1963 Bear@ Steelers; Tie 17-17 Hurt Pittsburgh

[LeonardRachiele]

The Bears lead 7 to 0 after one quarter. The Steelers capped a touchdown drive with a six yard run from Dick Hoak. Pittsburgh virtually wiped out the Bears’ defensive line on that run. After the Bears went ahead 14 to 7, the Steelers drove downfield and Ed Brown passed to Roy Curry for 31 yards to tie the game at 14 all. The Steelers missed a chance to put this game away in the third quarter. Lou Michaels capped two short drives with missed field goals of 32 and 28 yards. The tie held at 14 after the third period but the Steelers should have led 20 to 14.

Early in the fourth quarter, Steelers this time were deep in Bears territory from the 13 yard line. After catching a screen pass, Dick Hoak broke a tackle and went in for an apparent touchdown. Yet the officials ruled Hoak was down by contact. The Steelers argued to no avail; this was a bad call. Pittsburgh settled for a field goal and a 17 to 14 lead. It should have been 27 to 14.

Then came a play which is part of the NFL films folklore. At the Chicago 18 yard line, Bill Wade threw a screen to tight end Mike Ditka. Defensive back Dick Haley dove at Ditkta but missed. After a few yards, Myron Pottios, Glenn Glass, and John Reger hit him all at once. With a great effort, Ditka threw off all three men and headed downfield but gradually slowing. After a frantic chase, Clendon Thomas caught him and pushed rather than tackled MD down at the Pitt 15. Mike Ditka collapsed, completely spent by the maximum effort. This may well be the best single play for a tight end in NFL History. After this 63 yard play, the Steelers held and Roger LeClerc kicked a field goal to tie the score. This tie hurt Pittsburgh’s chances for the NFL Title.

[Brian wolf]

That play by Ditka was tremendous, especially as an offensive play but for me, the best play I ever saw from a tight end, was the tackle made by Benjamin Watson for NE on Denver CB Champ Bailey during an interception return during the 2005 AFC playoffs. He literally ran over a 100 yards over the width of the field to tackle Bailey inside the one yard line, preventing a TD. Unbelievable effort ...

[Terry Baldshaw]

Sunday November 24 1963. The game nobody saw.

[rhickok1109]

Sunday November 24 1963. The game nobody saw.

I'm pretty sure NFL stadiums were just about full that day.

[Bob Gill]

I'm pretty sure NFL stadiums were just about full that day.

According to the Pro Football Chronicle, total attendance for the seven NFL games that day totaled 336,892 -- that is, 48,000 per game, including three sellouts. That was a very good day for the NFL in 1963.

As for me, I remember watching the Redskins play the Eagles on TV, right after seeing Ruby shoot Oswald.

[RichardBak]

Actually, it was reported that some of the games had smaller than normal-size crowds that Sunday. That included Municipal Stadium, where the Browns were hosting Dallas---and hoo-boy, did the team from "the city that killed our president" get abused by Cleveland fans. Thrown bottles, death threats, etc.

It always blew my mind that the NFL would play a full slate of games 48 hours after JFK was assassinated, more so after what happened Monday night. But, different times.

[RichardBak]

I'm pretty sure NFL stadiums were just about full that day.

According to the Pro Football Chronicle, total attendance for the seven NFL games that day totaled 336,892 -- that is, 48,000 per game, including three sellouts. That was a very good day for the NFL in 1963.

As for me, I remember watching the Redskins play the Eagles on TV, right after seeing Ruby shoot Oswald.

Those attendance figures are a bit misleading. Those were ticket sales, not turnstile counts. A lot of fans stayed home to watch wall-to-wall TV coverage of events in Washington and then Dallas (Ruby shot Oswald just around KO time, IIRC). In footage of games that day you can see lots of empty seats in the background.

Was that a local station that broadcast the Phila-Wash game? From what I can gather, CBS did not broadcast any games anywhere that day. Everything was pre-empted. Here in Detroit, the local CBS affiliate aired a condensed one-hour broadcast of the Lions @ Vikings game a couple of nights later to make up for it.

[rhickok1109]

I'm pretty sure NFL stadiums were just about full that day.

According to the Pro Football Chronicle, total attendance for the seven NFL games that day totaled 336,892 -- that is, 48,000 per game, including three sellouts. That was a very good day for the NFL in 1963.

As for me, I remember watching the Redskins play the Eagles on TV, right after seeing Ruby shoot Oswald.

Those attendance figures are a bit misleading. Those were ticket sales, not turnstile counts. A lot of fans stayed home to watch wall-to-wall TV coverage of events in Washington and then Dallas (Ruby shot Oswald just around KO time, IIRC). In footage of games that day you can see lots of empty seats in the background.

Was that a local station that broadcast the Phila-Wash game? From what I can gather, CBS did not broadcast any games anywhere that day. Everything was pre-empted. Here in Detroit, the local CBS affiliate aired a condensed one-hour broadcast of the Lions @ Vikings game a couple of nights later to make up for it.

Well, 63,000 watched the Giants play the Cardinals...
https://www.si.com/nfl/2013/11/22/nfl-j ... n-50-years

[Terry Baldshaw]

Sunday November 24 1963. The game nobody saw.

I'm pretty sure NFL stadiums were just about full that day.

I was referring to television. Didn't think to emphasize that.

[JohnH19]

It always blew my mind that the NFL would play a full slate of games 48 hours after JFK was assassinated, more so after what happened Monday night. But, different times.

The decision to play the games that weekend was Pete Rozelle’s greatest regret.