NFL 1960

1960 NFL season
Regular season
season	September 23, 1960 - December 18, 1960
East Champions	Philadelphia Eagles
West Champions	Green Bay Packers
Championship game
NFL Champion	Philadelphia Eagles
NFL season  <1959 1961>

The 1960 NFL season was the 41st season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season lasted from September 23rd to December 18th. NFL champions were the Philadelphia Eagles , who beat the Green Bay Packers 17:13 in the NFL Championship Game on December 26th .

Due to the economic boom and the increasing recognition of professional sport as a serious business model, more and more investors who wanted to invest in a professional team were inevitably brought onto the scene. However, there were only 12 football teams and their ownership structures were very stable at the time. In addition, the NFL was not interested in expansion , as 12 teams were seen as ideal. For example, some business people, including the oil billionaire from Dallas, Lamar Hunt , founded the American Football League (AFL) as a competitive league , which started its first season in 1960 parallel to the NFL and also crowned a national champion with the Houston Oilers . That the new AFL was a real competition to the NFL, felt the NFL u. a. in the draft as they almost always outbid the NFL contract offers.

The Dallas Cowboys appeared as an additional team in the NFL to u. a. Lamar Hunt, one of the co-founders of the AFL and owner of the Dallas Texans, put an NFL competitor on your doorstep. The Cardinals also moved from Chicago to St. Louis to open up a new market and avoid direct competition from the Chicago Bears.

The fact that the NFL no longer protected itself against the new league was, among other things. a. also because the then commissioner of the NFL, Bert Bell , died of a heart attack on October 11th during a game in the official gallery and it was only three months later that the NFL owners could agree on Pete Rozelle as the new successor.

NFL draft

The 1960 NFL Draft was held on November 30, 1959 at Philadelphia 's Warwick Hotel. With the first pick , the Los Angeles Rams chose running back and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon from Louisiana State University . However, the Houston Oilers also selected him in the AFL Draft in the first round, which subsequently led to a bidding dispute between the two teams. In the end, Cannon played for the Oilers.

Regular season

With the Dallas Cowboys a 13th team took part in the NFL. As a result, the game mode was changed compared to the previous season so that all previous teams only played one inter-conference game and competed once against the cowboys. Dallas was the only team that competed against every other team. Despite this special role, the cowboys were officially assigned to the Western Conference.

The Western Conference was extremely balanced, except for the newcomer Dallas. All six teams from the previous year had a chance of reaching the championship game up to three game days before the end. The Baltimore Colts slipped from first to fourth place after four losses in the last four games. With two game days to go, they were tied for first place with Green Bay and San Francisco. On the penultimate matchday, Green Bay then took the sole lead in the conference in a direct duel with San Francisco. Behind them were three teams tied. With a win in the last game, the Packers defended the top of the table and moved into the championship game. Participation in the Playoff Bowl secured the Detroit Lions, who climbed from fifth to second place with four wins in the final four games. The Philadelphia Eagles prevailed in the Eastern Conference and were already in the lead three game days before the end. In second place came the Cleveland Browns, who were able to break away from the other pursuers through a winning streak in the last three games.

Western Conference team S. U N SQ P + P− Green Bay Packers 8th 0 4th .667 332 209 Detroit Lions 7th 0 5 .583 239 212 San Francisco 49ers 7th 0 5 .583 208 205 Baltimore Colts 6th 0 6th .500 288 234 Chicago Bears 5 1 6th .455 194 299 Los Angeles Rams 4th 1 7th .364 265 297 Dallas Cowboys 0 1 11 .000 177 369

Eastern Conference team S. U N SQ P + P− Philadelphia Eagles 10 0 2 .833 321 246 Cleveland Browns 8th 1 3 .727 362 217 New York Giants 6th 2 4th .600 271 261 St. Louis Cardinals 6th 1 5 .545 288 230 Pittsburgh Steelers 5 1 6th .455 240 275 Washington Redskins 1 2 9 .100 178 309

Legend:

S iege	U nentschieden	N iederlagen	SQ win rate 1
P + points made	P− opposing points	Championship game	Playoff Bowl

¹ before 1972 ties were not included in the calculation

Post season

In the NFL Championship Game on December 26, 1960, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers faced each other. The Packers took a 6-0 lead with a field goal in the first and second quarters. With a touchdown and a converted field goal, the Eagles took the lead at their home in Franklin Field and went into the half-time break 10: 6. After no team could score in the third quarter, it was the Packers who took the lead again with a touchdown in the final quarter. Philadelphia made the last change in leadership of the game with a touchdown to 17:13. Sports journalists named Norm Van Brocklin , the Eagles' quarterback, as the best player of the final .

			NFL Championship Game
	Philadelphia December 26, 1960 12:00 p.m. ( UTC − 5 )		Philadelphia Eagles	17: 13	Green Bay Packers		Franklin Field Spectators: 67,325 Referee: Ron Gibbs
				(0: 3, 10: 3, 0: 0, 7: 7) Match report

The Playoff Bowl was held for the first time on January 7, 1960 . In this "game for third place" declared match, the Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17:16. The game took place in front of 34,981 spectators at the Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami .

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Norm Van Brocklin , quarterback , Philadelphia
Coach of the Year	Buck Shaw , Philadelphia

Season best

statistics	Surname	team	value
fit yards	Johnny Unitas	Baltimore	3,099
yards run	Jim Brown	Cleveland	1,257
trapped yards	Raymond Berry	Baltimore	1,298

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Huddle Football Magazine . October 2017, ISSN  0340-3718 , p. 50 .
2. ^ Eagles Rally Once Again. In: Spokesman Review. Cowles Company, December 27, 1960, p. 13 , accessed May 15, 2018 . 
3. ↑ 1960 NFL Leaders and Leaderboards - Pro-Football-Reference.com. In: pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved July 7, 2018 .