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Location: Cleveland bound with MPLS in the rear-view
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You really have to respect Bills, Browns and maybe (ahem) Vikings fans......they go through such highs only to feel the ultimate blow. True fans know this feeling....the feeling of winning it all doesn't build the same kind of character.
Giants vs. Bills Super Bowl. No explanation needed
Browns vs. Bengals 2007. Over 1000 yards of offense in a 51-45 shootout. Browns were coming off a beatdown at the hands of the Steelers and no one had any reason to expect this type of game
Browns - Steelers 1993. Eric Metcalf ran 2 punts back in a 28-23 win
Giants - Patriots 2007 Super Bowl. Watching the Giants pull the upset on possibly the most unlikable team in history and their loudmouth, clueless , frontrunning fans was well.... PERFECT! I'm sorry, but unless you are from the Boston area or were a fan of the Patriots during the Rod Rust/Bill Macpherson years deciding to root for the Pats (especially a few years ago) is like deciding to root for the IRS.
Super Bowl III. Probably as big a game as there is in NFL history.
Thinking back at SB III, I was really torn about this game from the standpoint of who to root for. The Denver Broncos were my favorite club, but before the AFL was formed I was a huge Baltimore Colt fan, and Johnny Unitas was one of my heroes growing up (and still is one of my heroes). If Kansas City or Oakland would have gotten in instead of the New York Jets, it would have been an easy decision as the Chiefs and the Raiders would steamroll the Broncos with regularity.
It was only the year previous that the AFL and the NFL merged. Make no mistake, however, that the AFL was looked down on by the established NFL. There were a lot of NFL owners who were against the merger. And in the first two Super Bowls, the AFL representatives were soundly beaten. Kansas City and Oakland were thought to be the best of what that league had to offer, and that the New York Jets didn't stand a prayer.
And the smart money reflected that opinion. Vegas had Baltimore originally by 17 points, if I'm not mistaken, and I remember that for a while those odds went over twenty points. And why not? Baltimore finished 13-1 last season, with only the Cleveland Browns beating them in the regular season. In the NFL title game, Baltimore returned the favor, shutting out Cleveland 34-0 on the Browns field. *note* Back then, believe it or not, the NFL used to rotate where the championship games were played, and in 1968 the game was to be scheduled in the eastern conference winner. When the Atlanta Falcons and the New Orleans Saints joined the league, the NFL developed four divisions; coastal, century, capitol, and central. Cleveland represented the century division of the eastern conference, and Baltimore represented the coastal division of the western conference. Cleveland finished 10-4, but in the championship game Baltimore played with a vengeance. There was a reason for that. Four years previous Cleveland shut out Baltimore in the 1964 NFL title game.
The Colts were prohibitive favorites in this game. Baltimore returned the favor and then some. I remember in that year a lot of the NFL "talking heads" were calling the Colt squad the best club of all time, for good reason. Baltimore's defense gave up 144 points that year, at that time an NFL record. HOFers Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry had retired in 1967, and in training camp Johnny Unitas developed an arm injury that sidelined him for nearly the entire season. But trading for Earl Morral proved to be a no brainer. Baltimore had so much depth that Morrall couldn't help but excel. That year he was the NFL's MVP!
In the AFL, Oakland had a better record than the Jets, but traveled to Shea Stadium for the AFL championship. The Raiders finished 12-2, the Jets 11-3 with the Jets prevailing in the AFL championship game 27-23 in a game that was a classic in its own rite.
The last few days building up to the game had the media convinced that this game was going to be a slaughter. No one gave the Jets a chance-no one. That's why Joe Namath made that famous quote "We're gonna win the game, I guarantee it."
I'm a fan of America's Game, the excellent one hour bio series that Steve Sabol and NFL films produced a couple years ago, which has been showed repeatedly on the NFL channel. There are two quotes from two players interviewed in the 1968 New York Jets one hour special that I will always remember.
Joe Namath: "The other side thought they were ready. They weren't ready."
Gerry Philbin: "The Colts should have really been upset when Joe made that statement in the press. If they were as good as everybody in the NFL and the press said they were, they should have come out and beat the s*it out of us. They didn't do it!"
There were a lot of factors at play here regarding the New York Jets. The Jets had a few ex-Baltimore Colt employees associated with the Jets, among them Weeb Eubank (who coached them to two NFL championships and '58 and '59, Johnny Sample who was a defensive back who was traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers under iffy circumstances and eventually was waived (I call it blackballed) by the NFL years later. There were a few other ex-Colts on that squad.
One thing about this game that I really want to keynote here. Joe Namath called the Jets plays as he was sizing up the defense after every play. Called every single play himself. He was sacked only twice as Winston Hill, Dave Herman, Randy Rasmussen and the rest of the offensive line played the game of their lives, particularly Herman. Herman was set up against Bubba Smith, at that time the best (IMO) defensive lineman in the NFL. And another lineman who had an excellent game was Bob Talamini, who played all those years with the Houston Oilers but was a valuable pickup as he could play every position on the line.
Baltimore moved the ball all right, they finished with 324 yards total offense, but kept shooting themselves in the foot, with Morrall tossing four picks. Lou Michaels blowing an easy 27 yard field goal in the second quarter didn't help.
Starting in the third quarter Namath made up for the time advantage regarding Baltimore always moving the ball and not being able to score. One would think Morrall would have been under siege, but he was never sacked in the game. Namath played keepaway, and ran Matt Snell. And ran him. And ran him. George Sauer came in with some big catches over all-pro Colt db Lennie Lyles. Namath kept those passes short though, while chewing up the clock.
Finally, Don Shula sought out Unitas. Unitas had played very little in the season due to his bad arm injury, but he was put in for another reason. Surprisingly the Colts were losing their poise, and they needed leadership, like right now. I remember when the Jets were up 13-zip and after another turnover on the Colts side of the field, Namath was going to go long, but got his hand hit on a blitz and had to come out of the game for a short time, and Babe Parilli relieved him.
The Jets punted, and when Unitas put on his helmet and ran on the field, it's like he woke up the entire crowd. I have Johnny Sample's biography "Confessions Of A Dirty Ballplayer" and when he talked about that same thing, he said the Jets, to a man, just gawked out on the field while muttering to themselves, "Oh sh*t, here comes Unitas." But his first couple series produced nothing. His arm wasn't what it was, he hadn't played since October, but he was still the man. John Unitas.
Unitas finally got Baltimore in the end zone but had to take a lot of time off the clock to do it. Baltimore surprisingly got the ball again off the onside kick and by that time there was just a couple minutes left in the game. Final score: New York 16, Baltimore 7.
Heroes for the Jets??
Don Maynard. Didn't catch a pass. Played with a partially torn hamstring which he got in the AFL championship game. He was double teamed the whole game, and went full blast so Pete Lammons, Bake Turner, and especially George Sauer would go one on one.
Jim Turner aka "old hightops". Calmly kicked three field goals, made a huge tackle on a kickoff return.
The Jets offensive line, Dave Herman in particular. One of the famous quotes that the Jet players disliked came from Howard Cosell (who else?) Cosell: "Big Bubba will break Joe Namath's legs today." Herman throttled Bubba Smith.
Matt Snell. Ran for 120 something yards, and ran with power. Scored the only Jet touchdown.
Joe Namath. No explanation necessary. Was the MVP!
This game was huge. It gave the AFL credibility. The game was talked about for months. It was monstrously memorable!
The fallout of Super Bowl III was very noticeable from the standpoint of the Baltimore Colts. Even with this being the third match between AFL clubs, the idea of an NFL team losing to an AFL team was absolutely unthinkable. The upper crust establishment reminded the Baltimore Colt organization that as well. And any player or administrative employee getting anywhere near Baltimore Colt owner Carroll Rosenbloom was like walking on eggshells. And the one guy who felt the most heat was head coach Don Shula.
The 1969 season for the Colts was a huge disappointment, finishing at 8-5-1. And Don Shula was starting to look elsewhere for employment. He found it as the Miami Dolphins had fired their head coach George Wilson, and was secretly having talks with Don Shula. They did sign him but at a price, as I believe Miami had to surrender a number one draft choice as tampering charges were leveled against the Dolphin organization.
The 1970 season saw Don McCafferty, a former position coach with the Colts, become the head man. The Colts that year had a lot of players whose time for a Super Bowl was growing short, but finished up the regular season at 11-2-1. And beat Cincinnati 17-0 in the divisional playoff and Oakland 27-17 in the AFC Championship game.
The Dallas Cowboys for the last few seasons were called "next years champions" for the last few years and finally got to the big game. They were also favored to win as the smart money in Vegas felt that the Colts were too old and a rookie head coach was not going to outwit Cowboy head coach Tom Landry.
What happened instead was one turnover after another by both clubs. Dallas had one fumble lost and three passes intercepted. Baltimore was much worse with four fumbles lost and three passes intercepted. And when when George Andrie busted through the line and nailed Johnny Unitas and broke a couple ribs, the Colt fans sunk in their seats a little further.
In this case though, in kind of a role reversal, Colt backup quarterback Earl Morrall came in to save the game for the Colts. It was two years previous that it was Unitas came in at the third quarter to get something going. This time it was Morrall's. And the end of the game came when rookie kicker Tom O'Brien came in to kick the winning field goal for a 16-13 victory in SB-V.
It was the Baltimore Colts last really true shining moment as by the next couple years a lot of the veteran Colts were gone; to name a few-Jimmy Orr, John Mackey, Tom Matte, and the face of the franchise, number 19-Johnny Unitas.
I remember those two games quite well; no one on Planet Earth picked the Jets to win; in retrospect, though, I don't think that the Jets were the best team, even in the AFL; I thought that both Oakland and Kansas City were better, and the AFL East was a weak division..
After the 69 season, the Colts shed themselves of a few veterans, and by the time 1970 came around, they had a new coach, and a few new young running backs and wide receivers, along with a couple of new linebackers, while the remainder of the team went unchanged. And they won the Super Bowl, even though the newly-formed AFC wasn't really very strong that year( Balt beat Cincinnati and Oakland to get to the Super Bowl, and neither was very strong that year).I still remember all the turnovers,and O'Brien's winning kick; after that, the Colts had a strong 1971, but lost to the Dolphins in the AFC Title game, and then were COMPLETLEY overhauled by George Thomas, and suffered through a few miserable years...
I think most of us Packer fans will choose the ice bowl game against Dallas in 1967.
The period was a matter of survival for not only football, but for Wisconsin residents in general. If I remember correctly the thermometer did not go over zero for an entire week and the night before the game I believe the low temp in Milwaukee was around 20 below zero.
We had problems with pipes freezing, power outages, naturally being unable to start cars, and going outside just to get basic necessities turned into an unrivaled adventure.
Being able to just play the game was a miracle---I believe the nfl was seriously considering postponing the game, but all the tv revenue and schedules involved it would have been a nightmare to postpone.
The storybook ending for us green and golders was the heroic effort of little used reserve running back Chuck Mercein coming up with huge plays on the final drive. Also I will have to admit that watching the replay 35 thousand times, it appeared that Jerry Kramer may have jumped offside on the touchdown sneak by Starr.
A great win for the Pack, but it was just too darned cold to celebrate anywhere----we celebrated being able to see tomorrow.
I've been a fan of NFL Films for years, Steve Sabol and his dad Ed have done a great job with that. Several years ago they produced an hour and a half special, The Ice Bowl-the 1967 NFL championship game. There were several brief interviews of that game with Dan Reeves, Lance Rentzel, Bob Lilly, Don Meredith with the Cowboys and Bart Starr, Willie Wood, Dave Robinson, Jerry Kramer with the packers providing running commentary of the game.. And of course, there were many other players who commented briefly as well.
When one talks of the greatest game ever played in the NFL, this game most certainly deserves consideration. And as a senior in high school, I remember watching that game as well. Talk about brutal conditions! I can't imagine players playing in that weather. And the fans! Ye gads, you talk about troopers! At least the players got to run around, those fans packed that place. And sat in that cold. Unbelievable!
As a Bills fan - There are two VERY memorable games. But they are memorable from two different extremes. Naturally, The Comeback against the Oilers was the ultimate thrill. But, on the flipside, you have the Music City Miracle against the Titans in 2000. That was by far the ultimate low I have ever experienced as a sports fan. This was the beginning of the end for my beloved Bills who have not been to the playoffs since. Looking at those two games, I find it ironic that the Tennessee Titans used to be the Houston Oilers. Is karma truly a b*tch? Some may say so. But the truth of the matter is that one win was earned while the other was given by the ref's. But, of course, that's just the viewpoint of a Bills fan.
When I was a kid, my favorite game was the 1983 season for the Redskins, despite losing the Super Bowl, a particular game, would probably be the playoffs games vs the Rams, where the Redskins won 51-7. I was watching it at some Casino in Atlantic City, because obviously as a kid, I couldn't gamble so I got in front of a TV and watched it, and the redskins clobber Ferragamo.... 1983 was my favorite season, despite not winning the superbowl..... I'm sure the NFC Championship was a "better" game as the skins only won 24-21 over SF, but I like blowouts.
Who dat played in the last Super Bowl and won? That'd be my choice.
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