December 26, 1965: The Green Bay Packers play the Baltimore Colts in a Playoff to decide the Championship of the NFL's Western Conference, at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Like its predecessor, the facility had been named City Stadium, but had recently been renamed, in memory of Earl "Curly" Lambeau, the Packers' co-founder and original head coach, who guided them to 6 NFL Championships.
Both teams finished the season 10-3-1. The Packers had won both games between them that season, but head-to-head was not a tiebreaker: Won-lost record was the only one, and so a Playoff was mandated.
In this win-or-go-home game, both teams would have to rely on backup quarterbacks. For the Packers, Edmund "Zeke" Bratkowski, a career backup now 34 years old -- he was born on October 20, 1931, the same day as baseball legend Mickey Mantle -- had to substitute for the injured Bart Starr early in the game.
The Packers were thus taken by surprise. The Colts were not, but they were down to their 4th string quarterback. They were 9-1-1 when Johnny Unitas, then considered the best quarterback in the game, was injured in a 13-0 loss to the Baltimore Colts. Gary Cuozzo stepped in, but he was injured in the next game, a 42-27 loss to the Packers.
The only player the Colts had left on their roster who had ever played quarterback was running back Tom Matte, who had played quarterback at Ohio State, under coach Woody Hayes. But, given Hayes' disdain for the passing game -- he famously said, "There are three things that can happen when you throw the football, and two of them are bad," meaning an incompletion and an interception -- that meant that he hardly ever threw the ball. So he wasn't considered a long-term option.
For their season finale, the Colts signed a free agent, Ed Brown, who was also a good punter. He guided them to a 20-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams. The problem was, he was signed too late in the season to be eligible for any postseason games. So the Colts were stuck with Matte as quarterback. And it would be in Green Bay, and it would be "Packer Weather": No snow, but just 22 degrees, with the wind-chill factor making it 12. Baltimore can get cold in the Winter, but that kind of cold was unusual for Colt games at Memorial Stadium.
At first, it seemed to work. Matte threw 12 passes, completing 5, ran for 57 yards, and was sacked only once. Don Shinnick picked up a fumble by the Packers' Donny Anderson, and returned it 25 yards for a touchdown, just 21 seconds into the game. Starr was the last man between the huge Shinnick and the end zone, and hurt his ribs in his failure to make the tackle, resulting in Bratkowski having to take over.
Lou Michaels kicked the extra point. In the 2nd quarter, Matte drove the Colts downfield, and Michaels kicked a 15-yard field goal, and the Colts went into the locker room leading, 10-0.
In the 3rd quarter, Paul Hornung, who was a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at Notre Dame before becoming a running back with the Packers, ran the ball in from the 1-yard line to score a touchdown. Don Chandler kicked the extra point.
With 1:58 left to play in regulation, Chandler attempted a tying field goal from 22 yards out. The ball appeared to be wide of the right upright, and Chandler's reaction suggested that he thought he'd missed it. But referee Jim Tunney ruled that it was good, and it was 10-10. Overtime.
Bratkowski led the Packers downfield, and, with 1:21 left in the 1st overtime, Chandler attempted a 25-yard field goal. There was no doubt about this one: It was good, and the Packers would host the NFL Championship Game, against the Cleveland Browns.
Baltimore football fans have complained ever since that Chandler's 4th quarter field goal was no good. Before the 1966 season, the NFL made 2 changes in response to these complaints: Goalposts were extended from to 10 feet high to 20 feet, and an official would be placed directly under each upright on field goal attempts.
In 1981, John Thorn left his comfort zone, baseball, and published Pro Football's 10 Greatest Games. He included this game as one of them.
The Packers beat the Browns, 23-12. They won the next 2 NFL Championships, and the subsequent games, too, which were retroactively renamed Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II. With Matte as running back, and Earl Morrall filling in for an injured Unitas, the Colts won the 1968 NFL Championship, but lost Super Bowl III to the New York Jets. Unitas led them to win the 1970 NFC Championship, but got hurt in Super Bowl V, and Morrall had to come to the rescue, and the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys. Matte, and all the other Colts who had lost Super Bowl III, got their redemptions and their rings.
Bratkowski died in 2019, Matte in 2021.
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December 26, 1965 was a Sunday. The American Football League held its Championship Game that day, and the Buffalo Bills beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-0 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. The Bills had now won 2 straight AFL Championships. They have not won a league championship since.
Baseball was out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:
* The Boston Celtics beat the Baltimore Bullets, 120-99 at the Boston Garden. Sam Jones scored 34 points.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 121-107 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. Wilt Chamberlain had 33 points and 30 rebounds.
* And the Cincinnati Royals beat the St. Louis Hawks, 117-115 at the Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis. Oscar Robertson led all scorers on the day with 37 points.
And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:
* The New York Rangers beat the Boston Bruins, 6-4 at the old Madison Square Garden. Bob Nevin had a hat trick.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a tie, 1-1 at the Chicago Stadium.
* And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Montreal Canadiens, 1-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. This turned out to be a preview of the Stanley Cup Finals, but the Canadiens beat the Wings.
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