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C7| BASUNDAY, DECEMBER 28 , 2008C6 BA | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28 , 2008

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Colts OffensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusWR Raymond Berry 1973 Lives in Murfreesboro, Tenn.LT Jim Parker 1973 Died July 18, 2005 at 71LG Art Spinney N/A Died May 27, 1994 at 66C Buzz Nutter N/A Died April 12, 2008 at 77RG Alex Sandusky N/A Lives in Key West, Fla.RT George Preas N/A Died Feb. 24, 2007QB Johnny Unitas 1979 Died Sept. 11, 2002TE Jim Mutscheller N/A Insurance executive in Hunt ValleyHB L.G. Dupre N/A Died Aug. 9, 2001 at 68HB Lenny Moore 1975 Lives in RandallstownFB Alan Ameche N/A Died Aug. 8, 1988 at 55

Colts DefensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusDE Gino Marchetti 1969 Lives in Westchester, Pa.DT Art Donovan 1968 Run a country club in TowsonDT Gene Lipscomb N/A Died May 10, 1963 at 31DE Don Joyce N/A Turned 79 on Oct. 8LB Don Shinnick N/A Died Jan. 20, 2004 at 68LB Bill Pellington N/A Died April 27, 1994 at 66LB Leo Sanford N/A Lives in Shreveport, La.CB Milt Davis N/A Died Sept. 29, 2008 at 79CB Carl Taseff N/A Died Feb. 27, 2005 at 76S Ray Brown N/A Retired and lives in MarylandS Andy Nelson N/A Runs BBQ business in Cockeysville

Giants OffensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusWR Kyle Rote N/A Died Aug. 12, 2002 at 73LT Roosevelt Brown 1975 Died June 9, 2004 at 71LG Al Barry N/A Turned 78 on WednesdayC Ray Wietecha N/A Died Dec. 14, 2002 at 74RG Bob Mischak N/A Turned 76 on Oct. 25RT Frank Youso N/A Turned 71 on July 5WR Bob Schnelker N/A Turned 80 on Oct. 17QB Charlie Conerly N/A Died Feb. 13, 1996 at 74RB Frank Gifford 1977 Works in broadcasting in New YorkHB Alex Webster N/A Is 77 and battling emphysema and lung cancerFB Mel Triplett N/A Died July 26, 2002 at 70

Giants DefensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusDE Jim Katcavage N/A Died Feb. 20, 1995 at 60DT Roosevelt Grier N/A Is an actor, minister and community activistDT Dick Modzelewski N/A Retired in 1990 after 23-year coaching careerDE Andy Robustelli 1971 Turned 83 on Dec. 6LB Cliff Livingston N/A Turned 78 on July 2LB Sam Huff 1982 Broadcaster for Redskins radio networkLB Harland Svare N/A Works as an athletic trainerCB Carl Karilivacz N/A Died in 1969 at 39CB Lindon Crow N/A Is 75 and retiredS Jim Patton N/A Died Dec. 22, 1973 at 40S Emlen Tunnell 1967 Died July 22, 1975 at 53

ByRon SnyderExaminer StaffWriter

Lenny Moore thought the gamewas over — 17-17, a tie for the cham-pionship.Sam Huff was ready to split the

$372,310 in player prize money.Frank Gifford was just tired.But there was more football to

be played in the 1958 championshipgame in front of 64,185 at YankeeStadium in the first — and still only— sudden-death overtime title gamein NFL history.“Once we got to the end of regula-

tion no one knewwhatwas happening,”Moore said. “We thought we wouldjust go to the locker room, and it’s atie. Not even the referees knew exactlywhat to do.”The Colts led 14-3 in the third

quarter when they drove down to theGiants’ 1-yard line, but came up emptywhen Ameche got stopped for a four-yard loss on fourth down.“That play wasn’t supposed to

be a run,” Colts defensive end GinoMarchetti said. “It was designed tobe a halfback option from Amecheto [tight end] Jim Mutscheller. Hewas wide open in the end zone, butAmeche didn’t hear the call. Had he[thrown] that pass, the game wouldhave been over.”Instead, the Giants used the

momentum to score two touchdownsto take a 17-14 lead early in the fourthquarter. Charlie Conerly’s 15-yardpass to Gifford gave the home team

the lead.“Stopping Ameche on fourth-

and-goal was when the game gotinteresting,” Gifford said. “That wasthe best defense we played all day.”The score remained the same late

into the fourth quarter, when theGiants faced a third-and-four fromtheir 40-yard line with 2:40 remain-ing. Conerly handed off to Gifford,who made a sharp cut to his right andwas met by Marchetti as he crossedthe line of scrimmage. Marchettithrew Gifford to the ground, butduring the play, 6-foot-6, 285-pounddefensive tackle Gene “Big Daddy”Lipscomb fell on Marchetti’s rightankle and broke it.The future Hall of Famer was

carted off the field in a stretcher andwatched the rest of the game from thesidelines.But Marchetti has done his job:

Referee Ron Gibbs placed the ballshort of the first down, and theGiants punted.“If we had replay back then, we

wouldn’t be standing here talkingabout the game,” Gifford said. “Thegame would have been over.”That’s not true. ESPN proved Gif-

ford’s assertion wrong when askedtraffic-accident reconstructionist JeffMuttart to determine the exact spotof the ball using the same technologyto re-enact car crashes.The result: Gifford was nine

inches short.“I knew it when I was lying there,”

Marchetti said. “[Gifford has] told

me many times he got the first down,but I just keep asking him, ‘Who’s gotthe ring?’”Then, it was all up to Johnny Uni-

tas.Starting from theBaltimore 14, “The

GoldenArm”drove rightdown thefield,connecting with receiver RaymondBerry for three of his 12 receptions toposition Steve Myhra, who made just4-of-10 field goals on the year, to tie thegame with a 20-yard field goal withseven seconds remaining.“Webasically invented the two-min-

ute drill that day,” Berry said.In overtime, the Giants won the

coin toss but managed nine yardsbefore punting.Unitas quickly drove the Colts

down to the Giants’ 8-yard line butnever considered going for a field goal.And it wasn’t because the Colts — 31/2- to 5 1/2-point favorites — neededa touchdown to cover the spread, asowner Carroll Rosenbloom had beenknown to bet on his team.“We didn’t trust Myhra,” Moore

said. “We felt like the only way to winthe game was score a touchdown.”Two plays later, the prayers of

Moore, who kept a Bible tucked in histhigh pads, were answered, as runningback Alan Ameche plowed into theend zone from three feet away.Fans stormed the field, but there

were no fireworks or extravagantpostgame ceremonies like after theSuper Bowl today.“Most of our wives were at home

packed and ready to go after the

game,” Gifford said. “Unlike the Bal-timore players, most of the Giantslived outside of New York. Most justwanted to get out of town that night orthe next day right after the game.”When the Colts returned to Bal-

timore, they were greeted by about30,000 fans, many of whom swarmedthe team bus at Friendship Airport.Marchetti witnessed the chaotic scene

from a nearby ambulance, which wastransporting him to a hospital.“I thought someone was going to

die that day,” Marchetti said. “It wasunbelievable. They just wanted to seeus and thank us. Baltimore used to bejust a stop between Philadelphia andWashington. Now, it was home to theworld champions.”[email protected]

Missed chances, goal-line stand set the stage

AP

With a block from Lenny Moore, Alan Ameche runs into the end zone to cap The Greatest Game Ever Played.

COURTESY PHOTO

Thirty thousand fans arrived at Friendship Airport to welcome their heroes home.

ByRon SnyderExaminer StaffWriter

At the time, Raymond Berrycouldn’t understand how a footballgame could make a man cry.The Colts’ receiver was leaving

Yankee Stadium after his team’s vic-tory over the Giants in the 1958 NFLtitle game when he saw tears rollingdown the cheeks of then-Commis-sioner Bert Bell.“I wonder what chord had been

struck in Bert Bell?’” he thought, ashe headed to the team bus 50 yearsago today. “When you have tears inyou eyes, that’s pretty strong.”Berry didn’t realize how strong

until years later.Without the Colts and Giants com-

peting in what has become know asThe Greatest Game Ever Played, theNFLwouldn’t have evolved into the 32-team, $7 billion industry it is today.It wouldn’t be the country’s most-

watched sport.It wouldn’t have nine-figure national

television contracts.It would still be behind baseball

and college football in the hierarchyof sports coverage.

But on Dec. 28, 1958, inside a Yan-kee Stadium that wasn’t even filledto capacity, Alan Ameche’s 1-yardtouchdown run changed the Ameri-can public’s perception of the NationalFootball League.“The game being played in New

York, the media capital of the world,helped the game garner a lot moreattention,” said BobWolff, who calledthe television play-by-play. “It wouldn’thave been the same if it had beenplayed in Cleveland or Baltimore.”By 1961, there were 22 professional

football teams, including eight in theupstart American Football League.Lamar Hunt, with his Texas oil money,formed the AFL after watching—witha then-record 50million other viewers— the 1958 title game on television.The AFL and NFL eventually signedlucrative television contracts and gotinto a bidding war over players beforemerging in 1967.“I have to believe [Bell] understood

the tremendous significance of whathappened to this league that he hadbeen nursing along,” Berry said. “Hewas probably one of the few peoplethere who really understood it.”

The players certainly did not.To theGiants and the Colts, winning

the game wasn’t just about braggingrights: It was an opportunity tomake alittle extramoney at a time when play-ers only earned between $10,000 and$20,000 a year. The winners picked upan extra $4,718.77; the losers received$3,111.33.“It started gaining popularity after

that,” former Colts running backLenny Moore said. “The NFL is whatit is today because of that game.”Fifty years later, the players aren’t

sure if a game that featured seventurnovers can be called The GreatestGame Ever Played.“No one in that game thought what

happened there would have the linger-ing impact it has had,” former Giantskicker and long-time broadcaster PatSummerall said. “It wasn’t the great-est game ever played, but it might havebeen the most important.”The game had 17 future Hall-of-

Fame members, including some ofthe sport’s all-time greats: the Giants’Gifford, SamHuff and Andy Robustelliand the Colts’ Art Donovan, GinoMar-chetti, Moore, Berry and of course, aquarterback named John Unitas.

The Giants’ defensive coordinatorwas TomLandry, who invented the 4-3defense and went on to win two SuperBowls as head coach of the Dallas Cow-boys. Vince Lombardi was the Giants’offensive coordinator before going onto win sevenNFL titles as coach of theGreen Bay Packers. The Super Bowltrophy is named in his honor.“[Giants coach] Jim Lee Howell

didn’t have to do a lot of work,” Sum-

merall said. “He told us when to beon the bus and what time practicestarted. That was about all he had todo with that staff.”“When you build a great house,

you have to have a great foundation,”added Huff. “That game laid the foun-dation of just how great the NFL couldbe. That game helped spur the NFL towhat it is today.”[email protected]

Colts, Giants kicked off more than just a title game

COURTESY PHOTO/LORI SNYDER

From left, Lenny Moore, Jim Mutscheller, Gino Marchetti and Raymond Berry recently attended a reunion for the 50th anniversary ofthe 1958 NFL championship game.

COURTESY PHOTO/LORI SNYDER

The New York Giants and kicker Pat Summerall and running back Frank Gifford were goodin 1958, but not good enough to beat the Colts.

“It was dusk. The lights were on. Banners were flying.Wewere worldchampions, and I was in such awe. I didn’t want to leave.” – Don Joyce, Colts defensive end

“Johnny told us in the huddle before we began that drive that we were going to takethe ball right down and score. Andwe all believed him.” – Alan Ameche, Colts fullback (describing the winning drive)

AP

Johnny Unitas became an instant star by leading the Colts to the title in 1958.

C7| BASUNDAY, DECEMBER 28 , 2008C6 BA | SUNDAY, DECEMBER 28 , 2008

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Colts OffensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusWR Raymond Berry 1973 Lives in Murfreesboro, Tenn.LT Jim Parker 1973 Died July 18, 2005 at 71LG Art Spinney N/A Died May 27, 1994 at 66C Buzz Nutter N/A Died April 12, 2008 at 77RG Alex Sandusky N/A Lives in Key West, Fla.RT George Preas N/A Died Feb. 24, 2007QB Johnny Unitas 1979 Died Sept. 11, 2002TE Jim Mutscheller N/A Insurance executive in Hunt ValleyHB L.G. Dupre N/A Died Aug. 9, 2001 at 68HB Lenny Moore 1975 Lives in RandallstownFB Alan Ameche N/A Died Aug. 8, 1988 at 55

Colts DefensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusDE Gino Marchetti 1969 Lives in Westchester, Pa.DT Art Donovan 1968 Run a country club in TowsonDT Gene Lipscomb N/A Died May 10, 1963 at 31DE Don Joyce N/A Turned 79 on Oct. 8LB Don Shinnick N/A Died Jan. 20, 2004 at 68LB Bill Pellington N/A Died April 27, 1994 at 66LB Leo Sanford N/A Lives in Shreveport, La.CB Milt Davis N/A Died Sept. 29, 2008 at 79CB Carl Taseff N/A Died Feb. 27, 2005 at 76S Ray Brown N/A Retired and lives in MarylandS Andy Nelson N/A Runs BBQ business in Cockeysville

Giants OffensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusWR Kyle Rote N/A Died Aug. 12, 2002 at 73LT Roosevelt Brown 1975 Died June 9, 2004 at 71LG Al Barry N/A Turned 78 on WednesdayC Ray Wietecha N/A Died Dec. 14, 2002 at 74RG Bob Mischak N/A Turned 76 on Oct. 25RT Frank Youso N/A Turned 71 on July 5WR Bob Schnelker N/A Turned 80 on Oct. 17QB Charlie Conerly N/A Died Feb. 13, 1996 at 74RB Frank Gifford 1977 Works in broadcasting in New YorkHB Alex Webster N/A Is 77 and battling emphysema and lung cancerFB Mel Triplett N/A Died July 26, 2002 at 70

Giants DefensePos. Name Hall of Fame StatusDE Jim Katcavage N/A Died Feb. 20, 1995 at 60DT Roosevelt Grier N/A Is an actor, minister and community activistDT Dick Modzelewski N/A Retired in 1990 after 23-year coaching careerDE Andy Robustelli 1971 Turned 83 on Dec. 6LB Cliff Livingston N/A Turned 78 on July 2LB Sam Huff 1982 Broadcaster for Redskins radio networkLB Harland Svare N/A Works as an athletic trainerCB Carl Karilivacz N/A Died in 1969 at 39CB Lindon Crow N/A Is 75 and retiredS Jim Patton N/A Died Dec. 22, 1973 at 40S Emlen Tunnell 1967 Died July 22, 1975 at 53

ByRon SnyderExaminer StaffWriter

Lenny Moore thought the gamewas over — 17-17, a tie for the cham-pionship.Sam Huff was ready to split the

$372,310 in player prize money.Frank Gifford was just tired.But there was more football to

be played in the 1958 championshipgame in front of 64,185 at YankeeStadium in the first — and still only— sudden-death overtime title gamein NFL history.“Once we got to the end of regula-

tion no one knewwhatwas happening,”Moore said. “We thought we wouldjust go to the locker room, and it’s atie. Not even the referees knew exactlywhat to do.”The Colts led 14-3 in the third

quarter when they drove down to theGiants’ 1-yard line, but came up emptywhen Ameche got stopped for a four-yard loss on fourth down.“That play wasn’t supposed to

be a run,” Colts defensive end GinoMarchetti said. “It was designed tobe a halfback option from Amecheto [tight end] Jim Mutscheller. Hewas wide open in the end zone, butAmeche didn’t hear the call. Had he[thrown] that pass, the game wouldhave been over.”Instead, the Giants used the

momentum to score two touchdownsto take a 17-14 lead early in the fourthquarter. Charlie Conerly’s 15-yardpass to Gifford gave the home team

the lead.“Stopping Ameche on fourth-

and-goal was when the game gotinteresting,” Gifford said. “That wasthe best defense we played all day.”The score remained the same late

into the fourth quarter, when theGiants faced a third-and-four fromtheir 40-yard line with 2:40 remain-ing. Conerly handed off to Gifford,who made a sharp cut to his right andwas met by Marchetti as he crossedthe line of scrimmage. Marchettithrew Gifford to the ground, butduring the play, 6-foot-6, 285-pounddefensive tackle Gene “Big Daddy”Lipscomb fell on Marchetti’s rightankle and broke it.The future Hall of Famer was

carted off the field in a stretcher andwatched the rest of the game from thesidelines.But Marchetti has done his job:

Referee Ron Gibbs placed the ballshort of the first down, and theGiants punted.“If we had replay back then, we

wouldn’t be standing here talkingabout the game,” Gifford said. “Thegame would have been over.”That’s not true. ESPN proved Gif-

ford’s assertion wrong when askedtraffic-accident reconstructionist JeffMuttart to determine the exact spotof the ball using the same technologyto re-enact car crashes.The result: Gifford was nine

inches short.“I knew it when I was lying there,”

Marchetti said. “[Gifford has] told

me many times he got the first down,but I just keep asking him, ‘Who’s gotthe ring?’”Then, it was all up to Johnny Uni-

tas.Starting from theBaltimore 14, “The

GoldenArm”drove rightdown thefield,connecting with receiver RaymondBerry for three of his 12 receptions toposition Steve Myhra, who made just4-of-10 field goals on the year, to tie thegame with a 20-yard field goal withseven seconds remaining.“Webasically invented the two-min-

ute drill that day,” Berry said.In overtime, the Giants won the

coin toss but managed nine yardsbefore punting.Unitas quickly drove the Colts

down to the Giants’ 8-yard line butnever considered going for a field goal.And it wasn’t because the Colts — 31/2- to 5 1/2-point favorites — neededa touchdown to cover the spread, asowner Carroll Rosenbloom had beenknown to bet on his team.“We didn’t trust Myhra,” Moore

said. “We felt like the only way to winthe game was score a touchdown.”Two plays later, the prayers of

Moore, who kept a Bible tucked in histhigh pads, were answered, as runningback Alan Ameche plowed into theend zone from three feet away.Fans stormed the field, but there

were no fireworks or extravagantpostgame ceremonies like after theSuper Bowl today.“Most of our wives were at home

packed and ready to go after the

game,” Gifford said. “Unlike the Bal-timore players, most of the Giantslived outside of New York. Most justwanted to get out of town that night orthe next day right after the game.”When the Colts returned to Bal-

timore, they were greeted by about30,000 fans, many of whom swarmedthe team bus at Friendship Airport.Marchetti witnessed the chaotic scene

from a nearby ambulance, which wastransporting him to a hospital.“I thought someone was going to

die that day,” Marchetti said. “It wasunbelievable. They just wanted to seeus and thank us. Baltimore used to bejust a stop between Philadelphia andWashington. Now, it was home to theworld champions.”[email protected]

Missed chances, goal-line stand set the stage

AP

With a block from Lenny Moore, Alan Ameche runs into the end zone to cap The Greatest Game Ever Played.

COURTESY PHOTO

Thirty thousand fans arrived at Friendship Airport to welcome their heroes home.

ByRon SnyderExaminer StaffWriter

At the time, Raymond Berrycouldn’t understand how a footballgame could make a man cry.The Colts’ receiver was leaving

Yankee Stadium after his team’s vic-tory over the Giants in the 1958 NFLtitle game when he saw tears rollingdown the cheeks of then-Commis-sioner Bert Bell.“I wonder what chord had been

struck in Bert Bell?’” he thought, ashe headed to the team bus 50 yearsago today. “When you have tears inyou eyes, that’s pretty strong.”Berry didn’t realize how strong

until years later.Without the Colts and Giants com-

peting in what has become know asThe Greatest Game Ever Played, theNFLwouldn’t have evolved into the 32-team, $7 billion industry it is today.It wouldn’t be the country’s most-

watched sport.It wouldn’t have nine-figure national

television contracts.It would still be behind baseball

and college football in the hierarchyof sports coverage.

But on Dec. 28, 1958, inside a Yan-kee Stadium that wasn’t even filledto capacity, Alan Ameche’s 1-yardtouchdown run changed the Ameri-can public’s perception of the NationalFootball League.“The game being played in New

York, the media capital of the world,helped the game garner a lot moreattention,” said BobWolff, who calledthe television play-by-play. “It wouldn’thave been the same if it had beenplayed in Cleveland or Baltimore.”By 1961, there were 22 professional

football teams, including eight in theupstart American Football League.Lamar Hunt, with his Texas oil money,formed the AFL after watching—witha then-record 50million other viewers— the 1958 title game on television.The AFL and NFL eventually signedlucrative television contracts and gotinto a bidding war over players beforemerging in 1967.“I have to believe [Bell] understood

the tremendous significance of whathappened to this league that he hadbeen nursing along,” Berry said. “Hewas probably one of the few peoplethere who really understood it.”

The players certainly did not.To theGiants and the Colts, winning

the game wasn’t just about braggingrights: It was an opportunity tomake alittle extramoney at a time when play-ers only earned between $10,000 and$20,000 a year. The winners picked upan extra $4,718.77; the losers received$3,111.33.“It started gaining popularity after

that,” former Colts running backLenny Moore said. “The NFL is whatit is today because of that game.”Fifty years later, the players aren’t

sure if a game that featured seventurnovers can be called The GreatestGame Ever Played.“No one in that game thought what

happened there would have the linger-ing impact it has had,” former Giantskicker and long-time broadcaster PatSummerall said. “It wasn’t the great-est game ever played, but it might havebeen the most important.”The game had 17 future Hall-of-

Fame members, including some ofthe sport’s all-time greats: the Giants’Gifford, SamHuff and Andy Robustelliand the Colts’ Art Donovan, GinoMar-chetti, Moore, Berry and of course, aquarterback named John Unitas.

The Giants’ defensive coordinatorwas TomLandry, who invented the 4-3defense and went on to win two SuperBowls as head coach of the Dallas Cow-boys. Vince Lombardi was the Giants’offensive coordinator before going onto win sevenNFL titles as coach of theGreen Bay Packers. The Super Bowltrophy is named in his honor.“[Giants coach] Jim Lee Howell

didn’t have to do a lot of work,” Sum-

merall said. “He told us when to beon the bus and what time practicestarted. That was about all he had todo with that staff.”“When you build a great house,

you have to have a great foundation,”added Huff. “That game laid the foun-dation of just how great the NFL couldbe. That game helped spur the NFL towhat it is today.”[email protected]

Colts, Giants kicked off more than just a title game

COURTESY PHOTO/LORI SNYDER

From left, Lenny Moore, Jim Mutscheller, Gino Marchetti and Raymond Berry recently attended a reunion for the 50th anniversary ofthe 1958 NFL championship game.

COURTESY PHOTO/LORI SNYDER

The New York Giants and kicker Pat Summerall and running back Frank Gifford were goodin 1958, but not good enough to beat the Colts.

“It was dusk. The lights were on. Banners were flying.Wewere worldchampions, and I was in such awe. I didn’t want to leave.” – Don Joyce, Colts defensive end

“Johnny told us in the huddle before we began that drive that we were going to takethe ball right down and score. Andwe all believed him.” – Alan Ameche, Colts fullback (describing the winning drive)

AP

Johnny Unitas became an instant star by leading the Colts to the title in 1958.