A Brief Review Of Football At Old Yankee Stadium

Old Yankee Stadium played host to several athletic contests over its 85 years in existence. Even though the Stadium was built for baseball, it did host well over 100 football games over its long and storied history. The first football game played there took place on October 20, 1923. That game was between the University of Pittsburgh and Syracuse University. Syracuse’s Orange was victorious, notching a 3-0 victory over Pop Warner’s Panthers in front of a crowd of 25,000.1 The lone score came on a third-quarter 25-yard field goal.2

After that debut, old Yankee Stadium played host to 185 college football games.

PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

Professional football teams started to play in old Yankee Stadium, as well. The first recorded exhibition game saw the football team of the US Army’s Third Corps Area rout the Toronto Argonauts 55-7 on November 3, 1923. Neither team had an affiliation with any professional football league at that time. There were three touchdowns in the first 10 minutes of play.3 The star of the game was Vic Noyes, former Navy quarterback, who had joined the Army team in what was “practically an all West Point line-up supported by a number of former college stars.”4

The first professional football team in a league to play at old Yankee Stadium was a squad in the American Football League formed by Chicago Bears star Harold “Red” Grange. He named his team the New York Yankees. The league more than anything was a way for Grange to propel his career even further and earn him more fame and fortune.

Opening the season, the football Yankees had their first game in old Yankee Stadium on a rainy Sunday, October 24, 1926. The Yankees took on the Los Angeles Wildcats in front of a crowd of 18,521 undeterred by the weather, and barely squeaked by, winning, 6-0.

The new American Football League was intended to challenge the growing National Football League, but it never quite got off the ground. It existed for just one year before it folded. The New York Yankees football team continued for two more seasons in the NFL before fading into memory.

One of the most important games in the history of the Stadium, and perhaps in fact for the city of New York, happened on December 16, 1928, when the City Championship, which was for bragging rights, took place. The game pitted the NFL New York Yankees football team against the New York Giants. The game was scoreless at halftime. The Giants put up six points in the third quarter, and the Yankees barely beat the Giants, 7-6, when the first play of the fourth period saw a 20-yard touchdown pass and a placement kick that broke the tie. The game drew 15,000 spectators.5

According to the New World Encyclopedia, the famous fan cheer, “Dee-FENSE!” was first used at the Stadium.6 The football Giants played there from 1956 to 1973. Their first game was against the Pittsburgh Steelers on October 21, 1956. In their first season playing at the Stadium, they won the NFL championship, defeating the Chicago Bears, 47-7.

During their time there, the Giants played in three playoff games in Yankee Stadium – in 1956, 1958, and 1962.7 Perhaps the most famous of them all was the Giants-Baltimore Colts NFL championship game in 1958, dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” It was the first sudden-death overtime game in National Football League history. The Colts won, 23-17. In that game, the score went back and forth before the game ended up in overtime. The Colts, under the leadership of quarterback Johnny Unitas, led the team on a 14-play, 80-yard drive capped off by a touchdown scored by Alan Ameche.8

Another standout was the 1962 NFL Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Giants on December 30, 1962. What was significant about this game was the temperature: 20 degrees when the game began and, by the time it ended, a mere 14 degrees. What made it even worse were the 25 to 30 mph winds, with gusts of 45 miles per hour.9 Red Smith wrote, “Polar gales clawed topsoil off the barren playground and whipped it in tan whirlwinds about the great concrete chasm of Yankee Stadium. … It was a scene of wild desolation.”10 The game still drew 64,892.

The Chicago Tribune reported that the US flag on the center-field flagpole was shredded.11 Playing football in those conditions had to have been tough.

Vince Lombardi’s Packers ended up beating Y.A. Tittle and the Giants, 16-7, to win the NFL title for the second year in a row. Three field goals kicked by Jerry Kramer made the difference in the game.

With Yankee Stadium in need of refurbishing by the early 1970s, the Giants opted not to renew their lease and instead build a stadium of their own in New Jersey. They played their final home game at Yankee Stadium on September 23, 1973, after which it underwent a two-year renovation.

The last professional football game played in old Yankee Stadium took place on August 28, 1976, the year the Stadium reopened after the renovation. The New York Jets faced the Washington Redskins in an exhibition game, losing 38-7, and the original Yankee Stadium never again saw a professional football game.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

College football teams played many more games in the Stadium than the pro leagues did. The winningest college football team in The Stadium was the New York University Violets, with a record of 70 wins, 40 losses, and 5 ties. The team that struggled the most was Army: 15 wins, 21 losses, and 5 ties.12

One of the most famous college football games played at Yankee Stadium was Army-Notre Dame on November 10, 1928. This game was famous for the speech given by Notre Dame head coach Knute Rockne to his team at halftime, when the game was a scoreless tie. The speech included the famous phrase, “Win one for the Gipper,” a reference to the late Notre Dame All-American George Gipp. Inspired by their coach, the Irish went on to win the game, 12-6, after falling behind 6-0 to start the second half.13

Another Army-Notre Dame classic was played on November 9, 1946. Both teams came into the games undefeated. Army and Notre Dame were ranked numbers one and two in the nation. Army had won the national championship the previous two seasons. The game was a defensive gem, ending in a scoreless tie.14

MILITARY CONTESTS

Armed forces teams played at Yankee Stadium from time to time. The Navy’s Atlantic Fleet Championship took place on December 9, 1923, when elevens from the USS Wright and the USS Wyoming battled to a 6-6 tie in front of a crowd of 8,000. The Army team played there often and others to use the field included the Quantico Marines and the Third Army Corps.

ATTENDANCE

Attendance at the games varied greatly. Crowds of 85,000 witnessed the “Gipper” game in 1928, as well as Notre Dame-Army on November 30, 1929, a 7-0 Notre Dame victory.

Other games were sparsely attended, including a 6-0 affair on December 1, 1923, when just 5,000 people watched Georgetown beat Fordham.

One game that overshadowed them all in terms of crowds: Stanford vs. Army on December 1, 1928, with a reported attendance of 88,000. Stanford won, 26-0.

OTHER CONTESTS

Starting in 1971, the Stadium played host from time to time to the Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Football Classic. The foes were historically black colleges. The games were played at Shea Stadium while Yankee Stadium underwent renovations.

The last football game in old Yankee Stadium was the Young Urban League Classic on September 12, 1987, when Central State University of Ohio defeat Grambling State, 37-21.

When the new Yankee Stadium opened in 2009, it was announced that football would again be played there.15 In the first football game in the new ballpark on November 20, 2010, Notre Dame beat Army 27-3.

BRYAN DIETZLER has been a professional sportswriter for the last 23 years, writing mostly about football and baseball, but he has dabbled in hockey and basketball in the past. He currently lives in North Liberty, Iowa, and attends as many Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball games as he can. Go Hawks! He is a huge fan of the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bears and has attended many games for both. His dream is to retire and travel to every baseball and football stadium in America.

 

SOURCES

For a listing of college and amateur football games played at Yankee Stadium, see Football Games at Yankee Stadium, http://www.luckyshow.org/football/ys.htm. Retrieved September 27, 2022.

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author would like to give special thanks to Brian J. Richards, senior museum curator for the New York Yankees, whose information was valuable in writing this article.

 

NOTES

1 For an overview of football at Yankee Stadium, see “Yankee Stadium Football History: New York Yankees,” MLB.com, https://www.mlb.com/yankees/tickets/events/football/yankee-stadium-history. Accessed September 26, 2022

2 “Syracuse Stops the Panthers by Placement Kick,” Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 2, 1923: 2D.

3 “Third Corps Team Crushes Argonauts,” New York Times, November 4, 1923: S3.

4 “Third Army Corps Eleven Finds Canadians Easy,” Brooklyn Standard Union, November 4, 1923: 18. The Argonauts’ lone touchdown came in the second quarter “when the Soldiers were represented by their entire second team.” “3rd Corps Finds Easy Rivals in Canadians,” Washington Evening Star, November 4, 1923: S3.

5 “Pro Yankees Win; Annex City Title,” New York Times, December 17, 1928: 35.

6 New World Encyclopedia.com, “Yankee Stadium.” https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Yankee_Stadium#Professional_football. Accessed December 9, 2022.

7 Stadiums of Pro Football, Yankee Stadium. https://www.stadiumsofprofootball.com/stadiums/yankee-stadium/.

8 “Colts Win NFL Title in Greatest Game Ever Played,” History.com. https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/nfl-greatest-games-colts-giants-1958. Retrieved December 10, 2022.

9 Michael Jackson, “Classic NFL Games, 1962 Championship.” thegamebeforethemoney.com, January 15, 2015. https://www.thegamebeforethemoney.com/62nflc1/. Retrieved December 10, 2022.

10 Red Smith, “Yankee Stadium Like Valley Forge,” Boston Globe, December 31, 1962: 13.

11 “Packers Keep Title; Beat Giants, 16-7,” Chicago Tribune, December 31, 1967: B1.

12 See the listing at http://www.luckyshow.org/football/ys.

13 Richards Vidmer, “Notre Dame Wins One for the Gipper,” New York Times, November 10, 1928. http://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/packages/html/sports/year_in_sports/11.10.html?scp=7&sq=whistle&st=cse. Accessed December 13, 2022. This appears to be a reconstructed article of some sort, dated on the day of the game rather than as it appeared in the newspaper. Vidmer’s actual game story ran the day after the game: “Notre Dame Beats Army Eleven, 12-6; as 85,000 Look On,” New York Times, November 11, 1928: Sports 1. There was no mention of the speech in his article.

14 Ralph D. Russo, “1946 Army-Notre Dame, Game of the Century,” San Diego Union Tribune, November 18, 2010. https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-1946-army-notre-dame-game-of-century-2010nov18-story.html. Retrieved December 8, 2022.

15 Ken Belson, “Yankees Announce the Return of Football to the Stadium,” New York Times, July 21, 2009: B15.