Who Won the First Super Bowl?

History

• The American Football League started in 1960 as competition with the National Football League. Few thought the league would have a chance to succeed, but it was backed by the money and organization of Lamar Hunt. The Hunt family had made billions in oil and were able to provide support for the eight teams in the league, one of which Hunt owned. While the AFL was ridiculed by the more established league because it featured wide open offensive play and seemed to ignore defense, the fans in its cities took to the exciting brand of football. With franchises in Boston, New York, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland and Buffalo, the league soon took hold. The Dallas franchise moved to Kansas City and the Los Angeles team moved to San Diego and the league soon showed staying power. When the AFL signed and drafted college football superstar Joe Namath -- he was signed by the N.Y. Jets -- the NFL knew that its rival was most likely going to survive. Instead of trying to drive the other league out of business, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle initiated negotations with Hunt to merge. The two sides agreed to merge and they decided to play a championship game between the winners of the two leagues following the 1966 season. That first championship game -- named the "AFL-NFL Championship Game" -- was played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Jan. 15, 1967.

Significance

• The first championship game between the two leagues provided validation for the AFL and the beginnings of unprecedented growth for the NFL. The game itself was an interesting one. The Green Bay Packers, coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi, were heavy favorites to roll past the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers were viewed as bigger, stronger and tougher and while the perception was that the Chiefs had some exciting, like quarterback Len Dawson and running back Mike Garrett, they couldn't match the Packers who were loaded with stars like Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Willie Davis, Ray Nitschke and Willie Wood. The Chiefs battled hard and trailed 14-10 at the half. It was a great showing by the AFL champs, but Green Bay's depth and talent won out in the second half and the Packers rolled to a 35-10 win. Lombardi was relieved that his team had upheld the NFL's banner and had not been embarrassed by the AFL.

Features

• The game would be known by the name Super Bowl the following year. Hunt saw his son playing with a toy called a Super Ball and applied the name to the championship game. It was notable because it did not sell out and it was televised by two networks. While the L.A. Coliseum held nearly 80,000 seats at the time, only 61,946 tickets were sold. It is the only time in Super Bowl history that a game did not sell out. The game was televised by CBS and NBC. CBS was the network of the NFL; NBC televised AFL game. Management from both leagues decided to let both networks televise the first game and then alternate in ensuing years.

Time Frame

• The Super Bowl is now an event that lasts nearly a full week in the city chosen to host the game by the NFL. Media members come from all over the world to cover the event and it is a cultural event that is far bigger than any football game. It is televised around the world. For four hours--halftime and a myriad of commercials makes the game go longer than normal--almost all of the United States is transfixed by the Super Bowl every year. It was not that way in 1967, when many east coast newspapers didn't even send reporters to the west coast to cover the game. Super Bowl I was a trivial event in the minds of many sports editors, but when Namath led the Jets to a win in Super Bowl III over the Baltimore Colts, the game was locked in as a key event in American culture.

Expert Insight

• Super Bowl I was the start of perhaps America's greatest sporting traditions. While it did not meet with immediate approval from the American sporting public, it quickly became the nation's most popular annual events and even has taken on world significance. Pro football was a vibrant growing sport before Super Bowl I, but it became a huge, multi-billion dollar business once the Super Bowl established itself. The game itself has been notable for some incredible athletic performances by Joe Montana, Lynn Swann, Steve Young, John Elway and Jerry Rice. Those performances live on in the minds of football fans throughout the country. All of those Super Bowl heroes owe a large debt of gratitude to Rozelle and Hunt and all the players who participated in the first Super Bowl.