1957 NFL Championship Game


The 1957 NFL Championship Game was the 25th annual championship game of the National Football League, held on December 29 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit, Michigan.
The Detroit Lions, winners of the Western Conference in a playoff the previous week, hosted the Cleveland Browns, champions of the Eastern Conference. Detroit had won the regular season game 20–7 three weeks earlier on December 8, also at Briggs Stadium, but lost quarterback Bobby Layne with a broken right ankle late in the first half. Reserve quarterback Tobin Rote, a starter the previous year with Green Bay, filled in for Layne and won that game with Cleveland, the next week at Chicago, and the tiebreaker playoff game at San Francisco.
It was the fourth pairing of the two teams in the championship game; they met previously in 1952, 1953, and 1954. The Browns, idle the previous week, were favored by three points, but the home underdog Lions scored two touchdowns in each quarter and won in a rout, 59–14.
Until 2006, this was the last time that major professional teams from Michigan and Ohio met in a postseason game in any sport. This was the last NFL playoff game played in the city of Detroit other than Super Bowl XL until 2024 as the Lions' other two home playoff games prior were at the Silverdome in suburban Pontiac. This also remains as the Lions' fourth and most recent league title and most recent championship appearance as of 2025, starting a sixty-eight year championship drought for the Lions, which is currently the fourth-longest championship drought in the four major North American sports leagues.

Starting lineups

Players in the Hall of Fame

Of those listed above, Lions' QB Bobby Layne was injured earlier in the month and did not play, and future Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Henry Jordan was a rookie for the Browns.

Game summary

First half

The Browns won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. Detroit forced Cleveland to punt on their opening possession, getting the ball at their own 11. The Lions converted four straight first downs, including a Tobin Rote 20-yard pass to Steve Junker that put them into Brown territory. They would convert on a Jim Martin 31-yard field goal to take the early 3–0 lead. The Browns would give the ball right back after a Tommy O'Connell interception by Bob Long that was returned 17 yards. The Lions, helped by a Rote 17-yard rush, punched it in with a quarterback sneak to go up 10–0. On the kickoff return, Milt Campbell fumbled it over to Detroit. Detroit would capitalize with a Gene Gedman 1-yard score. The Browns would get on the board with a Jim Brown 29-yard touchdown. The two teams traded punts before the Lions got the ball at their own 13. They got down to the Browns 26-yard line, and looked to kick a field goal on 4th and 11. However, Rote, as the holder, took the snap and threw it to Junker in the endzone for the 26-yard touchdown pass to go up 24–7. On their responding drive, the Browns attempted a trick play with halfback Chet Hanulak, however his pass was intercepted. Detroit gave the ball right back with a Junker fumble, but an O'Connell errant throw was picked off by Terry Barr, who returned it 19 yards for the touchdown. The Browns benched O'Connell in favor of Milt Plum, who was immediately intercepted on his third pass of the game in Lions' territory. Detroit punted, before a Browns fumble put them in range for a field goal try. However, the 44-yard kick was no-good, setting the halftime score at 31–7.

Second half

Detroit punted on their first possession of the second half, as Cleveland took the ball 80-yards to score on a Lew Carpenter 5-yard touchdown run. On their first drive, Rote took a deep shot to Jim Doran who hauled it in at the Browns' 42 and proceeded to run it all the way for the 78-yard touchdown score. The Browns punted on their next drive before the Lions extended their lead with a Rote–Junker 23-yard touchdown pass to go up 45–14. Plum was intercepted on the third play of their ensuing drive, as Detroit ran it up with another Rote touchdown pass, this time to Dave Middleton. The Browns took their next drive into Detroit territory, before a sack forced them back 40 yards behind the first-down marker which resulted in a turnover on downs. Both teams traded punts before Detroit scored their last touchdown of the game on a Jerry Reichow pass to Howard Cassady.

Scoring summary

Sunday, December 29, 1957
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. EST
  • First quarter
  • *DET – FG Jim Martin, 31 yards, 3–0 DET
  • *DET – Tobin Rote 1-yard run, 10–0 DET
  • *DET – Gene Gedman 1-yard run, 17–0 DET
  • Second quarter
  • *CLE – Jim Brown 29-yard run, 17–7 DET
  • *DET – Steve Junker 26-yard pass from Rote, 24–7 DET
  • *DET – Terry Barr 19-yard interception, 31–7 DET
  • Third quarter
  • *CLE – Lew Carpenter 5-yard run, 31–14 DET
  • *DET – Jim Doran 78-yard pass from Rote, 38–14 DET
  • *DET – Junker 23-yard pass from Rote, 45–14 DET
  • Fourth quarter
  • *DET – Dave Middleton 32-yard pass from Rote, 52–14 DET
  • *DET – Howard Cassady 17-yard pass from Jerry Reichow, 59–14 DET

    Officials

  • Referee: Ron Gibbs
  • Umpire: Joe Connell
  • Head linesman: Dan Tehan
  • Back judge: Cleo Diehl
  • Field judge: Don Looney
  • Alternate: George Rennix
  • Alternate: James Beiersdorfer
  • Alternate: Charlie Berry
  • Alternate: Chuck Sweeney
The NFL had five game officials in ; the line judge was added in and the side judge in.

Players' shares

The gross receipts for the game, including radio and television rights, were just under $594,000, the highest to date. Each player on the winning Lions team received $4,295, while Browns players made $2,750 each.

Lions' last title

The Lions have not appeared in an NFL championship game since this title. It was their last postseason appearance until 1970, and their last postseason home game and victory until 1992.
1992 was also the first time the Lions advanced as far as the NFC Championship game, losing the NFC Championship Game 41–10 to the Washington Redskins, who went on to win Super Bowl XXVI. They would advance to the NFC Championship game again 32 years later in 2024, where they would fall to the San Francisco 49ers 34–31 after leading by as many as 17 points, which is the closest the Lions have ever gotten to a Super Bowl to date.

Video

  • Daniel G. Endy, Earl Gillespie and Chris Schenkel, narrators. YouTube.com |