Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The mud bowl. Browns vs. Packers. About 15 years ago my sister bought me the Life magazine that had the cover story on that game. That picture of the Browns defense, covered in mud, waiting for the Packers to come to the line of scrimmage.
I went to see my dad and watched the Metcalf game. He was in the bathroom for both returns.
Browns vs. Vikings. Hail Mary to Ahmad Rashad. Bud Grant LAUGHING when he ran off the field.
Too bad my best Brown's memories are from the 60's. Maybe next year.
Mr. instant quarterback and his three inch wristband
There are certain things that are in the NFL's Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio that are interesting pieces of memorabilia. And one of them is still being used to this day by today's NFL quarterbacks. It's the wristband quarterbacks use to call plays. Its beginnings go back a ways, a long ways at that!
Despite losing the 1964 NFL Championship to the Cleveland Browns 27-0, which was considered a huge upset at that time, the Baltimore Colts, led by new coach Don Shula, got out of the gate for the 1965 season in a hurry. Loaded with offensive stars like Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore, Jimmy Orr, John Mackey, and the one quarterback who defines the NFL (Johnny Unitas), the Colts were enjoying a great season. Their defense still had old line Colts Gino marchetti and Lenny Lyles but were picking up some good new talent like Mike Curtis, Rick Volk, Dennis Gaubatz, and others. By week 11, the wheels were getting wobbly with Johnny Unitas having a knee injury that would shelve him for the rest of the season. The week after that backup quarterback Gary Cuozzo was lost as well with a shoulder separation.
At this time Shula turned to his utility running back who was nicknamed "garbage can"-Tom Matte. Matte was out of Ohio State maybe four years previous and definitely wasn't known as a passer by any stretch, having been under Woody Hayes "three yards and a cloud of dust" style of football. But Matte was able to keep the Colts going until the end of the regular season. The regular season finale against the Rams saw Baltimore beat a rapidly improving team 20-17. At that time Don Shula picked up journeyman quarterback Ed Brown on waivers. Brown had played for several clubs in his NFL career.
With Baltimore and Green Bay having similar records at 10-3-1, a special conference playoff game was scheduled. Back then there was no such thing as tie breakers, if you had a similar record with somebody, you played an extra game to settle things. And like Matte did in the previous two regular season games, Matte wore a three inch wristband that had more than a dozen plays on it. As Matte was just 6'0", he rolled out in pretty much on every passing situation. Ed Brown however was not allowed to suit up for the game at all as the NFL played hardball with the rule regarding late season acquisitions through the waiver wire. Don Shula was holding his breath for sure here. During that season the Colts only went with two quarterbacks and other than a quarterback named Ed Brown there just wasn't anyone else out there with NFL experience as far as the Colts management was concerned.
I remember watching the game on TV and remember a gutty performance by Matte. And another thing came out of this game that is very relevant in regards to how the NFL does things, in this case the goal posts. Near the end of regulation Don Chandler kicked a 22 yard field goal that to this day the Colts still claim was no good. In 1965 the uprights were 10 feet shorter than they are now. And there was hell raised about it from the Colts organization pretty much the entire off season. With maybe one minute left in the overtime period Bart Starr led the Packers down the field where this time Don Chandler split the uprights from 25 yards away.
After the game, Matte tore the wristband off his wrist and threw it across the dressing room. John Steadman, the long time writer for the Baltimore Sun, grabbed it and kept it. It now sits in one of the exhibits in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame.
These days Tom Matte stays busy as one of the members of the Baltimore Ravens radio broadcasting team and is constantly reminded of his role in the tail end of that season. And in regards to the uprights on each goal post, if you talk to the NFL hierarchy they would deny it but the next year would see the uprights raised up. This decision was known as "The Don Chandler Rule." In addition to that, no longer would one referee stand behind the middle of the goal posts for the call. From here on out the back judge would be on one side of the upright and the field judge would be on the other side of the other upright.
A memorable game? With the long time Baltimore Colt fans it sure was all right. For years after his NFL career had ended, Tom Matte was referred to as "instant quarterback" and not in a derogatory sense either. Matte underachieved his whole career until 1969. That year he finished third in the NFL in rushing and led the league in touchdowns by rushing with eleven. He played 12 seasons in the NFL and retired in 1972.
Last edited by DOUBLE H; 01-29-2012 at 01:57 PM..
Reason: addition, spelling
Here's a 2-part video about that season, narrated by Baltimore's legendary sports play-by-play caller Chuck Thompson. The video shows Tom Matte playing against the Packers. At 5:00 into the video you can clearly see the Packers field goal was wide to the right by a foot -- and look at those short goal posts! Many other Baltimore Colts greats are seen in these two video sections.
Part Two: Some of Tom Matte's excellent passing is seen at 10 minutes into this tape, where the Colts beat the Cowboys, and at 12 minutes you see Raymond Berry's patented toe-tapping method of staying in-bounds after catching a pass -- just awesome stuff....
__________________
- Please follow our TOS.
- Any Questions about City-Data? See the FAQ list.
- Want some detailed instructions on using the site? See The Guide for plain english explanation.
- Realtors are welcome here but do see our Realtor Advice to avoid infractions.
- Thank you and enjoy City-Data.
The mud bowl. Browns vs. Packers. About 15 years ago my sister bought me the Life magazine that had the cover story on that game. That picture of the Browns defense, covered in mud, waiting for the Packers to come to the line of scrimmage.
I went to see my dad and watched the Metcalf game. He was in the bathroom for both returns.
Browns vs. Vikings. Hail Mary to Ahmad Rashad. Bud Grant LAUGHING when he ran off the field.
Too bad my best Brown's memories are from the 60's. Maybe next year.
Maybe next year is Cleveland's favorite slogan. At any rate, you're right, being a Browns fan any victory is memorable, simply because there hasn't been a lot of them since they returned! I wasn't born when they won their last championship, so the 80s (the Marty/Bernie years) were my greatest memories! Though they came up short courtesy of John Elway, it was a great time to be a Browns fan! We can only hope that they right the ship, though I still say Holmgren goofed when he hired Shurmur!
Will "unsticky" this thread. Will put it back up as a "sticky" come next season. A lot of good stories posted here by you people! Thanks to all that contributed!
For the people who have just got on City Data, this is a two year old thread of your favorite or memorable NFL game that you either witnessed in person or watched on the tube. If you have a few favorites, share them with us!
Years ago I was a redskins fan and will always remember this collapse in 1989
The Skins lead in the 1st Qtr 20-0 at home and then lead 27-7 at the half over the Eagles. Then in the 4th qtr with 2 mins left, the Skins led 37-28 and then the Eagles cut it to 37-35. Then the skins got the ball back and gave it to Gerald Riggs for a long run all the way to the Eagles 10 yd line. That should have been the game but the next handoff resulted in Riggs fumbling and Wes Hopkins of the Eagles picks up the ball and takes it all the way to the Skins 10 yd line. Then randall cunningham hits Keith Jackson in the endzone to take the lead 42-37.
The skins had one last show trailing by 5 but Mark Rypien was hit by one of the Eagles and fumbled and Reggie white recovered the ball . Game Over
Years ago I was a redskins fan and will always remember this collapse in 1989
The Skins lead in the 1st Qtr 20-0 at home and then lead 27-7 at the half over the Eagles. Then in the 4th qtr with 2 mins left, the Skins led 37-28 and then the Eagles cut it to 37-35. Then the skins got the ball back and gave it to Gerald Riggs for a long run all the way to the Eagles 10 yd line. That should have been the game but the next handoff resulted in Riggs fumbling and Wes Hopkins of the Eagles picks up the ball and takes it all the way to the Skins 10 yd line. Then randall cunningham hits Keith Jackson in the endzone to take the lead 42-37.
The skins had one last show trailing by 5 but Mark Rypien was hit by one of the Eagles and fumbled and Reggie white recovered the ball . Game Over
I was depressed for 6 days
I remember that game and how Buddy Ryan remained upbeat and falling behind.
No depression for me though...
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.