1961 NFL season

• 1. Introduction

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  The 1961 NFL season arrived carrying a number that mattered: 42. It was the 42nd regular season of the National Football League, and it began with a structural change that would reshape the league for nearly two decades. A new team had been born, the Minnesota Vikings, and with their arrival the schedule jumped from 12 games to 14, a length that would hold firm for 17 straight years. The questions that hung over the season were not small ones. Could a brand-new franchise survive its first year? Could the Philadelphia Eagles defend their title? And which team would emerge from a Western Division that spent the summer being restacked?

  The answer to that last question came on the final day of December, at City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, when one team erased all doubt with a score that has echoed ever since.

• 2. A League Reshaped

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  The Minnesota Vikings joined the NFL after their founders declined to become charter members of the new American Football League, a decision that sent them into the older league instead. Their arrival brought the NFL to 14 teams and restored an even number of franchises, ending the bye-week arrangement that had existed since 1960. The Dallas Cowboys, meanwhile, were moved from the Western Division to the Eastern Division to accommodate the newcomers, who took their place in the West.

  The expansion draft for Minnesota was held on the 26th of January, 1961, and the Vikings selected 36 players from the rosters of other NFL clubs. The one-year-old Cowboys were the one team exempted from that process, spared from losing any players to their fellow newcomers. When the conventional draft had been held the previous December, at Philadelphia's Warwick Hotel, the Vikings used the first overall pick on halfback Tommy Mason from Tulane University.

  Norm Van Brocklin became the franchise's first head coach, tasked with building something from almost nothing.

• 3. Minnesota's Unlikely First Win

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  On the 17th of September, 1961, the Vikings played the Chicago Bears and pulled off the upset of the young season, winning 37-13. Mike Mercer put the first points on the board with a 12-yard field goal, the first points in franchise history. Fran Tarkenton then guided the team to five touchdowns. For a brand-new team facing a veteran Bears squad, it was a striking start.

  The season did not maintain that momentum. Minnesota finished at 3-11, a record more in keeping with what expansion teams typically managed. But that opening victory against Chicago gave the franchise something to point to as proof that their quarterback and their coach had installed something real from the very beginning.

• 4. The Eastern Race

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  By Week Five, the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles were tied atop the Eastern Division at 4-1, and they stayed knotted together through much of the autumn. In Week Seven, Sonny Jurgensen threw a last-quarter touchdown pass to Tommy McDonald to give Philadelphia a 27-24 win over Washington. In Week Nine, on the 12th of November, New York beat Philadelphia 38-21 to push both clubs to 7-2 records while Green Bay survived Chicago 31-28.

  Week 11, on the 3rd of December, brought a crossing of paths. New York lost 20-17 to Green Bay while the Eagles won 35-24 at Pittsburgh, and the two Eastern rivals were tied once more. The decisive game came on the 10th of December in Philadelphia, with both clubs at 9-3. New York trailed 10-7 when coach Allie Sherman pulled Y. A. Tittle and sent in Charlie Conerly, who at 40 was the oldest player in the NFL. Conerly threw for three touchdowns. The winning score came after the Eagles were penalized for roughing the kicker on fourth down, handing the Giants a first down at the Philadelphia 24. New York won 28-24.

  At season's end on the 17th of December, the Eagles rallied past Detroit 27-24 and waited to see if New York would lose to Cleveland. The Giants and Browns were tied 7-7 with two minutes left when punter Don Chandler launched a kick that pinned Cleveland on their own 7-yard line. New York held on, clinched the Eastern title, and ended any threat.

• 5. Green Bay's March

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  The Green Bay Packers led the Western Division from Week Six onward and never surrendered the top spot. In Week Six they eliminated a 49ers tie by pulling ahead alone. The following week they beat Minnesota 33-7. By Week Nine, while the Eastern race tightened, Green Bay survived in Chicago 31-28 to stay clear. They finished the regular season at 11-3.

  The Associated Press named halfback Paul Hornung of Green Bay the league's most valuable player. The United Press International agreed, also selecting Hornung. Y. A. Tittle of the Giants won the MVP honor from the Newspaper Enterprise Association. Coach Allie Sherman, who had replaced Jim Lee Howell before the season, won coach of the year honors from both the Associated Press and United Press International.

  Mike Ditka, the tight end from the Chicago Bears, was named rookie of the year by both wire services.

• 6. The Championship and Its Aftermath

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  At City Stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on the 31st of December, 1961, the Packers hosted the Giants for the NFL Championship and shut them out 37-0. It was a statement of a margin, the kind of score that leaves no room for argument.

  A week later, the Playoff Bowl, a third-place game between the two division runners-up, was played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The Detroit Lions beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-10 on the 6th of January, 1962. The Lions' home stadium, meanwhile, had undergone a rename during the season, switching from Briggs Stadium to Tiger Stadium. The Washington Redskins had also moved during the offseason, departing Griffith Stadium for D.C. Stadium. And in Bloomington, Minnesota, the Vikings had begun their first season at Metropolitan Stadium, the place where everything for that franchise started.