Super Bowl I

Origins on game day When the NFL began its 41st season in , it had a new and unwanted rival: the American Football League. The NFL had successfully fended off several other rival leagues in the past, and so the older league initially ignored the new upstart and its eight teams, figuring it would be made up of nothing but NFL rejects, and fans were unlikely to prefer it to the NFL. But unlike the NFL's prior rivals, the AFL survived and prospered, in part by signing "NFL rejects" who turned out to be highly talented players the older league had badly misjudged. Soon the NFL and AFL found themselves locked in a massive bidding war for the top free agents and prospects coming out of college. Originally, there was a tacit agreement between the two not to raid each other by signing players who were already under contract with a team from an opposing league. This policy broke down in early 1966 when the NFL's New York Giants signed Pete Gogolak, a placekicker who was under contract with the AFL's Buffalo Bills. The AFL owners considered this an "act of war" and immediately struck back, signing several contracted NFL players, including eight of their top quarterbacks. Eventually, the NFL had enough and started negotiations with the AFL in an attempt to resolve the issue. As a result of the negotiations, the leagues signed a merger agreement on June 9, 1966. Among the details, both leagues agreed to share a common draft to end the bidding war for the top college players, as well as merge into a single league after the season. In addition, an "AFL–NFL World Championship Game" was established, in which the AFL and NFL champions would play against each other in a game at the end of the season to determine which league had the best team. Los Angeles wasn't awarded the game until December 1, less than seven weeks before the kickoff; likewise, the date of the game was not set until December 13. This was in addition to the league championship money earned two weeks earlier: the Packers' shares were $8,600 each and the Chiefs' were $5,308 each. Kansas City Chiefs The Chiefs entered the game after an 11–2–1 regular season and a decisive 31–7 road win over the defending AFL champion Buffalo Bills in the AFL championship game on New Year's Day. The Chiefs' high-powered offense led the AFL in points scored (448) and total rushing yards (2,274). Their trio of running backs, Mike Garrett (801 yards), Bert Coan (521 yards), and Curtis McClinton (540 yards) all ranked among the top-ten rushers in the AFL. Quarterback Len Dawson was the top-rated passer in the AFL, completing 159 of 284 (56%) of his passes for 2,527 yards and 26 touchdowns. Wide receiver Otis Taylor provided the team with a great deep threat by recording 58 receptions for 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns. Receiver Chris Burford added 58 receptions for 758 yards and eight touchdowns, and tight end Fred Arbanas, who had 22 catches for 305 yards and four touchdowns, was one of six Chiefs offensive players who were named to the All-AFL team. The Chiefs' offensive line was led by tackle Jim Tyrer, who had been selected to the AFL Pro Bowl for the 5th time in his career. The Chiefs also had a strong defense, with All-AFL players Jerry Mays and Buck Buchanan anchoring their line. Linebacker Bobby Bell, who was also named to the All-AFL team, was great at run stopping and pass coverage. The strongest part of their defense, though, was their secondary, led by All-AFL safeties Johnny Robinson and Bobby Hunt, who each recorded 10 interceptions, and Fred Williamson, who recorded four. Their head coach was none other than Hank Stram. Green Bay Packers The Packers were an NFL dynasty, turning around what had been a losing team just eight years earlier. The team had posted an NFL-worst 1–10–1 record in 1958 before head coach Vince Lombardi was hired in January 1959. "Their offense was like a conga dance", one sportswriter quipped. "1, 2, 3and kick." Lombardi was determined to build a winning team. During the preseason, he signed Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston, who had been cut from three other teams, but ended up becoming an All-Pro left guard for the Packers. Lombardi also made a big trade with the Cleveland Browns which brought three players to the team who would become cornerstones of the defense: linemen Henry Jordan, Willie Davis, and Bill Quinlan. Lombardi's hard work paid off, and the Packers improved to a 7–5 regular-season record in 1959. They surprised the league during the following year by making it to the 1960 NFL Championship Game. Although the Packers lost, 17–13, to the Philadelphia Eagles, they had sent a clear message they were no longer losers. The Packers went on to win NFL Championships in 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1966. Packers veteran quarterback Bart Starr was the top-rated quarterback in the NFL for 1966, and won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, completing 156 of 251 (62.2%) passes for 2,257 yards (9.0 per attempt), 14 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. His top targets were wide receivers Boyd Dowler and Carroll Dale, who combined for 63 receptions for 1,336 yards. Fullback Jim Taylor was the team's top rusher with 705 yards, adding four touchdowns, and caught 41 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns. (Before the season, Taylor had informed the team instead of returning to the Packers in 1967, he would play out his option and sign with the expansion New Orleans Saints. Lombardi, infuriated at what he considered to be Taylor's disloyalty, refused to speak to Taylor the entire season.) The team's starting halfback, Paul Hornung, was injured early in the season and replaced by running back Elijah Pitts, who gained 857 all-purpose yards. The Packers' offensive line was also a big reason for the team's success, led by All-Pro guards Jerry Kramer, and Fuzzy Thurston, and tackle Forrest Gregg. The Packers also had an excellent defense which displayed their talent in the NFL championship game, stopping the Dallas Cowboys on four consecutive plays starting from the Packers' 2-yard line on the final drive to win the game. Lionel Aldridge had replaced Quinlan, but Jordan and Davis still anchored the defensive line; linebacker Ray Nitschke excelled at run stopping and pass coverage, while the secondary was led by Herb Adderley and Willie Wood. Wood was another example of how Lombardi found talent nobody else could see. Wood had been a quarterback in college and was not drafted by an NFL team. When Wood joined the Packers in 1960, he was converted to a free safety and went on to make the All-Pro team nine times in his 12-year career. Pregame news and notes Many people considered it fitting the Chiefs and the Packers would be the teams to play in the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt had founded the AFL, while the Packers were widely considered one of the best teams in NFL history (even if they could not claim to be founding members of their league, as the Packers joined the NFL in 1921, a year after the league's formation). Lombardi was under intense pressure from the entire NFL to make sure the Packers not only won the game but preferably won big to demonstrate the superiority of the NFL. CBS announcer Frank Gifford, who interviewed Lombardi before the game, said Lombardi was so nervous, "he held onto my arm and he was shaking like a leaf. It was incredible." The Chiefs saw this game as an opportunity to show they were good enough to play against any NFL team. One player who was looking forward to competing in this game was Len Dawson, who had spent three years as a backup in the NFL before joining the Chiefs. However, the Chiefs were also nervous. Linebacker E. J. Holub said, "the Chiefs were scared to death. Guys in the tunnel were throwing up." The Packers practiced at UC Santa Barbara, and the Chiefs at Veterans Field in Long Beach. The temperature was mild with clear skies. The two teams played with their respective footballs from each league; the Chiefs' offense used the AFL ball, the slightly narrower and longer J5V by Spalding, and the Packers played with the NFL ball, "The Duke" by Wilson. The AFL's two-point conversion rule was not in force; the NFL added the two-point conversion in and it was first used in the Super Bowl (XXIX) that season, in January 1995. This was the only Super Bowl where the numeric yard markers were five yards apart, rather than ten as is customary today. In , marking yard lines ending in "5" was disallowed in the NFL in order to standardize field markings. It was also the last professional gridiron game played with double-support goalposts. The "slingshot" goalpost, with a single support, had made its debut a few weeks before Super Bowl I in the 1966 CFL playoffs. It became standard across all three professional leagues then operating in . Tickets for this game were priced at twelve, ten, and six dollars, which was equivalent to $109, $90, and $55 in 2023 when adjusted for inflation. ==Broadcasting==

At the time, NBC held the rights to nationally televise AFL games while CBS had the rights to broadcast NFL games. Both networks were allowed to cover the game, each using its own announcers. Ray Scott (doing play-by-play for the first half), Jack Whitaker (doing play-by-play for the second half) and Frank Gifford provided commentary on CBS, while Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman were on NBC. However, during the week preceding the game, tensions flared between the staff of the two networks (longtime arch-rivals in American broadcasting), who each wanted to win the rating war, to the point where a fence was built between the CBS and NBC trucks. In addition, Rozelle decreed NBC would not be able to use its cameramen and technical personnel, instead forcing it to use the feed provided by CBS, since the Coliseum was home to the NFL's Rams. This game remains the only Super Bowl to have been broadcast in the United States by two of the "Big Three" broadcast companies. It was the only NFL game to be carried nationally on more than one broadcaster until the same two networks (as well as NFL Network and various local ABC and MyNetworkTV affiliates) carried a game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants on December 29, 2007, and it was the only Super Bowl to simulcast on multiple American networks until Super Bowl LVIII was broadcast on CBS and its sister network Nickelodeon in February 2024. Super BowlI was the only Super Bowl which was not a sellout, despite the television blackout in Los Angeles (at the time, the local blackout was required even at a neutral site and even if the stadium did sell out), shutting out the vast Los Angeles market and network-owned stations KNXT (Channel 2, CBS; now KCBS-TV) and KNBC (Channel 4, NBC). Of the 94,000-seat capacity in the Coliseum, 33,000 went unsold. Days before the game, local newspapers printed editorials about what they viewed as an exorbitant ticket price of , and wrote stories about how viewers could pull in the game from stations in surrounding markets such as Bakersfield, Santa Barbara and San Diego. Ratings CBS received a 22.6 rating and a market share of 43 for its broadcast, which was seen by 26.75 million people. NBC received an 18.5 rating and a market share of 36 for its broadcast, which was seen by 24.43 million people. Combined, the game received a market share of 79 and reached 51.18 million viewers. Lost recording All known broadcast tapes of the game in its entirety were subsequently wiped by both NBC and CBS to save costs, a common practice in the television industry at the time, as videotapes were very expensive (one half-hour tape cost around $300 at the time, equivalent to $ in dollars). Additionally, it was not foreseen how big the game was going to become. The two-inch color videotape is the most complete version of the broadcast yet discovered, missing only the halftime show and most of the third quarter. The NFL owns the broadcast copyright and has blocked its sale or distribution. After remaining anonymous and communicating with the media only through his lawyer since the recording's discovery, the owner of the recording, Troy Haupt, came forward to The New York Times in 2016 to tell his side of the story. The Paley Center has restored and digitized the footage and showed the recording to the public for the first time on February 10, 2024, as part of an exhibit, being staged in partnership with the NFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, on the history of the Super Bowl called "Beyond the Big Game". NFL Films had a camera crew present, and retains a substantial amount of film footage in its archives, some of which have been released in its film productions. One such presentation was the ''NFL's Greatest Games'' episode about this Super Bowl, entitled "The Spectacle of a Sport" (also the title of the Super BowlI highlight film). On January 11, 2016, the NFL announced "in an exhaustive process that took months to complete, NFL Films searched its enormous archives of footage and were able to locate all 145 plays from Super BowlI from more than a couple of dozen disparate sources. Once all the plays were located, NFL Films was able to put the plays in order and stitch them together while fully restoring, re-mastering, and color-correcting the footage. Finally, audio from the NBC Sports radio broadcast featuring announcers Jim Simpson and George Ratterman was layered on top of the footage to complete the broadcast. The final result represents the only known video footage of the entire action from Super BowlI." It then announced NFL Network would broadcast the newly pieced together footage in its entirety on January 15, 2016—the 49th anniversary of the contest. This footage was nearly all on film with the exception of several player introductions and a post-game locker room chat between Pat Summerall and Pete Rozelle. On June 25, 2025, missing episode hunter Ray Langstone spotted a 29-minute Avco Cartrivision release of highlights on eBay and announced this on the Missing Episodes Forum. ==Ceremonies and entertainment==

The Los Angeles Ramettes, majorettes who had performed at all Rams home games, entertained during pregame festivities and after each quarter. Also during the pregame, the University of Arizona marching band created a physical outline of the continental United States at the center of the field, with the famed Anaheim High School drill team placing banners of each NFL and AFL team at each team's geographical location. The postgame trophy presentation ceremony was handled by CBS' Pat Summerall and NBC's George Ratterman. Summerall and Ratterman were forced to share a single microphone. In addition, the halftime featured a local high school drill team, the Ana-Hi-Steppers from Anaheim High School. The team joined the two university marching bands to form an outline of a United States map. Their transportation to and from the game was by school bus. This team was chosen due to their connection to Tommy Walker, whose children attended Anaheim High School. He had seen the Ana-Hi-Steppers perform and chose them over nationally famous drill teams since he only had three weeks to cast and produce the show. During the halftime show the Chief's QB, Len Dawson, was photographed by a Life Magazine photographer, while he was resting in a chair on the sidelines, calmly inhaling on a cigarette, with a bottle of Fresca between his feet. ==Game summary==

Balls from both leagues were used – when the Chiefs were on offense, the official AFL football (Spalding J5V) was used, and when the Packers were on offense, the official NFL ball (Wilson's "The Duke") was used. Even the officiating crew was a combination of AFL and NFL referees, with the NFL's Norm Schachter as the head referee. First quarter After the teams traded punts on their first possessions, the Packers drove 80 yards in six plays. The drive was highlighted by quarterback Bart Starr's passes to tight end Marv Fleming for 11 yards, to running back Elijah Pitts for 22 yards on a scramble, and to wide receiver Carroll Dale for 12 yards. The drive ended with Starr's 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Max McGee, who had replaced re-injured starter Boyd Dowler earlier in the drive, giving Green Bay an early 7–0 lead. (Dowler had injured his shoulder two weeks prior after scoring a third-quarter touchdown; Cowboys safety Mike Gaechter had upended him several steps after scoring and he landed awkwardly.) McGee slipped past Chiefs cornerback Willie Mitchell, made a one-handed catch at the 23-yard line, and then went the distance for the touchdown. (McGee had also caught a touchdown pass after replacing an injured Dowler in the NFL championship game). On their ensuing drive, Kansas City moved the ball to Green Bay's 33-yard line, during which quarterback Len Dawson completed an 18-yard pass to tight end Fred Arbanas and running back Mike Garrett rushed for 9 yards, but kicker Mike Mercer missed a 40-yard field goal attempt wide left. The Packers picked up 3 yards on the next play to end the first quarter. Second quarter (left) and Henry Jordan (right) sacking quarterback Len Dawson Kansas City forced a three-and-out to start the second quarter, then got on the board with a six-play, 66-yard scoring drive, featuring passes by Dawson to Garrett for 15 yards, and to wide receiver Otis Taylor for 31 yards, which set up 1st-and-goal for the Chiefs at the Packers' 7-yard line. Dawson then threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to fullback Curtis McClinton to tie the game, 7–7. But the Packers responded with a 73-yard scoring drive on their next possession, which was again highlighted by Starr's key passes. On the third play of the drive, Starr appeared to complete a 64-yard touchdown pass to Dale, but this was nullified by a false start penalty against Green Bay. As the drive continued, however, Starr converted four straight third downs; he hit McGee for 10 yards on 3rd-and-6, then Dale for 15 on 3rd-and-10, then Fleming for 11 on 3rd-and-5, and then Pitts for 10 on 3rd-and-7 to set up fullback Jim Taylor's 14-yard touchdown run with the team's famed Packers sweep play. Taylor's rushing touchdown was the first in Super Bowl history. On the first play of the Chiefs' next drive, defensive end Lionel Aldridge and defensive tackle Henry Jordan shared a sack on Dawson for an 8-yard loss, but he followed it up with four consecutive completions for 58 yards, including a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Chris Burford. This set up Mercer's 31-yard field goal to cut the Chiefs' deficit to 14–10 at the end of the half. At halftime, the Chiefs appeared to have a chance to win. Many people watching the game were surprised at how close the score was and how well the AFL's champions were playing. Kansas City outgained Green Bay in total yards, 181–164, and had 11 first downs compared to the Packers' nine. The Chiefs were exuberant at halftime. Hank Stram said later, "I honestly thought we would come back and win it." Third quarter On their first drive of the second half, the Chiefs advanced to their 49-yard line with a chance to take their first lead of the game. But on a third-down pass play, a heavy blitz by linebackers Dave Robinson and Lee Roy Caffey collapsed the Chiefs' pocket. Robinson, Jordan, and Aldridge converged on Dawson, who threw weakly toward Arbanas. The wobbly pass was intercepted by safety Willie Wood, McGee, who caught only four passes for 91 yards and one touchdown during the season, finished Super BowlI with seven receptions for 138 yards and two touchdowns. After the game was over, a reporter asked Vince Lombardi if he thought Kansas City was a good team. Lombardi responded though the Chiefs were an excellent, well-coached club, he thought several NFL teams such as Dallas were better. Box score ==Final statistics==

Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl I, Super Bowl Play Finder GB, Super Bowl Play Finder KC Statistical comparison Note: According to NBC Radio announcer Jim Simpson's report at halftime of the game, Kansas City led 11–9 in first downs at halftime, 181–164 in total yards, and 142–113 in passing yards (Green Bay led 51–39 in rushing yards). Bart Starr completed eight of 13 with no interceptions, while Len Dawson was 11 of 15 with no interceptions. Green Bay led 14–10 at halftime. Green Bay had the ball five times, although only for a minute or so on the last possession; they punted on their first possession, scored a touchdown on their second, punted on their third, scored a touchdown on their fourth, and had the ball when the half ended on their fifth. Kansas City had the ball four times – punting on their first possession, driving to a missed field goal on their second possession, scoring a touchdown on their third, and kicking a field goal on their fourth. This means, in the second half, Green Bay led 12–6 in first downs, 197–58 in total yards, 115–25 in passing yards, and 82–33 in rushing yards (the Packers won the second half, 21–0). Starr and his late-game replacement, Zeke Bratkowski, were eight for 11 with one interception; Dawson and his late-game replacement, Pete Beathard, were just six for 17, also with one interception. Each team had the ball seven times in the second half, although Green Bay's first possession was just one play and their seventh possession was abbreviated because the game ended. Green Bay scored a touchdown on their first (one play) possession, punted on their second, scored a touchdown on their third, was intercepted at Kansas City's 15-yard line on their fourth (just Starr's fourth interception of the year), scored a touchdown on their fifth, punted on their sixth, and had the ball when the game ended on their seventh possession. Kansas City was intercepted on their first possession – Wood's return to the five set up Pitts' touchdown which made the score 21–10 – and then punted on each of their next six possessions. Individual statistics 1Completions/attempts 2Carries 3Long gain 4Receptions 5Times targeted Records established Because this was the first Super Bowl, a new record was set in every category. All categories are listed in the 2016 NFL Fact book. The minimums are shown (in parentheses). • † This category includes rushing, receiving, interception returns, punt returns, kickoff returns, and fumble returns. • ‡ Sacks an official statistic since Super Bowl XVII by the NFL. Sacks are listed as "Tackled Attempting to Pass" in the official NFL box score for Super BowlI. Turnovers are defined as the number of times losing the ball on interceptions and fumbles. ==Starting lineups==

• Referee: Norm Schachter (NFL) • Umpire: George Young (AFL) • Head linesman: Bernie Ulman (NFL) • Line judge: Al Sabato (AFL) • Back judge: Jack Reader (AFL) • Field judge: Mike Lisetski (NFL) • Alternate referee: Art McNally (NFL) • Alternate umpire: Paul Trepinski (AFL) • Alternate head linesman: Burl Toler (NFL) • Alternate line judge: Harry Kessel (AFL) • Alternate back judge: Charley Musser (AFL) • Alternate field judge: Herman Rohrig (NFL) Note: A six-official system was used by the NFL from through the season. Since officials from the NFL and AFL wore different uniform designs, a "neutral" uniform was designed for this game. These uniforms had the familiar black and white stripes, but the sleeves were all black with the official's uniform number. This design was also worn in Super Bowl II, but was discontinued after the game when AFL officials began wearing uniforms identical to those of the NFL during the 1968 season, in anticipation of the AFL–NFL merger in . ==See also==