NFL's Most Important Game in History / Eulogy to the First Superstar Quarterback

There are pivotal events in sport history when the participation of one exceptional athlete changes the game and how it is played forever.  Babe Ruth changed baseball dynamics forever; he was the first athlete to ever hit 30, 40, 50, and 60 home runs in a single year.

NFL founder George Halas saw his life transformed by his sport on a frozen football field one unforgettable day by a rookie tailback who not only changed how future games would be played, but the very shape of the football itself.

Prehistoric NFL days are numbered before December 12, 1937: the average NFL team passed the ball less than once a quarter; many games concluded as single digit affairs and run defenses dominated the day.

Before that day, football was often a boring scrum of indistinguishable muddy jerseys piled together to see how far a ball could be shoved up the field until its carrier was subdued. The quarterback had two functions: hand the ball to the tailback, then block for him. There were three basic plays: run left, run right, and run up the middle, then repeat whatever just worked.

Passing was an afterthought, a weak capitulation reserved for desperate third down throws by the tailback, not the quarterback!  More than three passes per game reflected team cowardice:  avoidance to engage a more powerful enemy in elbow or fist to face combat. 

Football was changed on December 12, 1937 in the NFL Championship Game at Wrigley Field in a whippy Lake Michigan wind when a kid played against the most hardened veterans. This was the Great Depression with 30% unemployment. Men played football to prevent their families from starving. It was simple: play hard or you lose your job. 

The game of football was no game; it was life or death combat violently contested by hard men with nasty attitudes. Men took great honor and evil joy giving pain, broken bones with game-ending concussions.

There were no post-game prayer meetings. Fisticuffs brawls under grandstands were commonplace.  Alpha males measured team dominance not only by a score, but by the bloodied and broken body count left behind.

Shoulder pads were handkerchiefs and hardened cardboard stuffed into a jersey. A helmet was a leather scarf molded into a cap to protect the ears, like a wrestler head guard.  Few rules meant players were punched in the face, kneed in the groin or elbowed to the forehead without fear of penalty. It also meant numerous interceptions were commonplace due to no pass interference rules.

To complain of broken bones was unmanly, a sign of weakness marking a player vulnerable to renewed violent assaults.  Real men rejected face mask protection and played on both sides of the ball: offense and defense.  Those courageous rare few were known as “60-minute men”.

The rookie played defense and years later he became the first player to ever pick off four inceptions in a single game; he also completed four touchdown passes in the same game. He led the NFL in passing, punting and defensive interceptions, all in the same year.

In later years, the skinny kid told of one violent defender who punched him in the face on every play. The rookie told his teammates not to block his attacker then flattened him with a ball throw full force into his face. The defender staggered, then collapsed face first and was dragged off the field for two plays. He returned continued to use this rookie’s face as a punching bag the rest of the game.

December 12, 1937, is the day Modern NFL Football was born. The wind had blown away the sun. The field froze solid with hardened razor sharp ice shards on a layer of Chicago concrete;  a 15 degree temperature and minus 6 wind bone chill factor. This was flesh frostbite numbing football for those who never left the field.

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