The 1962 NFL season was the 43rd

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Before the season,

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

signed a contract with the league to televise all regular-season games for a $4.65 million annual fee. The season ended on December 30, when the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

defeated the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

16–7 in the

NFL Championship Game Throughout its history, the National Football league (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx in New York City. It is the home field of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. The stadium opened in April 2009, replacing the Yankee S ...

. The Packers successfully defended their

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

NFL title, finishing the 1962 season at 14–1; their only loss was to the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Day at Tiger Stadium. Green Bay's 14 wins matched the most victories in a single NFL season, tying the 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets.

Draft

The 1962 NFL draft was held on December 4, 1961, at

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's Sheraton Hotel & Towers. With the first pick, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

selected running back

Ernie Davis Ernest R. Davis (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963) was an American college football player who was a halfback for the Syracuse Orangemen who won the Heisman Trophy in 1961. He was the award's first black recipient. Davis was selected firs ...

from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

Major rule changes

*Grabbing any player's facemask is prohibited.

Deaths

*June 13 - Ed Quirk, age 37. Played linebacker and running back for the

from 1948-1951. *July 7 - Frank Balazs, age 44. Played fullback and linebacker for the

and

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

from 1939-1941.

Hall of Fame Game

The preseason Hall of Fame Game in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

, debuted this year, following the morning

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, turf-cutting, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such cer ...

for the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional football (gridiron), professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, 1963, the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of profes ...

on Saturday, August 11. The

and

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

played to a 21–21 tie.

Division races

The Green Bay Packers won their first ten games, until losing 26–14 on November 22 at Detroit. The Lions' win put them a game behind the Pack rather than 2 games behind, but in the final week, they lost to Chicago, 3–0. Even a Lions win would have been made moot when Green Bay won 20–17 at L.A. to finish with a record of 13–1. In the Eastern Division, the Redskins were unbeaten after six games. Their four wins and two ties would have been an .833 record in later years, but in 1962, a tie game was not counted at all. In ''Week Seven'' (October 28), the Giants handed the Skins their first loss, 49–34. When Washington lost again the next week, 38–10 to Dallas, the Giants 31–28 win over St. Louis gave them a 6–2 record and the division lead. The Giants rode a nine-game winning streak to capture the Eastern title and the right to host the title game against Green Bay.

Final standings

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

*Green Bay 16, New York 7 at

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

on December 30.

Playoff Bowl

The

Playoff Bowl The Playoff Bowl (officially known as the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) was a post-season game for third place in the National Football League (NFL), played ten times following the through seasons, all at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was o ...

was between the division runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its third year (of ten) and it was played a week after the title game. *Detroit 17, Pittsburgh 10 at

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, on January 6, 1963.

Awards

Coaching changes

Offseason

Wally Lemm Walter Horner Lemm (October 23, 1919 – October 8, 1988) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers a ...

became the team's new head coach.

Pop Ivy Lee Frank "Pop" Ivy (January 25, 1916 – May 17, 2003) was an American football player and coach who was the only person to serve as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL), the American Football League (AFL) and the Western Interpro ...

resigned after the twelfth game (5–7) in

. assistants Chuck Drulis, Ray Prochaska, and Ray Willsey served as co-head coaches for the final two games of that season, both wins.

In-season

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Bob Waterfield Robert Stanton Waterfield (July 26, 1920 – March 25, 1983) was an American professional football player and coach. A skilled player, he played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons, primarily as a quarterback, but also as a ...

resigned after eight games (1–7), succeeded by defensive line coach Harland Svare (0–5–1).

References

*''NFL Record and Fact Book'' ()
NFL History 1961–1970
(Last accessed December 4, 2005) *''Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League'' () {{NFL seasons

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...