Super Bowl II

Green Bay Packers (NFL) (9–4–1) Oakland Raiders (AFL) (13–1) 33 14 Head coach: Vince Lombardi Head coach: John Rauch
1 2 3 4 Total GB 3 13 10 7 33 OAK 0 7 0 7 14
Date	January 14, 1968 (1968-01-14)
Kickoff time	3:05 p.m.EST (UTC-5)
Stadium	Orange Bowl Miami, Florida
MVP	Bart Starr,quarterback
Favorite	Packers by 14[1][2][3]
Referee	Jack Vest
Attendance	75,546[4]
Ceremonies
National anthem	Grambling CollegeBand[5]
Coin toss	Jack Vest
Halftime show	Grambling College Band[5]
TV in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Ray Scott,Pat Summerall, andJack Kemp
Nielsen ratings	36.8 (est. 39.12 million viewers)
Market share	68
Cost of 30-second commercial	$54,000
Radio in the United States
Network	CBS Radio
Announcers	Jack Drees, Tom Hedrick
← I Super Bowl III →

The secondAFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively asSuper Bowl II)^[6] was anAmerican football game played on January 14, 1968, at theOrange Bowl inMiami,Florida.^[1] TheNational Football League (NFL)'s defending championGreen Bay Packers defeatedAmerican Football League (AFL) championOakland Raiders by the score of 33–14. This game and thefollowing year's are the only two Super Bowls played in the same stadium in consecutive seasons.

Coming into the game, much like duringthe first Super Bowl, many sports writers and fans believed that any team in the NFL was vastly superior to any club in the AFL. The Packers, the defending champions, posted a 9–4–1 record during the1967 NFL season before defeating theLos Angeles Rams 28–7 in the first round of theplayoffs, then outlasted theDallas Cowboys 21–17 in the frigidNFL Championship Game (popularly known as theIce Bowl). The Raiders finished theregular season at 13–1, then defeated theHouston Oilers 40–7 in theAFL Championship Game.

As expected, Green Bay dominated Oakland throughout the majority of Super Bowl II. The Raiders could only score two touchdown passes from quarterbackDaryle Lamonica. Meanwhile, Packers kickerDon Chandler made four field goals, including three in the first half, while cornerbackHerb Adderley had a 60-yard interception return for a touchdown that put the game away. Green Bay quarterbackBart Starr was named theMVP for the second straight time, becoming the first back-to-back Super Bowl MVP for his 13 of 24 passes for 202 yards and one touchdown.

The Packers won their third consecutive World Championship, the second such occasion in NFL history (the 1929–31 Green Bay Packers did it first). The 1965–67 Packers became the first and only team to win three consecutive championship games, as there were no NFL playoff games from 1920 to 1932. No NFL team has accomplished this feat since.

The NFL awarded Super Bowl II toMiami on May 25, 1967, at the owners meetings inNew York City.^[7][8][9] It marked the first of eleven Super Bowls inthe Miami area (as of2022), and the first of two consecutive (II andIII). A total of five cities were considered to host the second edition: Miami,Los Angeles (Coliseum),Houston (Astrodome),Dallas (Cotton Bowl), andNew Orleans (Tulane Stadium).^[10] After lackluster attendance forSuper Bowl I at the Coliseum, Los Angeles was eliminated by the owners. TheMiami Orange Bowl was selected for the game, based on weather, hotel accommodations, capacity, and the stadium's previous experience in hosting thePlayoff Bowl. The localOrange Bowl committee had even once (unsuccessfully) lobbied to host theNFL Championship Game, which was not normally a neutral field contest.^[11] Furthermore,NFL CommissionerPete Rozelle opined that it was "helpful to move the game around a little", and not play it in the same city every year. Playing the game in anAFL town also established a precedent for maintaining competitive balance between the two leagues.^[12][13] The city's contingent, led bymayorRobert King High,Joe Robbie, and others, would have just under eight months to prepare for the event.

The Packers advanced to their second straight AFL–NFL World Championship Game, but had a much more difficult time than in the previous season. Both of their starting running backs from the previous year, futurePro Football Hall of FamersPaul Hornung andJim Taylor, had left the team. Their replacements,Elijah Pitts andJim Grabowski, both went down with season-ending injuries, forcing Green Bay coachVince Lombardi to use second-year reserve running backDonny Anderson and rookieTravis Williams. FullbacksChuck Mercein andBen Wilson, who were signed as free agents after being discarded by many other teams, were also used to help compensate for the loss of Hornung and Taylor. Meanwhile, the team's 33-year-old veteran quarterbackBart Starr had missed 4 games during the season with injuries, and finished the season with nearly twice as many interceptions (17) as touchdown passes (9).^[14]

The team's deep threat was provided by veteran receiversCarroll Dale, who recorded 35 receptions for 738 yards (a 21.1 average), and 5 touchdowns; andPro BowlerBoyd Dowler, who had 54 catches for 846 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Packers still had the superb blocking of guardJerry Kramer,Fred Thurston andForrest Gregg. Grabowski was the team's leading rusher with 466 yards, while Wilson had 453. Anderson had 733 yards from scrimmage and 9 total touchdowns, while also gaining another 324 yards returning kicks. On special teams, Williams returned 18 kickoffs for 749 yards and an NFL record 4 touchdowns, giving him a whopping 41.1 yards per return average. The team ranked just 9th out of 16 NFL teams in scoring with 332 points.^[15]

The Packers defense, however, allowed only 209 points, the 3rd best in the NFL.^[16] Even this figure was misleading, since Green Bay had yielded only 131 points in the first 11 games (when they clinched their division), the lowest total in professional football. Three members of Green Bay's secondary, the strongest aspect of their defense, were named to the Pro Bowl:Willie Wood,Herb Adderley, andBob Jeter. The Packers also had a superb defensive line led byHenry Jordan andWillie Davis. Behind them, the Packers linebacking corps was led byRay Nitschke.

The Packers won the NFL's Central Division with a 9–4–1 regular season record, clinching the division in the 11th week of the season.^[17] During the last three weeks, the Packers gave up an uncharacteristic total of 78 points, after having yielded only about a dozen points per game in their first 11 contests. In the playoffs, Green Bay returned to its dominant form, blowing away their first playoff opponent, theLos Angeles Rams, in the Western Conference Championship Game, 28–7.^[18] The next week, Green Bay then came from behind to defeat theDallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game for the second year in a row, in one of the most famous games in NFL lore: TheIce Bowl.^[19][20]

The Raiders, led by head coachJohn Rauch, had stormed to the top of the AFL with a 13–1 regular season record, the best record in AFL history (their only defeat was an October 7 loss to theNew York Jets, 27–14), and went on to crush theHouston Oilers, 40–7, in the AFL Championship game.^[21][22] They had led all AFL and NFL teams in scoring with 468 points. Starting quarterbackDaryle Lamonica had thrown for 3,228 yards and an AFL-best 30 touchdown passes.^[23][24]

The offensive line was anchored by centerJim Otto and rookie guardGene Upshaw, along with AFL All-StarsHarry Schuh andWayne Hawkins. Wide receiverFred Biletnikoff led the team with 40 receptions for 876 yards, an average of 21.3 yards per catch.^[25] On the other side of the field, tight endBilly Cannon caught 32 passes for 629 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. In the backfield, the Raiders had three running backs,Clem Daniels,Hewritt Dixon, andPete Banaszak, who carried the ball equally and combined for 1,510 yards and 10 touchdowns. On special teams, defensive backRodger Bird led the AFL with 612 punt return yards and added another 148 yards returning kickoffs.^[26]

The main strength of the Raiders was their defense, nicknamed "The 11 Angry Men". The defensive line was anchored by AFL All-StarsTom Keating andBen Davidson, a former Packer who played on Green Bay's 1961 championship team. Davidson was an extremely effective pass rusher who had demonstrated his aggressiveness in a regular season game against theNew York Jets by breaking the jaw of Jets quarterbackJoe Namath while sacking him. Behind them, All AFL linebackerDan Conners excelled at blitzing and pass coverage, recording 3 interceptions. The Raiders also had two All AFL defensive backs:Willie Brown, who led the team with 7 interceptions, andKent McCloughan, who had 2 interceptions. SafetyWarren Powers recorded 6 interceptions, returning them for 154 yards and 2 touchdowns.^[27]

Despite Oakland's accomplishments, and expert consensus that this was the weakest of all the Packer NFL championship teams, Green Bay was a 14-point favorite to win the Super Bowl. Like the previous year, most fans and sports writers believed that the top NFL teams were superior to the best AFL teams.

Thus, most of the drama and discussions surrounding the game focused not on which team would win, but on the rumors that Lombardi might retire from coaching after the game. The game also proved to be the final one for Packerswide receiverMax McGee, one of the heroes ofSuper Bowl I, and place kickerDon Chandler.

This was the first Super Bowl to use the "tuning fork" or "slingshot" goalposts (with one supporting post instead of two) invented byJim Trimble and Joel Rottman; they had made their debut at the start of the season for both the AFL and NFL, and first appeared at the pro level inCanada.^[28]

The game was televised in theUnited States byCBS. This was the first of seventeen Super Bowls in which the game was rotated annually between CBS andNBC.Ray Scott handled theplay-by-play duties, and was joined bycolor commentatorsPat Summerall andJack Kemp in the broadcast booth. Kemp was the first Super Bowl commentator who was still an active player (withBuffalo of theAFL) at the time of the broadcast. The CBS telecast of this game is considered lost; all that survives are in-game photos, most of which were shown in the January 8, 1969, edition ofSports Illustrated. Not evenNFL Films, the league's official filmmaker, has a copy of the full game available; however, they do have game footage that they used for their game highlight film.^[29][30] Super Bowl II was aired exclusively by CBS and was long believed to have been erased, but it was later found that the entire telecast fully exists and rests in the vaults ofNFL Films.^[31]

While the Orange Bowl was sold out for the game, the NFL's unconditionalblackout rules in place then prevented the live telecast from being shown in the Miami area.

During the latter part of the second quarter, and again for three minutes of halftime, almost 80 percent of the country (with the exceptions ofNew York City,Cleveland,Philadelphia and much of theNortheast) lost the video feed of the CBS broadcast. CBS, who had paid $2.5 million for broadcast rights, blamed the glitch on a breakdown inAT&Tcable lines.

39.12 million people in the US watched the game on television, resulting in a rating of 36.8 and a market share of 68.^[32] The overnightArbitron rating was 43.^[33]

The pregame ceremonies featured two giant figures, one dressed as a Packers player and the other dressed as a Raiders player. They appeared on opposite ends of the field and then faced each other near the 50-yard line.

TheGrambling CollegeTiger Marching Band performed thenational anthem as well as during the halftime show.^[5] The band was part of the halftime show of Super Bowl I the previous year.

The game kicked off at 3:05 p.m.EST.^[1] On Oakland's first offensive play, Green Bay linebackerRay Nitschke shot through a gap and upended fullbackHewritt Dixon by himself in what was one of Nitschke's signature plays of his entire career. The hit was so vicious, it prompted Jerry Green, aDetroit News columnist sitting in the press box with fellow journalists, to say in a deadpan, that the game wasover.^[34] After forcing the Raiders to punt, the Packers scored with kickerDon Chandler's 39-yard field goal after marching 34 yards on their first drive of the game, giving Green Bay an early 3-0 lead. The Raiders picked up three first downs on their second drive, which included a pass interference penalty called on Nitschke, but they could not reach field goal range and were forced to punt back to the Packers. Green Bay started their next drive from their own 3-yard line. On their third play quarterbackBart Starr completed a 17-yard pass to wide receiverCarroll Dale and four plays later rushed for 14 yards while escaping a sack by defensive endBen Davidson and defensive tackleTom Keating. The Packers also elected to convert 4th-and-inches at the Raiders' 35-yard line, and fullbackBen Wilson picked up 5 yards and the fifth first down of the drive to end the quarter.

Despite Green Bay's excellent field position, their drive stalled at the 13-yard line, forcing them to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Chandler to take a 6–0 lead. Less than two minutes later after forcing an Oakland three-and-out, the Packers took the ball on their own 38-yard line. Raiders cornerbackKent McCloughan jammed Packers wide receiverBoyd Dowler at the line of scrimmage, but then allowed him to head downfield, thinking that a safety would pick him up.^[35] However, McCloughan and safetyHowie Williams were both influenced by the Packer running backs who were executing a "flood" pattern, with halfbackTravis Williams and Wilson running pass routes to the same side as Dowler. Dowler ran a quick post and was wide open down the middle. He grabbed Starr's pass well behind linebackerDan Conners, and safetyRodger Bird could not get over quickly enough. Dowler outran the defense to score on a 62-yard touchdown reception, increasing the Packers' lead to 13–0. Green Bay became the first team in a Super Bowl to score on its first three possessions on offense.

After being completely dominated until this point, the Raiders offense finally struck back on their next possession, advancing 79 yards in 9 plays, and scoring on a 23-yard touchdown pass from quarterbackDaryle Lamonica to wide receiverBill Miller, cutting the Raiders' deficit to 13–7. The score seemed to fire up the Raiders' defense, and they forced the Packers to punt on their next drive. Bird gave the Raiders great field position with a 12-yard return to Green Bay's 40-yard line, but Oakland could only gain 1 yard with their next three plays and came up empty when kicker/backup quarterbackGeorge Blanda's 46-yard field goal attempt fell short of the goal posts. Oakland's defense again forced Green Bay to punt after three plays on the ensuing drive, but this time after calling for a fair catch, Bird fumbled punter/running backDonny Anderson's twisting, left-footed kick, and Packers tight endDick Capp recovered the ball. After two incomplete passes, Starr threw a 9-yard completion to Dowler (despite a heavy rush from defensive endIke Lassiter) to set up Chandler's third field goal from the 43 as time expired in the first half, giving the Packers a 16–7 lead.

At halftime, Packers guardJerry Kramer said to his teammates (referring to Lombardi), "Let's play the last 30 minutes for the old man."^[36]

Any chance the Raiders might have had to make a comeback seemed to completely vanish in the second half. The Packers had the ball three times in the third quarter, and held it for all but two and a half minutes. On the Packers' second drive of the half starting at their own 17, Wilson ripped up the middle for 14 yards on a draw play. Anderson picked up 8 yards on a sweep, and Wilson carried to within inches of the first down. Starr then pulled one of his favorite plays on third down and short yardage, faking to Wilson and completing a 35-yard pass to wide receiverMax McGee who had slipped past three Raiders at the line of scrimmage. This was McGee's only reception of the game, and the final one of his career. Starr then hit Dale on a sideline route at the Oakland 13. Starr overthrew Anderson wide open in the end zone, but on the next play he rolled out to the right and threw back to Anderson who was tackled at the 2-yard line by linebackerGus Otto. The next play was a broken play, as Anderson thought he saw daylight to the right but ran into Starr. The Packers were not rattled, and Anderson's 2-yard touchdown run increased Green Bay's lead to 23–7.

Packers guardJerry Kramer must have taken to heart his plea to play the second half for Coach Lombardi. On this drive, game films show him blowing Conners out of Wilson's path on the draw play, then flattening Conners again on Anderson's scoring run.

Again the Green Bay defense forced Oakland to go three-and-out, and the Raiders punted. The Packers drove from their own 39-yard line to the Raiders' 24 and increased their lead to 26–7 as Chandler kicked his fourth field goal of the game (which hit the crossbar from 31 yards out and bounced over).

On the Raiders' first play of the fourth quarter, Lamonica completed a pass to running backPete Banaszak, but safetyTom Brown forced a fumble on Banaszak, which was recovered and returned to the Raiders' 37-yard line by linebackerDave Robinson. On the next play, however, Starr was knocked out of the game when he jammed the thumb on his throwing hand after getting sacked for an 11-yard loss by Davidson. Starr was replaced byZeke Bratkowski, who was then sacked on his only pass attempt. The Packers could not get back to the original line of scrimmage after the sack, forcing them to punt it back to the Raiders. However, the Packers cemented the game when cornerbackHerb Adderley intercepted a pass intended for wide receiverFred Biletnikoff and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown, making the score 33–7 in favor of Green Bay. Adderley laid back as Biletnikoff ran a curl route, then dashed in front of him to snare the ball and scored with the help of a crushing downfield block by defensive tackleRon Kostelnik.

Oakland did manage to score on their next drive after the turnover with a second 23-yard touchdown pass from Lamonica to Miller, set up by Banaszak's 41-yard reception on the previous play. But all the Raiders' second touchdown did was make the final score look remotely more respectable, 33–14.

At the end of the game, coach Lombardi was carried off the field by his victorious Packers in one of the more memorable images of early Super Bowl history. It was in fact Lombardi's last game as Packer coach and his ninth consecutive playoff victory.

Oakland's Bill Miller was the top receiver of the game with 5 receptions for 84 yards and 2 touchdowns. Green Bay fullbackBen Wilson was the leading rusher of the game with 62 yards despite missing most of the fourth quarter while looking for a lost contact lens on the sidelines.Don Chandler ended his Packer career in style with 4 field goals. Lamonica, the game's leading passer, finished with 15 out of 34 pass completions for 208 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Bart Starr completed 13 of 24 (with a couple of dropped passes) for 202 yards and one touchdown; his passer rating for the game was 96.2 to Lamonica's 71.7. The Packers outgained the Raiders in rushing yardage 160 to 107, led in time of possession by 35:54 to 24:06, had no turnovers, and only one penalty. Packer guard Jerry Kramer later recalled the mental mistakes his team made in the game, which only highlights the impossibly high standards held by Lombardi's team.^[37] As previously mentioned, this was Lombardi's last game as Green Bay head coach and this was also the final game for Green Bay Packer playersMax McGee,Fuzzy Thurston, andDon Chandler.^[38][39][40]

Sources:The NFL's Official Encyclopedic History of Professional Football, (1973), p. 139, Macmillan Publishing Co. New York, NY, LCCN 73-3862,NFL.com Super Bowl II,Super Bowl II Play Finder GB,Super Bowl II Play Finder Oak

¹Completions/attempts²Carries³Long gain⁴Receptions⁵Times targeted

The following records were set or tied in Super Bowl II, according to the official NFL.com boxscore^[42] and the ProFootball reference.com game summary.^[43] Some records have to meet NFL minimum number of attempts to be recognized.^[44] The minimums are shown (in parentheses).

• † This category includes rushing, receiving, interception returns, punt returns, kickoff returns, and fumble returns.^[45]
• ‡ Sacks an official statistic since Super Bowl XVII by the NFL. Sacks are listed as "Tackled Attempting to Pass" in the official NFL box score for Super Bowl II.^[42][46]

Source:^[47][48]

Hall of Fame‡

• Referee:Jack Vest (AFL)^[49]
• Umpire: Ralph Morcroft (NFL)
• Head linesman: Tony Veteri (AFL)
• Line judge: Bruce Alford (NFL)
• Back judge:Stan Javie (NFL)
• Field judge: Bob Baur (AFL)

Alternates

• RefereeBen Dreith (AFL)

Note: A seven-official system was not used until 1978

• 1967 NFL season
• 1967 NFL playoffs
• 1967 NFL Championship Game
• American Football League playoffs

• Super Bowl official website
• 2006 NFL Record and Fact Book. Time Inc. Home Entertainment. July 25, 2006.ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
• Total Football II: The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League.HarperCollins. July 25, 2006.ISBN 1-933405-32-5.
• The Official NFL Encyclopedia Pro Football. NAL Books. 1982.ISBN 0-453-00431-8.
• The Sporting News Complete Super Bowl Book 1995. Sporting News. February 1995.ISBN 0-89204-523-X.
• https://www.pro-football-reference.com – Large online database of NFL data and statistics
• Super Bowl play-by-plays fromUSA Today (Last accessed September 28, 2005)
• All-Time Super Bowl Odds^{[permanent dead link]} from The Sports Network (Last accessed October 16, 2005)
• Super Bowl II Box Score atPro Football Reference

• Gruver, Edward (2002).Nitschke. Lanham, MD.:Taylor Trade Publishing.ISBN 1-58979-127-4

• 1968 in American football
• Super Bowl
• Green Bay Packers playoff games
• Oakland Raiders postseason
• 1967 NFL season
• 1967 American Football League season
• 1968 in sports in Florida
• American football in Miami
• Sports competitions in Miami
• January 1968 sports events in the United States
• 1960s in Miami

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