1969 was the year I discovered football at 9 years old. These old rivalries were brutal, and I can't think of a better one than the Chiefs and the Raiders.
I became aware of / discovered pro football n the 1969-70 football season as a 7 year old kid in the second grade. I still have great memories of both the AFL and NFL in their last seasons as separate leagues from each other before they officially merged starting with the 1970-71 season. I vividly remember watching both league championship games and Super Bowl 4. In addition to the first four AFL vs NFL Super Bowls from 1966-67 to 1969-70, I wish that there would have been an AFL vs NFL All Star Game between the best players of both leagues during that period of time as well.
Another jewel of NFL Films presentations, covering so many postseason contests running from '67 through the early-mid '70's. An outstanding mix of pointed narration, sharp editing, and some of the most moving and stirring musical cues, combine to mark this film as an exemplar, in the kind of mythic and iconographic world-building Sabol and company so outstandingly achieved!!!
I loved the AFL. There was spirit in that league, and it brought pro football to cities deemed too small and not “old, cold” enough for the gritty game. I have such fond childhood memories of seeing the AFL, particularly seeing it go out a winner with Len Dawson, Otis Taylor and Jan Stenerud win the Super Bowl and even the score as the leagues merged.
I too loved the AFL. I was one of those who wished the two leagues had never merged. SCREW the NFL and their arrogant attitudes of SUPPOSED superiority! The AFL struggled in the early years to be sure, but once they hit the 1964 season, (possibly sooner) they were on equal footing with the NFL, even though the NFL A-holes would all say the AFL was still inferior. The 1963 AFL Champion Chargers actually challenged the 1963 NFL Champion Chicago Bears to a game to be played anywhere at any time and the Chargers were willing to use NFL balls for the game. The Bears declined, because they knew if they lost that game that the sports world would see the two leagues as equals and the arrogant, narcissistic NFL couldn't let that happen because of the signing wars going on between the two leagues. God Bless Lamar Hunt for founding the AFL and then funding it when it was short on cash. God Bless Sonny Werblin who bought the NY Jets and signed Joe Namath to the biggest contract in sports history at the time. And LONG LIVE THE AFL!!!!!!
Well said Mike..those 2 Chiefs were a couple of the best to play the game!!..I relive my youth(born 1962)..every time I catch these classic matches on NFL 🎥 FILMS..👌
This game followed the CBS coverage of the NFL Championship Browns vs Vikings. NBC covered this game-and Curt Gowdy and Kyle Rote were the announcers. There was only one week between these games and SB 4 in Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. RIP Daryle Lamonica RIP Len Dawson
I loved AFL football back in the day. Those were true gladiators !!! My father (RIP) and I were huge KC Chiefs fans and the old man absolutely HATED George Blanda like opponents fans hate Tom Brady. He just wouldn’t retire and go away! Hell, he was still kicking field goals and “relief QB’ing” at like age 46-47. Man we hated him. Great rivalry. John Madden was a real person and not A video game or a commercial!!!! He was the actual head coach of that gang of malcontents and old free agent pirates. Raiders was the right name for that team!!! Oh, those were the days! RIP Otis Taylor. He belongs in the HOF. Fix that HOF old timers committee!!!!
Brian, the last I heard Otis Taylor is still alive. He is suffering from Parkinson's disease and his sister is taking care of him. God Bless her. Otis Taylor was my 1st hero growing up during the 1960's.
I was just coming into my own, learning to take an INTEREST in sports and that was the early fall of '69 at the tender age of 11. I didn't KNOW the AFL and the NFL were two separate leagues....But I did KNOW the name Jim Brown....He, like Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers, Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle were the ALL AMERICAN house hold names. Everyone KNEW who they were.... Shortly thereafter I LEARNED who the New York Jets were and a Man named Joe Willie Namath!!....He brought CREDIBILITY to the AFL!!.... Through this time period from '69 to '70 I became a KC Chiefs fan.....That was MY TEAM!!
This game goes down in history as a Titanic struggle it deserves to be. If the wrong person was writing this game up, they could have taken the approach that this was a mistake-filled game that was defined by its errors and miscues. Thankfully, this video shows the game in its true light. The mistakes in this game were really the result of taking the two best teams in pro football and putting into the equivalent of a 60-minute head-on collision. In another game, the Colts and Cowboys faced each other in Super Bowl V. Those teams were the two best defenses in pro football that year, but when that game got written up, there was no consideration for how difficult a job both offenses had. The mistakes in that game were just laughed off as incompetence by calling it The blooper Bowl. I'm glad that the Raiders and the Chiefs were appreciated for the job they did and the way they fought each other. This is how these men should be remembered. Those of us lucky enough to have grown up watching pro football in this era have been blessed.
The unusually high number of mistakes in this game defied the true greatness of these two teams. What an epic battle this last AFL game was! The Raiders and the Chiefs in 1969 were likely the two best teams the AFL produced in its history. And the Chiefs' victory in Super Bowl IV validated the AFL as a worthy competitor to the NFL as they headed into the merger in 1970.
classic "Duke it out "throwback black n blue teams,..John Facenda narration, NFL FILMS sound track.(priceless)....yousto watch these epic battles 30 mins condensed versions..nearly every Saturday in those oh,so early 1970s..formative years of my youth..most enjoyable to admire these relics in my senior(61)years!!..thank you for posting!!🎥👌
I think the Chiefs were clearly the best team in football that year, and the way they took out the Vikings could not be misconstrued as a fluke win by the AFL. I did not see the previous Super Bowl of the year before as a case of, "the best team won." The Colts were the most awesome team in football in 1968, but seemed to have left their intensity in Cleveland (NFL Championship game) and the Jets were good enough to beat them that day.
Integrity? Like allowing Otis Taylor's Grab where he was clearly out of bounds once he gained control? That tainted the whole game. Personally, I think with instant replay, today's game has more integrity.
@@jonburrows8602, I won't gush over Dawson's superb pass and the effort Taylor made in catching it (reminiscent of the Bradshaw to Swann sideline hookup in SB X) as by default, justifying the call. However, given the number of player's proximate to the reception, their spacing, and the position on the field it took place, I can feel reconciled the referee involved, likely did as well as he could, enabling a remarkable moment to be given legitimacy. I don't think a supposed lack of integrity had anything to do with it, unless of course, if one's a Raiders' partisan seeking to establish one of the very first instances of the neverending string of officials screwing their team over. Allegedly.
Man I hated Lamonica and Bilitnikof that season 1969. My first year watching football and becoming a Chiefs fan at 14. Great players, of course, but I was 14.
I remember " The 5th Dimensions " sang " The Age of Aquarius " at half time. My Brothers 2 favorite teams were the Raider and Chiefs. Then he put a hex on my Vikings and I watched in horror as they we beaten as my beloved Colts were beaten by magic the year before by that Warlock Joe Namath ! . The Gods of Football did not accepted the burnt Barbie Dolls @ I offered to appease them as a young plebian ?
I liked the AFL from day one ... and actually never wanted to see the two Leagues merge. The two championship games which changed the sport and fostered the merger were the JETS upsetting the COLTS, then the CHIEFS whipping the Vikings the following year.
Hi Raiderdan. A little fun fact for you. Lamar Hunt, the man who founded the AFL and Kansas City Chiefs actually had conversations with Tex Schramm of the Dallas Cowboys and then Pete Rozelle and a few of the other NFL owners about a merger between the two leagues as early as 1965. They ultimately agreed to a merger deal in that time and a common draft was then held and the 1st Super Bowl was played in January of 1967 between the Packers and Chiefs. But the convincing wins by the Jets and Chiefs in Super Bowls 3 & 4 were what solidified the merger in the way that both leagues believed it was going to work out well, and it actually did. I was a fan who wished the two leagues never merged, but unfortunately for me, the money talked a little too loudly. Regardless,....LONG LIVE THE AFL!!!!
@@Chiefsfansince-qb1ktThe AFL's two championships before the regular season merger in 1970 gave the league much needed credibility as before, absolutely no respect given by the older league and the general public
The referees let the players play; the Chiefs Mike Garrett would been called down today, instead of a fumble. Chiefs Willie Mitchell would have been called for unnecessary roughness on the Raiders WR.
wow i cant believe NFL films or whoever is responsible would get the date wrong with John Facenda's voice no less. The last AFL game was Jan. 4th 1970!! not Jan 5th!! i know, most will say "big deal" but if it was your birthday people, franchises, or corporations, got wrong, you would wanna voice up as well. just have the NFL send me some free tickets and we'll call it even
The 68' and 69' AFL Championship games were dependent on a long ball in critical situations . Both times, George Atkinson on coverage ( albeit caught out of bounds here ) 15:29
What the fuck does that mean? Before the NFL decided it had no future if the issues of CTE and preventable injuries were not addressed that the game was more "manly?" Read about what the wife of Mike Webster had to say about living with a violent, forgetful man whose brain was the basis of the movie "Concussion." The league faced a difficult long-term future of it did not stop denying the existence of traumatic brain injuries in a large percentage of players. Football is not about inflicting pain on your opponent. Do you have any concept of sportmanship, or is cruelty the true measure of masculinity?
Gracie Mae Marie 11 Jones tells it like it was in that Era. Playing the Raiders was "Criminal Territory." Their real motto wasn't Commitment to Excellence." It was "If You Can't Beat Em, Cheat Em." Al Davis seemed to have constructed a team straight from San Quentin. " If you don't have a Criminal Record, We Don't Want You," was their mantra. A you can also see, as evidenced by this game, that single minded philosophy cost them dearly in big games. Cheap shotting the Chiefs to the degree, that even the officials of that era were compelled to call critical personal fouls. Football in that era featured a no holds barred philosophy. Even the officials weren't safe in that era. Tom Brady wouldn't have a 24 year career in that era. Probably more like 24 minutes.
@donaldschmidt2990, There's more than a little exaggeration present in your description of how the Raiders' lineup was constituted during that time, even if bears the kernel of truth. Also, interestingly, just a season later, this same rivalry saw Oakland benefitting from their sometimes reckless play. Ben Davidson's headlong leap to inflict mayhem on an already downed Len Dawson led to the penalties, which allowed the Raiders to escape Kansas City with a tie in the final moments. This result largely enabled the Raiders to reverse the course of their campaign and edge the Chiefs for the division title.
@@6400az, Given the speed shown in the clip here, I hardly agree the play is so simple to spot, as you claim. I can readily accept that without the benefit of a replay allowing for it to be seen conclusively, the referee who made the call likely did as good a job as was possible, taking into account how tightly covered the play was and the very constricted part of the field in which it took place.
@@mitchellmelkin4078 I agree with you. It was a close one, can't really argue that one in the days of no replay review. The PI on Nehemiah Wilson - now, that's a different story.
wow,did warren wells give no effort after thomas INT at 19:25. total loser non team player...lamonica, beat up as he was , angled thomas oub.this shows the difference between a team player vs a prima donna
graciemaemarie11jones16, You have no idea what you're talking about. His teammates would never have characterized him in such a way, as Wells was a consummate competitor whose contributions as a blocker and on special teams were plain to see and widely known, contemporaneously. Well, I suppose one can be thankful, at least, you didn't go down the usual dangerous thug trope in describing Wells. 🙄 🙄 🙄
1960's & 1970's were the Gladiators. Players played for the love of the gameand not money.I believe if you put the best players in those 2 decades as a team they would beat todays players.They were much tougher and talented.