Cliff Livingston, Millennium Hall of Fame

Richard Dunn

When sudden death overtime was the great unknown in professional

football and television was still experimenting, Cliff Livingston and his

New York Giant teammates stood around looking at each other at the end of

regulation in the 1958 NFL Championship game.

“No one knew what to do,” said Livingston, an outside linebacker for the

Giants, who faced Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts in the title

game, christened by ESPN last month as the Greatest Game of the 20th

Century.

Livingston, a star on Orange Coast College’s second football team in

1949, played 13 years in the NFL, eight with the Giants (1954 to ‘61),

one with Minnesota (‘62) and four with the Los Angeles Rams (’63 to ‘66).

But Livingston, a two-time All-Pro selection, will never forget the

historic ’58 NFL Championship game that is said to be responsible for the

meteoric rise in popularity of the NFL.

“That particular game changed the complexion of professional football,”

Livingston said. “It got everybody’s attention.”

When the fourth quarter ended and the game was tied, 17-17, players,

coaches and referees weren’t sure what to do. Television was waiting for

an answer.

“Baltimore went back into the locker room for a break, and about 30

minutes later the referees had us at midfield and we flipped a coin and

started all over,” said Livingston, who played alongside NFL Hall of Fame

middle linebacker Sam Huff.

The Colts went on to beat the Giants, 23-17, in the first sudden death

overtime in an NFL Championship game. “(Baltimore halfback) Alan (The

Horse) Ameche came just over me for the winning touchdown,” Livingston

said.

During the Colts’ winning drive, Livingston said Unitas connected with

Raymond Berry on a deep pass for a first down, after Baltimore was

staring at third-and-long.

“Unitas and Berry had such incredible timing. They used to practice

together for hours after practice, I understand,” he said.

After going 9-3 in the regular season, the ’58 Giants faced running back

Jim Brown and the Cleveland Browns in an Eastern Conference playoff game.

Brown rushed for an NFL-record 1,527 yards that year, but was held to

just eight yards against New York’s stingy defense.

Under defensive coordinator Tom Landry, the Giants employed the game’s

first 7-4 defense and won the NFL title in ‘56, a 47-7 rout over the

Chicago Bears at Yankee Stadium as Huff was named Rookie of the Year and

halfback Frank Gifford was voted Player of the Year.

“Everybody prior to 1955, I believe, played mostly a six-man line with a

middle linebacker and four backs,” Livingston said. “No one knew how to

play outside linebacker, so it was a learning experience and (the 7-4)

became revolutionized.”

Livingston was an All-Pro choice in 1960 and ’61 and made $19,000 his

final year with the Rams, under the late George Allen in 1966. Livingston came up as a 203-pound defensive end with speed (he could run a 9.9

100-yard dash) and earned $5,000 his first season.

Last year, Livingston said he did an hour-long interview for NFL Films

and was paid $500 for his time. “That (was) a game’s salary,” he said.

Prior to the NFL, Livingston played two years at UCLA (1950 and ‘51) and

two years for the celebrated 6th Army team, which won all-army and

all-service national titles in 1953. The team, based at Fort Ord, Calif.,

featured 11 servicemen who eventually played in the NFL, including Ollie

Matson, Don Heinreich and Hugh McElhenny.

Livingston, a standout fullback at Montebello High (Class of ‘49),

arrived at Orange Coast when the school had dormitories left from World

War II, when the parcel served as a military air force base.

Under Coach Ray Rosso, the ’49 Pirates finished 8-2, outscoring their

opponents, 220-58.

“Our No. 1 rival was Santa Ana College, and (students) came and burned

the initials SAC on our campus, right in front of the admissions hall,”

said Livingston, whose Pirates lost to the Dons that year, 20-2. “That’s

when (the Dons) had Al Carmichael (who later played at USC from 1950 to

‘52). They imported a bunch of people.”

After a year at OCC, where Livingston was also a decathlete, he accepted

a scholarship to the University of Arizona. But it was “110 degrees” in

the middle of his first night and Livingston, already home sick, couldn’t

sleep. So he packed up and “skated out of the dorm,” then called UCLA

assistant coach Herbert “Deke” Brackett and asked if his scholarship

offer was still good.

It was.

Livingston, today’s honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame,

celebrating the millennium, met his wife, Linda, at the Playboy Club in

Chicago. “She would not have dated me had it not been for me playing pro

football,” Livingston said.

Livingston, 69, lives in Newport Beach and manages an apartment complex.

He and Linda have been married for 31 years. Their daughter, Paige, is a

30-year-old movie actress. Linda serves as her business manager.