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  Saturday, Jan. 16 4:45am ET
Catch a shining Starr in the Ice Bowl
From ESPN SportsCenter

(Note: Before the 1970 merger, the conference championship game was known as the NFL Championship Game)

 
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  This is the third in SportsCenter's five-part series on the best conference championship games of all-time, selected by a vote of ESPN.com users earlier this month. Follow the series on-air and on-line as ESPN brings you the best of the best.

It is said hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. On the night before the 1967 NFL Championship Game, mother nature didn't need a reason to turn nasty.

"It turned cold Saturday night before the game on Sunday," said Bart Starr. "In fact, even as late as Saturday, the turf was good. The footing was excellent when we worked inside the stadium."

The Cowboys' Bob Lilly got an early hint of what was in store on Sunday.

"The next morning, my roommate, George Andrie got up and he went to Mass," said Lilly. "And when he came back, I guess it was about 7 or 7:30 in the morning, he didn't say anything. He just came in, got a glass of water and tossed it on the window and about half of it froze as it ran down the window.

 Bart Starr
After the scoring the game-winning touchdown over the Cowboys, Bart Starr led the Packers to a victory in Super Bowl I.

"And he said, 'Bob, it's 7 degrees below zero, a 35-mile-an-hour wind and it's supposed to get worse.' "

The 46-below wind chill didn't slow down the Packers offense, which raced to a 14-point lead on two touchdown passes from Bart Starr to Boyd Dowler.

The conditions wreaked havoc on the Cowboys' potent offense, which failed to score a point in the first half. Packers tight end Jerry Kramer remembers one important clue as to how much the cold was hampering Dallas' passing attack.

"I guess one of my most vivid memories from this game was Bob Hayes, the wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys, running his pass patterns with his hands in his pants," Kramer said.

It was the Cowboys defense that provided the team's only first-half score. Andrie recovered a Starr fumble, getting Dallas back in the game 14-7.

Just before the half, another Packer miscue helped the Cowboys. Willie Wood fumbled a punt, and the Cowboys recovered, setting up a Danny Villanueva field goal, making the score 14-10 at the half.

"In the early stages of the game, the footing was great," Starr said. "As the game progressed, however, it quickly deteriorated."

As the field conditions worsened, the scoring stopped. Neither team put a point on the board in the third quarter. In the fourth, the Cowboys gambled from midfield, calling a halfback option. Dan Reeves hit Lance Rentzel for a 50-yard touchdown and Dallas took a 17-14 lead.

But the Packers didn't panic.

"When we came on the field, as a team, to start that drive, everybody in that huddle had the look that we were going to get it done," Starr said. "Somehow, some way, and it was the greatest feeling in the world."

The Packers' drive to destiny started 68 yards from the goal line with 4:50 remaining. Starr went to the air to his backfield of Donny Anderson and Chuck Mercein, pushing the ball inside the 20. Mercein, the third-string fullback, then pounded his way up the middle to the 3-yard line.

Then, Anderson hit a wall. He carried three straight times. Three straight times his feet were unable to get the traction he needed to get into the end zone. On his final carry, he was stopped less than a yard from the goal line. With fourth down looming, the Packers called their last time out.

Starr wanted to call his own number.

"I said because I'm right behind the center, I can shuffle my way in and score because the backs can't get there. And all coach (Vince) Lombardi said was, 'Run it, and let's get the heck out of here.' "

And after Starr slipped into the end zone, the Packers walked out of a frigid stadium with their heads held high.

"We were supremely confident," Starr said. "We were never arrogant. I think there's a huge difference. I think arrogance can bury you, but confidence can put you right on the edge of invincibility.

"And we believed that we could beat anyone despite a lot of injuries that year. And as a result, we won that ball game."

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