People assoicate that phrase “frozen tundra†with the famous Ice Bowl game between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and even more so with the late John Facenda of NFL Films. Everyone imitates it, but as I found out last night in an interview with Steve Sabol, Facenda never actually spoke those words. Here’s the true story:
Steve Sabol wrote those very words while working on the Packers’ highlight film for that season. Vince Lombardi, an English major, wanted to review the script before it went to production. Lombardi first informed Sabol that “frozen tundra†is redundant (Wester’s defines it as a level or rolling treeless plain that is characteristic of arctic and subarctic regions, consists of black mucky soil with a permanently frozen subsoil). Secondly, Lombardi told Sabol that because they had installed a heating element under the field, the field was actually never frozen, and he would not allow those words to be used!
Interestingly enough, the Cowboys did have “frozen tundra†in their highlight film that year because GM Tex Schramm wanted it that way, blaming the loss on the elements. John Facenda did not narrate that film.
So, next time someone jokes about the “frozen tundra of Lambeau Fieldâ€, politely correct them.
