December 29, 1963: Two Old Men and a Football

George Halas and John Johnson

December 29, 1963: The NFL Championship Game is played at a frigid Wrigley Field in Chicago. As with the 1st official title game, 30 years earlier, the opposing teams were the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants.

Coached, run, and owned by the man who founded the NFL, George Halas, the Bears had a relatively ordinary offense, led by quarterback Bill Wade and running backs Willie Galimore and Ronnie Bull. But they had Mike Ditka, who practically invented the position of tight end. Only once all season did they score more than 27 points, although that was in a 52-14 clobbering of the Los Angeles Rams in Los Angeles.

It was on defense where they were truly dominant. End Doug Atkins, tackle Stan Jones and middle linebacker Bill George -- described after his death by Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly as "the meanest Bear ever," and that's saying something -- would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. End Ed O'Bradovich, linebackers Joe Fortunato and Larry Morris, cornerback J.C. Caroline and safety Richie Petitbon were also All-Pros. Not once all season did the Bears allow more than 21 points in a game, and only twice more than 17.

They also had an unexpected advantage: Two key players from other teams in the Western Division, running back Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers and defensive tackle Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions, had been suspended for the season due to gambling (on sports other than football, which is why they only got one year).

As a result, it was neither the two-time defending NFL Champion Packers or the Lions, who had dealt the Packers their only loss the season before, who put any blemishes on the Bears' record. The Bears jumped out to a 5-0 start before losing 20-14 away to the San Francisco 49ers. They got up to 9-1, then faced back-to-back 17-17 ties, away to the Pittsburgh Steelers and at home to the Minnesota Vikings, before closing by avenging their loss to the 49ers and completing their sweep of the Lions.

The Bears were the NFL's founding team. But its flagship team, as is usually the case in sports, was in New York. The Giants had half of the "Million Dollar Backfield" of the 1950s San Francisco 49ers: Quarterback Yelberton Abraham (Y.A.) Tittle and running back Hugh McElhenny. The other two, Joe "the Jet" Perry and John Henry Johnson, never appeared in an NFL Championship Game, and this was one last chance for Y.A. and Hugh. All 4 would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Y.A. Tittle

They also still had the NFL's biggest glamour boy of the 1950s, Frank Gifford, hanging on. And they still had some members of the defense, including Hall-of-Famers Andy Robustelli at defensive end and Sam Huff at middle linebacker, who allowed them to reach the Championship Game 6 times in 8 years. But they had only won in 1956, beating the Bears. They had lost to the Baltimore Colts in 1958 and '59, and, with Allie Sherman taking over from Jim Lee Howell as coach, to the Packers in '61 and '62.

Tittle was 37 years old, bald, and what little hair he had left was already gray, so he looked even older. Halas was 68, at the time the oldest head coach in NFL history. It was looking like the last chance for either of them, which it did turn out to be.

Wrigley Field is known to baseball fans for, among other things, its lack of lights until 1988, and the Chicago Cubs' continuation of scheduling as many day games as they can, so fans can sit in the bleachers and soak up the Summer sun. But this was between Christmas and New Year's, and the temperature was in the single digits, Fahrenheit. The field was frozen.

It would have been frozen at the much larger Soldier Field, but NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle asked Halas to move the game there, so the lights could be used. Halas refused. So, in order to avoid the game ending in darkness, the starting time was moved up to 12:05 PM, Central Time (1:05 Eastern).

With extra bleachers running north-to-south from left field to the right-field foul line, seating capacity was 45,801. Despite the cold, every seat was filled. Chicago fans may be divided between the Cubs and the White Sox when it comes to baseball, but the NFL's Chicago Cardinals had moved, and locals had given up on them before that. No team is more popular in Chicago than the Bears -- not the Cubs, not the White Sox, not the Bulls even in their Michael Jordan years, not the Blackhawks, not even Notre Dame. It was true then, and it is true now.

With the kind of drive that would have pleased later coach Bill Parcells, the Giants methodically moved down the field on the game's opening drive, eating the clock, taking up the 1st half of the 1st quarter, until Tittle threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Gifford. Just before the end of the quarter, Wade tied things with a 2-yard run.

Don Chandler, later to be the kicker and punter for the Packer teams that won the 1st 2 Super Bowls, kicked a field goal in the 2nd quarter, putting the Giants up, 10-7. But on their next drive, Morris hit Tittle and reinjured a knee that had been hurt earlier in the year. Sherman took Tittle out and replaced him with Glynn Griffing, but showed so little confidence him him that he ordered a punt on a 3rd down.

Much like New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle, with whom he shared a home stadium, Tittle tried to play through his pain. He got shots of cortisone and Novocaine, and threw off his back foot, normally unwise for a quarterback, but with his collected know-how, he thought he could lead the Giants to victory.

But late in the 3rd quarter, Tittle tried a screen pass, and O'Bradovich intercepted it, setting up a Bears drive that ended with a quarterback sneak by Wade. The Bears led, 14-10. Tittle gamely trudged through the 4th quarter, trying to get one more touchdown. But with 10 seconds left, in range of the end zone, Tittle threw, and was intercepted in the end zone by Petitbon.

It was the Bears' 5th interception of the day. With the country watching on CBS, seeing him limp off the field, Tittle had won the hearts of millions of fans, but the Bears had won the NFL Championship. It was their 1st since the last of the Sid Luckman titles in 1946.

Halas was ecstatic, but the players knew better than to lift the aging "Papa Bear" onto their shoulders and carry him off the field in triumph. So the defensive players picked up Halas' defensive coordinator, and carried him, and gave him the game ball in the locker room. He had been nearly as responsible for this title as Halas. His name was George Allen, and he would later coach the Rams into the Playoffs, and the Washington Redskins to the 1972 NFC Championship, and be elected to the Hall of Fame.

It was the 8th and last Championship for Halas as owner, his 6th as head coach, each a record that has never been matched. (Bill Belichick has coached 6 title winners, but he cheated.)

It also made Chicago the 1st city to win both the NFL Championship and the NCAA Basketball Tournament in the same calendar year. Loyola University had won the title in March. It's only happened once since, in 2018, with the Super Bowl by then played in February: Philadelphia did it with the Eagles and Villanova.

The following year would be a bad one for both teams, starting eras of mediocrity. During the Summer, Willie Galimore and fellow Bear running back Bo Farrington were killed in a car crash outside the team's Indiana training camp. This led them to draft Gale Sayers in 1965. They also drafted Dick Butkus, to shore up their aging defense. In spite of having 2 of the top 5 players in the game in the late 1960s, the Bears didn't reach the Playoffs again until 1977, by which point both Sayers and Butkus were retired.

And, just as the Yankees got old in a hurry in the 1964-65 off-season, so, too, did the Giants suddenly look very old in Autumn 1964. Huff had been traded to Washington, and 1964 would be the last season for both Tittle and Gifford. Hall of Fame offensive tackle Roosevelt Brown only lasted one year after that. The Giants didn't make the Playoffs again until 1981.

Halas' reasons for not moving the Bears to Soldier Field have been debated. Finally, the AFL-NFL merger of 1970 forced his hand: NFL stadiums now had to have both lights and a seating capacity of over 50,000, and Wrigley Field then had neither. In 1971, Halas moved the Bears to Soldier Field. Given his love of football, and his love of making money, he must have been very happy being able to play Monday Night Football, and the Bears did so 14 times, 7 at Soldier Field, before his death in 1983.

The Giants and the Bears have met to decide the NFL Championship 6 times, more than any other pairing. The Bears won in 1933, 1941, 1946 and 1963; the Giants, in 1934 and 1956. With the realignment of the NFL, they cannot face each other in the Super Bowl. But they have faced each other in the NFC Playoffs again in the seasons of 1985, when the Bears won; and 1990, when the Giants won. On each of those occasions, the winner did go on to win the title.

The Bears are the founding franchise of the NFL. Yet they’ve won only one title since, Super Bowl XX in the 1985-86 season. That’s just 2 titles in the last 77 years.

But consider this: The Bears won 8 World Championships in their 50 seasons playing at Wrigley Field. It took the Cubs 101 seasons playing there to win one.

In 2019, in connection with their 100th Season (not their 100th Anniversary, which was the next year), the Bears did fan balloting for their 100 Greatest Players. From this 1963 title team, they chose quarterback Billy Wade, running backs Willie Galimore, Rick Casares, receiver Johnny Morris, tight end Mike Ditka, center Mike Pyle, guard Stan Jones, tackles Herm Lee and Bob Wetoska; defensive ends Doug Atkins and Ed O'Bradovich, linebackers Joe Fortunato and Larry Morris (no relation to Johnny; cornerbacks J.C. Caroline, Roosevelt Taylor and Bennie McRae; safety Richie Petibon, and punter Bobby Joe Green.

From the period between the 1963 and 1985 titles, they chose running back Gale Sayers, linebackers Dick Butkus and Doug Buffone, receiver Dick Gordon, defensive tackles Jim Osborne and Wally Chambers, cornerback Allan Ellis and safety Doug Plank.

*

December 29, 1963 was a Sunday. Sean Payton, who would coach the New Orleans Saints to their 1st World Championship, was born.

Baseball was out of season. There were 2 games played in the NBA. The New York Knicks lost to the Cincinnati Royals, 105-99 at the Cincinnati Gardens. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons, 140-128 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Jerry West scored 39 points.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Montreal Canadiens, 6-2 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Detroit Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 2-1 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Chicago Stadium.

October 31, 1954: The San Francisco 49ers' "Million Dollar Backfield"

Left to right: Hugh McElhenny, Joe Perry,

John Henry Johnson and Y.A. Tittle.

The 49ers were already wearing red and white,

but had not yet adopted gold as a secondary color.

October 31, 1954: The Chicago Bears beat the San Francisco 49ers, 31-27 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco. 49er running back Hugh McElhenny injures his shoulder. This Halloween scare ruins the season of the 49ers' "Million Dollar Backfield": McElhenny, fellow running backs John Henry Johnson and Joe "the Jet" Perry, and quarterback Y.A. Tittle. All 4 would be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the only entire backfield so honored in NFL history.

Until that injury, the 49ers were 4-0-1. After it, they were 3-4, finishing 7-4-1, 2 games behind the Detroit Lions in the NFL Western Division. Indicative of this: The week before the injury, they beat the Lions 37-31 at Kezar; 2 weeks after it, at Briggs Stadium in Detroit (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961), they got beat 48-7, a 47-point swing.

Brief sketches of each member of the quartet:

* Yelberton Abraham Tittle, born October 24, 1926 in Marshall, Texas. He played quarterback at Louisiana State University (LSU), and for the Baltimore Colts from 1948 to 1950, the 49ers from 1951 to 1960, and the New York Giants from 1961 to 1964.

He got the Niners to a tie for the NFL Western Division title in 1957, but lost a Playoff to the Los Angeles Rams. Traded to the Giants, he got them to 3 straight NFL Championship Games, but lost them all. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1963. The Giants retired his Number 14. At the time of his retirement, he was the NFL's all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns, attempts, completions, and games played. He died on October 8, 2017.

* Fletcher Joseph Perry, born January 22, 1927 in Stephens, Arkansas. He never attended a four-year college, only Compton Junior College outside Los Angeles, before serving in World War II. He played for the 49ers from 1948 to 1960, the Colts in 1961 and 1962, and returned to the 49ers in 1963.

He was pro football's all-time leading rusher, but even before he retired, he was surpassed by Jim Brown. His 9,723 career rushing yards were still 2nd all-time to Brown as late as 1977. The Niners retired his Number 34. He died on April 25, 2011.

* John Henry Johnson, born November 24, 1929 in Waterproof, Louisiana. He played at Arizona State, and, like many black players from the South, feared the NFL as being dominated by white Southerners, so he went to Canada, and played the 1953 season with the Calgary Stampeders. The 49ers signed him, and he played for them from 1954 to 1956. Of the four, he was the last to arrive, and the first to leave.

He went to the Detroit Lions in 1957, and, that year, he became the only one of these men to play on an NFL Championship team. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1960, remained with them until 1965, and played with the Houston Oilers in 1966. The Niners retired his Number 35. He died on June 3, 2011.

* Hugh Edward McElhenny Jr., born December 31, 1928 in Los Angeles. He starred at the University of Washington, and played for the 49ers from 1952 to 1960. He was an original Minnesota Viking in the 1961 and 1962 seasons, rejoined Tittle on the 1963 Giants, and retired with the Detroit Lions in 1964. The 49ers made his Number 39 the 1st number they retired. He was the last survivor of the Million Dollar Backfield, living until June 17, 2022.

$1 million in 1954 would be worth about $10.9 million in 2022 money.

*

October 31, 1954 was a Sunday. Actor Ken Wahl was born. And these other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants lost to the Cleveland Browns, 24-14 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Washington Redskins beat the Baltimore Colts, 24-21 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.

* The Chicago Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-14 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The Cards went 2-10, and their only other win was at home to Washington, 3 weeks later.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Los Angeles Rams, 27-24 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* And the day before, the Green Bay Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-14 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia.

There were 2 games played in the NBA. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the Syracuse Nationals, 97-94 at the Onondaga County War Memorial (now the Upstate Medical University Arena) in Syracuse, New York. And the Fort Wayne Pistons beat the Boston Celtics, 90-86 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Although the Pistons moved to Detroit in 1957, and the Nationals moved to Philadelphia in 1963, their arenas are still standing, and used by minor-league hockey teams. That is not the case with the Lakers' arena, which was demolished long after their move to Los Angeles in 1960.

There was 1 NHL game played that day: The New York Rangers and the Chicago Black Hawks played to a 1-1 tie at the old Madison Square Garden.

October 28, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis Is Resolved

Herbert Block (Herblock) cartoon in The Washington Post,

November 1, 1962: JFK says, "Let's get a lock for this thing."

October 28, 1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis is resolved, as Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev

announces that he has ordered the removal of Soviet missile bases in Cuba, as demanded by President John F. Kennedy.

In a secret deal between them, JFK agrees to the withdrawal of U.S. missiles from Turkey. The fact that the Turkey part of the deal is not made public makes it look like the Soviets have backed down, rather than that the deal was a true compromise.

On October 25, Adlai Stevenson, the former 2-time Democratic nominee for President who was now the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, attended an emergency session of the U.N.'s Security Council. The Soviet Ambassador, Valerian Zorin, said, "Falsity is what the United States has in its hands, false evidence."

Except it wasn't false. Unlike Colin Powell, addressing the threat of Iraq in the same room 40 years later, Stevenson actually had proof that America's would-be opponent had weapons of mass destruction, only 90 miles from the coast of Florida.

He forcefully asked Zorin if his country was installing missiles in Cuba. Like every delegate, he was wearing a headset, into which someone who spoke both his language and that of the speaker was translating. But Stevenson knew that Zorin spoke English, and demanded an answer, his voice rising:

All right, sir, let me ask you one simple question: Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the U.S.S.R. has placed, and is placing, medium- and intermediate-range missiles and sites in Cuba? Yes or no? Don’t wait for the translation! Yes or no?

Zorin refused to answer. Stevenson said, "I am prepared to wait for my answer until Hell freezes over, if that's your decision. And I am also prepared to present the evidence in this room." Zorin remained silent. Stevenson passed the photos around -- taken by a U-2 "spy plane." It had been nearly 2 1/2 years since the Soviets had shot one down over their territory, casting a pall over the last year in office of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. But "Ike" and JFK had both kept the U-2s flying, and it's a good thing they did.

Everyone was on edge. My mother was a junior in high school, and on the Friday, October 26, one of her teachers gave homework, and said that if you didn't want to do it, that's okay, because we might not have school on Monday -- or ever again. 

There were at least 3 false alarms at U.S. military bases, including a bear that had wandered on and touched a fence, setting off an intruder alert.

Much of the world thought that this was it, that World War III was assured, that the NFL and AFL games of this day might be the last sporting events that they'd ever see, or even that they would be prevented. They weren't, because Kennedy and Khrushchev both understood that nobody "wins" a nuclear war, they settled the Crisis on terms acceptable to both countries, and the world moved on.

One event the world moved on to was the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed on July 26, 1963 by JFK, Khrushchev, and British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, banning nuclear testing in the atmosphere -- including above the Arctic Circle.

Another was the establishment of the Hot Line, a direct connection between the White House and the Kremlin, to make for quicker diplomacy, in the hope that something like the Cuban Missile Crisis would never happen again. The Hot Line has been used a few times since, and nothing like the Cuban Missile Crisis has.

*

October 28, 1962 was a Sunday. The baseball season ended on October 16, as the New York Yankees beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in Game 7 of the World Series, the 1st Series to be between a team on the Atlantic Coast and a team on the Pacific Coast. (The Dodgers had already been in a World Series since their move from Brooklyn to Los Angeles, in 1959, but their opponent was the Chicago White Sox, not a coastal team. The Dodgers won it.)

There was 1 NBA game played that day. The Cincinnati Royals beat the San Francisco Warriors, 131-130 at the Cincinnati Gardens. The Warriors were in their 1st season on the Coast, after playing in Philadelphia. They changed their name to the Golden State Warriors in 1971.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 53 points and grabbed 27 rebounds. Just another day at the office for the greatest basketball player who ever lived. But Oscar Robertson, himself a serious contender for that title, scored 36 to lead the team now named the Sacramento Kings to victory.

For the NHL, this was the "Original Six" era, and 4 of the 6 played. The New York Rangers lost to the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-3 at the old Madison Square Garden. And the Detroit Red Wings beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-0 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. The Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins did not play.

And there was football. In the NFL, at the original Yankee Stadium. Y.A. Tittle tied an NFL record with 7 touchdown passes, and the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins 49-34.

Tittle is 1 of 8 NFL quarterbacks to have thrown 7 touchdown passes in a single game. Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears did it against the Giants in 1943. Adrian Burk of the Philadelphia Eagles did it against the Redskins in 1954. Although it was in the AFL, the NFL counts George Blanda of the Houston Oilers doing it against the New York Titans (the Jets) in 1961. Joe Kapp of the Minnesota Vikings did it against the Baltimore Colts in 1969.

It was done twice in 2013, by Peyton Manning of the Denver Broncos against the Baltimore Ravens, and by Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles against the Oakland Raiders. In 2015, the Giants were victimized again, by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

Also on October 28, 1962:

* The Green Bay Packers beat the Baltimore Colts, 17-6 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Johnny Unitas was the greatest quarterback of the era, but Vince Lombardi was the best coach and the best general manager, and had built the best team. From September 24, 1961 to September 13, 1964, the Packers went 38-5-1, including winning the 1961 and 1962 NFL Championship Games.

* The Cleveland Browns beat their arch-rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-14 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Dallas Cowboys, 28-24 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

* The Detroit Lions beat the Chicago Bears, 11-3 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings, 31-21 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Los Angeles Rams beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco 49ers, 28-14 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

In the upstart American Football League:

* The New York Titans beat the San Diego Chargers, 23-3 at the Polo Grounds in New York. The Titans changed their name to the New York Jets the next year.

* The Boston Patriots beat the Oakland Raiders, 26-16 at Boston University Field. The stadium would be renamed Nickerson Field in 1964, and the team would be renamed the New England Patriots upon their move to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts in 1971.

* The Dallas Texans beat the Houston Oilers, 31-7 at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston. The teams would meet again in the AFL Championship Game, and the Texans won. The next year, though, tired of trying to compete for attention with the NFL's Cowboys, they moved, becoming the Kansas City Chiefs.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Denver Broncos, 45-38 at Bears Field in Denver. Bears Field would be expanded and turned into the original Mile High Stadium.

And actress Daphne Zuniga was born.

September 20, 1964: The Giants' Collapse and the Tittle Photo

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.

There were no hard feelings for the hit: Baker later ran for Sheriff in Wake County, North Carolina, and Tittle went there to campaign for him during one of his re-election bids. He served 24 years.

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.

*

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.