Giants Sneak a Championship 4 Cleveland Makes a Big Splash 6 Unitas Silenced as Browns Roll 8 Namath Delivers on His Guarantee 10 AFL Makes It Two in a Row 12 The Bears Can’t Repeat 14 Vikings Pull Off Back-to-Back Stunners 16 Backup Leads Giants to Title 18 New Kid on the Block Pulls a Shocker 20 The Broncos Bite Back 22 The Legend of Tom Brady Is Born 24 Patriots Fall Short of Perfection 26 Fun Facts and Stories 28 Glossary 30 For More Information 31 Index 32 About the Author 32 TABLE OF CONTENTS
The 1934 Chicago Bears appeared to be an unstoppable force They had won the previous two National Football League NFL titles Then they went 13 0 in 1934 The Bears won their games by an average of more than 15 points The New York Giants meanwhile had often struggled They posted a modest record of 8 5 Few expected much when the teams met for the 1934 NFL title December 9 1934 was bitterly cold at the Polo Grounds in New York City In the first half both teams struggled to find footing on the hard icy field Yet the Bears controlled the action They took a 10 3 lead into halftime New York Giants players tackle Chicago Bears fullback Bronko Nagurski during the 1934 NFL Championship Game GIANTS SNEAK A CHAMPIONSHIP 1 4
The Giants were in trouble But team captain Ray Flaherty had an idea The Giants cleats were not sticking into the frozen ground So Flaherty sent an assistant to Manhattan College to collect as many rubber-soled basketball sneakers as he could get It was a stroke of genius The Bears continued to slip and slide all over the field with their cleats With their basketball shoes the Giants were surefooted They ran circles around the heavily favored Bears The rout started with a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Ed Danowski to Ike Frankian Soon after running back Ken Strong gashed the Bears defense with a 42-yard touchdown run The Giants went on to outscore the Bears 27 3 in the second half The final score was of 30 13 The game was perhaps the biggest upset in the NFL’s young history The Bears and Giants all agreed the difference in the game was the sneakers 18 Consecutive games the Bears had won entering the 1934 NFL Championship The NFL began in 1920 However there was no championship game until 1933 Ken Strong was the star of the title game for New York The running back rushed for 94 yards and two touchdowns Giants players change into basketball shoes during the 1934 NFL Championship Game 5
