Ice Bowl - Definition and Overview

The Ice Bowl was the 1967 NFL Championship game between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. It is widely considered one of the greatest games in NFL history.

The game, played on December 31, 1967 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin (USA), remains one of the coldest NFL games on record. The official game-time temperature was -13°F / -25°C, with a windchill around -48°F / -44°C. The bitter cold overwhelmed Lambeau's new turf heating system, leaving the playing surface hard as a rock and nearly as smooth as ice. The officials were unable to use their whistles after the opening kickoff, when the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of play and it froze to his lips. For the rest of their games, the officials used their voices to end plays. Several players, including Dallas defensive tackle Jethro Pugh and Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr, claim to still suffer occasionally from mild effects of the frostbite they incurred that day.

Green Bay won 21-17 on a last minute quarterback sneak by Starr. Green Bay went on to finish the postseason by defeating the AFL champion Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II. A highlight film of the game shown on television for years afterwards included the phrase "the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field", which has subsequently become a catch phrase, in the narration.