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Super Bowl I was televised on both NBC & CBS, & crews shared some equipment. There were 30,000 empty seats in the L.A. Coliseum. The Packers had eight Negro players, the Chiefs probably 10. The flashiest of the 18 was Fred Williamson, who rocked spats, & went by "The Hammer"
SB II the Packers had eight Negro players, including rookies Travis "The Roadrunner" Williams & Claudis James ("Jiminy Cricket"). Oakland had maybe 11 Black players. One, Richard Sligh, is listed as 7'0" tall.
F/ SB III, one of the Colts' captains was Lenny Lyles, one of the Jets' captains was Johnny Sample. They were former teammates. When Lyles pl. f/ Louisville he was a boyhood hero of Cassius Clay. Weeb Ewbank had coached the Colts to a title. NBC aired the game. The call is great
The Chiefs played in SB IV w/ 12 Black starters, and eight Black reserves- the Blackest team in pro football. All but a handful were fr. HBCU's. The Vikings started six Black players & had three on the bench or special teams.
IIRC the '69-'70 Chiefs were the first team to play in a Super Bowl w/ a Black asst. coach- Lionel Taylor
SB V featured Duane Thomas. So did SB VI. When he was asked it if was "...the ultimate game?", Thomas responded "If it's the ultimate (game), how come they're playing it again next year?"
CBS' Tom Brookshier asked Thomas, "Are you that fast?" Thomas replied, "Evidently." Instant hero in The Community. Thomas-a smooth, sliding runner, had been Mercury Morris' blocking back @ West Texas State.
The first Super Bowl featured an HBCU band as halftime performers. Became a staple f/ a while
Green Bay ran a sucker play, & Gale Gillingham pulled to block an oncoming Williamson. Gilly's knee collided w/ Williamson's helmet, knocking him cold. On the sidelines- Willie Wood. "Guess who got it? The Hammer"
