The Hit (Chuck Bednarik)

Last updated
The Hit
DateNovember 20, 1960
Stadium Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York City, United States

"The Hit" is a phrase used to describe one of the most famous plays in the history of the National Football League. The game was played November 20, 1960 between the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants at the original Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York.

Contents

On the play, Chuck Bednarik, a linebacker with the Eagles, tackled Frank Gifford, a running back for the Giants, in the game's fourth quarter, knocking Gifford unconscious. He was removed from the field on a stretcher and transported by ambulance to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with a deep concussion. The hit is considered by NFL analysts and fans to be the most, or certainly among the most, vicious defensive tackles in professional football history. [1]

Bednarik's tackle, which was perfectly legal and drew no penalty, has been widely described over the years as likely the hardest and most vicious tackle in the history of the National Football League. Gifford was hospitalized for ten days. [2]

Gifford's injuries forced him to retire from the NFL. However, after undergoing 18 months of recovery, he ultimately returned with the Giants in 1962, before permanently retiring in 1964. [3]

Background

Chuck Bednarik

Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik's 1952 playing card ChuckBednarik1952Bowman.jpg
Philadelphia Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik's 1952 playing card

Chuck Bednarik was one of the last National Football League two-way players. As the league developed, it became too physically demanding for most players to play both offense and defense and the two-way system was incrementally phased out with Bednarik being the last NFL player still playing two-ways.

Even before the hit, Bednarik was widely known for his toughness and durability, which earned him the nickname Concrete Charlie, although Bednarik himself stated that he acquired the nickname from his off-season job selling ready mixed concrete. Bednarik was the son of immigrants from Slovakia; he played high school football for Liberty High School in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. Liberty High School competes in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, one of the nation's most competitive athletic divisions with a significant number of the conference's athletes going on to professional athletic careers in the Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League, and in Olympic-level global competition.

After graduating from Liberty High School, Bednarik joined the U.S. Army Air Forces, where he flew B-24 raids over Germany during World War II, earning an Air Medal, four Oak Leaf Clusters, the European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and four Battle Stars. [4] Following the end of the war, he played college football, where he started on both offense and defense, for the Penn Quakers in Philadelphia. He was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles with the first overall selection in the 1949 NFL draft. Bednarik played his entire 14-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles, playing both offense and defense and missing just three games over his career. Following his retirement in 1962, the Eagles retired Bednarik's #60 jersey number in honor of his accomplishments. In 1967, in his first year of eligibility, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [5]

Frank Gifford

New York Giants running back Frank Gifford, c. 1952 Frank gifford ball.jpg
New York Giants running back Frank Gifford, c. 1952

Frank Gifford was born in Santa Monica, California and went on to play college football for USC Trojans in Los Angeles. Gifford was drafted eleventh overall by the New York Giants in the 1952 NFL draft. [6] Like Bednarik, he played for only one team in his NFL career. He was a running back for the Giants from 1952 through the 1960 injury, after which he announced his retirement. In 1962, he mounted a comeback with the Giants before announcing his permanent retirement following the 1964 season.

In 1977, a decade after Bednarik's 1967 induction, Gifford was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. [7] Following his retirement, he became an actor and sports commentator for Monday Night Football from 1986 until 1997. In 1986, he married television personality Kathie Lee Gifford.

The Hit

The November 20, 1960 game between the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx was an important one for both teams with first place in the division at stake with its outcome. The Giants took a 10–0 lead at halftime but the Eagles rallied to take a 17–10 lead in the fourth quarter on a fumble return for a touchdown by Jimmy Carr. With less than two minutes to play, Gifford caught a short pass from George Shaw and was met almost immediately by Bednarik, whose clothesline tackle dropped Gifford immediately to the ground, where he fumbled the football, which was recovered by linebacker Chuck Weber to secure the win.

As Gifford lay motionless on the field, Bednarik stood over him, raising his arms in celebration in what has become an iconic but controversial image, since it appeared to be an excessive celebration of Gifford's injury. Bednarik later said he was unaware of the magnitude of injuries sustained by Gifford and was merely celebrating what was an impactful play that won the game for Philadelphia. Gifford later was also forgiving, saying "Chuck hit me exactly the way I would have hit him. With his shoulder, a clean shot. That's football." [1]

Reactions

Bednarik and Gifford's deaths in 2015

Bedarik and Gifford both died in 2015: Bednarik died March 21 in Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, at age 89, and Gifford died August 9 in Greenwich, Connecticut, at age 84.

An autopsy was conducted on Gifford's brain following his death, which found that he lived with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease closely related to repeated head trauma. Dozens of NFL players have since been similarly diagnosed with CTE as awareness of the correlation between head trauma and its onset has grown. [12] The family released the autopsy results publicly, saying in a statement, "After losing our beloved husband and father, Frank Gifford, we as a family made the difficult decision to have his brain studied in hopes of contributing to the advancement of medical research concerning the link between football and traumatic brain injury...We decided to disclose our loved one's condition to honor Frank's legacy of promoting player safety dating back to his involvement in the formation of the NFL Players Association in the 1950s." [13]

Prior to Gifford's autopsy, 91 other NFL players tested for the disease with 87 being diagnosed positive for it. Gifford's high-profile diagnosis gained broad attention and accelerating pressure on the NFL to take steps to enhance player safety. [14]

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References

  1. 1 2 Burke, Garrett (June 8, 2020). "The Facts and Fiction Behind Chuck Bednarik's Hit on Wide Receiver Frank Gifford". Sportscasting.com. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ "When Frank Gifford was knocked out by one of the most vicious tackles in NFL history," History.com, September 20, 2021
  3. ↑ "Hardest Hitters in NFL History," Sports Illustrated, July 25, 2007
  4. ↑ "Football and America: World War II," Professional Football Hall of Fame.
  5. ↑ "Chuck Bednarik" at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
  6. ↑ Kupper, Mike (August 9, 2015). "Frank Gifford dies at 84; Pro Football Hall of Famer, TV sportscaster". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
  7. ↑ Boren, Cindy (August 9, 2015). "Frank Gifford, Hall of Fame player and 'Monday Night Football' broadcaster, dies at 84". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on August 10, 2015.
  8. ↑ "44: Chuck Bednarik hit on Frank Gifford," NFL.com
  9. ↑ "Chuck Bednark: As tough as they come", The Denver Post , August 31, 2014, retrieved May 2, 2024
  10. ↑ "Chuck Bednarik's hit on Frank Gifford still echoes," The New York Times, November 20, 2010
  11. ↑ "Chuck Bednarik dead at 89: NFL's last iron man was best known for vicious hit on Frank Gifford," New York Daily News, March 21, 2015
  12. ↑ Breslow, Jason M. (September 18, 2015). "New: 87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
  13. ↑ "Hall of Fame player Frank Gifford suffered from CTE, family says". ESPN.com. November 25, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  14. ↑ Breslow, Jason M. (September 18, 2015). "New: 87 Deceased NFL Players Test Positive for Brain Disease". Frontline. PBS. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
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