Category: History and More

Fifty years ago, the NFL was ready for a makeover.

Despite a work stoppage that disrupted the preseason, the league entered the 1974 campaign hoping to fend off a challenge from the new World Football League by adding some excitement to the established professional game.

With fans complaining about too much defense and not enough explosive plays, league officials decided to open things up with some major rule changes.

The WFL had already thrown down the offensive gauntlet with radical innovations such as touchdowns being worth seven points, an “action point” to replace the PAT, one back allowed in motion toward the line of scrimmage, the elimination of fair catches on punts, kickoffs from the 30-yard line, and an overtime period divided into two, seven and a half minute segments.

The NFL wasn’t willing to go quite as far as the upstarts, but did make some significant tweaks:

• Kickoffs from the 35-yard line
• Goal posts situated at the back of the end zone
• Prohibiting the offensive team from moving downfield until the ball was kicked on punts
• The addition of a sudden death overtime period for regular season games. The first team to score in O.T. would win, and if the score was still tied after 15 minutes the game would end in a tie.

All 26 NFL teams got a taste of the new rules during the exhibition slate, and during one weekend the overtime procedure was used in three different games. But in the second week of the 1974 regular season, fans finally experienced an official bonus round of football, courtesy of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Denver Broncos.

In 1973 the league standings were littered with ties, with Cleveland, Kansas City, Denver, and Green Bay each having two draws on their worksheet and six other teams involved in stalemates. In fact, there had been 256 ties since the NFL was formed in 1920.

During contract negotiations in the summer of 1974 (which led to a brief strike) the NFL Players Association demanded that the overtime rule be scrapped.

“We reject this demand on the basis that it subjects the players to undue risk of injury and because the rule constitutes a unilateral change in working conditions,” wrote NFLPA executive director Ed Garvey.

However, once play began, the new rule was in place.

“I think it’s important for a team to control its own destiny,” Kansas City Chiefs coach Hank Stram said to United Press International. “As a result, I think it’s good we will have an opportunity to win a football game by the sudden-death rule.”

With an extra quarter to settle the issue, the chances of a game ending without a winner decreased dramatically. And after 60 minutes at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, the Broncos and Steelers had an even split of 70 points.

At 35-35, offense had already won the day, so it stood to reason the NFL’s new rule would result in its intended consequence.

Unfortunately, while there were plenty of points scattered across the first 60 minutes, there were none in the extra 15.

Jim Turner had a chance to win it for Denver late in overtime, but his 41-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. And when the horn sounded after 75 minutes of football time (and three hours, forty-nine minutes of real time) the issue still hadn’t been settled.

“I don’t think either team deserved to lose, and neither team did,” Denver coach John Ralston said in a Greely Daily Tribune story. “We had our shot and they had theirs. I think it is very fitting to end in a tie.”

Even so, Ralston hinted that another rule change might’ve been better.

“If we had (the 2-point conversion) rule, that would’ve decided it, likely without overtime,” Ralston said. “But 15 minutes of extra playing is enough.”

Pittsburgh boss Chuck Noll was relieved his team didn’t lose, but would’ve preferred to have earned the tie the old-fashioned way.

“I don’t like the idea of overtime,” Noll told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I have a tired football team that has to get ready to play next week. If we’d have one of these every week, it’d kill our team.”

Obviously, the Steelers didn’t have to play five quarters every week, although overtimes have been quite common over the last half century. The only other O.T. contest in 1974 was between the New York Jets and New York Giants, with the Jets winning, 26-20, after scoring a touchdown at the 6:53 mark of the fifth quarter.

There have been 29 regular season ties since 1974, with the last coming on December 4, 2022, when the New York Giants and Washington Commanders finished at 20-20. Starting with the 2017 season, O.T. periods were shortened to 10 minutes.

College football has already figured out to way to make sure every game ends with a winner, and perhaps the NFL will, too – someday. Until then, there’s always a chance both teams will get a share of the spoils.

Fifty years ago today, the National Football League wrapped up its exhibition slate in preparation for a September 15 start to the 1974 season.

On the plus side, it had survived a strike that lasted from July 1 to August 10, losing only the College All-Star Game to the work stoppage. However, the labor dispute opened the door for the fledgling World Football League, which began its inaugural season on July 10.

And while the WFL was starting to look shaky by September, it had already shaken up the senior circuit by signing Larry Csonka, Paul Warfield and Jim Kiick to 1975 contracts.

That trio helped the Miami Dolphins log a perfect season in 1972, and win a second consecutive Super Bowl in 1973. But they’d be lame ducks as Miami tried for a three-peat, lured away to the Memphis Southmen for 1975.

Actually, they were signed by the Toronto Northmen on March 31, 1974. The franchise, owned by Canadian businessman John Bassett, moved to Tennessee just over a month later. Bassett received pushback from some of that country’s government offcials – who wanted to protect the Canadian Football League – and opted to take his team south of the border.

The three-year, $3.86-million deal (Csonka got $1.4 million) was far and away the WFL’s biggest splash.

“I’m not a kid coming out of college anymore,” Csonka told the Tampa Bay Times for a September 8, 1974 story. “I’m not leaving a million dollars on the table. My dad didn’t raise any stupid kids.”

The contracts, as you might expect, were a hot topic of conversation among the Dolphins as they entered their final season before the band broke up.

“We are professionals,” Csonka said. “We will play like professionals no matter what city we’re in. We’re extremely anxious to leave the Dolphins and NFL winners.”

Csonka, at 28, was the NFL’s top fullback and coming off his second consecutive 1,000-yard season. He was named MVP of Super Bowl VIII, scoring two touchdowns and racking up 145 yards in Miami’s 24-7 victory over Minnesota.

Warfield wasn’t targeted a lot due to the Dolphins’ run-heavy attack in 1973, but he made his catches count. He closed the year with 29 receptions for 514 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Kiick was entering his sixth season with Don Shula’s juggernaut, and had added incentive to jump leagues after playing behind Mercury Morris for much of 1973. The result was a career-low 257 yards on 76 carries and no regular season touchdowns.

Yet, a sampling of other Dolphins suggested there were no hard feelings.

“There isn’t a player in professional football who wouldn’t jump to the new league for the kind of money they got,” safety Dick Anderson told the Times. “I can’t blame them. You can only play this game so long. And if you take a beating like Csonka does every game, you’d understand.”

Added guard Larry Little, “I’m glad for them. It’s an opportunity. I’m just sorry I’m not going up there with them.”

Shula, for his part, seemed unconcerned about any short-timers attitude, especially from his workhorse.

“I had a long talk with Larry after he got back from Toronto and he said he was going to give it everything he had to win a third Super Bowl,” he said.

While it had to be tough for Miami faithful to know the three would be gone once the season ended, they obviously gave their best to their future former team.

Csonka played in 12 games with 11 starts in 1974, picking up 749 yards and scoring nine touchdowns. Those stats are even more impressive considering he had to deal with shoulder and foot injuries.

Warfield, meanwhile, earned Pro Bowl honors, snagging 27 passes for 536 yards and two touchdowns.

Kiick finished with 274 ground yards and scored once, bettering his numbers from the previous campaign.

In their final game before becoming Bassett’s employees – a 28-26 loss to the homestanding Oakland Raiders in the AFC playoffs – Csonka rumbled for 114 yards, while Warfield had three catches for 47 yards and a TD.

“Until I get back to Miami, I’m still very much a Dolphin,” Csonka told the Miami Herald after the game. “I think we had the best football dynasty ever and they’ll be chasing that one for a long time. See this ring on my finger? Nobody can take that from me.

“But football is a ‘now’ game. The past means a lot to individuals, but to the fans it’s next week that’s important. The Miami fans are a great group … I sure hate to leave them.”

Alas, there would be no repeat in the Dolphins’ swan song.

In fact, the franchise hasn’t won a Super Bowl since.

As for Csonka, Warfield and Kiick’s WFL days, they were short (the league folded after 12 games) and hardly dazzling from a statistical standpoint.

Kiick was the second leading rusher on the Southmen with 462 yards on 121 carries and nine touchdowns; Csonka was third with 421 yards on 99 totes and one score; and Warfield had 25 catches for 422 yards and three TDs.

Csonka played four more NFL seasons in his Hall of Fame career, three with the New York Giants (1976-78) and a last hurrah with Miami.

Warfield – also a Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee – suited up for Cleveland in 1976 and 1977, finishing his playing days in the place he started before joining Miami in 1970.

Kiick spent the 1976 season with Denver and played four games with the Broncos in 1977 before being traded to Washington where he appeared in just one game and then retired.

Starting every game with the Dolphins in 1979, Csonka had 837 yards and a career-high 12 touchdowns.

In 2017, Csonka wrote this on his larrycsonka.com blog:

“I do not regret my decision to jump to the WFL.  It was a business decision.  We all had families and the money offered would help secure our futures after football.  None of us wanted to leave Miami but there was too big a gap in salary and (Miami owner Joe) Robbie wouldn’t even consider discussing our current contracts.  I am happy Coach Shula and I were able to come to terms in 1979 and I was able to end my career with him and the Miami fans.”

Today, the Atlanta Falcons are gearing up for the 2024 season under first-year head coach Raheem Morris, hoping to rebound from a 7-10 campaign that saw the end of Arthur Smith’s tenure.

Fifty-nine years ago today, the franchise was slapped on the butt and brought to life as the National Football League’s newest bouncing baby boy.

Before the birth, however, there was some question about paternity.

Because while it marked the debut of big-league football in the Deep South, it also highlighted yet another battle between the NFL and American Football League.

On June 9, 1965, the AFL granted Atlanta an expansion club for 1966 in hopes of beating the NFL – which was also wooing the Southern metropolis – to the punch. The eight-team rival to the 14-team senior circuit had already rapidly closed the talent gap, and after playing five mostly successful seasons, it was looking to expand its footprint.

The Cox Broadcasting Corporation was awarded the AFL franchise for $7.5 million, but there was still a major roadblock to clear; the Atlanta Stadium Authority informed both football leagues that it would wait until July 1 to make any deal concerning rental of its new 57,000-seat facility, which was completed on April 9, 1965, at a cost of $18 million.

“It is not up to us to choose among responsible owners holding franchises for 1966,” the authority said in a written statement. “A committee has been appointed to negotiate with any other applicants. July 1 is the deadline.”

AFL commissioner Joe Foss suggested to United Press International that a place to play wouldn’t be an issue.

“(Cox Broadcasting Corporation) has given us reasonable assurance that it would have the new stadium in which to play in Atlanta,” he said.

It just so happened that NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle was in Atlanta the same day the AFL made its announcement, further muddying the waters.

“Atlanta is a prime prospect for NFL expansion,” Rozelle told the Associated Press. “We could expand with no trouble in 1966. We have discussed this.”

By June 11 there were already rumors that the stadium authority was ready to make a deal with the NFL. On June 12, the Nashville Banner broke the story that Atlanta would, in fact, be joining the NFL and the AFL franchise would be “returned to the league.”

On June 30 – one day before the deadline issued by the Atlanta Stadium Authority – 39-year-old Atlanta businessman Rankin Smith brought the NFL to Georgia for $9 million.

“It’s a life-long dream,” Smith said in a UPI story. “Doesn’t every adult male in America want to own his own football team?”

An agreement was quickly reached to play in the city’s venue (christened Atlanta Stadium and later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).

“I can only say that this is a great day for Atlanta,” Rozelle told AP. “But, more than for Atlanta, it’s a great day for the National Football League.”

There was immediate speculation about who the head coach would be, ranging from Paul Brown to Bud Wilkinson to Frank Broyles. The biggest news, though, was that the NFL outmaneuvered the AFL in securing an untapped market coveted by both.

To the AFL’s credit, league offcials took the setback in stride – at least publicly.

“We wish Atlanta the best,” Milt Woodard, assistant commissioner of the AFL, said. “We win some and lose some.”

Thus, Atlanta became the flagship of the NFL’s Southeast connection, which now includes the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars and Tennessee Titans. Speaking of the Dolphins, they became the ninth AFL franchise in 1966, giving that organization a southern locale after all.

And in the end, things worked out quite well for all involved as the 16-team NFL and 10-team AFL merged in 1970 to form what has grown into pro football’s 600-pound gorilla.