- 1934 NFL Championship Game
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1934 NFL Championship Game Chicago Bears New York Giants 13 30 1 2 3 4 Total Chicago Bears 0 10 3 0 13 New York Giants 3 0 0 27 30 Date December 9, 1934 Stadium Polo Grounds City New York City Attendance Timeline Previous game Next game 1933 1935 The 1934 National Football League Championship Game, also known as The Sneakers Game, was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, 1934. The final score was New York Giants 30, Chicago Bears 13. It was the 2nd annual NFL championship game.
A freezing rain the night before the game froze the Polo Grounds field.[1] After Ray Flaherty, a Giants end, made a remark to Giants' head coach Steve Owen suggesting that sneakers would provide better footing on the frozen playing surface, Owen sent Abe Cohen to Manhattan College to get some sneakers. Cohen arrived in the third quarter with nine pairs of basketball sneakers from the college.[2]
The Bears were leading the Giants 13-3 when the Giants switched to the basketball sneakers. Giants quarterback Ed Danowski threw a touchdown pass to Ike Frankian to make the score 13-10 (actually, the pass was intercepted at the Bears' 2-yard line, but Frankian then grabbed the ball out of the defender's hands). On the Giants next drive, running back Ken Strong scored on a 42-yard touchdown run. Later an 11-yard run by Strong was turned into another touchdown for the Giants. Finally the Giants closed it out with Danowski's 9-yard touchdown run. The game ended with the Giants ahead: 30-13.
Many of the participants have been interviewed since the game took place, most notably Bronko Nagurski of the Bears and Mel Hein of the Giants. Generally, players from both sides have attributed the Giants' second half dominance to their selection of footwear. A mini-documentary of the game, narrated by Pat Summerall, can be seen in the 1987 video "Giants Among Men."
Scoring summary
- NY - FG Strong 38 3-0 NYG
- CHI - Nagurski 1 run (Manders kick) 7-3 CHI
- CHI - FG Manders 17 10-3 CHI
- CHI - FG Manders 22 13-3 CHI
- NY - Frankian 28 pass from Danowski (Strong kick) 13-10 CHI
- NY - Strong 42 run (Strong kick) 17-13 NYG
- NY - Strong 11 run (kick failed) 23-13 NYG
- NY - Danowski 9 run (Molenda kick) 30-13 NYG
Citations
References
- Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League (ISBN 0-06-270174-6)
- The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995 (ISBN 0-89204-523-X)
- Strange But True Football Stories (ISBN 0-394-80198-9)
- Cavanaugh, Jack (2008), Giants Among Men. New York:Random House. eISBN ISBN 978-1-58836-697-9
- Pervin, Lawrence A. (2009). Football's New York Giants. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7864-4268-3
Preceded by
1933 NFL Championship GameNFL Championship Game
1934Succeeded by
1935 NFL Championship GameNew York Giants 1934 NFL Champions Red Badgro · Bob Bellinger · Knuckles Boyle · Dale Burnett · John Cannella · Stu Clancy · Ed Danowski · Johnny Dell Isola · Ray Flaherty · Ike Frankian · Butch Gibson · Len Grant · Mel Hein · Tex Irvin · Potsy Jones · Max Krause · Jack McBride · Bo Molenda · Bill Morgan · Harry Newman · John Norby · Bill Owen · Henry Reese · Kink Richards · Babe Scheuer · Wee Willie Smith · Harry Stafford · Ken Strong
Head Coach Steve OwenNew York Giants Founded in 1925 • Based in East Rutherford, New Jersey The Franchise History Stadiums Culture and Lore Cleveland Bulldogs • Sneakers Game • The Greatest Game Ever Played • The Fumble • Crunch Bunch • Gatorade shower • Big Blue Wrecking Crew • Wide Right • Little Giants • We Fly High • Manning to Tyree • Bob Sheppard • Jim Hall • Yankee Stadium Legacy • The ComebackRivalries Philadelphia Eagles • Dallas Cowboys • Washington Redskins • New York JetsHead Coaches Key Personnel League Championships (7) Super Bowl Appearances (4) Media Current League Affiliations League: National Football League • Conference: National Football Conference • Division: East DivisionChicago Bears Formerly the Decatur Staleys and the Chicago Staleys • Founded in 1919 • Based in Chicago, Illinois The Franchise Records Seasons • Records and statistics • All-time record versus NFL • Bears results on Primetime Football (Sunday Night • Monday Night • Thursday Night) • Holiday Football (Thanksgiving • Christmas) • Team awards and honors • Individual league award winners • Players (A-D - E-K - L-R - S-Z) • Head Coaches • Pro Football Hall of Famers • First-round Draft Picks • Starting Quarterbacks • Pro Bowlers • All-ProStadiums Lore Fog Bowl • 1932 Playoff Game • First NFL Championship Game • "The Sneakers Game" • Monsters of the Midway • 46 Defense • 15-1 • Super Bowl XX • Thanksgiving Classic • Bears 73, Redskins 0 • Instant Replay Game • Staley Swindle • Cardiac Kids • George S. Halas Trophy • Christmas games • International Series • American Bowl • Bills Toronto Series • Brian Piccolo Award • 75th Anniversary (League • Team • NFL All-Time Team) • The 700 ClubCulture Brian's Song (1971) / (2001) • "Bear Down, Chicago Bears" • "The Super Bowl Shuffle" • Da Super Fans • Chuck Swirsky • Staley Da Bear • Logos and Uniforms • Halas Hall • A.E. Staley • Jack Brickhouse • Papa Bear • Roosevelt/Wabash • 85386 PaytonRivalries Green Bay Packers • Minnesota VikingsRetired Numbers Key Personnel Chairman: George McCaskey • President/CEO: Ted Phillips • General Manager: Jerry Angelo • Head Coach: Lovie SmithNFL Championships (9) Super Bowl Appearances (2) Other honors NFL Championship Appearances (10) – 1933 • 1934 • 1937 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1946 • 1956 • 1963
NFC Championship Game Appearances (5) – 1984 • 1985 • 1988 • 2006 • 2010
Division Titles | NFL Western (8) – 1933 • 1934 • 1937 • 1940 • 1941 • 1942 • 1943 • 1946 – NFC Central (7) – 1984 • 1985 • 1986 • 1987 • 1988 • 1990 • 2001 – NFC North (3) – 2005 • 2006 • 2010Current League Affiliations League: National Football League • Conference: National Football Conference • Division: North DivisionFormer League Affiliations League: Independent (1919) • Conference: National Conference (1950–1952); Western Conference (1953–1969) • Division: NFL Western Division (1933–1949); Central Division (1967–1969); NFC Central Division (1970–2001)Local Broadcast Affiliates Seasons (92) 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2010 • 2011National Football League Championship Games (1933–present) NFL Championship Game
(1933–1969)AFL Championship Game
(1960–1969)AFL-NFL World Championship Games[1]
(1966–1969)Super Bowl[2]
(1970–present)1970 (V) • 1971 (VI) • 1972 (VII) • 1973 (VIII) • 1974 (IX) • (1975) X • 1976 (XI) • 1977 (XII) • 1978 (XIII) • 1979 (XIV) • 1980 (XV) • 1981 (XVI) • 1982 (XVII) • 1983 (XVIII) • 1984 (XIX) • 1985 (XX) • 1986 (XXI) • 1987 (XXII) • 1988 (XXIII) • 1989 (XXIV) • 1990 (XXV) • 1991 (XXVI) • 1992 (XXVII) • 1993 (XXVIII) • 1994 (XXIX) • 1995 (XXX) • 1996 (XXXI) • 1997 (XXXII) • 1998 (XXXIII) • 1999 (XXXIV) • 2000 (XXXV) • 2001 (XXXVI) • 2002 (XXXVII) • 2003 (XXXVIII) • 2004 (XXXIX) • 2005 (XL) • 2006 (XLI) • 2007 (XLII) • 2008 (XLIII) • 2009 (XLIV) • 2010 (XLV) • 2011 (XLVI)1921 APFA de facto championship game • 1932 NFL Playoff Game • NFL Championship Broadcasters • AFL Championship Broadcasters • Super Bowl Champions • Super Bowl Most Valuable Players • Super Bowl Records • Super Bowl Broadcasters • Super Bowl Officials • Super Bowl Halftime • Super Bowl Advertising • Pre-Super Bowl NFL champions • NFL Playoffs (Results) • AFL Playoffs1 – From 1966 to 1969, the first four Super Bowls were "World Championship" games played between two independent professional football leagues, AFL and NFL, and when the league merged in 1970 the Super Bowl became the NFL Championship Game.
2 – Dates in the list denote the season, not the calendar year in which the championship game was played. For instance, Super Bowl XLI was played in 2007, but was the championship for the 2006 season.Categories:- Chicago Bears postseason
- New York Giants postseason
- National Football League Championship games
- 1934 National Football League season
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