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NFL-93             1/26/00

Great players. Great coaches. Great plays. Arctic weather. They all combined to make the Most Memorable NFL Game of the Century, according to NFL fans.

To commemorate the end of the century, the National Football League invited fans to vote on nfl.com, the league’s official website, for the 10 most memorable games of the century. Fan voting began on October 13 and ended on November 19. Nearly 35,000 votes were cast. Each Wednesday, a Most Memorable NFL Game was announced (list below), culminating today in the announcement of the Most Memorable NFL Game of the Century – the "Ice Bowl" of 1967.

On December 31, 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the coldest NFL game on record -- the 1967 NFL Championship that was dubbed forevermore as the "Ice Bowl."

The Cowboys came to Green Bay as upstarts seeking their first NFL title and had the momentum of a 52-14 win over the Cleveland Browns in the Eastern Conference Championship Game the week before. In addition, the Cowboys had gained experience from their narrow 34-27 loss to Green Bay in the 1966 NFL Championship when quarterback Don Meredith’s possible game-tying pass was intercepted in the end zone with 28 seconds remaining.

Green Bay entered the contest as two-time defending NFL champions, vying to become the first team in league history to win three consecutive championships since the playoff system was instituted in 1933.

But they were not the same club that had dominated the league in the early and mid-1960s. They were older, had struggled to a 9-4-1 record, and were without future Pro Football Hall of Fame running backs Paul Hornung, who had retired, and JIM Taylor (with New Orleans) for the first time. Packers quarterback Bart Starr knew his team was in for a stiff challenge.

"Coach (Vince) Lombardi was quick to point out all week long how good the Cowboys were and what respect he had for them," said Starr. "We had seen the year before when they were a younger team how well they had played against us in the championship game down in Dallas. We knew this was going to be a special game and it was."

What was already a great matchup was made more intriguing by the sub-zero temperature. The official game-time temperature was 13 degrees below zero with the wind chill at minus 48 degrees. It was the coldest game in NFL history. Despite the freezing temperatures, 50,861 fans braved the cold. The game was a sellout

"The operator said, ‘It’s 7:30 AM and 19 below,’" said Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan. "I got up out of bed, looked out the window and saw 40 other guys staring out in disbelief. It was cold."

When the teams arrived at the stadium, they found the field nearly frozen. A layer of condensation had built up between the field and the covering tarpaulin the night before. When the tarpaulin was removed and the field was exposed to the bitter cold, it froze.

The Packers began the game like two-time defending champions. Starr hit wide receiver Boyd Dowler with an eight-yard touchdown pass to give Green Bay a 7-0 first-quarter lead. In the second quarter on third-and-one, Starr connected with Dowler again, this time for a 43-yard touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.

But the Cowboys began adjusting to the cold and came to life in the second quarter. Defensive end George Andrie recovered a Starr fumble and returned it seven yards for a touchdown, cutting the Packers’ lead to 14-7. Another Green Bay fumble led to a second Dallas score – a 21-yard field goal by kicker Danny Villanueva. The Cowboys had stormed back and trailed by only 14-10 at halftime.

When the second half began, the Cowboys continued their defensive dominance and stifled the Packers. The Dallas offense started to move the ball and was poised for a score at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Running back Dan Reeves took a handoff, ran to his left, stopped to throw and hit a wide-open LANCE Rentzel for a 50-yard touchdown and the Cowboys’ first lead of the game, 17-14.

After playing 37:15 without scoring, Green Bay found themselves down to their last chance. With 5:04 remaining in the game and trailing 17-14, the Packers received a punt at their own 32-yard line and began one of the greatest touchdown drives in NFL history. An unprecedented third NFL championship awaited 68 yards away.

"We were ready on that last drive," said Starr. "We were totally focused on what we needed to do in order to go down and win. As I looked into the eyes of my teammates, I knew all I had to do was call the play."

After driving 67 yards on a meticulous drive, the Packers had first-and-goal at the one-yard line with 30 seconds remaining. Two failed attempts by running back DONNIE ANDERSON forced Starr to call the Packers’ final timeout.

On the sidelines, Starr suggested to Lombardi that he run "31 Wedge" – a play put into the Packers’ playbook by Lombardi after guard Jerry Kramer had noticed a weakness in the Cowboys’ short-yardage defense. Starr suggested he run the play instead of the running backs because of the poor traction. Lombardi replied, "Then run it and let’s get the hell out of here."

When the ball was snapped, Kramer and center KEN BOWMAN plowed into Cowboys defensive tackle Jethro Pugh, opened a hole and Starr lunged through for the game-winning touchdown and an unprecedented third NFL championship in a row.

"What that game meant was unbelievable," said Starr. "We had fought through a very tough year. We won two consecutive championships prior to that and to have it come down to such brutal conditions and to win it in that fashion, from our perspective, we think it was the greatest game of all time."