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He DIDN'T think up the Super
Bowl. |
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As early as 1963, American Football League Commisioner Joe Foss
challenged Rozelle and the NFL to a playoff game between AFL and
NFL champions, as reported in
the 16 December, 1963 issue of Sports Illustrated.
Rozelle's response? "As I have said on a number
of occasions, we have no plans for such a game." |
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He DIDN'T name the Super
Bowl. |
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AFL
founder and Texans/Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt did. |
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He DIDN'T negotiate the AFL-NFL
merger. |
The AFL-NFL merger was agreed to in 1966 between a group of AFL
and NFL franchise owners after the NFL owners approached Lamar
Hunt asking him to consider a merger of the NFL with the AFL.
The reason they asked for a merger was in large part due to AFL
Commissioner Al Davis' aggressive signing of NFL stars to AFL
contracts. The negotiations were held without the
knowledge of Davis or NFL commissioner Rozelle.
Davis was against the
merger because of the compensation AFL
teams were required to pay the NFL, and because he believed the
AFL would be the superior league if allowed to remain separate.
Although Davis opposed it, there can be no doubt that the
merger agreement was a direct result
of his bold moves while he was Commissioner of the AFL.
Ironically, Pete Rozelle is erroneously given credit for the
merger, even though he consistently refused to have a game
between NFL and AFL champions, and the fact that Rozelle was
"out of the loop" when the AFL and NFL owners negotiated the
merger. |
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He DIDN'T invent gate-sharing,
nationwide game telecasts, or TV revenue sharing.
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AFL owners agreed at the league's
inception to share gate receipts between home and visiting
teams. Harry Wismer, owner of the Titans of New York,
conceived nationally telecast AFL games, televised
double-headers, and equal sharing of TV revenues among all
league franchises. Those ideas were all used by the AFL
since its incepton. |
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Though he tried, he DIDN'T
destroy all the AFL footballs that had Al Davis's signature.
(Click HERE) |
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He DIDN'T launch expansion of
Professional Football by fourteen new franchises. |
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Nor did he introduce to Pro Football
the following: moving sideline TV cameras; miked players;
official game time kept on the scoreboard clock; player names on
jerseys; nor the two-point conversion. THE AFL DID.
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He DIDN'T postpone the
NFL's games after JFK's
assassination. |
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