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Date | December 31, 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Stadium | City Stadium, Green Bay, Wisconsin | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | George Rennix | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 39,029 | ||||||||||||||||||
Future Hall of Famers | |||||||||||||||||||
Packers: Vince Lombardi (coach), Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, Paul Hornung, Jim Ringo, Ray Nitschke, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Willie Wood Giants: Wellington Mara (owner), Roosevelt Brown, Andy Robustelli, Y.A. Tittle |
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TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Lindsey Nelson, Chris Schenkel | ||||||||||||||||||
Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Ray Scott, Jim Leaming | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1961 National Football League Championship Game was the 29th title game. It was played at "New" City Stadium, later known as Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, Wisconsin on December 31, with an attendance of 39,029.
The game was a match-up of the Eastern Conference champion New York Giants (10–3–1) and the Western Conference champion Green Bay Packers (11–3). The home team Packers were a 3⅓-point favorite.
Packers Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler, and Paul Hornung, were on leave from the U.S. Army. Hornung scored 19 points (a touchdown, three field goals, and four extra points) for the Packers and was named the MVP of the game, and awarded a 1962 Chevrolet Corvette from Sport magazine.
The victory was the first of five NFL titles won in a seven-season span by the Packers and their head coach, Vince Lombardi. It was the Packers' seventh league title and their first in 17 years.
This was the first NFL championship game held in Green Bay. The Packers' only other championship home game until then was 22 years earlier in 1939, played at the State Fair Park in West Allis outside Milwaukee. Both teams were eager to shed the "runner-up" label. The Giants were in their third championship game in four years, falling in 1958 and 1959 to the Baltimore Colts, and the Packers had lost the title game in 1960 to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Giants' last league title was in 1956 and the Packers in 1944.