Unearthed Super Bowl I broadcast a three-hour slice of long-lost Americana
You probably think youve already seen all you need to see about Super Bowl I. Thats mostly because of NFL Films and how ubiquitous its highlight shows are this time of year.
Youve surely seen the one about the first Big Game, narrated by the Voice of God himself, John Facenda, featuring brief snippets of the pregame show (two guys shot airborne on individual rocket launchers) and halftime show (trumpeter Al Hirt).
Youve seen Kirk Douglas and Henry Fonda looking on inside the LA Memorial Coliseum, which was famously only two-thirds full that day, Jan. 15, 1967.
Youve no doubt seen the Packers, mainly Max McGee and Willie Wood, micd up and cackling when Kansas Citys Fred (The Hammer) Williamson is knocked out of the game late, after chirping all week that he was going to do the same to the Green Bay receivers.
Some folks think theyve seen the game because of that, says Ron Simon, head curator of the Paley Center for Media. Or theyve seen longer versions that were stitched together to essentially show the whole game.
Who was watching?
Saturday afternoon, however, inside the Paley Center Museum at 25 W. 52nd St., the actual CBS broadcast of Super Bowl I or, as it was referred to at the start of the telecast, the AFL-NFL World Championship will be shown, and it is a fascinating slice of three hours of American life from that third Sunday of January 1967.
17The First World Championship Game, AFL vs. NFL, later known as Super Bowl I, on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. CBS via Getty Images
17Thanks to Martin Haupt, an engineer living in Scranton, Pa., who had the technology to record the game decades before the invention of VCRs or DVRs and the foresight to save it, unlike CBS or NBC, both of which also simulcasted the game the Paley Center is now the proud caretaker of this game, seen as it was 20,845 days earlier on WDAU-TV, Channel 22 in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
In a high-definition world, the broadcast is jarring at first, but the eyes quickly adjust, especially if you own eyes that were raised on TV images that didnt seem sharper than real life.
The colors strike you first, and that game was blessed by a brilliant tapestry of green-and-gold and red-and-yellow, both the uniforms and the painted end zones of the participating teams.
17A Bell Rocket Air Man performs as part of the halftime show during Super Bowl I. Vic SteinOther things grab you, too. Most of the commercials have been deleted, but the ones that survive are telling.
In just under four years, the FDA would ban all tobacco ads from TV, but among the sponsors of this game were Pall Mall and True cigarettes, and Muriel cigars appropriate, given that among the most famous snapshots of that day is Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson dragging on a heater in the halftime locker room, a bottle of Fresca at his feet.
17Quarterback Len Dawson in the Chiefs’ locker room during Super Bowl I. Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
17Kansas City Chiefs players resting during Super Bowl game against Green Bay Packers. Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock## Brews and bruises
Fresca didnt sponsor the game. But Schmidts did. And so did Black Label. And that also feels right, since if youd actually watched the game on Jan. 15, 1967, you were likely to have a case of those old snub-nosed Schmidts on ice somewhere nearby, and you were almost certainly engulfed by clouds of smoke, in a saloon or a living room or a basement somewhere.
The game itself, in truth, looks awfully similar to what we see today. The Packers and Chiefs happen to wear essentially the same uniforms in 2024 as they did in 67, so that helps. But there is a lot of pre-snap motion, a lot of balls being slung in the air it probably surprises you to know the teams combined for 65 passing plays and only 53 rushes.
Theres only two single-bar helmets visible, Bart Starrs and McGees, and the two placekickers, Don Chandler and Mike Mercer, kick straight ahead. Otherwise . . . it really looks a whole lot like a game you mightve saved in your digital queue a few weeks ago.
17Willie Mitchell (back to camera) of the Chiefs tackles his opponent. Art Rickerby/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
17Kansas Citys Fred Williamson was knocked out of the game late, after chirping Green Bay receivers all week. Getty Images
17Well, except for a couple of notable things. Theres a lot of extra elbows and slaps while on the ground after tackles, that would cause a littering of yellow flags today. Theres one play, midway through the third quarter, where Kansas Citys Buck Buchanan stops Jim Taylor at the line of scrimmage, the two men clearly exchange pleasantries, and then Buchanan takes Taylor by the shoulder pads and heaves him to the ground.
Thats going to cost Buchanan and the Chiefs, Frank Gifford says.
Except, well, of course it cost them nothing other than a brief admonition from the official and a play-on rotating of the refs arm.
The same thing happens a little later when Williamson clotheslines Green Bay receiver Carroll Dale about 15 yards clear of the line of scrimmage.
17NBC announcer Paul Christman speaks with CBS announcer (and member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Frank Gifford) before Super Bowl I. Vernon Biever/WireImage.com
17Green Bay Packers’ Elijah Pitts runs with the ball during Super Bowl I. Focus on Sport via Getty Images## Rough and tumble
Not only does Williamson not dance over his fallen prey, not only does Dale get right up and not wave his right arm looking for a flag . . . but Gifford says, approvingly, hard but clean play right there.
This is where the differences between Then and Now really stand out. At one point Jack Whitaker (who took over play-by-play for the second half after Ray Scott did the first) says merrily: Everythings a record here today!
And in that spirit, all week, Williamson (a shut-down corner long before the term had been invented) had become the very first Super Bowl Week quote machine; in the most famous he vowed to take out the Packers two main receivers: Two hammers, one to Dowler, one to Dale, should be enough.
17Super Bowl I ticket (of reserved seat, $10.00) for the first game of the Green Bay Packers against the Kansas City Chiefs. NFL/WireImage.com
17Chiefs’ quarterback Len Dawson in the Super Bowl I. Darryl Norenberg/WireImage.comWell, Boyd Dowler left on the games first series after separating his shoulder making a block and Dale bounced right back up again after Williamsons attempt at beheading.
But later, with barely three minutes left in the game, Green Bay running back Donny Andersons knee collides with Williamsons helmet and for four full, uncomfortable minutes Williamson is out cold on the field.
And not one word not one is uttered about the remarkable irony of all of this, not a mention about Williamsons boasts, not a peek at the Packer sideline which, we later learned, was all but falling down laughing about it.
Gifford, still a few years away from becoming a play-by-play man for ABC, is outstanding in his role as an analyst, even if he offers one too many olive branches to the humbled Chiefs.
17Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr (15) is seen in action during Super Bowl I. AP
17Vince Lombardi APFor one thing, he twice correctly identifies the Packers as the best team thats ever played the game of football (which was certainly true in the moment, and given the proliferation of players that day who are in the Hall of Fame, it still might be).
Flashbacks
When the Packers first took control of the game, Gifford points out to Whitaker that the Packers only blitz 10% of the time, one of the lowest in all of football, and he says, I think well see more of that now that the Chiefs have to play catch-up and almost immediately the Packers send five and six green shirts after Dawson.
(Time-transport Tony Romo from Allegiant Stadium Sunday to the Coliseum and youd get something akin to, THEYRE GONNA BLITZ, JACK! YOU WATCH, JACK! GONNA RED DOG HIM, JACK! GONNA COME AFTER HIM, JACK! THEY DID IT AGAIN, JACK! LOOK AT THAT, JACK!!!)
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Check out more newslettersAnother thing kept quiet: Up 25 points late in the fourth, the Packers are still throwing the ball. Vince Lombardi (Gifford calls him Vinny) clearly wants to send a message. They also have the ball in the last two minutes, and the Chiefs dont call any timeouts, but theres no kneeling.
Perhaps Victory Formation hasnt been dreamed up yet, but it sure looks like Lombardi wouldve been happy to keep running plays for an hour more.
17Packers halfback Elijah Pitts scores a touchdown during Super Bowl I. Tony Tomsic## Now ... Ed Sullivan!
In all, with commercial deletions and a gap that costs the first seven minutes of the second half, it only runs for barely 90 minutes, including a brief interview between Pat Summerall and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who doesnt even try to hide the smile on his face that looks like he just won the Irish Sweepstakes.
And, like Lombardi at games end, you really wish there was more. Its thrilling to watch McGee famously playing with a hangover the size of the Hollywood Bowl subbing for Dowler make an array of catches that even 57 years later would be called dazzling.
17Packers’ Herb Adderley and Kansas City’s tight end Fred Arbanashead to the lockers after Green Bay’s 35-10 victory in Super Bowl I. Bill Ray/The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock
17Chiefs cheerleaders perform during Super Bowl I. Vernon J. BieverIts poignant to see a few shots of Paul Hornung in his last game (though he never played one snap), the camera catching him from behind so all you see is his golden hair and his No. 5.
Its curious to see a McDonalds commercial where one voice coos, where quality starts fresh every day, and another describes the key ingredient used on the burgers as golden mellow cheddar cheese, which explains why it probably tasted better in 67 than in 24.The cheeseburger was also 19 cents.
It is a simple telecast, evoking a different time. And it was. After the brief postgame show and then a weekly episode of Lassie, CBS handed its air over to Ed Sullivan as it did every Sunday at 8 oclock and soon thereafter, in one of that shows last culturally iconic moments, the Rolling Stones played Lets Spend the Night Together but only after agreeing to change the lyric to lets spend some time together. Mick Jagger famously sang that song with an exaggerated eyeroll.
Maybe even he couldnt believe more wasnt made about the Hammer.
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