1961 National Football League season
NFL teams:
West,
East
The
1961 NFL season
was the 42nd
regular season
of the
National Football League
(NFL). The league expanded to 14 teams with the addition of the
Minnesota Vikings
, after the team's owners declined to be charter members of the new
American Football League
. The schedule was also expanded from 12 games per team to 14 games per team where it would stay for 16 years. The Vikings were placed in the Western Conference, and the
Dallas Cowboys
were switched from the Western Conference to the Eastern. The addition of the Vikings returned the NFL to an even number of teams (and eliminated the bye week of 1960 until
1966
temporarily and
1990
on a permanent basis).
The season ended when the
Green Bay Packers
shut out the
New York Giants
37?0 in the
1961 NFL Championship Game
.
Draft
[
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]
The
1961 NFL Draft
was held from December 27-28, 1960 at
Philadelphia
's
Warwick Hotel
. With the first pick, the
Minnesota Vikings
selected halfback
Tommy Mason
from
Tulane University
.
Expansion draft
[
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]
The
1961 NFL expansion draft
was held on January 26, 1961, with the
Minnesota Vikings
selecting 36 players from the other NFL teams. The one-year old
Dallas Cowboys
were exempted from losing a player in this expansion draft.
Conference races
[
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]
The new Minnesota Vikings won their first game when they upset the
Chicago Bears
team, 37?13, on September 17, 1961.
Mike Mercer
made the Vikings' first points on a 12-yard field goal, and
Fran Tarkenton
guided the team to five touchdowns. The Vikings finished at 3?11 after that good start. With 14 teams in two conferences, each NFL team now played a 14-game schedule: a home-and-away series with the other six teams in their division, and two interconference games.
In
Week Five
, the Giants and Eagles led the Eastern Conference, and the Packers and 49ers led the Western, all with records of 4?1. The following week, the 49ers lost to the Bears, 31?0, while Green Bay beat Minnesota 33?7. The Giants and Eagles, both winners, remained tied in the Eastern standings at 5?1. In
Week Seven
, Dallas edged the Giants 17?16, while the Eagles beat the Redskins 27?24 on
Sonny Jurgensen
's last-quarter touchdown pass to Tommy McDonald. In
Week Nine
(November 12), the Giants beat the Eagles, 38?21, to give both teams 7?2 records, while Green Bay survived a game at Chicago, 31?28, that would otherwise have tied both teams at 6?3; Green Bay led the Western race the rest of the way. In
Week Ten
, New York's 42?21 win over Pittsburgh put it at 8?2, while Cleveland's 45?24 win over Philadelphia put both those teams at 7?3. In
Week 11
(December 3), New York lost 20?17 to Green Bay, while the Eagles won 35?24 at Pittsburgh, tying the race again.
The Giants and Eagles, both at 9?3, met the following week in Philadelphia (December 10). After New York trailed 10?7, Coach
Allie Sherman
replaced
Y. A. Tittle
with
Charlie Conerly
, who at 40 was the NFL's oldest player. Conerly threw for three touchdowns for the 28?24 win. The winning score came after the Eagles were penalized for roughing the kicker on the Giants' fourth down, giving the Giants first down on the 24.
[1]
At season's end (December 17), the Eagles rallied to beat Detroit 27?24, and hoped for a Giants' loss to force a playoff. At that moment, New York and Cleveland were tied 7?7 with two minutes left. A long punt by the Giants' Don Chandler pinned the Browns on their own 7-yard line, and ended any threat of a loss.
[2]
Week
|
Western
|
|
Eastern
|
|
1
|
4 teams (Bal, Det, Min, SF)
|
1?0?0
|
3 teams (Dal, Phi, St.L)
|
1?0?0
|
2
|
Detroit Lions
|
2?0?0
|
Tie (Dal, Phi)
|
2?0?0
|
3
|
4 teams (Bal, Det, GB, SF)
|
2?1?0
|
5 teams (Cle, Dal, NYG, Phi, StL)
|
2?1?0
|
4
|
Tie (GB, SF)
|
3?1?0
|
4 teams (Cle, Dal, NYG, Phi)
|
3?1?0
|
5
|
Tie (GB, SF)
|
4?1?0
|
Tie (NYG, Phi)
|
4?1?0
|
6
|
Green Bay Packers
|
5?1?0
|
Tie (NYG, Phi)
|
5?1?0
|
7
|
Green Bay Packers
|
6?1?0
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
6?1?0
|
8
|
Green Bay Packers
|
6?2?0
|
Philadelphia Eagles
|
7?1?0
|
9
|
Green Bay Packers
|
7?2?0
|
Tie (NYG, Phi)
|
7?2?0
|
10
|
Green Bay Packers
|
8?2?0
|
New York Giants
|
8?2?0
|
11
|
Green Bay Packers
|
9?2?0
|
New York Giants
|
9?2?0
|
12
|
Green Bay Packers
|
10?2?0
|
Tie (NYG, Phi)
|
9?3?0
|
13
|
Green Bay Packers
|
10?3?0
|
New York Giants
|
10?3?0
|
14
|
Green Bay Packers
|
11?3?0
|
New York Giants
|
10?3?1
|
Final standings
[
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]
- Note:
Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
|
|
Postseason
[
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]
NFL Championship Game
[
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]
Green Bay 37, New York 0 at
City Stadium
,
Green Bay, Wisconsin
, December 31, 1961
Playoff Bowl
[
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]
The
Playoff Bowl
was between the conference runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its second year and it was played a week after the title game.
Awards
[
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]
Most valuable player
Rookie of the year
Coach of the year
Other
Coaching changes
[
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]
Offseason
[
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]
In-season
[
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]
Stadium changes
[
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]
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"'Penalties Killed Us' Moans Eagles' Coach,"
Delaware County Times
, Dec 11, 1961, p20
- ^
"Giants Settle for Tie, Earn Division Title,",
The Independent
(Long Beach), Dec 18, 1961, pD-1
- ^
"Hornung Is 'Most Valuable'
"
.
Star Tribune
. Associated Press. December 21, 1961. p. 21
. Retrieved
February 2,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
Olderman, Murray (December 27, 1961).
"Players Name Tittle Thorpe Trophy Winner"
.
The Telegraph
. Newspaper Enterprise Association. p. 12
. Retrieved
June 27,
2016
.
- ^
"Paul Hornung Voted NFL Player Of Year"
.
Pampa Daily News
. United Press International. December 29, 1961. p. 8
. Retrieved
May 3,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Bears' Mike Ditka Rookie Of Year"
.
Daily Independent Journal
. Associated Press. December 21, 1961. p. 14
. Retrieved
March 23,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Bears' Mike Ditka Named NFL's Rookie Of The Year"
.
The Times Recorder
. United Press International. December 31, 1961. p. 18
. Retrieved
May 3,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"Allie Sherman Coach of Year"
.
The Portsmouth Herald
. Associated Press. December 19, 1961. p. 10
. Retrieved
March 21,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"New York's Allie Sherman Named NFL Coach Of Year"
.
The Times Recorder
. United Press International. December 28, 1961. p. 13
. Retrieved
May 3,
2017
– via Newspapers.com.
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Early era
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Modern era
(1970?present)
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Italics
indicate future seasons
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