1957 NFL Championship Game
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| Date | December 29, 1957 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Ron Gibbs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 55,263 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Van Patrick, Ken Coleman, and Red Grange |
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| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ray Scott, Bill McColgan | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1957 National Football League championship game was the 25th annual championship game, held on December 29 at Briggs Stadium, in Detroit, Michigan.[1][2][3]
The Detroit Lions (8–4), winners of the Western Conference, hosted the Cleveland Browns (9–2–1), champions of the Eastern Conference. Detroit had won the regular season game 20–7 three weeks earlier on December 8, also at Briggs Stadium, but lost quarterback Bobby Layne with a broken right ankle.[4]
It was the fourth pairing of the two teams in the championship game, they met previously in 1952, 1953, and 1954. The Browns were favored by three points.[5]
Contents
Starting lineups
| Detroit | Position | Cleveland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| OFFENSE | |||
| Jim Doran | LE | Pete Brewster | |
| Lou Creekmur | LT | Lou Groza | |
| Harley Sewell | LG | Herschel Forester | |
| Frank Gatski | C | Art Hunter | |
| Stan Campbell | RG | Fred Robinson | |
| Ken Russell | RT | Mike McCormack | |
| Steve Junker | RE | Preston Carpenter | |
| Tobin Rote | QB | Tommy O'Connell | |
| Gene Gedman | LHB | Ray Renfro | |
| Hopalong Cassady | RHB | Lew Carpenter | |
| John Henry Johnson | FB | Jim Brown | |
| DEFENSE | |||
| Darris McCord | LDE | Bill Quinlan | |
| Ray Krouse | LDT | Bob Gain | |
| Gil Mains | RDT | Don Colo | |
| Gene Cronin | RDE | Len Ford | |
| Bob Long (linebacker) | LLB | Galen Fiss | |
| Joe Schmidt | MLB | Vince Costello | |
| Roger Zatkoff | RLB | Walt Michaels | |
| Carl Karilivacz | DB | Junior Wren | |
| Jack Christiansen | DB | Ken Konz | |
| Yale Lary | DB | Warren Lahr | |
| Jim David | DB | Don Paul | |
Players in the Hall of Fame
Eleven individuals (including coaches and administration) who were involved in this game are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.[6] Another Lions Hall-of-Famer, QB Bobby Layne, was injured and did not play in the game.
Detroit Lions
- FB John Henry Johnson
- C Frank Gatski
- LT Lou Creekmur
- LB Joe Schmidt
- DB Jack Christiansen
- DB Yale Lary
Cleveland Browns
- FB Jim Brown
- LT/K Lou Groza
- RT Mike McCormack
- RDE Len Ford
- Head Coach/General Manager Paul Brown
Game summary
The home underdog Lions were without starting quarterback Layne due to a broken ankle three weeks earlier.[4][5] Backup Tobin Rote filled in admirably, throwing four touchdown passes, completing 12 of 19 passes for 280 yards, and running in for another touchdown. O'Connell and Plum, on the other hand hit on a combined total of 9 of 22 passes for 112 yards. Taking full advantage of a pass interception and a fumble, Detroit ran up a 17–0 lead in the first quarter. Jim Brown gave the Cleveland rooters some hope with a 30-yard touchdown swing at the start of the second period.
Things went from bad to worse for the Browns, hampered by injuries to quarterbacks Tommy O'Connell and Milt Plum. The Lions romped for 14 points in each of the last three quarters,[2][7] and won by 45 points, 59–14.[1][2][3]
Scoring summary
Sunday, December 29, 1957
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. EST[5]
- First Quarter
- Second Quarter
- Third Quarter
- CLE – Lew Carpenter 5-yard run (Groza kick), 31–14 DET
- DET – Doran 78-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick), 38–14 DET
- DET – Junker 23-yard pass from Rote (Martin kick), 45–14 DET
- Fourth Quarter
The gross receipts for the game, including radio and television rights, were just under $594,000, the highest to date. Each player on the winning Lions team received $4,295, while Browns players made $2,750 each.[2][3]
Lions last title
The Lions have not appeared in an NFL championship game (including the Super Bowl) since this title 67 years ago; the closest was the 1991 team, which lost the NFC Championship Game 41–10 to the Washington Redskins, who went on to win Super Bowl XXVI.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Chuck Heaton, Lions Crush Browns, 59–14, Cleveland Plain Dealer December 29, 1957, Plain Dealer Browns' History Database Accessed December 12, 2007, http://www.cleveland.com/brownshistory/plaindealer/index.ssf?/browns/more/history/19571229BROWNS.html
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