The 1962 East-West Pro Bowl

Pro Bowl

In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...

was played on January 14, 1962 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...

 in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

 in front of 57,409. The coaches were Norm Van Brocklin

Norm Van Brocklin

Norman Mack "Norm" Van Brocklin , nicknamed "The Dutchman", was an American football player and coach. He was also a first rate punter in college and in the NFL...

 of Minnesota Vikings

Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...

 for the West and Allie Sherman

Allie Sherman

Alexander "Allie" Sherman is a retired American football National Football League running back and head coach....

 of the New York Giants

New York Giants

The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

for the East. The 1961 Pro Bowl is considered one of the best competitive games in history. Unitas drove the West to the 12 yard line then hit the Ram's Jon Arnett in the end zone for the game winning touchdown on the final play of the game. Arnett was on his knees when he made the catch. The extra point gave the West the victory, 31-30 with no time remaining on the clock. Jim Brown was voted the game's outstanding back and the Green Bay Packers Henry Jordan was the lineman of the game.

Safety Study

Joe Schmidt, Detroit Lions linebacker, had his helmet wired to absorb and measure the shock of tackles in conjunction with a study by Northwestern University. The safety study was considered quite remarkable in that day and the specially adapted helmet cost $5000.00.