1967 NFL Championship Game

Ice Bowl is the name given to the 1967 NFL Championship Game discharged between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which was held at -25 degrees Celsius.

Prehistory

The game was on 31 December 1967 at the stadium in the city of Green Bay, Lambeau Field, between the Green Bay Packers under head coach Vince Lombardi and quarterback Bart Starr and the Dallas Cowboys under their Head Coach Tom Landry and quarterback Don Meredith discharged. The winner of the game was qualified for the AFL- NFL World Championship Game. This game was later renamed to Super Bowl II.

Before the game, it had snowed heavily in Green Bay. The open stadium was fitted with an Astro Turf and soil heating. This ensured that the snow thawed. Due to a strong cold snap froze the defrost water to a fixed spread over the entire board ice sheet. In the NFL up to this point has never been canceled due to adverse weather conditions a game. The game was therefore kicked off at -25 degrees Celsius.

It was, according to the National Weather Service to the coldest December 31, had ever been measured in Green Bay since the introduction of official weather stations.

Game

Favorites for the victory were the Packers. The Cowboys appeared as a team from Texas not being accustomed to such adverse conditions. The Packers were used to the cold. However, both teams made ​​the smooth underground to create what the error rate increased.

The gameplay was the first Packers fans law. Two passes from Starr to the wide receiver Boyd Dowler made ​​for a quick 14-0 lead. Then tipped the game. First, a fumble by Starr was carried back into the end zone of the Packers, then the safety of the Packers Willie Wood dropped the ball fall in a Puntreturn what brought the Cowboys back in possession. The kicker the Cowboys, Danny Villanueva, scored the 14:10 half-time. In the fourth quarter in a game Halfback succeeded the running back the Cowboys, Dan Reeves, a 50- yard pass to wide receiver Lance Rentzel option play that resulted in a touchdown to 17:14 for his team. The game had turned. Five minutes before the end Bart Starr began a long time in his own half. From there it was possible to come to him with short passes to the end zone before the Cowboys. A yard in front of the end zone was initially terminus. 16 seconds before the end, Starr took a break and to everyone's surprise the Packers not be attempted with a field goal in the extra time to save, but sent Starr with his offense again on the field. Expected was now that Starr would try to go with a pass to a wide receiver in the end zone, but instead he ran even with its center Ken Bowman and his Guard Jerry Kramer as a blocker into the end zone. It was 21:17 for the Packers. They had won the game in the most adverse conditions.

Consequences

Numerous players retired during the game frostbite or diseased after the game. The halftime show turned out the musical instruments of the members of the marching band were frozen and the mouthpieces stuck firmly to the lips of the musician. Seven musicians came with injuries in hospitals.

The Packers won the Ice Bowl, the fifth NFL championship in seven years and moved into the Super Bowl II. This they won with 33:14 against the Oakland Raiders.

Game cancellations are today virtually unknown in the NFL. The game is played in almost any weather.

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