American Football · 1958 · New York, USA
The Greatest Game Ever Played
The NFL Championship runs into the first sudden-death overtime the league had ever played, on national television, and professional football stops being a niche concern.
Colts 23-17 Giants (OT)
Result
First sudden-death OT in NFL history
Overtime
~45 million
TV audience (est.)
The Baltimore Colts and New York Giants met for the 1958 NFL Championship at Yankee Stadium on 28 December, carried nationally by NBC at a time when that was still a novelty for professional football. New York led 17-14 in the closing minutes when the Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas took Baltimore downfield for a tying field goal as regulation expired, forcing the league's first sudden-death overtime period.
Unitas put together another long drive in the extra period, alternating pinpoint passing with the Colts' ground game, and the fullback Alan Ameche finished it from a yard out for a 23-17 win and the championship.
An estimated 45 million Americans watched the broadcast, and that finish did more than any argument could to convince networks and advertisers that pro football could compete with baseball for national attention. People have called it the Greatest Game Ever Played ever since.
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