The Ice Bowl: Own the Moment
December 31st, 1967. Green Bay, Wisconsin. Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers host Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys.
THE STAKES.
For the Cowboys: revenge against a Packers team beating them in the same game one year before. For the Packers: an historic run for three consecutive World Championships.
Welcome to the 1967 NFL Championship Game.
Welcome to hell on earth.
A cold front moves in far earlier— and far colder than anticipated. At kickoff the weather is -15 degrees Fahrenheit; -48 with wind chill factored.
It is not only the coldest title game ever played in the NFL, but the coldest New Year’s Eve in Green Bay history.
A marching band preparing for the halftime show are forced to cancel. Frozen woodwind instruments do not function. Brass instruments instantly freeze to the lips of performers; seven are hospitalized with hypothermia. A Referee’s whistle freezes to his lip and, when pulled off, pulls skin with it. Whistles are banned; referees use signals and voice commands in their place. An elderly man dies in the stadium; death due to “exposure” of the elements. For the players themselves, frostbite becomes endemic. Common in the hands though particularly bad in the feet— causing toes to turn purple and nails to fall off.
THE GAME.
Conditions on the field rapidly deteriorate. With no halftime show to keep the playing field churned, sheets of jagged ice take form. The sun descends. The wind accelerates. The temperature drops. The field falls into shadow.
It is now -20 degrees.
After a 14-0 rampage, the Packers surrender 10 points from two turnovers. On a halfback option play, Dallas’s Dan Reeves throws a 50-yard touchdown strike to receiver Lance Rentzel.
The Cowboys now lead.
The Packers answer, driving the ball 68 yards.
First and goal.
Bart Starr hands off to Donny Anderson, desperate to punch through for the game-winning touchdown. Anderson’s feet slip as he stumbles back at the one yard line.
2nd and goal.
Again Starr hands off to Anderson for the go-ahead touchdown. Again Anderson slips on the ice, barely securing the ball before stumbling, once more, at the one yard line.
3rd and goal.
The next play will be the last— time is gone. One yard to go in impossible conditions.
THE MOMENT.
The Packers call a time-out. Starr runs to Lombardi on the sideline.
Starr:
"Coach, the linemen can get their footing for the Wedge, but the backs are slipping. I'm right there, I can just shuffle my feet and lunge in."
Lombardi:
"Run it, and let's get the hell out of here."
Starr returns to the huddle. With no intent of handing the ball off, Starr tells the team it will be a fullback run play.
The Packers offense, the Dallas Doomsday defense, the fans, and the sports world watch as Starr keeps the ball— diving head-first across the goal line— and into history.
OWN THE MOMENT.
Whether on the horizon or somewhere beyond—your moment is coming.
Three words to guide you: courage, hustle, and heart. Courage to step away from comfort toward your highest pursuit. Hustle to do so with swift action. Heart to do so with relentless resolve.
Be brave. Be bold. Be fearless.
You will deliver.
You will own the moment.
And you will shine.
Mark Joseph Huckabee
Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
—Vince Lombardi
