OT: 1968 AFL Championship Game - Does a copy of the broadcast really not exist?

[jetscrazey]

I think it's wild that no known copy of the 1968 AFL Championship between the Jets & Raiders exists (the game before Super Bowl 3 in Jan. 1969).  Many say this is one of the greatest games ever played, a total shootout on the frozen muddy turf of Shea Stadium with both teams having over 400 yards of offense.

Recently I watched Super Bowl 3, which was historic but honestly not the prettiest game you'll ever see.  Would love to see this game in its entirely as it was way more exciting by all accounts.

Does NBC or whoever not have the tape in their vaults somewhere that we can use connections to pry it out into the open?

[y2k8]

7 minutes ago, jetscrazey said:

I think it's wild that no known copy of the 1968 AFL Championship between the Jets & Raiders exists (the game before Super Bowl 3 in Jan. 1969).  Many say this is one of the greatest games ever played, a total shootout on the frozen muddy turf of Shea Stadium with both teams having over 400 yards of offense.

Recently I watched Super Bowl 3, which was historic but honestly not the prettiest game you'll ever see.  Would love to see this game in its entirely as it was way more exciting by all accounts.

Does NBC or whoever not have the tape in their vaults somewhere that we can use connections to pry it out into the open?

I still have 3 canisters of film of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of the first game in Jets (Titans) history vs the Bills (Sept 11, 1960). The first quarter ended 3-0 Bills so it includes all the Jets first TDs, FGs, catches by Maynard, etc.

I found them in a thrift shop in Great Neck in the mid 1980s.  About 10 years ago I talked to a bunch of outlets but NFL Films was the only one who is legally authorized to do anything with it.  When I approached them they offered me $2000.  I told them I didn't want any money. I just want them to give me 2 good seats to the next SuperBowl the Jets play in.  They wouldn't agree to it.  I thought it was more than fair.

So I still have the film. It's slowly disintegrating I'm sure.

[y2k8]

My point I guess is that a copy of the AFL Championship is out there.  It's just in someone's attic or basement yet to be found or thrown away.

[TheClashFan]

I'd love to see that game!

 

[CTM]

16 minutes ago, y2k8 said:

  I told them I didn't want any money. I just want them to give me 2 good seats to the next SuperBowl the Jets play in. 

So free, you were giving it away for free.

[TheClashFan]

17 minutes ago, y2k8 said:

So I still have the film. It's slowly disintegrating I'm sure.

By the way, why haven't you digitized the footage, even if just for personal use?

 

[Sarge4Tide]

The fact no video exists is further dramatic proof of the deal Joe Namath struck with the Devil to guarantee a Jets win in Super Bowl III

[SAR I]

46 minutes ago, jetscrazey said:

I think it's wild that no known copy of the 1968 AFL Championship between the Jets & Raiders exists (the game before Super Bowl 3 in Jan. 1969).  Many say this is one of the greatest games ever played, a total shootout on the frozen muddy turf of Shea Stadium with both teams having over 400 yards of offense.

Recently I watched Super Bowl 3, which was historic but honestly not the prettiest game you'll ever see.  Would love to see this game in its entirely as it was way more exciting by all accounts.

Does NBC or whoever not have the tape in their vaults somewhere that we can use connections to pry it out into the open?

About 60 seconds of NBC's video of the AFL Championship Game exists during the Super Bowl III pregame show, I've had a nice clean copy of it since the 90's. The full game is unfortunately lost. Erased apparently. 

SAR I

[SAR I]

28 minutes ago, TheClashFan said:

I'd love to see that game!

 

There is a really nice 30 minute NFL Films recap of the game, sound on the sidelines and everything. If you haven't seen it it's worth the watch. 

SAR I

[SAR I]

11 minutes ago, Sarge4Tide said:

The fact no video exists is further dramatic proof of the deal Joe Namath struck with the Devil to guarantee a Jets win in Super Bowl III

I have a program and an unused ticket to the game. Sometimes it feels like this is as close as I'm going to get to that dream. 

SAR I

[#27TheDominator]

Do any of you old guys remember there being a big brawl in the Chiefs-Vikings super bowl?  My dad always talked about it during his dissertation on the joys of being an early adopter of the AFL, but it was before my time. 

[#27TheDominator]

Weren't there a bunch of clips of cheap shots and stepping on Namath by Ben Davidson?  That is my recollection when I tried to find it in the 80's. Watching the Curt Gowdy highlights, you see those guys running around and think how small and slow they were.  Then stats and HOF jibber jabber be damned, Namath throws the ball and it is as fast and beautiful as any QB, in any era.

[JetsFanatic]

1 hour ago, jetscrazey said:

I think it's wild that no known copy of the 1968 AFL Championship between the Jets & Raiders exists (the game before Super Bowl 3 in Jan. 1969).  Many say this is one of the greatest games ever played, a total shootout on the frozen muddy turf of Shea Stadium with both teams having over 400 yards of offense.

Recently I watched Super Bowl 3, which was historic but honestly not the prettiest game you'll ever see.  Would love to see this game in its entirely as it was way more exciting by all accounts.

Does NBC or whoever not have the tape in their vaults somewhere that we can use connections to pry it out into the open?

I thought I read that NBC taped over the game.

[SAR I]

This is an interesting tidbit:

In the dark days of silly, anti-fan blackouts, Jets fans had to travel at least 75 miles outside the New York City market to watch their team beat the Oakland Raiders in the 1968 American Football League championship game.

The blackout rule enforced for years before and after 1968 by the A.F.L. and the N.F.L. prohibited viewers from watching their teams play at home for fear that giving away the games on television would hurt attendance.

It did not matter whether the game had sold out.

On that late December day, Jets fans could not tune in Channel 4 at 1 p.m. to see the game at Shea Stadium; the station was carrying a movie, “The Prince and the Pauper.”

So fans escaped to bars, friends’ homes and motels in Schenectady, N.Y., Hartford and Philadelphia to watch the Jets’ 27-23 victory. Or they waited until 11:30 p.m. for the tape-delayed NBC broadcast on Channel 4.

(Perhaps without the game being broadcast live the tape that was shown by local NBC 4 in New York still survives.  Bet no one asked them.  Then again, perhaps that's where it got erased.)

SAR I 

[SAR I]

56 minutes ago, y2k8 said:

I still have 3 canisters of film of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of the first game in Jets (Titans) history vs the Bills (Sept 11, 1960). The first quarter ended 3-0 Bills so it includes all the Jets first TDs, FGs, catches by Maynard, etc.

I found them in a thrift shop in Great Neck in the mid 1980s.  About 10 years ago I talked to a bunch of outlets but NFL Films was the only one who is legally authorized to do anything with it.  When I approached them they offered me $2000.  I told them I didn't want any money. I just want them to give me 2 good seats to the next SuperBowl the Jets play in.  They wouldn't agree to it.  I thought it was more than fair.

So I still have the film. It's slowly disintegrating I'm sure.

Are these filmed highlights of the game? Or are these films of the original TV broadcast with all the TV graphics? Back then they used to preserve TV shows on film and that would be mighty interesting as there are almost no AFL TV broadcasts in circulation.

SAR I

[y2k8]

43 minutes ago, TheClashFan said:

By the way, why haven't you digitized the footage, even if just for personal use?

 

At the time I meant to, but just never did. Then you forget about it entirely. This thread just reminded me that I still have them.  

[playtowinthegame]

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Thanks fellas. 

[y2k8]

6 minutes ago, SAR I said:

Are these filmed highlights of the game? Or are these films of the original TV broadcast with all the TV graphics? Back then they used to preserve TV shows on film and that would be mighty interesting as there are almost no AFL TV broadcasts in circulation.

SAR I

It's footage taken from a single camera positioned 50 yard line on an upper level at the Polo Grounds.

I believe the original purpose of the film is to simply document the game for the coaching staff - not for public use.  Given where I found it, I imagine someone with the organization held onto it because it was the first ever game.  The only other relic I found in this shop was a badly damaged AFL football. I could not find the first quarter,

[talonmm]

1 hour ago, y2k8 said:

I still have 3 canisters of film of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters of the first game in Jets (Titans) history vs the Bills (Sept 11, 1960). The first quarter ended 3-0 Bills so it includes all the Jets first TDs, FGs, catches by Maynard, etc.

I found them in a thrift shop in Great Neck in the mid 1980s.  About 10 years ago I talked to a bunch of outlets but NFL Films was the only one who is legally authorized to do anything with it.  When I approached them they offered me $2000.  I told them I didn't want any money. I just want them to give me 2 good seats to the next SuperBowl the Jets play in.  They wouldn't agree to it.  I thought it was more than fair.

So I still have the film. It's slowly disintegrating I'm sure.

That's so NFL - good for you for holding onto it.  The league at times can be such a  f-d up greedy organization.

Surprised they did not send a lawyer letter to you demanding their "property" back.

[talonmm]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

I have a program and an unused ticket to the game. Sometimes it feels like this is as close as I'm going to get to that dream. 

SAR I

As a psl owner to our beloved Jets, I can only dream that one day, I will have a ticket like that to a Jet championship home game.  Or at this rate, any Jet playoff home game.

[SAR I]

50 minutes ago, playtowinthegame said:

I've thoroughly enjoyed reading this thread. Thanks fellas. 

It gets better!

I just remembered that I bought the WABC NY Radio broadcast of the game on cassette back in the 90's on eBay.  So that's out there too.  Merle Harmon and Sam DeLuca do the play-by-play and from memory it's quite good-  got to find an old Walkman and give it a good listen.

SAR I

[section314]

2 hours ago, SAR I said:

About 60 seconds of NBC's video of the AFL Championship Game exists during the Super Bowl III pregame show, I've had a nice clean copy of it since the 90's. The full game is unfortunately lost. Erased apparently. 

SAR I

So Goodell or the Nixon Whitehouse guys used to work for NBC? ?

[y2k8]

57 minutes ago, talonmm said:

That's so NFL - good for you for holding onto it.  The league at times can be such a  f-d up greedy organization.

Surprised they did not send a lawyer letter to you demanding their "property" back.

I forget the sequence but I ended up talking to a guy at MSG Network who at the time was running a show called "From the Vault" or something like it. I figured they would be interested and as much as he wanted to see it - he said that even though this film wasn't shot by NFL Films they own all broadcast rights to any film that is NFL or AFL related, even if it predates them or they had nothing to do with originally.  

The last step was going to the Jets directly and I couldn't get anyone to respond to my emails. 

[munchmemory]

Highlights from the game are in this video which YouTube will not allow to be embedded.   About 20 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef1VCWBIiu0

[shawn306]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

It gets better!

I just remembered that I bought the WABC NY Radio broadcast of the game on cassette back in the 90's on eBay.  So that's out there too.  Merle Harmon and Sam DeLuca do the play-by-play and from memory it's quite good-  got to find an old Walkman and give it a good listen.

SAR I

Yup that is it for the AFL Championship. As far I know other than Super Bowl III the earliest TV Broadcast of a Jets game out there is a 1971 pre-season game against KC. 

[munchmemory]

I still remember the battles between Maynard and Atkinson and Sample and Biletnikoff.  Guys could really go at each other then, especially  in the secondary.

[jetscrazey]

23 minutes ago, munchmemory said:

I still remember the battles between Maynard and Atkinson and Sample and Biletnikoff.  Guys could really go at each other then, especially  in the secondary.

Sample was a real trash talker, that much is clear watching the footage.

Also, everyone talks about Maynard but Sauer was really underrated too, an excellent route runner, reminds me of Chrebet 30 years later.

[munchmemory]

5 minutes ago, jetscrazey said:

Sample was a real trash talker, that much is clear watching the footage.

Also, everyone talks about Maynard but Sauer was really underrated too, an excellent route runner, reminds me of Chrebet 30 years later.

Sample did more than trash talk.  Click the video in my post above.  At about 6:18-30, he's literally slapping Biletnikoff in the head.  lol

[y2k8]

1 hour ago, SAR I said:

It gets better!

I just remembered that I bought the WABC NY Radio broadcast of the game on cassette back in the 90's on eBay.  So that's out there too.  Merle Harmon and Sam DeLuca do the play-by-play and from memory it's quite good-  got to find an old Walkman and give it a good listen.

SAR I

Any way we can convince you to upload audio of some of the the pivotal plays to SoundCloud?  Would love to hear not onlt the TDs and the last seconds but the bomb to Maynard and the Raiders drive that ended on the Lamonica lateral/muff that effectively ended the game.

[peebag]

10 minutes ago, y2k8 said:

Any way we can convince you to upload audio of some of the the pivotal plays to SoundCloud?  Would love to hear not onlt the TDs and the last seconds but the bomb to Maynard and the Raiders drive that ended on the Lamonica lateral/muff that effectively ended the game.

last 6 minutes of the game from the Raiders radio network

[SAR I]

36 minutes ago, y2k8 said:

Any way we can convince you to upload audio of some of the the pivotal plays to SoundCloud?  Would love to hear not onlt the TDs and the last seconds but the bomb to Maynard and the Raiders drive that ended on the Lamonica lateral/muff that effectively ended the game.

If I can find a cassette player, definitely. 

SAR I

[y2k8]

25 minutes ago, peebag said:

last 6 minutes of the game from the Raiders radio network

That was amazing. I had no idea that the Raiders got the ball back after the lateral muff.  I had no idea Boozer recovered his own fumble running out the clock.

I'm glad I wasn't alive to see this game as I'm sure I would have dropped dead of a heart attack if I were.

[Savage69]

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1968-afl-championship-game-shea-1914128970

[TMAC]

Not sure if it is the entire game but there is a YouTube of the 1968 AFC Championship.  Those were the days when men wore the green and white.

[greenwave81]

4 hours ago, munchmemory said:

Highlights from the game are in this video which YouTube will not allow to be embedded.   About 20 minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef1VCWBIiu0

Thank you for that!