1960 NFL season

Draft

The 1960 NFL draft was held on November 30, 1959, at Philadelphia's Warwick Hotel. With the first pick, the Los Angeles Rams selected running back Billy Cannon from Louisiana State University.

Because the league awarded the Dallas Cowboys franchise about two months later on January 28, 1960, this marked the only time that an NFL expansion team did not have the benefit of a college draft in its first year.

Expansion draft

The 1960 NFL expansion draft was held on March 13, 1960, with the Dallas Cowboys selecting 36 players from the other 12 teams.

Conference races

All teams but Dallas played a home-and-away game against the other five members of their own division, one inter-division game, and one game against the new team (Dallas): Dallas, although assigned to the Western Division, was a "swing team" and played each team once.

This was the final season for the 12-game schedule in the NFL.

A bye was required because of there being thirteen teams, with one team having a bye in each of the 13 weeks.

The Cowboys' first game saw them take a 14–0 lead over the Pittsburgh Steelers on a Saturday night at the Cotton Bowl, with Jim Doran catching a pass from Eddie LeBaron for the first score, but lost 35–28.

Eastern

Philadelphia lost its opener at home to Cleveland, 41–24, then went on a nine-game winning streak. The breakthrough came in Week Six on October 30, when unbeaten New York (3–0–1), two-time defending division champions, came off their bye and lost at home to St. Louis, 20–13, while the Browns and idle Eagles were both at 4–1. In Week Seven, New York beat Cleveland, 17–13, and the Eagles beat Pittsburgh 34–7. The Eagles clinched the Eastern Division after ten games at 9–1;{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7w1ZAAAAIBAJ&sjid=P2wDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7459%2C1592189

In the latter game, the Eagles trailed 17–0, then 23–17, before Norm Van Brocklin threw two touchdown passes in the final quarter for a 31–23 victory. In the former, the Giants' Frank Gifford was severely injured in a tackle by linebacker Chuck Bednarik late in the game that almost ended his career. New York entered that November 20 game at 5–1–1, but won only once in the last five games, including a tie against Dallas - the Cowboys lost their remaining eleven games that year - and finished third in the Eastern at 6–4–2. The Giants won the next three division championships for five in six seasons, but not the league title.

Western

The Western Division race was one in which Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, and San Francisco all had a lead at one time.

The Bears fell back after a Week Six loss to the 49ers, 25–7. In Week Seven, the 4–2 Colts and the 4–1 Packers met on November 6 in Green Bay. Two-time defending NFL champion Baltimore, which had lost an earlier match, won 38–24, to take the lead in the Western. In Week Ten, the Colts (6–2) came off their bye and lost at home to San Francisco, 30–22, to begin a streak of four defeats. Baltimore's 20–15 loss to the Lions, and Green Bay's 41–13 win at Chicago, tied the Colts and Packers at 6–4 in Week Eleven. After the Packers' 13–0 win at San Francisco, their record was 7–4, while the Colts, Lions and 49ers were all at 6–5. While San Francisco and Detroit both won the next week, the former beating Baltimore 34–10, the Packers had won the day before, beating Los Angeles 35–21 for the Western title, their first in 16 years.

The new Dallas Cowboys lost their first ten games but managed a 31–31 tie against the Giants at Yankee Stadium in New York on December 4. They finished at 0–11–1: as ties were excluded in calculating winning percentage prior to , the Cowboys had a winning percentage of , rather than .

Conference leaders

• A bye was required in 1960, as the league had an odd number of teams (13); one team had the bye each week. The fourteenth team, Minnesota, would join the league in , and the NFL subsequently initiated a 14-game regular season.

Final standings

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

Main article: 1960 NFL Championship Game

• Philadelphia 17, Green Bay 13 at Franklin Field, University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday, December 26.

Playoff Bowl

The Playoff Bowl was between the division runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its first year (of ten) and it was played three weeks after the regular season.

• Detroit 17, Cleveland 16 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Saturday, January 7, 1961.

Pro Bowl

Main article: 1961 Pro Bowl

• West 35, East 31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday, January 15, 1961.

Awards

Coaching changes

• Dallas Cowboys: Tom Landry became the expansion team's first head coach.
• Los Angeles Rams: Sid Gillman was replaced by former Rams quarterback Bob Waterfield. Gillman became coach of the Los Angeles Chargers of the American Football League.

Stadium changes

• The expansion Dallas Cowboys began play at the Cotton Bowl, which they shared with the Dallas Texans of the American Football League
• The relocated St. Louis Cardinals moved to Busch Stadium (Sportsman's Park)

References

References

1. (January 27, 1960). "Rams' Rozelle, 33, elected NFL boss". Milwaukee Sentinel.
2. (January 27, 1960). "Rams' Pete Rozelle, 33, elected NFL czar". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
3. (January 29, 1960). "Dallas 'in'; Twin Cities '61 NFL entry". Milwaukee Sentinel.
4. (January 29, 1960). "Dallas and Twin Cities get NFL franchises; AFL declares war". Milwaukee Journal.
5. (January 29, 1960). "Dallas, Twin Cities gain entry to NFL". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
6. (January 29, 1960). "Franchise tickles Tex". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
7. (March 14, 1960). "National Football League's Cards to move to St. Louis". Ocala Star-Banner.
8. (March 14, 1960). "Chicago Cardinals to move to St. Louis this season". Spokesman-Review.
9. (March 15, 1960). "St. Louis-bound Cardinals Chicago's oldest grid pros". Spokesman-Review.
10. Lea, Bud. (December 27, 1960). "Eagles win NFL title". Milwaukee Sentinel.
11. (December 27, 1960). "Eagles rally once again". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
12. Kuechle, Oliver E.. (December 27, 1960). "Eagles beat Packers for title, 17-13". Milwaukee Journal.
13. (December 27, 1960). "Eagles win NFL title with 17 to 13 victory". The Bulletin.
14. (January 8, 1961). "Blocked kick wins for Lions, 17-16". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
15. Buck, Ray. (2008-02-15). "From meager beginnings to America's Team". Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
16. Sell, Jack. (September 25, 1960). "Steelers top Dallas, 35-28, on late rally". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
17. "Eagles Rout Steelers; Take Conference Lead," ''The Post-Standard'' (Syracuse), Nov 7, 1960, p16
18. Sell, Jack. (December 12, 1960). "Steelers go in snow, whip Eagles, 27-21". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
19. ''The Bridgeport Telegram'', Nov 28, 1960, p12
20. (November 21, 1960). "Gifford of Giants hurt as Eagles rally, 17-10". Milwaukee Journal.
21. (November 21, 1960). "Bad blood erupts as high-flying Eagles bounce New York 17-10". The Bulletin.
22. (December 18, 1960). "Green Bay rips Rams to win Western title". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
23. (January 16, 1961). "West pros sidetrack East, 35-31, in thriller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.