So I was on Pro-Football-Reference and they have this: How is that possible? I don't know much about the early years of the NFL/AFL Thanks!
2 different leagues. he had the option to go to new york or st louis. i wasn't born for a few years after that, so i'm guessing... but i'm pretty sure that's what's what.
That must've really given bargaining power to the big name rookies. Just imagine the situation w/ Namath. The St. Louis Cardinals have just spent the 1st round pick. They're definitely going to give you a lot more to try & pry you away from the other league. If Namath goes to Jets then St. Louis basically threw their pick away.
Namath was the first huge star coming out of college to sign with the AFL. After leading them to and winning the superbowl the merger was assured.
They announced a merger before the 1966 season. The merger finally happened in 1970. There was a common draft in 1966
There's the message I was trying to respond to. And in case anybody forgets... "When Oakland Raiders co-owner Al Davis took over as AFL Commissioner, he began stepping up the bidding war, immediately signing eight starting NFL quarterbacks, including John Brodie and Roman Gabriel, to contracts with AFL teams. Both leagues spent a combined $7 million signing their 1966 draft picks." We laugh at him now but he was ruthless as commissioner of the AFL. Here is the entire story and it's well worth the read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFL–NFL_merger
He was ruthless as a commissioner and was an important figure in NFL History. After the behind the scenes deal that Lamar Hunt made with Tex Schramm that completed the merger Davis was angry. He felt like the AFL could win the "War" outright. He held that anger towards the NFL and specifically Pete Rozelle for years.
There was a bidding war. The Cardinals went up to $200k but couldn't go any farther. There were rumors that the Giants were involved and wanted to trade for Namath once the Cardinals signed him. Rumors in which the Cardinals denied.
Not for nothing but 1965 had some pretty good players go in the first round. 1 New York Giants Tucker Frederickson 2 San Francisco 49ers Ken Willard 3 Chicago Bears (Pick acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers) Dick Butkus 4 Chicago Bears Gale Sayers 5 Dallas Cowboys Craig Morton 6 Chicago Bears (Pick acquired from the Washington Redskins) Steve DeLong 7 Green Bay Packers (Pick acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles) Donny Anderson 8 Minnesota Vikings Jack Snow 9 Los Angeles Rams Clancy Williams 10 Green Bay Packers Larry Elkins 11 Detroit Lions Tom Nowatzke 12 St. Louis Cardinals Joe Namath 13 San Francisco 49ers (Pick acquired from the Cleveland Browns) George Donnelly 14 Baltimore Colts Mike Curtis Chicago had three of the top six picks and that set them up for the next 20 years.
The Titans/Jets also drafted future Pro Football Hall of Famers Herb Adderley and John Mackey. Notable players who got drafted by teams in each league- *Dick Butkus- Bears, Broncos *Gale Sayers- Bears, Chiefs *Fred Biletnikoff- Raiders, Lions Tommy Nobis- Falcons, Oilers Matt Snell- Jets, Giants Walt Garrison- Cowboys, Chiefs Mike Garrett- Chiefs, Rams Otis Taylor- Chiefs, Eagles Daryle Lamonica- Bills, Packers Marty Schottenheimer- Bills, Colts *Mel Renfro- Cowboys, Raiders *Buck Buchanan- Chiefs, Giants *John Mackey- Colts, Jets *Herb Adderley- Packers, N.Y. Titans Gary Collins- Browns, Patriots Tom Matte- Colts, N.Y. Titans *Fran Tarkenton- Vikings, Patriots Don Perkins- Colts, N.Y. Titans (only played for Cowboys) Willie Richardson- Colts, Jets *Pro Football Hall of Famer
I've actually got a copy of Namath's biography so it probably explains the whole thing in there. I could probably check it later on. If I remember correctly, he pretty much got to decide his own contract numbers and any extra stuff he'd receive from the Jets if he signed with them.
I was just reading in a book that John Mackey would have signed with the Jets but no Jets representative contacted him. So, he decided to sign with Baltimore.
Lol at the Giants passing on Butkus and Sayers. Maybe if they stopped trying to be the only game in town and just concentrated on their team they wouldn't have sucked so bad in the 70's. Good thread guys. I find books/documentaries etc. on the old football war before the merger to be interesting. If anyone has any book suggestions, I'll fire up the kindle.
The Little League That Could: A History of the American Football League by Ken Rappoport The American Football League: A Year-by-Year History, 1960-1969 by Ed Gruver Going Long: The Wild 10-Year Saga of the Renegade American Football League in the Words of Those Who Lived It by Jeff Miller Remember the AFL: The Ultimate Fan's Guide to the American Football League by Dave Steidel Those first two I have not read. The Rappoport book is supposedly good, but not great. The Gruver book is supposed to be very good.
Gang Green by Gerry Eskenazi is a good history of our beloved Jets right up to the Parcells time frame.
