Randy Smith: A Look Back At The 1st Super Bowl

  • Tuesday, January 21, 2020
  • Randy Smith
Randy Smith
Randy Smith
When the Green Bay Packers hit the field in Los Angeles on January 15, 1967 to face the Kansas City Chiefs in the first Super Bowl, there was very little fanfare. In fact, the game was not officially called the Super Bowl. The game was not even sold out and folks in the media were convinced teams from the AFL could not stay on the field with NFL teams. Fans must have felt the same way as of the 94,000 seats in the coliseum, 33,000 went unsold. The Chiefs proved that to be true as they were soundly thumped by the Packers 35-10.

I was a sophomore in high school when the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played.
I watched the game on a black and white tv set. There were no Super Bowl parties to go to and in Madison, Tennessee in 1967 the talk around town centered around Vanderbilt basketball rather than the Chiefs and Packers playing a meaningless football game. Fifty-three  years later, it's the most anticipated sporting event of the year as well as being the highest rated television program.

I can remember watching the game and switching channels back and forth from CBS and NBC as both networks were allowed to broadcast the game nationally. Curt Gowdy and Paul Chrisman handled the NBC commentary while on CBS, Ray Scott did play-by-play in the first half while Jack Whitaker did the second half. Frank Gifford handled the analysis for both play-by-play guys. There had been a bitter battle between the two networks and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle allowed both networks to do the game, but it was a simulcast as NBC was forced to use a video feed from CBS. Tensions were so high between the networks that a fence was built at the L.A. Coliseum separating the two production trucks.

Sounds a bit primitive doesn't it? It was primitive especially compared to the way things are handled in 2020. Things changed just a bit the next year when the Packers beat the Oakland Raiders. The game was sold out and only one network was allowed to broadcast the game.    

Fifty-three years is a very long time. Not only has the game changed drastically but the way we view the game has also changed. We can watch the game in 2020 on one network but it's also televised on other networks around the world in many different languages. Super Bowl Sunday now has become one of the biggest "party" days of the year. Millions and millions of dollars, perhaps even billions are gambled world wide on the game. And millions and millions of dollars are also spent on food and party supplies. 

The Super Bowl is like anything else after fifty-three years. It has evolved into a wonderful television event, from that first game in 1967. For a fifteen year old football fan who wasn't even sure what he was watching that year, it's really gotten a lot better.

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Randy Smith can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com
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