My bad, it wasn't lou groza (the longtime Cleveland kicker) it was Lou Michaels. http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/rosters.nsf/Annual/1968-bal
I do not know who the newspaper hat guy is without doing some googling so I will pass on ur bonus question
And speaking of the Cleveland Browns, they played the Colts in the 1968 NFL title game, which was played at the same time as the NY-Oakland AFL title game. There were no doubleheaders pre-merger, and the game may have been blacked out locally (I was at that game, so i dont remember if there was local TV). And they flashed the scores during the Jet game---the Colts beat the browns 31-0 or something that day. They were truly a formidable team, but the '68 Jets ROCKED!
I was at the Oak game & it was sold out that much I remember so I would not see why it was not broadcasted in NY
Back in the day, all home games were blacked out. I dont know if they made an exception for that game, but I do remember it was on TV tape delay at 11 pm later that night.
I can not remember but since I was there it was not something I was worrying about. Tape at that time was only beginning & there were no home VCRs but it is possible the networks had them. I also do not remember if home games were blacked out in 68 but somehow I doubt that since the AFL had signed a national contract with I think NBC
Do you remember the first few SBs were broadcast on BOTH NBC and CBS, because there wasnt agreement in place? I dont think the terms of the merger took effect until after SBIII.
And Super Bowl III was actually the first game to be called the Super Bowl. Before that it was the AFL-NFL Championship game.
As for Joe Willie and the NFL/AFL battle - Werblin hid Joe in a hotel until the deal was done. He didn't want the NFL to find him and up the deal.
There you go, I thought so. I also think SB III was the last SB to be broadcast on both networks. I gotta say three of the coldest fucking games i was ever at were all Jet playoff games- the 68 AFL game, the following year in the 13-6 loss to KC, and the Jax game in 98.
I think you are mistaken. I remember the Jacksonville playoff game in 98 as a fairly warm day for January. The Green Bay game on the last day of the 81 season was a very cold day. The coldest game in the Meadowlands era was the 85 regular season game against the Bears. The Meadowlands is like a sauna compared to Shea Stadium though. That open end made Shea miserable in winter. PS Just looked up the weather for the Jacksonville playoff game - 39 degrees.
No way. We were so bundled up, we have to wriggle out of our seats every time we stood up to cheer. It was freakin COLD! The oakland game was cloudy, windy and cold, and the KC game was WINDY and cold. I am going to check for the Jax game weather later, but I remember it was really cold. [/IMG]
Oh and an unlinked report on Wikipedia doesnt count as authority. Here is something more substantive and reflective of what the weather was in ther northeast that day: "January 2-3 1999 - Midwest Blizzard of 1999... On January 10, 1999, one week later, Toledo had a low of -6 degrees, the coldest temperature of that very changeable winter" http://greatlakes.salsite.com/ToledoSnowstorms.html