 The Giants team | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 30, 1956 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York City, New York | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 56,836 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Hall of Famers | |||||||||||||||||||
| Bears: George Halas (owner), Doug Atkins, George Blanda, Bill George, Stan Jones Giants: Tim Mara (owner/founder), Wellington Mara (administrator), Rosey Brown, Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, Andy Robustelli, Emlen Tunnell | |||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Chris Schenkel, Jack Brickhouse, and Red Grange | ||||||||||||||||||
| Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ray Scott | ||||||||||||||||||
Stadium
The 1956 NFL Championship Game was the league's 24th championship game, played at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx in New York City on December 30.[1][2][3][4]
The New York Giants (8–3–1) won the Eastern Conference title and hosted the Chicago Bears (9–2–1), the Western Conference champions. The teams had met in the regular season five weeks earlier on November 25 at Yankee Stadium and played to a 17–17 tie; the Bears entered the championship game in late December as slight favorites.[5][6][7] The Giants hosted because the home field for the title game alternated between the conferences; home field advantage was not implemented until 1975.
Both teams had been absent from the league title game for a decade, when the Bears won the championship over the Giants at the Polo Grounds in 1946. The Giants' most recent NFL title was before World War II, in 1938. The 1956 season marked the Giants' first at Yankee Stadium, moving across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds. This was the first championship since 1949 without the Cleveland Browns, who had appeared in six consecutive since joining the NFL in 1950.
The 1956 Giants featured a number of Hall of Fame players, including safety Emlen Tunnell, running back Frank Gifford, offensive tackle Roosevelt Brown, linebacker Sam Huff, and defensive end Andy Robustelli. Two assistants of Giants head coach Jim Lee Howell, offensive coordinator Vince Lombardi and defensive coordinator Tom Landry, later became Hall of Fame head coaches with other franchises; Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers to five NFL Championships during the 1960s and Landry led the Dallas Cowboys to five Super Bowls, with two wins, during the 1970s. He was the head coach of the Cowboys for 29 seasons, through 1988.
- ^ Strickler, George (December 30, 1956). "Bears seek Chicago's 1st title since '47". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ Strickler, George (December 31, 1956). "Why Bears were crushed in title game". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
- ^ Sell, Jack (December 31, 1956). "Giants crush Bears in title game, 47-7". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 12.
- ^ Mosby, Wade (December 31, 1956). "Giants outclass Bears, 47-7, to win first pro football title in 18 years". Milwaukee Journal. p. 9, part 2.
- ^ "Chicago favored over New York in NFL title game Sunday". Reading Eagle. (Pennsylvania). Associated Press. December 29, 1956. p. 7.
- ^ "Bears rated edge over Giants today in pro title game". Milwaukee Journal. December 30, 1956. p. 2, sports.
- ^ Hand, Jack (December 30, 1956). "Bears still slight favorites to snare NFL championship". Youngstown Vindicator. (Ohio). Associated Press. p. D1.