kicking off the hype: newspaper coverage of super bowl i

7/31/2019 Kicking off the hype: Newspaper coverage of Super Bowl I

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Kickoff to the hype:Newspaper coverage of Super Bowl I

Brian MoritzSyracuse University

Paper presented to the History DivisionAssociation for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication Conference,

St. Louis, Mo. Aug. 10, 2011

Direct all correspondence regarding this paper to:Brian Moritz

6 Saratoga Ave.Binghamton, NY 13903

RUNNING HEAD: Kickoff to the hype 1


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Abstract

On Jan. 15, 1967, the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10,

in the first AFL-NFL World Championship game also known as the first Super Bowl.

Super Bowl I was the first meeting between teams from the National Football League and

the American Football League, and the popular mythology is that the game was not a big

story at the time. This paper studies how newspapers at the time covered the game

examines the coverage in eight newspapers from across the country. The study shows that

the game received wide-ranging and prominent coverage in newspapers at the time,

contrary to the myth. The dominant storyline was the merger between the two leagues

and the fact that the teams acted as stand-ins for their respective leagues.

Keywords: Sports journalism; history; newspapers

Kicking off the hype 2


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Kicking off the hype: Newspaper coverage of Super Bowl I

Vince Lombardi stood in his makeshift office inside one of the Los Angeles

Memorial Coliseums locker rooms. He had just coached the Green Bay Packers to a

35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs in the first AFL-NFL World Championship

Game, a contest the media had dubbed the Super Bowl.

A huge throng of newspaper reporters with their notepads, TV and radio

broadcasters with their lights, cameras and microphones crowded into the room to

interview Lombardi, who was holding the game ball his player s had presented to him

after t he victory 1. The questions started coming about how good the Chief s the

champions of the upstart American Football League compared with the other teams in

the established NFL, the league the Packers were champions of.

Kansas City is a good football team, Lombardi said, But their team doesnt

compare with the top National Football League teams. I think Dallas is a better football

team.2

There w as silence in the office, except for the reporters scribbling3

. Lombardi

added, thats what youve wanted me to say, now Ive said it. 4


1 Michael OBrien. Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi. (New York:Morrow. 1989).

2 Bill Becker, Lombardi Calls Chiefs Good Team But Not Equal to Top Elevens in N.F.L. The New York Times , January 16, 1967. S2.

3 Michael MacCambridge. Americas Game. The epic story of how pro football captured a nation. (New York: Random House, 2004).

4 Ibid. That quote from Lombardi also appeared in several print stories on January 16newspapers, including the Associated Press game story that ran in papers nationwide.


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Lombardis quote about the Chiefs would be featured on the front pages of sport

sections across the country, in some instances in headlines 5. In a game that was hyped as

the meeting between two teams and two leagues, Lombardis proclamation was taken as

the final judgment.

The Super Bowl has become, by any measure in 2010, the biggest sporting event

in the United States, a touchstone event in the countrys pop culture calendar. Super Bowl

XLIV, in whi ch the New Orleans Saints rallied to defeat the Indianapolis Colts, was the

most-watched TV show in broadcast history, and more than 4,000 media credentials were

issued for the game. A significant part of the Super Bowls mythology is its growth into a

dominant sporting event from humble, modest origins 6 . The first game was officially

called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game the name Super Bowl didnt officially

get tagged to the game until the third one. It was the only Super Bowl game that did not

sell out. Reporters looking back at the game years ago recalled a lack of hype. Will

McDonough, the longtime football reporter for the Boston Globe, remembered that

They issued just 328 media credentials then. (In 1991) its over 2,000 and they turned

away 1,000. 7 Jerry Greene of The Detroit News remembered more bluntly, There was


5 Sample headlines include Lombardi says Chiefs not equal of Cowboys in theWashington Post; NL football is tougher Lombardi in the Pittsburgh Press ; Pack tootough in the Oakland Tribune .

6 Richard Wittingham. Sundays Heroes. (Triumph Books: New York, 2003); Bob Newhardt Carroll. When the Grass Was Real (Simon & Schuster; New York, 1993);Danny Peary. Super Bowl: The Game of their Lives. (Macmillan; New York, 1997). Thenotion of the Super Bowls origin story and the games my thology would be aninteresting topic for future research.

7 Rachel Shuster. Writers share memories of Super Bowls gone by USA Today . January25, 1991, 15e.


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no hoopla. 8 The Super Bowl mythology is best encapsulated by Pat Summerall, the

former New York Giants kicker and longtime football broadcaster: There was none of

the hype that we now associate with the game; in fact, nobody really wanted to play the

game. 9

But was that really the case?

A look back at contemporary coverage of the first Super Bowl paints a different

picture than the mythology. The game was, in fact, widely covered by the news media.

The goal of this study is to examine exactly how Super Bowl I was covered in

newspapers of the day. The study will be guided by the following research questions:

RQ1: How was coverage of Super Bowl I presented in newspapers?

RQ2: What themes and subjects dominated newspaper coverage of Super Bowl I?

Eight newspapers will be examined as a part of the study; The New York Times ;

the Pittsburgh Press ; The Post-Standard in Syracuse, N.Y.; the St. Petersburg Times in

Florida; the Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.); the Oakland Tribune ; the San Antonio

Express-News and The Washington Post . The papers were selected in part as a

convenience sample because of their availability to the researcher via online databases, as

well as the geographic and circulation disparity they provide. Four of the newspapers

come from cities that had a pro football team in 1967 (New York, Pittsburgh, Oakland,

Washin gton), while the other four cities did not have pro football. Of the pro football

cities, two had teams in the NFL (Pittsburgh and Washington), one had an AFL team


8 Ibid.

9 Wittingha m, xviii.


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(Oakland), and New York had one team in both leagues. While this sample is by no

means representative from a statistical standpoint, it does provide a nice range of papers

to study.

Three days of newspapers were examined, either via online databases or on

microfilm. All eight newspapers editions for Saturday, January 14 (the day before the

game); Sunday, January 15 (the day of the game) and Monday, January 16 (the day after

the game) were studied. This allowed the researcher to examine the pregame and

postgame coverage in each newspaper.

The Super Bowl is a natural event through which to study the coverage of major

sporting events and the evolution of sports journalism. Media scholar Marshall McLuhan

said of the game, The Super Bowl is world theater. The world is a happening. In the

speed-up of the electronic age, we want things to happen. This offers us a mosaic that the

fans love everything is in action at once. 10 . Looking back at how newspapers covered

the initial game will provided perspective at how the game is covered in the 2010s and

beyond.

The last game, the final game

The Super Bowl was the product of the merger between the National Football

League and the American Football League. The NFL was the established league, having

been in business since 1922. The AFL began in 1960 with eight teams as a direct

competition for the NFL. From 1960 to 1966, the two leagues evolved into bitter rivals.

Teams from both leagues competed to sign the best college players, and the escalating


10 As quoted in Wittingham, p. 189.


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player salaries caused by this rivalry led to financial strain for teams in both leagues. In

1966, officials from both leagues agreed on the terms of a merger. Starting in 1970, there

would be just one NFL. All eight AFL teams would be absorbed into the NFL. Starting in

1967, there would be a championship game between the champions of the two leagues.

The first game was scheduled for January 15 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. 11

Lamar Hunt, the founder and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs, is considered the

father of the Super Bowl. A part of the merger was the creation of a championship games

between the two leagues. At a meeting between AFL and NFL officials, Hunt asked what

they would call the championship game. When asked what he meant, he said, You know,

the last game, the final game, the Super Bowl. 12 At first, NFL and AFL officials hated

the name Super Bow l. It was considered a placeholder name, used as shorthand in

internal discussions. 13 But the name went public, and the media seized on it. For one

thing, it had a root in the popular college footba ll bowl games that were played every

New Years Day. But also, it was undeniably snappy. AFL-NFL World Championship

Game doesnt fit well in a headline. Super Bowl does. Even though the game was

officially known by the lengthy name, it was widely called the Super Bowl. Virtually

every news story, every headline referred to the game by its snappy nickname.


11 Dates for the history of both the NFL and AFL are from the ProFootballReference.com.For a complete history of the NFL, see MacCambridge. For an oral history of the AFL ingeneral and, specifically, the conflict between the two leagues, see Jeff Millers GoingLong. McGraw-Hill; New York. 2003.

12 Miller, 205.

13 Ibid, 205


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The two leagues played their championship games on New Years Day, 1967.

Green Bay, which had won three NFL championships since 1960 and was considered the

premier team in that league, defeated the Dallas Cowboys, 34-27, to win the NFL title.

The Kansas City Chiefs who began their existence in Dallas before moving to Kansas

City in 1963 won their first AFL title with a 31-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills. The

two teams would meet in two weeks in the first Super Bowl. It would mark the first time

an NFL team played an AFL team. There hadnt even been an exhibition game,

scrimmage or even a practice between the two leagues. 14

In 1967, pro football was in a rare space in the sports landscape. In some ways, it

was considered the most popular sport in the United States. On the other, the Super Bowl

was a new kind of sporting event. In a way, it is the first modern sporting spectacle. At

the time of the first game, all of the biggest events on the sporting calendar were long-

established, tradition-heavy events the World Series, the Kentucky Derby, the

Indianapolis 500, the Rose Bowl15

. The week after the AFL and NFL championship

games, the cover of the January 9 edition of Sports Illu strated featured a photo of Bart

Starr leading the Packers to victory over the Dallas Cowboys 16 . But a week later, the

week leading up to the first Super Bowl, an issue that came out three days before the

game, featured Lynn Tindall in a bathing suite. It was the magazines annual swimsuit

issue 17 .


14 MacCambridge, 237

15 Ibid., 239

16 Sports Illustrated, January 9, 1967.

17 Sports Illustrated, January 16, 1967.


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Sports media in 1967

In 1967, the sports media found itself in the middle of a transition. Television was

becoming more and more powerful, as more games were broadcast. The routines of

journalists were changing as well. Sports writers had traditionally been tied very closely

to the teams traveling to road games on the teams dime; drinking with players and

coaches after games; writing pieces for the teams official program. 18 By the mid-1960s,

reporters had started to assert their independence from the teams. 19

While baseball was still the preeminent sport in 1967, football was growing in

population, and the press corps that descended on Los Angeles for the firs t Super Bowl

reflected this. More than 1,000 media credentials were issued for the game, including 338

for newspaper reporters 20 . NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle a former public relations

executive gave his PR staff $250,000 to spend on the media. I dont care how you

spend it, he told one of his staffers. But when the news media leaves, I want them to be

talking about all the things we did that they dont do at the World Series.21


18 George Vecsey. A Year in the Sun. McGraw-Hill; New York . 1989.

19 David Maraniss. When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lomb ardi. 2006 . Maranissalso describes the story of an Associated Press reporter whom Lombardi banned fromteam press conferences because he reported that Packers running back Jim Taylor was

upset at his salary. Maraniss wrotes that a Milwaukee Sentinel reporter had the samestory but was prevented from writing it due to his editor, who was a big Packers fan. The press protested the banishment of the AP reporter, and Lombardi eventually rescinded the ban.

20 A Big Day for Passes. The New York Times January 15, 1967, S2.

21 Hill, 232. Mickey Herskowitz, a member of the AFL staff who worked with NFLofficials as part of the Super Bowl.


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The reporters descended on Los Angeles in the week leading up to the game. With

more than 1,000 credentialed media members covering the game, players dealt with far

more reporters than they used to. Coverage was informal and relaxed. Rather than having

formalized press conferences or availability sessions, reporters went to the team hotel to

have meals with players or to visit them in their hotel rooms 22 . Vince Lombardi

conducted interviews in a small conference room at the teams hotel in Santa Barbara

the coach didnt need a microphone to be heard by the 30 or so reporters there. 23 The

Kansas City Chiefs stayed in Long Beach, where flamboyant defensive back Fred The

Hammer Williams entertained reporters with boastful predictions and demonstrations of

karate moves right in the lobby of the teams hotel 24 .

The rest of this paper will examine the Super Bowl coverage in eight newspapers,

both from a presentation perspective (i.e. how prominent was game coverage displayed)

and from a coverage perspective (i.e. what were th e dominant storylines and themes?).

The study begins on Saturday, Jan. 14, 1967, the day before the game.

January 14: The Day Before

All eight newspapers had some sort of Super Bowl coverage on Saturda y, but the

amount varied from paper to paper. The New York Times had just two stories on one of

their inside sports pages, one a general game advance and th e other a story about Kansas


22 Ibid (quoting from Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Ledger); Peary, 9 (quoting Green Bayquarterback Bart Starr).

23 Shuster, 15e.

24 Ibid.


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Citys offensive line being a potential key to the game. 25 The Spokesman-Review carried

just one story on the second sports page in the middle of the page the Associated Press

general story. 26 The placement of the story, and its short length, suggests it was used as

almost of a filler story . The Pittsburgh Press 27 and the Oakland Tribune 28 each had just

one story each Other papers, however, published far more substantial packages. The

Washington Post had three pages worth of coverage, with including a bylined game

preview 29 and notes 30 from writer Dave Brady, both of which carried a Los Angeles

dateline. The Post also featured a column from Shirley Povich 31 , which it ran with a

banner headline above the sports sections masthead. The St. Petersburg Times had a huge

package on their front sports page. In a unique spread, three columns from Milton


25 William Wallace, Arbands to start at end for Chiefs and Frank Litsky Super Duelsin line are key to game. The New York Times January 14, 1967, 23. It should be notedthat The Times entire sports section consisted of inside pages. There was no sportssection cover in this days edition.

26 Associated Press Pro rivals complete drills for initial test o f strength. Spokesman- Review, January 14, 1967, 9. The same story also appeared in t he St. Petersburg Times,the San Antonio Ex pr ess-News and the Syracuse Post-Standard

27 Unive rsal Press In ternational 60 million to watch Super Bowl The Pittsburgh Press ,January 14, 1967, 6.

28 Bob Valli. Foundling Chiefs Challenge the Old Pros. Oakland Tribune, January 14,1968, 14

29 Dave Brady. Chiefs already sky high for Packers. The Washington Po st, January 14,1967, D-1.

30 Dave Brady. States Super tax is certain winner. The Washington Post, January 14,1967, D-3.

31 Shirley Povich. CBS-NBC Knock Heads for Super Prestige. The Washington Post ,January 14, 1967, D-1.


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Richman, Red Smith and Povich. - ran above the masthead, dominating the front page of

the sports section. 32

Three storylines dominated the coverage on the day before the game the merger

between the two leagues; the novelty of the game itself; and the television coverage. The

merger hook is obvious. This was the entire reason for the game. It was the first time

teams from the two leagues had ever met on the field. Chiefs coach Hank Stram told

reporters that the rivalry bet ween the AFL and NFL had been a war of words for 7 years,

and now well settle it on the field 33 . The AP story, in the lede, referred to the game as

the first test of strength between the champions of the National and American football

leagues. 34 .

Another part of this was the established pecking order of the two leagues and

teams, a sort of inter-league hegemony. Green Bay was the dominant team, the

unquestio ned favorite from the unquestioned stronger league. Kansas City was the upstart

team from the upstart league. All three columns in the St. Petersburg Times played off of

this. They all noted that Kansas Cit y was stronger than popularly perceived - Richman in

fact picked the Chiefs to win 35 but it was all within the context that Green Bay was the

favorite, the perceived stronger team. In a sense, all three columns hinted that Kansas


32 Three Super Views. St. Petersburg Times, January 14, 1967. B-1.

33 Dave Brady. Chiefs already sky high for Packers. The Washington Post, January 14,1967, D-1.

34 The Associate d Press. Pro rivals complete drills for initial test of strength. TheSpokesman Revie w, 9.

35 Milton Richman. Ominous notes in Vinces drum? St. Petersburg Times, January 14,1967. B-1.


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City wasnt a pushover and was, in fact, a pretty good team. 36 Bob Vallis story in the

Oakland Tribune was the one of eight written from a Chiefs slant rather than one dealing

with the Packers strength and experience. The story focused on the impact the game

would have on the AFLs reputation, that the Chiefs needed to win to validate their

leagues standing. 37

However, there was very little talk of actual football, of strategy or of match-ups

beyond vague generalities. The dominant storyline was the showdown between the two

leagues who just so happened to be represented by the Packers and Chiefs, not between

the two team s themselves. The AP story didnt deal with any football issues until the

eighth paragraph. The story included financial details of both the leagues potential profit

(third paragraph) and the individual players (sixth paragraph) and the fact that the game

was being broadcast on both CBS and NBC. In this respect, the story has an introductory

feel. Its a story to introduce people to the basics of what this game is rather than a

preview of it.38

The fact that the game was being broadcast on two networks was a major story on

the day before the game. Povichs column in The Washington Post , which carried a

banner headline on the front page of the sports section, was all about the business of the

TV coverage. It al so noted the way the game had been hyped or even overhyped.


36 Ibid. Red Smith. Packers have to prove it.; Shirley Povich. Chiefs need to startfast. St. Petersburg Times. January 14, 1967, B-1.

37 Bob Valli Foundling Chiefs challenge the old pros. Oakland Tribune , January 14,1967. 14.

38 AP. The Spokesman Review . 9.


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Privately, both networks are admitting now that they have may have overdone it.

Povich wrote 39 . The San Antonio Express-News and Syracuse Post-Standard both carried

a wire story about how the battle that mattered was not between the AFL and NFL but

between the two networks for ratings and advertising dollars. 40 Both stories were highly

explanatory in nature, explaining why such things were important to the television

executives 41 .

January 15: Game day

The day of the game brought a significant upgrade in the amount of coverage

Super Bowl I received. All eight newspapers had multiple stories spanning multiple pages

of coverage. Including agate packages and briefs, The New York Times had 23 stories.

Two ran on the cover one an overview of the game that served as an ad vance, and a

story about Rozelles frustration at the fact that the game did not sell out 42 . Several papers

ran extensive agate packages, featuring team-by-team comparisons, schedules, statistics,

and the names and background information on the games officials. The AP moved a

position-by-position comparison of both teams in which all the starters for both teams at


39 Povich. T he Washington Post . D-1.

40 Brent Musburger. Real super battle Sunday will be CBS against NBC. San Antonio

Express-News. January 14, 1967, 4-B. The story also appeare d in the Syracuse Post-Standard. Musburger, in an ironic twist, went from criticizing TV in this story to becoming a well-known sports broadcaster for CBS in the 1970s and 1980s.

41 Both Povic hs column and Musbergers story were the only stories in the three-daysample that u sed any anonymous sources.

42 The Super Bowl: Footballs Day of Decision Stirs Nation and Rozelle says price iswrong as sale of tickets lag. The New York Times. January 15, 1967. S-1.


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all 22 on-field positions were compared. 43 The Spokesman-Review , which a day earlier

ran just one story, had five stories over three pages, including the agate comparison.

Along with the volume of copy, the game coverage also brought out several visual

elements in design. Along with the main game preview picked up from the UPI wire, the

Pittsburgh Press ran a huge, six-column cartoon about the Super Bowl, one which

stressed the pageantry and the TV coverage of the game 44 . The Syracuse paper ran four

large photos along with the jump of the AP game preview (the story ran above the

masthead on the front page, which was dominated by coverage of Syracuse Universitys

basketball victory over LaSalle) 45 . The Oakland Tribune had four stories on the game, as

well as an entire inside page dedicated to the game. 46 Once again, the St. Petersburg

Times had one of the more interesting packages. Despite having no NFL team nearby, the

papers Super Bowl coverage took up all but one of the eight columns on the front page.

The AP game preview, as well as starting lineups, r an superimposed over a photo of the

LA Coliseum on the sports cove r, and an entire inside page was dedicated to more stories,

a syndicated column by Arthur Daley and agate packages. The front cover contained a

teaser, which said in part: Its more than just a game this game that is the only game


43 The Spokesman-Review (6), The St. Petersburg Times (5-C); Oakland Tribune (43) and

The New York Times (S-3) all ran this.44 Pittsburgh Press , January 15, 1967 4-1. See Appendix 1.

45 The Herald-American. January 15, 1967. Note that the two Syracuse newspapers of theday, the Herald-American and the Post-Standard, combined to publish one Sundayedition.

46 Oakland Tribune. January 15, 1967. 4 3


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in town and the nation. Its really a revelation. For instance, is the NFL really stronger

than the AFL? If so, embarrassingly so? 47

That quote speaks to the dominant theme and storylines in pre-game coverage.

Continuing from the previous day, the story of the AFL-NFL merger, and the pressure

both teams have to represent their respective leagues, dominated the coverage. Again, the

coverage advanced a notion of inter-league hegemony that the NFL was the dominant

league, the Packers were a dominant team and the Chiefs were trying to crash that party.

The notion of reputation emerged as a the me within the merger storyline.

Sundays stories advanced the notion that this was not just a game between the Packers

and the Chiefs but instead a showdown between the two leagues. However, there was no

consensus on which team had more pressure. Some writers believed it was Kansas City

that was trying to prove that it and the AFL deserved a place at the grown-ups table. The

Chiefs were inflamed with the notion that they could make believers out of the NFL

skeptics48

. The AP quoted a Chiefs player as saying Were the kids from across the

tracks. Were coming over the play the rich kids. 49 Others, though, believed the pressure

was on the Packers. They needed to win, and win big, to prove NFL superiority. Even a

close victory would be a blow to the NFLs reputation 50 . And a loss to the Chiefs would

be devastating. Writing about Rozelles work at making the merger happen, columnist


47 St. Petersburg Times. January 15, 1967, B-1.

48 Brady. Packers picked to whip Chiefs. The Washington Post, January 15, 1967, C-1.

49 Jack Hand. Bart Star, passing defense make Packers favorite. Written for theAssociated Press, as quoted from the Spokesman-Review, January 15, 1967, 5

50 Ray Sons. Packers put prestige on line. Pittsburgh Press, January 15, 1967, 4-1


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Red Smith concluded his column: Many cooks helped stir this broth, but the guy who

got it on the table is Pete Rozelle. It is his soup and if the Chiefs win, hell be in it. 51

All the stories, through, continued with the theme of inter-league hegemony. This

was all occurring within the accepted context that the NFL and the Packers were on top

and the Chiefs and the AFL were second-class. A pair of wire stories about two franchises

ran in the Spokesman Review . One, about the Chiefs, stressed that they had been a star-

crossed franchise dealing with deaths, financial problems and injuries and were full of

colorful characters 52 . The Packers, on the other hand, had a touch of magic in their very

name 53 . The contrast was clear the Chiefs were a neat little interesting team, but the

Packers w er e a tough, true football squad.

Related to the merger story line was the novelty aspect of the game more

importantly, the hype surrounding the Super Bowl. The game had piqued (the) nations

curiosity. 54 It was called the most publicized sports spectacle of the 20 th century. 55 But

the newspapers were dismissive of the hype. Spokesman-Review columnist Harry

Missilding called t o get rid of the word Super from the game and rallied against

televisions coverage: The electronic folks have plugged it to the skies until Im


51 Red Smith. Super Bowl soup is Rozelles dish. The Washington Post. January 15,1967, C-5. Emphasis added by the author.

52 The Associated Press. Chiefs boast unusual cast. Spokesman Review, January 15,

1967, 7.53 The Associated Press. Magic Touch in GBs past. Spokesman Review January 15,1967, 7.

54 William Wallace. 60 million to watch as Packers and Chiefs play today on TV. T he New York Times. January 15, 1967, S-1.

55 Valli. Showdown for Chiefs-Packers. Oakland Tribune, January 15, 1967, 45.


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ready to scream for mercy. 56 Bill Veeck wrote that the game was strictly a network

production and that rather than the broadcasters, the telecast should just feature the

stadium public address announcer. 57 Writing in The New York Times (in the main game

preview), William Wallace wrote When the game is over, we can all go back to doing

what we were doing before. 58

January 16: The Day After

Coverage of Green Bays 35-10 victory over the Chiefs was extensive. All of

the eight newspapers had at least three stories from the game and ran it as the lead story

to the sports section. The San Antonio News-Express gave the game the most coverage.

The entire cover of th e sports section was dedicated to the game, with four AP wire

stories and four very large photos taking up the enti re page59 . The Oakland Tribune

devoted parts or all of four pages to the Super Bowl 60 . The S t. Petersburg Times ran six

stories from the game 61 , The Washington Post devoted three pages to game coverage 62

and, once again, The New York Times had two full inside pages filled with game

coverage 63 . In addition, this was the only day in which the game was featured on the front


56 Harry Missilding. Lets call it the World Championship. Spokesman Review, January15, 1967, 4.

57 Bill Veeck. Airwaves to be filled with lots of Super Blah-Blah Pittsburgh Press, 4-4.

58 Wallace. 60 million to wa tch as Packers and Chiefs play today on TV. S-1.

59 San Antonio Express-News . January 16, 1967. 1-D. See Appendix 2.

60 Oakland Tribune. January 16, 1 967. 40-42, 45.

61 St. Petersburg Times. January 16, 1967, 1C-3C

62 Washington Post , Januar y 16, 1967, B-1, B-2, B-4.

63 The New York Times, January 16. 1967, S1-S3.


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page of some newspapers. The New York Times featured coverage above the fold on A-1.

The lead photo of that days paper was a smiling Pete Rozelle handing the Vince

Lombardi the championship trophy (which would eventually bear the coachs name) and

the start of the game story which featured more formalized writing, referring to the

Packers quarterback as Byron Bartlett (Bart) Starr 64 . The Syracuse Post-Standard

featured a photo of Max McGee making a one-hand catch in the middle of Page 1, with

the cutline referring to the coverage on the sports pages 65 , and the St. Petersburg Times

also feature d a picture of Chiefs running back Mike Garrett on the front cover, with a

refer to the sports section 66 . The Washington Posts front page had a banner headline

above the masthead which read, Green Bay Rolls to 35-10 Victory in Super Bowl B-1

referring readers to the sports section 67 .

The Packers 35-10 victo ry was heralded as a victory for the NFL, clear-cut

validation of its superiority. The Packers didnt just win the title for themselves, they

carried the NFL to a vi ctory68

and clearly established its superior position between

the leagues 69 . It was not a good day for the AFL wrote Shirely Povich 70 The


64 William Wallace. Green Bay wins football title. The New York Times, January 16,1967, A-1.

65 The Post Standard, January 16, 1967, 1-A.

66 St. Petersburg Times, January 16, 1967, 1-A.

67 The Washington Post, January 16, 1967, A-1.68 The Associated Press. Green Bays proven pros carry packets to easy playoff victory.As carried in the Spokesman Review. January 16. 1967, 5. Story also ran in the San

Antonio Express-News and the Syracuse Post-Standard.

69 Brady. Starrs passes subdue Chiefs. The Washington Post , January 16, 1967, B-1.

70 Povich. Rozelle releases doves. The Washington Post , January 16, 1967, B-1.


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construction of stories is noteworthy. The game stories were almost all play-by-play

recaps with no quotes (or one or two at the most) 71 . There was a story from the Packers

locker room one which in all cases led with Lombardis assertion that the Chiefs, while

good, werent in the same class as the top teams in the NFL 72 . There was another story

from the Chiefs locker room, all of which revolved around their belief that one game was

not a fair measuring stick for the two leagues 73 . It should be noted that in all the papers,

the Lombardi/Packers story received more prominent play than the Chiefs story. The

Chiefs story was often buried either below the fold or inside.

The storyline of the actual game was the play of Bart Starr, the games MVP

who threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns 74 . The key to the game, it was widely

agreed, was William Woods interception of Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson on the

second halfs first possession. At the time, the Chiefs trailed by just four points and had

played well. But the interception, and ensuing touchdown, gave the Packers control of the


71 Brady, The Washington Post, January 16, 1967, B-1; Wallace, The New York Times,January 16, 1967, A-1; The Associated Press, Spokesman Review, January 16, 1967, 5;United Press International, Pittsburg Press, January 16, 1967, 38.

72 Stores include: NL Football is tougher L ombardi in the Pittsburgh Press , January16, 1967, 38; Chiefs not as good as Dallas Lombardi in the San Antonio Express-

News , January 16, 1967, 1-D; "Lombardi calls chiefs good team but not equal to top

elevens in NFL in The New York Times, January 16, 1967, S-3.73 Sample headline: Chiefs eager for erturn match in the P it tsburgh Press , January 16,1967, 38.

74 Sample headlines: Chief Reason for Loss: No Barring Super Starr in St. Petersburg Times , January 16, 1967, C-1. Stars passes sub due Chiefs in The Washington Post ,January 16, 1967, B-1. Starrs play was also the lede in stories by The New York Times and the Associated Press stories.


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game 75 . Another prominent story was Max McGee, the reserve Green Bay receiver who

had 138 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl. After the game, he announced he

was retiring. McGree retiring and what a way to go! was the headline that spanned

the top of the Syracuse Post Standards sport section 76 .

Conclusion

The mythology that Super Bowl I was not covered or was virtually ignored, or

was not hyped, is patently ludicrous. While it may not have been hyped in the same

frenetic, across-the-board manner as in 2010, there was still plenty of coverage of the

game. All of the eight newspapers sampled had extensive coverage of the game the day of

and the day after. On the day of the game, the game was either the lead story or had a

place of prominence on the sports cover of all eight newspapers. The day after the game,

it was the top sports story in every paper, and even made its way onto the front page of

several papers.

Newspapers from cities without pro football teams in other words, ones without

the kind of built-in interest as those cities with franchises covered the game extensively.

The full-page treatment the game received before hand in St. Petersburg and afterward in

San Antonio shows this. From lead headlines to multiple stories, Super Bowl I was

prominently covered in the newspapers of the time. Also, there were numerous columns


75 Brady, The Washington Post. January 16, 1967, B-1; Valli, Oakland Tribune , January16, 1967, 40. Whats noteworthy is that none of the writers questioned the Chiefsdecision to abandon their game plan despite being down just 11 points early in the secondhalf.

76 San Antonio Express-News January 16, 1967, 1-D.


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criticizing the hype surrounding the game though curiously, they were all critical of

televisions overhyping of the game and never mentioned the glut of newspaper coverage.

The novelty of the game, and the merger of the two leagues, were no doubt the

reasons behind this. This was not just any pro football game. It was the culmination of a

7-year battle between two leagues. The merger was the obvious storyline, and this was

reflected in the newspaper coverage. This coverage also reflected the inter-league

hegemony. The assumption underlying each story was that the Packers (and, by

extension, the NFL), were the better team, superior to the Chiefs (and, by extension, the

AFL).

Within the storyline of the merger, the dominant theme was that the two teams

represented the leagues themselves. In terms of the stories and coverage, this was not a

showdown between the Packers and the Chiefs. This was a showdown between the NFL

and the AFL, and the teams were mere representatives. The coverage made the game

about the leagues, and their respective reputations. Leading up to the game, it was a

matter of whether or not Green Bay could maintain the NFLs aura of invincibility or that

the Chiefs were carrying the hopes and dreams of the entire AFL. The coverage reflected

little about the actual teams and more about the leagues themselves. Once Green Bay

won in convincing fashion, the story was simple the Packers had asserted the NFLs

dominance.

One interesting note was how prevalent the notion of money was in the coverage.

The plethora of columns about the dueling telecasts revolved around the fact that this was

a commercial, money-making enterprise for the networks. Also, it was noteworthy that



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virtually every story mentioned that the winners share was $15,000 a player something

rarely mentioned in 2010 coverage of the sporting events. Also interesting was the lack of

coverage of Fred Williamson, the Kansas City cornerback whose pre-game boasts and

trash talk received much attention in the weeks leading up to the game and is a key part

of the Super Bowl I myth. In the three days studied, there were only two stories tha t

referred to Williamson and one of them was a wire-service brief about him leaving the

game due to injury 77 .

The coverage reflected sports journalisms practices of the time, in that the game

stories were primarily play-by-play descriptions rather than any analysis, and that stories

tended to reflect one teams point of view rather than have both teams represented.

Whats noteworthy is that for all the access reporters had, for the way they met players

and coaches for meals, at their hotel rooms and in informal interview sessions, that

wasnt reflected in the coverage. Stories didnt contain few quotes, and only from one or

two players in a given story. Many of them felt formal, as if the writers were keeping a

distance which is at odds with the relaxed nature of the player-reporter relationship.

Although sports jo ur nalists were becoming more independent from the teams, there was

still a sense of boosterism in some of the coverage. The coverage in The Washington Post

(home paper for the NFLs Redskins) was decidedly slanted in favor of the Packers 78 .


77 Loud Chief read to toss The Hammer The New York Times, January 15, 1967, S-2.;The Associated Press, Fred Williamson OK after suffering Super Bowl KO Oakland Tribune. January 16. 1967, 42.

78 i.e. The 13-point spread is seen as conservative. Dave Brady, Washington Post,January 15, 1967, C-1. In the article, Brady also wrote that only one Chiefs player could

be viewed as having played better than his Packers counterpart during the season.


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Coverage in the Oakland Tribune (home paper for the AFLs Raiders) had a pro-Chiefs

slant to it 79 .

This study shows that the hyping of sporting events is not a 21 st century novelty. It

shows that from its start, the Super Bowl was considered one of the most important

sporting events in the United States. The coverage of the game from an NFL vs. AFL

perspective set the tone not just for the next few Super Bowls but one that continues

today, when the AFC is pitted against the NFC. From the start, media coverage helped

turn a football game between two leagues into the Super Bowl - the all-capped event that

is almost a secular holiday in the United States. And the amount of coverage the game

received at the time debunks the creation myth that the first Super Bowl was not a big

deal at the time. Years later, Miami Herald columnist Edwin Pope remembered: Even

though the game wasnt sold out, it wasnt played in privacy like some people like to say.

I will say an awful lot of writers missed that first one and never missed another. 80


79 i.e. O ne revolting error deprived the AFL champions of being hailed today as the near-equals of the NFL champions. Bill Dunbar. Pack too tough Oakland Tribune. January16, 1967, 40.

80 Miller, p. 235.


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References

Primary Sources

Miller, Jeff. Going Long. The Wild 10-year Saga of the Renegade American Football

League in the words of those who lived it. McGraw-Hill. New York. 2003.

Newspapers (all from Jan. 14-16, 1967 unless noted):

The New York Times

Oakland Tribune

The Pittsburgh Press

St Petersburg Times

San Antonio Express-News

Spokesman Review

Syracuse Post-Standard

Syracuse Herald American (Jan. 15, 1967)

Washington Post

Newspaper articles

Associated Press. Pro rivals complete drills for initial test of strength. Spokesman- Review. January 14, 1967, 9.

Associated Press. Loud Chief ready to toss The Hammer The New York Times, January 15, 1967, S-2.

Associated Press. A Big Day for Passes. The New York Times, January 15, 1967, S2.

Associated Press. Chiefs boast unusual cast. Spokesman Review January 15, 1967, 7.

Associated Press. Magic Touch in GBs past. Spokesman Review January 15, 1967, 7

Associated Press. Chief Reason for Loss: No Barring Super Starr St. Petersburg Times ,January 16, 1967, C-1.



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Associated Press. Fred Williamson OK after suffering Super Bowl KO Oakland Tribune, January 16. 1967, 42.

Associated Press. Chiefs not as good as Dallas Lombardi. San Antonio Express-News ,

January 16, 1967, 1-D;

Associated Press. Green Bays proven pros carry packets to easy playoff victory. Ascarried in the Spokesman Review. January 16. 1967, 5.

Becker, Bill. Lombardi Calls Chiefs Good Team But Not Equal to Top Elevens in N.F.L. The New York Times , January 16, 1967.

Brady, Dave. Chiefs already sky high for Packers. The Washington Post, January 14,1967, D-1.

Brady, Dave. States Super tax is certain winner. The Washington Post, January 14,1967, D-3.

Brady, Dave. Packers picked to whip Chiefs. The Washington Post, January 15, 1967,C-1.

Brady, Dave. Starrs passes subdue Chiefs. The Washington Post , January 16, 1967,B-1.

Hand, Jack. Bart Star, passing defense make Packers favorite. Written for theAssociated Press, as quoted from the Spokesman-Review, January 15, 1967, 5.

Litsky, Frank. Super duels in line are key to game. The New York Times, January 14,1967, 23.

Missilding, Harry. Lets call it the World Championship. Spokesman Review, January15, 1967, 4.

Musburger, Brent. Real super battle Sunday will be CBS against NBC. San Antonio Express-News, January 14, 1967, 4-B

Poivich, Shirley. CBS-NBC Knock Heads for Super Prestige. The Washington Post ,January 14, 1967, D-1.

Poivich, Shirley. Chiefs need to start fast. St. Petersburg Times. January 14, 1967, B-1.

Poivich, Shirley. Rozelle releases doves. The Washington Post , January 16, 1967, B-1.



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Richman, Milton. Ominous notes in Vinces drum? St. Petersburg Times, January 14,1967, B-1.

Rozelle says price is wrong as sale of tickets lag. The New York Times, January 15,

1967, S-1.

Smith, Red. Packers have to prove it. St. Petersburg Times. January 14, 1967, B-1.

Smith, Red. Super Bowl soup is Rozelles dish. The Washington Post, January 15,1967, C-5.

Sons, Ray. Packers put prestige on line. Pittsburgh Press, January 15, 1967, 4-1.

Universal Press International 60 million to watch Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Press ,

January 14, 1967, 6.

United Press International. Chiefs outclassed in Super Bowl. Pittsburg Press, January16, 1967, 38.

United Press International. Chiefs eager for return match Pittsburgh Press , January 16,1967, 38.

Valli, Bob. Foundling Chiefs Challenge the Old Pros Oakland Tribune, January. 14,1968, 14.

Valli, Bob. Showdown for Chiefs-Packers. Oakland Tribune, January 15, 1967, 45.

Veeck, Bill. Airwaves to be filled with lots of Super Blah-Blah. Pittsburgh Press,January 15, 1967 , 4-4.

Wallace, William. Arbands to start at end for Chiefs. The New York Times, January 14,1967, 23.

Wallace, William. 60 million to watch as Packers and Chiefs play today on TV. The New York Time, January 15, 1967, S-1.

Wallace, William. Green Bay wins football title. The New York Times, January 16,1967, A-1.

Secondary sourcesCarroll, Bob Newhardt. When the Grass Was Real . Simon & Schuster; New York, 1993.



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MacCambridge, Michael. Americas Game. The epic story of how pro football captured anation. New York: Random House, 2004.

Maraniss, David. When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi. Simon andSchuster: New York, 2000.

OBrien, Michael. Vince: A Personal Biography of Vince Lombardi. New York: Morrow.1989.

Peary, Danny. Super Bowl: The Game of their Lives. Macmillan; New York, 1997.Pro Football Reference. http://www.ProFootballReference.com.

Shuster, Rachel. Writers share memories of Super Bowls gone by USA Today . Jan. 25,1991, p. 15e.

Sports Illustrated, January 9, 1967.

Sports Illustrated, January 16, 1967.

Vecsey, George. A Year in the Sun. McGraw-Hill; New York . 1989.

Wittingham, Richard. Sundays Heroes. Triumph Books: New York, 2003.



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Appendix 1

Pittsburgh Press. January 15, 197



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Appendix 2: San Antonio Express News


kicking off the hype: newspaper coverage of super bowl i

Documents