rainbow@ihuxe.UUCP (10/08/84)
One would expect to get good field position when you force the opponents to punt from the middle of their own end zone. Not so as the Bear punter hit one for 87 yards which was downed on the 4 yard line. It would have gone 10 more yards if it wasn't stopped.
stevev@tekchips.UUCP (Steve Vegdahl) (10/12/84)
>One would expect to get good field position when you force the opponents >to punt from the middle of their own end zone. Not so as the Bear punter >hit one for 87 yards which was downed on the 4 yard line. It would have gone >10 more yards if it wasn't stopped. I seem to recall a game on TV several years ago when a (Jets?) punter punted for 98 yards. The line of scrimmage was his team's 1, and the ball rolled and was downed on the opponents' 1. An unbreakable record for NET yardage on a punt, no? ******************************** Steve Vegdahl NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR Computer Research Lab. typos Tektronix, Inc. logical errors Beaverton, Oregon actions of my pet alligator ********************************
kaufman@uiucdcs.UUCP (10/15/84)
[Oops - I must be in the first line ... He missed the bug!] > I seem to recall a game on TV several years ago when a (Jets?) punter > punted for 98 yards. The line of scrimmage was his team's 1, and the > ball rolled and was downed on the opponents' 1. An unbreakable record > for NET yardage on a punt, no? It happened in 1969 when the Jets lost to Denver in (I believe) the thin air of Mile High Stadium. The punter for New York was Steve O'Neill. For net yardage, it's true that the record can't be broken by more than a couple of feet - unless playing on a Canadian field. What bugs me is that triviaists regard this as the NFL record, although it actually took place in an AFL game. Sure, the record books were updated to include pre-merger exploits, but does anyone know who really had the longest punt in an NFL game? Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)
archiel@hercules.UUCP (Archie Lachner) (10/25/84)
The AFL and the NFL merged in 1966, the year the first Super Bowl was played.
The 98 yard punt in the 1969 Jets-Broncos game thus belongs in the NFL record
books.
--
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Logic Design Systems Division
Tektronix, Inc.
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ARPAnet: archiel.tek@csnet-relaylab@qubix.UUCP (Q-Bick) (11/05/84)
> The AFL and the NFL merged in 1966, the year the first Super Bowl was played. > The 98 yard punt in the 1969 Jets-Broncos game thus belongs in the NFL record > books. > Archie Lachner To quote Jughead, "Sorry, Arch." The merger didn't occur until after Super Bowl V - otherwise the Colts (still in the NFL) could not have beaten the Cowboys therein. -- The Ice Floe of Larry Bickford {amd,decwrl,sun,idi,ittvax}!qubix!lab You can't settle the issue until you've settled how to settle the issue.
elliottg@stolaf.UUCP (Glenn E. Elliott) (11/08/84)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but the merger took place after Super
Bowl III - the one in which Joe (who?) Nameth and his underdogs
finally proved (quite handily, I might add) that the AFL could
beat the NFL.
--
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...{harpo,ihps3,ihnp4,umn-cs}!stolaf!agnes!elliottg kaufman@uiucdcs.UUCP (11/08/84)
The merger was formalized circa 1966 in order to cancel an AFL blitz of signing NFL stars. For the next four years, the leagues were still separate entities in that there was no interleague play except for Super Bowls and possibly some exhibition games. Both leagues kept their own divisional and playoff formats, although the NFL changed theirs around 1968; that may have been more due to the expansion (of New Orleans) to 16 teams, rather than to the merger. The merger agreement of 1966 did mean that the two leagues were at peace, and I believe they did share a common draft. However, until after Super Bowl IV in 1970, they were still separate leagues. Ken Kaufman (uiucdcs!kaufman)
archiel@hercules.UUCP (Archie Lachner) (11/09/84)
You are confusing the re-organization before the 1970 season with the merger
before the one of 1966. Take, for example and as a parallel, professional
baseball. There are two "leagues," the American and National. Teams in one
league only play teams in the other for the championship, i.e., the World
Series. Yet there is ONE professional, major-league baseball organization in
this country. This situation is similar to the one that existed between the
American and National Football Leagues from 1966 to 1970. Just as there is
one commissioner for pro baseball, there is one for pro football, and there
has been since 1966, when Al Davis retired from the now-defunct post of
AFL commissioner.
--
Archie Lachner
Logic Design Systems Division
Tektronix, Inc.
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ARPAnet: archiel.tek@csnet-relayarchiel@hercules.UUCP (Archie Lachner) (11/11/84)
>To quote Jughead, "Sorry, Arch." >The merger didn't occur until after Super Bowl V - otherwise the Colts >(still in the NFL) could not have beaten the Cowboys therein. I don't follow your reasoning regarding Super Bowl V. Please explain. Super Bowl V was played after the 1970 season. Before that season, the AFC and NFC came into being, and the Browns, Steelers, and Colts transferred to the AFC, in order to even the conferences at 13 teams each. The AFL had 10 teams in 1969, its last season. Starting with the 1970 season, the entire pro football organization was known as the NFL, and the name AFL (American Football League) was dropped. However, the AFL and NFL merged to form ONE pro football organization before the 1966 season. The Colts were part of the AFC when they played the Cowboys in Super Bowl V. All of old AFL teams are now members of the NFL! Before the AFL and the NFL merged at the start of the 1966 season, they were in a bidding war for players. For example, John Brodie, then still playing with the 49ers, signed a contract with the Houston Oilers, which was somehow later voided. Al Davis was the last commissioner of the AFL, which explains a lot of the animosity between him and Pete Roselle. Do you honestly believe that the Packers and Chiefs played Super Bowl I as two teams from legally separate and competing pro football organizations involved in a bidding war over players? Perhaps your quotation of Jughead entails more than you realize (sorry, I couldn't resist). Would someone out there in an NFL city call up your local team and ask for a clarification on this for the benefit of those who don't understand that two "leagues" can be part of the same legal entity? -- Archie Lachner Logic Design Systems Division Tektronix, Inc. uucp: {ucbvax,decvax,pur-ee,cbosg,ihnss}!tektronix!teklds!archiel CSnet: archiel@tek ARPAnet: archiel.tek@csnet-relay
archiel@hercules.UUCP (Archie Lachner) (11/11/84)
The National and American baseball leagues are separate, too. Still, overall
major-league baseball records are kept, as well as records for each league.
Remember, this whole question was brought up in connection with the long punt
during the '69 Broncos-Jets (right teams?) game. I wonder what the official
NFL position is on this. Is this the longest punt on record, according to
the NFL? Furthermore, why do we care? Still, it's interesting to see that
many people don't understand the relationship between the AFL and NFL from
1966 to 1970.
A bit of trivia from that era. In the first few Super Bowls, different balls
were used, depending on whether the AFL or NFL team had the ball. The ball
the AFL used was slimmer than the NFL's, supposedly to make passing easier.
The NFL ball was supposed to be more rounded, and thus more suited to running.
The AFL was a league of wide-open offenses. Remember Daryl Lamonica, the
"mad bomber" of the Oakland Raiders? They were still in Oakland then, so
no flames on that, please. I remember the Raiders beating the Chargers
51-10 in 1967. Lamonica passed for over 400 yds. in a losing effort vs.
the Jets for the AFL title after the 1968 season, the year Namath and Co.
beat the Colts in Super Bowl III. The AFL had passing combinations such as
Lenny Dawson to Otis Taylor for the Chiefs, and John Hadl to Lance Allworth
for the Chargers.
Anyway, I digress. Enough, already!
--
Archie Lachner
Logic Design Systems Division
Tektronix, Inc.
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