Storyline: It was an all-Texas championship game, Houston against Dallas. Dallas won in two overtimes.
Super Bowl LI was the first Super Bowl to go into overtime in the 51-year history of Super Bowls. But it wasn’t the first pro football championship that went into overtime. That game was played December 23, 1962.
George Blanda (photo, Encyclopedia Britannica)
It was in the old American Football League (AFL) between the Eastern champ Houston Oilers and the Western champ Dallas Texans. The Oilers, led by veteran Quarterback George Blanda, were looking for their third consecutive AFL title. The Texans, coming in as underdogs, had a 11-3 record, the same as the Oilers.
The game was played at Jeppesen Stadium with 37,981 fans attending. Astronaut Gus Grissom was the honorary referee and placed the ball on the kicking tee. But it was length of the game that made this game special: it was the longest championship game in the history of football. Chris Berman referenced that fact during Super Bowl LI.
The Texans ended up winning the game, 20-17. The game was tied 17-17, heading into the first overtime. Dallas won the toss, but elected to kick to the Oilers because Dallas wanted a strong wind in its favor. The first overtime was scoreless. Then, in the second OT period, a player named Tommy Brooker kicked a 25-yard field goal to win the game. Back then, the team that scored first won the game.
Maybe we’ll have another Super Bowl overtime game soon. Or it might take another 50 years. Only time will tell.
Oh, one other historical note…. As fate would have it, that 1962 game would be the last game ever for Dallas. The team moved to Missouri and became the Kansas City Chiefs.
