It’s week 2 of the NFL season, and for this week’s Throwback Thursday feature we’ll go with a team for the second straight week, as the Los Angeles Rams meet the Arizona Cardinals. Last week we went back to 1963 for a Rams’ contest, and we’ll venture back another decade, to November 15, 1953 this week. The game wasn’t necessarily an important one, and the end result was of the “kissing your sister” variety, a 24-24 tie. There was no overtime in those days, and teams would routinely finish their season with 2 or 3 ties on their record.
This was supposed to be a one-sided affair, as the Rams were a Western Division contender at 5-2 while the Cardinals, based in Chicago back then, were winless in 7 contests. The lowly Cardinals, determined to show some pride in front of their Comiskey Park home crowd, came out firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Jim Root found back Johnny Olszewski, affectionately known as “Johnny O”, for a 62 yard touchdown to open the scoring, and future broadcaster Pat Summerall added a 16 yard field goal. The defense then joined the fray. Ray Ramsey took 1 of his 2 interceptions of Norm Van Brocklin 37 yards to paydirt and suddenly the home club found themselves with a 17-0 first quarter lead.
The Rams found their footing in the second quarter, and got on the scoreboard twice, first on a Ben Agajanian field goal and then on a Skeet Quinlan 2 yard scoring plunge to cut their halftime deficit to 17-10. The Cards began to revert to their bumbling selves again in the second half. They allowed L.A. to tie the game when Dick “Night Train” Lane scooped up a fumble and raced 26 yards for the only third quarter score. When Deacon Dan Towler scored on a 1 yard run to put the Rams in the lead for the first time at 24-17, it appeared that they had finally righted the ship and taken command. That’s when Chicago turned to their quintuple threat future Hall of Famer, back Charley Trippi, to salvage the tie. Back in those days, positions weren’t as specialized as they are today, including even the quarterback spot. Trippi, primarily a halfback, could do it all. He was adept at running, passing, receiving, was the team’s punter and also excelled at safety on defense. Running an offense with a full house backfield (4 backs) he completed 11 of 16 passes for 117 yards, and connected with Don Paul on a 17 yard TD pass to earn the tie. QB Root, by contrast, only threw 7 passes, 3 which were complete, for a paltry 79 yards. Trippi also led the team in rushing with 96 yards on 15 carries, punted, returned punts and played defense.
The Rams would only lose 1 more game the rest of the year, but finished third in a highly competitive Western race, while the Cardinals would manage only a single win the rest of the way that season. Trippi held the distinction of being the oldest living Hall of Famer until he passed away in 2022 at the age of 100.
Rams’ Skeet Quinlan attracts Cardinal defenders as he fights for yardage