On this day in history, December 28, 1958, Colts beat Giants for NFL title in 'greatest game ever played'
Fox News
The Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants 23-17 in "sudden death" overtime for the 1958 NFL championship game, an event that helped popularize pro football.
The dramatic title tilt helped popularize pro football at a time when it ranked behind baseball and college football — even boxing and horse racing — in the national sporting consciousness. The 1958 NFL championship is remembered in American sports lore as "the greatest game ever played." Without the "sudden death," the 1958 NFL championship game would have ended in a 17-17 tie. An estimated 45 million Americans gathered around the television for the final minutes of unprecedented sports drama. "A master cinematographer could not have lit the scene more dramatically." Kerry J. Byrne is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.
"The game captured the collective attention of the nation and as a result, pro football exploded across the country in the following years," writes the Pro Football Hall of Fame.