Following the NFL and AFL Championship Games for the 1966 through 1969 seasons, the NFL champion played the AFL champion in Super Bowls I through IV, the only true inter-league championship games in the history of professional football. The first two of these games were known as the AFL-NFL Championship Game, as the title Super Bowl was not chosen until 1968. Thus the third AFL-NFL matchup was dubbed "Super Bowl III" and the first two matches were retronamed as Super Bowls I and II. History of the National Football League championship
While wikipedia may be an acceptable place to get basic information, its policies regarding posting and editing do not make it a good place for reliable precise facts. I see that the NFL did not file for trademark protection of the wordmark "Super Bowl" until March of 1969. It is also interesting to note that the NFL did not file to trademark their own name until the same month, while the AFL had done so years earlier at its inception. National Football League Trademarks - Gerben Intellectual Property (gerbenlaw.com)
Al Michaels was at the first "super bowl" as a young man. He said no one called it the super bowl, but rather the "pro football championship." He was able to get tickets at the last minute for cheap and since the place was half empty by halftime, he and his brother moved from the nose bleeds down closer to the field times have really changed
Seems the issue is "when did the AFL-NFL Championship Game "officially" become the Super Bowl". My original post (#10) was a rebuttal to your claim that the game was called the World Professional Football Championship. I think we can agree that, trophy aside, the NFL "officially" called it the AFL–NFL Championship Game... though they did use the phrase World Championship Game on the cover of early game programs. When the two leagues merged in June 1966, one of the provisions of the merger was the creation of a championship game. Now the only problem was what to call it... Finally, it was Rozelle’s idea to call the game “The AFL-NFL World Championship Game.” That name was official, but it never took off. That picture you posted of the Chiefs/Packers game with the cheerleaders spelling out "SUPERBOWL" is very interesting. You are correct in stating that the phrase "Super Bowl" was being used by journalists and others involved in the game. I never disputed that... The Super Bowl name was being bounced around from the beginning... which sort of counters your original claim in post #9... "You guys gotta remember that game was not a Superbowl until later - it was the World Professional Football Championship game!" I stated (in post #9) that "the Super Bowl name was adopted for the third game and onward"... The preponderance of evidence I've presented so far backs that assertion. If that's not enough... here's some pertinent stuff from an article by USA Today that further solidifies my position. Why do they call it the 'Super Bowl'? For the answer to that, we have to go all the way back to the first Super Bowl. Only it wasn’t call the Super Bowl then. “Super Bowl I” is a retroactive name. Back then, after the NFL and AFL merged in 1966, it was called the “AFL-NFL World Championship Game.” The third Super Bowl was officially given that name thanks, famously, to Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. According to legend, Hunt knew his daughter played with a toy called the Super Ball and it stuck in his head when the league was looking for a less cumbersome name for the event. But the “Super Bowl” name was already being used before what would be known as Super Bowl III (Roman numerals were also Hunt’s idea, and those started two years later at Super Bowl V). From the Washington Post in 2011: AFL founder Lamar Hunt sent a memo to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle suggesting that the merged leagues should coin a phrase for the new game. “I have kiddingly called it the Super Bowl,” Hunt wrote, “which obviously can be improved upon.” Rozelle, with his background in journalism and PR, never cared for the name, deeming it unsophisticated... The league held out for a few years before Rozelle conceded. “Super Bowl” first appeared on the program cover of the third game and on the tickets of the fourth game I realize Wikipedia, Brittanica, Time, and USA Today aren't the last word in accurate information...so I went to a higher authority... the highest authority I could think of actually. Poking around the NFL Hall of Fame website... I stumbled upon this profound tidbit... An AFL team won the Super Bowl for the first time, as the Jets defeated the Colts 16-7 at Miami, January 12 in Super Bowl III. The title Super Bowl was recognized by the NFL for the first time. If the NFL Hall of Fame can't be trusted... then who can be?
My first post here, and every one thereafter, was all about the official name, rather than what it's called today or may have been in 1969. I don't know why you'd disparage your own sources though. Wikipedia is just that, a wiki with input permitted from the general public, many of whom will simply quote or paraphrase what they've read lately without checking its accuracy. Brittanica should have a high degree of integrity as should Time, which I believe was part of the same organization that owned SI at the time in question, so a corporate disparity is odd. USAToday did not begin publishing until 1982 so they would only be rehashing the works of others rather than having timely information of their own. It's not like I simply read one article and ran with it, virtually everything you've linked I've already examined but have considered Sports Illustrated the most authoritative source on sports related matter since I was a kid. The Hall of Fame information is the most compelling reason I've seen so far that might get me to change my opinion while the only unimpeachable source I could imagine would be the NFL itself. I'm going to continue to investigate.
Finally, it was Rozelle’s idea to call the game “The AFL-NFL World Championship Game.” That name was official, but it never took off. You claimed "You guys gotta remember that game was not a Superbowl until later - it was the World Professional Football Championship game!" As I said in my first response... the NFL (emphasis on NFL) "adopted" the Super Bowl name for the third AFL–NFL Championship Game. I think the NFL was feeling their way through a lot of the details in the early years of the merger with the AFL. There's some confusing & contradictory information about the Super Bowl... so I decided to simply watch the third AFL-NFL Championship Game and see if there was anything there to confirm my position. Within 30 seconds it all became very clear...
As I said, virtually everything you link I have already seen. You appear to have seen quite a bit yourself so I'd expect you saw many references to media using the Superbowl or Super Bowl name since the first one, even when we all know that was not the official name of the contest that early. I'm not convinced the intro to the telecast (posted yesterday above) uses the term Super Bowl in any official capacity in 1969. It's okay that you are convinced; it's also okay that I'm not.
So when did Super Bowl become "the official name of the contest"? The big bold SUPERBOWL at the top of the official game program for the 3rd AFL-NFL Championship Game may not make it "official" in your mind... but it proves my claim that the NFL adopted the name starting with that game... countering your claim that Super Bowl III was, in your words "...not a Superbowl until later". I never said Super Bowl was the "official" name... just that the league started using that nomenclature for Super Bowl III... which made the previous two AFL-NFL Championship games Super Bowls I & II retroactively. If I had to hazard a guess... I might say the "official" name of the Super Bowl is simply the NFL Championship Game. Super Bowl may just be trademarked slang. You can remain unconvinced by the NBC telecast splashing the name Super Bowl in the opening graphic and proclaiming it a "Super Bowl" dozens of times throughout the pre-game and during the game itself... but I've worked thousands upon thousands of hours of NFL television over the past 24 years and trust me... the NFL would never allow that game to be misnomered. They authorize every aspect of every broadcast. You keep dismissing the material I've posted that supports... strike that... proves my position... yet you've come up with virtually nothing that supports yours. Here's a reminder of what you wrote...
It doesn't matter at all how many games you've worked unless you worked the one in January 1969 and have something from the NFL that says the name of the game was the Superbowl. It also doesn't matter what you said about the name Super Bowl being official or not, but that's what my comment referred to in my first post. You can call the title of a program the official name of the contest but that doesn't make you right. Kind of like if you go see Hamilton on Broadway and get handed a copy of the official program that says "Playbill" across the top of the cover; that's not the name of the show. One more time - it doesn't matter to me what your opinion is, I was talking about when the Super Bowl became the official name of the championship contest. It's perfectly fine that you and I disagree.
It is perfectly fine that we disagree... but that doesn't make you correct... it just means you won't admit to being wrong... Take the "L" bro...
Of course your opinion is that you're correct, I'd expect nothing else. My opinion remains that the SO article is correct as I consider Sports Illustrated a better source than you. I can hold off declaring a winner now for two reasons. One, what we've seen from the NFL is inconclusive, and two,it's not important to me to do so. You do you.
So you consider Jenna West (Junior Writer at Sports Illustrated) a better authority than the Pro Football Hall of Fame? An AFL team won the Super Bowl for the first time, as the Jets defeated the Colts 16-7 at Miami, January 12 in Super Bowl III. The title Super Bowl was recognized by the NFL for the first time. Have you found evidence to back up your other claim that "it was the World Professional Football Championship game!"...lol.
It was called the 3rd World Championship when the Jets won. But "Super Bowl" was a term the AFL (Lamar Hunt) was trying to use and it became the popular name for the next one since the Jets legitimized the AFL with their victory not sure who is right or dont really care, just saying. There was a good article in the Athletic about 5 years ago on the subject and it was really interesting, I believe the historian was a Jets fan too
I've already answered both these questions. I find nothing conclusive in anything I've read or seen or you've posted. I've also stated numerous times that it's perfectly acceptable that our opinions do not agree. How many times do we need to rehash the same information?
