1929: Packers Defeat Giants in Battle of Unbeatens

The November 24, 1929 game at the Polo Grounds in New York featured the top two teams in the NFL,  the Green Bay Packers and New York Giants, who both were undefeated thus far. 

Coach Curly Lambeau’s Packers had added guard Mike Michalske, tackle Cal Hubbard, and HB Johnny McNally (aka Johnny Blood) in the previous offseason. These players had been considered malcontents, but with the Packers they became keys to success along with holdover tailback Red Dunn, tailback Verne Lewellen (pictured above), and end Lavvie Dilweg. Green Bay was 9-0 and hadn’t given up more than six points in any game. However, the Packers were missing three regulars due to injury – Dunn, back Eddie Kotal, and end Dick O’Donnell.

The Giants were coached by Roy Andrews and were 8-0-1. Owner Tim Mara had bought the entire Detroit Wolverines franchise solely to obtain tailback Benny Friedman, a passing sensation out of Michigan, and he yielded results worthy of his then-huge $10,000 contract. Five other players from the Panthers also made the club, as, for that matter, did Coach Andrews.

There was a crowd of 25,000 in attendance at the Polo Grounds for the big showdown. Rain fell intermittently during the contest and would prove to be a hindrance to New York’s passing attack. The Packers won the toss and elected to kick off and the teams exchanged punts throughout the first quarter. One of Lewellen’s kicks was downed at the New York five and Benny Friedman chose to punt on first down, McNally returning it to the New York 40. FB Bo Molenda, a former Michigan teammate of Friedman, and Verne Lewellen carried the ball deeper into Giants territory. HB Herdis McCrary caught a pass from Lewellen in the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown and Molenda added the extra point.

The Giants threatened when Friedman threw long to end Ray Flaherty, who reached the Green Bay 10. However, McCrary intercepted a Friedman pass and New York came up empty. Lewellen punted and neither team came close to scoring for the rest of the half.

The Packers had first possession in the third quarter, and after Molenda returned the kickoff to the Green Bay 26, runs into the line by Molenda and McNally picked up eight yards, but the series stalled and Green Bay had to punt.

After tailback Hap Moran was thrown for a loss of eight yards, FB Tony Plansky threw to back Tiny Feather for 20. Friedman (pictured at left) passed the Giants down the field, connecting with Flaherty to the Green Bay 25, again to Feather, and then Plansky for the last 15 yards and a touchdown. However, Friedman’s extra point attempt sailed wide and the Packers remained in front by a point.

The teams continued to trade punts in the battle for field position. Another fine kick by Lewellen pinned the Giants back at their 10 and they ended up having to punt the ball back from their end zone. McNally returned it to the New York 37 and then ran for six yards on the next play. Molenda followed up by getting a first down, but the Packers ultimately ended up losing the ball on downs.

Green Bay put the game away in the fourth quarter. The Packers drove 75 yards, highlighted by a 30-yard Lewellen completion to McNally out of punt formation, to a two-yard TD by Molenda, who again added the extra point.

Tackle Jug Earp intercepted a pass at the New York 39 to give the visitors the ball once more. Lewellen went long to Molenda in a play that reached the New York three, and on the next play McNally (pictured below) ran around left end for a touchdown. Molenda failed to add the extra point, but it didn’t matter. The Packers won by a convincing final score of 20-6.

For the first time all season, the Giants faced a heavier line and it worked to Green Bay’s advantage. Meanwhile, the shorthanded Packers made only one substitution during the game. Verne Lewellen and Bo Molenda drew most of the headlines for their play during the game, but it was a solid group effort by Curly Lambeau’s club.

Green Bay played the Frankford Yellow Jackets to a scoreless tie in their next game but won the last two to finish as undefeated NFL Champions at 12-0-1. They gave up a total of just 22 points in the 13 games, eight of which were shutouts. The Giants won their last four contests and ended up in second place with a 12-1-1 record.

The NFL title for Green Bay was the first of three straight, a feat they would duplicate in 1965-67. In a time when there were no divisions and no postseason, the Packers did it in 1929-31 by compiling an overall tally of 34-5-2.

1938: Lions Beat Pittsburgh to Spoil Whizzer White’s Pro Debut

The Pittsburgh Pirates (the team that would be renamed Steelers in 1940) hadn’t accomplished much in their first five seasons. While they broke even at 6-6 in 1936, they went 13-31-2 in the other four years, including a 4-7 tally in 1937. Coming into the ’38 season, their second under Head Coach Johnny “Blood” McNally, they had added a marquee player in HB Byron “Whizzer” White (pictured above).

White had been a consensus All-American as a senior at Colorado in 1937. He had gotten a college scholarship due to his strong academic record (which would have an effect on his pro football future as well as long-term career) and, having come out of a weak high school football program, White did not have a strong background in the sport. However, he proved to be an outstanding all-around athlete who exhibited great toughness and determination. A shifty runner who, at 6’1” and 187 pounds, also could run with power, he was versatile at a time when that was a prized asset for a football player and could kick, pass, and block effectively. In ’37, he scored 16 touchdowns in addition to booting 23 extra points and a field goal, starred in a Cotton Bowl loss to Rice, and finished second in Heisman Trophy voting.

Having received a Rhodes Scholarship to study abroad at Oxford, White accepted the then-huge sum of $15,000 to put off his further education and play for the Pirates (once assured that he would not lose the scholarship), who had taken him in the first round of the 1938 NFL draft. In becoming the highest-paid player in the NFL, he had to convince those skeptics who questioned the level of competition he had faced at Colorado.

On September 9, 1938 White made his pro football debut as Pittsburgh opened the season against the Detroit Lions. The Lions were a stronger team, having strung together seven consecutive winning seasons going back to 1931 (when they were the Portsmouth Spartans) that included a NFL Championship in ’35. Under player/coach Dutch Clark, Detroit had a solid ground-based attack that was powered by fullbacks Ace Gutowsky and Bill Shepherd and wingback Lloyd Cardwell.

There was a capacity crowd of 18,000 in attendance for the Friday night game at the University of Detroit’s Titan Stadium. Due to an ankle injury, Clark stayed on the sidelines and didn’t take the field for the Lions, but the home team took the lead five minutes into the first quarter when Bill Shepherd kicked a 27-yard field goal.

Detroit got a break later in the period when a bad snap on a Pittsburgh punt went over Stuart Smith’s head and the Lions recovered on the five yard line. Wingback Ernie Caddel ran around right end for a touchdown, although the extra point attempt was blocked.

Midway through the second quarter, the Lions moved into scoring position again thanks to a productive passing attack. Lloyd Cardwell ran the last five yards for a TD and this time the conversion attempt by Monk Moscrip was successful.

White was kept well-contained by the Lions for most of the game and also struggled with the brightness of the lights when fielding kicks. He played 15 minutes in the first half, gained 12 yards, and was held out during the third quarter.

The Pirates never crossed midfield until the final period, but in the fourth quarter, White sparked an 80-yard scoring drive that featured short runs into the line and a long pass interference penalty. He caught a pass from tailback Max Fiske for a 35-yard gain that went to the Detroit 37 – Pittsburgh’s first penetration into Lions territory. The prize rookie finished off the series by scoring from three yards out on a slant off-tackle.

A few minutes later White fumbled a punt at his 15 yard line that he recovered at the four. It didn’t affect the outcome – the Lions came away with a convincing 16-7 win.

Overall, it was a modest beginning for Whizzer White, who gained 41 yards rushing, had the 35 receiving yards, and completed a pass for another seven yards. However, the consensus was that he had shown that he could play effectively at the professional level. “I think he is worth every cent of the $15,000 I am paying him,” said Pittsburgh’s owner Art Rooney of White. “I am sold on him.”

Things did not go well for Pittsburgh the rest of the way. The club was defeated twice more before winning back-to-back games in New York, against Brooklyn and the Giants. But when Rooney sold the team’s best passer and other first round draft choice, tailback Frank Filchock, to the Redskins, the Pirates lost their remaining contests to finish at the bottom of the Eastern Division with a 2-9 record. Detroit finished at 7-4, putting the Lions in second place in the Western Division, a game behind Green Bay.

Whizzer White continued to be a bright spot for Pittsburgh as he went on to lead the NFL in rushing with 567 yards on 152 carries (3.7 avg.) as well as yards from scrimmage with 655. He received consensus first-team All-NFL honors (UPI, INS, Pro Football Writers, Collyers Eye) and headed off to Oxford for the next year. White returned to the NFL, ironically enough with the Lions, who traded for his rights. He played two more seasons while attending law school and again led the league in rushing in 1940 with 514 yards.

White served in the Navy during World War II, finished his law degree at Yale, and went on to a distinguished legal career that culminated in his being named as an Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court by President Kennedy in 1962, serving for 31 years. Long after his pro sports career was over, he was still able to more than hold his own in pickup basketball games against law clerks less than half his age in the Supreme Court’s gym.