Today’s photo is of “City Stadium” on the night before the first NFL World Championship game ever to be played in Green Bay — on December 31, 1961 (four years before the stadium’s name would be changed to “Lambeau Field”). The field has been covered by hay to keep it from freezing in the frigid weather. The Packers went on to clobber the New York Giants 37-0 in their first “home” championship game. Two more NFL title games would be played in Green Bay (1965 and 1967) before the NFL merged with the AFL and moved the title game — the Super Bowl — to a “neutral” site each year.
Incidentally, the New York Giants were somewhat like the Buffalo Bills in their time for losing NFL title games. They lost in 1958 (Colts), 1959 (Colts), 1961 (Packers), 1962 (Packers), and 1963 (Bears).
(Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society).
