Professional football was not a nationally beloved sport in the 1950s, with baseball and its all-time greats making it America’s pastime. NBC, well before enjoying the NFL on “Sunday Night Football, aired the league title tilt between the Baltimore [Colts](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/nfl/indianapolis-colts) and [New York Giants](https://www.sportingnews.com/uk/nfl/new-york-giants), when 64,000-plus fans packed into Yankee Stadium on Dec. 28. The Colts had a modern explosive passing game, headlined by two Hall of Famers, QB Johnny Unitas and wide receiver Raymond Berry. Unitas threw for a pre-Super Bowl record 349 yards. Berry accounted for a then championship record 178 yards with 12 catches and a TD.
Giants QB Charlie Conerly hung in there battling Unitas, but Unitas led the Colts on a late field-goal drive to tie the score at 17. The made-for-TV thriller became the first NFL championship to go into sudden-death overtime, when running back Alan Ameche powered in for the game-winning one-yard TD. The NFL was set in motion to become a sport that could captivate casual and diehard fans alike with its star power, action and excitement.
Pro football would have never surpassed the popularity of baseball to become the most-watched sport in America, without “The Greatest Game Ever Played” preceding the Super Bowl.
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