Tag Archives: NFL History

1964 NFL Champion Cleveland Browns

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64 Bowns ringDid you know that the NFL had a rotating trophy in the years before the Super Bowl? How do we know this? Well in 1995 when it was determined that Cleveland was to keep the Browns team colors, records, etc., there was no championship trophy for 1964. In fact, in more ways than one, they left it in Green Bay following a loss in the 1965 NFL Championship Game. Following the 1965 season we started the Super Bowl series where teams kept a trophy to commemorate the accomplishment…but there were rings.

Jim Brown about to collide with Lenny Lyles during the '64 NFL Title Game.

Jim Brown about to collide with Lenny Lyles during the ’64 NFL Title Game.

Yet the year before the Cleveland Browns hosted the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in the 1964 NFL Title Game. With the Baltimore Colts defense keying on Jim Brown, Frank Ryan hit surprise MVP Gary Collins #86 with 3 TD passes in a 27-0 upset. Collins 3TD receptions in a title game went unmatched until Jerry Rice had 3 in Super Bowl XXIV some 26 years later. OK that isn’t entirely true since today they use the NFC Championship Game as an equivalent to the old NFL Championship Game we have to include Preston Pearson’s 3TDs in the 1975 NFC Championship Game when Dallas beat the Rams 37-7….yet I digress

This was the last championship won by the lake. So yes Jim Brown did play for an NFL Champion during his career. The team was quarterbacked by Frank Ryan who went on to be a college professor and designed the first electronic voting system for either US Congress or the House of Representatives…the memory escapes me. A uniquely forgotten team amidst the slew of Green Bay Packers championship teams throughout the decade.

Ironically, the team that bears the name of Paul Brown, won this championship without him. In a power struggle he was removed by new majority owner Art Modell. They were coached by Blanton Collier. More irony can be found in the fact that in Cleveland 4 years later, the Colts got revenge shutting out the Browns 34-0 in the NFL Championship Game on their way to Super Bowl III. Then the obvious irony of losing not only their last NFL Championship appearance to Baltimore, but then lost their original incarnation of the Browns to Baltimore when Art Modell moved them there following the 1995 season.

Gary Collins snares one of his three TD receptions in the '64 NFL Title Game.

Gary Collins snares one of his three TD receptions in the ’64 NFL Title Game.

However in 1964 they were league champions and went on to defend that title in 1965 against Green Bay Packers. This was also the team of the 1950s and is the only team in league history to win an NFL title in their first year in the league.

Further food for thought: What was first IRRESPONSIBLY taught to the masses as the “west coast offense” was the 1950s playbook of Paul Brown’s from Cleveland and taught to Bill Walsh in Cincinnati. In fact the most famous play in “west coast offense” history, the pass to Dwight Clark from Joe Montana in the ’81 NFC Championship Game, was an old Cleveland Brown play called Q-8 option and NOT sprint right option. It started in Ohio….NOT in San Francisco. Know your history kids… Class dismissed

The Ed Thorpe NFL Championship Trophy for 1965 as won by Green Bay as the rotating trophy the Browns took to defend their 64 Title was lost. Trophy stayed

Super Bowl XXIII Champion 1988 San Francisco 49ers

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San Francisco 49er’s Super Bowl XXIII Ring

There are some years when the best team in the NFL in a given year doesn’t win the Super Bowl. There are upsets and strange things that can happen to derail a team like injuries. What goes through the psyche of a team that loses in a monumental upset over the next season, or even two?? This is the story of some of the motivating factors that pushed the San Francisco 49ers into becoming one of the most powerful Super Bowl champions ever.

SUPER BOWL XXIII CHAMPION 1988 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS <————————CLICK LINK (2007 Word Document)

Ronnie Lott HOF Safety for the San Francisco 49ers

The Ghost of Vince Lombardi

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Super Bowl II Ring

The rich football history of the Green Bay Packers has been well chronicled. Yet there is an untold story that has been kept from the masses of NFL fans. Unlike the NBA, winning 3 NFL championships in a row has proven to be nearly impossible.  Is it the sheer breadth of winning in a sport where injuries are super prevalent, or is there something else more mystical?? Would you believe there is an ornery angel overseeing that no one equals Green Bay’s feat of winning 3 straight??  Its nearly happened on 5 different occasions yet this ghost isn’t above practical jokes or assisting with funny bounces of the ball to give another team angst when the goal is in sight. Here is a story the NFL, NFL Films, ESPN, nor NFL Network will tell you.  *DISCLAIMER*  Some of what you see may not be suitable for non Packer’s fans. Take a look

SUPER BOWL II CHAMPION 1967 GREEN BAY PACKERS  <———————-CLICK LINK

Green Bay Receives Super Bowl XLV Championship Ring

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Super Bowl XLV Packer’s Championship Ring

Well the day finally arrived and the Green Bay Packers had their Super Bowl Ring ceremony.  Each player, coach, staff assistant and player personnel members all received their rings.  Its a beautiful ring and for the 4th time Jostens was the jeweler selected to commemorate the championship with a ring design.  Its a beautiful ring and I love the 4 footballs on top signifying the 4 Super Bowl titles.  One side has the block Packers logo and a Super Bowl trophy where the other side has a nice carved out Lambeau Field and the player /coaches name under two rows of diamonds.  This design is easy on the eye and very modern and wearable.

This way the achievement itself seems to be focused on.  It was customary to have the score of the game and that of the conference championship on most rings of the past. Lets take a look at a few of the other Packers’ rings of the past.  So now Coach McCarthy,  Aaron Rodgers, Charles Woodson, Clay Matthews III, , company have championship hardware to go along with Holmgren, Favre, Reggie White, LeRoy Butler, Antonio Freeman of the new guard.  The old guard? Yes they get to have their names up there with Lombardi, Starr, Kramer, Hornung, Davis, Adderley, and Nitschke.  It would have been nice to see the total of NFL Championships on the ring to offset when short sighted fans talk of Sixburgh, or the 5 won by Dallas and San Francisco. That they are all holding less than half of what the Packers have won. Congrats Green Bay.

1965 NFL Championship Ring

Lets take a look at some of the other Packers rings…How about the 1965 NFL Championship Ring.  The Packers beat the defending champion Browns in Jim Brown’s last football game and set sail on the monumental effort of winning 3 championships in a row. The field was muddy and Jim Taylor played with a heavily taped thigh for a pulled hamstring. Lambeau was a quagmire as the Packer slipped past the Browns 23-12.

In the 2 seasons before this one, the Packers had lost star halfback Paul Hornung and watched their hated rival Chicago Bears win in 1963 and the Cleveland Browns in 1964. Hornung was suspended in ’63 and was rounding into shape in ’64.  Then Lombardi started to rebuild some pieces of his defense during these years and in 1965 sicc’d them on the unsuspecting NFL.

Then you have the ring for winning the first Super Bowl. War of the Worlds. First they beat the upstart Dallas Cowboys 34-27 in one of the ’60s greatest games.  Bart Starr threw for 4 touchdown passes and the game came down to the 2 yard line in the old Cotton Bowl.  A goal line stand held the Cowboys and on third down Don Meredith rolled right. A missed block let a blitzing Dave Robinson free to hit Meredith just as he threw.  The pass was picked off by S Tom Brown in the endzone preserving the win.

Off to Los Angeles and the first Super Bowl where the Packers beat the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.  A tougher game than many anticipated until Willie Wood intercepted a Len Dawson pass and took it back 50 yards.  Packers score a few plays later to go up 21-10 and it was accademic from there. The singular diamond signfies the Packers status as number one in ALL of professional football.

Then came the game that has been etched into the minds of football fans everywhere. The Ice Bowl.  Played in -15 degree weather and a windchill at -60, the Packers beat the Cowboys 21-17 on Bart Starr’s last second touchdown plunge to give the Packers their third straight championship. This was the last time this has been accomplished.  The only other time was the Packers from 1929-1931.

The best record in football belonged to the 13-1 Oakland Raiders of the AFL but they weren’t championship ready for the  9-4-1 Packers.  Lombardi’s final champion was devoid of Paul Hornung & Jim Taylor. Chuck Mercein, Donny Anderson, and Ben Wilson were the runners during the playoff run.  The Packers carried off Lombardi after a 33-14 triumph.  This ring showcases 3 very large diamonds to commemorate their achievement winning 3 in a row. No other team has won 3 straight championships since. Its chronicled in my “Ghost of Lombardi” story the quirky, bizarre circumstances that halted 5 others trying to attempt it.

Then there was Super Bowl XXXI. Can’t you still picture Reggie White taking off with the Super Bowl trophy? One of the lasting images was the clock clicking down and that blizzard of confetti for the first time at the Super Bowl. Packer coaches and players hugging each other and you could hardly see them.  Packers 35-21 over the New England Patriots.

A close game that was threatening to be closer until Desmond Howard took the kickoff back 99 yards to demoralize the Patriots.  After that, the Minister of Defense recorded 3 sacks against a despearate Patriot’s team forced to pass. White delivered in his quest to bring Green Bay a championship after signing as a free agent in 1993. In the years prior, it was discussed that black players wouldnt want to go to Green Bay. His signing was not only a coup, don’t forget Keith Jackson, Eugene Robinson, Ron Cox, Andre Rison and Desmond Howard all came in the latter two years to dispell that notion.  Then they went on to bring home the Lombardi after a 29 year hiatus.

1962 NFL Championship Ring

For good measure lets throw in a ring from the 1962 NFL Champions and the middle of a first chance at Lombardi winning a third in a row. Alas, Hornung was suspended for gambling in 1963 and the team would have to rebuild before they put themselves in position to go for it later in the decade.

Yet this is just a tip of the iceberg for the team with the richest heritage in the NFL. THIRTEEN NFL CHAMPIONSHIPS! Most teams if you add their championships to their rivals wouldn’t come close to that staggering number.  Then the 2011 edition in most pundits expert opinion are favored to return to the Super Bowl.  Not like most defending champions being afforded lip service, I mean this team won the Super Bowl with a second string football team.  How could this team not be picked to win it all returning those 16 players on injured reserve and then a good draft?? Well we’ll have time to get into all of that. This is a celebration of their championship heritage and the latest bauble to commemorate it.

Death Becomes the Run & Shoot on a Monday Night

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Single outside receiver site adjustments from the Run and Shoot

Whatever happened to the Run & Shoot as a pro offense?? You remember in the early 90s, when several downtrodden franchises looked to this offense to gain a tactical advantage on the competition.  Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, and Seattle deployed 4 receivers who ran their routes according to how defenses were playing them.  Borrowing on a concept from Bill Walsh’s offense, it was up to both the receiver and quarterback to read the defense, then adjust the route accordingly.

The truth of the matter is for each team with 4 receivers; the 3rd and 4th receivers were better than the opposing 3rd and 4th defensive backs that were normally platooned to cover them.  These teams started racking up yards by the bushel and along with Buffalo’s “K Gun offense”, the zenith of the Run & Shoot was 1991 when each team, except Seattle. who abandoned the offense in 1990, made the playoffs.  The Bills set offensive records for TDs scored and 33TD passes in a season by Jim Kelly.  In fact Thurman Thomas was NFL MVP with over 2,100 combined yards from scrimmage.

Everyone thought of the Bills “No Huddle” offense as an offshoot of the Run & Shoot because of option routes run by Andre Reed in the slot and Thurman Thomas out of the backfield.  Teams had a hard time adjusting and no matter how your corner played any of these receivers, the receiver would change his route and use the corner’s position against him.

For instance if the corner played outside position in a cover 3 zone, the adjustment would be a seam route by the slot receiver, or a skinny post for the outside receiver.  That same corner came up in press one on one, the receiver would try for an outside release and run a fly pattern.   In a cover 2 where the corner was off, he would adjust and run a hook with the underneath receiver running a down and out underneath his pattern, as the outside receiver occupied the corner.  What could a defense do to combat an offense that used your very choices against you?

Enter the NFC East.  This was the division that each team fielded twin 200 lbs. safeties receivers were funneled to. Whether it was Myron Guyton / Greg Williams with the New York Giants, Danny Copeland / Brad Edwards of the Washington Redskins, or the more punishing Andre Waters / Wes Hopkins duo that was on patrol in Philadelphia’s Veteran Stadium.

Where most teams were employing mainly dime defenses that were off the receiver, these teams started fielding nickel and dime defenses with cover two over the top and bludgeoned smaller  run and shoot receivers.  Many pundits look back to the Giants 1990 Super Bowl XXV defeat of the Buffalo Bills and their use of a 2 man line nickle and dime variations to slow down Buffalo’s no huddle / run and shoot tactics.

However thats misleading…the Giants conceded the run to the Bills (see Thurman Thomas’ 135 yards rushing) to set the tone punishing receivers with hits from the linebackers and safeties.  It was more of a victory based on the strong time of possession difference from the methodical Giants offense more than defensive tactics. A 40:31 to 19:29 possession time difference as a matter of fact.  Although Super Bowl XXV, at the end of the 1990 season, did set the blueprint for playing physical defense against this speed type offense.  So when and where was the run and shoot conquered as an offense??

The signature game that signaled the death of the Run & Shoot as an offense, came in week 14 of the 1991 season.  A Monday night matchup where the Houston Oilers hosted the Philadelphia Eagles.  The Eagles as a defense had come to full fruition as a unit originally put together by Buddy Ryan and now run by defensive coordinator Bud Carson.  They had high hopes that 1991 would be their year: they returned ’90 NFL MVP Randall Cunningham and an improving defense, yet torn ligaments to Cunningham’s knee courtesy of Bryce Paup in the season opener, sent the Eagles season spiraling.  Not quite…

A defense that ranked near the bottom in ’88, Buddy Ryan helped their esprit de corp when he drafted only four players in 1989 citing he liked his guys.  The team grew defensively into a giant by 1991 although Ryan was no longer with them.  The defense kept them in games week after week and they came into this matchup 7-5.  Could they best the #1 passing offense in the league? Could they do it on the road?

The Houston Oilers were the vanguard of the run n shoot teams and with Warren Moon had put up the most prolific numbers. In 1990 Moon passed the Oilers to the playoffs with 4,689 yards and 33 TDs.  The most since Dan Marino’s record setting 1984 and he missed 1 full game and time in 2 others.  Along the way he passed for 514 yards against the playoff bound Chief’s #6 ranked defense. Coming within 41 yards of Norm Van Brocklin’s 50 year old record of 554. Alas Moon suffered a broken thumb and missed the Oiler’s playoff loss to Cincinnati.

Going into 1991, Moon was on a near record setting pace again and some thought this, and not Buffalo was the strongest AFC team.  The Redskins were 8-0 and the Oilers 7-1 when they met in a week 8 slugfest with the eventual world champion Redskins. The game was won  by Washington 20-17 in RFK, yet they showed they indeed were ready to stand toe to toe with the best the NFC offered. Going into the Monday Night tilt against the beat up Philadelphia Eagles at home, many thought the Oilers juggernaut offense would roll in this game too.

What took place over the next three hours was one defensive masterpiece that many defensive affecionados remember reverently to this day. The Eagles employed a 4-2-5 nickel variation with OLB Seth Joyner and MLB Byron Evans, who was lanky for a middle backer yet had great range, for most of the night.

Occasionally they’d bring in the dime defense (6 defensive backs) yet what they did differently was press the receivers and blitz off short corners. The hitting was vicious with Wes Hopkins and Andre Waters leading the way.  They knocked out both Ernest Givins and Drew Hill out of the game twice each. The first vicious shot was a dirty elbow from Wes Hopkins that broke Givins nose, yet set the tone for the night.

Joyner played his way to the Pro Bowl and almost the Hall of Fame that night with 2 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery to keep the game close.  Reggie White, Jerome Brown (The U), Mike Golic, and Clyde Simmons swallowed Allen Pinkett’s attempts to run holding the Oilers to a paltry 21 yards rushing for the game.  They also provided a serious rush that they supplemented with the occasional blitz that beat Houston into total submission before a stunned audience of millions. When dime back Otis Smith’s thunderous hit on Drew Hill, on an outside swirl route, forced Houston’s fifth fumble of the night. The rest of the league were on their second tablet from taking notes. The Eagles won 13-6 in front of a shocked audience.

Early 90s pic of Eagles L-R: Clyde Simmons, Eric Allen, Jerome Brown, Seth Joyner, and Reggie White

The beating was so decisive it ruined the Oilers season and this game was the complete blueprint on how to stop the run and shoot. Going into the game the Oilers were averaging 307 yards passing, just off pace needed to break Marino’s passing record, yet staggered away from this game only averaging 232 the rest of the season. The 226 they gained through the air against the Eagles was their season low.

The average was also down for the Falcons and Lions over the last 4 weeks of the season as well. The Oilers went down in the divisional round of the ’91 playoffs 26-24 to Denver, and the lone run n shoot playoff winner was Detroit who went on to whip Dallas 38-6. In fact the Cowboys had lost 4 games to run n shoot teams in 1991. The next year the Cowboys drafted a rangy MLB Robert Jones, in a Byron Evans mold, and brought in CB Kevin Smith, SS and former rangy college linebacker Darren Woodson, to stop those offenses the next year. The first of their 3 Super Bowl wins in the 90s and it started with that 1992 draft to mimick what the Eagles fielded in 1991.

As for the run n shoot, its effectiveness was diminished and the race for the record book was over.  In 1991 Houston passed for 4,621 yards where in 1992 that number dropped to 4,029. In ’92 neither the Lions or the Falcons came within 3 games of the playoffs and the Lions and Bills started to alter their offensive approach. The Oilers along with the Falcons ran the offense until 1993, yet the Falcons never returned to the playoffs…and the Oilers?? Well they went into the 1992 wildcard and took a 28-3 halftime lead on Buffalo who was playing with 6 & 7 DBs on the field.  Warren Moon at the half was 19 of 22 for almost 300 yards and 4 TDs and ballooned the lead to 35-3.

In the 3rd quarter, the Bills decided to play it the same way the Eagles had in ’91 inserting rangy MLB Carlton Bailey #54 and Darryl Talley #56 and they shut Houston down in the second half enroute to the greatest comeback in NFL history winning 41-38 in OT. Couple these landmark events with the system’s inability to score in the red zone and the run n shoot’s fate was sealed.  Even now the run n shoot receiving principles of WR route running based on options lives on in playbooks, just not in a 4 receiver set, nor as an entire offensive approach.

As for the Philadelphia Eagles defense that was the architect of the run n shoot’s demise? They went on to become the last great defense to finish #1 against the run, #1 against the pass, and #1 overall.  A distinction the ’85 Bears, ’86 Giants, ’76 Steelers, ’78 Steelers, ’08 Steelers, nor ’00 Ravens could match.  They finished the season winning 7 of 8 games and finished 10-6 and narrowly missed the playoffs.

The combined quarterback rating for their final 6 QBs was less than 40.0, and their principle line rushers R. White, Jerome Brown(The U), and Clyde Simmons combined for 37 sacks (which if they played last year would rank 11th in the NFL by themselves), and all 3 were Pro Bowlers and 1st team All Pro. Seth Joyner and Eric Allen earned Pro Bowl distinctions in 1991 as well.  They don’t receive the recognition of those other great defenses because they didn’t win the Super Bowl. Who would have operating with 5 different starting quarterbacks? They were one of the best defenses in NFL History.  Had Randall Cunningham not been injured…

Prologue: The impact of the players of this era in Eagle history were felt throughout the decade…

Reggie White-Became the main prize in 1993’s free agent derby, signed with Green Bay and went on to become the NFL’s all time sack leader. Recorded 3 sacks in Super Bowl XXXI when he became a champion with Green Bay along with former Eagle TE Keith Jackson. They bested the New England Patriots who had former Eagle RB Keith Byars and CB Otis Smith on the team. White passed on the week of Christmas 2004 which cast a pall over the playoffs that year. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame posthumosly in 2006. RIP Reggie White.

Commemorative patch worn by the 1992 Philadelphia Eagles in Jerome Brown’s memory.

Jerome Brown– An all pro talent who passed away the following June. He’s still one of the most beloved Miami Hurricanes and missed by Hurricane fans everywhere. The 1992 Eagles dedicated their season to his memory and wore this commemorative patch on their jerseys the entire season. They also kept an equipped locker for him throughout the season and set it up on road trips also. His locker was with the ’92 Eagles in the Superdome as they won their first playoff game in 15 years.

Brown was the predecessor to fellow Hurricanes DTs Cortez Kennedy Russell Maryland, and Warren Sapp. Kennedy, who changed his number to 99 in honor of Jerome and went on to win NFL Defensive Player of the Year in his honor in 1992 while playing for the Seahawks. Every Hurricane playing in the NFL during 1992 wore a black #98 on their helmet that year including several that played for the Dallas Cowboys. The next time you watch Super Bowl XXVII where Dallas beats Buffalo you’ll see the black #98 on the back of many helmets. Jerome was alos the inspiration and reason former Hurricane Warren Sapp wore #99 during his entire NFL career. R.I.P Jerome Brown

Seth Joyner & Clyde Simmons– Were twin free agent prizes that signed with Buddy Ryan and the Cardinals in 1994. I wrote the Buffalo Bills organization and suggested we grab Simmons and Joyner to join Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett to fortify our defense to get to our fifth Super Bowl…yet I digress Joyner went on to join White with the Packers (1997) in their bid to repeat as champions yet they lost to Denver in Super Bowl XXXII.

Well if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, and when Denver (1998) went on to become back to back champions a year later. Seth Joyner was a Bronco and guess what number he wore?? Number 99. He is a motivational speaker in Arizona now http://sethjoyner.com/ runs youth football clinics and is a coach himself. Just launched his show and podcast “The Seth Joyner Show” where you can hear his commentary along with a host of former Eagles.

 

Eric Allen– Played on through the 2001 season finishing with the Raiders. A popular notion is he should have been 1993’s NFL Defensive Player of the Year for his 64 tackles 6 interception performance in which returned 4 of them for touchdowns.  The most famous being a 91 yard interception against the Jets. After weaving his way into the endzone, he handed the ball to teammate Randall Cunningham who was on crutches having been injured earlier in the game. His last game as a player was the famous “Tuck Game” in New England in the 2001 playoffs. Former teammate Otis Smith was a Patriot CB. He’s currently an ESPN analyst.

Byron Evans-Played 8 years with the Eagles through the ’94 season and was an underrated talent. Has an internet radio show he does with former teammate CB Mark McMillan on the Voice of America Network. http://www.voiceamerica.com/show/1475/hard-hittin-radio

Andre Waters– The hard hitting safety went on to join Simmons and Joyner in Arizona for the ’94 and ’95 seasons. He had gone into coaching yet passed away in 2006 R.I.P. Andre Waters

Otis Smith-Was an Eagle dimeback in ’91. He went on to be the wily CB for a veteran laden Patriot team that lost Super Bowl XXXI to Green Bay. Yet was a Patriot 5 years later man handling Tory Holt and Isaac Bruce to stop the Greatest Show on Turf as he became a champion in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Mike Golic– finished his career with Miami and is half of the popular duo Mike and Mike on ESPN television and radio in the morning.

Taylor Blitz Times new logo!!

Taylor Blitz Times new logo!!

The AFL: A True American Success Story

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Unlike other leagues that popped up and died, the American Football League lives on in the American Football Conference of the modern NFL.  With a burgeoning economy after World War II, Americans turned their attention to a life of leisure during the 1950s. Sports became the outlet for most of America.

There was a clamor by many who felt slighted when it came to big league sports.  The furthest point west on the map where major professional sports was played, was Wisconsin & St Louis Missouri. Then something happened to change the landscape.  The AAFC football league folded and the San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL in 1950, along with the champion Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts.

This event helped propel the Cleveland Rams west to Los Angeles, where they joined San Francisco to be the first pro teams in California. Now other western cities wanted in on the action and all the other sports started to broaden their minds toward relocation.  Soon moves were made by an L.A. Councilwoman who massaged the beginnings of what came to be the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants move to California in 1957.  Expansion was on soon with the Lakers in 1960 moving from Minneapolis.  Now Texans wanted an NFL team and had the money to gain an NFL franchise or so Lamar Hunt thought.

AFL and Kansas City Chief founder Lamar Hunt holding a platter of AFL footballs.

AFL and Kansas City Chief founder Lamar Hunt holding a platter of AFL footballs.

Then the NFL had the landmark 1958 NFL Championship overtime game between the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts that transformed the spark of interest into a flame. Hunt and principles moved quickly to form the American Football League since the NFL had thwarted their attempts to bring football to Texas. Now you have to understand who we’re talking about here for a second.  Lamar Hunt was son of H.L. Hunt of Hunt Brothers Oil! We’re talking seriously deep pockets here. The NFL in its arrogance thought they would outlast a fledgling league like the AAFC just a decade before….damn were they wrong.

Once the idea of the AFL gained momentum, the NFL turned to espionage and tricky double dealing to sink the new league.  The eight cities that Hunt and the other AFL owners decided on were Dallas, Houston, Denver, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Buffalo. However the NFL bent the ear of the Minnesota ownership group, and told them they would give them an NFL franchise if they would decieve their brethren, by defecting to the NFL at the last minute. It almost worked but the AFL scrambled to move the eighth team to its new home in Oakland. Meanwhile the NFL put a team in Dallas to compete with Hunt’s Dallas Texans, they were called the Cowboys.

The AFL had some seriously rich men that wanted to see it succeed in Bud Adams, Ralph Wilson, Lamar Hunt, and Barron Hilton yet there were other ownership groups that struggled to make ends meet as the league got off the ground in 1960. Many teams were losing money at record rates, some to the tune of a million dollars or more.

It was former Boston Patriot owner Billy Sullivan who coined the phrase “The Foolish Club” when listening to his colleagues joke about revenues lost.  However John Madden recalled a reporter asking Lamar’s father H.L. Hunt “What did he think of his son losing $1 million  a year??” Hunt’s answer was cryptic to the NFL and the sporting establishment’s ears when he replied “Well, he’ll be ok. At that rate he’ll only be able to go on for another 150 years.” Damn!!  On 1960’s dollars??  Yikes!!

Although the NFL had been around forever, for the first time they were up against wealthy men who gained their fortunes as titans of industry outside of football. NFL owners George Halas, Carroll Rosenbloom, Tim and Wellington Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Art Modell were primarily football men and knew their asses were in trouble.  If it came down to the AFL’s pockets they would be in for a battle they couldn’t win.

The first few years had the established sporting press scoffing at the league’s style of play, uniforms, retread players and coaches, you name it. This is an era where if you went against the establishment, you had more than an uphill battle just for acceptance….I mean the radical 60’s were not yet underway. Yet here they were continuing the plan on expanding professional football to more points within the United States.

One of the first items the AFL did was secure a television contract to assist the teams that had financial problems like the Titans and Raiders.  The Raiders had also come to a point of folding when they contacted their fellow teams and said they couldn’t sustain operation financially.  Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson stepped in and lent the Raiders $450,000 to stay afloat because the league couldn’t operate with only 7 teams. As for the Titans and Harry Wismer, the Jets needed an ownership group that had the pockets and vision to rival that of the New York Giants. Enter Sonny Werblin.

Werblin spearheaded a group that purchased the bankrupt New York Titans, renamed them the Jets and helped negotiate the most lucrative television contract to date with NBC.  Over $1.8 million dollars went to each team in 1965 and with all of their teams solvent for future operation, new stadiums went up in San Diego (Los Angeles), Oakland, & Denver. Now the next move Werblin spearheaded was to draft Joe Namath and pay him a ridiculous $427,000 contract to be the star in New York. Uh oh…this single shot turned the draft into a who is going to pay the most for a players services between the two leagues.  Talk about impact.

Super Bowl I trophy with both logos (Katie Marie Packers Hall of Fame)

An unwritten agreement existed between the two leagues to not sign each others current players.  Yet the NFL went underhanded, yet again, when the New York Giants signed kicker Pete Gogolak from the two time AFL Champion Buffalo Bills.  The AFL retaliated big time. It was recounted by Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Texans who had moved his team to Kansas City and renamed them the Chiefs, to meet Tex Schramm and discuss a possible merger. Hunt still lived in Dallas. They met at Love Field under the Texas Ranger statue and when the meeting was over, Hunt flew to Houston to elect Al Davis AFL Commissioner.  Joe Foss had been a good commissioner but now they needed a “war time President”.  Al Davis quickly helped teams realize they could bring the NFL to its knees if they created a bidding war by signing away their superstars.

The moves of signing away San Francisco quarterback John Brodie, Los Angeles’ Roman Gabriel, and Chicago’s Mike Ditka were the straw that broke the camel’s back.  The bidding for player’s talents had driven contracts up dramatically and the NFL grudgingly came to the table.  Al Davis was away about to sign another player when Hunt told him that they were going to meet the next day about a merger and they didn’t need the headlines. *Pay attention because this is the birthplace of the Chiefs / Raiders rivalry and the Al Davis against the world mentality takes place*  Davis signs the player which angers Hunt.

In the subsequent negotiations, the leagues agree to a merger with the two league’s champions playing in a new championship game, the Super Bowl, for the first four years and realignment into one all inclusive league in 1970.  Pete Rozelle remained commissioner over all of football, there was a common draft starting in 1966… and Al Davis….?? They left him out in the cold sort of..

al-davis-bustThis is where he received his dubious ownership distinction and awkward title President of the Managing General Partner for the Raiders.  He had only been a coach before, yet one of the  items that seemed spineless is the NFL made the AFL’s teams pay $3 million in reparation damages each and had Al Davis been there would never have acquiesced to such a demand.  Not when they had the NFL crawling to the table.  It was this animosity toward Pete Rozelle, Bud Adams and especially the Kansas City Chiefs and Lamar Hunt that raged on for many years. *This is where the animosity between Davis and Rozelle fostered…remember the court battles of the 1980s between the Oakland Raiders v the NFL??*

The patch worn by the Kansas City Chiefs on January 11, 1970 for Super Bowl IV. The final game of the AFL

In the first two Super Bowls Green Bay bested Kansas City and Oakland respectively.  The landmark win came when the Jets upset Baltimore to show that the AFL was on a par in Super Bowl III.  Then with a twist of fate, the ownership group who traitorously tried to sink the AFL by defecting, came into Super Bowl IV against the Kansas City Chiefs and AFL founder Lamar Hunt.  In the last game ever for the AFL, Kansas City buried the Minnesota Vikings 23-7 to bring not only the Super Bowl record to 2-2 between the two leagues, but able to have the satisfaction of kicking Judas’ ass in the process.

In conclusion: It was wrong to not include Davis and to me is the one of the few black eyes in this success story.  The AFL was swallowed into the monolith that is the NFL after expanding the AFL to 10 teams with Cincinnati, and Miami emerging.  These 10 teams were joined by the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, and Baltimore Colts, yes the Baltimore Colts who gave the NFL a black eye with that first loss. They didn’t go empty handed, each club was paid $3 million to move to the new AFC.  Yet AFL loyalists such as Davis wished the two leagues stay separate, and he truly believed they would have eventually folded the NFL.

This is the ring for the Raiders triumph in Super Bowl XI. Look at the middle pic of the side of the ring. There you’ll see the AFL Block “A” along with the AFL logo and not the bold modified AFC “A”.

In fact in the 3 Super Bowls the Raiders won in the post merger NFL, Davis always used the Block “A” of the AFL and not the bold modified block “A” of the AFC on their Super Bowl rings.  He didn’t relent until the 2002 AFC championship ring where he finally used the AFC “A”.

hof-lamar-huntThere you have it…how the AFL changed the sporting landscape after the first shot was fired by the folding of their predecessors, the AAFC.  San Francisco’s entering the NFL doesn’t get the impact that it should because so much focus was on champion Cleveland coming over.  The western expansion of American Football owes a debt of gratitude to the 49ers yet even more to those original owners.

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