The CRAZY CONTROVERSY at the 1949 NFL Championship | Eagles vs. Rams (1949)

What would it take for the NFL to postpone its championship game, and postpone the Super Bowl? Well, in 1949, this hypothetical scenario almost happened, as the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams, just hours before they were set to face off at the 1949 NFL Championship, tried to get Commissioner Bert Bell to postpone the game. As for the end result... let's just say no one won in this bizarre controversy
Video Mentioned:
NFL on Christmas: • Why the NFL DOESN'T Pl...
CONTACT JAGUARGATOR9: [e-mail]
BUY OFFICIALLY LICENSED NFL MERCHANDISE HERE: amzn.to/3B6hyE2
OFFICIAL JAGUARGATOR9 MERCHANDISE: jg9shop.com/
New listings every week! Get your official JG9 merchandise at jg9shop.com, featuring t-shirts, sweatshirts, mugs, and much more! Includes merchandise of the JG9 logo, the JG9 Live logo, some minigames played on JG9 Live, and a shirt symbolizing your passer rating if you did nothing but spike the ball into the ground on every single play
LINK TO PATREON: / jaguargator9
Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3!
LINK TO TWITCH: / jaguargator9_nfl
Play live NFL trivia every Wednesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes! Join me every Monday night at 9 PM ET where we'll have an informal Q&A session!
Check out the video below to learn more: • WEEKLY LIVE NFL TRIVIA...
LINK TO TIK TOK: vm.tiktok.com/...
See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok!
SUBSCRIBE TO JAGUARGATOR8: / jaguargator8
Learn more about the weird history of college football by subscribing to JaguarGator8! New videos every Monday and Friday at 6 PM ET!
SUBSCRIBE TO JAGUARGATOR7: / @jaguargator7
Learn more about the weird history of MLB by subscribing to JaguarGator7!
HIRE JG9 ON FIVERR: www.fiverr.com...
Let JaguarGator9 create customized questions for your next NFL trivia show! Whether you want to play with a group of friends and family, or whether you want to host a trivia show for your business or company, JG9 has you covered!
#nfl #eagles #rams #philadelphiaeagles #losangelesrams #larams #superbowl #football #sports #highlights #1949 #nflhighlights #nflthrowback #nflfilms #americanfootball

[@jamesheenan648]

You probably know this, the '48 and '49 Eagles is the only team to win back to back shutout championships.

[@marcus813]

A writer calling Bell "Ding Dong" had me rolling!

[@rhvaldez]

The year before the same Eagles played the Chicago Cardinals for the 1948 NFL Championship during a snowstorm at Shibe Park. That should've been postponed then too.

[@b1galbos89]

Postponement was considered by then-NFL Commissioner Bert Bell, but players on both the Eagles and Cardinals wanted to play the game, despite the fact that a blizzard was hitting Philadelphia. Instead, they delayed the game half an hour, and brought in a few extra officials to help with boundary calls.

[@aaronholcomb237]

I thought that freezing rain was in the forecast for Atlanta for Super Bowl XXXIV between the Rams and Titans. Now, the game itself wouldn't have been affected because it's an indoor stadium, but driving to the game in that kind of weather in a Southern state would have been treacherous.

[@mattries37315]

The only reason today that the Super Bowl would be postponed the day of would be if its either Los Angeles or Santa Clara and a 6.0+ earthquake hit. Though if the Titans new stadium results in Nashville getting the Super Bowl as is usually the practice then the possibility of a tornado (yes in February, our weather alternates a lot between February and April) or the New Madrid fault going off again.

[@michaelsloane9955]

Tom Fears was mentioned in this video. I still consider Tom Fears a top 50 wide receiver of all time due to his historical significance. Fears was the first wide receiver EVER to have multiple or back to back 1000 yard receiving seasons when he had 1013 in 1949 and 1116 in 1950.

[@hiramlewis3873]

28 years later in the Mud Bowl 1977, the Vikings defeated the Rams 14-7. The Rams were a overwhelming favorite especially after trouncing the Vikings 35-3 on MNF. I'll never forget that game or that Mud Bowl playoff game

[@fortynights1513]

The Eagles of 1949 had Steve Van Buren at the end of his prime, a quarterback in Tommy Thompson who led the league in passer rating, and a rookie Chuck Bednarik. Ultimately they had the number one offense and defense by points on the NFL side in the same season. An excellent team.

[@Rockhound6165]

Bednarik is #60. He's playing center on this video. He also played nose guard.

[@adamwurster2876]

The commissioner probably had an inside scoop on the weather. It was raining. No wonder he wasn't there.

[@CTubeMan]

This unofficial Official Jaguar Gator 9 historian will remind everyone you made a video about Uwe von Schamann and the 1982 AFC Championship Game, another muddy championship game that ended 14-0.

[@animenopaawaa]

Talk about a huge controversy during the golden era of the NFL (before the Super Bowl and becoming a juggernaut and all that stuff). Yet, cuz of that lack of empathy and common sense, then-commissioner Bert Bell managed to get away with no consequence or repercussion for the league. And it came to the expense of everyone else who is not a main league front office member; from the players to the coaches to the owners (of both teams), to even the fans that attended there, thus making the lowest-attended championship game in the history of the NFL (whether before or since the Super Bowl era).

[@MarkAHoltz]

The weather patterns of California tend to flow from the Pacific Ocean eastward. This is pre-satellite, so you are reliant on ship weather reports for the forecast on California, Oregon, and Washington.

[@danmount9462]

But I thought it never rains in Southern California

[@AndrewDederer]

But it pours..

[@americangiant1003]

Actually January-April is typical when Southern California gets almost a year's full of rain(also snow in the Mountains as well)s.

[@JayTemple]

@@AndrewDederer Man, it pours.

[@drewzuhosky6826]

After the 1990 season, the game was played against the backdrop of Desert Storm. The league almost had to push the game back a week on the day of the Super Bowl.

[@DolFan316]

I remember the media yammering about how terrorists were going to bomb the stadium during the game. Then again the media spent that entire time (roughly 6 weeks) telling everyone how scared they needed to be of the Iraqi military and how Desert Storm was going to be the next Vietnam and how important it was for people to be outraged about that. Even THEN they had an agenda devoted to the perpetuation of constant negative emotion.

[@afbocc]

The 2006 Super Rugby Final played in New Zealand was played in a dense fog.

[@MrOneHotDog]

I don't understand why attendance makes a difference in players payout, since there was 40000 tickets sold! Don't the gate receipts determine the money the players share?

[@sdgakatbk]

I would love to see a Super Bowl where there were only 500 players in the stadium.

[@hiramlewis3873]

Commissioners were a bit different back then and so was some of their decisions. Pete Rozelle helped bring in the modern era. Expansion was very important in the beginning

[@flyinelvis69]

If the 1948 Championship wasnt postponed due to a snowstorm why would rain stop it the next year? Bell was home because he hated to travel, whether by plane or train😊

[@Jason_Maier]

1. The NFL Championship game in 1948 (Eagles/Cardinals) was played in a blizzard in Shibe Park. 2. Other notable weather impacted playoff games: 2a. 1977 NFC Divisional game between the Rams & Vikings in LA .... nicknamed the 'Mud Bowl' 2b. 1996 NFC Divisional game between the 49ers & Packers in Green Bay; also a 'Mud Bowl' 3. At least they had the sense to double tarp the field .... unlike the 1982 AFC Championship game

[@DolFan316]

Ah yes, because as we all know Shula deliberately cheated for the first and only time of his career because he was afraid of a team he'd already beaten twice 🙄 Then again I wouldn't have blamed him for cheating on purpose after the NFL and media laughed off the Snow Plow Incident earlier that season.

[@fortynights1513]

⁠​⁠@@DolFan316The Dolphins had beaten the Jets twice no doubt. Credit New York however for eliminating the team that had gone to the Super Bowl the previous year and the team that would the next year. Interestingly enough, the one game those two played against one another that season in New York was decided by more points than either of the two times they played in Miami. Also, I’m sure in large part because of the weather and the field conditions, neither team reached 200 total yards for the AFC Championship Game, both teams had four turnovers or more, nine punts or more, both quarterbacks took four sacks, and both had a passer rating that was incredibly low (15.5 for David Woodley, and 8.8 for Richard Todd). Truly a game where the defenses dominated.

[@michaeladkins7477]

Between 1933-1969 the East hosted on even years abd West odd Years

[@b1galbos89]

That would explain why there were some situations in that time window where the team with the better record (in this case, the Eagles at 11-1 to the Rams 8-2-2) were forced to play on the road in these games. Not that it bothered PHI anyway.

[@hiramlewis3873]

I'm wondering why they didn't suspend the eagle vs bear game in the Fog bowl game on December 31st 1988. From the Camera's you couldn't see much. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt in that game. If you ever been to a Lake Front and see the fog rolling in, that's kinda special. I was at the Lake Front with my lady and it rolled in. We made out and it felt so good. 😊

[@zack9777]

hi

[@jameswilson7790]

This was the first NFL championship game to be nationally telecast. The Dumont Television Network was the winner of the first national championship game contract. The game had only one offensive touchdown, a Thompson pass to Pihos. The other touchdown was the result of a blocked punt.

[@brandon074]

Food for thought and conspiracy theory here...but...isn't it interesting Bell did this when he himself OWNED the Eagles from 1933-40. HINT, HINT..... Does the phrase...conflict of interest. ring a bell (no pun intended).

[@markbrian7179]

Steve Van Buren was a great mudder.

[@rngfootball759]

Steve Van Buren must had an easier time getting to the 1949 nfl championship game compare to the prior year. That was a crazy commute he made that last year. Saw it on nfl top 10 worst weather games episode that he had to walk to the subway to make it to Shibe park where the eagles played at the time. 1948 and 49 title games might have been awful weather games until the ice bowl.

[@chrisguardiano6143]

This is very similar to what happened in 1974 with the World Cup match between Poland & West Germany. Even though this was considered a group stage game thanks to the bizarre & outright confusing format FIFA used for the knockout stages of the World Cup between 1974-1982, the winner of this match would qualify for the final while the loser would play in the 3rd place playoff. However a few hours before kickoff like in this story, a massive rain storm hit Frankfurt (where this match was taking place) & dumped about 2.5 inches of rain onto the field. This made the field into a sloppy mess & unlike this story the grounds crew did not bother to put any tarps on the field because they thought the weather would quickly clear up. Both teams tried doing their pregame warm ups in the conditions & said the field was absolutely unplayable & appealed to FIFA to have the match moved to the next day. However if they did this, FIFA would have to pay compensation to every single broadcaster around the globe for lost ad revenue & FIFA in 1974 was a long way away from being the revenue machine that it is today. Heck the 1974 World Cup was the first one in which FIFA got any kind of revenue from tournament sponsors like Coca Cola & Adidas. Because of this, FIFA president Joao Havelange basically told the teams to tough it out because they were not going to move the match. For those wondering about the attendance at this match, it was a sell out despite the absolutely terrible conditions with West Germany winning 1-0 thanks to a late goal from Gerd Muller.

[@dangeiger9796]

Did you see the ending of the Miami-Georgia Tech game today? I see a JG 8 dumb decisions video coming

[@OfficialJaguarGator9]

If all goes according to plan, on Monday night

[@michaelsloane9955]

Something similar happened in the Oregon-Stanford game in 2018. Guess who the coach was that blew it for Oregon then? Mario Christobal. Christobal is the Nathaniel Hackett of college. A less severe but still dumb decision was Texas not calling timeout on Oklahoma's 2nd and goal. As it was they moved the ball a bit with the 15 seconds so if they have like 35 seconds there who knows?

[@lambert581]

@@OfficialJaguarGator9 I have a candidate for Dumb Decisions Jon Harbaugh today vs The Steelers the Ravens had it 4th & 2 in Steelers territory but went for it instead of getting a field goal

[@ZachT]

But yeah, the the year that the Superbowl is canceled “day of”, will probably be the year that my Lions finally go and the league will just settle for who has the best regular season record as the winner.

[@kevinlandon7578]

The Eagles played in the championship game the year before and won 7-0 after a blizzard forced the players to help shovel snow. Van Buren thought the game was cancelled and almost did not show up.

[@roberttower8059]

I would think a championship game would be canceled/postponed if there was a serious natural disaster (an earthquake, tornado, hurricane that caused a lot of damage and/or loss of life or was an imminent threat) or some kind of public safety situation (bombing, terrorist activity, war or other type of invasion). But you never know. I guess it would depend on how much money was riding on the event and just how bad the natural disaster or public safety threat was.

[@americangiant1003]

Now that almost every Super Bowl is played is now permanently played either in a so called "warm climate" or Domed Stadium, if for instances a major snowstorm occurred in say Minneapolis, Detroit or Cowboys Stadium in North Texas might be the only way the SB would now be either postponed or even cancelled.

[@davidlivingston2754]

I think also if a president was assassinated, that too would postpone it. Not like the 1981 NCAA title game where Reagan was shot but survived

[@anthonyrivera4735]

Going vintage, is it possible for a playoff game to get postponed?

[@Rockhound6165]

I don't think it's ever happened however some believe that the 1988 NFC divisional game between the Eagles and Bears, the infamous Fog Bowl, should have been postponed.

[@b1galbos89]

@@Rockhound6165 The NFL never considered postponing the game because the fog posed no danger to the fans or players, unlike situations that involved lightning or high winds.

[@Jhoffa22_]

*FlyEaglesFly* *BirdGangTillIDie* 💯🦅🦅💯

[@Tykoon22]

I’ve always thought that most, if not all football stadiums (especially in cold weather cities) should be domes with retractable roofs -- Having your games in a controlled climate/environment makes for a much more comfortable and enjoyable experience, for both the players and the fans. Additionally, the outcome of the game would be a much more genuine representation of how the players/teams performed, since inclement weather couldn’t impact or interfere with the game in any way. 🏟

[@b1galbos89]

Yea, I can understand that for Super Bowls, but football is and always was, meant to be played outdoors, and in any type of weather, regardless of the severity of the conditions (excluding when thunder and lightning are in the area).