The Sneakers Game - The 1934 NFL Championship

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Lace up your cleats and step back in time to December 9th, 1934, for a championship game unlike any other. This isn't just about a battle between gridiron giants – the New York Giants and Chicago Bears. This is the story of ingenuity, adaptation, and a surprising footwear choice that changed the course of the game, earning it the unforgettable nickname: The Sneakers Game.

Get ready for a tale of frozen fields, underdog tactics, and a legendary fourth-quarter comeback fueled by...well, let's just say it wasn't your typical football gear. Join us as we delve into the history of this iconic game, exploring the strategies, the stars, and the unexpected twist that secured victory for one lucky team. So, grab some hot cocoa, because things are about to get interesting (and a little slippery) in the 1934 NFL Championship Game!

-The 1934 Season

The defending champion Chicago Bears, a team that had dominated the NFL in 1934 and went undefeated in the regular season, were the Giants' formidable opponents.

December 9, 1934 - Polo Grounds, New York City - "The Sneakers game" is what this National Football League Championship game has been fondly branded. This was a rematch of the two teams that played in the 1933 League Championship contest, the Chicago Bears and the New York Giants. The Bears entered the game as the favorites; after all, they had not lost a game all season and had beaten the Giants twice earlier. The November 4 match-up of the two squads at Wrigley Field saw the home team dismantle New York 27-7. The two franchises met again two weeks later at the Polo Grounds, and the Bears won out again in a much closer decision, 10-9.

The Bears had a roster of All-Stars and future Hall of Famers. Experienced veterans like Red Grange, George Musso, Walt Keisling, Link Lyman, and Bronko Nagurski complemented the athleticism of Keith Molesworth, Rookie Beattie Feathers, Bill Karr, and Jack Manders. Yes, George Halass has put together an extremely talent-laden roster.

The Giants countered with a strong supporting cast of Red Badgro, Ray Flaherty, Mel Hein, Ed Danowski, and Ken Strong but ran the gambit with a disappointing 8-5 regular season mark. New York had suffered two season-opening losses, one to Green Bay and the other to Detroit, to back into the season 0-2 before rattling off four straight. The Giants did just enough to win the East outlasting the 6-6 Boston Redskins for the right to play in the NFL Championship game.

The Giants were quite confident entering the contest; though blown out in Chicago during the regular season, they played the Bears almost even on the Polo Grounds' home field. Coach Owen had to carefully search for an edge to give his team an advantage and a fighting chance against the undefeated Champs. Ultimately, this 'leg up' would reveal itself on game day.

The 1934 NFL Title Game

The game was played in New York as the NFL practiced an alternate rotation of East and West Conference's home-field advantage for the title game participants. You may remember from a previous discussion that the 1933 game was played at Wrigley when the two teams squared off. Weather in New York City in early December is always a factor to consider, and in this case, rain the night before froze as temperatures plummeted below 32 degrees to the teens, leaving the Polo Grounds turf and every other outdoor surface in the Big Apple more like a hockey rink that a gridiron battlefield. A sparse crowd of over 35,000 braved the elements to watch the contest in the frozen stands.

The early portion of the contest went as the oddsmakers calculated. Molesworth was a handful for the Giant's defenders as he and Nagurski slashed and pounded the football for chunks of yardage in the first half. Chicago's bright young star, Beattie Feathers, was injured and unavailable for this big game. Bronko eventually lumbered his way over the goal line, and Chicago jumped out to a 10-3 lead by the intermission.

A Change in Momentum

John Mara, the Giants treasurer, noticed that the turf of the Polo Grounds was practically a sheet of ice just hours before kick-off. Mara let the coaching staff, including team Captain Ray Flaherty, know about the field. Flaherty's thoughts returned to a game he remembered that he and his team at Gonzaga College had played with similar icy conditions where they took off their cleats and put on basketball shoes to try and gain better traction. Flaherty wanted the Giants to take the same action; however, since it was a Sunday, no sporting goods store was in the open area. That's when some networking and a true home-field advantage played out.

The Giants' equipment personnel hurried to Manhattan College to borrow their basketball teams' footwear. Both teams initially struggled with traction, but Head Coach Steve Owen's secret strategy and the Giants' determination turned the tide. At halftime, it was time for a footwear revision, and Owen's receivers and backs donned the limited number of sneakers they had on loan, gaining a significant advantage.

At the onset of the second half, things got worse for the Giants as the visitors padded the lead with a field goal that went up 13-3.

Ken Strong's talents were shown bright that day even though he had been banged up due to a rough injury-plagued season, and star end Red Badgro had suffered a season-ending wound in an earlier game, preventing him from playing in the title tilt. He was the Giants' weapon of choice for much of the game, but for the first three quarters, the Bears' defense limited his effectiveness. Strong and the Giants finally caught a break in the third, but it was almost heartbreaking. Ed Danowski stepped back to pass as the Giants drove deep into Chicago territory. The QB's toss seemed destined for glory until Chicago's Carl Brumbaugh stepped in front and appeared to intercept the ball. However, New York receiver Ike Frankian swiped the ball out of the Bears's defender's mits and strolled into the endzone to close the gap on the Chicago lead, avoiding the disaster and making it 13-10 early in the fourth quarter.

After a quarter, the Giants were literally and figuratively finding their footing as the rubber-soled footwear, with its suction cup design to grab a hold on the hardwoods, gave traction to the New York bunch that wore them. It was all Giants the rest of the way as Ken Strong crossed the stripe twice, the first one on a 41-yard scamper to paydirt, followed by another of his own and a Danowski TD run as an insurance policy.

The G-men scored four touchdowns in the final stanza, surprising the Chicago Bears with a 30-13 Giants comeback victory route.

For their efforts, the players on the Giants received a check of $621.03 each while the Bears players licked their wounds on the long train ride back to the Windy City, holding their pay receipts up to just over $400 each.

Little did anyone know that this game would go down in history, not just for the Giants' victory but also for the innovative strategy that changed the course of football.