Seeing foreigners shock reacting to the extreme weather conditions we play football in never disappoints. Remember football is a kids game and we grow up playing football in rain, sleet and snow. It's sooooooo much fun.
The “mud pit” was the infield of a baseball diamond. Back in the day baseball and football teams would share a stadium. You guys should look up the Ice Bowl.
Trafalgar, love the icon and character. Wish he hadn’t died so we could see what his reaction to Luffy being the Private King was. At least now he is back together with Corazon
Football is meant to played outdoors in all sorts of weather, it's a part of the nature of the game, even though a few teams play in indoor stadiums, bad weather rarely stop the games. Lightning in the area is the one thing that will delay a NFL game quicker than anything else. But, I love the bad weather games, especially when a warn weather team or an indoors team have to play in it, it's fun to see how they adjust their games.
Agreed. Nothing better than a pass heavy offense that plays indoors has to go play outdoors against a run heavy team that would usually be the underdog.
In the 1970s, the Los Angeles Rams met the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs several times. The first few were all in Minnesota (because the Vikings had the superior regular-season record) and the Vikings won them all, and because it was so damn cold in Minnesota in December, there was a lot of complaining from the Rams about how unfair it was to have to play in such ridiculous conditions and if we ever get them at home blah blah blah. So when in 1977, the Rams finally had the home field, they were thrilled…and then it rained like anything (in Southern California, no less!) and we got the "Mud Bowl" seen in the video and the Rams lost anyhow. The best-whined plans…
Growing up in America, we remember playing in the yard with our friends and getting dirty, wet, muddy and bruised up. It was fun to knock your friend into a mud puddle or pile of dog poop. We liked the challenge that foul weather brought to the game. When we watch professionals play in those conditions, it's nostalgic and entertaining to watch them struggle. We feel connected to the players because we see ourselves on the field like when we were kids.
@@rossfryer3902 Gravel street here with some softer areas toward the outside of our playing area. Nothing like getting pummeled into the pea-sized gravel to remind you that football is no game for whimps.
Yep. Grew up in upstate NY in 60's and 70's. By October it was cold, rainy some snow. By November/December we played pick up games in several feet of snow. The worst was hard frozen ground after a rain or melted off snow. Felt like you were getting tackled on concrete.
The fog game (11:07) was one of the craziest things I ever saw. It was an odd meteorological phenomenon of humidity, wind, and unusually localized atmospheric pressure which settled over the stadium - and ONLY the stadium. Literally a quarter mile away, the visibility was perfect. But that fog settled over Soldier Field, and remained there for two hours. The announcers in the press box literally could not see the field, much less make out what was happening.
A similar effect hit Jacksonville during either the Gator Bowl or Florida/Georgia game. They had a cameraman go to midfield to show that you couldn't see either goalpost. By the time he got there you couldn't see either team on the sidelines.
With American football, the element and pride in being “tough” is the vital key to playing in all weather. These football players are regarded as our warriors. Playing through all elements is part of the game.
The Eagles had a Hell of a Defensive Line with Jerome Brown (R.I.P.) , Mike Golic, Clyde SImmons , and the absolute legend Reggie White! When I played Fantasy Football in the late Eighties & early Nineties Philadelphia's defense were one of THE ELITE defenses to have! Fly, Eagles Fly!
@@seanmonetathchi1060 coach was pretty good at defense. Should have fired Ditka and just made Buddy the coach. The 84 Bears defense is still the best pass rush defense in history.
To call a game off is a logistical nightmare for team schedules especially during the playoffs which was the "Fog Bowl". There is little to no time to re-schedule a game as teams usually have only a short amount of time to prepare for the next game. The most recent game that was cancelled (Cincinnati Bengals v Buffalo Bills) could not be made up. Delays are the only option for the vast majority of games.
And I believe that might have changed the entire course of the season too. If that game was played and let's say Buffalo beat them during the regular season, Buffalo would have been #1 seed and KC would have been #2. The matchups would have been different and Buffalo would've hosted all games. Now this game wasn't postponed because of bad weather but due to a severe injury. I think this hurt their morale. They did beat Miami but barely and then failed to show up against the Bengals. If that game was played out during the regular season I think things might have turned out differently.
To be fair, that Bengals/Bills game could have easily been made up the next day if it had been a weather issue. The specific circumstances are what caused the game to not be re-scheduled.
@@skilz8098 There's no might about it. That decision absolutely changed the playoff situation. If that game was completed KC would have been the #2 seed regardless of the outcome. The winner of the bengals/bills game would have been the #1 seed. Because if the bills would have won they would have had a better record outright. And if the bengals won they all would have had the same record but the bengals held the tie breaker over both KC and buffalo.
@@skilz8098 Many Bengals fans around here complained the game wasn't finished or rescheduled. They felt the Bengals were bound to win and that the league stole a victory from them.
3:00 the field crew would run up the 5 yard lines with a snow shovel every stopage (like change of possession or a commercial break) to clear the main yard lines and out of bounds lines. The numbers there are just superimposed on the broadcast feed just like the blue line of scrimmage and yellow first down lines. Actually kind of cool that they can just plug that right into their automated system to put the numbers in there.
I only ever went to one very snowy game. Ravens vs Vikings in I think like 2013. Boring as hell for like 58 minutes.. then like 5 TDs in like 2 min. The field looked terrible from the seats, but then seeing the TVs walking back in is where I realized they did that to the numbers ha.
They left out the most famous bad weather game, the 1967 Ice Bowl. Dallas played Green Bay for the NFC championship to see who’d go to Super Bowl #2. Green Bay won. It wasn’t piles of snow or precipitation, but it was super cold, like -15 degrees F, and the field was icy.
The field itself was actually frozen solid during that game. Players used their spikes to rough it up to gain traction. Several of the players actually had frostbite. Still, a truly great game.
The excitement of football is the extreme tactical nature of the sport. In these sorts of games the weather also affects the tactics. It turns the game into running the ball much more and teams that are really good at throwing the ball might struggle.
Eagles VS Lions in the snow: The Eagles head coach Chip Kelly overheard cornerback (defense) Cary Williams say that they were slipping and falling any time a Lions player would cut once in the snow so he changed the offense strategy to lean into plays where receivers do things like double moves (anything to get the defenders to slip and fall as they struggled to keep up) and running back (and Barry Sanders style runner who also played in the Buffalo snow game) LeSean McCoy broke ankles and burned guys. Eagles won. NFL is fun because each play is a different strategy.
Funnily enough I was at the Lions/Eagles Snow Bowl. My jacket was so warm I had to pull down the zipper a little, even while snow was piling on my head. What a game
@9:00 To answer your question about why fans ran on the field: That was a 1976 exhibition game between college all-stars and the defending NFL champions Pittsburgh Steelers, held in Chicago. The game was halted due to lightning in the 3rd quarter, which turned out to be permanent. Once the game was stopped, fans ran on the field. That turned out to be the last game between college all-stars and the defending NFL champs. Hope that helps! Keep up the great work!
It really let's you know who wants to play football and who does not. Cold Weather hits and hitting. The real players come out. That is why Hockey is my sport, small car crashes on ice is fun to watch and more fun to dish it out.
My high school football coach would always say “when the weather gets shitty we get giddy” I can confidently say bad weather games were the ones we played the hardest
2:26 I went to the Snow Bowl as a kid with my brother and parents and it was amazing. You couldn't see the players when they were down in the far endzone but when McCoy ran to us for a touchdown it was like magic. My dad and mom walking through the snow trudging to get into the stadium was like a scene out of Star Wars lol. It did get warmer as things went along in the 2nd half at least - got used to it as long as you were bundled up. When I had left a previous freezing game three years earlier I felt like my feet were burning from frostbite 😅
I was at the Eagles snow game. They had equipment to clear the lines and sicne their are seperate offensive and defensive squads for each team. Players on the field had jackets and heated benches to sit on
Honestly bad weather games are what I like most about American football. Loved it as a kid, slipping all over the place in mud or snow. Although a good hit can really, really hurt in the cold!
There is something awesome about going to a freezing cold game. It’s just great “football weather” and it adds to the experience. It really makes me feel gritty and like I’m struggling through the game with my team
One reason why games are almost never called off is because there are only slightly more than a dozen games in a season. Literally every single game has massive implications for the post season and who ends up being champion. You’re not changing the course of an entire season over rain or snow. If the game *can* be played, it *will* be played.
@@hrussell9677 first of all, that is slightly more than a dozen. Second of all, they’re watching clips from all over history, when the season had a variety of different lengths - ALL slightly longer than a dozen. So fuck off.
Football is played in any weather except lightning. Two teams have an equal disadvantage and it's very fun. NFL games are very hard to make up and/or be rescheduled. The logistics are too great so they just decide to play. You should see the games with 50+ mph winds. Great channel.
2:36 So much of the field indicators you are seeing in this more modern example are TV affects, not actually what’s physically shown if you were there live. The camera system the NFL uses to show the yellow line to indicate where the first down marker would be can also digitally reproduce the yard numbers & lines for the viewer at home. There are groundskeepers with snowblowers that will try to keep the vertical lines every 5 yards visible to the players during TV breaks, etc.
It's a common staple of American football movies to feature a game in bad weather.. Leatherheads, Invincible, Wildcats, Any Given Sunday, Necessary Roughness, they all featured at least one game in the rain and mud. When it is rare for professional teams to have a domed stadium, it is almost certain for any amateur team to play several games in poor weather throughout the season.
Bad weather is just a natural part of the game. It brings back memories from childhood. Since toughness is characteristic of gridiron football, playing in any kind of weather showcases how tough players are. Fans are passionate and will endure any kind of weather for their favorite team which is a sign of brotherhood. Going nuts during bad weather is just good ol' fun!
9:00 the field invasion happened because the Steelers were playing the best college seniors in a exhabition game in the 70s and the college students just started rushing the field in a rain storm
As a kid in the 70s, we LOVED the snow games! Like you said, you just don't know what might happen. Thanks for these reactions; it helps us recapture what we love about American Football :)
I feel like y'all would also love to watch some of the NFL Throwback videos. Specifically the ones about the evolution of the teams' stadiums and the one about the evolution of the team logos and helmets.
The game played “in a hurricane “ was an exhibition game! It was an annual pre season game between the NFL champions and the college all stars. That tradition died after that game.
I played football during highschool in Oregon. Doesn't matter how cold it got, we were moving around and working hard that we didn't have any issue with being too cold.
@3:10 they do have people to come out and clean the lines and numbers, some fields are also heated to try and reduce buildup(I mean the grass is heated to be clear). And they don't stop the game to do it they do it between plays when the game stops on it's own most of the time.
The Most Famous Bad Weather Game in NFL History was the ICE BOWL, between the Packers and Cowboys played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay in December 1966 for the NFL Championship. The Temperature was -15 and the wind chill - 45. The Packers won 21-17 on a last second Touchdown to go on to Super Bowl II....
Missing one game in the NFL system can really screw with the standings as was shown when the game was called this year between the Bengals and the Bills.
Playing football in the mud or snow is is like a right of passage. If you’ve never been tackled from behind and had your face driven into the mud by your friend then youre not fully prepared to be a man
The oldest clips in this video occurred more than a half-century ago. Surprisingly few are from recent decades (aside from snow games). The main reason is that the technology for field drainage means that contemporary fields handle torrential rains better than the fields of yesteryear. Teams invest more in fields that protect player safety, another reason they better endure wild weather than in the past. Some Cities prone to wild weather also opted for domed or covered stadiums, so fewer venues left that can generate games like the ones featured here.
The reason there was a mud pit in the middle of the field is that some fields are duel purpose use for football and baseball so all that mud is the infield of the baseball field. It would cost the city to much money to build two different fields they are paid for by the city and citizens taxes. Your channel is pretty cool I just stumbled upon it and have watched a few of your videos. Great job
That mud pit in the middle of the field is the base paths of a baseball diamond. In the past, many NFL teams shared a stadium with major league baseball teams and when seasons overlapped, they didn't bother with trying to put grass on those spots. You just ran into dirt on part of the football field. That pretty much stopped in the 1980s. Turf technology both real grass and artificial has gotten much better since the 1980s.
When it comes to bad weather games as a fan most of us love that experience. It's our opportunity to say "I was there" and also for the home fans it's weather they're used to so it's like it's a chance for the fans to show everyone watching everywhere else how tough we are because we deal with this all the time. It's like a badge of honor for certain cities to say "we're tougher than you, look what we put up with".
For a time as a kid I lived in the Texas Panhandle, which often gets brutal snow in winter. The closest I’ve ever come to freezing to death was at one of these games, my family would go watch the local high school play, and man a blizzard erupted in a final playoff game.
Snow and rain games were the absolute most fun I've ever had in sports, it evens the "playing field" especially for someone like me. I was never the fastest so when the weather was bad I could chase the skill guys closer as a linebacker. Also sliding around on the field after a tackle or scrambling for a fumble in mud or a few inches of snow was like playing in the yard as a kid.. Close to that was rain games in baseball (lightning delays or cancels those games a lot tho)
5:30 That is Joe Robbie Stadium. When the Florida Marlins joined the MLB in '93, they shared the stadium with the Miami Dolphins for about a month when the seasons overlapped. The mud is the clay from the baseball infield. The Marlins got their own stadium in 2012.
In low-visibility weather, the running game is pretty much everything. Your passing game is often lost so that's all you have left. Especially true with heavy falling snow and fog.
I was at that Philadelphia-Detroit snow game that they showed footage of. Just to be clear, the yard line indicators (30, 40, 50 etc) were superimposed on the field by the network. That's why they look so pristine. The stripes at every five yard interval were shoveled during every timeout on the field. They were sort of able to keep up with that. Incidentally that storm was a shock. We had been told to expect a light dusting at some point. And pregame, everything was fine. But just before kickoff, it started to come down...HARD. I think they got about eight inches in an hour. It tapered off in the second half but by then the damage was done. Luckily the game ended happily for us Eagles fans. After falling behind 14-0, they came back and won, actually pulling away at the end.
In some stadiums they have heated fields to help keep the yard markers and lines visible And in other snow games the only times that they are able to keep the lines and numbers visible is during the break between quarters and at half. Of course, if the snow is heavy enough they can only try at half time but even they they will be covered pretty quickly.
Feb.'22 we had the World Cup qualifying game (USvHonduras) , was extremely cold below 0°F (-18c) ... windchills were -17F (-27c) ... NFL MN Vikings provided cold weather gear to the teams. in-sole warmers, heated bench, heated vests, quarterback pouch for goalkeeper hands, etc. Was a sold out crowd but a really a bad call by FIFA not to postpone a couple days. I felt bad for Honduras goalkeeper left at halftime with hypothermia.
2:45 How they keep the lines during heavy snow is that most fields in cold weather areas where it tends to snow during the season have heaters under the lines/numbers to keep the snow from obstructing them.
The game where the fans stormed the field in a rainstorm was indeed called off due to severe weather. That game was a meaningless exhibition game between the previous season's NFL champion (which at the time were the Pittsburgh Steelers) and a team of College All-Stars. It was the last time such a game was played. The game with the fog completely obstructing the view was a Divisional Playoff Game. The two teams (Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles) were playing for the right to play in the NFC Championship Game (which was scheduled for the following week). There was thus no time to play a make-up game. So the game had to continue. Incidentally, both of the above games took place at the same stadium (Soldier Field in Chicago).
I played soccer in high school. I loved rain/mud games. The only thing that shut us down is lightning. I don’t think it’s the sport, I think it’s the culture. We’ll play in anything
I played at a higher level and disliked poor weather. That being said, if the other side is much better than your side then the poor conditions can be the great equalizer your side needed. 😉
Many of these clips are from the 70's. The fields were natural turf and many of the stadiums were "multiple use" facilities, meaning that they played football and baseball on the same fields. That is why you see so much mud on sections of the field. On most fields seen, the muddy areas are where the infield of the baseball layouts were. At 4:16 of the video, you'll notice the two legged goalposts are at the back of the end zone. For the 1974 season, the NFL moved the goalposts there to make the game safer (players would hit the two legged posts when they were on the goal line). This move lowered field goal attempts and opened up the passing game leading to what we see today.
Football has a history of being very hardcore. In the early days of the game there were many players who died while playing. So stopping because of bad weather has throughout most of the history of the game been seen as weak and frowned upon. Also it changes the game drastically and in American football with there being so few games in a season to decide who is the best, it makes sense to test the teams in all conditions. For example in cold weather games the ball's surface becomes frigidly cold and the pressure in the ball drops which softens it. The hands of the players also lose some of their movement because of the cold which makes cold weather games favor the defense and the running game over the passing game. In rainy games the ball and field becomes slippery and it results in more fumbles, slips, and other mistakes by both teams. This is also why some teams choose to have indoor or outdoor stadiums, different kinds of teams will be favored in different environments. It's also great fun to watch the teams battle it out and see who's tougher and who can take on the adverse conditions better.
They play in everything but lightning. There have been crazy rain, snow, fog, insane heat/humidity etc. what they didn’t show was some of the bitter cold games such as Green Bay vs Dallas in the Ice Bowl in Green Bay. Air temp was around -15F which is -26 Celsius or the 1981 AFC championship game in Cincinnati where it was -9F but wind chill was -59F or -50.6C. Funny thing is the opponent was San Diego who had beaten Miami in Miami the week before where the temp was 76F but with 80% humidity. So in a week they played in a game that was 85 degrees colder than the previous game. We were about an hour north of Cincinnati and we’re playing outside that day. The wind was brutal.
The weather in Texas can be crazy. Years ago I went to a basketball game in a town 10 miles from my hometown. I snowed so much that we were housed in unused dorm rooms. I called my wife to tell her I was snowed in and she asked me what snow. The snow only covered a small area around the town I was in and down south of us.
Many of the extremely muddy games are older than the 1980's, a lot of the stadiums were dual purpose with both professional baseball and football being played in the same stadium and the seasons over lap in the early fall. So the grass had been worn by most of a season of baseball, then football starts and really tears it up. Most of the current stadiums are single purpose and there's been huge advances in stadium design and playing surfaces, in addition some of the teams in poor weather areas are either on artificial turf or indoor now.
The mud pit is like a sand hazard in golf, put there to take the difficulty up another level. For the Championships, they make it a deeper moat and add crocodiles.
Alot of those games were old games in the 70’s and 80’s. Those games always turn out to be great games. And the voice narration in the old clips is John Facenda (AKA The Voice of the NFL) check out some NFL Films clips from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s along with the music is pure gold.
Green Bay's field is nicknamed the Frozen Tundra. There have been games played against the Packers when they had home field advantage, and the temperature would be below zero. There was a few games where the field became frozen mud.
The winters are cold where I'm from and full of snow. We all LOVED playing in snow games when we got the chance. Once you're running around you don't feel the cold as much. You feel it a bit when you hit/get hit by someone though.
Most teams have turf now, but back in the 70s,80s,and early 90s teams had natural grass and visually it was fun to see. The phrase "mudders" was certain players who could run the same in rain and mud.
I don't think you are correct. I believe slightly more stadiums have grass. But it fairly even. Even so, there is a big difference between the turf of toda that has individual blades with rubber infill and the turn of the 70s and 80s that was basically just carpet, perhaps over padding.
Between the way turf is done now and the number of domed stadiums, it's getting rare to get a completely muddy swamp. Those conditions make for some classic battles.
Nothing more fun than football in the snow. We played backyard football in the snow growing up. No pads, just sweatpants and long sleeved shirts w team jerseys overtop. Its a BLAST.
bad weather can be a great equalizer and benefits the team that best prepares and plays things close. A wide open offense tends to have more problems if the weather and field are not set to the perfect level. So, teams that play outdoors tend to do better as the weather gets worse.
There was a football novel out about 50 years ago. The author had a dream that was my dream, too. The Super Bowl was NY Jets vs. NY Giants and he dreamed a 0-0 tie in a monsoon.
The field at 5:42 is a stadium that hosts both baseball and football games, so it had the dirt infield from the baseball part still laid out. Very few stadiums are dual use these days
At about 6:00 minutes, some of the stadiums are used for both baseball and football. So the large muddy area is normally the infield of an American baseball field (where the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases are located.
@2:48 they can see the lines only on the television. They put them in with TV technology. Once in a while the ground crew will shovel the main yard markers on the field.
There was a game between The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Miami Dolphins where it was rain/freezing rain all day, and by the time the game started, the field was nothing but a mud pit. To preface this, the local high school championships were played on Thursday and Friday, the college team played Saturday. The field was voted chopped up pretty bad by Monday. At one point, a Miami punt stuck in the field like it was on a tee. The final score was 3-0 Steelers.
My first and only NFL regular season game I ever attended was on opening day, 1987. The Miami Dolphins, with the great Dan Marino at QB, came into the old Foxboro Stadium to play the New England Patriots. The skies opened with torrential downpours. Before play started, the groundcrew used pickup truck with squeegees attached to the front to push the water off the field, but it was no use. It didn't matter what I wore; the rain went everywhere. There wasn't a dry spot on my body. The Patriots prevailed with a 21-14 victory brought about by a 4th quarter pick 6 (although back then, we didn't have that term yet) by Ronnie Lippett.
They only showed it for a brief second, but the game between Pittsburgh and Miami when the punt stuck in the ground was the craziest I've had the chance to see.
Snow doesn’t really block visibility ever, it has to be really snowing with extreme winds to do that, most NFL players say in interviews they think snow is fun
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Seeing foreigners shock reacting to the extreme weather conditions we play football in never disappoints. Remember football is a kids game and we grow up playing football in rain, sleet and snow. It's sooooooo much fun.
The “mud pit” was the infield of a baseball diamond. Back in the day baseball and football teams would share a stadium. You guys should look up the Ice Bowl.
Dual purpose outdoor stadiums are the worst.
There are still teams that do it once in a while. I know the Arizona Cardinals and Chicsgo Bears have done it recently
I was so waiting for the ice bowl!! It’s my 2nd only to the fog bowl cause that was just creepy how it appeared.
Trafalgar, love the icon and character. Wish he hadn’t died so we could see what his reaction to Luffy being the Private King was. At least now he is back together with Corazon
I'm surprised the Ice Bowl wasn't in the video.
Football is meant to played outdoors in all sorts of weather, it's a part of the nature of the game, even though a few teams play in indoor stadiums, bad weather rarely stop the games. Lightning in the area is the one thing that will delay a NFL game quicker than anything else. But, I love the bad weather games, especially when a warn weather team or an indoors team have to play in it, it's fun to see how they adjust their games.
Agreed. Nothing better than a pass heavy offense that plays indoors has to go play outdoors against a run heavy team that would usually be the underdog.
In the 1970s, the Los Angeles Rams met the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs several times. The first few were all in Minnesota (because the Vikings had the superior regular-season record) and the Vikings won them all, and because it was so damn cold in Minnesota in December, there was a lot of complaining from the Rams about how unfair it was to have to play in such ridiculous conditions and if we ever get them at home blah blah blah.
So when in 1977, the Rams finally had the home field, they were thrilled…and then it rained like anything (in Southern California, no less!) and we got the "Mud Bowl" seen in the video and the Rams lost anyhow. The best-whined plans…
I have once seen a game postponed due to snow, when there was a snowstorm in Buffalo so bad that the teams could not get to the stadium.
@@psymarI remember that. Didn’t some players get in trouble at a strip club in Toronto?
amen brother
Growing up in America, we remember playing in the yard with our friends and getting dirty, wet, muddy and bruised up. It was fun to knock your friend into a mud puddle or pile of dog poop. We liked the challenge that foul weather brought to the game. When we watch professionals play in those conditions, it's nostalgic and entertaining to watch them struggle. We feel connected to the players because we see ourselves on the field like when we were kids.
So very true! Shoutout from Georgia!
Yep, totally agree … my buddies front yard was to small for a game, so we played on the street. There wasn’t a lot of tackling.
@@rossfryer3902 Gravel street here with some softer areas toward the outside of our playing area. Nothing like getting pummeled into the pea-sized gravel to remind you that football is no game for whimps.
Yep. Grew up in upstate NY in 60's and 70's. By October it was cold, rainy some snow. By November/December we played pick up games in several feet of snow. The worst was hard frozen ground after a rain or melted off snow. Felt like you were getting tackled on concrete.
Well said, pal. You are 100% with that.
Part of what makes football fun is that it is played in whatever conditions are present.
The fog game (11:07) was one of the craziest things I ever saw. It was an odd meteorological phenomenon of humidity, wind, and unusually localized atmospheric pressure which settled over the stadium - and ONLY the stadium.
Literally a quarter mile away, the visibility was perfect. But that fog settled over Soldier Field, and remained there for two hours. The announcers in the press box literally could not see the field, much less make out what was happening.
A similar effect hit Jacksonville during either the Gator Bowl or Florida/Georgia game. They had a cameraman go to midfield to show that you couldn't see either goalpost. By the time he got there you couldn't see either team on the sidelines.
Also add in the fact that it was Mike Ditka vs Buddy Ryan.
For further context the 2nd biggest lake in the US is where the game was located, Chicago.
My sister was at the Fog Bowl and she couldn’t see a damn thing on the field.
Dick Butkiss prayed for that fog. And it worked for Da Bears.
Rain and snow games are what true lovers of the game love the most
With American football, the element and pride in being “tough” is the vital key to playing in all weather. These football players are regarded as our warriors. Playing through all elements is part of the game.
Seeing #99 fade into the fog still gets me sad, it would end up being his last game. He died that off-season in a car wreck. RIP Jerome Brown #99.
Eagles legend. Truly a great player and great person. He will be missed.
The Eagles had a Hell of a Defensive Line with Jerome Brown (R.I.P.) , Mike Golic, Clyde SImmons , and the absolute legend Reggie White! When I played Fantasy Football in the late Eighties & early Nineties Philadelphia's defense were one of THE ELITE defenses to have! Fly, Eagles Fly!
That’s so sad!
Not his last game. The fog bowl was in the calendar year 1988. Brown died in 1992.
@@seanmonetathchi1060 coach was pretty good at defense. Should have fired Ditka and just made Buddy the coach. The 84 Bears defense is still the best pass rush defense in history.
To call a game off is a logistical nightmare for team schedules especially during the playoffs which was the "Fog Bowl". There is little to no time to re-schedule a game as teams usually have only a short amount of time to prepare for the next game. The most recent game that was cancelled (Cincinnati Bengals v Buffalo Bills) could not be made up. Delays are the only option for the vast majority of games.
And I believe that might have changed the entire course of the season too. If that game was played and let's say Buffalo beat them during the regular season, Buffalo would have been #1 seed and KC would have been #2. The matchups would have been different and Buffalo would've hosted all games. Now this game wasn't postponed because of bad weather but due to a severe injury. I think this hurt their morale. They did beat Miami but barely and then failed to show up against the Bengals. If that game was played out during the regular season I think things might have turned out differently.
To be fair, that Bengals/Bills game could have easily been made up the next day if it had been a weather issue. The specific circumstances are what caused the game to not be re-scheduled.
@@skilz8098
There's no might about it. That decision absolutely changed the playoff situation. If that game was completed KC would have been the #2 seed regardless of the outcome. The winner of the bengals/bills game would have been the #1 seed. Because if the bills would have won they would have had a better record outright. And if the bengals won they all would have had the same record but the bengals held the tie breaker over both KC and buffalo.
@@Rowgue51 Yes. That is appropriate, more accurate. Thank You!
@@skilz8098 Many Bengals fans around here complained the game wasn't finished or rescheduled. They felt the Bengals were bound to win and that the league stole a victory from them.
They play through anything because that’s the rules. And because they’re tough. And they improvise. It’s fun!
3:00 the field crew would run up the 5 yard lines with a snow shovel every stopage (like change of possession or a commercial break) to clear the main yard lines and out of bounds lines. The numbers there are just superimposed on the broadcast feed just like the blue line of scrimmage and yellow first down lines. Actually kind of cool that they can just plug that right into their automated system to put the numbers in there.
I thought they had heated pipes, or wiring?
@@punkem733 They do, but all that does is make sure the field isn't frozen solid.
I only ever went to one very snowy game. Ravens vs Vikings in I think like 2013. Boring as hell for like 58 minutes.. then like 5 TDs in like 2 min. The field looked terrible from the seats, but then seeing the TVs walking back in is where I realized they did that to the numbers ha.
They left out the most famous bad weather game, the 1967 Ice Bowl. Dallas played Green Bay for the NFC championship to see who’d go to Super Bowl #2. Green Bay won. It wasn’t piles of snow or precipitation, but it was super cold, like -15 degrees F, and the field was icy.
The 2007 NFC title game between the Giants and Green bay it was almost -25 or -27.
Is the coldest game still the bengals vs chargers? It was brutally cold I’d I remember correctly.
The field itself was actually frozen solid during that game. Players used their spikes to rough it up to gain traction. Several of the players actually had frostbite. Still, a truly great game.
@@punkem733 The actual temperature in that NFC matchup was -13 to -15 degrees but the wind chill factor made it feel like -25...
@@bbkyjohnson yeah, that was the 1981 AFC title game if I remember, same year the 49ers got "THE CATCH" in San Francisco.
The excitement of football is the extreme tactical nature of the sport. In these sorts of games the weather also affects the tactics. It turns the game into running the ball much more and teams that are really good at throwing the ball might struggle.
Eagles VS Lions in the snow: The Eagles head coach Chip Kelly overheard cornerback (defense) Cary Williams say that they were slipping and falling any time a Lions player would cut once in the snow so he changed the offense strategy to lean into plays where receivers do things like double moves (anything to get the defenders to slip and fall as they struggled to keep up) and running back (and Barry Sanders style runner who also played in the Buffalo snow game) LeSean McCoy broke ankles and burned guys. Eagles won. NFL is fun because each play is a different strategy.
Funnily enough I was at the Lions/Eagles Snow Bowl. My jacket was so warm I had to pull down the zipper a little, even while snow was piling on my head. What a game
@9:00 To answer your question about why fans ran on the field: That was a 1976 exhibition game between college all-stars and the defending NFL champions Pittsburgh Steelers, held in Chicago. The game was halted due to lightning in the 3rd quarter, which turned out to be permanent. Once the game was stopped, fans ran on the field. That turned out to be the last game between college all-stars and the defending NFL champs. Hope that helps! Keep up the great work!
I've played in a couple snow games in high school. It's pretty fun but when you get hit in below freezing cold weather, it hurts twice as much.
While playing backyard football in the snow one time a buddy ran head first into a tree lol. He damn near knocked himself out. He was bleeding.
Sounds great fun 😂
I don't know how it is now, but back in the 90s, the padding became hard as ice when it was snowing.
It really let's you know who wants to play football and who does not. Cold Weather hits and hitting. The real players come out. That is why Hockey is my sport, small car crashes on ice is fun to watch and more fun to dish it out.
Man them snow games was a different energy felt like prime time
My high school football coach would always say “when the weather gets shitty we get giddy” I can confidently say bad weather games were the ones we played the hardest
True football fans LOOOOVE this.
2:26 I went to the Snow Bowl as a kid with my brother and parents and it was amazing. You couldn't see the players when they were down in the far endzone but when McCoy ran to us for a touchdown it was like magic. My dad and mom walking through the snow trudging to get into the stadium was like a scene out of Star Wars lol. It did get warmer as things went along in the 2nd half at least - got used to it as long as you were bundled up. When I had left a previous freezing game three years earlier I felt like my feet were burning from frostbite 😅
That’s awesome! You climatised to the weather. Sounds like a really awesome experience. Thank you for the comment 🙏
Lol, I love how the kicker has the cleanest uniform on the field.
I was at the Eagles snow game. They had equipment to clear the lines and sicne their are seperate offensive and defensive squads for each team. Players on the field had jackets and heated benches to sit on
playing american football in extreme weather is loads of fun. The cold hurts, but it's awesome.
Honestly bad weather games are what I like most about American football. Loved it as a kid, slipping all over the place in mud or snow. Although a good hit can really, really hurt in the cold!
There is something awesome about going to a freezing cold game. It’s just great “football weather” and it adds to the experience. It really makes me feel gritty and like I’m struggling through the game with my team
Green Bay fans are nuts. -20c . . . and 80,000 people sitting around outside having a blast.
That first shot was in Buffalo, New York. That city suffers from "Lake Effect" (Great Lakes) blizzards. Two or three feet in one storm is not unusual.
One reason why games are almost never called off is because there are only slightly more than a dozen games in a season. Literally every single game has massive implications for the post season and who ends up being champion. You’re not changing the course of an entire season over rain or snow. If the game *can* be played, it *will* be played.
A season is 17 games and then playoffs. Not slightly more than a dozen.
@@hrussell9677 first of all, that is slightly more than a dozen. Second of all, they’re watching clips from all over history, when the season had a variety of different lengths - ALL slightly longer than a dozen. So fuck off.
@@hrussell9677 I guess they only follow college ball
Football is played in any weather except lightning. Two teams have an equal disadvantage and it's very fun. NFL games are very hard to make up and/or be rescheduled. The logistics are too great so they just decide to play. You should see the games with 50+ mph winds. Great channel.
Thank you!
2:36 So much of the field indicators you are seeing in this more modern example are TV affects, not actually what’s physically shown if you were there live. The camera system the NFL uses to show the yellow line to indicate where the first down marker would be can also digitally reproduce the yard numbers & lines for the viewer at home.
There are groundskeepers with snowblowers that will try to keep the vertical lines every 5 yards visible to the players during TV breaks, etc.
It's a common staple of American football movies to feature a game in bad weather.. Leatherheads, Invincible, Wildcats, Any Given Sunday, Necessary Roughness, they all featured at least one game in the rain and mud. When it is rare for professional teams to have a domed stadium, it is almost certain for any amateur team to play several games in poor weather throughout the season.
Bad weather is just a natural part of the game. It brings back memories from childhood. Since toughness is characteristic of gridiron football, playing in any kind of weather showcases how tough players are. Fans are passionate and will endure any kind of weather for their favorite team which is a sign of brotherhood. Going nuts during bad weather is just good ol' fun!
It's literally for this very reason why games are not called off during bad weather. For the history.
9:00 the field invasion happened because the Steelers were playing the best college seniors in a exhabition game in the 70s and the college students just started rushing the field in a rain storm
As a kid in the 70s, we LOVED the snow games! Like you said, you just don't know what might happen. Thanks for these reactions; it helps us recapture what we love about American Football :)
Mud games are fun too. Sliding twenty or thirty yards after a tackle is kinda fun in itself.
at 5:35 the Raiders shared fields with a baseball team.
I feel like y'all would also love to watch some of the NFL Throwback videos. Specifically the ones about the evolution of the teams' stadiums and the one about the evolution of the team logos and helmets.
OH also the broadcast advancements of the NFL. That was very interesting to watch.
Thank you, we’ve got these on our list and will definitely be doing some in the build up to the new season
The game played “in a hurricane “ was an exhibition game! It was an annual pre season game between the NFL champions and the college all stars. That tradition died after that game.
"The player ran straight for the mud pit” 😂😂😂
I played football during highschool in Oregon. Doesn't matter how cold it got, we were moving around and working hard that we didn't have any issue with being too cold.
@3:10 they do have people to come out and clean the lines and numbers, some fields are also heated to try and reduce buildup(I mean the grass is heated to be clear).
And they don't stop the game to do it they do it between plays when the game stops on it's own most of the time.
The Most Famous Bad Weather Game in NFL History was the ICE BOWL, between the Packers and Cowboys played at Lambeau Field in Green Bay in December 1966 for the NFL Championship. The Temperature was -15 and the wind chill - 45. The Packers won 21-17 on a last second Touchdown to go on to Super Bowl II....
Missing one game in the NFL system can really screw with the standings as was shown when the game was called this year between the Bengals and the Bills.
Playing football in the mud or snow is is like a right of passage. If you’ve never been tackled from behind and had your face driven into the mud by your friend then youre not fully prepared to be a man
And then your mom refuses to let you in the house and your dad sprays you off with hose
The oldest clips in this video occurred more than a half-century ago. Surprisingly few are from recent decades (aside from snow games). The main reason is that the technology for field drainage means that contemporary fields handle torrential rains better than the fields of yesteryear. Teams invest more in fields that protect player safety, another reason they better endure wild weather than in the past. Some Cities prone to wild weather also opted for domed or covered stadiums, so fewer venues left that can generate games like the ones featured here.
My coach said this all the time. “Rain, sleet, or snow Coach Woods is ready to go.”
The reason there was a mud pit in the middle of the field is that some fields are duel purpose use for football and baseball so all that mud is the infield of the baseball field. It would cost the city to much money to build two different fields they are paid for by the city and citizens taxes. Your channel is pretty cool I just stumbled upon it and have watched a few of your videos. Great job
The mic’d up moments from those flooded games are hilarious.
Yeah I bet they are 😂
That mud pit in the middle of the field is the base paths of a baseball diamond. In the past, many NFL teams shared a stadium with major league baseball teams and when seasons overlapped, they didn't bother with trying to put grass on those spots. You just ran into dirt on part of the football field. That pretty much stopped in the 1980s. Turf technology both real grass and artificial has gotten much better since the 1980s.
When it comes to bad weather games as a fan most of us love that experience. It's our opportunity to say "I was there" and also for the home fans it's weather they're used to so it's like it's a chance for the fans to show everyone watching everywhere else how tough we are because we deal with this all the time. It's like a badge of honor for certain cities to say "we're tougher than you, look what we put up with".
For a time as a kid I lived in the Texas Panhandle, which often gets brutal snow in winter. The closest I’ve ever come to freezing to death was at one of these games, my family would go watch the local high school play, and man a blizzard erupted in a final playoff game.
Snow and rain games were the absolute most fun I've ever had in sports, it evens the "playing field" especially for someone like me. I was never the fastest so when the weather was bad I could chase the skill guys closer as a linebacker. Also sliding around on the field after a tackle or scrambling for a fumble in mud or a few inches of snow was like playing in the yard as a kid.. Close to that was rain games in baseball (lightning delays or cancels those games a lot tho)
Unless an extreme weather event, lightning, hurricane, tornado is present near the stadium, its a go for play. Bad weather games are my fave games.
5:30
That is Joe Robbie Stadium. When the Florida Marlins joined the MLB in '93, they shared the stadium with the Miami Dolphins for about a month when the seasons overlapped. The mud is the clay from the baseball infield.
The Marlins got their own stadium in 2012.
the icebowl game was truly insane, temperatures into the negatives and icey conditions with high winds to boot.
We will be checking it out soon!
In low-visibility weather, the running game is pretty much everything. Your passing game is often lost so that's all you have left. Especially true with heavy falling snow and fog.
I was at that Philadelphia-Detroit snow game that they showed footage of. Just to be clear, the yard line indicators (30, 40, 50 etc) were superimposed on the field by the network. That's why they look so pristine. The stripes at every five yard interval were shoveled during every timeout on the field. They were sort of able to keep up with that. Incidentally that storm was a shock. We had been told to expect a light dusting at some point. And pregame, everything was fine. But just before kickoff, it started to come down...HARD. I think they got about eight inches in an hour. It tapered off in the second half but by then the damage was done. Luckily the game ended happily for us Eagles fans. After falling behind 14-0, they came back and won, actually pulling away at the end.
As an eagles fan, I feel a little jaded that they didn't show Lesean running all over them.
they played the fog bowl, because the NFL hates the Eagles. Lol
In some stadiums they have heated fields to help keep the yard markers and lines visible
And in other snow games the only times that they are able to keep the lines and numbers visible is during the break between quarters and at half. Of course, if the snow is heavy enough they can only try at half time but even they they will be covered pretty quickly.
There were a few stadiums where baseball team and football team shared a stadium. The mud is where the baseball infield is located.
Feb.'22 we had the World Cup qualifying game (USvHonduras) , was extremely cold below 0°F (-18c) ... windchills were -17F (-27c) ... NFL MN Vikings provided cold weather gear to the teams. in-sole warmers, heated bench, heated vests, quarterback pouch for goalkeeper hands, etc. Was a sold out crowd but a really a bad call by FIFA not to postpone a couple days. I felt bad for Honduras goalkeeper left at halftime with hypothermia.
2:45 How they keep the lines during heavy snow is that most fields in cold weather areas where it tends to snow during the season have heaters under the lines/numbers to keep the snow from obstructing them.
The game where the fans stormed the field in a rainstorm was indeed called off due to severe weather. That game was a meaningless exhibition game between the previous season's NFL champion (which at the time were the Pittsburgh Steelers) and a team of College All-Stars. It was the last time such a game was played.
The game with the fog completely obstructing the view was a Divisional Playoff Game. The two teams (Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles) were playing for the right to play in the NFC Championship Game (which was scheduled for the following week). There was thus no time to play a make-up game. So the game had to continue.
Incidentally, both of the above games took place at the same stadium (Soldier Field in Chicago).
I played soccer in high school. I loved rain/mud games. The only thing that shut us down is lightning. I don’t think it’s the sport, I think it’s the culture. We’ll play in anything
I played at a higher level and disliked poor weather. That being said, if the other side is much better than your side then the poor conditions can be the great equalizer your side needed. 😉
One thing about the Steelers, they can play in some crappy weather. 😂
Many of these clips are from the 70's. The fields were natural turf and many of the stadiums were "multiple use" facilities, meaning that they played football and baseball on the same fields. That is why you see so much mud on sections of the field. On most fields seen, the muddy areas are where the infield of the baseball layouts were. At 4:16 of the video, you'll notice the two legged goalposts are at the back of the end zone. For the 1974 season, the NFL moved the goalposts there to make the game safer (players would hit the two legged posts when they were on the goal line). This move lowered field goal attempts and opened up the passing game leading to what we see today.
Its difficult to make up games in FB . Because of the physicality and preparation it takes. They really can only play one game per week.
Games do often get delayed especially for lightning. Not allowed to play in lightning.
Football has a history of being very hardcore. In the early days of the game there were many players who died while playing. So stopping because of bad weather has throughout most of the history of the game been seen as weak and frowned upon.
Also it changes the game drastically and in American football with there being so few games in a season to decide who is the best, it makes sense to test the teams in all conditions. For example in cold weather games the ball's surface becomes frigidly cold and the pressure in the ball drops which softens it. The hands of the players also lose some of their movement because of the cold which makes cold weather games favor the defense and the running game over the passing game. In rainy games the ball and field becomes slippery and it results in more fumbles, slips, and other mistakes by both teams. This is also why some teams choose to have indoor or outdoor stadiums, different kinds of teams will be favored in different environments.
It's also great fun to watch the teams battle it out and see who's tougher and who can take on the adverse conditions better.
They play in everything but lightning. There have been crazy rain, snow, fog, insane heat/humidity etc. what they didn’t show was some of the bitter cold games such as Green Bay vs Dallas in the Ice Bowl in Green Bay. Air temp was around -15F which is -26 Celsius or the 1981 AFC championship game in Cincinnati where it was -9F but wind chill was -59F or -50.6C. Funny thing is the opponent was San Diego who had beaten Miami in Miami the week before where the temp was 76F but with 80% humidity. So in a week they played in a game that was 85 degrees colder than the previous game. We were about an hour north of Cincinnati and we’re playing outside that day. The wind was brutal.
the game must go on... one of my favorite parts about football. you play in the conditions nature provides you.
Growing up in the US it was always a blast to go out and play football in the snow with your siblings and the neighborhood kids.
The weather in Texas can be crazy. Years ago I went to a basketball game in a town 10 miles from my hometown. I snowed so much that we were housed in unused dorm rooms. I called my wife to tell her I was snowed in and she asked me what snow. The snow only covered a small area around the town I was in and down south of us.
The ice line can get serious in Texas.
Many of the extremely muddy games are older than the 1980's, a lot of the stadiums were dual purpose with both professional baseball and football being played in the same stadium and the seasons over lap in the early fall. So the grass had been worn by most of a season of baseball, then football starts and really tears it up. Most of the current stadiums are single purpose and there's been huge advances in stadium design and playing surfaces, in addition some of the teams in poor weather areas are either on artificial turf or indoor now.
The mud pit is like a sand hazard in golf, put there to take the difficulty up another level. For the Championships, they make it a deeper moat and add crocodiles.
Alot of those games were old games in the 70’s and 80’s. Those games always turn out to be great games. And the voice narration in the old clips is John Facenda (AKA The Voice of the NFL) check out some NFL Films clips from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s along with the music is pure gold.
Playing in cold weather is a blast and I'll bet a lot of the NFL players are reminded of pick up games from when they were kids.
Green Bay's field is nicknamed the Frozen Tundra. There have been games played against the Packers when they had home field advantage, and the temperature would be below zero. There was a few games where the field became frozen mud.
A lot of people are convinced the refs can't see the game no matter what kind of weather it is played in.
The winters are cold where I'm from and full of snow. We all LOVED playing in snow games when we got the chance. Once you're running around you don't feel the cold as much. You feel it a bit when you hit/get hit by someone though.
Most teams have turf now, but back in the 70s,80s,and early 90s teams had natural grass and visually it was fun to see. The phrase "mudders" was certain players who could run the same in rain and mud.
I don't think you are correct. I believe slightly more stadiums have grass. But it fairly even. Even so, there is a big difference between the turf of toda that has individual blades with rubber infill and the turn of the 70s and 80s that was basically just carpet, perhaps over padding.
Yesterday but it still isn't natural grass. Back in my youth it was so much better
Between the way turf is done now and the number of domed stadiums, it's getting rare to get a completely muddy swamp. Those conditions make for some classic battles.
Reminds me of George Washington crossing the Delaware. British were like, "Can't believe they'd want to go at it in this weather."
Nothing more fun than football in the snow. We played backyard football in the snow growing up. No pads, just sweatpants and long sleeved shirts w team jerseys overtop. Its a BLAST.
bad weather can be a great equalizer and benefits the team that best prepares and plays things close. A wide open offense tends to have more problems if the weather and field are not set to the perfect level. So, teams that play outdoors tend to do better as the weather gets worse.
The one where you describe it as a mud pit was the Miami Dolphin game they used to share a stadium with the Marlins baseball team.
There was a football novel out about 50 years ago. The author had a dream that was my dream, too. The Super Bowl was NY Jets vs. NY Giants and he dreamed a 0-0 tie in a monsoon.
The Las Vegas Raiders formally known as the Oakland Raiders used to play in the same venue as Baseball's Oakland A's
Thanks for the info!
The field at 5:42 is a stadium that hosts both baseball and football games, so it had the dirt infield from the baseball part still laid out. Very few stadiums are dual use these days
At about 6:00 minutes, some of the stadiums are used for both baseball and football. So the large muddy area is normally the infield of an American baseball field (where the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd bases are located.
there are people that clear the lines and the players have massive jet heaters on the sidelines and over sized coats that get over their pads.
Was this crazy or what😂😂😂😂😂
@2:48 they can see the lines only on the television. They put them in with TV technology. Once in a while the ground crew will shovel the main yard markers on the field.
As a kid you couldn't wait for the snow to go play football. It's cold, hurts but it's to much fun
There was a game between The Pittsburgh Steelers and The Miami Dolphins where it was rain/freezing rain all day, and by the time the game started, the field was nothing but a mud pit. To preface this, the local high school championships were played on Thursday and Friday, the college team played Saturday. The field was voted chopped up pretty bad by Monday. At one point, a Miami punt stuck in the field like it was on a tee. The final score was 3-0 Steelers.
At 5:40 it’s the Oakland raiders. They shared a stadium with the Oakland A’s baseball team so you’re seeing the baseball field that’s the “mud pit”
My first and only NFL regular season game I ever attended was on opening day, 1987. The Miami Dolphins, with the great Dan Marino at QB, came into the old Foxboro Stadium to play the New England Patriots. The skies opened with torrential downpours. Before play started, the groundcrew used pickup truck with squeegees attached to the front to push the water off the field, but it was no use. It didn't matter what I wore; the rain went everywhere. There wasn't a dry spot on my body.
The Patriots prevailed with a 21-14 victory brought about by a 4th quarter pick 6 (although back then, we didn't have that term yet) by Ronnie Lippett.
That old game footage was awesome!!! Makes me nostalgic!!!
They only showed it for a brief second, but the game between Pittsburgh and Miami when the punt stuck in the ground was the craziest I've had the chance to see.
The "fog bowl" was a playoff game. So, in that instance it couldn't be delayed.
Snow doesn’t really block visibility ever, it has to be really snowing with extreme winds to do that, most NFL players say in interviews they think snow is fun
These guys are awsome !!
Appreciate it Eric!