1934: Giants 30, Bears 13 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Second season of NFL divisional play, pitting the eastern and western conference winners against each other for the league championship

From the inception of the league, its champion was the team with the best record. In 1932, the Chicago Bears finished the season 6-1-6 and the Portsmouth Spartans finished 6-1-4. Since ties were not counted at the time (beginning in 1971, ties were counted as half a win and half a loss), these were considered equal records, so the teams squared off in a single game to decide the champion.

Despite the awkward game, played indoors on a short field littered with droppings from circus animals that had recently performed there, the concept proved popular. So starting in 1933, the league was split into two divisions, and the winners of those divisions played at the end of the season for the championship.

The Bears, winners of the 1932 game against Portsmouth, defeated the Giants 23-21 in 1933, in the first planned NFL championship game.

Answer: An 18-game winning streak

The Bears had won their last four regular season games in 1933, then the league championship before going 13-0 in the 1934 regular season. The Giants' victory snapped their 18-game winning streak.

Answer: Bronko Nagurski

The legendary Bronko Nagurski helped the Bears to a 10-3 halftime lead with his touchdown. Red Grange, the NFL's first big money box office star, retired following the game.

Answer: Team captain Ray Flaherty

It was very much a team effort and a collaborative process that led to the Giants putting on sneakers. Team president John Mara braved the single-digit temperatures the morning of the game to inspect the condition of the frozen field. When he discussed this with coach Steve Owen and captain Ray Flaherty, Flaherty suggested sneakers after remembering that in one game in college on a similarly frozen field, his team won after using them for better traction.

Answer: Manhattan College

Once the decision had been made to wear sneakers, the difficult part became finding the sneakers to wear. In 1934, stores weren't open on Sundays, and even if they were, there were no guarantees that any would have enough sneakers, particularly ones big enough for football players to wear. Giants trainer Gene Mauch was also the trainer at Manhattan College, and remembered that there might be some sneakers at the fieldhouse there. Abe Cohen, a volunteer clubhouse assistant for the Giants, was dispatched by taxi to go the considerable distance, roughly 90 blocks to retrieve the footwear.

He returned early in the third quarter carrying roughly 20 pairs of shoes, which most of the team donned immediately.

Answer: "Good. Step on their toes."

That ol' Papa Bear, what a softie, huh? Halas' strategy may have worked for a while though, as the Giants changed into sneakers early in the third quarter but didn't score until the fourth period. In fact, the Bears actually added a third quarter field goal, increasing their lead to 13-3.

Answer: 27

Trailing 13-3 entering the final quarter, the Giants slammed out four touchdowns in the last nine minutes to win the game 30-13.

Answer: 1954

There were several high scoring NFL championship games in the years that followed, most spectacularly the 1940 one, a 73-0 rout by the Chicago Bears over the Washington Redskins. But not until the 1954 title game was Strong's record broken. The Browns demolished the Lions 56-10 that year, and Otto Graham scored 18 points.

Answer: Abe Cohen

Abe Cohen, was of course the Giants' volunteer clubhouse assistant who successfully found the sneakers that helped the team gain their footing and beat the Bears. Ken Strong, who'd scored the touchdown that put the Giants ahead for good, tried to deflect attention from himself after the game, telling reporters, "I'm no hero. Abe Cohen over there is the real hero."

Answer: Both of these teams

Same teams, same host city, same icy conditions, and essentially the same results. The only difference this time was that the Giants showed up with sneakers ready to play (once again, the Bears did not). New York scored on their first possession and built up a 34-7 halftime lead, before coasting it in for a 44-7 win. Oddly, this was the team's first year playing at Yankee Stadium. So in 1934, they used sneakers to win the first NFL title game ever played at the Polo Grounds, and 22 years later, they used sneakers to win the first NFL title game ever played at Yankee Stadium.