Giants Involved in 8th Best ‘Weather Game’
NFL.com made a list of the “Top 10 weather games in NFL history”. The Giants are fortunate to have been involved in so many great moments in NFL history. Time after time, they appear on these ‘top 10′ lists. The article contains video clips and photos for each of the games listed below if you would like to check them out.
- Ice Bowl - “The 1967 NFL Championship Game turned into an epic and icy showdown between Vince Lombardi’s Packers and Tom Landry’s Cowboys.”
- Tuck Rule - “The 2001 Divisional Playoff Game between the Raiders and Patriots turned out to be one of the most exciting, controversial playoff games.”
- Fog Bowl - “The 1988 NFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Bears and Eagles turned surreal when a heavy fog engulfed Chicago’s Soldier Field.”
- 1981 AFC Championship Game - “The Bengals overcame the potent “Air Coryell” Chargers, as well as a wind chill at 59 degrees below zero, to advance to their first the Super Bowl.”
- 1975 AFC Championship Game - “Astroturf turned to ice when the Raiders and Steelers met at frozen Three Rivers Stadium with a berth in Super Bowl X at stake.”
- 1948 NFL Championship Game - “A blizzard couldn’t keep the Eagles, led by future Hall of Famer Steve Van Buren, from winning their first NFL title.”
- Snow Plow Game - “John Smith’s field goal provided the only score in the Patriots’ victory over the Dolphins in a 1982 AFC East showdown in Foxboro.”
- Sneakers Game - “The Giants’ choice of footwear in the 1934 NFL Championship Game helped make this one of the more memorable games ever played.”
- 1979 Buccaneers vs. Chiefs Monsoon - “Torrential rain nearly prevented the upstart Buccaneers from one of the most amazing turnarounds in NFL history.”
- Red Right 88 - “This 1980 AFC Divisional Playoff Game at cold Cleveland Municipal Stadium had a memorable, yet painful, finish for Browns fans.”
Unfortunately, I only got to see the Tuck Rule game and the Fog Bowl game because the rest of these are before my time. The two I saw were great games, and everybody seems to agree on that because of where they are on the list. I still put an asterisk next to that Patriots Super Bowl victory because they should’ve never even have been in it to win it. Personally, I don’t count it. It’s funny because I always root for the AFC team to win the Super Bowl when the Giants aren’t representing the NFC. That was the only year that I rooted for the NFC team to win, and not because I wanted them to but because it was right.
I’ve heard about a few of the others like the Ice Bowl and the Sneakers Game. Below is the description of the Sneakers Game provided by Wikipedia…
The 1934 National Football League Championship Game, also known as The Sneakers Game, was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, 1934. The final score was New York Giants 30, Chicago Bears 13. It was the 2nd annual NFL championship game.
A freezing rain the night before the game froze the Polo Grounds’s field, much like the Ice Bowl years later. After one of the players made a remark suggesting that sneakers would provide better footing on the frozen playing surface, Giants’ head coach Steve Owen sent equipment manager Abe Cohen to purchase sneakers. Cohen was unable to find an open sports equipment store and arrived at half time with 8 pairs of sneakers borrowed from Manhattan College’s basketball team
The Giants started the game wearing their regular cleats, but trailed 10-3 midway through the third quarter. So it was decided to switch out of the cleats for the sneakers. Then after the Bears increased their lead to 13-3, Giants quarterback Ed Danowski threw a touchdown pass to Ike Frankian to make the score 13-10. On the Giants next drive, running back Ken Strong scored on a 42-yard touchdown run. Later an 11-yard run by Strong was turned into another touchdown for the Giants. Finally the Giants closed it out with Danowski’s 9-yard touchdown run. The game ended with the Giants ahead: 30-13.
That sounds like a pretty cool story. It’s probably worth checking out some old film on it. If anybody of you have been around when that game took place and would like to chime in on that, feel free to do so.
