The 1968 NFL Playoff Bowl featured the Los Angeles Rams and the Cleveland Browns. The Fearsome Foursome of the Rams had a great day, so check out Hall of Famers Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen!
1969 Pro Bowl had 11 Rams in it ...I was there! Dad worked for the Los Angeles times and we got free tickets to Ram Games ...69 was also the first time Dad took me to a game at the Coliseum. Merlin Olsen lived across the street from my Jr high school in Downey. I'm still a Ram fan..lifer! Eric Underwood Class of 81 Downey High school CA ✌️
Do you know the 3 Rams that I did not mention as being Pro Bowl players? Gossett? Perhaps there were injuries and additional Rams players were added to the roster.
@@carinduncan7594 I don't remember that name.. . Was it Downey High school in Los Angeles school district? I'm from LA school district... there's another Downey High in Modesto 🤷... David Marrs doesn't sound familiar... Every knows James Hetfield though the founder of Metallica James and I were both Class of 81 Downey High ✌️
Eddie threw the ball on the fake field goal. He was the 8th Rams player mentioned as being named to the Pro Bowl. Yeah, Truax had a long neck. After he retired, Grogan held the distinction of having the longest neck in the NFL.
Back then, many teams wore dark jerseys at home, but the Rams, Cowboys and Browns wore white at home. The colored blue jerseys of the Rams and Cowboys and brown and maroon of the Browns are more colorful and unique that the whites. I thought it was a treat seeing these teams in the 2 or 3 games a year they work darks.
Roman Gabriel was as tough and strong of a quarterback as there's ever been in the NFL. No candy ass sliding to safety when he played. If he was making a run and saw a defender running head on toward him he put his shoulder down dished out the hit as much as the defender.
@@ozzieray You're absolutely right. Plus he played while injured (not hurt...there's a difference), but that was expected of high priced QB's back then
Although he had already retired by this time, gotta give out props to the greatest running back--and arguably player--in NFL history today, Jim Brown. May he rest in peace.
I watched this game. It was the first year I started to follow sports at 16 years old and became a fan of all the L.A. teams. The winners got 1,200 each and the losers $500.
The Playoff Bowl was instituted for the same reason that Major League Baseball played two All Star games from 1959-1962 . The players weren't receiving enough of the playoff money.
Paul Wiggin was the Head Coach for Stanford. His decision to leave 8 seconds on the clock prior to Stanford kicking a field goal set in motion the most amazing, incredible, lateral laden, kick return miracle touchdown by Cal as they beat Stanford and pummeled the Stanford trombone player on the last play of the game.
I believe Cal’s head coach,at the time, was Joe Kapp who recently passed. Kapp willed his ‘69 Vikes to stop Rams 11 game win steak. Then willed them again in playoffs a few weeks later. Vikes then didn’t sign him for start of 70 season and in my opinion cost themselves Super Bowl 5.
Yes, I remember this game. It was blacked out locally in Miami, so I read about it the next day in the Miami Herald. My Browns were no match for the “Fearsome Foursome”. The Rams were pretty good at hammering the Browns. Cleveland was generally outplayed by the Western Division teams in those days. They fared better versus their Eastern Division foes.
@@markgardner9460 The 1st NLF AFL World Championship game wasn't called the Super bowl officially the first year was far from being anywhere near sold out
It was EASTERN CONFERENCE beginning in 1952-53(FROM 1933-34 THRU 1949-50 IT WAS EASTERN DIVISION, AND WESTERN DIV., AND IN 1950-51& '51-52 IT WAS AMERICAN CONF.= EASTERN TEAMS, AND NATIONAL CONF.= WESTERN TEAMS), with divisions in it beginning in 1967-68. In the West, there was the COASTAL DIV. which featured BOTH ATLANTIC, AND PACIFIC COAST representation. BALTY ON THE ATLANTIC SIDE, LA & S. FRANCISCO ON THE PACIFIC SIDE WERE THE REPS, WITH landlocked ATLANTA MOVING INTO IT FROM only one season in THE EASTERN CONF. IN 1966-67 ITS INAUGURAL SEASON. CENTRAL DIV.= G. BAY, MINN., DET., AND the CHIBEARS.. EASTERN CONF. HAD CAPITOL DIV.= DALLAS, WASH. D.C., and PHILLY, AND IN 1967-68 AND '69-70= N.Y. GIANTS, AND IN '68-69 N.O., the SAINTS SECOND EVER SEASON. CENTURY DIV. HAD CLEVE., PITT., ST. LOU. CARDINALS AND IN '67-68 THE SAINTS INAUGURAL SEASON, AND '69-70= N. ORL, WITH THE NY.G. IN IT IN '68-69.. THE NYG AND N.O. back and forth moves were made to ensure all EASTERN teams would play NY and visit NY at least once in the three years before the two leagues became one league= schedule merger, and the creation of the NFC AND AFC occurring in '70-71... For some reason, the NFL thought DALLAS V. N.O.(TEX. VS. LOU.?) would be as big of a rivalry as ATL. AND N.O..That is why N.O. IN ITS FIRST THREE SEASONS was placed in the EAST, AND ATL. MOVED to the WEST. Although, N.O. AND ATL. PLAYED EACH OTHER ALL THREE SEASONS, once each season(alternating home and away), before being permanently moved into divisions with each other in 1970-71= WESTERN DIV., AND 2002-'03 (THRU THE PRESENT)= NFC SOUTH DIV., playing each other twice(home and road).. YEP. THE CONFERENCE DESIGNATION came about as a change when the NFL MERGED in 1950 with the ALL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONF. bringing in CLEVE., BALTY COLTS version#1(that team FOLDED and distributed players in the dispersal draft in 1951-52), and SAN FRAN., with the LA RAMS getting the AAFC'S L.A. DONS players, and the NYGIANTS and NY BULLDOGS getting the NY YANKEES'(NOT BASEBALL) AAFC PLAYERS . AT FIRST, IT WAS THE NATIONAL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN THE OFFSEASON FOR ONLY A FEW MONTHS IN 1950, THEN CHANGED BACK TO NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE WITH AMERICAN AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES FOR ONLY TWO YEARS. In '50, the COLTS IN GREEN AND SILVER played with future SF AND NYG STAR, HALL OF FAMER, Y.A. TITTLE AS its qb., with..second string qb, and first string kicker GEORGE BLANDA on the same '50 NFL COLTS. BLANDA had played with the CHIBEARS in 1949-50 in the NFL before going to the BALTY COLTS IN '50, only to be released, and headed back with the BEARS toward the end of the 1950-51 season. And, BLANDA playing in the NFL(1949-50 thru 1958-59, and 1970-71 thru '74-75) AND AFL(1960-61 thru '69-70), played qb and kicker, and played longer than ANY PRO AMER. FTBALLER in history, scoring the seventh most pts. in history, and won three AFL CROWNS, two as a qb&kicker= HOU. OILERS IN 1960-61, AND '61-62, LOSING THE AFL TITLEGAME IN '62-63 in 2OTs; and, one as strictly a kicker = WINNING WITH OAK. IN 1967-68 BEFORE LOSING Supe BOWL II to G.BAY in '68..OAK. ALSO LOST THE 1969-70 AFL TITLEGAME, THE FINAL AFL AFFAIR. Anyway, in 1950, the COLTS played a "play everyone at least once" sched. before folding after that season. IN 1953, taking the players from the folding DALLAS TEXANS the BALTY COLTS #2(IN INDY from 1983-84 thru the present) version was created IN DARK BLUE AND WHITE, as the COLTS VERSION#2 had taken the contracts of the TEXANS who were before in 1950-51&'51-52, the NY YANKS(HAD BEEN BEFORE THAT= OHIO LEAGUE AND APFA/NFL DAYTON[OH.] TRIANGLES, with contracts bought by the new BOSTON YANKS, then after that the no-city-listed team just called YANKS; AND finally, NY BULLDOGS before becoming NY YANKS) and had played most of the 1952-53 season with homegames in DALLAS as the DAL. TEXANS before moving to HERSHEY, PENN. to practice and have 'homegames' in AKRON, OH. AND DETROIT to end their season from Thanksgiving in '52, onward. Those contracts became the BALTIMORE COLTS THE NEXT SEASON. Got it?
Great NFL history. I forgot about the loser bowl. Remember the college Allstars vs. Super Bowl Champs? Akin to leading the Lams to slaughter. I recall the Steelers actually showing a modicum of sympathy/nay mercy for the kids - must have been the last exhibition played. I believe Gabriel was of (part) First Nation heritage. Thanks brother, appreciated.
Yeah, I watched the last College All Star/Super Bowl champ game. They called the game at halftime because it was raining so hard and wouldn't let up. Randy White hammered Beadshaw on one play. All Stars had a decent record during the first 15-20 years, then the NFL teams manhandled them on a regular basis.
@@markgardner9460 Valid point. The last College All-Stars win was in August 1963 when they defeated the Packers 20-17. The 1962 Packers went 13-1, losing only to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
When Warfield attended Ohio State, Woody Hayes hardly passed then. He never knew that he had a future NFL Hall of Famer on his team. My cousin said all they did was run. Ohio State was a one-dimensional team back then.
The pay was definately so-so for this game, but at least they were playing to increase the player pension benefits. Other than that, it appears that there were plenty of available seats at this game.
@@markgardner9460 A strong arm that could throw over 80 yards, but not as far as a non-QB he saw throw when he was with the Eagles. Care to guess who this guy was? I'll give you a hint (actually too much of a hint): he made the HOF, but it should have been sooner.
@@markgardner9460 Harold Carmichael said he could throw a football more then 100 yards. Not sure what Gabriel and Jaworski saw, but it was further than they could throw. Bobby Douglass could throw 90 yards, but he was always running for his life on weak Chicago teams. Did you know that Halas was one of the Marx Brothers? Yes, he was known as Cheapo Marx Halas. Ditka told me after he signed a 3-year head coach contract for $300,000.
Read a Leroy Kelly interview in a sports magazine long back where he said that if he were playing in the contemporary NFL, he'd be a punter. That's modesty, lol. He said that many did not realize that he was, indeed, a punter for the Browns. Also read somewhere, maybe the same article, where he described going up against Pittsburgh's 1960s defenses - not the 70s' Steel Curtain - as, "no party."
Kelly (44), as you know, was also a punt returner (before becoming the starting half back). There were several position players that were their team’s punters; QB Steve Spurrier for SF comes to mind, WR Pat Studstill for Detroit, and RB Donnie Anderson (44) was the Packer’s punter. There were probably others.
@@markgardner9460 Heck, we all punted back then. There was the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition for Youth League football. I used to work on my punting after football practice in seventh grade. Now, it’s a specialty skill.
It would have been interesting to have had an NFL vs AFL all-star game from 1960-1965 before they merged. It would have been a "bragging rights" game only but probably would have drawn a decent crowd at the right staduim.
It would have been interesting, but they were at "war" and agreeing on anything would have been quite the challenge. The talent level on both sides would have been amazing though.
1:51 ****X2 Sacks For Deacon Jones Hall of Famer. From 1964-1970 he has possibly the Greatest Stretch any Defensive Player has had sacking the QB . From 1964 thru his sack totals that has within the last few years been totaled up they are 1964 22.0// 19.0//16.0//21.5//22.0//15.0//12.0 for a total of 127.5 sacks in a 7 yr span. And if you want the previous X2 yrs 1962 and 1963 he had 12 sacks and 6.0 sacks for 18. But the 7 yr span was 12.0 sacks and higher! He was a devastating player . 3:30 Dick Bass In 1961 he had 23 Kick Returns and Averaged 30.3 Yrds Per Return! Don't see that very often 4:15 Leroy Kelly Good Comments 4:30 ***Gary Collins I feel is a Hof Snub Light Had X2 Pro Bowls X1 AP A super bowl champ, X4 yrs of 10+ TDS in a season was tall and a great go to guy in the clutch. And people forget he was a two way player as a Punter his lifetime avg per Punt was a Decent 41.0 Avg and an incredible season in 1965 Were his avg was 46.7!!! And on top of that he had 884 yrds Recieving in a 14 game season with 10 TDS ! A key player in Jim Browns Final Year that took them to the Championship game but lost. Also his 70 career TDS was amazing for his era 4:48 Gr8 Run Leroy Kelly Classic 5:08 Gary Collins Reciever Punted as well and in 1965 had an insane 46.7 avg per Kick!! 5:47 Gr8 Play Roman Gabriel I like for Hof Snub 5:54 WR Jack Snow Good Comments, And Snow was a very Underated Reciever , always a big play threat. And reliable 7:04 ***Eddie Meador Rams DB the Hokder on the kick and throw. Eddie Meador is an absolute solid Hof Snub x6:Pro Bowler x2 AP Voted Hall of 1960's Teams , 46 career ints and x5 Tds Returned. 7:32 Gary Collins Big Play 7:42 ***LB Maxie Vayghn Another onvious Hof Snub x9 Pro Bowler!!! x1 AP x1 Championship win,. Getting back into the 60's Youll see some amazing Hof Snubs Maxie Baughan is not the worst theres Players with 9-10-11 Pro Bowls and not in yet. 7:50 Tribute to the Great Hall of Famer Lou Groza hus last game of his long illustrious career 12:38 ***Willie Ellison Td run. ****Willie Ellison pulled off something that had never been done before and never will be done again. In a 1970 game against the 49ers as a Backup RB Ellison inserted himself into the Game x3 Seperate Times And scored a Td each time beating the 49ers 😂🤣 The guy snuck into the game as a backup and scored x3 Tds!!! Thars gotta be Legendary Stuff there.
@@markgardner9460 I remember after I found out Pro Football Reference was doing all the Sack totals back to 1960 , Deacon Jones was the main one I was curious about to see what his actual career numbers were. Nice that we can re evaluate the careers of all the players pre 1982 and Discover Forgotten Greats . X3 of my favorite discoveries was Cowboys DL George Andrie , Coy Bacon and Al Bubba Baker. And Harvey Martin was a Pleasant Discovery with his monster year.
Thank you for sharing this. Was this game televised nationally at the time? If so, my Dad probably watched it in our living room, but I was not paying attention to football yet. But I was almost there because I do remember some of these players..... Leroy Kelly, Paul Warfield, Deacon Jones, Roman Gabriel, etc. Why don't we play this game today? NFL could play this 3rd place game the week before the Superbowl and move the Pro-Bowl to the week after the Superbowl..... then the Superbowl players could participate in the NFL's flag football media event. It's just a thought. I love the old uniforms and helmets. Rams looked good with just 2 colors.
Yeah, it was on ABC. The players pension fund is in fine shape, so there is no need for this game any longer. Owners wouldn't want it played even if it wasn't due to injury risk
LA RAMS!- great stuff..the RAMS could have won SB any one of these surrounding years, but choked on the road..like they did to Browns here, they smoked Cowboys next year...they were pissed and took it out on "em..
I remember those “Loser Bowl” games, quite well. I recall Minnesota Viking John Henderson tearing a hamstring against Dallas in the Loser Bowl the following year (1969). Too much risk for no reward. FYI you’ve mispronounced Eddie Meador’s name in this video. Meador as in medicine.
Grammar class wasn't my best course. I did much better in Sports Trivia. I didn't know that about Henderson. The coaches and owners hated that game even more than the players
Rams were slow back then. AFC teams were fast, bigger(Chiefs,Raiders,Dolphins, and then Steelers). Rams bettered themselves in 73 with faster Rb’s and Youngblood and Isiah Robertson. ‘73 playoffs Rams fumbled away first quarter vs Dallas, fought back but couldn’t recover. Maybe if Gabriel was still there different story cause Hadl was over the hill. Gabriel’s arm soreness in 72 did him in with Rams. And then Tarkington. Ugh. So many what ifs.
I agree - I think that the Rams gave up on his too soon and panicked when they obtained Hadl........who also had a great '73 season, but then he just tanked in '74 and they shipped him from Paradise to The Frozen Tundra (how bad is that?)
😂😮 I used to wait for Dallas cowboys to were there blue and the rams to were there purple for they only wore them once or twice a season lol it's all good
Weird that both LA and Baltimore finished with 11 - 1 - 2 records, both better than Green Bay, and only the Rams made the playoffs. How did that tiebreaker work? What a shame that league MVP Johnny Unitas missed the playoffs.
If the Colts could have managed a tie that day in Los Angeles, then they would have finished the regular season 12-0-2 and would have been the division champion. But because of the alternating hosting practice for the playoffs in that era, the Colts would have traveled to Green Bay in the conference title game, just like the Rams did.
@SportsStatsNGab the Brown's put up 31 points in 68 and 69 playoffs against the Cowboys. The Brown's defense contributed one TD in the 69 mudd bowl. It was a great era with great memories indeed. Lots of fun. Nice post. Kelly was a great back, and Jack Snow had great hands.
The more footage that I watch of Kelly, the more impressed I am. He was so quick off the snap of the ball - sometimes drawing penalties for being a bit too soon out of the starting block. His running style kind of reminds me of the Redskins Larry Brown - shifty, yet rugged. When I first became a football fan, Jack Snow was my favorite WR. Thank you for watching and commenting!
Btw- bro: if you're going to wear Ram Jersey you got to pronounce the greatest safety in Ram history (Dave Elmendorf, Nolan Cromwell close )- Eddie meador.. as Metter Metter, & in Vetter not meeeeder! ..total HOF snub..and Maxie B... I bet there's no other player in history of NFL that made the Pro Bowl nine times without Hof....
This playoff game was simply just a bad idea . Once you lose a playoff game, there is no point at all to have this , the players of the loosing teams just would rather forget football and live the off season. There is nothing to gain from this . The NFL definitely got it wrong with this idea.
Yeah, it was designed to add money to the players' pension fund...which it did..$1 million over the lifetime of this playoff bowl series, but players, coaches and fans didn't give two hoots about it
@markgardner9460 yes, when you sign a contract, there are things you are told to do even if you don't want to. Money means nothing when your dream is gone.
The Playoff Bowl was one of the stupidest events in NFL history. That is, until you think about how much advertising revenue on television that one extra "playoff" game would generate. The Browns were in it a couple of times, and I have no recollection of it. It was meaningless. Of course, possibility of injury precludes such nonsense, likewise the Chicago College All Star Game, and the Pro Bowl.
Yeah, like most business decisions, it was done for money...to increase the player pension pool. There were some serious injuries in those games that you mentioned - Staubach received a concussion in a College All Star Game/Super Bowl Champion game. Thank you for commenting!
Kindly, called the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl. You don't want to know what Lombardi called it. In 1963 (after finishing 2nd at 11-2-1 to the Bears 11-1-2 who would win the Championship Game 14-10 over the 11-3 Giants) they had to play in this runner-up bowl. Had today's playoff system been available then - they probably would have won yet another championship. What a rip-off 11-2-1 versus 11-1-2 (had to be the closest ever) you tell me. No, I'm not a Packers fan merely a physics professor and observer of the idiotic etc.
Actually, the 1967 Colts had the best record ever to miss the playoffs at 11-1-2. And consider that the Colts would have been unbeaten if they had won or tied that game in Los Angeles.
1969 Pro Bowl had 11 Rams in it ...I was there! Dad worked for the Los Angeles times and we got free tickets to Ram Games ...69 was also the first time Dad took me to a game at the Coliseum. Merlin Olsen lived across the street from my Jr high school in Downey.
I'm still a Ram fan..lifer!
Eric Underwood Class of 81 Downey High school CA ✌️
Do you know the 3 Rams that I did not mention as being Pro Bowl players? Gossett? Perhaps there were injuries and additional Rams players were added to the roster.
Did you graduate with a fellow named David Marrs
@@carinduncan7594 I don't remember that name.. . Was it Downey High school in Los Angeles school district? I'm from LA school district... there's another Downey High in Modesto 🤷... David Marrs doesn't sound familiar...
Every knows James Hetfield though the founder of Metallica James and I were both Class of 81 Downey High ✌️
Billy Truax ... the longest neck in the NFL! I was also looking for another favorite of mine, Eddie Meador.
Eddie threw the ball on the fake field goal. He was the 8th Rams player mentioned as being named to the Pro Bowl. Yeah, Truax had a long neck. After he retired, Grogan held the distinction of having the longest neck in the NFL.
Back then, many teams wore dark jerseys at home, but the Rams, Cowboys and Browns wore white at home. The colored blue jerseys of the Rams and Cowboys and brown and maroon of the Browns are more colorful and unique that the whites. I thought it was a treat seeing these teams in the 2 or 3 games a year they work darks.
I'm with ya...I thought that it was cool, too. I think that almost all teams wore white at home back in the late '50's/early '60's, is that accurate?
It’s amazing that Rams team didn’t go to a SB. They had everything run/pass offense strong defense and even a good kicking game.
@@Boomhower89 My Dad said that their Head Coaches had them peak too soon in the season.
Rams broke my heart back then. Love this stuff. Thanks for posting
Always had solid teams...just couldn't get over the hump
Roman Gabriel was as tough and strong of a quarterback as there's ever been in the NFL. No candy ass sliding to safety when he played. If he was making a run and saw a defender running head on toward him he put his shoulder down dished out the hit as much as the defender.
That's a fact! I'm a big Gabe fan and what you stated is the primary reason. Thank you for watching and posting.
Bert Jones was the same way, that's why he didn't last very long
@@ozzieray You're absolutely right. Plus he played while injured (not hurt...there's a difference), but that was expected of high priced QB's back then
@@ozzieray Jones wasn't as durable as Roman Gabriel because he was not as big, strong, and powerful as Roman Gabriel.
Great replays. Fearsome Foursome was the best.
And they had 2 versions of it...this one with Roger Brown and the prior one with Rosie Grier
AKA The Loser Bowl. Nobody wanted to pay in this game. But the pay incentive was a good amount in the late 60's.
Any extra $ available back then were much appreciated.
Although he had already retired by this time, gotta give out props to the greatest running back--and arguably player--in NFL history today, Jim Brown. May he rest in peace.
Never missed a start in 9 years. 8 out of 9 years lead the NFL in rushing. Amazing.
I watched this game. It was the first year I started to follow sports at 16 years old and became a fan of all the L.A. teams.
The winners got 1,200 each and the losers $500.
That's tip money now
Thanks, this is about the time i became a Ram fan. Deacon was flying out there.
Deacon played this game like it was the Super Bowl. He is so fun to watch.
@@markgardner9460 for my $, him & Eller got after it as good as any, & they didn't substitute either..
@@richardmorris6365 I have seen those guys running 15 to 20 yards downfield making tackles. They were amazing
The Playoff Bowl was instituted for the same reason that Major League Baseball played two All Star games from 1959-1962 . The players weren't receiving enough of the playoff money.
Everything that I've read has said that it was due to the desire to add money to the player pension funds.
@@markgardner9460 That is what I said. The money(most of it anyway) was put into the players' pension fund .
I think I remember Bernie Casey more as actor than wide receiver. First saw him in Brian’s Song and many other films including Revenge of the Nerds 😂
I remember him in 1981's "Sharky's Machine" starring Burt Reynolds
Also played in 1988’s I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, an old favorite of mine.
@@balrog322 ha ha...that's a good'n!
Casey was a visual artist too.
NFL Films had a segment dedicated to him
Paul Wiggin was the Head Coach for Stanford. His decision to leave 8 seconds on the clock prior to Stanford kicking a field goal set in motion the most amazing, incredible, lateral laden, kick return miracle touchdown by Cal as they beat Stanford and pummeled the Stanford trombone player on the last play of the game.
The band was actually on the field, amazing. Wiggen was not a rocket scientist.
Thank you for bringing that up! I was stunned seeing the highlights of that play on that day.
I believe Cal’s head coach,at the time, was Joe Kapp who recently passed. Kapp willed his ‘69 Vikes to stop Rams 11 game win steak. Then willed them again in playoffs a few weeks later. Vikes then didn’t sign him for start of 70 season and in my opinion cost themselves Super Bowl 5.
I agree with you. Too cheap!!
Yes, I remember this game. It was blacked out locally in Miami, so I read about it the next day in the Miami Herald. My Browns were no match for the “Fearsome Foursome”. The Rams were pretty good at hammering the Browns. Cleveland was generally outplayed by the Western Division teams in those days. They fared better versus their Eastern Division foes.
Tough to sell out an 80,000 seat stadium especially with the Super Bowl being played the following Sunday in the same stadium.
@@markgardner9460 The 1st NLF AFL World Championship game wasn't called the Super bowl officially the first year was far from being anywhere near sold out
@@jameshuseby6290 The leagues' second meeting wasn't called The Super Bowl either. It wasn't until Super Bowl 3 that the name was officially "stamped"
It was EASTERN CONFERENCE beginning in 1952-53(FROM 1933-34 THRU 1949-50 IT WAS EASTERN DIVISION, AND WESTERN DIV., AND IN 1950-51& '51-52 IT WAS AMERICAN CONF.= EASTERN TEAMS, AND NATIONAL CONF.= WESTERN TEAMS), with divisions in it beginning in 1967-68. In the West, there was the COASTAL DIV. which featured BOTH ATLANTIC, AND PACIFIC COAST representation.
BALTY ON THE ATLANTIC SIDE, LA & S. FRANCISCO ON THE PACIFIC SIDE WERE THE REPS, WITH landlocked ATLANTA MOVING INTO IT FROM only one season in THE EASTERN CONF. IN 1966-67 ITS INAUGURAL SEASON.
CENTRAL DIV.= G. BAY, MINN., DET., AND the CHIBEARS..
EASTERN CONF. HAD CAPITOL DIV.= DALLAS, WASH. D.C., and PHILLY, AND IN 1967-68 AND '69-70= N.Y. GIANTS, AND IN '68-69 N.O., the SAINTS SECOND EVER SEASON.
CENTURY DIV. HAD CLEVE., PITT., ST. LOU. CARDINALS AND IN '67-68 THE SAINTS INAUGURAL SEASON, AND '69-70= N. ORL, WITH THE NY.G. IN IT IN '68-69..
THE NYG AND N.O. back and forth moves were made to ensure all EASTERN teams would play NY and visit NY at least once in the three years before the two leagues became one league= schedule merger, and the creation of the NFC AND AFC occurring in '70-71...
For some reason, the NFL thought DALLAS V. N.O.(TEX. VS. LOU.?) would be as big of a rivalry as ATL. AND N.O..That is why N.O. IN ITS FIRST THREE SEASONS was placed in the EAST, AND ATL. MOVED to the WEST. Although, N.O. AND ATL. PLAYED EACH OTHER ALL THREE SEASONS, once each season(alternating home and away), before being permanently moved into divisions with each other in 1970-71= WESTERN DIV., AND 2002-'03 (THRU THE PRESENT)= NFC SOUTH DIV., playing each other twice(home and road)..
YEP.
THE CONFERENCE DESIGNATION came about as a change when the NFL MERGED in 1950 with the ALL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONF. bringing in CLEVE., BALTY COLTS version#1(that team FOLDED and distributed players in the dispersal draft in 1951-52), and SAN FRAN., with the LA RAMS getting the AAFC'S L.A. DONS players, and the NYGIANTS and NY BULLDOGS getting the NY YANKEES'(NOT BASEBALL) AAFC PLAYERS . AT FIRST, IT WAS THE NATIONAL-AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE IN THE OFFSEASON FOR ONLY A FEW MONTHS IN 1950, THEN CHANGED BACK TO NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE WITH AMERICAN AND NATIONAL CONFERENCES FOR ONLY TWO YEARS.
In '50, the COLTS IN GREEN AND SILVER played with future SF AND NYG STAR, HALL OF FAMER, Y.A. TITTLE AS its qb., with..second string qb, and first string kicker GEORGE BLANDA on the same '50 NFL COLTS. BLANDA had played with the CHIBEARS in 1949-50 in the NFL before going to the BALTY COLTS IN '50, only to be released, and headed back with the BEARS toward the end of the 1950-51 season. And, BLANDA playing in the NFL(1949-50 thru 1958-59, and 1970-71 thru '74-75) AND AFL(1960-61 thru '69-70), played qb and kicker, and played longer than ANY PRO AMER. FTBALLER in history, scoring the seventh most pts. in history, and won three AFL CROWNS, two as a qb&kicker= HOU. OILERS IN 1960-61, AND '61-62, LOSING THE AFL TITLEGAME IN '62-63 in 2OTs; and, one as strictly a kicker = WINNING WITH OAK. IN 1967-68 BEFORE LOSING Supe BOWL II to G.BAY in '68..OAK. ALSO LOST THE 1969-70 AFL TITLEGAME, THE FINAL AFL AFFAIR.
Anyway, in 1950, the COLTS played a "play everyone at least once" sched. before folding after that season.
IN 1953, taking the players from the folding DALLAS TEXANS the BALTY COLTS #2(IN INDY from 1983-84 thru the present) version was created IN DARK BLUE AND WHITE, as the COLTS VERSION#2 had taken the contracts of the TEXANS who were before in 1950-51&'51-52, the NY YANKS(HAD BEEN BEFORE THAT= OHIO LEAGUE AND APFA/NFL DAYTON[OH.] TRIANGLES, with contracts bought by the new BOSTON YANKS, then after that the no-city-listed team just called YANKS; AND finally, NY BULLDOGS before becoming NY YANKS) and had played most of the 1952-53 season with homegames in DALLAS as the DAL. TEXANS before moving to HERSHEY, PENN. to practice and have 'homegames' in AKRON, OH. AND DETROIT to end their season from Thanksgiving in '52, onward.
Those contracts became the BALTIMORE COLTS THE NEXT SEASON.
Got it?
Yes...I think so.....just don't test me on it. Thank you for providing this detailed explanation - I dig this stuff.
Thanks for the clip. I don't think I have ever seen a playoff bowl on film before.
You're welcome! I forgot that I had this...will look around to see if I have another one. Thanks for watching!
I never heard of these games. Very interesting
I'm glad that you checked it out, John!
I never heard of this Bowl game before. Thanks.
You're welcome. Thank you for watching and commenting.
Awesome as always.
Thank you, Jody!
Great NFL history. I forgot about the loser bowl. Remember the college Allstars vs. Super Bowl Champs? Akin to leading the Lams to slaughter. I recall the Steelers actually showing a modicum of sympathy/nay mercy for the kids - must have been the last exhibition played. I believe Gabriel was of (part) First Nation heritage. Thanks brother, appreciated.
Yeah, I watched the last College All Star/Super Bowl champ game. They called the game at halftime because it was raining so hard and wouldn't let up. Randy White hammered Beadshaw on one play. All Stars had a decent record during the first 15-20 years, then the NFL teams manhandled them on a regular basis.
Actually, I thought Gabriel was at least part Filipino. But he may have been at least part Native American.
Yes, he was the 1st NFL QB of Filipino-American descent.
@@markgardner9460 my bad, I thought he was of American First Nation heritage. Thanks for sharing.
@@markgardner9460 Valid point. The last College All-Stars win was in August 1963 when they defeated the Packers 20-17. The 1962 Packers went 13-1, losing only to the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
When the Rams wore the blue jerseys it was a very rare occurrence from 1968-70 they didn't wear them at all 3 full seasons
I believe it...diffucult to find photos of players wearing blue from that era...too bad cuz they're great uniforms!
When Warfield attended Ohio State, Woody Hayes hardly passed then. He never knew that he had a future NFL Hall of Famer on his team. My cousin said all they did was run. Ohio State was a one-dimensional team back then.
Yeah, there were some college teams that rarely threw the ball back then. Oklahoma and Nebraska also come to mind.
Not this particular game, but all the 3rd place games were also referred to as the "Who Cares Bowl".
The pay was definately so-so for this game, but at least they were playing to increase the player pension benefits. Other than that, it appears that there were plenty of available seats at this game.
They talk about the spiraling football - no football spiraled better than this Gabriel pass: 6:39
Gabe had a strong arm before the Rams insisted that he play with a bum shoulder
@@markgardner9460 A strong arm that could throw over 80 yards, but not as far as a non-QB he saw throw when he was with the Eagles. Care to guess who this guy was? I'll give you a hint (actually too much of a hint): he made the HOF, but it should have been sooner.
Carmichael?
@@markgardner9460 Harold Carmichael said he could throw a football more then 100 yards. Not sure what Gabriel and Jaworski saw, but it was further than they could throw. Bobby Douglass could throw 90 yards, but he was always running for his life on weak Chicago teams. Did you know that Halas was one of the Marx Brothers? Yes, he was known as Cheapo Marx Halas. Ditka told me after he signed a 3-year head coach contract for $300,000.
I had such a crush on Gabriel plus he was a great QB
Read a Leroy Kelly interview in a sports magazine long back where he said that if he were playing in the contemporary NFL, he'd be a punter.
That's modesty, lol. He said that many did not realize that he was, indeed, a punter for the Browns.
Also read somewhere, maybe the same article, where he described going up against Pittsburgh's 1960s defenses - not the 70s' Steel Curtain - as, "no party."
Thank you for your comments. The only way that the Steelers of the '60's were going to be competitive was by being agressive and/or marginally dirty
Kelly (44), as you know, was also a punt returner (before becoming the starting half back). There were several position players that were their team’s punters; QB Steve Spurrier for SF comes to mind, WR Pat Studstill for Detroit, and RB Donnie Anderson (44) was the Packer’s punter. There were probably others.
@@denisceballos9745 Van Brocklib, Bob Lee, Dan Pastorini...even Lem Barney and John Hadl
@@markgardner9460 Heck, we all punted back then. There was the Punt, Pass, and Kick competition for Youth League football. I used to work on my punting after football practice in seventh grade. Now, it’s a specialty skill.
Also, team rosters were not as large in those days, so not many teams had punting and/or placekicking specialists.
It would have been interesting to have had an NFL vs AFL all-star game from 1960-1965 before they merged. It would have been a "bragging rights" game only but probably would have drawn a decent crowd at the right staduim.
It would have been interesting, but they were at "war" and agreeing on anything would have been quite the challenge. The talent level on both sides would have been amazing though.
I never knew about these “Runner-Up” games. Thank you for that little nugget of information.
You got it!
#13 for QB number --that also Dan Marino's number I recall--"Lucky 13", no triskaidekaphobia there!
Frank Ryan was a lecturer in mathematics at Yale, so he knew that it was safe to wear #13.
1:51 ****X2 Sacks For Deacon Jones Hall of Famer. From 1964-1970 he has possibly the Greatest Stretch any Defensive Player has had sacking the QB . From 1964 thru his sack totals that has within the last few years been totaled up they are
1964 22.0// 19.0//16.0//21.5//22.0//15.0//12.0 for a total of 127.5 sacks in a 7 yr span. And if you want the previous X2 yrs 1962 and 1963 he had 12 sacks and 6.0 sacks for 18. But the 7 yr span was 12.0 sacks and higher! He was a devastating player .
3:30 Dick Bass In 1961 he had 23 Kick Returns and Averaged 30.3 Yrds Per Return! Don't see that very often
4:15 Leroy Kelly Good Comments
4:30 ***Gary Collins I feel is a Hof Snub Light Had X2 Pro Bowls X1 AP A super bowl champ, X4 yrs of 10+ TDS in a season was tall and a great go to guy in the clutch. And people forget he was a two way player as a Punter his lifetime avg per Punt was a Decent 41.0 Avg and an incredible season in 1965 Were his avg was 46.7!!! And on top of that he had 884 yrds Recieving in a 14 game season with 10 TDS ! A key player in Jim Browns Final Year that took them to the Championship game but lost. Also his 70 career TDS was amazing for his era
4:48 Gr8 Run Leroy Kelly Classic
5:08 Gary Collins Reciever Punted as well and in 1965 had an insane 46.7 avg per Kick!!
5:47 Gr8 Play Roman Gabriel I like for Hof Snub
5:54 WR Jack Snow Good Comments, And Snow was a very Underated Reciever , always a big play threat. And reliable
7:04 ***Eddie Meador Rams DB the Hokder on the kick and throw.
Eddie Meador is an absolute solid Hof Snub x6:Pro Bowler x2 AP Voted Hall of 1960's Teams , 46 career ints and x5 Tds Returned.
7:32 Gary Collins Big Play
7:42 ***LB Maxie Vayghn Another onvious Hof Snub x9 Pro Bowler!!! x1 AP x1 Championship win,. Getting back into the 60's Youll see some amazing Hof Snubs Maxie Baughan is not the worst theres Players with 9-10-11 Pro Bowls and not in yet.
7:50 Tribute to the Great Hall of Famer Lou Groza hus last game of his long illustrious career
12:38 ***Willie Ellison Td run. ****Willie Ellison pulled off something that had never been done before and never will be done again. In a 1970 game against the 49ers as a Backup RB Ellison inserted himself into the Game x3 Seperate Times And scored a Td each time beating the 49ers 😂🤣 The guy snuck into the game as a backup and scored x3 Tds!!! Thars gotta be Legendary Stuff there.
HUGE sack numbers...over 14 game seasons when the name of the game was running the ball
@@markgardner9460 I remember after I found out Pro Football Reference was doing all the Sack totals back to 1960 , Deacon Jones was the main one I was curious about to see what his actual career numbers were. Nice that we can re evaluate the careers of all the players pre 1982 and Discover Forgotten Greats . X3 of my favorite discoveries was Cowboys DL George Andrie , Coy Bacon and Al Bubba Baker. And Harvey Martin was a Pleasant Discovery with his monster year.
Abdrue us the one that stood out to me along with Jack Gregory
Bring back grass field's !!!
No doubt! Should be mandatory
Thank you for sharing this.
Was this game televised nationally at the time?
If so, my Dad probably watched it in our living room, but I was not paying attention to football yet.
But I was almost there because I do remember some of these players..... Leroy Kelly, Paul Warfield, Deacon Jones, Roman Gabriel, etc.
Why don't we play this game today?
NFL could play this 3rd place game the week before the Superbowl and move the Pro-Bowl to the week after the Superbowl..... then the Superbowl players could participate in the NFL's flag football media event.
It's just a thought.
I love the old uniforms and helmets.
Rams looked good with just 2 colors.
Yeah, it was on ABC.
The players pension fund is in fine shape, so there is no need for this game any longer. Owners wouldn't want it played even if it wasn't due to injury risk
I agree...Rams uniforms here are sharp...definately no need to add anything!
Catfish Smith, man I love that name
Say that fast 3X after 3 adult beverages
Just like Catfish Hunter
LA RAMS!- great stuff..the RAMS could have won SB any one of these surrounding years, but choked on the road..like they did to Browns here, they smoked Cowboys next year...they were pissed and took it out on "em..
They peaked too soon
The Packers played in the Pro Bowl in 1963 and 1964 won 1 and lost 1 Vince Lombardi was not happy to be there
Yes, the Playoff Bowl.....and you're right, Lombardi detested it.
I remember those “Loser Bowl” games, quite well. I recall Minnesota Viking John Henderson tearing a hamstring against Dallas in the Loser Bowl the following year (1969). Too much risk for no reward. FYI you’ve mispronounced Eddie Meador’s name in this video. Meador as in medicine.
Grammar class wasn't my best course. I did much better in Sports Trivia.
I didn't know that about Henderson. The coaches and owners hated that game even more than the players
So awesome! Roman Gabriel was a heck of a QB! Were the Rams coached by George Allen at that time?
Yes, George Allen was coaching them, but in a couple of years he'd take a bunch of these Rams players with him to Washington D.C.
Rams were slow back then. AFC teams were fast, bigger(Chiefs,Raiders,Dolphins, and then Steelers). Rams bettered themselves in 73 with faster Rb’s and Youngblood and Isiah Robertson. ‘73 playoffs Rams fumbled away first quarter vs Dallas, fought back but couldn’t recover. Maybe if Gabriel was still there different story cause Hadl was over the hill. Gabriel’s arm soreness in 72 did him in with Rams. And then Tarkington. Ugh. So many what ifs.
Helped a lot when they added speed merchants Harold Jackson and Lawrence McCutcheon
I agree - I think that the Rams gave up on his too soon and panicked when they obtained Hadl........who also had a great '73 season, but then he just tanked in '74 and they shipped him from Paradise to The Frozen Tundra (how bad is that?)
Isn't the college in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, called Augustana (not Augusta)?
Yes, I think it is. My error. Thank you for the correction.
😂😮 I used to wait for Dallas cowboys to were there blue and the rams to were there purple for they only wore them once or twice a season lol it's all good
That's right. Didn't the Rams wear white at home since the weather was almost always sunny and hot?
Rams are not purple 💜 they are blue 💙
Rams wearing purple? not their colors
Weird that both LA and Baltimore finished with 11 - 1 - 2 records, both better than Green Bay, and only the Rams made the playoffs. How did that tiebreaker work?
What a shame that league MVP Johnny Unitas missed the playoffs.
Net points in head-to-head competition, then if still tied, the team that had last played in a title game longer
@@markgardner9460 That's about as compelling a case for wild card teams as you could make.
Thanks again.
If the Colts could have managed a tie that day in Los Angeles, then they would have finished the regular season 12-0-2 and would have been the division champion. But because of the alternating hosting practice for the playoffs in that era, the Colts would have traveled to Green Bay in the conference title game, just like the Rams did.
Ed MED DER
MEH-der is what is predominantly shown on line
@@markgardner9460 Point being, it is not MEE DER
I knew an Al Meador and that's how he pronounced his name.
@@markgardner9460 Fair enough. He wasn't a member of the NFL all sixties decade team as a DB, though, I'd wager. LOL
Pro Football Reference says that he is named to the Hall of Fame All-1960's Team
Wait a minute let me throw on my # 64 Mike Lahood 69 gamer - nice Merlin Olsen Jersey - Lombardi called this game the Loser Bowl
2nd round pick in '68. How'd ya score that jersey?
@@markgardner9460 bought from private sale - he started at guard last few games of 69 season including the Vikings playoff game
@@docnoc66 that's awesome!
Both teams were under achievers. Too bad the NFL and AFL couldn't stay frozen in 1968.
The Browns and Rams offenses were explosive...although The Fearsome Foursome shut down the Browns in this game.
@SportsStatsNGab the Brown's put up 31 points in 68 and 69 playoffs against the Cowboys. The Brown's defense contributed one TD in the 69 mudd bowl. It was a great era with great memories indeed. Lots of fun. Nice post. Kelly was a great back, and Jack Snow had great hands.
The more footage that I watch of Kelly, the more impressed I am. He was so quick off the snap of the ball - sometimes drawing penalties for being a bit too soon out of the starting block. His running style kind of reminds me of the Redskins Larry Brown - shifty, yet rugged. When I first became a football fan, Jack Snow was my favorite WR. Thank you for watching and commenting!
I'd freeze at 1969/70
@@barbaracaroll I can definitely go for that.
Btw- bro: if you're going to wear Ram Jersey you got to pronounce the greatest safety in Ram history (Dave Elmendorf, Nolan Cromwell close )- Eddie meador.. as Metter Metter, & in Vetter not meeeeder! ..total HOF snub..and Maxie B... I bet there's no other player in history of NFL that made the Pro Bowl nine times without Hof....
I'll remember that - thanks!
This playoff game was simply just a bad idea . Once you lose a playoff game, there is no point at all to have this , the players of the loosing teams just would rather forget football and live the off season. There is nothing to gain from this . The NFL definitely got it wrong with this idea.
Yeah, it was designed to add money to the players' pension fund...which it did..$1 million over the lifetime of this playoff bowl series, but players, coaches and fans didn't give two hoots about it
@markgardner9460 yes, when you sign a contract, there are things you are told to do even if you don't want to. Money means nothing when your dream is gone.
The Playoff Bowl was one of the stupidest events in NFL history. That is, until you think about how much advertising revenue on television that one extra "playoff" game would generate. The Browns were in it a couple of times, and I have no recollection of it. It was meaningless. Of course, possibility of injury precludes such nonsense, likewise the Chicago College All Star Game, and the Pro Bowl.
Yeah, like most business decisions, it was done for money...to increase the player pension pool. There were some serious injuries in those games that you mentioned - Staubach received a concussion in a College All Star Game/Super Bowl Champion game. Thank you for commenting!
Kindly, called the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl. You don't want to know what Lombardi called it. In 1963 (after finishing 2nd at 11-2-1 to the Bears 11-1-2 who would win the Championship Game 14-10 over the 11-3 Giants) they had to play in this runner-up bowl. Had today's playoff system been available then - they probably would have won yet another championship. What a rip-off 11-2-1 versus 11-1-2 (had to be the closest ever) you tell me. No, I'm not a Packers fan merely a physics professor and observer of the idiotic etc.
Yes, I've read what Vince called it...will not repeat it here, but he said it was between "hinky-dink" teams
Actually, the 1967 Colts had the best record ever to miss the playoffs at 11-1-2. And consider that the Colts would have been unbeaten if they had won or tied that game in Los Angeles.
@@jameswilson7790 good info, James!