1965 American Football League Championship Game

Background

The defending champion Bills entered the game as 6½ point underdogs; and tied the Thanksgiving rematch at twenty points each.

Game summary

In favorable 60 F conditions on the day after Christmas, Of the ten AFL title games, this was the only shutout: the Chargers had advanced to five of the first six, but won only one, in 1963.

Bills' quarterback Jack Kemp, the league's most valuable player, was named MVP of the game;

This was the last AFL Championship to end the season; the AFL–NFL merger agreement was made the following June, and the first Super Bowl followed the 1966 season.

Box score

Scoring

• First quarter
• Second quarter
  • BUF – Ernie Warlick 18-yard pass from Jack Kemp (Pete Gogolak kick). Bills 7–0
  • BUF – Butch Byrd 74-yard punt return (Pete Gogolak kick). Bills 14–0
• Third quarter
  • BUF – Pete Gogolak 11-yard field goal. Bills 17–0
  • BUF – Pete Gogolak 39-yard field goal. Bills 20–0
• Fourth quarter
  • BUF – Pete Gogolak 32-yard field goal. Bills 23–0 Top passers
• BUF – Jack Kemp – 8/19, 155 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
• SD – John Hadl – 11/23, 140 yards, 2 INT Top rushers
• BUF – Wray Carlton – 16 rushes, 63 yards
• SD – Paul Lowe – 12 rushes, 57 yards Top receivers
• BUF – Bo Roberson – 3 receptions, 88 yards
• SD – Lance Alworth – 4 receptions, 82 yards

Officials

• Referee: Jim Barnhill
• Umpire: Walt Parker
• Head linesman: Henry Kessel
• Back judge: Jack Reader
• Field judge: Ben Dreith
• Alternate: Elvin Hutchison

The AFL still had five game officials in 1965; the NFL added a sixth official this season, the line judge. The AFL went to six officials in 1966, and the seventh official, the side judge, was added in .

Referee Jim Barnhill died less than three months after this game; while officiating a basketball playoff game in Wisconsin, he collapsed and died at age 45.

Statistics

Players' shares

The winning Bills players were allocated $5,189 each, while the Chargers players received $3,447 each. This was twice as much as the previous year and about 70% of the players' shares for the NFL championship game.

Because of the smaller venue, the attendance was nearly 10,000 lower than 1964, but the television money was increased with NBC.

Aftermath

This game marked the first time the AFL Championship Game was televised in color, and the last time that a final pro football championship was decided in December, within the same calendar year as regular season games (the 1965 NFL Championship Game was played on January 2, 1966). The following season would conclude with the first Super Bowl played in January 1967.

This is the last professional American football championship game to have been won by a team from Buffalo, New York, as well as the last of any major league team from the city. Indeed, the fortunes of both teams would subsequently wane. The Bills would not appear in another championship game until Super Bowl XXV when the infamous Wide Right occurred, and would also proceed to lose the next three Super Bowls. The Chargers meanwhile would not appear in another championship until Super Bowl XXIX, which they lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 49–26. San Diego and Buffalo currently have the longest and second-longest championship droughts respectively for any city that has at least two major sports franchises.

References

References

1. (December 27, 1965). "Buffalo wins AFL crown". Milwaukee Sentinel.
2. Markus, Robert. (December 27, 1965). "Buffalo wins AFL crown". Chicago Tribune.
3. Shrake, Edwin. (January 3, 1966). "The Bills come storming in".
4. (October 11, 1965). "Bills suffer setback". Toledo Blade.
5. (November 26, 1965). "Bills tied, but clinch tie for crown". Milwaukee Sentinel.
6. (November 26, 1965). "Pro football's leaders battled by foes to holiday standoffs". Eugene Register-Guard.
7. (December 27, 1965). "'Bills won by clawing, digging' says MVP Kemp". Milwaukee Sentinel.
8. (June 9, 1966). "How merger will operate". Milwaukee Sentinel.
9. Schramm, Tex. (June 20, 1966). "Here's how it happened".
10. link. (December 11, 2008)
11. (March 12, 1966). "Official dies at tourney". Milwaukee Journal.
12. [http://champsorchumps.us/ Champs or Chumps - Longest Championship Droughts]