Heidi Game
Encyclopedia
The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl was an American football
game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders
, defeated the New York Jets
, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. The Heidi Game obtained its name because the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) controversially broke away from the game with the Jets still winning to air the television film Heidi
at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone
.
In the late 1960s, few professional football games took longer than two and a half hours to play, and the Jets–Raiders three-hour time slot was thought to be adequate. A high-scoring contest, together with a number of injuries and penalties for the two bitter American Football League
rivals, caused the game to run long. NBC executives had ordered that Heidi must begin on time, but given the exciting game, they decided to postpone the start of the film and continue football coverage. As 7 p.m. approached, many members of the public called NBC to inquire about the schedule, to complain or opine, jamming NBC's switchboards, and the change could not be communicated. Heidi began as scheduled, preempting the final moments of the game and the two Oakland touchdowns in the eastern half of the country, to the outrage of viewers.
The Heidi Game led to a change in the way professional football is televised on network television; games are shown to their conclusion before evening programming begins. To ensure that network personnel could communicate under similar circumstances, special telephones (dubbed "Heidi phones") were installed, with a connection to a different telephone exchange
from other network phones. In 1997, the Heidi Game was voted the most memorable regular season game in pro football history.
; both teams began to play in 1960, the Jets under the name Titans of New York. Both teams had little success in their early years, playing so poorly that both the Titans and Raiders were allowed to draft players from other AFL teams following the 1962 season. In 1967, the Jets, under the guidance of coach Weeb Ewbank and quarterback Joe Namath
, posted their first winning record at 7–5–2. Oakland, on the other hand, won the Western Division in 1967 with a 13–1 mark under coach John Rauch
and then the AFL Championship Game over the Houston Oilers, 40–7, before falling to the Green Bay Packers
in Super Bowl II
. Both teams were seen as likely contenders for the 1968 AFL Championship.
The two teams did not play in the same division. However, each AFL team played all other teams in the league each year, allowing the Raiders and Jets to forge a bitter rivalry. In 1963, Oakland general manager (later owner) Al Davis
traded guard
Dan Ficca
to New York during training camp, without mentioning to Ewbank (who was also the Jets' general manager) that Ficca would not be released from his military service for another six weeks. In 1966, with less than a minute to go and the Raiders leading at the new Oakland Coliseum, 28–20, Jets left tackle Winston Hill
predicted to Namath in the huddle that the man he was blocking, Ben Davidson
, would rush on the next play, leaving the Raiders exposed to a draw play
. Namath called the draw, and handed the ball off to running back
Emerson Boozer
for 47 yards and a touchdown. After a Jets two-point conversion
, the game ended in a 28–28 tie, and an embittered Davidson stated, "I'll get even. They still have to play us next year." They did, twice. In Week 4, the Jets defeated the Raiders at Shea Stadium
, 27–14; this was the Raiders' only regular season loss. In Week 14, each team's 13th game, the teams met again, in Oakland. Sportswriter Paul Zimmerman
said of the second 1967 Jets-Raiders game:
The Jets' loss to the Raiders in 1967 knocked New York out of a tie for first place in their division—the AFL East was won by the Houston Oilers.
In the 1968 season, the Jets, San Diego Chargers
, Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs
established themselves as the leading teams. Going into Week 11 of the AFL season, each team had lost only two games; the Chiefs, who had not yet had a bye week
, had eight wins, the others seven. In an era with no wild card teams, the Raiders needed a victory over the Jets in Week 11 to avoid falling a game and a half behind the Chiefs in the AFL West—finishing second, however good their record, would end their season. The Jets, on the other hand, would clinch at least a tie for the AFL East title with a victory over the Raiders in their only regular season meeting. Depending on the results of other games, the Jets could win the division if they beat the Raiders, gaining a berth in the AFL Championship Game, the winner of which would play the NFL champion in the Super Bowl
. The ill-feeling of previous years was resurrected by an immense blown-up photograph of Davidson smashing Namath in the head posted in Raider headquarters. The photographed play was said to have broken the quarterback's jaw (though Namath stated he had broken it on a tough piece of steak, and some claim it was Raiders defensive end
Ike Lassiter
who injured Namath). Although the poster, which had been placed by Davis, was removed before the game, word of this "intimidation through photography" reached the Jets in New York.
In 2000, The New York Times sportswriter Dave Anderson
wrote of the Jets' preparations for the Oakland game:
The Raiders declined to allow New York reporters to watch practices, a courtesy Ewbank extended to Oakland pressmen. Raiders assistant coach (later head coach) John Madden
was responsible for the exchange of game films with upcoming opponents; he sent the films to the Jets through Chicago
so they would arrive a day or two late, reasoning that Davis, not him, would be blamed for the delay. Ewbank blamed Davis for heavily watering the Coliseum field to slow the Jets' speedy receivers, a tactic the Oakland owner credited to Madden.
. NBC hoped that viewers who tuned their television channel selectors to the game would not walk over to the television and change the channel or turn off the power switch, but would watch the evening's programming. They anticipated a good game, which would cause the audience to remain in their seats and watch the game in full, "a perfect lead in for the network's special presentation of Heidi, the Johanna Spyri
children's classic, which was scheduled to air after the game at 7 p.m. (EST)". The television film was preempting Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, the normal program shown by NBC Sundays at 7. As the game started at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
, the western half of the country would have to wait after the game for 7 p.m. local time before seeing Heidi. Under television rules at the time, the Jets–Raiders game was blacked out
within 90 miles of Oakland, even though the game was a sellout.
Heidi
was heavily promoted by NBC in television commercials and newspaper advertisements. The network hoped to gain a large audience, especially among families, whom the network anticipated would watch the entire two-hour film. Commercials for the film were not sold by NBC, instead the entire block of two hours was sold to the Timex watch company which would air the film and have its own commercials run. The New York Times touted Heidi as the best TV program of the day. Under the terms of the contract between Timex and NBC, Heidi had to go to air promptly at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central
), and could not be delayed or joined in progress for any reason.
Steven Travers, in his history of the Raiders, noted:
The nerve center for NBC was known as Broadcast Operations Control (BOC). Dick Cline, the network BOC supervisor for sports telecasts, prepared the series of network orders which would result in the game running as scheduled, followed by Heidi. Cline had no reason to believe that the game would run over three hours; no professional football game presented by NBC ever had. However, other NBC executives stressed that Heidi must start as scheduled. NBC President Julian Goodman
told his executives before the weekend that the well-sponsored, well-promoted film must start on time. NBC Sports
Executive Producer Don "Scotty" Connal took care to tell the game producer, Don Ellis, that Heidi must start at 7 in the East, over Ellis' objection that he had been trained never to leave a game in progress. Connal told Ellis that NBC had sold the time, and was obligated to switch to the film.
NBC ran three BOCs, in Burbank, California
, Chicago, and New York, with the last the largest. Cline was stationed at the New York BOC for the game. In the era before satellite transmission, programming was transmitted by coaxial cable line, with the cooperation of the telephone company. For this game, the Burbank BOC was to receive the feed from Oakland, insert commercials and network announcements, and send the modified feed via telephone wire to a switching station west of Chicago near the Mississippi River
. An engineer was stationed there to activate the Oakland feed into the full network when the game began, to cut it on instruction and then to return to his base. He had been told to expect at 6:58:20 EST a network announcement for Heidi, after which he was to cut the feed from Burbank, and the Heidi feed from New York would begin. This placed Burbank in effective control of whether the engineer would cut the feed, since he would act upon hearing the announcement.
Connal, Cline's boss, was available in case of trouble, watching from his home in Connecticut
. His superior, NBC Sports Vice President Chet Simmons
, who alternated weekends with Connal as on-call in the event of difficulties, was also watching from his Manhattan
home. NBC President Goodman and NBC Sports head Carl Lindemann also turned on the game, which was expected to be exciting, in their New York area homes. The Buffalo Bills
versus San Diego Chargers game, shown as the first of a doubleheader
, was running long in its 2½ hour time slot, and NBC unhesitatingly cut its ending to go to the Jets and Raiders.
Jim Turner. The Raiders, led by quarterback
Daryle Lamonica
, who had been battling recent back and knee injuries, scored the game's first touchdown
, taking a 7–6 lead on a 22-yard pass to receiver Warren Wells
towards the end of the first quarter. The Raiders added to their lead when Lamonica threw a 48-yard pass to tight end
Billy Cannon
at the beginning of the second quarter.
However, the Jets cut into Oakland's lead when Namath drove the offense 73 yards down field and ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown with five seconds remaining in the first half. Jets holder and backup quarterback Babe Parilli
tried to complete a two-point conversion
pass, but it fell incomplete and the Raiders led the Jets 14–12 at halftime.
Approximately five minutes into the third quarter, Namath forged another Jets drive, following an interception by safety Jim Hudson
, that ended with halfback Bill Mathis
scoring a 4-yard touchdown behind blocking guard Dave Herman
to give New York a 19–14 lead. The Raiders responded with an 80-yard drive that saw running back Charlie Smith
score his first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass from Lamonica. The Raiders took a 22–19 lead on a two-point conversion with Lamonica completing the attempt to receiver Hewritt Dixon
. During this drive, Hudson was ejected from the game after being called for a face mask penalty followed by a dispute with an official. As he left the field, he gave the jeering crowd the finger
. The penalties caused the ball to be placed at the Jets' 3-yard line, and Smith scored for Oakland one play later.
The fourth quarter began with Smith fumbling the football with Oakland in scoring position. New York defensive end Gerry Philbin
recovered the football at the Jets' 3-yard line setting up a 97-yard drive, consisting entirely of two Namath passes to Don Maynard
, who was covered by Raiders' rookie cornerback George Atkinson. The 50-yard touchdown pass followed a 47-yard throw, and gave the Jets a 26–22 lead. Turner added another field goal to the Jets' total, giving them a 29–22 lead. The Raiders promptly responded with Lamonica orchestrating an 88-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard pass to receiver Fred Biletnikoff
with less than four minutes remaining in the game, tying the contest.
Turner made a 26-yard field goal to break the tie and give the Jets a three point lead with a little over a minute remaining in the game. Turner kicked the ball off to the Raiders' Smith, who took the kick out of the end zone and to Oakland's own 22-yard line. Lamonica completed to Smith for an apparent touchdown, but the play was called back due to a penalty, causing New York cornerback Johnny Sample
to say to Lamonica, "Nice try, Lamonica. Better luck next year." On first down, Smith caught a 20-yard reception from Lamonica, while a 15-yard penalty was assessed against the Jets when a player grabbed Smith's facemask, moving the ball to the Jets' 43-yard line. On the ensuing play, Lamonica threw another pass to Smith who outpaced Jets safety Mike D'Amato
, who replaced the ejected Jim Hudson, for a 43-yard touchdown. Kicker George Blanda
made the extra point attempt which gave the Raiders a 36–32 lead.
With 42 seconds remaining, the Jets still had a chance to score; however, on the kickoff, New York return man Earl Christy
fumbled the ball at the Jets' 12-yard line when he was tackled by Raiders linebacker Bill Budness
. Reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber
picked up the fumbled ball and ran into the end zone, which with another Blanda extra point gave the Raiders a 43–32 lead, deflating any hopes of the Jets coming back to win the contest. Ridlehuber could not remember whether AFL rules permitted advancing a fumbled kickoff return (they did), so tried to make it appear he was entering the end zone with the same motion he gathered in the ball. Oakland kicked off to New York again, but it could do little with the ball in the final seconds, and the game ended.
As the fourth quarter began, it was 6:20 EST, and NBC executives began to realize the game might not end by seven. NBC Sports Vice President Chet Simmons
recalled:
Connal, watching the game from his home in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, also noticed the fourth quarter was running "terribly slow." At 6:45, he called Cline again, and both men agreed the game would not end on time. Both supported running the end of the game, but given Goodman's instructions, his permission was required. Connal agreed to call NBC Sports President Lindemann, and that he and Lindemann would then speak to Goodman. After promising Cline a return call, Connal reached Lindemann by telephone. Lindemann agreed that the end of the game should be run, and both men began trying to reach Goodman. Lindemann was successful in reaching Goodman, and asked the network president, "What about the instruction to broadcast operations control that Heidi had to go on at 7:00 ET, no matter what?" Goodman replied, "That's crazy. It's a terrible idea." Lindemann then set up a three-way conversation with himself, Goodman and NBC Television President Don Durgin. After several minutes of discussion, Durgin agreed to delay the start of Heidi until after the game was completed. Sportswriter Kyle Garlett, in his history of sports gaffes, noted, "And even though earlier executives had told [Cline] to make sure he started Heidi on time, those same executives changed their minds late in the game."
Cline, watching the clock nervously, attempted to call Connal back, only to find both lines busy. He waited as long as he could, then made one final, unsuccessful attempt. Unknown to Cline, Connal was talking to Goodman, who had agreed to "slide the network", that is, start Heidi as soon as Curt Gowdy signed off from the game. Connal called the game producer, Ellis, in Oakland, to tell him the news, then called the BOC supervisor in Burbank—who, not knowing Connal, refused his order, and insisted on speaking with Goodman directly. As Goodman had disconnected to allow Connal to call Oakland, this could not be done.
Beginning about 6:45, many members of the public began calling NBC network and affiliate switchboards. Some demanded the conclusion of the game, others wanted to know if Heidi would start on time. These calls jammed the switchboards, and even blew repeated fuses in them, preventing the executives from getting through to each other to resolve the situation. NBC protocol required an operations order from Connal, to countermand the midweek written orders, but Cline received no call from the increasingly desperate Connal, who was frustrated by the switchboard issues. Without such an order, and not knowing of Goodman's approval, Cline made the decision that Heidi would start on time. The television audience saw Smith return Turner's kickoff out of the end zone to the Oakland 22-yard line with 1:01 remaining. Burbank BOC played the closing football theme and gave the word cue, to the outraged shock of Ellis and Connal, and the connection was irretrievably broken. Although the western United States continued to view the game, the eastern half of the nation, including those expecting the finish of the football game saw instead a little girl on a Swiss mountain, and was unaware that Oakland was in the course of scoring two touchdowns to win the game.
Oakland Tribune reporter Bob Valli reported on the Heidi Game: "Television missed one of football's most exciting and exhausting minutes of emotion. In that minute, Oakland fans saw despair turn to delirium."
, both to seek the final score, and simply to vent. In Oakland, Gowdy and his broadcast partner, Al DeRogatis
, left the broadcast booth to tell Ellis that the final two minutes were the most exciting they had ever seen. Ellis replied, "It's too bad America didn't see it." Realizing that the original call had been lost, Ellis had the two sportscasters recreate their descriptions of the two Raider touchdowns on tape.
In an attempt to inform the audience of the outcome of the game, NBC flashed the final score across the screen. It did so just as Heidi's paralyzed cousin, Klara, was taking her first, slow steps. According to sportswriter Jack Clary, "The football fans were indignant when they saw what they had missed. The Heidi audience was peeved at having an ambulatory football score intrude on one of the story's more touching moments. Short of pre-empting Heidi for a skin flick, NBC could not have alienated more viewers that evening."
At 8:30, Goodman issued a statement apologizing for the incident, and stating that he had missed the ending of the game "as much as anybody". He stated that it was "a forgivable error committed by humans who were concerned about children expecting to see Heidi". The following morning, Cline was called into a meeting with his bosses. He was told that if he had done anything other than what he did, NBC would have been at the mercy of Timex and Cline would have been fired. The network turned the fiasco into an advantage by subsequent self-mockery, promoting the following week's Jets game telecast with an advertisement showing Namath with Heidi on his shoulders, and running another ad with testimonials about Heidi, the last: "I didn't get to see it but I hear it was very good", signed by Namath. Other networks joined in: On Monday night's CBS Evening News
, Harry Reasoner
announced the "result" of the game: "Heidi married the goat-herder".
A special "Heidi phone", a hotline connected to a different exchange and unaffected by switchboard meltdowns, was installed in BOC. The network quickly changed its procedures to allow games to finish before other programming begins, which is now standard practice. Three weeks after the Heidi Game, NBC aired a special presentation of Pinocchio. In the promotional newspaper advertisement for the film, Pinocchio
assured football fans that they would view the entire game before the film and that he would sooner cut off his nose than "have them cut off" the action. On December 15, the nationally televised game between the Raiders and Chargers ran over. NBC started The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
at 7:08 EST, and announced that all network programming would be eight minutes late. "I can't remember when we've done anything like this before," stated an NBC executive. "It's very unusual."
In subsequent television contracts, the merged NFL required language which obligated the networks to show games to completion in the road team's television market. In 1975, NBC planned to run the heavily promoted children's film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
at 7 p.m., right after a game between the Raiders and Washington Redskins
. The game went into overtime, but NBC stayed with the game for almost 45 minutes despite angry calls from parents.
Cline stated in 1989, "I wonder if this Heidi thing will ever die ...maybe now that it's past 20 years people will stop asking me about it." The Heidi Game, in 1997, was voted among the ten most memorable games in pro football history, and the most memorable regular season contest. In 2005, TV Guide
designated the Heidi Game as the sixth (of one-hundred) most unexpected TV moments. Interviewed by the magazine, Jennifer Edwards
, title star of Heidi, commented: "My gravestone is gonna say, 'She was a great moment in sports.' "
Cline summed up the events of the Heidi Game:
chased after the officials, and he and team doctor James Nicholas banged on the door of their dressing room, complaining bitterly. Ewbank mentioned the officiating in his postgame press conference. When told of Michaels' actions, the head coach ordered, "Get him out of there, it can only cost him money." Oakland coach Rauch told reporters, "There were so many turning points which kept putting both teams back in the game, it's impossible to discuss them all."
Ewbank learned of the television problems in the locker room when he received a telephone call from his wife congratulating him on a Jets victory—Lucy Ewbank assumed the fact that the end of the game was not shown meant New York had won. Her husband profanely informed her of the game result. She was not the only Jets relative deceived—cornerback Johnny Sample flew back east after the game on personal business, and when his father picked him up at Philadelphia International Airport
, he congratulated his son on a Jets triumph.
Michaels accused Al Davis of getting the officials to inspect Turner's kicking shoes before a field goal attempt to see if they contained illegal metal plates, and called the Oakland co-owner "a man who has never contributed anything to football", to which Davis responded, "It's utterly ridiculous, unbelievable. It seems the Jets always lose to us because of penalties. But I like them and don't want any feud in case we visit New York December 29 [if both teams qualify for the AFL Championship Game]". The Jets left their white road uniforms in Oakland to be laundered and sent to them in San Diego, where they were to play their next game. The uniforms were not seen again once the team removed them in the Oakland locker room, and Jets management hastily ordered the green home uniforms, as well as the white uniforms the team had worn in the preseason to be shipped from New York.
While in California, Michaels complained by phone to Mel Hein
, AFL supervisor of officials, stating that an official had cursed at Hudson, provoking a response which led to Hudson's ejection. Jets officials also showed excerpts from the game films
to the sportswriters from the New York papers who were assigned to cover the team. Zimmerman, who wrote for the New York Post
, later stated, "I never saw such ferocity on a football field in my life" and remembered that the films showed Oakland defensive lineman Dan Birdwell
punch Namath in the groin, causing him to remain on the ground for several minutes, though he did not have to leave the game. Birdwell's action was not penalized by the game officials. In early December, football Commissioner Pete Rozelle fined the Jets $2,000, Michaels $150, Hudson $200 (including a mandatory $50 fine for being ejected from the game), and Jets player John Elliott
, also disqualified, $50. Rozelle cited the Jets' screening of the game excerpts as a factor contributing to the team's fine. To avoid adverse fan reaction, the AFL reassigned field judge Frank Kirkland, whom Hudson had accused of using foul language, from the December 1 Jets game against the Miami Dolphins
at Shea Stadium, to another game.
The Jets defeated San Diego, 37–15, and clinched the AFL East four days later when the second-place Oilers lost to the Chiefs in a Thanksgiving Day game. The Raiders finished tied for the AFL West title with Kansas City; they then defeated the Chiefs in a tiebreaking playoff game. This set up a December 29 rematch between the Jets and Raiders in the AFL Championship.
The Jets hosted the Raiders at Shea Stadium
on a windy December afternoon to determine who would play in Super Bowl III
against the NFL champions, who proved to be the Baltimore Colts
. The Jets defeated the Raiders, 27–23. Two weeks later, the Jets defeated the Colts in the Super Bowl. According to sportswriter Doyle Dietz, in the Jets' upset victory (the Colts were favored by
as many as 19½ points), "the American Football League came of age". Madden later stated that the Jets' Super Bowl upset "was great for the history of the game, but a part of me has always felt that should have been [the Raiders] who were the first AFL team to do it ... [Super Bowl III] changed pro football. But I will always believe we would have beaten the Colts, too."
In 1988, Namath and Madden, by then both television analysts, were interviewed for the 20th anniversary of the Heidi Game. According to Madden, the Oakland victory in the Heidi Game "was kind of the start of the Raiders being a great team. One of the things we were doing was getting these fantastic come-from-behind things ...We didn't even know about the Heidi thing until we read about it the next day." Namath noted, "When I remember that game, it brings to mind the revenge factor we had against them going into the championship game. We paid them back then," to which Madden chuckled, "He's full of crap."
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game played on November 17, 1968. The home team, the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, defeated the New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, 43–32. The game is remembered for its exciting finish, as Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to overcome a 32–29 New York lead. The Heidi Game obtained its name because the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) controversially broke away from the game with the Jets still winning to air the television film Heidi
Heidi (1968 film)
Heidi was a 1968 NBC made-for-TV film version of the original 1880 novel of the same name which debuted on November 17, 1968. It starred actress Jennifer Edwards, stepdaughter of Julie Andrews and daughter of Blake Edwards, in the title role, alongside Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, and Michael...
at 7 p.m. in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
.
In the late 1960s, few professional football games took longer than two and a half hours to play, and the Jets–Raiders three-hour time slot was thought to be adequate. A high-scoring contest, together with a number of injuries and penalties for the two bitter American Football League
American 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...
rivals, caused the game to run long. NBC executives had ordered that Heidi must begin on time, but given the exciting game, they decided to postpone the start of the film and continue football coverage. As 7 p.m. approached, many members of the public called NBC to inquire about the schedule, to complain or opine, jamming NBC's switchboards, and the change could not be communicated. Heidi began as scheduled, preempting the final moments of the game and the two Oakland touchdowns in the eastern half of the country, to the outrage of viewers.
The Heidi Game led to a change in the way professional football is televised on network television; games are shown to their conclusion before evening programming begins. To ensure that network personnel could communicate under similar circumstances, special telephones (dubbed "Heidi phones") were installed, with a connection to a different telephone exchange
Telephone exchange
In the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
from other network phones. In 1997, the Heidi Game was voted the most memorable regular season game in pro football history.
Jets–Raiders rivalry
The Jets and Raiders were founding members of 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...
; both teams began to play in 1960, the Jets under the name Titans of New York. Both teams had little success in their early years, playing so poorly that both the Titans and Raiders were allowed to draft players from other AFL teams following the 1962 season. In 1967, the Jets, under the guidance of coach Weeb Ewbank and quarterback Joe Namath
Joe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
, posted their first winning record at 7–5–2. Oakland, on the other hand, won the Western Division in 1967 with a 13–1 mark under coach John Rauch
John Rauch
John "Johnny" Rauch was an American football player and coach. He was head coach of the Oakland Raiders in the team's loss to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II in 1968.-Early life:...
and then the AFL Championship Game over the Houston Oilers, 40–7, before falling to 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...
in Super Bowl II
Super Bowl II
The second AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later to be known as Super Bowl II, was played on January 14, 1968 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida....
. Both teams were seen as likely contenders for the 1968 AFL Championship.
The two teams did not play in the same division. However, each AFL team played all other teams in the league each year, allowing the Raiders and Jets to forge a bitter rivalry. In 1963, Oakland general manager (later owner) Al Davis
Al Davis
Allen "Al" Davis was an American football executive. He was the principal owner of the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League from 1970 to 2011...
traded guard
Guard (American football)
In American and Canadian football, a guard is a player that lines up between the center and the tackles on the offensive line of a football team....
Dan Ficca
Dan Ficca
Daniel Robert Ficca is a former professional American football player who played guard for five seasons for the Oakland Raiders and the New York Jets in the American Football League....
to New York during training camp, without mentioning to Ewbank (who was also the Jets' general manager) that Ficca would not be released from his military service for another six weeks. In 1966, with less than a minute to go and the Raiders leading at the new Oakland Coliseum, 28–20, Jets left tackle Winston Hill
Winston Hill
Winston Hill was an American college and professional football player. Hill hails from Joaquin, Texas. His father, the late Garfield Hill, served as principal of Weldon High School in Gladewater, Texas. Winston was a tennis champion in high school...
predicted to Namath in the huddle that the man he was blocking, Ben Davidson
Ben Davidson
Benjamin Earl Davidson is a former collegiate and professional American football player between 1961 and 1972, most notably in the American Football League with the Oakland Raiders from 1964 through 1969, and for the NFL Raiders from 1970 through 1972. He had also played in the NFL for the league...
, would rush on the next play, leaving the Raiders exposed to a draw play
Draw play
A draw play, or simply draw for short, is a type of American football play. The draw appears to be a passing play, but is actually a running play; in this way, it can be considered the opposite of the play action pass. The idea behind a draw play is to attack aggressive, pass-rushing defenses by...
. Namath called the draw, and handed the ball off to running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...
Emerson Boozer
Emerson Boozer
Emerson Boozer is a former running back in the American Football League and in the NFL. In the last year of separate drafts by the AFL and the NFL, Boozer signed with the AFL's New York Jets, rather than with an NFL team. He played his entire professional career with the Jets...
for 47 yards and a touchdown. After a Jets two-point conversion
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
, the game ended in a 28–28 tie, and an embittered Davidson stated, "I'll get even. They still have to play us next year." They did, twice. In Week 4, the Jets defeated the Raiders at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
, 27–14; this was the Raiders' only regular season loss. In Week 14, each team's 13th game, the teams met again, in Oakland. Sportswriter Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Lionel Zimmerman is the son of Charles S. Zimmerman and Rose Zimmerman. Zimmerman, also known to readers as "Dr. Z", is an American football sportswriter who wrote for the weekly magazine Sports Illustrated, as well as the magazine's website, SI.com. He is sometimes confused with Paul D...
said of the second 1967 Jets-Raiders game:
The 1967 game was one of the most vicious in Jet history. Namath was slugged to the turf; he was hit late, punched in the groin. They aimed for his knees, tried to step on his hands ... And Davidson got Namath. He got him on a rollout, with a right that started somewhere between [California cities] Hayward and Alameda. It knocked Namath's helmet flying, and broke his jaw, but Namath didn't miss a play, and he threw for 370 yards and three TD's in that 38–27 loss.
The Jets' loss to the Raiders in 1967 knocked New York out of a tie for first place in their division—the AFL East was won by the Houston Oilers.
In the 1968 season, the Jets, San Diego Chargers
San Diego Chargers
The San Diego Chargers are a professional American football team based in San Diego, California. they were members of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Raiders, and Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
established themselves as the leading teams. Going into Week 11 of the AFL season, each team had lost only two games; the Chiefs, who had not yet had a bye week
Bye (sports)
A bye, in sports and other competitive activities, most commonly refers to the practice of allowing a player or team to advance to the next round of a playoff tournament without playing...
, had eight wins, the others seven. In an era with no wild card teams, the Raiders needed a victory over the Jets in Week 11 to avoid falling a game and a half behind the Chiefs in the AFL West—finishing second, however good their record, would end their season. The Jets, on the other hand, would clinch at least a tie for the AFL East title with a victory over the Raiders in their only regular season meeting. Depending on the results of other games, the Jets could win the division if they beat the Raiders, gaining a berth in the AFL Championship Game, the winner of which would play the NFL champion in the Super Bowl
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 ill-feeling of previous years was resurrected by an immense blown-up photograph of Davidson smashing Namath in the head posted in Raider headquarters. The photographed play was said to have broken the quarterback's jaw (though Namath stated he had broken it on a tough piece of steak, and some claim it was Raiders defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...
Ike Lassiter
Ike Lassiter
Ike Lassiter is a former American college and professional football defensive lineman. He is an alumnus of St. Augustine's College in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he received a Bachelor's Degree in physical education...
who injured Namath). Although the poster, which had been placed by Davis, was removed before the game, word of this "intimidation through photography" reached the Jets in New York.
In 2000, The New York Times sportswriter Dave Anderson
Dave Anderson (sportswriter)
Dave Anderson is an American sportswriter based in New York City. After graduating in 1947 from Xavier High School - an elite Jesuit preparatory school in New York City - Anderson attended the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts, graduating in 1951.Anderson has written for a number of New...
wrote of the Jets' preparations for the Oakland game:
When the Jets went to Oakland in 1968, that photo on the Raiders' wall symbolized the rivalry as well as Coach Weeb Ewbank's distrust of Davis. Whenever a helicopter flew anywhere near a Jets practice the week before a game against the Raiders, Ewbank would look up and shake his fist. He just knew Davis had somebody spying on the Jets.
The Raiders declined to allow New York reporters to watch practices, a courtesy Ewbank extended to Oakland pressmen. Raiders assistant coach (later head coach) John Madden
John Madden
John Madden may refer to:*Jack Madden, basketball referee*John Madden , American former football coach and television announcer*John Madden , ice hockey player...
was responsible for the exchange of game films with upcoming opponents; he sent the films to the Jets through Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
so they would arrive a day or two late, reasoning that Davis, not him, would be blamed for the delay. Ewbank blamed Davis for heavily watering the Coliseum field to slow the Jets' speedy receivers, a tactic the Oakland owner credited to Madden.
Television
NBC's preparations for the Sunday, November 17 game at Oakland were routine. This was a nationwide telecast, to be shown to the entire country at 4 p.m. ESTEastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
. NBC hoped that viewers who tuned their television channel selectors to the game would not walk over to the television and change the channel or turn off the power switch, but would watch the evening's programming. They anticipated a good game, which would cause the audience to remain in their seats and watch the game in full, "a perfect lead in for the network's special presentation of Heidi, the Johanna Spyri
Johanna Spyri
Johanna Spyri was an author of children's stories, and is best known for her book Heidi. Born Johanna Louise Heusser in the rural area of Hirzel, Switzerland, as a child she spent several summers in the area around Chur in Graubünden, the setting she later would use in her novels.-Biography:In...
children's classic, which was scheduled to air after the game at 7 p.m. (EST)". The television film was preempting Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, the normal program shown by NBC Sundays at 7. As the game started at 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
, the western half of the country would have to wait after the game for 7 p.m. local time before seeing Heidi. Under television rules at the time, the Jets–Raiders game was blacked out
Blackout (broadcasting)
Blackout usually relates to the broadcasting of sports events, television programming, that is prohibited in a certain media market.The purpose is theoretically to generate more revenue by obliging certain actions from fans, either by making them buy tickets or watch other games on TV...
within 90 miles of Oakland, even though the game was a sellout.
Heidi
Heidi (1968 film)
Heidi was a 1968 NBC made-for-TV film version of the original 1880 novel of the same name which debuted on November 17, 1968. It starred actress Jennifer Edwards, stepdaughter of Julie Andrews and daughter of Blake Edwards, in the title role, alongside Maximillian Schell, Jean Simmons, and Michael...
was heavily promoted by NBC in television commercials and newspaper advertisements. The network hoped to gain a large audience, especially among families, whom the network anticipated would watch the entire two-hour film. Commercials for the film were not sold by NBC, instead the entire block of two hours was sold to the Timex watch company which would air the film and have its own commercials run. The New York Times touted Heidi as the best TV program of the day. Under the terms of the contract between Timex and NBC, Heidi had to go to air promptly at 7 p.m. Eastern (6 p.m. Central
Central Time zone
In North America, the Central Time Zone refers to national time zones which observe standard time by subtracting six hours from UTC , and daylight saving, or summer time by subtracting five hours...
), and could not be delayed or joined in progress for any reason.
Steven Travers, in his history of the Raiders, noted:
That Sunday evening at 7:00 pm the family classic Heidi was scheduled. This is the well-known story of a little Swiss girl who lives with her grandfather in the [Alps], a staple of wholesome entertainment. In the days before cable, pay-per-view, VHS, DVD, TiVo, record, rewind, and 700 channels—what the choices came down to what NBC, ABC, CBS, and maybe a handful of local stations wanted to show the public, TV viewers scheduled their days around events like Heidi. It was on once a year. If one missed it, they missed it until the next year.
The nerve center for NBC was known as Broadcast Operations Control (BOC). Dick Cline, the network BOC supervisor for sports telecasts, prepared the series of network orders which would result in the game running as scheduled, followed by Heidi. Cline had no reason to believe that the game would run over three hours; no professional football game presented by NBC ever had. However, other NBC executives stressed that Heidi must start as scheduled. NBC President Julian Goodman
Julian Goodman
Julian Goodman is a former president of the National Broadcasting Company . His hometown was Glasgow, Kentucky.His work landed him on the master list of Nixon political opponents.-References:...
told his executives before the weekend that the well-sponsored, well-promoted film must start on time. NBC Sports
NBC Sports
NBC Sports is the sports division of the NBC television network. Formerly "a service of NBC News," it broadcasts a diverse array of programs, including the Olympic Games, the NFL, the NHL, MLS, Notre Dame football, the PGA Tour, the Triple Crown, and the French Open, among others...
Executive Producer Don "Scotty" Connal took care to tell the game producer, Don Ellis, that Heidi must start at 7 in the East, over Ellis' objection that he had been trained never to leave a game in progress. Connal told Ellis that NBC had sold the time, and was obligated to switch to the film.
NBC ran three BOCs, in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, Chicago, and New York, with the last the largest. Cline was stationed at the New York BOC for the game. In the era before satellite transmission, programming was transmitted by coaxial cable line, with the cooperation of the telephone company. For this game, the Burbank BOC was to receive the feed from Oakland, insert commercials and network announcements, and send the modified feed via telephone wire to a switching station west of Chicago near the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
. An engineer was stationed there to activate the Oakland feed into the full network when the game began, to cut it on instruction and then to return to his base. He had been told to expect at 6:58:20 EST a network announcement for Heidi, after which he was to cut the feed from Burbank, and the Heidi feed from New York would begin. This placed Burbank in effective control of whether the engineer would cut the feed, since he would act upon hearing the announcement.
Connal, Cline's boss, was available in case of trouble, watching from his home in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. His superior, NBC Sports Vice President Chet Simmons
Chet Simmons
Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons was an American sports executive, working at three different television networks sports divisions before becoming the first Commissioner of the United States Football League in 1982.Born in New York City on July 11, 1928, Simmons...
, who alternated weekends with Connal as on-call in the event of difficulties, was also watching from his Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
home. NBC President Goodman and NBC Sports head Carl Lindemann also turned on the game, which was expected to be exciting, in their New York area homes. The Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
versus San Diego Chargers game, shown as the first of a doubleheader
Doubleheader (television)
Doubleheader is used by network television to refer to two games in any sport aired back-to-back on the same network, even though they do not involve the same two teams . A doubleheader purposely coincides with a league's scheduling of "early" and "late" games...
, was running long in its 2½ hour time slot, and NBC unhesitatingly cut its ending to go to the Jets and Raiders.
Football action
On the opening kickoff, the Jets were penalized for a personal foul against the Raiders. The Jets took an early 6–0 lead on 44-yard and 18-yard field goals made by kickerPlacekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
Jim Turner. The Raiders, led by 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...
Daryle Lamonica
Daryle Lamonica
Daryle Pat Lamonica is a former American collegiate and professional football quarterback who played in the American Football League, and later in the NFL....
, who had been battling recent back and knee injuries, scored the game's first touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
, taking a 7–6 lead on a 22-yard pass to receiver Warren Wells
Warren Wells
Warren Wells is a former American college and Professional Football player, who played wide receiver for five seasons, one for the NFL's Detroit Lions and, after spending two years in the U.S...
towards the end of the first quarter. The Raiders added to their lead when Lamonica threw a 48-yard pass to tight end
Tight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
Billy Cannon
Billy Cannon
William Abb "Billy" Cannon is an All-American, 1959 Heisman Trophy winner and 2008 inductee into the College Football Hall of Fame from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, and one of the American Football League's most celebrated players.He was born in Philadelphia, Mississippi, and moved...
at the beginning of the second quarter.
However, the Jets cut into Oakland's lead when Namath drove the offense 73 yards down field and ran the ball in for a 1-yard touchdown with five seconds remaining in the first half. Jets holder and backup quarterback Babe Parilli
Babe Parilli
-Biography:Parilli was born in the Pittsburgh industrial suburb of Rochester, Pennsylvania. He attended the University of Kentucky as an All-American starting quarterback for the Wildcats under Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant....
tried to complete a two-point conversion
Two-point conversion
In American and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown...
pass, but it fell incomplete and the Raiders led the Jets 14–12 at halftime.
Approximately five minutes into the third quarter, Namath forged another Jets drive, following an interception by safety Jim Hudson
Jim Hudson
Jim Hudson , is a former professional American Football defensive back. He started in Super Bowl III for the New York Jets, and made a key interception just before the end of the first half....
, that ended with halfback Bill Mathis
Bill Mathis
Bill Mathis was an American college and professional football player. A halfback, he is in the Clemson University Hall of Fame, South Carolina Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Hall of Fame...
scoring a 4-yard touchdown behind blocking guard Dave Herman
Dave Herman
Dave Herman is a former American collegiate and professional football offensive tackle. He played collegiately for Michigan State University and began his professional career with the American Football League's New York Jets, for whom he played from 1964 through 1969 and for the same team in the...
to give New York a 19–14 lead. The Raiders responded with an 80-yard drive that saw running back Charlie Smith
Charlie Smith (running back)
Charles Henry Smith is a former American football running back. He played two seasons for the American Football League's Oakland Raiders , and 5 for the National Football League's Raiders . He also played for the NFL's San Diego Chargers in 1975...
score his first touchdown of the game on a 3-yard pass from Lamonica. The Raiders took a 22–19 lead on a two-point conversion with Lamonica completing the attempt to receiver Hewritt Dixon
Hewritt Dixon
Hewritt Dixon was a professional American football player who played running back for seven seasons for the American Football League's Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders, and one season for the Raiders in the National Football League. He was an AFL All-Star in 1966, 1967, and 1968, and an AFC-NFC...
. During this drive, Hudson was ejected from the game after being called for a face mask penalty followed by a dispute with an official. As he left the field, he gave the jeering crowd the finger
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
. The penalties caused the ball to be placed at the Jets' 3-yard line, and Smith scored for Oakland one play later.
The fourth quarter began with Smith fumbling the football with Oakland in scoring position. New York defensive end Gerry Philbin
Gerry Philbin
Gerald John Philbin is a former American collegiate football defensive tackle and four year starter from the University at Buffalo where he earned several honors including Second- team All-American, Little All-America, and All-American Academic team...
recovered the football at the Jets' 3-yard line setting up a 97-yard drive, consisting entirely of two Namath passes to Don Maynard
Don Maynard
Donald Rogers Maynard is a former American football player who played collegiately for Texas Western College and professionally with the National Football League's New York Giants and the American Football League's New York Jets and the World Football League's Shreveport Steamer.After having been...
, who was covered by Raiders' rookie cornerback George Atkinson. The 50-yard touchdown pass followed a 47-yard throw, and gave the Jets a 26–22 lead. Turner added another field goal to the Jets' total, giving them a 29–22 lead. The Raiders promptly responded with Lamonica orchestrating an 88-yard drive that ended with a 22-yard pass to receiver Fred Biletnikoff
Fred Biletnikoff
Frederick S. "Fred" Biletnikoff is a former American football wide receiver and coach. He spent the majority of his professional playing and coaching days with the Oakland Raiders...
with less than four minutes remaining in the game, tying the contest.
Turner made a 26-yard field goal to break the tie and give the Jets a three point lead with a little over a minute remaining in the game. Turner kicked the ball off to the Raiders' Smith, who took the kick out of the end zone and to Oakland's own 22-yard line. Lamonica completed to Smith for an apparent touchdown, but the play was called back due to a penalty, causing New York cornerback Johnny Sample
Johnny Sample
John B. Sample, Jr. was an American football defensive back who played in the National Football League for the Baltimore Colts , Pittsburgh Steelers , and Washington Redskins , and in the American Football League for the New York Jets .Sample had the distinction of beginning and ending his career...
to say to Lamonica, "Nice try, Lamonica. Better luck next year." On first down, Smith caught a 20-yard reception from Lamonica, while a 15-yard penalty was assessed against the Jets when a player grabbed Smith's facemask, moving the ball to the Jets' 43-yard line. On the ensuing play, Lamonica threw another pass to Smith who outpaced Jets safety Mike D'Amato
Mike D'Amato (American football)
Michael Anthony "Mike" D'Amato is a former American football defensive back. A safety, he played college football at Hofstra University, and played professionally in the American Football League for the New York Jets in the 1968 season...
, who replaced the ejected Jim Hudson, for a 43-yard touchdown. Kicker George Blanda
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda was a collegiate and professional football quarterback and placekicker...
made the extra point attempt which gave the Raiders a 36–32 lead.
With 42 seconds remaining, the Jets still had a chance to score; however, on the kickoff, New York return man Earl Christy
Earl Christy
Earl Christy is a former professional American football player who played cornerback for three seasons for the New York Jets....
fumbled the ball at the Jets' 12-yard line when he was tackled by Raiders linebacker Bill Budness
Bill Budness
Bill Budness was a professional American football player who played linebacker for seven seasons for the Oakland Raiders. Bill played in Super Bowl II in 1967.-References:...
. Reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber
Preston Ridlehuber
Howard Preston Ridlehuber is a former American collegiate and Professional Football running back in the NFL and the American Football League . He played one season each for the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and the AFL's Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills...
picked up the fumbled ball and ran into the end zone, which with another Blanda extra point gave the Raiders a 43–32 lead, deflating any hopes of the Jets coming back to win the contest. Ridlehuber could not remember whether AFL rules permitted advancing a fumbled kickoff return (they did), so tried to make it appear he was entering the end zone with the same motion he gathered in the ball. Oakland kicked off to New York again, but it could do little with the ball in the final seconds, and the game ended.
Television and decisions
The two starting quarterbacks combined for 71 pass attempts, with the clock stopping on each incompletion, and the officials called 19 penalties, leading to more clock stoppages. Each team used all six of its allocated timeouts, and the many scores led to additional commercial breaks. At halftime, Connal called Cline, and without urgency discussed the fact that the game seemed to be running longer than expected.As the fourth quarter began, it was 6:20 EST, and NBC executives began to realize the game might not end by seven. NBC Sports Vice President Chet Simmons
Chet Simmons
Chester Robert "Chet" Simmons was an American sports executive, working at three different television networks sports divisions before becoming the first Commissioner of the United States Football League in 1982.Born in New York City on July 11, 1928, Simmons...
recalled:
They kept promoting Heidi, kept promoting Heidi. I kept looking at my watch, and I said to myself, there's no way to me that Heidis going to make this at seven o'clock. Julian Goodman, the president of the company, told us going into the weekend that Heidi had to start on time ...I looked at my watch, looked at another table clock, looked at the game, and thought, no way is this going to happen.
Connal, watching the game from his home in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, also noticed the fourth quarter was running "terribly slow." At 6:45, he called Cline again, and both men agreed the game would not end on time. Both supported running the end of the game, but given Goodman's instructions, his permission was required. Connal agreed to call NBC Sports President Lindemann, and that he and Lindemann would then speak to Goodman. After promising Cline a return call, Connal reached Lindemann by telephone. Lindemann agreed that the end of the game should be run, and both men began trying to reach Goodman. Lindemann was successful in reaching Goodman, and asked the network president, "What about the instruction to broadcast operations control that Heidi had to go on at 7:00 ET, no matter what?" Goodman replied, "That's crazy. It's a terrible idea." Lindemann then set up a three-way conversation with himself, Goodman and NBC Television President Don Durgin. After several minutes of discussion, Durgin agreed to delay the start of Heidi until after the game was completed. Sportswriter Kyle Garlett, in his history of sports gaffes, noted, "And even though earlier executives had told [Cline] to make sure he started Heidi on time, those same executives changed their minds late in the game."
Cline, watching the clock nervously, attempted to call Connal back, only to find both lines busy. He waited as long as he could, then made one final, unsuccessful attempt. Unknown to Cline, Connal was talking to Goodman, who had agreed to "slide the network", that is, start Heidi as soon as Curt Gowdy signed off from the game. Connal called the game producer, Ellis, in Oakland, to tell him the news, then called the BOC supervisor in Burbank—who, not knowing Connal, refused his order, and insisted on speaking with Goodman directly. As Goodman had disconnected to allow Connal to call Oakland, this could not be done.
Beginning about 6:45, many members of the public began calling NBC network and affiliate switchboards. Some demanded the conclusion of the game, others wanted to know if Heidi would start on time. These calls jammed the switchboards, and even blew repeated fuses in them, preventing the executives from getting through to each other to resolve the situation. NBC protocol required an operations order from Connal, to countermand the midweek written orders, but Cline received no call from the increasingly desperate Connal, who was frustrated by the switchboard issues. Without such an order, and not knowing of Goodman's approval, Cline made the decision that Heidi would start on time. The television audience saw Smith return Turner's kickoff out of the end zone to the Oakland 22-yard line with 1:01 remaining. Burbank BOC played the closing football theme and gave the word cue, to the outraged shock of Ellis and Connal, and the connection was irretrievably broken. Although the western United States continued to view the game, the eastern half of the nation, including those expecting the finish of the football game saw instead a little girl on a Swiss mountain, and was unaware that Oakland was in the course of scoring two touchdowns to win the game.
Oakland Tribune reporter Bob Valli reported on the Heidi Game: "Television missed one of football's most exciting and exhausting minutes of emotion. In that minute, Oakland fans saw despair turn to delirium."
Television reaction
On realizing that NBC was switching away from the game, Goodman said to Lindemann by phone, "Where the hell has our football game gone?" During the station break which began with the network announcement, Goodman called a BOC phone to which only he knew the number and which was not part of NBC's CIrcle-7 exchange (which blew a fuse 26 times in an hour). When Cline answered it, Goodman ordered him to go back to the game. Although Cline knew there was no way to reconnect the feed, he promised to do the best he could. By the time the game ended at 7:07, thousands of viewers were calling the network to complain about missing the end of the football game. Others called newspapers, television stations, even the New York City Police DepartmentNew York City Police Department
The New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest municipal police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
, both to seek the final score, and simply to vent. In Oakland, Gowdy and his broadcast partner, Al DeRogatis
Al DeRogatis
Albert John "Al" DeRogatis was an American football player and television and radio sportscaster.-Biography:...
, left the broadcast booth to tell Ellis that the final two minutes were the most exciting they had ever seen. Ellis replied, "It's too bad America didn't see it." Realizing that the original call had been lost, Ellis had the two sportscasters recreate their descriptions of the two Raider touchdowns on tape.
In an attempt to inform the audience of the outcome of the game, NBC flashed the final score across the screen. It did so just as Heidi's paralyzed cousin, Klara, was taking her first, slow steps. According to sportswriter Jack Clary, "The football fans were indignant when they saw what they had missed. The Heidi audience was peeved at having an ambulatory football score intrude on one of the story's more touching moments. Short of pre-empting Heidi for a skin flick, NBC could not have alienated more viewers that evening."
At 8:30, Goodman issued a statement apologizing for the incident, and stating that he had missed the ending of the game "as much as anybody". He stated that it was "a forgivable error committed by humans who were concerned about children expecting to see Heidi". The following morning, Cline was called into a meeting with his bosses. He was told that if he had done anything other than what he did, NBC would have been at the mercy of Timex and Cline would have been fired. The network turned the fiasco into an advantage by subsequent self-mockery, promoting the following week's Jets game telecast with an advertisement showing Namath with Heidi on his shoulders, and running another ad with testimonials about Heidi, the last: "I didn't get to see it but I hear it was very good", signed by Namath. Other networks joined in: On Monday night's CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, Harry Reasoner
Harry Reasoner
Harry Truman Reasoner was an American journalist for ABC and CBS News, known for his inventive use of language as a television commentator, and as a founder of the 60 Minutes program.-Biography:...
announced the "result" of the game: "Heidi married the goat-herder".
A special "Heidi phone", a hotline connected to a different exchange and unaffected by switchboard meltdowns, was installed in BOC. The network quickly changed its procedures to allow games to finish before other programming begins, which is now standard practice. Three weeks after the Heidi Game, NBC aired a special presentation of Pinocchio. In the promotional newspaper advertisement for the film, Pinocchio
Pinocchio
The Adventures of Pinocchio is a novel for children by Italian author Carlo Collodi, written in Florence. The first half was originally a serial between 1881 and 1883, and then later completed as a book for children in February 1883. It is about the mischievous adventures of Pinocchio , an...
assured football fans that they would view the entire game before the film and that he would sooner cut off his nose than "have them cut off" the action. On December 15, the nationally televised game between the Raiders and Chargers ran over. NBC started The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was a half-hour live-action/animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions on NBC primetime in 1968, based on the famous Mark Twain characters.-Plot:...
at 7:08 EST, and announced that all network programming would be eight minutes late. "I can't remember when we've done anything like this before," stated an NBC executive. "It's very unusual."
In subsequent television contracts, the merged NFL required language which obligated the networks to show games to completion in the road team's television market. In 1975, NBC planned to run the heavily promoted children's film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory is a 1971 musical film adaptation of the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, directed by Mel Stuart, and starring Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka. The film tells the story of Charlie Bucket as he receives a golden ticket and visits Willy...
at 7 p.m., right after a game between the Raiders and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. The game went into overtime, but NBC stayed with the game for almost 45 minutes despite angry calls from parents.
Cline stated in 1989, "I wonder if this Heidi thing will ever die ...maybe now that it's past 20 years people will stop asking me about it." The Heidi Game, in 1997, was voted among the ten most memorable games in pro football history, and the most memorable regular season contest. In 2005, TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
designated the Heidi Game as the sixth (of one-hundred) most unexpected TV moments. Interviewed by the magazine, Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards
Jennifer Edwards is an American actress best known for playing the title role in the NBC made-for-television movie Heidi , which aired on November 17, 1968...
, title star of Heidi, commented: "My gravestone is gonna say, 'She was a great moment in sports.' "
Cline summed up the events of the Heidi Game:
Everything had to be perfect. It was just a series of events that fit together. The game ran late, there was a lot of scoring; there were some injuries that stopped play. And if the Jets had won, there would not have been the to-do that was made. But the way they lost fanned the fires."
Football events
The Jets were enraged by the outcome of the game, for reasons having nothing to do with the television problems, of which they were initially unaware. Feeling that Hudson's disqualification was unjustified (his replacement, D'Amato, was beaten for the winning touchdown), assistant coach Walt MichaelsWalt Michaels
Walt Michaels was a former professional football player and coach who is best remembered for his six-year tenure as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets from 1977-1982.-Collegiate and early NFL career:...
chased after the officials, and he and team doctor James Nicholas banged on the door of their dressing room, complaining bitterly. Ewbank mentioned the officiating in his postgame press conference. When told of Michaels' actions, the head coach ordered, "Get him out of there, it can only cost him money." Oakland coach Rauch told reporters, "There were so many turning points which kept putting both teams back in the game, it's impossible to discuss them all."
Ewbank learned of the television problems in the locker room when he received a telephone call from his wife congratulating him on a Jets victory—Lucy Ewbank assumed the fact that the end of the game was not shown meant New York had won. Her husband profanely informed her of the game result. She was not the only Jets relative deceived—cornerback Johnny Sample flew back east after the game on personal business, and when his father picked him up at Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport
Philadelphia International Airport is a major airport in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, and is the largest airport in the Delaware Valley region and in Pennsylvania...
, he congratulated his son on a Jets triumph.
Michaels accused Al Davis of getting the officials to inspect Turner's kicking shoes before a field goal attempt to see if they contained illegal metal plates, and called the Oakland co-owner "a man who has never contributed anything to football", to which Davis responded, "It's utterly ridiculous, unbelievable. It seems the Jets always lose to us because of penalties. But I like them and don't want any feud in case we visit New York December 29 [if both teams qualify for the AFL Championship Game]". The Jets left their white road uniforms in Oakland to be laundered and sent to them in San Diego, where they were to play their next game. The uniforms were not seen again once the team removed them in the Oakland locker room, and Jets management hastily ordered the green home uniforms, as well as the white uniforms the team had worn in the preseason to be shipped from New York.
While in California, Michaels complained by phone to Mel Hein
Mel Hein
Melvin Jack Hein was an American Professional Football player for the New York Giants. Hein played fifteen seasons for the Giants and never missed a down due to injury...
, AFL supervisor of officials, stating that an official had cursed at Hudson, provoking a response which led to Hudson's ejection. Jets officials also showed excerpts from the game films
NFL Films
NFL Films is a Mount Laurel, New Jersey-based company devoted to producing commercials, television programs, feature films, and documentaries on the National Football League, as well as other unrelated major events and awards shows...
to the sportswriters from the New York papers who were assigned to cover the team. Zimmerman, who wrote for the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
, later stated, "I never saw such ferocity on a football field in my life" and remembered that the films showed Oakland defensive lineman Dan Birdwell
Dan Birdwell
Dan Birdwell was an American college and professional football player. A defensive lineman, he played collegiately for the University of Houston and professionally for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League from 1962 to 1969...
punch Namath in the groin, causing him to remain on the ground for several minutes, though he did not have to leave the game. Birdwell's action was not penalized by the game officials. In early December, football Commissioner Pete Rozelle fined the Jets $2,000, Michaels $150, Hudson $200 (including a mandatory $50 fine for being ejected from the game), and Jets player John Elliott
John Elliott (defensive lineman)
John Elliott was an American college and Professional Football defensive tackle. He played collegiately for the University of Texas, and in 1967 was drafted by the American Football League's New York Jets...
, also disqualified, $50. Rozelle cited the Jets' screening of the game excerpts as a factor contributing to the team's fine. To avoid adverse fan reaction, the AFL reassigned field judge Frank Kirkland, whom Hudson had accused of using foul language, from the December 1 Jets game against the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
at Shea Stadium, to another game.
The Jets defeated San Diego, 37–15, and clinched the AFL East four days later when the second-place Oilers lost to the Chiefs in a Thanksgiving Day game. The Raiders finished tied for the AFL West title with Kansas City; they then defeated the Chiefs in a tiebreaking playoff game. This set up a December 29 rematch between the Jets and Raiders in the AFL Championship.
The Jets hosted the Raiders at Shea Stadium
Shea Stadium
William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, usually shortened to Shea Stadium or just Shea , was a stadium in the New York City borough of Queens, in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. It was the home baseball park of Major League Baseball's New York Mets from 1964 to 2008...
on a windy December afternoon to determine who would play in Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl". This game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history...
against the NFL champions, who proved to be 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 ....
. The Jets defeated the Raiders, 27–23. Two weeks later, the Jets defeated the Colts in the Super Bowl. According to sportswriter Doyle Dietz, in the Jets' upset victory (the Colts were favored by
Spread betting
Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event, where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds betting or parimutuel betting. A spread is a range of outcomes and the bet is whether the outcome...
as many as 19½ points), "the American Football League came of age". Madden later stated that the Jets' Super Bowl upset "was great for the history of the game, but a part of me has always felt that should have been [the Raiders] who were the first AFL team to do it ... [Super Bowl III] changed pro football. But I will always believe we would have beaten the Colts, too."
In 1988, Namath and Madden, by then both television analysts, were interviewed for the 20th anniversary of the Heidi Game. According to Madden, the Oakland victory in the Heidi Game "was kind of the start of the Raiders being a great team. One of the things we were doing was getting these fantastic come-from-behind things ...We didn't even know about the Heidi thing until we read about it the next day." Namath noted, "When I remember that game, it brings to mind the revenge factor we had against them going into the championship game. We paid them back then," to which Madden chuckled, "He's full of crap."
Box score
See also
- Heidi momentHeidi momentThe Heidi Game television incident has given rise to the phrase Heidi moment, describing such a cutaway in other games, sports, and contexts....
- NFL on televisionNFL on televisionThe television rights to broadcast National Football League games are the most lucrative and expensive rights of any American sport. It was television that brought professional football into prominence in the modern era after World War II...