1968 NFL Championship Browns vs Colts

[@migmo3126]

I was 6 years old but watched it on black and white TV with my dad. RIP Dad. Later we were rooting for Shula and Warfield and the Dolfins.

[@bufnyfan1]

Jack Whittaker the announcer in this film actually went into business with the great John Facenda (one of the most legendary announcers in NFL films)-they were co-owners of a bowling alley that I believe is still operating

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

I will often listen to this and the AFL title game highlights narrated by Charlie Jones. Then, Super Bowl III which Facenda narrated.

[@joekunis9986]

I love the scoreboards back then. VISITORS, lol. Don't even mention the away team. Gotta love it.

[@robertrock8778]

Whenever Indianapolis plays the Ravens in Baltimore the scoreboard reads INDY. The city and fans will never forget them stealing their beloved Colts and won't acknowledge the stolen COLTS name.

[@jimtaggert42]

@@robertrock8778 that would be righteous, if they had not stolen Cleveland's team!

[@richardrau594]

In the preseason of 1976, expansion Tampa Bay was offended that the scoreboard at Lambeau Field said just "Tampa" ....they said when the Packers play at their stadium, they'll just have "Green" on the scoreboard .

[@therealshemphoward1752]

1994 Raiders Rams at L.A. Coliseum, for home team Al Davis had L.A. on scoreboard for Raiders and Ana for the visiting Rams who then played in Anaheim. Someone must have bitched at halftime as it later read Vis for the Rams

[@chrishall6419]

Football was soooo good back then...

[@michaelleroy9281]

Football was better than good back then it was great 👍

[@michaelleroy9281]

Many of the same players from the 1964 game won by the Browns 27-0 were still on both teams for this game

[@mikeorfe1188]

thank u very much for posting these.this my favorite nfl era.

[@exchequerguy4037]

concur :)

[@TuberOnTheLoose]

1:09 - The scoreboard behind Shula is showing the score of the Jets - Raiders game. The Jets are leading 10 - 7.

[@sammyvh11]

The 68 Browns where a steamroller of a team. They beat Baltimore in regular season. To think that the Colts lost to the Jets is inconcievable. I think SB3 was fixed and the Colts offense layed down headed by Morrall, Shula, and Rosengoon.

[@seveglider8406]

Only brain dead idiots think Super Bowl III was fixed!

[@michaelleroy9281]

I don't think a coach like Shula would throw a game away

[@kbrewski1]

Shula would never fix a game, but a lot of people wondered about Morrall after his horrendous performance as NFL MVP.

[@exchequerguy4037]

Despite the beatdown, Shula later brought in two of those Browns, Warfield and Matheson, as building blocks for his Dolphin mini-dynasty.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

Still don't know why Browns made that trade and also the one with the Giants for Homer Jones to replace Warfield. Phipps (the draft pick the Browns got from Miami) never worked out and Ron Johnson (traded for Jones) became the Giants first 1000 yard rusher in 1970.

[@exchequerguy4037]

@@andrewpadaetz5549 And who made the trades? Owner Art Modell.

[@sammyvh11]

Trading Warfield was insane

[@michaelleroy9281]

@@sammyvh11 That meant one team was on the way up , the other one the way down

[@bufnyfan1]

The story goes that Don Shula was about to sign on to coach the Green Bay Packers in 1970. However, his wife felt that Miami had a better school system for their children so Shula signed with the Dolphins instead.

[@sixtythreekraft2608]

2:20 #26 Preston Pearson - later famous with the Steelers and Cowboys.

[@mlbfan79]

I live close to Preston Pearson's hometown

[@nivagnoswal]

1968 was my first year of really following the NFL...I was 14 years old...thanks for posting this...thoroughly enjoyed it...

[@markedwards5904]

Same here. I grew up loving the game because I could follow the teams and the players, from preseason the postseason, because the millionaires didn't switch teams every week. And I didn't really care how much money they made. :-( It's an impossible game to watch anymore. I love to watch every game, but now I want to throw up, because the play-by-play announcers, are out of control, shouting and screaming as if they were deep in the stands adoring their own heroes and just hoping for some kind of a magical "Al Michaels moment ." I'll take Gifford and Summerall over these immature and announcers any day

[@kbrewski1]

Same here. Except I was 8. By 14 I was diagramming multiple shift offenses.

[@yeildo1492]

Tons of great players on both teams. My brother and I idolized Paul Warfield.

[@kbrewski1]

I grew up a Vikings fan, but always admired the smooth way Warfield ran. He was like a gazelle. My favorite Vikes WR in the late 60s/early 70s was Gene Washington, who also ran smoothly like Warfield.

[@yeildo1492]

@@kbrewski1 Washington was indeed very similar. Two guys that received gifts most humans never get near.

[@scottmyers63]

Great to see (briefly) Bobby Boyd #40 for the Colts.

[@airforceveteran71]

Have this on 16mm along with other '68 games for my man cave...drag out the projector, grab some brews and some chips and spend nights watching my favorite period of the NFL. Was a LA Rams fan at the time but had lots of respect for that Colts team...especially their defense.

[@denisceballos9745]

As a Browns fan, I watched this game on TV when I was in ninth grade. It was so depressing, on a dreary day in Cleveland the Browns could do nothing in front of their own stunned and silent fans. I kept hoping the Browns could at least avoid the shutout. The Colts so dominated that I’m sure they went into Super Bowl III, full of over-confidence.

[@alfonsorolli1645]

Baltimore was an old and tired team when they got to SBIII in Miami. But, If the Colts played the NYJ 5-times, the Colts would’ve beaten them 4 of 5.

[@bufnyfan1]

The Colts finished the 1968 season 13-1--(their only loss was to Browns 30-20) after this game everyone thought the Colts were unstoppable and would "steamroll" the Jets in the SuperBowl--Joe Namath and his team thought otherwise and beat them

[@JustJeph33]

Oh yeah. That one I remember (I was 9). This day, tho the Colts D, running game, FGs...gave Johnny U the day off. Morrall follows Shula to Miami...did alright there.

[@kbrewski1]

Thanks for the breaking news update.

[@michaelsams7703]

You can tell early that Cleveland's Offense was in trouble. As John Madden used to say "You want you're QB to have the cleanest uniform on the team"--no 16 is very dirty :)

[@cynic2all]

I think they obviously put a lot into those games against Dallas, as a team normally doens't play a great game to beat a favored team, then play very well the next week. Note that between those 2 NFLC games, in the '69 season, they beat Dallas 42-10, but the very next week they played Minnesota and got beat 51-3. So this happened 3 straight times after a huge effort against Dallas in those years.

[@antonewilson4310]

Tom Matte had a great Championship and a great SB. Even with the fumble he was Colt MVP.

[@jerryferko8309]

tom matte , shaw high school Cleveland ohio , then osu , tuff , tuff , tuff ballplayer

[@scarletmacaw]

AKA “The garbage man”. 🤣😂

[@chipschannel9494]

⁠@@scarletmacawAlex Karuss of the lions , called him a “junkback” , three yards in a cloud of dust. He QB’d the Colts against the Packers in ‘66 to see who would be first in the NFL/AFL championship.

[@kbrewski1]

Did Woody ever let Matte throw in college? He sure doesn't look like a QB, lol.

[@mshow81]

24:59 NFL Films ident music: "OPEN PRAIRIE" (ending) by Syd Dale.That tympani part gets me every time.

[@MyXxx77]

Now THIS is football!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@markedwards5904]

Maybe so, but how did the coaches or even the fans ever know When there was a first down, without the offensive player prancing around the field pointing And dancing for the cameras Making the call for the referee, telling us it's a first down? . I also noticed a serious lack of enjoyment and energy in that when someone scored a touchdown. They walked over to the bench and quietly prepared for the kickoff .yawn...... what about the party?

[@josephrocco2954]

@@RAYGERVATO it didn't quite force the merger, that was going to happen in 1970, regardless. What it did was legitimize the merger.

[@wvu05]

@@josephrocco2954 There was talk that if the Jets lost, there would have been attempts to delay the merger. That being said, what I really would have liked to happen would have been it becoming Major League Football with the AFL getting expansion teams until they caught up so each league could keep its own identity.

[@wvu05]

@@RAYGERVATO There is no way. Bubba Smith long insisted that, but Namath pointed out that he had a bad game, too, so he'd have to have been in on it when they were on a plane together. It shut Bubba up. They underestimated the Jets defense and couldn't take that they got beat. My theory says that any NFL team that became the first to lose to an AFL team probably would have done the same thing.

[@wvu05]

@@RAYGERVATO I first read it in January 2005. It was a warts and all presentation, but it was riveting. I think that the win was legitimate because the NFL didn't want to give the AFL an ounce, and this game meant too much to the upstart league. Even Al Davis celebrated the victory. (That being said, while he did many things wrong, I have nothing but respect for his decision to put the AFL logo on all three of their Super Bowl rings.)

[@charlesklimko492]

I remember watching this game. I wasn't feeling-well, so my parents let-me watch TV while I was in-bed.

[@muffs55mercury61]

My dad got disgusted and didn't bother to watch the 4th quarter

[@retrobrahhh]

1:10 on scoreboard "Lamonica TD pass" love it

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

To Fred Blietnikoff. AFL title game was the much more contested title game (Jets won 27-23).

[@massvt3821]

In consecutive years (1968-69), the Browns lost title games by 34-0 and 27-7. Apparently, their seasons were made by beating Dallas in the ist round, because they just didn't have it in title games..

[@purplesword5536]

They also lost to dallas in 67 52-14 so their combined total from the 3 playoff losses to dallas, Baltimore & Minnesota was 113-21.

[@garynixon9035]

Yea it least they were competitive back then damn shame what the BROWNS have become A DISGRACE!!!!!!

[@brianwolf6166]

Absolutely right Mass ...

[@michaelleroy9281]

@@brianwolf6166 Things changed a bit in 2020 11-5 playoff win over Steelers

[@richardrau594]

In the early years of the Saints at Tulane Stadium, the end zones were colorfully painted in the colors and logo of both teams like Super Bowls are....it had to give the visiting team a sense of having a home side of the field..

[@michaelleroy9281]

The Cotton Bowl did that also for the last few years the Cowboys played there

[@sportshistorybuff]

Something weird about the Colts and Browns meeting in the playoffs. One team wouldn't show up! 27-0 in 1964, 34-0 in 1968, 20-0 in 1971.

[@darrellmayberry7784]

The 1971 game was 20-3.

[@jonburrows8602]

In 1971, the Browns were the Central Division Champion and Baltimore a WC, so that at least made sense.

[@DNSKansas]

Cleveland beat the Indianapolis Colts 38-21 in the 1987 playoffs

[@DNSKansas]

@Matt Pizzano East had home field for NFL championship in even-numbered years all the way back to the first championship game in 1933

[@DNSKansas]

@@jonburrows8602 Colts had a better record in '71 (10-4 to 9-5) but Browns won 14-13 at Baltimore in week 2

[@muffs55mercury61]

Priceless!!

[@jonburrows8602]

Amazing that Don Cockroft was missing kicks and having them blocked here yet was still with the team 12 years later and doing the same thing in a playoff game against the Raiders in 1980.

[@Steve915]

He didn’t get a chance to miss the game winning FG against the Raiders. The Browns were a chip shot away from winning the game and Brian Sipe stupidly threw an interception into the end zone.

[@brianwolf6166]

@@Steve915 Yes, Sipe threw a tough interception but earlier in the game he had three TD passes dropped in the endzone by his receivers, including two by Logan.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

@@Steve915 The infamous 'Red Right 88". Mainly because of Cockroft's difficulties in that game.

[@jimhyland256]

Don Cockroft was the most accurate placekicker for almost all of his NFL career. Very good punter, too. Too bad he had to try gutting it out fighting sciatica (just what a kicker needs) in the game against the Raiders, and in below zero conditions, too.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

1:10-you can see the score of the AFL championship game (2nd quarter-Jets 10, Raiders 7) which was being played at the same time. You don't see both conference title games played simultaneously anymore..

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

"this year, the rewards may never end"...for the Colts, they did-two weeks later.

[@kbrewski1]

That was during pre game warm ups. The kickoff was still probably an hour away (look at the stands). So the games were staggered. The AFL game probably was at half time when the NFL game kicked off. Then, the AFL game would have been in the final minutes when the NFL game hit halftime.

[@DNSKansas]

Colts got a break when Cleveland beat Dallas to win the Eastern Conference. Baltimore would have a had a tougher time with the Cowboys in the Cotton Bowl, but the Colts probably would have won regardless

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

Too bad THESE Colts didn't show up in Miami!

[@williamweeks6633]

Tom Matte did.

[@brianwolf6166]

Matte did show up but his third quarter fumble was crucial as the Jets built a 10-0 lead ... To my knowledge, the only Colts who really played well in this game were the offensive linemen who blocked and protected well, though Morrall got rattled by the Jets pass coverage. After getting burnt by Maynard on a bomb early in the game, CB Boyd played well but the Jets threw to the single covered Sauer on the other side ...

[@smitskee]

Brian Wolf Tom Matte, if you back out his 58 yard run, he still averaged almost 6 yards a carry. Earl Morrall just threw the ball poorly most of the day. Off target. On none of his int’s, was he under a heavy rush. The Unitas Int, should have been a TD to Jimmy Orr. The ball was late. Unitas was rusty, and that throw showed it. Also, Earl sucked on third down. One conversion. Namath had 6 or 7. Give the Jets credit. They were the better team that day. They made good use of all the Colt fuckups.

[@Mark-sj3xb]

The game was fixed. The Jets had to win in order to make the merger happen. And money is why the merger happened. And what a coincidence that Namath guaranteed the win

[@Mr.56Goldtop]

@@Mark-sj3xb There certainly were more than one "suspicious" play or call for sure. Obviously the most famous was Morrall missing a wide open Jimmy Orr, who he'd thrown to every time the Colts ran that play that season to great success, but not this time?? Baltimore's opening series was brutal, they easily ran right over the Jets. Then, down close they start passing?? Morrall missing TWO wide open recievers after Tom Mitchells first down catch. And ended up missing what should have been a chip shot field goal. And it was all down hill from there.

[@billymatthews7346]

Wonderful to see...watched on tv.... and afterwords thought....poor Jets.. .they will be killed in Miami........however Joe Willie Namath had a little to say about that and the rest is history.....🏈

[@kbrewski1]

This was the first NFL football season I really followed all season long from start to finish as an 8 year old. I do remember watching the Ice Bowl in 1967, and the Packers Super Bowl demolition of the Raiders after that (Lombardi's last game with the Pack), because my Dad grew up in Wisconsin as a Packers fan. But 68 was the year I really got into football. A big reason why was the Vikings taking over the Central Div crown from the Packers (I grew up about 4 miles from Metropolitan Stadium). So obviously I was crushed when my upstart Vikings lost their first ever playoff game on the road in Baltimore. The Vikings played a gutty game, gave the Colts all they could handle (24-14) as opposed to the Browns in the NFL Championship game. So I remember watching this game and even though Balt beat my Vikes, I was rooting for them, more familiar with the players, etc. I couldn't believe the Colts domination, especially at Cleveland's Stadium. I remember thinking there is no way some rinky dink AFL team was going to beat the Colts. I wasn't the only one of course.

[@fairfaxcat1312]

I remember this game well. What I don’t remember is why we took for granted that our Colts would play the championship game on the road. After all we had the better record (and the best record in the NFL).

[@Steve915]

Because the NFL championship game alternated between the Western Conference and Eastern Conference champion each year. Green Bay hosted the year before (The Ice Bowl game), so it was the East’s turn in this game.

[@muffs55mercury61]

And back when games were played in the weather, not under some sissy dome. Gotta love them Ohio winters!

[@yoliekidwell465]

Matte doing alot of trash talking with the fans lol

[@bigtexmacgonigle444]

Sounds like Jack Whitaker on the voice-over

[@martinleavitt6094]

Good call,,,I believe it is,,also...👍

[@DNSKansas]

@@martinleavitt6094 It IS Jack Whitaker

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

AFL title game was narrated by Charlie Jones (who also called many AFL/AFC games well into the 90s; including the comeback by Buffalo in 1992 playoffs), NFL title game was done by Whitaker. The Super Bowl was narrated by John Facenda, starting a streak of 16 straight SB highlight films narrated by "the Voice of NFL Films" that lasted until his passing in September 1984.

[@kbrewski1]

Jack Whitaker almost always did the NFL Films Game of the Week in the late 60s and early 70s.

[@loyaldude10]

Browns had a very good yr in 1968, but they really got their asses whipped here

[@michaelleroy9281]

Because of this the Colts were figured to roll over the Jets in SB III not so fast says Joe Namath last time I checked he guaranteed they would beat the Colts

[@djtheshooter6748]

I remember this game. I watched it my grandma's house.

[@bobscott7440]

Cleveland fans probably wish that they couldn't remember this game. Just like old time Baltimore Colts fans wish that they couldn't remember the game that followed this one, Super Bowl III.

[@ditto1958]

Imagine if a conference championship game today was played with backup QB’s starting for each team.

[@nocalraider6888]

Thank you very much!

[@stugatz7703]

At 1:09 if you look at the scoreboard behind Don Shula's head. You can see the score of the AFL Championship Game. Jets 10-7. The AFL game must have started earlier in the day.

[@seveglider8406]

The AFL Championship game started around 1 PM.

[@kbrewski1]

Yes, the games were staggered so fans could see as much as possible of both games.

[@jsbc1988]

Matte talking trash to the Browns fans in the end zone 🤣

[@bobscott7440]

Yeah, right there at the dog pound.lol

[@dietpepsivanilla3095]

And he was from Cleveland.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

Not even minding they were throwing things at him. Something like "look at the scoreboard"..

[@musicstewart9744]

This game is what led the Colts and almost every fan of football to think the next game against the Jets would result in the same outcome.

[@seveglider8406]

People who thought Super Bowl III would result in a Colt victory were WRONG!

[@Charlie-xc6mb]

I watch these old games partly because I'm so disgusted with the current state of the NFL. Today's French Poodle Princess (Tom Brady) would have never lasted in that era, because unlike today, defenses would not have gotten penalized for breathing in Brady's airspace.

[@64bulldrdr]

I'll take a Tom Matte,Garbage 🗑, runner any day,Sunday, Rainy Day, Cloudy Day, Snowy Day, Overcast Day, Muddy Field Day.Clear warm Sunny Day,Doubtful,not enough dirt for his uniform.

[@brianwolf6166]

Browns had an obvious letdown after beating the Cowboys, who humiliated them in the 67 playoffs ...

[@kokoken1]

Officials: R #23 Bud Brubaker, U #51 Lou Palazzi, HL #26 Ed Marion, LJ #24 Bruce Alford, BJ #47 Ralph Vandenberg, FJ #34 Fritz Graf. That year was Super Bowl III, and the NFL sent R #7 Tommy Bell, HL #30 George Murphy and FJ #54 Joe Gonzales. This was the first season for Supervisor of Officials Art McNally, who stayed in the job until the end of the 1990 season -- 23 years!

[@9ohiostateappollchipsareso703]

Browns could of used Jim Brown in this game.

[@michaelleroy9281]

Kelly was good but he was no Jim Brown

[@kbrewski1]

Brown retired 3 years earlier after 1965. He was busy making movies like Dirty Dozen, Ice Station Zebra and Slaughter with Pam Grier.

[@kvernon1]

So hard to understand how the Colts who so completely dominated this game would be so incompetent in their next game ... a 16-7 Super Bowl III loss to Joe Namath and the New York Jets!

[@Steve915]

I remember watching this game and the Colts looked unbeatable. This would be their last win of the season.

[@brianwolf6166]

Its actually simple ... The Browns were spent after beating the Cowboys and Baltimore knew everything about them with Matte and Braase playing their best games ever ... Bringing a ten game winning streak into the SB, the Colts were on their way until missing an easy FG then throwing an interception from the Jet 6yrd line ... after that, the air went out of the team and the Jets won the line of scrimmage. For some reason, Don Shula coached Baltimore teams always ran out of gas at the end of the 64,65,67 and 68 teams ... I think he pushed them too hard.

[@adrianhorodecky5264]

SB3 TV 1969 broadcast with retro commercials - @

[@adrianhorodecky5264]

SB3 TV 1969 broadcast with retro commercials - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qZDNpZWdmMmka5I

[@ChrisDutch]

Morrall didn’t play well in this game. Maybe this was an indication of what would happen two weeks later.

[@jabbers081769]

PAL 6363 are you the same person from Paltalk days?

[@bdautch20]

"This year, the rewards may never end." Umm...

[@dciccantelli]

For the NY Jets, they didn't...lol.

[@mikeforte7585]

The 68 Colts were one of the best teams in NFL history....however in SB 3 they made too many mistakes plus their kicking game was bad...its not best of 7 but single elimination so who ever plays the best on that day wins it all...some say the game was fixed..but there was never any proof of that..

[@patricksmith5282]

CJ Dillon Easy there tiger, you’re taking this junk a little too seriously, after all it was 50 years ago.

[@seveglider8406]

Only brain dead idiots think Super Bowl III was fixed!

[@mikevanriel7573]

I am surprised John Facenda did not narrate the 1968 NFL Championship Game.

[@wvu05]

He also didn't narrate Super Bowl II for some reason.

[@andrewpadaetz5549]

He did narrate the Super Bowl III highlights..the first of 16 straight for him.

[@wvu05]

@@andrewpadaetz5549 He also narrated the game that was then known as the First AFL-NFL World Championship Game. He was with NFL Films from the beginning, after Ed Sabol brought some footage to a bar on City Line (that is now a KFC) and Facenda did some practice narration.

[@kbrewski1]

Facenda didn't do these "NFL Games of the Week". Jack Whitaker was already ensconced in that role.

[@richardrau594]

Yeah, it was like the way high school games scoreboards were...some simply had HOME and VISITORS..

[@richardgranton8070]

This was the game leading up to the biggest fix in NFL history.....N.Y.JETS 16. COLTS 7😢....BUT it made football what it is today....🙂...it was a 4 year deal in the works.... The American League at the time could not compete with the national League.... Then the next year the Vikings a 15-point favorite lay down to the Kansas City Chiefs!...... The national football League was so much better than the American football League..... So the balance things out, they move the Cleveland browns the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore colts took them out of the national league and put them in the American League the bounce things out...... The brains behind the operation was Lamar Hunt....... He deserves credit for what the NFL is today..... But they cannot tell people that the game was fixed..... It would hurt the integrity of the game...... But in this instance it worked the opposite way, it made football what it is today..... I know a lot of people don't believe this, that the colts through the game against the Jets in super bowl 3.... There was one play that indicated this in the game..... That year Earl morrall was the most valuable player...... And with less than 1 minute to go till halftime they were at the jet 40 yard line and Don Shula called a timeout...... And they called the play that they only use one time in the regular season and it went for a touchdown...... Earl Moore was going to hand it off to Tom Maddie who was going to throw it back to Earl Moore and he was going to throw a pass down the field to Jimmy orr...... That was the play called in by Don Shula..... But there was one problem with the play...... Earl morral never threw the ball to Jimmy orr, who was wide open in the end zone the Jets forgot to cover him...... And then the rest is history.....I'm 82 years old.....I've had this information for years from the higher-ups..... It's a funny thing Pete Rose is Band from the Hall of Fame for gambling..... But Paul hornung Green Bay star running back was suspended one year for gambling on football..... but yet is in Canton Ohio hall of Fame.... Could somebody explain this to me

[@mwduck]

John Mackey was not a small man.

[@thomasnorman9536]

Did Jim Brown retire after the 67 season

[@seveglider8406]

Brown retired after the 1965 season.

[@markedwards5904]

20.11 we we are led to wonder about the "tuck rule" :-)

[@eulissbenoit816]

Look how they took the cold weather back then

[@Steve915]

I miss these days of pro football. No showboating players. And fans who came to watch the game, not be a part of it.

[@tjstrong3607]

Great Colts Team--- Shula should have started Johnny U. in SB vs. Jets. Morrall cost Colts at least 21 points..

[@kbrewski1]

Morrall was the 68 NFL MVP. But, yes, he played like George Plimpton in the SB.

[@MarvinClay-ck7zj]

​@@kbrewski1The Jets would've still won Super Bowl III. Unitas was hurt all year with a tear in his right elbow. His arm was not strong in 68.

[@kbrewski1]

@MarvinClay-ck7zj Why are you addressing this to me, and not the original commenter?

[@MarvinClay-ck7zj]

@@kbrewski1 my apologies

[@debbiehenson1096]

He wad payed well to throw the game.

[@anilnanda5012]

Browns were in a Championship game?!

[@kbrewski1]

They played in 4 of the last 6 old school NFL Championships. 64, 65, 68, 69. Only won 1 of them.

[@mwduck]

Odd rule that required 13-1 Baltimore to travel to Cleveland for the NFL championship game.

[@bradleyholt9805]

I think it was predetermined B4 season that one division would play at the other. The undefeated Miami team in '72 played the AFC Championship game on the road, at Pittsburgh. Go figure?

[@mwduck]

@@bradleyholt9805 that's just ignert!

[@Steve915]

In the NFL, prior to the merger with the AFL in 1970, the championship game was alternated between the Western Conference champion and Eastern Conference champion each year. The team records had nothing to do with who got the home field.

[@mwduck]

@@Steve915 Which is an odd rule, in my view.

[@michaelleroy9281]

Even numbered years Eastern Conference had the Championship game odd numbered years it was the Western Conference until the merger

[@Jiltedin2007]

Baltimore 34, Cleveland 0

[@alanstrong3295]

The Browns must have gotten to bed late the night before.

[@russelljohnson7067]

Football was better back then

[@massvt3821]

In retrospect, it's hard to see how the Colts went 13-1 during 1968. They seemed painfully slow, and players like Earl Morrill never played as well as they did in '68. No speed in the backfield, and not a whole lot in the WR department, either. Only Lenny Lyles had good speed in the secondary. I honstly think that either Oakland or Kansas City would have beaten Baltimore in the Super Bowl, too..

[@davidcarter5813]

If the Colts had played in the AFL West Division in 1968 they would not have made the playoffs. They would have finished behind Oakland and Kansas City with 9-5 record, two losses each to those teams and another to New York or San Diego. They could not compete against fast teams with very superb QBs.

[@brianwolf6166]

I disagree ... Yes, the Colts were slow but played well as a team. This game proves how well Matte could run behind his line and Richardson made clutch catches. Mackey could always break tackles and the defense was excellent with the blitz. The Jets beat them but we dont know what the Chiefs and Raiders could have done. Remember too, the Colts had won ten straight games and had a letdown at the worst time. Those early game mistakes took a lot out of them.

[@newtonminnowowski5193]

Go easy. This has been posted many times before you.

[@PAL-cy2dq]

Sorry just post some of the films that I have in my collection, I did not see it on here before

[@michaelleroy9281]

Forget about SB III being fixed Don Shula would never throw a game

[@brianwolf6166]

Penalties killed the Browns today. Inability to go deep to Warfield to loosen the Colt defense and too much Matte running and Braase pressuring Nelson ...

[@shawnjackson1223]

No offense but all these hits would be considered illegal in today's modern nfl.

[@michaelleroy9281]

The Browns were beaten every possible way they could be beaten

[@MA-vd3ln]

Had Jim Brown stuck with the browns for another 3 4 years the browns would have went on to beat the jets in SB3 cause their ground attack would have been virtually unstoppable

[@BKJJAMALEN]

I am from Baltimore,both my parents were inner city survivors.I am now 61 yrs old and still cannot make myself watch super bowl 3 highlights of any kind.Also Namath in HOF is an absolute joke

[@davidr5961]

Actually, Earl Morrall as mvp that year in the nfl, was sort of a joke. There were about four qb's in the afl that were better (lamonica, dawson, hadl, griese)

[@Stacie45]

The Colts put Namath in the HOF. If the Colts had not choked so bad Namath would have been a footnote in history.

[@hamburg1306]

Disagree. Your not giving Namath his due. Sounds like lingering sour grapes. Watch KZbin video from 1971 GOW when he came back from injury against the 49ers. No one threw the ball like Joe and look at respect he got from his peers.

[@hamburg1306]

Also Colts were a great team and Jets played a great game to defeat them. The same D line that overwhelmed Browns was manhandled by Jets O line and Matt Snell. Plus Namath’s quick release stymied Colts pass rush. Make no mistake a great Colts team was beaten in that Super Bowl. Much of that team got redemption with Super Bowl V victory.

[@Stacie45]

@@hamburg1306 Namath was great when he had to be but not consistently. John Brodie and Roman Gabriel were arguably better quarterbacks from the era but did not win a championship thus not in the HOF. Namath was in the right place at the right time.

[@russellseilhamer4552]

The 68 Colts were the BEST team in league history not to win the SB. I still wonder if some of those guys weren’t paid off to throw SB3 because it was such a flukish loss and I’m a big Jets fan. 4 INTs and a missed FG, what are the odds? The Colts in 1967 had the best record ever to miss the playoffs at 11-2-1. Oh, and they had an assistant coach named Chuck Noll on that staff. The one thing I hated was when the 70 Colts America’s team thing came on; Colts players kept whining about how empty victory felt because of the loss in SB3. Like how many guys ever win a SB? Come on..... The 70 Colts defense carried that team on its back to a title, the offense was pedestrian at best; Jimmy Orr was gone, Unitas was a shell of his former self after 1967, they traded the Steelers for WR Roy Jefferson but that wasn’t the answer either

[@robd2721]

Just a minor note: Jimmy Orr DID play on the '70 SB team. Unless you were talking about him being beaten out of his starting job? Also, he dressed for SB 5 but I don't think he got in....may have to check on that.

[@williamweeks6633]

All good points, you are a real football historian. True, one should always appreciate a SB ring but the SB 3 loss was so traumatic, both for the team and for the fans, that the win in SB 5 did sort of feel like a consolation prize. 50 years later, the loss to the Jets still stings.

[@MatthewBaumgarten]

Yes I agree especially the Colts Field Goal kicker who missed a field at the beginning of sb lll that he made a couple of times in this game easily, I'm not saying it would of been the difference of winning or losing but the Colts made 2 field goals on Cleveland's field a far worse field than the one down in Miami

[@kdubya-6910]

Don't forget, the highly underrated (if being named to the nfl all decade team of the 60s qualifies!) Bobby Boyd retired after SB 3. He's the only member of the all decade team NOT to be in the HOF.

[@Mark-sj3xb]

Plus the fact that SB5 was such a poorly played game. Neither team played well.

[@markheilman1783]

De

[@hannahjacob6358]

The deeply badger astonishingly slap because ikebana interspecifically hang worth a mere face. accessible, magnificent base

[@kbrewski1]

The Browns had a weird playoff history in the 60s. Because of the Packers and Giants the Browns Jim Brown didn't get an NFL Champ ring until 1964 when they beat the Colts. Then the next year Brown played his final game in a loss to the Packers in the 1965 NFL Champ game. The Cowboys then knocked the Browns out 2 years in a row, then the Browns knocked the Cowgirls out 2 years in a row in 68 and 69. But the Brownies got shellacked 34-0 in this 68 Championship, and then again by the Vikings 27-7 in the last true NFL Championship. Combined 61-7 double shellacking. So the Browns played in 4 of the last 6 NFL Championships, but only won 1 of them.

[@alfonsorolli1645]

“Lou the Toe”