1964 NFL season

1964 NFL season
Regular season
Duration	September 12 –; December 27, 1964
East Champions	Cleveland Browns
West Champions	Baltimore Colts
Championship Game
Champions	Cleveland Browns
	← 1963 ; NFL seasons ; 1965 →;

Last updated September 16, 2024

Eagles

Browns

Giants

Cardinals

Steelers ....

.... Redskins

Cowboys

Packers

Lions

49ers

Colts

Bears

Rams

Vikings

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NFL teams: West, East

The 1964 NFL season was the 45th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season started, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras, who had been suspended for the 1963 season due to gambling.

Beginning this season, the home team in each game was allowed the option of wearing their white jerseys. Since 1957, league rules had mandated that the visiting team wear white, and the home team wear colored jerseys. The NFL also increased the regular season roster limit from 37 to 40 active players, which would remain unchanged for a decade.

The season ended when the Cleveland Browns shut out the Baltimore Colts 27–0 in the NFL Championship Game.

Draft

The 1964 NFL draft was held on December 2, 1963, at Chicago's Sheraton Hotel & Towers. With the first pick, the San Francisco 49ers selected end Dave Parks from Texas Tech University.

Rule changes

Active roster changes

Prior to the season, the NFL club owners voted to increase the regular season roster limit from 37 to 40 active players, the largest in league history up to that point.^[1] This standard would remain in place until the 1974 season.^[2]

New uniform rules

The 1964 season introduced a noteworthy change in uniform rules. While the league had dictated since 1957 that the home team must wear a colored jersey and the visitors a white one, teams were now given the option of wearing their white jerseys at home. As a result, the Browns (who wore white at home before 1957), Cardinals, Colts (except for one home game which was originally scheduled to be an away game), Cowboys, Rams, Redskins, Steelers (for one game vs. Rams) and Vikings (except for most of one game in which the Lions forgot to bring their blue jerseys)^[3] did so.

The Redskins and Vikings reverted to wearing dark jerseys at home in 1965; Washington would not wear white at home again until 1981, and Minnesota did not until 2022.

The Cardinals would not wear red at home until 1966, the Colts did not wear blue at home until 1966, the Rams would not do so again until 1972, the Browns only once until 1975, and the Cowboys, aside from an unwilling use of their blue tops as the "home" team in Super Bowl V, have since continuously worn white at home (although Dallas has worn blue jerseys at home, whether it be the current design or a throwback, sporadically since 2001). The Steelers would wear white at home for most home games from 1966 until 1969 (the first year of head coach Chuck Noll) but would not wear white as the "home" team until Super Bowl XL in 2005 and have not worn white in a game in Pittsburgh since Three Rivers Stadium opened in 1970.

Division races

The Western Division race started with Baltimore losing its opener at Minnesota, 34–24. After that, the Colts went on an 11-game winning streak, taking the lead on October 4 with their 35–20 win over the Rams, and clinching a spot in the title game on November 22.

In the Eastern Division, the Browns and the Cardinals played to a 33–33 tie on September 20 and were both 4–1–1 after six games. In Week Seven, Cleveland beat New York 42–20, while St. Louis fell to Dallas, 31–13. When the Cardinals beat the Browns 28–19 in Week Thirteen, they were only a game behind and needed a win and a Cleveland loss to have a chance for a playoff. St. Louis won, 36–34 in Philadelphia, but Cleveland also won, 52–20 over the Giants.

Week	Western		Eastern
1	4 teams (Det, GB, LA, Min)	1–0–0	3 teams (Cle, Phi, StL)	1–0–0
2	Tie (Det, LA)	1–0–1	Tie (Cle, StL)	1–0–1
3	Los Angeles Rams	2–0–1	Tie (Cle, StL)	2–0–1
4	Baltimore Colts	3–1–0	Tie (Cle, StL)	3–0–1
5	Baltimore Colts	4–1–0	Tie (Cle, StL)	3–1–1
6	Baltimore Colts	5–1–0	Tie (Cle, StL)	4–1–1
7	Baltimore Colts	6–1–0	Cleveland Browns	5–1–1
8	Baltimore Colts	7–1–0	Cleveland Browns	6–1–1
9	Baltimore Colts	8–1–0	Cleveland Browns	7–1–1
10	Baltimore Colts	9–1–0	Cleveland Browns	8–1–1
11	Baltimore Colts	10–1–0	Cleveland Browns	8–2–1
12	Baltimore Colts	11–1–0	Cleveland Browns	9–2–1
13	Baltimore Colts	11–2–0	Cleveland Browns	9–3–1
14	Baltimore Colts	12–2–0	Cleveland Browns	10–3–1

Final standings

NFL Eastern Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Cleveland Browns	10	3	1	.769	9–2–1	415	293	W1
St. Louis Cardinals	9	3	2	.750	8–2–2	357	331	W4
Philadelphia Eagles	6	8	0	.429	6–6	312	313	L1
Washington Redskins	6	8	0	.429	5–7	307	305	L2
Dallas Cowboys	5	8	1	.385	4–7–1	250	289	W1
Pittsburgh Steelers	5	9	0	.357	5–7	253	315	L1
New York Giants	2	10	2	.167	2–8–2	241	399	L4

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	12	2	0	.857	10–2	428	225	W1
Green Bay Packers ^{[lower-alpha 1]}	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	342	245	T1
Minnesota Vikings	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	355	296	W3
Detroit Lions	7	5	2	.583	6–4–2	280	260	W2
Los Angeles Rams	5	7	2	.417	3–7–2	283	339	T1
Chicago Bears	5	9	0	.357	5–7	260	379	L2
San Francisco 49ers	4	10	0	.286	3–9	236	330	L1

↑ Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

Postseason

NFL Championship Game

Cleveland 27, Baltimore 0 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, in Cleveland, Ohio on December 27.

Playoff Bowl

The Playoff Bowl was between the division runners-up, for third place in the league. This was its fifth year, and it was played a week after the title game.

St. Louis 24, Green Bay 17 at Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida, January 3, 1965

Awards

Most Valuable Player	Johnny Unitas, quarterback, Baltimore Colts
Coach of the Year	Don Shula, Baltimore Colts

Coaching changes

Philadelphia Eagles: Nick Skorich was replaced by Joe Kuharich.

Stadium changes

The Pittsburgh Steelers started to play full time at Pitt Stadium, no longer holding games at Forbes Field

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References

Works cited

NFL Record and Fact Book ( ISBN 1-932994-36-X)
NFL History 1961–1970 (Last accessed December 4, 2005)
Total Football: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League ( ISBN 0-06-270174-6)

Footnotes

↑ "Halas Plans More Attack". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. July 14, 1964. sec. 2, p. 7.
↑ Finney, Peter (September 17, 1969). "Determining 40 Plus 7". New Orleans States-Item. New Orleans. p. 36.
↑ Internet Archive's 25th Anniversary Logo

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[8-5-4] Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

[T-P_7-14-1964-1] "Halas Plans More Attack". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans. July 14, 1964. sec. 2, p. 7.

[S-I_9-17-1969-2] Finney, Peter (September 17, 1969). "Determining 40 Plus 7". New Orleans States-Item. New Orleans. p. 36.

[3] Internet Archive's 25th Anniversary Logo

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