1953 AFL Championship

 

It was warmer than usual for Pittsburgh just one week after snow covered Oakland Stadium, with game time temperatures nearing 60 degrees, meaning fans would see a bit more offensive action out of the home team than their last game. There was some rain earlier in the day, but it has long been cleared up and conditions are nearly perfect for game time. Compared to the powerhouses that were in the championship last year, this year features two teams no one would have expected at the beginning of the year, but nonetheless were two teams that absolutely deserve a championship on their play.

Q1

Pittsburgh would open the game with a dud, as returner Chester Maxwell muffed the kickoff and nearly turned the ball over before the game had even started. RB Marion Waters would get the majority of the plays for the Shamrocks, but that overreliance was quickly met by the Washington front seven, forcing Pittsburgh to punt after gaining just a single first down. The Federals quickly showed their offensive prowess on the first drive. QB Johnnie Sellers would find WR Joseph Atkins for a 21 yard pass to begin the drive, and they continued rolling over the Shamrocks over the rest of the drive. Sellers would hit Atkins 2 more times, as well as finding his other top target WR Darius Sanderson for a reception. Neither Atkins nor Sanderson would get into the endzone, as RB Rip Rooney muscled his way up the middle for a 4 yard score to put Washington on the board and take an early lead. The Shamrocks would attempt a drive of their own to follow up, and this time got past Washington’s front seven. RB Marion Waters powered his way through the young Federals defense for some early momentum past the first down marker, but his lack of speed meant he was an easy target for S Josh von Bank to take down once he ran out of steam after breaking free for a 33 yard rush. Now firmly within their own territory, the Shamrocks got a little too comfortable trying to gain ground, as QB Clarence Stanley failed to connect with any of his receivers over the next 4 plays, with Waters the only source of offensive production, rushing for 11 yards to get an additional first down. The automatic K Vernon Hebert came out onto the field to kick one in from 23 yards out, easily putting it through the uprights. Washington couldn’t remake the progress they had on their first drive, only making it to their own 40 before punting the ball back to Pittsburgh. The Shamrocks struggled as well, as both defenses clashed to force 3 and out after 3 and out for the remainder of the quarter. Washington was the closest to scoring, getting to the 30 before K Eugene Hickman kicked the ball too far right and missed the uprights, giving Pittsburgh possession back at the end of the first.

WAS 7, PIT 3

Q2

Pittsburgh QB Clarence Stanley would finally constantly hit his receivers, throwing passes to WR David Rice and TE Harry Worley to take the offensive burden off of RB Marion Waters. The Shamrocks would get past midfield, but Waters was unable to penetrate through the line and set up another field goal by K Vernon Hebert. Both defenses would clash once more, as Pittsburgh forced a three and out thanks to a backfield tackle by DL Archie Webber on third down, and Washington LB Howard Treadaway would force the ball out of the hands of RB Marion Waters. The Shamrocks would recover the ball on that play, but had to punt the ball away after failing to recuperate on a crucial third down. The two teams didn’t have much offensive success after these two drives, but things did change late in the second. Washington was attempting to get back on the board, but faced a second and long with less than a minute left in the quarter. QB Johnnie Sellers stepped back to wait for either WR Joseph Atkins or WR Darius Sanderson to get open. He should have been looking to his right instead of straight in front of him, as DL Archie Webber came barrelling towards him, taking him down hard and knocking the ball loose from his hands. LB Barry Moore was right behind Webber, and ran uncontested for a 35 yard score to put the Shamrocks up before the end of the half. Sellers was a bit shaken up after the play, but was back out on the field for the next drive to run out the remainder of the half.

WAS 7, PIT 13

Q3

The Federals would come out of the locker room full of steam, with their anger over their second quarter mistake brewing over into an offensive attack. QB Johnnie Sellers would light up the Pittsburgh secondary, as he threw one over the head of DB Jerry Pruitt and into the arms of WR Joseph Atkins, who ran for 30 yards before getting pushed out by S Josh von Bank. On the next play, Sellers found Atkins once again for a 21 yard gain, with a rattled Pruitt unable to defend the surging receiver. After a short 3 yard gain by RB Rip Rooney, Sellers would find WR Darius Sanderson wide open in the endzone to retake the lead 14-13. Pittsburgh would continue their struggles on offense, as they barely got past midfield but took a ton of time off the clock, and decided to risk it midway through the quarter when head coach James O’Leary decided to let K Vernon Hebert attempt a field goal from 49 yards out. Hebert’s kick would almost get in, sailing just a bit to the right to barely miss the attempt. Washington would regain possession, and would almost immediately make good use of it. On second down, Sellers would find Sanderson on the sidelines once again, who bolted for 25 yards before getting pushed out of bounds by S Raymond Waters. One short pass to TE Bill Danowski later, and the Federals were within 10 yards of the endzone. The Shamrocks defense finally decided to lock down on Washington, as the Federals failed to reach the endzone on three plays. The first run by RB Rip Rooney was stuffed at the line by DL Archie Webber, and the second run made it past the line of scrimmage but LB Barry Moore knocked the ball loose,  sending Washington back 5 yards as OL Chester Garrett fell on top of it. QB Johnnie Sellers attempted to throw up a jump ball to WR Joseph Atkins, but the ball was swatted away by DB Jerry Pruitt. Washington K Eugene Hickman walked onto the field to score a chip shot field goal to increase their lead by 4. With Pittsburgh’s offense stalling out, all the Federals had to do for one quarter was to remain consistent to win their first ever championship.

WAS 17, PIT 13

Q4

The Shamrocks would slightly improve on offense, as QB Clarence Stanley was forced to throw to his receivers instead of relying on the running game that had been stuffed all game. Stanley would improve the passing game by finding the speedy WR David Rice ahead of DB Marion Connelly, and Rice would have made it further than 22 yards if Connelly didn’t make a miraculous tackle to stop the speedster from reaching the endzone. Stanley would hit Rice and WR Chester Maxwell a few more times to get right up to the goal line, and let RB Marion Waters run to the outside to get into the endzone for their first offensive touchdown of the game. They would only take a 2 point lead, as a botched snap prevented K Vernon Hebert from kicking the extra point. It wouldn’t take long for the Federals to respond, as on 2nd down QB Johnnie Sellers found WR Darius Sanderson wide open down the sideline, who nearly uncontested for 67 yards before diving into the endzone to retake the lead. Pittsburgh would make some progress offensively, but would get stopped just before midfield and punted the ball back to Washington. Even though there were around 8 minutes left on the clock, the Federals took their time to chew away as much time as possible. They wasted over half the remaining time on the drive downfield, and kicked a field goal to make it a two possession game with little time left for the Shamrocks to do anything with the ball. Pittsburgh couldn’t move the ball with what time they had left, and the Washington Federals came out as champions in a miraculous turnaround season in just their first year in the nation’s capital.

WAS 27, PIT 19

QB Johnnie Sellers would win the game’s MVP award, throwing for 234 yards and 2 TD’s. At just 24 years old, Sellers became the youngest player to win both league MVP and championship MVP, and became the second to win both awards in the same season (the first being Chicago QB Alfred Walton winning both in 1951). “I never expected we would be at this point just yet,” Sellers said in a post-game interview. “It’s been nothing short of an amazing season, and we managed to put together another classic championship game in a year to remember.”