The 1958 National Football League Championship Game was played on December 28, 1958 at Yankee Stadium in New York City. It was the first ever National Football League (NFL) game to go into sudden death overtime. The final score was Baltimore Colts 23, New York Giants 17. The game has since become widely known as The Greatest Game Ever Played. The 1958 NFL season was the 39th regular season of the National Football League. ... The National Football League (NFL) is the largest professional American football league, consisting of thirty-two teams from American cities and regions. ... December 28 is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 3 days remaining. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Yankee Stadium is the home stadium of the New York Yankees, a major league baseball team. ... The city is at the center of international finance, politics, entertainment, and culture, and is one of the worlds major global cities (along with London, Tokyo and Paris) with a virtually unrivaled collection of museums, galleries, performance venues, media outlets, international corporations, and stock exchanges. ... This article relates to sudden death in the context of sport. ... Overtime is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport in order to bring the game to a decision and avoid declaring the contest a tie or draw. ... There have been two unrelated American football teams called the Baltimore Colts based in Baltimore, Maryland. ... Year Founded 1925 Conference NFC Division East Home Field Giants Stadium City East Rutherford, New Jersey Team Colors Royal Blue, Red, Gray, and White Head Coach Tom Coughlin League Titles League Championships (6) NFL Champions: 1927, 1934, 1938, 1956 Super Bowl: 1986 (XXI), 1990 (XXV) Conference Championships (9) NFL Eastern...

Many sports writers and fans mark this game as the beginning of the NFL's popularity and dominance over all other professional sports in the United States. A major reason was that the game was televised across the nation by NBC, which was a rarity at the time. The National Broadcasting Company or NBC is an American television broadcasting company based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...

Game summary

After the Giants scored first late in the first quarter with Pat Summerall's 36-yard field goal, a fumble by New York running back Frank Gifford set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Colts running back Alan Ameche. Gifford fumbled again late in the second quarter, and Baltimore converted that turnover into another touchdown with quarterback Johnny Unitas' 15-yard pass to end Raymond Berry to make the score 14-3 by halftime. George Allen Pat Summerall (born May 10, 1930 in Lake City, Florida) is a former American football player and television sportscaster. ... Frank Newton Gifford (born August 16, 1930 in Santa Monica, California) was an American football player and one of the better-known American sports commentators in the latter part of the 20th century who made the transition from an athlete to broadcasting. ... Lino Dante Alan Ameche (March 1, 1933 - August 8, 1988), nicknamed The Iron Horse, was a U.S. football player. ... Unitas under centre, on the 9/23/02 cover of Sports Illustrateds tribute to him John Constantine Unitas (May 7, 1933 – September 11, 2002) was a professional American football player in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. ... Raymond Emmett Berry (born February 27, 1933 in Corpus Christi, Texas) was an American football player and considered by many to be one of the best wide receivers of all time. ...

Then early in the third period, the Colts reached the New York 1-yard line. But on third down, Ameche was stopped for no gain, and the Colts turned it over on downs after Ameche was tackled at the 5-yard line on a fourth down halfback option play. The Giants then marched 95-yards, scoring on Mel Triplett's 1 yard touchdown run to cut the score, 14-10. The Halfback option play is an unorthodox play (often called a trick play) in American football. ...

The Giants then went ahead early in the fourth quarter with Gifford's 15-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Charlie Conerly. But with about two minutes left in the game, the Colts took over at their own 14-yard line and moved the ball all the way to the Giants 13-yard line to set up kicker Steve Myhra's 20-yard tying field goal with seven seconds left.

In overtime, the Giants received the opening kickoff but were forced to punt. On their ensuing drive, the Colts drove 80 yards in 13 plays and scored on Ameche's 1-yard touchdown run to win the game.

Scoring summary

• NYG - FG Summerall 36
• BAL - Ameche 2 run (Myhra kick)
• BAL - Berry 15 pass from Unitas (Myhra kick)
• NYG - Triplett 1 run (Summerall kick)
• NYG - Gifford 15 pass from Conerly (Summerall kick)
• BAL - FG Myhra 20
• BAL - Ameche 1 run

References

• Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0062701746)
• "Dec. 28, 1958: A legend is born", NFL.com
• "Title game wasn't that great for '58 Colts" by Eddie Epstein, espn.com
• "The Turning Point", RavensNest.com