Super Bowl I Memories

Image courtesy of marada's Flickr page - Pro Football Hall of Fame: https://www.flickr.com/photos/marada/18349271420/in/photolist-s9jx2h-6WanDm-88EBAf-88EBFW-6Wakz7-6WamJ3-6WavG5-6Wapgd-7AA2Cj-eZaZFx-tXsP7C-ucHyh9-5V94An-8qJEgH-744DSK-ofEBCj-7ZjcnY-4qX6xk

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

Since this coming Super Bowl will make half a century of this tradition, I thought that it would be good to devote one blog per day in the countdown to Super Bowl L with a review of each individual Super Bowl, beginning with the very first one. There are 49 days until Super Bowl Sunday, so I will try to review each Super Bowl, starting with the first, until the day of the big game itself, which would bring a review of last year's Super Bowl. The day after that will be ripe for a review of that game. 

I had some ideas about how this should go, and will include some information about the game, as well as illustrations of what the field designs looked like, and what was going on in the world at around the time that the game was being played. Also, when applicable, I will share some personal memories. 

Also, I will add some video found on Youtube of each Super Bowl. I have been collecting copies of each Super Bowl for many years now, and for most of that time, it was quite difficult to track many of these recordings down. As the years passed, it became easier to find them frequently, and often for quite cheap. Now, you can simply type up whatever Super Bowl you wanted, and watch it in it's entirety. That's right, the original broadcast, in most cases, and in it's entirety, with a few exceptions. This first Super Bowl is one of those exceptions, as is Super Bowl II. Super Bowl IV is a mixed bag, as is Super Bowl V. There either are no known copies of the original broadcasts, or they are cut off at some point and incomplete. Still, you take what you can get, and as a collector, these are what were available. Is it irritating to me that the very games that I worked so long to obtain are now readily available, entirely for free, on the internet? You bet, it is a little irritating. But it is also the reality today, and I kind of figured it would happen sooner or later, so it seemed like something worth sharing when found. 

So, here is that review of the first ever Super Bowl game between the then NFL champion Green Bay Packers and the AFL Champions Kansas City Chiefs.

The Super Bowl I video is a reconstruction with various sources and radio. Original television broadcast not available, but this is likely the next best thing. 1967 - Full game in color, sound is the radio broadcast matched perfectly. Excellent quality with pre-game.

Super Bowl I Logo:

Super Bowl Rings:


Image courtesy of Ryan Schreiber Flickr page - Super Bowl rings: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ryanschreiber/2966914635/in/photolist-9fhtR7-mTUuPg-7BfrrT-8VABVJ-71329o-dkVSiW-713aji-716t8C-6ZY2fn-aaJzti-bSQYxn-8qJEPk-caGaTw-7s88nt-4qr4K5-gvvHpq-bZ7QUG-5wbdmB-qJWkZK-9TA5tc-712koy-679ZUN-hkLnBw-712XU1-716sLj-712Zih-712YYw-6ZY1P4-712Ys5-6ZXY5z-7131DJ-713g7L-6ZYeHM-6ZYdeF-6ZYdPe-6ZYgjz-6ZYedK-7139TJ-7124Do-9fE3N7-a3dxxG-716YLQ-6ZYbrr-6ZYfMi-6ZYcBx-7138ew-713aSy-dBNXDK-713ehv-46Wiar

Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Vince Lombardi Quotes

The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor. It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up. The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender. 

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi 

“Gentlemen, we will chase perfection, and we will chase it relentlessly, knowing all the while we can never attain it. But along the way, we shall catch excellence.”  ― Vince Lombardi 

The man on top of a mountain didn’t fall there.  Vince Lombardi 

https://www.ebth.com/items/683381-inspirational-framed-poster-vince-lombardi  

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NO. 1     

Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't win  once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them  right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.  There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and  that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay,  and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl  game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has  been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win,  and to win.    
Every time a football player goes to play his trade he's got to play from  the ground up-from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of  him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's O.K. You've got to  be smart to be number one in any business. But more importantly, you've got  to play with your heart, with every fiber of your body. If you're lucky  enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going  to come off the field second.     

Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of  organization-an army, a political party or a business. The principles are  the same. The object is to win-to beat the other guy. Maybe that sounds hard  or cruel. I don't think it is.     

It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most competitive  games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are there-to compete.  

To know the rules and objectives when they get in the game. The object is to  win fairly, squarely, by the rules-but to win.     

And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run,  deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline. There  is something in good men that really yearns for discipline and the harsh  reality of head to head combat.     

I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man or  that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I believe  in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the  greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has  worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of  battle - victorious.    

 ~ Vince Lombardi


Okay, so I was not yet born for the first Super Bowls. In fact, the first Super Bowl that I actually was following the NFL for and watched was Super Bowl XVI, which means that I missed the first decade and a half of Super Bowls. So, it will take me a while in this series before I can mention personal memories, or anything.

However, there are some things that I can specifically mention about these times. The Vietnam War was well under way, although they were only really starting to grow very sour by this point, and opposition was starting to grow much more serious. The Beatles dominated the airwaves, although Wild Thing was quite huge, as well. Lyndon Johnson was president and still fighting his war on poverty in the attempt to create his "Great Society."


Super Bowl I - January 15, 1967 , Green Bay Packers 35, Kansas City Chiefs 10. MVP Bart Starr, Quarterback. The Packers were favored by 14, National anthem University of Arizona and University of Michigan Bands, Halftime show University of Arizona and University of Michigan Bands, Attendance 61,946, Network CBS, NBC, Announcers Ray Scott, Jack Whitaker, Frank Gifford, Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman, est. 51.18 million viewers. Cost of 30-second commercial US$42,000.