West 35

East 31

January 15, 1961

The 1961 Pro Bowl marked the end of the great career of Norm Van Brocklin. The Eagle’s quarterback was playing in his final game after 12 seasons, having been named the coach of the expansion Minnesota Vikings. Van Brocklin was miffed that the Eagles had not named him head coach, which he said they had promised following the retirement of Buck Shaw. The Eagles had defeated the Packer for the NFL title in 1960. A crowd of 62,971 viewed the game at the L.A. Coliseum. The coaches were Vince Lombardi of the Packers and the Eagles‘ Shaw.

In the 1961 Pro Bowl, the West took an early lead on Green Bay’s Jim Taylor’s 2 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Rams’ Jon Arnett carried for 38 yards on the drive. The Eagles’ Bobby Walston‘s field goal, following an interception by Pittsburgh’s John Reger, made the score at the end of the first quarter 7-3. Baltimore’s Johnny Unitas hit his Colts teammate Lenny Moore with a 66 yard pass in the second quarter that took the ball to the East 2 yard line. Again, Taylor banged across for a 14-3 lead. The East responded with two touchdown passes. Cleveland’s Milt Plum hit the Cardinal’s Sonny Randle for 51 yards and Van Brocklin hit teammate Tommy McDonald for 46 yards to give the East the lead, 17-14. But, Unitas connected with Moore on a 44-yard route with 35 seconds to go in the half and the West had the halftime advantage, 21-17.

In the third quarter, Detroit’s Dick “Night Train” Lane blocked Redskins’ Bob Khayat’s 53 yard field goal attempt and the West was on the move again. Jim Taylor scored for a record third time on a 1 yard run to make the score 28-17. The East responded when Van Brocklin took his team on a 76 yard touchdown march, hitting teammate Pete Retzlaff on a 43 yard scoring route to make the score 28-24 at the end of three. The West added a security touchdown in the final quarter on Arnett’s 20 yard touchdown run to make the score 35-24. But, Van Brocklin wasn’t finished, passing to Sonny Randle for a 36-yard touchdown to make the score 35-31. Van Brocklin and the East were driving but ran out of time as the game ended with the East at the West’s 40 yard line.

Van Brocklin established a Pro Bowl records for passing with 288 yards and three touchdowns. Jim Taylor scored a record three touchdowns. Johnny Unitas was voted the game’s outstanding back for the second season in a row and the Giant’s Sam Huff took the lineman honors.

Norm Van Brocklin unleashes pass with Henry Jordan closing in.

Taylor dives in for first touchdown

Source: The Sporting News

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