Five facts about the Packers vs. Cowboys' historic Ice Bowl

Arthur Weinstein

Five facts about the Packers vs. Cowboys' historic Ice Bowl image

By now, you know Sunday’s game between the Packers and Cowboys in Green Bay is the first meeting between the two teams in the playoffs since the 1967 NFL Championship Game.

That game was played in such frigid conditions the game earned the nickname, “The Ice Bowl.” The Packers prevailed that day, 21-17, on Bart Starr’s quarterback sneak for a touchdown in the closing seconds.

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As the teams prepare for Sunday's 1:05 p.m. ET kickoff, here are five cool facts about that NFL classic.

The NFL considered postponing the game

When NFL officials learned the day before the game the game-time temperature was expected to be 5 degrees, commissioner Pete Rozelle inquired about postponing the game until the following day … until he learned it would be even colder then. Unfortunately, that cold front moved in faster than expected, and the game began with the thermometer at minus-13 degrees, and the wind chill around minus-40.

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However, there is a common misconception that the Ice Bowl was the coldest game in NFL history. In the 1981 AFC Championship game at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium, the wind chill reached minus-59. The Bengals defeated the Chargers 27-7 in the so-called "Freezer Bowl."

Players, coaches, fans struggled to get to the Ice Bowl

When Packers defensive back Willie Wood went out to start his car the morning of the game, his battery was dead. As a service station worker tried to start the car, Wood told him , “It's just too cold to play. They're going to call this game off.”

Referees found their metal whistles useless in the cold

When referee Norm Shachter blew his whistle to start play, it froze to his lips. When he tried to remove the whistle, it ripped a chunk of skin off his lips. As Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan told USA Today recently, Schacter “bled for almost all the game … his shirt was bloodied all the way to his belt.”

As Jordan noted, the NFL adopted the use of plastic whistles after that game.

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Cowboys star Bob Hayes spent ‘entire game’ with hands down his pants

Every player struggled with the cold during the game. Jethro Pugh’s recent death at age 70 led friends to recall that frostbite from that game left his hands permanently damaged. Many players on the field that day recall that speedy Cowboys receiver and future Pro Football Hall of Famer Hayes, a native of balmy Florida, struggled more than most to stay warm.

“Bob Hayes had his hands down in his pants the entire game,” Jordan told ABC News recently. “I don't know that Bob caught a pass that game (actually, Hayes had three catches for 16 yards). He didn't run many routes because he always had his hands in his pants trying to keep warm.”


Die-hard Packers fans endured the Ice Bowl. (AP Photo)

Hundreds of fans who attended the 1967 game will sit in the same places Sunday

Think about the dedication it required for fans to sit in those frozen grandstands on Dec. 31, 1967. Now consider this: Packers historian Cliff Christl and team ticket director Mark Wagner estimate “a few hundred” of those dedicated fans will sit in roughly the same location for today’s game, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel . Perhaps that shouldn’t be a surprise for a team where the waiting list for season tickets includes 81,000 names, and the Packers tell fans the “average wait” for tickets is 30 years.

Arthur Weinstein