1966 NFL season
Encyclopedia
The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season
of the National Football League
, and the season after which was played Super Bowl I
, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game
. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons
, thus an odd number of teams (making byes necessary). This was the last season that the NFL had just two divisions, in which setup the conference champions went directly to the NFL Championship Game.
awarded an expansion franchise to the city of Atlanta on June 30, 1965. NFL Commissioner
Pete Rozelle
granted ownership of the Atlanta Falcons
to Rankin Smith Sr. The Falcons
were awarded the first pick in the 1966 NFL Draft
, as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The league
also provided the Falcons
with an expansion draft
six weeks later.
reached its peak, the two leagues agreed to merge on June 8, 1966. Under the agreement:
, the new "slingshot" goal post would be made standard, with one curved support from the ground. In 1974
, the goal posts would be returned to the end line, and the uprights would be extended to 30 feet (9.1 m) above the crossbar.
The new goal-post rule is often referred to as the "Don Chandler Rule", referring to Don Chandler
, the place-kicker for the Green Bay Packers
. Although widely denied, the height increase of the uprights was in reaction to the previous season's Western Conference playoff game
in Green Bay
. Chandler kicked a controversial field goal that tied the game with under two minutes remaining. The kick was high above the upright, and many spectators thought that the kick missed. Chandler later hit a field goal that defeated the Baltimore Colts
in overtime
. The Packers went on to defeat the Cleveland Browns
in the 1965 NFL championship
game.
In the Eastern Conference, the St. Louis Cardinals took the early lead, winning their first five games. (The Dallas Cowboys were also unbeaten, but due to a bye in Week One, they had played one fewer game and thus were a half-game behind the Cardinals in the standings). The unbeaten teams met in Week Six, and both were still unbeaten after they played to a 10–10 tie. However, both teams suffered their first defeat the next week, with St. Louis losing at Washington, 26–20, and the Cowboys falling in Cleveland, 30–21. In Week Nine (November 6), St. Louis beat the Giants, 20–17, while Dallas came up short in a 24–23 loss to the Eagles. The next week, Dallas won at Washington 31–30 on a field goal with 0:15 left, while the Cards fell at Pittsburgh, 30–9, cutting their safety margin to a half-game again. St. Louis had a bye in Week Eleven, and a 20–7 Dallas victory over Pittsburgh gave the Cards and Cowboys records of 7–2–1. Both teams won the next week, setting up the stage for their December 4 meeting in Dallas during Week Thirteen. The Cards took a 10–7 lead in the first quarter, but Dallas won 31–17 to take over the conference lead. In Week Fourteen, Dallas hosted Washington, and lost 34–31 on a field goal at 0:08. The Cardinals were in a must-win game against what should have been an easy opponent, the new (2–10–0) Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the Falcons notched their third win and virtually ended St. Louis's hopes to go to the title game. The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost again the next week, never got that close to the Super Bowl again before moving to Phoenix twenty years later.
Note: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings
Regular season (NFL)
The National Football League regular season begins the weekend after Labor Day. Each team plays 16 games during a 17-week period. Traditionally, the majority of each week's games are played on Sunday afternoon, with weekly games on Sunday night and Monday night, and occasional games on Thursday...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, and the season after which was played Super Bowl I
Super Bowl I
The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...
, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, thus an odd number of teams (making byes necessary). This was the last season that the NFL had just two divisions, in which setup the conference champions went directly to the NFL Championship Game.
Atlanta Falcons
The leagueNational Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
awarded an expansion franchise to the city of Atlanta on June 30, 1965. NFL Commissioner
Commissioner
Commissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission or to an individual who has been given a commission ....
Pete Rozelle
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....
granted ownership of the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
to Rankin Smith Sr. The Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
were awarded the first pick in the 1966 NFL Draft
1966 NFL Draft
The 1966 National Football League Draft was held on November 27, 1965. It was the last draft in which the NFL and the AFL drafted their players separate of one another. As a result, many players selected by teams from both leagues would choose to play for the more established NFL, or in a rarer...
, as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds. The league
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
also provided the Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
with an expansion draft
1966 NFL Expansion Draft
The 1966 NFL Expansion Draft was a National Football League draft in which a new expansion team, named the Atlanta Falcons, selected its first players...
six weeks later.
The AFL-NFL merger agreement
As the competitive war between the NFL and the American Football LeagueAmerican Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
reached its peak, the two leagues agreed to merge on June 8, 1966. Under the agreement:
- The two leagues would combine to form an expanded league with 24 teams, which would be increased to 26 teams by 1969, and to 28 teams by 1970 or soon thereafter.
- All existing teams would be retained, and none of them would be moved outside of their metropolitan areas.
- While maintaining separate schedules through 1969, the leagues agreed to play an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game beginning in January, 1967.
- The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences.
Major rule changes
Goal posts were standardized in the NFL. They were to be between 3 to 4 inches (101.6 mm) in diameter, painted bright yellow, with two non-curved supports offset from the goal line, and uprights 20 feet (6.1 m) above the crossbar. In 19671967 NFL season
The 1967 NFL season was the 48th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 16 teams with the addition of the New Orleans Saints. The league's teams were realigned into four divisions: the Capitol and Century Divisions in the Eastern Conference, and the Central and...
, the new "slingshot" goal post would be made standard, with one curved support from the ground. In 1974
1974 NFL season
The 1974 NFL season was the 55th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl IX when the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Minnesota Vikings...
, the goal posts would be returned to the end line, and the uprights would be extended to 30 feet (9.1 m) above the crossbar.
The new goal-post rule is often referred to as the "Don Chandler Rule", referring to Don Chandler
Don Chandler
Donald Gene "Don" Chandler was an American college and professional football player who was a punter and placekicker in the National Football League for twelve seasons in the 1950s and 1960s...
, the place-kicker for the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
. Although widely denied, the height increase of the uprights was in reaction to the previous season's Western Conference playoff game
NFL playoffs, 1965
The 1965 NFL playoffs determined the champion of the National Football League. Although a single championship game between conference winners was the current format for the league, a tie in the Western Conference standings between the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts necessitated a divisional...
in Green Bay
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
. Chandler kicked a controversial field goal that tied the game with under two minutes remaining. The kick was high above the upright, and many spectators thought that the kick missed. Chandler later hit a field goal that defeated the Baltimore Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
in overtime
Overtime (sports)
Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw. In most sports, this extra period is only played if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination...
. The Packers went on to defeat the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
in the 1965 NFL championship
NFL playoffs, 1965
The 1965 NFL playoffs determined the champion of the National Football League. Although a single championship game between conference winners was the current format for the league, a tie in the Western Conference standings between the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts necessitated a divisional...
game.
Conference races
In the Western Conference, Green Bay's first loss was in Week Five, falling 21–20 in San Francisco to tie them with the Rams. The Rams' lost 35–7 to Minnesota the next week, and Green Bay stayed in front until Week Nine, when Minnesota beat them 20–17. Baltimore's 19–7 win over Atlanta briefly tied it with the Packers at 7–2–0 in Week Ten, but the Colts lost to Detroit the next week, 20–14. The Packers clinched the title in Week Thirteen.In the Eastern Conference, the St. Louis Cardinals took the early lead, winning their first five games. (The Dallas Cowboys were also unbeaten, but due to a bye in Week One, they had played one fewer game and thus were a half-game behind the Cardinals in the standings). The unbeaten teams met in Week Six, and both were still unbeaten after they played to a 10–10 tie. However, both teams suffered their first defeat the next week, with St. Louis losing at Washington, 26–20, and the Cowboys falling in Cleveland, 30–21. In Week Nine (November 6), St. Louis beat the Giants, 20–17, while Dallas came up short in a 24–23 loss to the Eagles. The next week, Dallas won at Washington 31–30 on a field goal with 0:15 left, while the Cards fell at Pittsburgh, 30–9, cutting their safety margin to a half-game again. St. Louis had a bye in Week Eleven, and a 20–7 Dallas victory over Pittsburgh gave the Cards and Cowboys records of 7–2–1. Both teams won the next week, setting up the stage for their December 4 meeting in Dallas during Week Thirteen. The Cards took a 10–7 lead in the first quarter, but Dallas won 31–17 to take over the conference lead. In Week Fourteen, Dallas hosted Washington, and lost 34–31 on a field goal at 0:08. The Cardinals were in a must-win game against what should have been an easy opponent, the new (2–10–0) Atlanta Falcons. Instead, the Falcons notched their third win and virtually ended St. Louis's hopes to go to the title game. The St. Louis Cardinals, who lost again the next week, never got that close to the Super Bowl again before moving to Phoenix twenty years later.
| Week | WESTERN | EASTERN | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 teams (Det, GB, LA) | 1–0–0 | 3 teams (Cle, StL) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Tie (GB, LA) | 2–0–0 | Tie (StL, Pit) | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 3–0–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 3–0–0 |
| 4 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 4–0–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 4–0–0 |
| 5 | Tie (GB, LA) | 4–1–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 5–0–0 |
| 6 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 5–1–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 5–0–1 |
| 7 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 6–1–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 5–1–1 |
| 8 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 7–1–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 6–1–1 |
| 9 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 7–2–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 7–1–1 |
| 10 | Tie (Bal, GB) | 7–2–0 | ST. LOUIS CARDINALS | 7–2–1 |
| 11 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 8–2–0 | Tie (Dal, StL) | 7–2–1 |
| 12 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 9–2–0 | Tie (Dal, StL) | 8–2–1 |
| 13 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 10–2–0 | DALLAS COWBOYS | 9–2–1 |
| 14 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 11–2–0 | DALLAS COWBOYS | 9–3–1 |
| 15 | GREEN BAY PACKERS | 12–2–0 | DALLAS COWBOYS | 10–3–1 |
Final standings
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points AgainstNote: Prior to 1972, the NFL did not include tie games when calculating a team's winning percentage in the official standings
NFL Championship Game
- Green Bay 34, Dallas 27 at Cotton BowlCotton Bowl (stadium)The Cotton Bowl is a stadium which opened in 1929 and became known as "The House That Doak Built" due to the immense crowds that former SMU running back Doak Walker drew to the stadium during his college career in the late 1940s. Originally known as Fair Park Stadium, it is located in Fair Park,...
, Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, January 1, 1967
Awards
| Most Valuable Player NFL Most Valuable Player Award The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award is given by various entities, most notably the Associated Press , to the player who is considered most valuable in the league. When the award is referred to without mentioning the organization, it generally means the AP award. The AP NFL MVP... |
Bart Starr Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett "Bart" Starr is a former professional American football player and coach. Wearing #15, he was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers from 1956 to 1971 and head coach from 1975 to 1983, compiling a record of 52–76–3 .... , Quarterback Quarterback Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line... , Green Bay |
| Coach of the Year NFL Coach of the Year Award The National Football League Coach of the Year Award is presented annually by various news and sports organizations to the NFL head coach who has done the most outstanding job of working with the talent he has at his disposal. Currently, the most widely recognized award is presented by the... |
Tom Landry Tom Landry Thomas Wade "Tom" Landry was an American football player and coach. He is ranked as one of the greatest and most innovative coaches in National Football League history, creating many new formations and methods... , Dallas |
See also
- Super Bowl ISuper Bowl IThe First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...
: Green Bay (NFL) 35, Kansas City (AFL) 10, at Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumLos Angeles Memorial ColiseumThe Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
, Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... - 1966 American Football League season1966 American Football League seasonThe 1966 American Football League season was the seventh regular season of the American Football League, and one of the last before the AFL-NFL Merger. The league entered talks with the National Football League regarding a merger, which would take effect fully in 1970.The season also saw the debut...