September 20, 1964: The New York Giants lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-24 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. Steeler defensive end John Baker hit Giant quarterback Y.A. Tittle hard enough to give him a concussion, crack his sternum, and injure the cartilage in his ribs. Defensive tackle Chuck Hinton intercepted the pass that Tittle threw on the play, and returned it for a touchdown.
Morris Berman of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette took a picture of Tittle kneeling on the grass after the hit, blood dripping from his famously bald scalp. While the P-G refused to publish it, preferring what it called "action shots," Berman took it to Life magazine, which published it in its October 2, 1964 issue. The photo became iconic, with Charlton Heston re-enacting it while playing an aging quarterback in the 1969 film Number One.
But it was the beginning of the end, for Tittle and that generation of Giants. Under quarterback Charlie Conerly, with running back Frank Gifford, offensive tackle Roosevelt Brown, defensive end Andy Robustelli, linebacker Sam Huff, and safety Emlen Tunnell -- all but Conerly have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame -- the Giants won the NFL Championship in 1956.
They reached the NFL Championship Game again in 1958 and 1959, losing each time to the Baltimore Colts. After head coach Jim Lee Howell left, replaced by Allie Sherman, and replacing Conerly with San Francisco 49ers star Tittle, they reached the Championship Game again in 1961 and 1962, losing both to the Green Bay Packers, and in 1963, losing to the Chicago Bears. Tittle battled through injury and the cold in that '63 title game, but it was not to be, and it was the closest he ever came to winning a championship.
But, as the New York Yankees, with whom they shared Yankee Stadium, did shortly thereafter, the Giants all seemed to get old, or hurt, or both, at once. They finished 2-10-2 in 1964. "That was the end of the road," Tittle later said. "It was the end of my dream. It was over."
But, at the time, he held most of the major career passing records that would later be broken by Johnny Unitas, then Fran Tarkenton, then Brett Favre, then Peyton Manning, then Tom Brady: 4,395 passes, 2,427 completions, 33,070 yards, 242 touchdowns, and 39 rushing touchdowns for a quarterback.
The Giants wouldn't make the Playoffs again until 1981. They would win the Super Bowl for the 1986 season.
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September 20, 1964 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played:
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-24 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins, not yet their arch-rivals, 24-18 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* The Cleveland Browns and the football version of the St. Louis Cardinals played to a tie, 33-33 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Green Bay Packers, 21-20 at the new Green Bay City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Stadium would be renamed Lambeau Field the next year.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Minnesota Vikings, 34-28 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.
* And the Los Angeles Rams and the Detroit Lions played to a tie, 17-17 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
There were 2 games in the American Football League. The Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos, 30-13 at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo. And the Boston Patriots beat the San Diego Chargers, 33-28 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego.
And these Major League Baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 4-0 at Yankee Stadium. Jim Bouton pitched a 2-hit shutout. I guess he smoked them inside. That's a reference to his later book, Ball Four, which is appropriate, since the losing pitcher in this game turned out to be one of his 1969 Seattle Pilots teammates, John O'Donoghue. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-3 with a walk. Roger Maris went 1-for-4.
* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Colt .45s, 1-0 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The next year, the Colts became the Astros, and they moved next-door, into the Astrodome. Bob Bruce outpitched Tom Parsons. The only run scored on a sacrifice fly by Walt Bond, to score Joe Morgan in the bottom of the 7th.
* The Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox, 12-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Harmon Killebrew went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Bob Allison went 2-for-5 with a home run, a walk and 4 RBIs. Tony Oliva went 4-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI.
* A doubleheader was split at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Los Angeles Angels won the opener, 8-5. Bobby Knopp drove in 2 runs with a double in the top of the 10th inning. The Baltimore Orioles won the nightcap, 8-2. Over the 2 games, Brooks Robinson went 3-for-8 with a home run and 5 RBIs.
* The Cincinnati Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-6 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Lou Brock, Dick Groat and Mike Shannon hit home runs for the Cards. Frank Robinson went 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Pete Rose went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs.
* A doubleheader was split at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Detroit Tigers won the 1st game, 6-5. The Cleveland Indians won the 2nd game, 7-2. Over the 2 games, Al Kaline went 2-for-7 with a walk and an RBI.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 4-3 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 5-2 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Felipe Alou and Rico Carty hit home runs for the Braves. Hank Aaron did not play. Ernie Banks hit a home run for the Cubs.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-2 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Jim Bunning outpitched Jim Brewer. The Phillies now led the National League by 6 1/2 games, with 12 games left in the regular season. They lost their next 10 games.
* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Hal Lanier singled Tom Haller home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Willie Mays went 0-for-1, but had 3 walks. Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4 with a walk. Willie Stargell went 2-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBIs.
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