The Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts were battling for the NFL’s Western Conference title for the second straight year in 1966. The Pack entered the game 10-2 while the Colts were 8-4. A win would clinch the division title for the Packers. Green Bay’s trip to a rainy and muddy Memorial Stadium in Baltimore would be critical for both teams. Packers Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis became the hero of the game when he forced a fumble by John Unitas that would be remembered as “The Million Dollar Fumble.”
Packers Hall of Famer Willie Davis, John Unitas and the Million Dollar Fumble: The Leadup
The Packers and Colts were division rivals in the mid-60s. In 1964, the Colts won the Western Division crown with a 12-2 record while the Packers finished second with an 8-5-1 mark.
In 1965, both teams finished with 10-3-1 records. They faced off in a playoff to determine the division champion. The Packers won that game 13-10 in overtime. The win was not without controversy. The tying field goal by Don Chandler in the closing seconds of regulation was called good although the Colts insisted it was wide of the goal posts. The NFL raised the height of the uprights the following season to prevent future controversies.
When the two teams met earlier in the 1966 season opener, the Packers beat the Colts handily, 24-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Pick sixes by linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and Bob Jeter were the big difference in that game.
That set the stage for the critical rematch in Baltimore.
The First Half
The Packers took the lead in the first quarter. The drive was set up by an interception by safety Willie Wood. Quarterback Bart Starr found halfback Elijah Pitts on a short pass that turned into a long gain. Pitts split Colts safeties Jerry Logan and Alvin Haymond and ran 42 yards for the first score of the game.
In the second quarter, the Colts struck back. Unitas found halfback Tom Matte for a 26-yard pass to the Packers four. A few plays later, Tony Lorick scored from a yard out and the game was tied.
A fumble by Donny Anderson on the kickoff return gave the Colts the ball back at the Packers 21. The Green Bay defense stiffened, and Lou Michaels booted a 26-yard field goal to make it 10-7 Colts at the half.
Unfortunately for the Packers, Starr left the game at halftime due to back spasms and a rib injury. He was replaced by backup Zeke Bratkowski.
Packers Hall of Famer Willie Davis, John Unitas and the Million Dollar Fumble: The Game Tightens
The third quarter was scoreless as both defenses stepped up and dug in. Neither team scored. The Packers finished the game with four interceptions, three off Unitas and one backup Gary Cuozzo who only threw one pass in the game. Wood had two picks in the game with Caffey and Tom Brown adding one each.
The Packers took the lead in the fourth quarter. Bratkowski engineered a 10-play, 80-yard drive. The big play was a pass to Max McGee who was in the game for the injured Boyd Dowler. McGee snagged a perfect toss from Bratkowski to help the Packers convert a 3rd-and-7 into a first and goal at the Colts four.
Pitts scored the go-ahead touchdown, following Jerry Kramer and Forrest Gregg into the end zone from two yards out. The Packers led 14-10.
The Million Dollar Fumble
Few quarterbacks were better than Unitas at the two-minute drill. His last chance to pull out the game for the Colts started at the Baltimore 34 with about two and a half minutes left in the game. Unitas moved the Colts downfield and deep into Packers territory. Key passes included one to Lenny Moore and a 20-yard effort to Raymond Berry. That got them as far as the Green Bay 15 with 1:29 left on the clock.
That’s when the key play took place. Unitas dropped back to pass but couldn’t find an open receiver. He started to scramble across the muddy field. That’s when Davis saw him and headed towards him. Davis caught the Colts quarterback and forced him to fumble. Dave Robinson recovered the ball at the Packers nine, ending the Colts last threat.
“When he started to run, I circled back. When he made his cut, he was coming to me, but he couldn’t see me,” Davis said after the game. “He was carrying the ball high with his right arm. I aimed to hit him just as hard as I could. I wanted him to fumble that ball. That’s all I had on my mind. I knew he would because he couldn’t see me. I pulled his arm back and the ball came out.”
“Yes, Johnny [Unitas] had them on the move,” Robinson recalled. “I saw Unitas running with the ball, and he looked at me and I looked at him and he tried to give a little rooster move, the old head and shoulders fake. When he did that, he held the ball away from his body a bit and I saw big Willie’s hand come out and hit right on the ball and it came out and hit the ground. “It popped up and I picked it up. I knew all I had to do is hold on to the ball and we would win the game. I ran about five yards or so and a bunch of Colts were trying to pry the ball out of my hands before I finally went down.”
The Packers offense ran five plays and ran out the clock. The final score was 14-10 Packers.
Packers Hall of Famer Willie Davis, John Unitas and the Million Dollar Fumble: The Aftermath
The Packers clinched the division with the win and headed to Los Angeles for the season finale. “We’ll give them the usual two cans of beer on the plane tonight heading to California,” Vince Lombardi told reporters after the game.
It was Sports Illustrated that dubbed the play “The Million Dollar Fumble.” They essentially added up all the playoff money the entire Packers team would earn if they won the Super Bowl. It added up to a little less than one million dollars. Davis joked that the play was orchestrated by “a $10,000 player,” referring to his own salary back in 1966.
The Packers beat the Rams in the season finale before beating the Cowboys 34-27 in the NFL Championship Game. Two weeks after that, the Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl. But none of that would have happened without “The Million Dollar Fumble.”
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