Sunday Morning Coffee — February 9, 2025 — LVIII Years Later — A Case For The McGee Trophy

By Roy Berger, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Today was born LVIII years ago.

The year was MCMLXVII. That’s 1967 for all you sixth grade Roman numeral math flunkies. Lyndon Johnson was our XXXVI president; Vietnam was raging and The Andy Griffith Show just edged Lucy and Gomer Pyle for the top spot of the year on our television dials. If you had money, your set was in color and had a clunky remote control. I was XIV and if I only knew the future importance of Roman numerals and how they related to football I might have applied myself and gotten a grade of LXX instead of LXV. More importantly, Max McGee was an aging XXXIV-year-old football player.

On the first day of that year—January 1, 1967—the Green Bay Packers beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-27 to become the National Football League champions. Cliff Murchison Jr. owned the Cowboys. Jerry Jones was 25, owned a string of Shakey’s Pizza Parlors and still working on his first oil fortune. Tickets to the football game at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas cost $10. The Cowboys soon found out the Packers were the best team in the land. Bart Starr, 32, was the Green Bay quarterback and Vince Lombardi, 53, the winning head coach. Earlier that day Kansas City manhandled Buffalo, 31-7, in the American Football League championship game. It was considered a television time killer by most until the Dallas-Green Bay main event. In fact, Cowboys-Packers was third in that week’s Nielsen television ratings, behind Bonanza and Green Acres, but by far the highest rated sporting event. The AFL game didn’t finish in the top 10. It was filler, an excuse to break open the Doritos, brand new to the supermarket snack aisle, and drink some Old Style.

Later today, a trophy erroneously named after Coach Lombardi and not our hero, Mr. McGee, will be presented. Kansas City may keep it for the third year in a row, or Philadelphia may snatch it.

There are a few of us still hobbling around who remember those football events of early 1967 which was actually the culmination of the 1966 season. Today, all of us that do, are all well over LXV.

It was Green Bay’s second straight NFL championship, but unlike the year before and every one that preceded it, the season wasn’t over. They had one more game to play.

Six months prior to New Year’s Day of ‘67, the National Football League owners decided to get rid of its pesky juvenile rival, the American Football League, by playing nice and absorbing it. LVIII years later it could be the same effective strategy to claim Canada and Greenland.

The AFL actually started as a renegade football experiment in 1960. The NFL laughed and tried to ignore it, but a wealthy group of businessmen became AFL owners and started throwing money at college draftees and existing NFL players. It not only grabbed the players’ attention but the stodgy NFL brass too. The junior league signed such college notables as Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, Lance Alworth, Darryl Lamonica, John Hadl and then the big haul—Joe Namath. The Alabama quarterback was drafted by St. Louis in the NFL and the Jets in the AFL. St. Louis offered Namath $200,000 to sign; the Jets ultimately paid him $427,000, then the largest contract in football. The AFL also found money to give NFL castoffs like Jack Kemp, Babe Parilli, George Blanda, Don Maynard and Len Dawson a new lease on their playing careers. However, the big blow to the NFL was when NBC saw enough potential in the AFL and signed the upstart league to a $36 million, five-year contract in 1965 to televise their games opposite the NFL on CBS. That got their attention.

When the NFL’s New York Giants signed AFL Buffalo placekicker Pete Gogolak in 1966, war was declared. The AFL then went after NFL stars John Brodie, Mike Ditka and Roman Gabriel. The NFL had to up the ante to keep them.

That’s when the NFL decided to end the madness and offer a merger contingent upon the existing NFL leadership, specifically Commissioner Pete Rozelle, was still in charge. On June 8, 1966, the leagues became one with the understanding they would play an independent regular season schedule for the next four seasons but a common championship game beginning at the end of that ‘66 season. Then in 1970 the two would become one league under the NFL umbrella divided into two conferences — the AFC and NFC — allowing each former league to keep an identity of sorts.

Both leagues wanted to give the public a taste of what was to come, so the then- named AFL-NFL World Championship Game was born on January 15, 1967, at the Los Angeles Coliseum. It matched the respective league champions- Green Bay from the NFL and AFL champ Kansas City.

Public interest wasn’t enthusiastic by any means. Despite Green Bay only being a six point favorite, other than the gamblers, most felt the game would be a rout. It was far more a curiosity event than an edge of the seat X’s and O’s. Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt called the game a Super Bowl, named after son Lamar Jr.’s new Super Ball toy. The phrase stuck and became the official name of the championship clash two years later. Both league networks, CBS and NBC, televised the first game. Game tickets cost $15, $12 and $10. They were considered overpriced. There were 62,000 on hand in the Coliseum for kick-off, many which were papered comps. 33,000 seats remained empty. Some time later the game was backdated for the record books and officially became Super Bowl I. It’s still the only one not to sell-out. The game attracted 25 million viewers split equally between the two networks. A 30-second commercial cost $42,000. Today it’s $8 million. Both networks brought in the commentating heavyweights of the day: Ray Scott did the first half play-by-play and Jack Whitaker the second for CBS; Frank Gifford did the color. NBC selected Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman and Charley Jones to give the AFL slant. It was the forerunner to FOX and CNN, two very different angles of the same event. Competition between the networks was so fierce that a retaining fence had to be constructed between the television trucks to prevent dirty tricks and maintain civility. No doubt upstart New York developer Donald J. Trump, 20, noticed and loved the separation idea though he was disappointed by the fence and not a wall. The national anthem, untimed for wagering purposes, was performed by the University of Arizona and Grambling College marching bands. There is no historical note why. However, both bands also played at halftime accompanying legendary trumpeter Al Hirt.

The game itself gave handicappers who played KC and took the six some hope as the Chiefs played close for a while with the Packers only taking a 14-10 lead into Al Hirt. Then in the second half the Pack turned it on scoring 21 unanswered points for a 35-10 win and easy cover. Starr was the MVP, but in the back-story of the game Green Bay receiver Max McGee was the star. Sports Illustrated magazine made McGee its cover boy.

SI recognized the true hero of Super Bowl I — hangover, borrowed helmet and two touchdowns.

McGee, 34, was winding down his NFL career in his 11th year, out of Tulane, all with Green Bay. He finished 1966 with only four catches during the regular season. He was the back-up to all-star receiver Boyd Dowler. McGee never expected to get into the championship game. So, accompanied by fellow Packer Paul Hornung, who was injured and not playing, the boys broke curfew the night before and met two female flight attendants at the hotel bar. It must have been a heck of an evening as McGee returned to the hotel at 6:30 am, seven hours before game time. Quarterback Starr had just come down to the lobby for breakfast; McGee passed him struggling to find the elevator to go to his room. Before kick-off and extremely hung over McGee told Dowler, “Whatever you do, don’t (get hurt) today.” It didn’t work. Dowler reaggravated his shoulder on the third play of the game. Lombardi yelled for McGee to grab his helmet and get into the game. That was a problem. Max was still so looped he never brought his helmet out of the locker room. He didn’t realize it until he looked for it. He then grabbed the first one he saw on the bench. He didn’t care if it fit or not. Then magic. Superman appeared. On that same drive, McGee snagged a miraculous one-handed pass from Starr and unsteadily rumbled 37 yards to the end zone for the first touchdown in Super Bowl history. McGee became a trivia answer for the ages. But he wasn’t done. Chugging water and downing aspirins, his helmet retrieved, our hero had a career day catching seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. He should have been the MVP, but that honor went to Starr. It was probably better that way. Had McGee won it, and then the story of how he trained for the game broke, every kid growing up would want to be just like Max. It also probably would have driven Commissioner Rozelle to an early retirement or grave.

Super Max slept it off and played one more season but was used sparingly. He didn’t catch a pass until the meaningless last game of the season, in fact three of them, for a total of 33 yards. Green Bay finished the ‘67 season with a mediocre 9-4-1 record but beat the Rams and Cowboys in the playoffs to advance to the AFL-NFL World Championship Game II on January 14, 1968 in Miami. They then took apart the AFL Raiders 33-14 as two touchdown favorites. McGee wore his helmet the entire game and caught one pass for 35 yards. He then called it a career. Lombardi also stepped down after that game. After all, how could he win without Super Max? McGee took his new found fame and became a partner in developing the popular chain of Chi-Chi’s Mexican restaurants. He also worked tirelessly as a fundraiser for Juvenile Diabetes in Wisconsin and did color for Packer radio broadcasts for almost 20 years. He died in 2007 at 75 after falling off the roof of his house. His wife said he had been suffering from an early form of Alzheimer’s.

The course of the league changed forever in 1968 when the Jets (yep, those J-E-T-S) won the AFL with a record of 11-3 advancing to what was now officially called Super Bowl III to take on the mighty 13-1 Baltimore Colts. Baltimore was a 19-point favorite on that January 15, 1969, day once again at Miami’s Orange Bowl. The Jets’ 25-year-old quarterback Joe Namath, the most famous NFL playboy this side of Max McGee, promised victory and delivered by stunning the Colts and turning the sports world upside down with a 16-7 win. As a XVI-year-old, watching from my Long Island den, I totally underappreciated what my favorite team had done. I figured we’d be back every year. Every year has now turned into not this year.

And then in the 1970 Super Bowl, the AFL proved the Jets win wasn’t a fluke as Kansas City, a 13-point ‘dog, thrashed Minnesota 23-7 to officially proclaim parody between the two leagues. In fact going into today’s game each conference has won XXIX times —29-29. Our money says by nightfall the AFC will move ahead by one when the red confetti falls.

By nightfall the story line may be another Chiefs’ win and bonafide dynasty. Or maybe Travis asks Taylor to become Mrs. Kelce post-game on the podium. Perhaps it will be a Super Bowl redemption for Jalen Hurts. Or will New York Giants fans get violently ill as their former running back Saquon Barkley turns in an MVP performance?

No matter what happens nobody or nothing can top what Max McGee did LVIII years ago. Truly the greatest circumstantial Super Bowl performance ever. Just prior to today’s kick-off every bar and tavern in the country should hoist the McGee Trophy in good-guy Super Max’s honor. It’s only fitting

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I’m proud that Medjet is sponsoring Sunday Morning Coffee. I spent 20 wonderful years with Medjet in Birmingham, Alabama, and can tell you unequivocally they are the standard-bearer for medical assistance membership programs. A talented staff, who cares about its members, is at the forefront of the company’s success. Whether you are traveling for business or pleasure, domestic or international, a Medjet membership should be an important part of your travel portfolio before you leave home. Check out the Medjet website at medjet.com or just tap on the Medjet logo and you’ll be able to get a look at Medjet’s services, rules and regulations, pricing, and an overview of the organization. And remember, any opinions expressed in Sunday Morning Coffee content or comments belong to the author and not the sponsor. Safe travels with your Medjet membership! — Roy Berger