Division winners: Eastern St Louis Cardinals, Central Minnesota Vikings, Western Los Angeles Rams. NFC Wild Card: Washington Redskins. AFC Eastern: Miami Dolphins, Central Pittsburgh Steelers, Western Oakland Raiders, Wild Card: Buffalo Bills
My high school band marched for the halftime show at this game. Yep, I'm 62 years old now. Before we finished the show the Browns walked onto the field and walked right through the band mid-field, almost colliding with several kids. I know that the people in our band, including the director, were furious. The guys playing sousaphone said that they were temped to crash the bell of their instrument into the players when they walked by. In retrospect, I'm glad they didn't, and I'm glad we got off the field without anyone getting hurt. I've never heard anything about this incident since. And I've never seen it happen again, at any game for any team.
Beautiful Houston Oiler uniforms - so sleek, they're almost ahead of their time. And, the cool blue helmets! Cleveland in their striking dark jerseys that, for some reason, they rarely wore at home.
Seriously? I don’t recall Ron Saul ever being more than a middling NFL player (though I’m sure he’s a fine man). No Pro Bowls or any evidence to support that he was an elite player. Rich Saul……I wouldn’t say he was HOF level but you could almost make a case for that one.
thank you for posting the video. it's great seeing videos of the "other" teams in the league from the past, insteado f seeing seventies videos that all include at least one of the following, Steelers, cowboys Raiders, or Dolphins.
That entrance at 0:40....how majestic that place must have looked. What a great video here. I remember watching this contest as an 8 year old on WKYC out of Cleveland.
It was majestic. The first time I went there was when I was 13 for an Astros game. It made such a big impression on me that years later I wrote about it in Freshman English. My instructor liked it.
01:30 Sid Gillman was named 1974 AFC Coach of the Year by UPI, the Pro Football Writers Association of America and the Kansas City 101 Club. Football News selected him as their NFL Coach of the Year.
Plus the Oilers finished 7-7, their best season since 1968. Not to mention a huge improvement from the back-to-back 1-13 finishes of the two previous years.
@@primateproductions126 The overlapping stripes on the jersey and on the pants were what was horrible...The word Browns down the side [of the pants] would've been better off without those stripes above them. The numbers should have never been orange.
terrell davis is only in the hall of fame because he finally gave john elway a lombardi trophy. without davis, elway would be another dan marino, great passer, good quarterback no championships.
What, columbia blue? Please! One of the biggest critiques of the Oilers was that lame shade of columbia blue! Cobalt Blue of the Texans is MUCH better! Results speak for themselves. Much more people wear Texans jerseys than that lame columbia blue! If it was so great, why do the Titans now wear dark blue, and even copied the Texans for dark blue helmets! The Blue Helmets on the Oilers look cool here though.
@@texasrockshillcountry6574 Couldn't even be original "TEXANS" really...However, you're right about the shade of blue of the Houston Oilers [the uniforms were still better, even with that lame shade of Columbia Blue]. The Houston/Tennessee Oilers & current Titans another unoriginal team name are still superior to the current Houston franchise. But for some dumb reason, the Titans are still trying to appease the former Oiler faithful by incorporating that horrible strip of Columbia blue side panel on their jerseys.
I love those blue helmets the Oilers wore back then. Too bad this was the last time they wore them before switching to white helmets. And they were on an upswing; the next year, with Gillman assistant O.A. "Bum" Phillips as head coach, the Oilers finished 10-4 and just missed the playoffs.
Those helmets were great. The white helmets made their uniforms look plain. I also miss the “night ball” the NFL used up through the 1975 season. I’m not sure of the reason for taking it away.
The final game for one of the best names in NFL history, Fair Hooker, as well. Storybook ending: He caught a touchdown (19:24). And yeah, I thought that was Ed Sabol. Must have been an inside joke at NFL Films to say he was an "unidentified fan" (21:03).
@@sirlordsoul Sid Gilman retired and Bum Phillips became the new coach for the 1975 season and Ray Scott narrated. Fair Hooker, I don't know if I ever met one - Don Meredith on the first Monday Night Football game of the 1970 season.
Sunshine in the Astrodome. Likely, the glass ceiling panes were being cleaned or replaced. In 1965, the Dome had clear glass panes (and real grass), but it was a nightmare for fielders during day games. The grass was replaced in steps during the 1966 season, but the glass was was painted before the season.
in a game with about 125 plays, there is no one deciding play. Houston had four scoring plays, they didn't help in deciding the game? how about every other play that Cleveland ran that didn't score? didn't that help decide the game in the Oilers favor? no one play decides a game.
Don Hardeman was supposed to be the big back when Houston drafted him in the first round in 1975. He didn't live up to his draft status and was gone by 1978 making way for the 'Tyler Rose'
I'm surprised they didn't nominate the Dolphins 34-27 win over the Patriots as game of the week. Miami had to overcome a 24 point deficit to win. I could only imagine why not because of fatigue of seeing the two time defending champions being featured again, with the most likely chance of Miami being profiled soon again during the upcoming playoffs.
Comrade Dobler- O.k., I never knew they picked the game out in advance. Seeing how they mentioned all the division races being already settled, there was no need to showcase Miami with it guaranteed of a at least one more game in the playoffs.
4-10, the worst record in their history up to that point in time, and it cost head coach Nick Skorich his job. But the 1975 edition was a game worse (3-11).
Houston was the worst team in the NFL for 3 years then in 1974 finished 7-7 under Sid Gillman. The Oilers joined the Patriots and Broncos as teams on the rise in the mid 70s. The Oilers finished 10-4 in 75 with a healthy Pastorini and an awesome defense. The team took a step back in 1976 when Pastorini was hurt and the running game struggled. They bounced back nicely in '77 and got Earl Campbell in 1978. Why did Sid Gillman decide to leave after 1974????
I believe Gillman was talked out of retirement by Bud Adams to coach the Oilers after the disaster of the previous consecutive 1-13 seasons. I'm not sure if Gillman agreed to coach only one year or after the 74 season, he decided retirement was the right call after all. Regardless, he righted the ship after the Bill Peterson disasters.
Russell Seilhamer- I always wondered that too, especially after seeing those clips of Gillman wired for sound in this game from NFL '74. Online it said in a couple of articles that Gillman bitterly claimed Bum Phillips forced him out by pressuring Bud Adams to promote him. Adams gave in, in order to keep the hot young coaching prospect from leaving. Bum in response denied any of the accused backstabbing by Gillman. In an old book of mine, it mentions this in the oilers 1974 season summary: "Gillman resigned both his coach and GM positions after the season in a dispute with owner Bud Adams over how freely Gillman spent the team's money on a variety of 'extravagant' arrangements such as an illegally - large taxi squad ."
It wouldn't surprise me if Bum forced Gillman out. I loved Bum as a coach, but the NFL is a super competitive, cut-throat type of business. The irony is that Bum was probably hired by Gillman because Bum had been on his staff in San Diego.
Paul M Gillman wanted to she GM only during the off-season but he changed his mind though Bum was hired. Gillman tried to get it back from Adams but Bum stepped in and threatened lawsuit.
Gillman was brought in as GM only in 1973. Because of Bill Peterson's inability to win games (1-18 record) Gillman took over the head coaching job. He brought in his longtime defensive coordinator 'Bum' Phillips to eventually take over the head coaching job in 1975 and Sid would go back to being a GM only. The friction was that 'Bum' knew Sid was too hands on even with being just the GM. Sid had a contract with 'Bum' stating that the GM would have the final say on player personnel decisions. 'Bum' in turn went to 'Bud' Adams to have the clause in the contract nullified. Then, after receiving Adams' support, Phillips barred Gillman from attending practice and from the locker room. After Gillman discovered what had happened, he appealed to Adams, but Adams sided with Phillips and Gillman resigned
