53 years ago today....

[Marv's Neighbor]

The Heidi Game or Heidi Bowl is the name given to a 1968 American Football League (AFL) game between the Oakland Raiders and the visiting New York Jets. The contest, held on November 17, 1968, was notable for its exciting finish, in which Oakland scored two touchdowns in the final minute to win the game 43–32.[1][2] However, a decision by the game's television broadcaster NBC to break away from its coverage on the East Coast to broadcast the television film Heidi caused many viewers to miss the Raiders' comeback.

In the late 1960s, few professional football games took longer than two and a half hours to play, and the three-hour time slot allotted to the Jets and Raiders was thought to be adequate. A high-scoring contest, together with a number of injuries and penalties for the two bitter AFL rivals, caused the game to run longer than usual. NBC executives had originally ordered that Heidi begin at 7:00 p.m. EST, but then decided to allow the game to air to its conclusion. However, communicating this revised plan to the technicians running NBC's master control proved impossible – as 7 p.m. approached, NBC's switchboards were jammed by viewers phoning to inquire about the night's schedule, preventing the planned change from being communicated. Heidi began as scheduled, preempting the final moments of the game and the two Oakland touchdowns in the eastern half of the country, to the outrage of viewers.

Response to the pre-emption by viewers and other critics was negative; the family members of several Jets players were unaware of the game's actual conclusion, while NBC received further criticism for its poor timing in displaying the final score of the game during the Heidi movie. NBC's president Julian Goodman formally apologized for the incident. The Jets and Raiders met again on December 29 in New York in the AFL Championship Game, with the Jets winning 27–23. Two weeks later, they defeated the Baltimore Colts of the National Football League (NFL) in Super Bowl III.

In the aftermath of the incident, NBC installed special "Heidi phones", with a connection to a different telephone exchange from other network phones, to ensure that network personnel could communicate under similar circumstances. The game also had an influence on sports broadcasting practices; the future National Football League would contractually stipulate that all game telecasts be shown to their conclusion in the markets of the visiting team, while other major leagues and events adopted similar mandates. In 1997, the Heidi Game was voted the most memorable regular season game in professional football history.

[Albany,n.y.]

Since I grew up in the NY Metropolitan area in Nassau County, when the game went off TV, I immediately put the game on the Jets station & listened to the radio broadcast.  

[T&C]

When it went off I had to stream it illegally... those were the days.

[Ross Murdock]

I was not quite a teen, but remembered the cut to the movie. My late dad went nuts, and called the local station in Rochester. I don't think they mentioned the final score until about 9pm  I was all about the AFL in those days. The NFL played mostly conservative offences back then, with most QB's passing less than 15/20 times a game. The AFL with "The Mad Bomber (Former Bill) Daryl Lamonica" was the much more entertaining league. The NFL treated the AFL like they were dirt under their fingernails. Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis called the national games on NBC back then, and their broadcasts were much more exciting then stogy CBS. The Heidi game showed that the AFL was getting huge audiences, and the NFL could no longer just ignore the upstart league. The NFL-AFL merger took place two years later. No doubt the Heidi game (And Joe Namath) had an impact on that decision.      

[Albany,n.y.]

14 minutes ago, Ross Murdock said:

I was not quite a teen, but remembered the cut to the movie. My late dad went nuts, and called the local station in Rochester. I don't think they mentioned the final score until about 9pm  I was all about the AFL in those days. The NFL played mostly conservative offences back then, with most QB's passing less than 15/20 times a game. The AFL with "The Mad Bomber (Former Bill) Daryl Lamonica" was the much more entertaining league. The NFL treated the AFL like they were dirt under their fingernails. Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis called the national games on NBC back then, and their broadcasts were much more exciting then stogy CBS. The Heidi game showed that the AFL was getting huge audiences, and the NFL could no longer just ignore the upstart league. The NFL-AFL merger took place two years later. No doubt the Heidi game (And Joe Namath) had an impact on that decision.      

Here is the real story:  The merger was agreed upon on June 8, 1966, more than 2 years before the Heidi game.  The agreement was for the leagues to be separate for 4 more seasons & then merge into 1 league, effective in 1970.  So the Heidi game & AFL ratings in 1968 had nothing to do with the merger.  The 1st common draft was in 1967 as was the 1st Super Bowl (after the 1966 season). 

The Jets upset of the Colts in Super Bowl III made the merger more acceptable to the fans, but also had nothing to do with the merger agreement, that as I have already stated, was made on June 8, 1966.  

[RiotAct]

46 minutes ago, T&C said:

When it went off I had to stream it illegally... those were the days.

Tin foil and wire hangers?

[Albany,n.y.]

1 minute ago, RiotAct said:

Tin foil and wire hangers?

I've actually watched a game like that in 1987.  I was living in Suffolk County Long Island and a friend whose wife is from Buffalo lived further east than me.  The Bills/Patriots game was being broadcast in Connecticut & we put an antenna with tin foil on a hockey stick & moved it around his patio until we had the best signal we could get.  We were able to watch the entire broadcast from the Connecticut station in Shirley NY.  

[Marv's Neighbor]

49 minutes ago, Ross Murdock said:

I was not quite a teen, but remembered the cut to the movie. My late dad went nuts, and called the local station in Rochester. I don't think they mentioned the final score until about 9pm  I was all about the AFL in those days. The NFL played mostly conservative offences back then, with most QB's passing less than 15/20 times a game. The AFL with "The Mad Bomber (Former Bill) Daryl Lamonica" was the much more entertaining league. The NFL treated the AFL like they were dirt under their fingernails. Curt Gowdy and Al DeRogatis called the national games on NBC back then, and their broadcasts were much more exciting then stogy CBS. The Heidi game showed that the AFL was getting huge audiences, and the NFL could no longer just ignore the upstart league. The NFL-AFL merger took place two years later. No doubt the Heidi game (And Joe Namath) had an impact on that decision.      

You are right about the AFL.  I miss the red striped ref jerseys.  JFK was assassinated on a Friday.  Out of respect, the AFL did not play that following Sunday.  The NFL, being all about the $$$, even then, played.  Oswald was killed on Sunday, and that was the day's big news, so not sure how many viewers the NFL had that weekend.

[Mark Vader]

Thanks for the write up @Marv's Neighbor. I've always enjoyed this story.

 

One thing I've always been curious about, was the "Heidi" movie the Shirley Temple version?

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

3 hours ago, Albany,n.y. said:

Since I grew up in the NY Metropolitan area in Nassau County, when the game went off TV, I immediately put the game on the Jets station & listened to the radio broadcast.  

 

My father and I did the exact same, initially we waited a minute or so assuming the game would come back on TV so by the time we got the radio on, the Raiders had already scored the first TD and just as we turned it on, the Jets fumbled the KO return for the 2nd TD to the Raiders.

 

I was a bit surprised to hear that happened on this date as if you had asked me, I'd have said early to mid December.  Then again mid November was late season back then. LOL 

 

Do also recall listening to the AFL championship game that the Jets won as was mentioned also on the radio as we also lived in the NYC area and home games were all blacked out back then on TV regardless of sellout or not.  Imagine that happening today!

 

Was a bad 18 months for Baltimore:  April 1968 Knicks beat Baltimore Bullets beleive it was 4 straight, Jets beat the Colts in Jan 69, and in Oct 69 Mets beat the Orioles 4 games to 1 I believe it was.

 

 

 

[JohninMinn.]

I was 12 and watching with dad and poppa. Great memories.

[Marv's Neighbor]

3 hours ago, Mark Vader said:

Thanks for the write up @Marv's Neighbor. I've always enjoyed this story.

 

One thing I've always been curious about, was the "Heidi" movie the Shirley Temple version?

No it was not.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

 

[Bob in STL]

I remember my Dad going nuts about it not seeing the end of the game.  We were big time Bills and AFL fans.  I was upset too.  My mother and sister were on board with Heidi though. 

[BuffalOhio]

38 years ago on this date, I graduated United States Coast Guard Basic Training.  Joining Uncle Sam's Confused Group was the best decision I have ever made.  Didn't realize it was on the same day of the year as the Heidi Game, LOL!

[hondo in seattle]

I was 9 years in 1968, growing up in Cheektowaga, and just starting to develop an interest in football.  

 

No one in my family was a Bills fan so fandom for me was not automatic.  The first pro game I saw was the Cleveland Browns (of the old NFL Century Division) against the Dallas Cowboys.  Since the Browns were losing when I turned on the tv, I naturally rooted for them.  They came back to win and for a while I was a devoted Browns fan.

 

A friend down the street, though, was a big Raiders fan.  For whatever reason, a lot of kids in the neighborhood were not Bills fans in those days.  Anyway, my Raider friend was pissed by the Heidi Bowl and talked about it for hours the following day.

[First Round Bust]

and as part of this fiasco two-minute warning (to clear pending commercials) was born

[Yawning Frog]

I was only 3 so I don remember it.

[WotAGuy]

Why do you jerks keep reminding me how old I am?