IDEA FOR “SUDDEN DEATH” OVERTIME BEGAN AT A SUBURBAN SODA FOUNTAIN

Idea for “Sudden Death” Overtime Began at a Suburban Soda Fountain

One day back in 1946, shortly after he was elected NFL Commissioner, Bert Bell was relaxing with some of his friends from the Narberth Sunrise Society at their hangout at Davis General Store, in Narberth, PA. “Hey Bert,” one of them shouted. “What happens if there is a tie in a championship game? I’m a big pro football fan, but the thought of co-champions really turns me off!”

Bert thought about the problem with tie games for a long time. Then a light came on: We’ll play an extra period….the first team to score wins the game…Sudden Death!

When the owners got together the following January in Chicago, a few of them initially resisted the commissioner’s proposal for Sudden Death. To some, the idea of “co-champions” was appealing. After listening to their arguments for a while, he finally stood up and said, “You realize of course that if you have co-champions, you’ll have to send two teams to Chicago for the annual All-Star game (pitting the NFL champions against a college All America team). That means full pay for twice as many players.”

That did it. As soon as the financial issue was raised with the cash-starved owners, they quickly fell in line and passed a motion that the sudden death method of deciding tie scores for divisional playoff and championship games only is to be included in the playing rules.

Bell’s dream was finally realized when the Baltimore Colts defeated the New York Giants for the NFL Championship, 23-17, at Yankee Stadium on December 28, 1958. Alan Ameche went over from the one yard line to score the winning TD, 8 minutes and 15 seconds into the first overtime game in history.

That game, more than any other, propelled professional football into the national consciousness.