New York Giants 27

Ottawa Rough Riders 6

The National Football League's New York Giants became the first team to ever play on foreign soil on August 12, 1950 when they met the Ottawa Rough Riders in a preseason exhibition game at Lansdowne Park, Ottawa. Fifteen thousand spectators showed up for this moment of North American football history.

The New York Times reported on the game:

The New York Giants of the National Football League overcame confusion and Canadian rugby rules today to defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders, 27 to 6. The first half of the exhibition game was played under Canadian rules and the second half under American standards. An estimated 15,000 fans witnessed the novel game at Lansdowne Park. The fluctuating rules so confused the game officials that the timekeeper allowed the first quarter to run on for 48 minutes and the second quarter, 32 minutes.

Stymied also by rules that prohibit interference beyond ten yards from scrimmage and permit only three downs for yardage, the Giants superior passing and sharp pass defense nevertheless gave them a 13 to 6 halftime lead over their lighter opponents. When the tough eight-man Canadian line stalled the Giants early in the game, backfield coach Al Sherman [Allie Sherman] took over the quarterback spot (In 1953, Sherman would take his first head coaching position with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL. One of his players was Hall of Famer Bud Grant. In 1957, Sherman returned to the Giants as a scout and then joined the coaching staff two years later). By the end of the first half he had whipped the confused New Yorkers into a smoothly operating machine. But, the switch to American rules in the second half started the process all over again when the field was narrowed with makeshift lines to the standard U.S. 50-yard width. However, the accurate passing of Charley Conerly and the driving interference for halfbacks Bob Griffith and rookie Jim Ostendarp let the Giants rove almost at will.
 

The hard-driving Ottawans scored in the first two minutes of play when Joe Asquini caught a pass from Bruce Cummings. It gave them five points, Canadian, and the conversion failed. A few moments later Tom Landry punted into the end zone for the Giants to provide them with a point, a Canadian rouge. Then the Giants got the ball on a fumble and Landry passed down the field in three plays. Steve Hatfield then plunged over from the seven-yard line. Ray Poole kicked the extra point. Later in the first quarter Cummings kicked the ball beyond the end zone for the Riders to provide them with their final point. One Giant touchdown on a 60-yard run was called back when end Al Schmid forgot his Canadian rules and engaged in a little downfield blocking. The visiting Americans were penalized 15 yards once for high tackling, an accepted practice in the National Football League.

Under Sherman's generalship, the Giants used a three halfback "T" formation to push Griffith through the line in two long runs to set up another score. Then Sherman passed to Bill Swiacki on the three and Hatfield crushed through center for another five-point score. Conerly's bullet passes--he missed only one and was rushed off his feet once in 12 tries--set up both touchdowns in the second half. Twice he passed beyond the improvised boundary. The Giants scored twice in the second half when Griffith plunged over from the one-yard line and again when Griffith ran it over from the two-yard line. The final score was Giants 27, Rough Riders 6

New Yorkers Win 27-6

Grid Giants Dump Riders

OTTAWA, (CP) – Powerful New York Giants of the United States National League Saturday steamrolled to a 27-6 victory over Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Big Four in an exhibition football match marked by plenty of good-humored confusion.

The confusion stemmed from the fact that it was the first time either team had played the other's rules. It was also the first chance Ottawa fans have had in several decades to watch American play.

Even the timekeeper seemed baffled as the game progressed- one half under Canadian rules, the second under U.S. regulations. The first quarter seemed abnormally long.

Riders opened the scoring early with a pass-over-goal touchdown, unconverted, from Bruce Cummings to Joe Asquini. It was their only major of the game, although many fans went away pretty proud of the Ottawa showing against the rougher, tougher U.S. professionals.

If the majority of the 12,000 spectators were wondering about the difference between U.S. and Canadian rules, so were the players and officials.

New York outplayed the Canadians at their own brand, finishing the first half, 13-6. One of their touchdown attempts fizzled when a Giant, through force of habit, blocked off a potential tackler, a perfectly legal move by U.S. rules, but illegal by the Canadian rules prevailing at the time.

In the first quarter, New York's Tom Landry kicked his first Canadian single, and his teammate, Steve Hatfield, got a major, converted by Ray Poole, one of the best convert kickers in the United States.

Hatfield and Poole repeated their effort in the second quarter.

Coming under American rules, New York used its experience in running interference to advantage and kept the ball in Ottawa territory most the way. In the third quarter, Bob Griffith scored two touchdowns, both converted. These touchdowns, under American rules were worth an extra point each.

Riders held the visitors off in the fourth, when there was no scoring. The Ottawa club never had a chance to score, but they held the Americans time and again on line plays, although their team was noticeably lighter.

The Canadian officials seemed fairly well-versed in American rules, although visitors complained that referee Happy Shouldice was too quick with his whistle.

Regular Season:   In 1950, the New York Giants finished 10-2 and in a tie for first place in the American Conference of the NFL. They lost in the playoffs to the Cleveland Browns, who were competing in their first year as an NFL team having come from the defunct All-American Conference. The Browns won the championship of the NFL that season. The Giants were coached by Steve Owen and led by quarterback Charlie Conerly. Also on that Giant team was defensive back, Tom Landry. Ottawa finished 5-7 and third in the Eastern Division. The team was led by Don Loney, who won the Jeff Russell Trophy as MVP of the Eastern Conference, and end Bob Simpson.

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