1963 Pittsburgh Steelers season explained

Team:	Pittsburgh Steelers
Year:	1963
Record:	7–4–3
Division Place:	4th NFL Eastern
Coach:	Buddy Parker
Stadium:	Forbes Field (four games) Pitt Stadium (three games)
Playoffs:	Did not qualify
Shortnavlink:	Steelers seasons

The 1963 Pittsburgh Steelers season was the team's 31st in the National Football League (NFL). The Steelers won seven games, lost four, and tied three to finish fourth in the Eastern Conference. It was also their final season of splitting home games between Forbes Field and Pitt Stadium before moving all of their home games to the latter for the next six seasons.

In the second game of the season, the Steelers shut out the New York Giants 31–0 in the home opener at Pitt Stadium.^[1] The Giants had won the conference title the previous two seasons and four of the last five, but were without hall of fame quarterback Y. A. Tittle.^[1]

Because tie games were not included in NFL standings at the time (for winning percentage), the Steelers had a chance to win the conference title and advance to their first-ever NFL Championship Game. They needed to defeat the Giants at Yankee Stadium in the season finale,^[2] but lost 33–17 and fell to fourth;^{[3] [4]} it was their last winning season until 1972.

This year marked the debut of the Steelers' trademark black helmets with their logo on one side of the helmet. They had used the logo previously on yellow helmets, but 1963 was the first season in which their now-signature look was used full-time in the regular season.^[5]

Prior to the season in May, defensive tackle Big Daddy Lipscomb died of an overdose of heroin at age 31;^{[6] [7] [8] [9]} his final game was the Pro Bowl in January 1963, in which he was named the lineman of the game.^{[10] [11]}

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record
1	September 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	T 21–21	0–0–1
2	September 22	New York Giants	W 31–0	1–0–1
3	September 29	St. Louis Cardinals	W 23–10	2–0–1
4		at Cleveland Browns	L 23–35	2–1–1
5	October 13	at St. Louis Cardinals	L 23–24	2–2–1
6	October 20	Washington Redskins	W 38–27	3–2–1
7	October 27	Dallas Cowboys	W 27–21	4–2–1
8	November 3	at Green Bay Packers	L 14–33	4–3–1
9	November 10	Cleveland Browns	W 9–7	5–3–1
10	November 17	at Washington Redskins	W 34–28	6–3–1
11	November 24	Chicago Bears	T 17–17	6–3–2
12	December 1	Philadelphia Eagles	T 20–20	6–3–3
13	December 8	at Dallas Cowboys	W 24–19	7–3–3
14	December 15	at New York Giants	L 17–33	7–4–3

Game summaries

at Franklin Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 58,205
• Referee: Bill Downes
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Philadelphia – McDonald 13 pass from Jurgensen (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 38
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 50
• Philadelphia – Smith 6 pass from Jurgensen (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 17
• Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (kick failed)
• Philadelphia – McDonald 75 pass from Jurgensen (Clark kick)
• Pittsburgh – Johnson 11 pass from Brown (kick failed)

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 46,068
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 11
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 2 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 46 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 28,225
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• St. Louis – Triplett 63 run (Bakken kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 21
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 40
• St. Louis – FG Bakken 28
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 21
• Pittsburgh – Ferguson 4 run (Michaels kick)

at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 84,684
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18
• Cleveland – Brown 8 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 8
• Pittsburgh – Dial 24 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Cleveland – Collins 15 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 41 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Cleveland – Ryan 13 run (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 8
• Cleveland – Collins 20 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)
• Cleveland – Krietling 19 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)

at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, Missouri

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 23,715
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• St. Louis – FG Bakken 44
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 45
• Pittsburgh – Mack 83 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 47
• Pittsburgh – Brown 1 run (Michaels kick)

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 41,987
• Referee:
• TV announcers:
• Pittsburgh – Brown 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Washington – FG Khayat 49
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 8 run (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 9
• Washington – Snead 1 run (Khayat kick)
• Washington – James 36 pass from Snead (Khayat kick)
• Washington – James 5 run (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Washington – FG Khayat 15
• Pittsburgh – Haley 24 interception return (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 4 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 19,047
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Dallas – Clarke 5 pass from Meredith (Baker kick)
• Dallas – Folkins 35 pass from Meredith (Baker kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 83 pass from Browns (kick failed)
• Dallas – Howton 13 pass from Meredith (Baker kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 25 pass from Brown (Tracy kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 14 pass from Brown (Tracy kick)
• Pittsburgh – Mack 85 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)^[12]

at Milwaukee County Stadium, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance:
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – Hoak 2 run (Michaels kick)
• Green Bay – FG Kramer 23
• Green Bay – FG Kramer 36
• Green Bay – FG Kramer 12
• Green Bay – Taylor 1 run (Kramer kick)
• Green Bay – Pitts 2 run (Kramer kick)
• Green Bay – FG Kramer 37
• Pittsburgh – Mack 33 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Green Bay – Pitts 1 run (Kramer kick)

at Pitt Stadium, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 54,497
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Cleveland – Collins 4 pass from Ryan (Groza kick)
• Pittsburgh – Safety, Brown tackled by Schmitz in end zone
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 9 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)

at D.C. Stadium, Washington, DC

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 42,219
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Washington – Crabb 53 interception return (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – Johnson 3 run (Michaels kick)
• Washington – Mitchell 19 pass from Snead (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 67 pass from Brown (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – Johnson 1 run (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 27
• Washington – Mitchell 20 pass from Barnes (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 18
• Washington – Richter 21 pass from Snead (Khayat kick)
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 92 kickoff return (Michaels kick)

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 36,465
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Chicago – Galimore 1 run (Jencks kick)
• Pittsburgh – Hoak 6 run (Michaels kick)
• Chicago – Bull 1 run (Jencks kick)
• Pittsburgh – Curry 31 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 11
• Chicago – FG Leclerc 18

at Forbes Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 15,721
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 10
• Philadelphia – Retzlaff 24 pass from Hill (Clark kick)
• Philadelphia – Brown 14 run (Clark kick)
• Philadelphia – FG Clark 23
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 57 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Philadelphia – FG Clark 40
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 8 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 24

at Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 24,136
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• Dallas – FG Baker 53
• Dallas – Meredith 2 run (kick failed)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 55 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – Carpenter 28 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 24
• Dallas – FG Baker 46
• Dallas – Meredith 4 run (Baker kick)
• Pittsburgh – Sapp 24 run (Michaels kick)

at Yankee Stadium, The Bronx, New York

• Game time:
• Game weather:
• Game attendance: 63,240
• Referee:
• TV announcers:

Scoring Drives:

• New York Giants – FG Chandler 34
• New York Giants – Shotner 41 pass from Tittle (kick failed)
• New York Giants – Morrison 3 pass from Tittle (Chandler kick)
• Pittsburgh – FG Michaels 27
• Pittsburgh – Ballman 21 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• New York Giants – Morrison 22 pass from Tittle (Chandler kick)
• New York Giants – Morrison 1 run (Chandler kick)
• Pittsburgh – Dial 40 pass from Brown (Michaels kick)
• New York Giants – FG Chandler 41

External links

• 1963 Pittsburgh Steelers season at Profootballreference.com
• 1963 Pittsburgh Steelers season statistics at jt-sw.com

Notes and References

1. News: Steelers shut out Giants, 31-0 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Sell . Jack . September 23, 1963 . 1.
2. News: Steelers battle Giants for title . Pittsburgh Press . Livingston . Pat . December 15, 1963 . 1, sports.
3. News: Giants end Steeler hopes, 33-17 . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Sell . Jack . December 16, 1963 . 1.
4. News: Gifford turns tide for Giants . Pittsburgh Press . Livingston . Pat . December 16, 1963 . 35.
5. Web site: 1963 NFL season at Gridiron Uniform Database . 2013-11-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131016223614/http://www.gridiron-uniforms.com/1963.html . 2013-10-16 . dead .
6. News: Grid star Lipscomb dies, narcotics use suspected . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Associated Press . May 11, 1963 . 1.
7. News: Lipscomb dies under mysterious circumstances . Eugene Register-Guard . (Oregon) . Associated Press . May 10, 1963 . 2B.
8. News: Heroin caused Lipscomb death . Pittsburgh Press . UPI . May 15, 1963 . 1.
9. News: New law may result in freedom . . (Maryland) . July 27, 1963 . 1.
10. News: East stars score 30-20 upset in Pro Bowl . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Associated Press . January 14, 1963 . 22.
11. News: Jim Brown helps Sherman defeat Lombardi . Reading Eagle . (Pennsylvania) . UPI . January 14, 1963 . 14.
12. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196310270pit.htm Dallas Cowboys at Pittsburgh Steelers - October 27th, 1963