One of the greatest events in sports archives history in which weather had a major impact was the NFL championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys on December 31, 1967.

The game, know as the “Ice Bowl”, was played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin where game-time temperature was -15 degrees and the wind chill was a balmy -36 degrees (based on present day wind chill index).  It was so cold that the referees could not use their whistles and the half-time band had to cancel performances due to frozen instruments, frozen lips and some members suffering hypothermia.  Even Packers linebacker Ray Nitschke suffered frostbite on his toes.

The game itself was played brilliantly under the circumstances with Vince Lombardi’s Packers outlasting Tom Landry’s Cowboys 21-17.  Bart Starr, the Packers hero quarterback, ran a QB sneak from 1 yard out with 16 seconds remaining behind what became known as “The Block” of Cowboys defensive tackle Jethro Pugh by Packers Jerry Kramer.  The play was gutsy because the Packers may have run out of time for a tying field goal, but Lombardi wasn’t thinking field goal on that cold day!

The question remains whether there were any Cheeseheads that went shirtless that day!

The Ice Bowl - 1967 Cowboys at Packers