The wind was that strong. My kick was good by at least 10 yards.”

Now with the game tied, the Giants defense gave them another opportunity.

The Giants Jim Katcavage sacked Cowboys QB Don Meredith. In the New York Times, William Wallace wrote, “Katcavage hit Don Meredith so hard at the end that he fumbled and John LoVetere recovered the ball with 2 minutes left to play.

Tittle then hit Del Shofner on a 17 yard pass to win the game 34 - 27.

The Giants had outscored Dallas 21 - 0 in the 2nd half to go home as winners.

Gene Ward, wrote in the New York Daily News, “It was a shaky victory, to say the least, but when the chips were down… Y.A. Tittle and Del Shofner got the job done.”

A Career Record for Y.A. Tittle

The final TD pass by Tittle also set a monumental record.

It was the 197th career TD pass by the “Bald Eagle,” good for a new all-time career NFL record.

Ward wrote that, “Tittle didn’t see the completion of his record busting pass. He was flat on his back at the time.”

Tittle’s record solidifies his stature as one of the greatest athletes ever to wear a uniform in the city of New York.

Just the day before, on Saturday, December 1, 1963, the New York Daily News had published a piece lionizing the Bald Eagle.

Harry Cronin wrote these words, “Technically, Y.A. Tittle was a great quarterback long before he came to the New York Giants… But it wasn’t until Tittle came to New York that he took on the luminous aura with which Bigtown has surrounded a Babe Ruth, a Jack Dempsey, a Joe DiMaggio or a Willie Mays.”

Now with Tittle pulling out the victory over Dallas in the final 2 minutes, he adds further to the legend.

All that is left is for Y.A. Tittle to deliver an NFL Championship to New York.

BROWNS vs. CARDINALS in St. Louis

2 of the 3 teams tied for the Eastern Division lead met at Busch Stadium as the Cleveland Browns visited the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals were fresh off a 24 - 17 upset of the Giants in New York the prior week.

But of course the magnitude of that victory, which was the Cardinals 3rd in a row and put them into the 3 way tie for 1st, was tempered by the fact it came on the day when most of the crowd and players were still numb in the hours after President Kennedy had been killed.

Now the Cardinals were at home facing the formidable Browns and running back Jim Brown to see if they really had a shot at the Eastern title.

The Cards have not won the division since 1948 when they were based in Chicago.

The Browns on the other hand have every reason to believe they can win the Eastern Division. They have perhaps the best player in football, possibly the greatest of all time, in Jim Brown.

Jim Brown is having a whale of a season. Coming into the game on Sunday he was just 29 yards shy of the single season rushing record that he set in 1958 of 1,527 yards in a 12 game season.

The Browns had also won their opening 6 games of the season, all by double digits, before falling into a mid season swoon when they were belted by the Giants on October 27th by a score of 33 - 6.

The Browns also lost to these same Cardinals, in an upset in Cleveland, just 2 weeks ago, when Cardinals QB Charley Johnson had an unexpectedly brilliant game, passing 25 for 34 for 285 yards and 2 TDs.

But after a win last week the Browns are ready to reclaim first place, or at least maintain themselves in a tie, and give themselves a chance at a championship game berth against either the Bears or the Packers (the only 2 teams in the Western Division with a chance).

The Browns got the first advantage in the game when on the opening series the Cardinals fumbled leading to a Cleveland 23 yard TD pass by Frank Ryan. Ryan was back at QB after having lost his job in the middle of the swoon.

Ryan apparently had his confidence back. And he also knew who to give the ball to on offense. On the Browns second drive, late in the 1st quarter, Ryan handed off to Jim Brown who scorched the Cardinals for 61 yards.

Jim Brown Breaks the All-Time Single Season Rushing Record

The 61 yard run by Brown was a fitting way for him to obliterate his own single season rushing record.

Even though Brown now has the benefit of a 14 game season, he broke the record in just game 12. And he did it with 7 less carries (257 in 1958 to 250 at the end of yesterday’s game).

Unfortunately, the Browns couldn’t take advantage of Jim Brown’s run. As the Cardinals intercepted Frank Ryan to end the scoring threat.

But on the next 2 drives, the Browns could not be stopped. Ryan connected on a 49 yard pass that set up a Jim Brown TD run.

And then Ryan led a 73 yard, 12 play drive, that included a 33 yard pass, and ended the same way with Brown crossing the goal line.

Jim Brown rushed for 2 TDs in the 2nd quarter to give Cleveland a large halftime lead.

Browns 21 Cardinals 3 - Halftime

The Browns played ball control in the 2nd half, trading touchdowns with the Cardinals as they went on to win the game 24 - 10.

One of the keys to the game was the Browns defense shutting down Cardinals QB Charley Johnson, who only managed 9 completes in 26 attempts for just 58 yards. It was Johnson’s worst game of the season.

Jim Brown led the way for Cleveland rushing for 179 yards on 29 carries to increase his new single season record to 1,677 yards.

NOTE from The Sports Time Traveler™

Back here in the present time, I have to admit that I found it quite incredible that Jim Brown’s record gathered no headlines in any major newspaper.

And sadly, there is no video of Brown’s 61 yard dash in the 1st quarter that set the new single season record.

But to get an idea how amazing a runner Jim Brown was, watch the highlights video below for the play that starts at the 1:26 mark. This is actually a pass reception from a game against Washington on September 15, 1963, but it shows off how impossible it was to stop Jim Brown.

Now back to 1963.

There are now 2 games left in the 1963 NFL season.

Only the division winners go to the post season NFL Championship Game.

NFL Standings after December 1 games:

EASTERN DIVISION

New York 9 - 3

Cleveland 9 - 3

St. Louis 8 - 4

Pittsburgh 6 - 3 - 3

Dallas 3 - 9

Washington 3 - 9

Philadelphia 2 - 8 - 2

WESTERN DIVISION

Chicago 9 - 1 - 2

Green Bay 9 - 2 - 1

Baltimore 6 - 6

Los Angeles 5 - 7

Detroit 4 - 7 - 1

Minnesota 4 - 7 - 1

San Francisco 2 - 10

Update on the Kennedy Assassination

As I followed the games of December 1, 1963, I came across some astonishing findings related to the Kennedy Assassination that I have never heard before.

In a special to the New York Times on December 2, 1963, a story appeared about Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother, Margeurite Oswald.

Mrs. Oswald, who is a nurse, had some pointed questions for which she insisted the public needs to know the answers:

“Why was not this man - a defector - under complete surveillance?”

“Why would a known underworld character (Jack Ruby) be allowed within a few feet of a prisoner - of any prisoner.”

These are excellent questions in light of the fact that Oswald was well known as a defector and Ruby was well known as having ties to the mafia.

In my sports time travels, I came across an earlier article about Lee Harvey Oswald that appeared in newspapers across America in June, 1962. Oswald had come back from living in the Soviet Union and the AP story started out with this sentence, “A former United States marine who defected to the Soviet Union, is on his way home. Lee Harvey Oswald, 24, of Fort Worth, TX, is taking his Russian wife and infant child along with him.”

Margaruite Oswald was correct in assessing that federal officials should have been tracking the whereabouts of Lee Harvey Oswald given the 15 minutes of national fame he had already garnered in 1962.

Marguerite seemed bitter as she suggested that if the Federal agencies had done their job in keeping tabs on her son, he wouldn’t have had the chance to kill Kennedy or be involved in some way.

And Marguerite wasn’t the only one suggesting that Jack Ruby’s access to kill her son was highly suspicious.

Dorothy Kilgallen, the nationally syndicated columnist and panelist on the hit TV show, ‘What’s My Line,’ used her daily “Voice of Broadway” newspaper column to weigh in on the Kennedy Assassination. On November 29, 1963, Kilgallen wrote this,

“If Lee Harvey Oswald was President’ Kennedy’s assassin, he was the most important prisoner the police of this country had in custody in 100 years, and no blithe announcement in Dallas is going to satisfy the American public that ‘the case is closed.’

“I’d like to know how in a big smart town like Dallas, a man like Jack Ruby - operator of a strip-tease honky tonk - could stroll in and out of police headquarters as if it were a health club at a time when a small army of law enforcers were keeping a ‘tight security guard’ on Oswald.”

Coming back to Margeurite Oswald, she had one more interesting thing to share with The New York Times in the December 2, 1963 article.

The article contained this passage about Mrs. Oswald,

“She insisted that on the night of Nov. 23, about 17 hours before Ruby shot her son, an agent from the FBI showed her Ruby’s photograph. Mrs. Oswald contended that the episode, as she described it, indicated that the authorities had advance knowledge that Ruby might attempt to kill Oswald.”

The article then went on to include this,

“The FBI would officially make no comment on Mrs. Oswald’s charge. It was understood, however, that Federal agencies had acknowledged that she had been shown a photograph that night for identification, but spokesman would not disclose whether it was that of Ruby.”

I am not purporting to try and solve the mystery of the Kennedy Assassination which has been a great subject of inquiry for 60 years.

But as a curious consumer of the assassination conspiracy theories I can tell you that I’ve never come across this statement by Marguerite Oswald before and it really makes me wonder.

FINAL NOTE From The Sports Time Traveler™

Thanks for reading this edition of The Sports Time Traveler™.

Coming soon will be the games from week 13 of the 1963 NFL season.

With just 2 weeks to go it’s a dogfight for the top spots in the Eastern and Western Divisions.

The winners will play for the 1963 NFL Championship on December 29th.