Football nostalgia

[Wacca Pilatka]

Does anyone have any memories to share of following Jacksonville's pre-Jaguars football franchises, the 1970s WFL Express/Sharks or the 1980s USFL Bulls?

[stjr]

Some 40 years ago, as a kid, I attended the first of, I think, two AFL all-star games hosted in Jax in the late 60's.  It was the year Joe Namath led the Jets to an upset AFL Super Bowl win and needless to say he was a huge draw after that as this was his very next game a few weeks later.  They both had great attendance at the old Gator Bowl.  I still have my tattered program.

Why did Jax rally around to host these games?  They thought it would put them in a great position to get an NFL franchise!  Sound familiar? 

[stjr]

AFL * ALL STAR GAMES * in Jax:




"Joe Namath Sneaks Over for the Winning Score"

Season: 1967
Date: January 21, 1968    
Score: East, 25-24
MVP's: Offense: Joe Namath, QB, Jets; and Don Maynard, F, Jets;  Defense: Speedy Duncan, DB/KR, Chargers
Location: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida

The largest AFL All-Star Game crowd in history witnessed the 1968 game. A crowd of 38,500 showed up at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, FL. It was a game of old and new. The old being George Blanda of Oakland at age 40 and the new being Joe Namath, the young superstar of the league.

In the first quarter, San Diego’s Leslie “Speedy” Duncan fumbled a punt at his own 25 yard line. The East quickly turned it into a 10 yard field goal by Mike Mercer of the Bills. It would only take about 10 seconds for Duncan to redeem himself. Speedy took the ensuing kickoff at his own ten, shot up the middle, eluded George Saimes of Buffalo and went 90 yards for the touchdown. In the second period, Daryle Lamonica of Oakland hit Willie Frazier of San Diego for a 3 yard touchdown pass. Joe Namath of the Jets kept the East in the game with a 35 yard touchdown pass to his NY teammate, Pete Lammons. But, Lamonica answered, hitting another Charger, Lance Alworth, from nine yards out. When Mercer connected on his second field goal, this time from 33 yards with :37 to go, the West held a 21-13 halftime lead.

Len Dawson of the Chiefs took over for Lamonica in the third quarter, but neither team could sustain any offense. The West appeared to ice the game in the fourth quarter when George Blanda of Oakland hit a 28 yard field goal to put the West up 24-13. This especially with the fact that Namath was having trouble finding his receivers. But, Namath connected with fellow Jet, Don Maynard, for a 24 yard touchdown pass. The attempted two point conversion failed and the score was 24-19. By this time, there was concern among the crowd and players that West coach, Lou Saban of Denver, should reinsert Lamonica into the game to get the West going. But, Saban elected to stick with the pre-game plan of playing each quarterback for a half. With two minutes to play, Larry Garron of Boston, a last minute addition to the East squad, took a pass from Namath and carried it 26 yards to the West ten. Garron then gained three to the seven and Houston’s Hoyle Granger bulled it 6 yards to the one. Namath scored the game winning touchdown on a sneak with :58 left. Again, the two point attempt failed and the score was East 25, West 24. Lamonica came back into the game and drove the West within field goal range. But, ageless Blanda, the AFL’s scoring leader for 1967, just missed the attempt from 35 yards at the final gun, wide by inches.

Namath and Maynard shared the offensive MVP honors. Namath established a record by throwing for 249 yards and Maynard’s 128 receiving yards was also a record. Duncan was elected the game's defensive MVP and his 90 yard kickoff return was also a record.

Season: 1968
Date: January 19, 1969    
Score: West, 38-25
MVP's: Offense: Len Dawson, QB, Chiefs; Defense: George Webster, LB, Houston Oilers
Location: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida

The 1969 AFL All-Star Game was played in the aftermath of the most marvelous event in the history of the young league. The previous week, the New York Jets had defeated the NFL’s Baltimore Colts for the world championship. The East squad was loaded with Jets players. A record crowd of 43,800 saw the game at the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. The coaches were Hank Stram of Kansas City for the West and Wally Lemm of Houston for the East.

In the first quarter, Joe Namath of the Jets and John Hadl of the Chargers led their teams. The scoring was confined to a field goal per team as New York’s Jim Turner connected from 27 yards out for the East and Jan Stenerud of Kansas City hit a record 51 yarder for the West. The East did all the second quarter scoring as Jim Kiick of Miami carried the ball in from the two and Turner connected on three more field goals from 16, 19 and 13 yards. The halftime score was 19-3. Hadl completed only 4 of 19 passes for 23 yards in the half and had three intercepted. Namath, meanwhile, completed 7 of 18 for 98 yards and had one intercepted.

In the second half, Bob Griese of Miami assumed the quarterbacking duties for the East, Len Dawson of Kansas City for the West. Dawson had not originally been chosen for the team (although he had led the league in average yards gained during the season), but Coach Stram exercised his option and chose Dawson as a backup. Dawson hit Bob Trumpy of the Bengals on a 6 yard touchdown route to bring the West to within nine at 19-10. Turner booted his fifth field goal of the game from 18 yards in the third quarter and that was matched by Stenerud, who hit from 30. The score at the end of the third quarter was 22-13. Turner gave the East some cushion at 25-13 when his kick from 21 yards out was good early in the fourth quarter. It was Turner’s sixth field goal on the afternoon. But, then the floodgates opened. In 6:15, the West scored 25 points. It started when Denver’s Floyd Little took a pass from Dawson and scampered 81 yards down the sideline to the East one yard line. Oakland’s Hewitt Dixon carried it in from there. The score was 25-20. Jim Lynch of the Chiefs then recovered an onside kick at the East 43, Dawson hit Warren Wells of Oakland for 37 yards and Cincinnati’s Paul Robinson (AFL rookie of the year) carried over on a one yard run few plays later. The West had the lead for the first time. Lynch then intercepted a Griese pass and ran 37 yards to the West one where Robinson again carried it in. Stenerud added a 32 yard field goal, his third on the afternoon, in the closing minutes and the final was 38-25.

Dawson was selected as the offensive player of the game. He was 4 of 9 for 158 yards in the second half. Houston’s George Webster was selected as defensive player of the game.

See following articles:
http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/The_1968_AFL_All-Star_Game.htm

http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/The_1969_AFL_All-Star_Game.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Football_League_All-Star_game

[Charles Hunter]

I remember going to at least one of the AFL All-Star games, maybe both.  Was disappointing, after the AFL/NFL merger that we didn't get that all-star game, since we had better attendance than anywhere else.