Great Teams, Great Games Yearbook

Now in our new format!
New easy-to-read team chart layouts include full player names.   We've also included ballcarrier finder charts broken down by types of play (inside vs. outside runs and types of passes). New features also include team ratings for penalties, turnovers and kick coverage units.  All teams are printed in color on glossy stock.

Now you can re-create some of the greatest championship games in professional football history, with Second Season's "Great Teams, Great Games" set! You get both teams from each of the following ten games, that's 20 teams in all!

1950N Cleveland vs. 1950N Los Angeles (December 24, 1950): A legendary battle between Cleveland's champions of the defunct post-war rival league, freshly-merged into the established league, and pitted against a Los Angeles team that had unleashed a history-making passing attack featuring two all-star quarterbacks. A late field goal gave Cleveland a memorable 30-28 victory.

1958N Baltimore vs. 1958N New York (December 27, 1958): Hailed for years by sportswriters as "the greatest pro football game ever played," this overtime battle was watched by millions on national television and is generally credited for launching the television age of pro football. Led by the passing of "Johnny U" and the running of "The Horse," who crashed over the goal line six minutes into the sudden-death period, Baltimore pulled out a thrilling 23-17 win.

1962N New York vs. 1962N Green Bay (December 30, 1962): Coached by the legendary gap-toothed coach, and featuring a roster loaded with hall-of-fame players, this Green Bay squad is considered by many to have been the best team in pro football history, running through the regular season with a 13-1 record and finishing with a 16-7 demolition of New York in the championship game. New York was led by the bald-headed quarterback in the twilight of his career who fired a record 34 touchdown passes in the regular season.

1962A Dallas vs. 1962A Houston (December 23, 1962): The upstart league's most memorable championship game, tied at 17-17 at the end of regulation, and notable for the Dallas team's coin-toss blunder to start the overtime period. (The Dallas captain mistakenly gave Houston both the ball and the wind advantage to start the overtime!) Dallas recovered to win what was then the longest pro football game ever played, 20-17, with a short field goal in the opening minutes of the sixth period. Dallas' dangerous ground game matched up against Houston's wide-open pass attack.

1968N Baltimore vs. 1968A New York (January 12, 1969): Experts snickered when the shaggy-haired quarterback of the underdog New York team "guaranteed" a victory for his upstart league champions against an established Baltimore squad that had breezed through the regular season with a 13-1 record, and had recorded a 34-0 shutout of powerful Cleveland in the playoffs. But when the final gun sounded, New York had secured a 16-7 win and the greatest upset in pro football championship history.

1969N Minnesota vs. 1969A Kansas City (January 11, 1970): In the final championship game before the merger of the two professional football leagues, Minnesota's stingy "Purple People Eater" defense made the team from the established league an odds-on favorite to manhandle Kansas City's upstart league champions. But Kansas City's dapper coach put together a brilliant game plan, and it was the Kansas City defense that made the big plays, sending Minnesota to a 23-7 defeat and giving the upstart league a memorable win in the last game it ever played.

1972A Miami vs. 1972N Washington (January 14, 1973): The 1972 Miami squad did what no other team from the established league had ever done--go through an entire season undefeated. Led by the square-jawed head coach, the bespectacled, cerebral quarterback, and a trio of talented runners--two of whom hit the thousand-yard mark--the Miami squad finished with fourteen wins in fourteen games, and capped the perfect season with a 14-7 defeat of Washington's "Over the Hill Gang" in the championship game.

1978A Pittsburgh vs. 1978N Dallas (January 21, 1979): One of the most exciting championship games of the '70s, pitting two of the decade's most successful franchises--Pittsburgh's brute strength against Dallas' hi-tech flash. Pittsburgh's quick-strike offense forged a 35-17 lead, but Dallas' never-say-die squad staged a last-minute comeback that ultimately fell just short in a 35-31 defeat. Both team's rosters feature hall-of-fame performers on both offense and defense.

1985N Chicago vs. 1985A New England (January 26, 1986): Chicago's legendary squad featured memorable characters like "Da Coach," "The Refrigerator," and the punky quarterback with the shades, and they roared through the regular season with a 15-1 record. New England made it to the championship game as a wild-card entry, with a Cinderella-like post-season surge of three road victories against favored opponents. Midnight struck a little too early for Cinderella, though, as Chicago stormed to an embarrassingly-easy 46-10 championship victory.

1988N San Francisco vs. 1988A Cincinnati (January 22, 1989): Hailed by many as the best championship game ever played since the merger of the two leagues. The game was tied at 3-3, 6-6, and 13-13, before Cincinnati took a late lead on a 40 yard field goal. After the kickoff, San Francisco found itself on its own eight yard-line, trailing 16-13, with three minutes to go. Then came "the drive," engineered by San Francisco's remarkable quarterback. Eleven plays and ninety-two yards later, San Francisco had taken the lead 20-16, and Cincinnati was unable to score in the 34 seconds left over.