• First downs: Jets 10 Colts 6
• Rushing yards: Jets 70 Colts 92
• Passing: Jets 16-10-0/109 Colts 15-5-3/71
• Total yardage: Jets 179 Colts 163
• Number of plays: Jets 36 Colts 28

The teams went to the locker room with the Jets surprisingly leading 7-0 after the Colts missed a great chance to tie the score on the last play of the half.

• The Colts had first-and-10 inside the Jets 20 three times in the first half and came away with zero points.
• Morrall had thrown more than 300 passes during the season with only 17 interceptions. But he had been picked off three times in 14 attempts in the first half.
• One way to explain what happened in the first half was that the Colts suffered from the same syndrome that the first two AFL Super Bowl participants fell into. They lost their poise when breaks or turnovers went against them.
• Another possibility is that the Colts felt pressure not only to win but to win big to live up to their 17-point favorite status. That might be particularly true of Morrall, who had made NFL MVP by playing a measured, mistake-free game but in the first half seemed to be trying to force the action.

• Earl Morrall: I heard Jimmy (Orr) screaming as we headed for the locker room. "Didn't you see, Earl? Didn't you see me?" I told him, "No, Jimmy, I didn't." I had to turn to my right in order to take the pass from Matte and when I looked up, Jimmy wasn't in my line of vision. Jerry Hill was, so I went to him. ... I was beginning to think that the stars were against us or something.
• The Colts seemed stunned as they entered their dressing room. Matte looked to the heavens and shook his head. LB Mike Curtis had a different reaction. Angered by the offense's inability to score, he shouted obscenities. He was also frustrated that the Jets had run away from him the entire first half.
• Morrall: The fact that we hadn't scored was tough for me to take. ... That goose egg up there represents failure, and when you're the quarterback, you feel it more deeply than anyone else. I tried to wipe from my mind all the things that had gone wrong - the botched pass to Willie, the ball that Mackey had dropped, Beverly's fluke interception, the ball that had slipped through Lyles' fingers, the missed field goals and the muffed flea flicker. God, it was a long list. If any single one of these had gone our way, the game would have been turned around. The whole thing was incredible, like some evil dream. I marveled at the fact that the Jets weren't two or three touchdowns ahead, not just one.
• Morrall: When we got together in the locker room, Shula started to talk, and he was hot. I had seen him like this only a couple times before ... He was saying, "We're making stupid mistakes. We're stopping ourselves. You've got them believing in themselves. You've got them believing they're better than we are." It lasted three or four minutes, and it really got us mad. We went out on the field for the second half with fire pouring out of our eyes. Don told his team, Let's go out there and take charge of the game the way we know we can.
• Bubba Smith, with no sacks in the first half, smoked one cigarette after another. He recalled: I think we even got to believing what the papers said - that we were going to win by 17, 18 points. It was a shock when the Jets got in front of us. Bubba asked his D-coordinator Bill Arnsparger, What's happening to us? Frustrated that the Jets were running away from him, Smith also had a suggestion for Shula. Place me in the middle of the defense so I can get into the flow of the game. Don's response was curt. Just play your position. Bubba shrugged. Hey, man, it's your team.
• Mackey thought about how unprepared the Colts were for the game. They thought it was an automatic win. We cut up the shares at the pregame meal.
• Some Colts thought about the relaxed preparation of the previous week. Curtis: Some of the guys brought their wives and families with them. The kids were running around, raising hell.
• Shula made a decision at halftime that he kept to himself. He would give Earl one series in the second half to show he could move the team. If he failed, he would send in Unitas.
• Heading back to the field, Shula told one of his assistants, Damn it, the flea-flicker is designed especially for Orr. Morrall's supposed to look for him. What in hell is happening?

• Ewbank wasn't surprised by what happened in the first half. He knew the Colts weren't the unbeatable machine that the "self-designated experts" of the media made them out to be. The game plan was working. There was no need to make any major changes. But to avoid overconfidence, he told his team, We've only got one more half to go. But I want you to think of the score as 0-0. I want us to go out there and play like we have to win the game in the second half, not just hold the lead.
• Offensive coordinator Clive Rush hadn't suggested a single play to Namath the first half. Just stay with it, he told Joe. Do things the way we did in the first half. Joe told defensive captain Sample that he wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. The defense is holding up good. There's no sense taking a chance on something happening. Keep it up.
• Maynard recalled the approach Namath used throughout the game: We'd get in the huddle, and he'd call, "Play at the line." That meant that we didn't have a set play, that he'd call it when we got up to the line. I'd say he did that almost half the time.
• Atkinson begged the team doctor James Nicholas to let him play despite the separated shoulder he suffered at the end of the first half. Let's get rid of the pain, he told the doc, who gave him a shot of xylocaine. Then trainer Jeff Snedeker taped Al's shoulder pads to his skin. It was a remarkable display of courage, recalled Nicholas.
  Jets defensive assistant Buddy Ryan, who would win another Super Bowl in that capacity with the Bears in 1985, wasn't at all surprised that his unit had shut out the Colts. As Ryan recalled years later: We had the best defense in the American Football League, but nobody remembers that because our quarterback wore white shoes. Elliott and Philbin and Biggs were all great ones. ... Atkinson was a great player. Grantham was undersized, but he could make plays. He made all the calls himself on defense; he studied hard. Hudson was tough and would hit you. Baird was smart. The corners played well. On defense, we knew we were going to play good. We always had. But nobody knew about us.

Second Half

• Quarter 3
  Tim Brown took the kickoff on the goal line and returned to the 25. Morrall: What we intended to do was play sound football, merely to move the ball. No one had panicked; nothing bizarre was planned. The fired-up Colts were more energetic coming out of the huddle for the first play. Matte burst through right tackle for 8y but fumbled when Verlon Biggs tore the ball loose from behind. Ralph Baker recovered for NY at the 38.
  Morrall: This was a jolt. I think it dented our confidence more than anything that happened before. We could see the pattern of the first half beginning to repeat itself, and our poise and assurance began to drain away, little by little ...
  Boozer took a handoff and, of course, ran left to the 30. Snell gained the first down at the 21 as Johnny Unitas warmed up on the Baltimore sideline. A crossbuck to Boozer over the left side gained two as LB Mike Curtis stood him up. Namath threw to Snell in the right flat to the 14. Facing 3rd-and-two, Joe handed to Snell straight ahead on a quick opener to the 11 for another first down. But the defense finally struck when Volz came flying in from his safety position and strung out the sweep to Boozer for a loss of six. Then on the next snap, Bubba Smith burst through and sacked Namath at the 25.
  Smith, whom crowds in Baltimore urged to Kill, Bubba, kill!, recalled: I was dead on toward Joe Willie. I chose to let Namath live. Even though Namath was turning into a quarterback machine, I couldn't cripple him.
  The sack was one of the few plays that Smith made all day.
  Don Maynard: Looking back on it, that was probably one of the great adjustments ever made in football - when Coach Ewbank moved Herman from left guard to right tackle to block Bubba Smith. Haystack(Herman) did a tremendous job.
  On 3rd-and-24, Namath, perhaps still shaken by Smith's sack, threw to Lammons. Logan broke in front of him with nothing by green turf in front of him but dropped the ball. Joe later admitted he should have eaten the ball. So Turner booted a 41y field goal. Jets 10 Colts 0 (10:08)
  Ewbank breathed a sigh of relief. Ten points is a hell of a lot better than seven. Today's announcers would categorize the Jets' advantage as creating a "two possession lead."
  Brown returned 21y to the 26 to start a crucial possession for the Colts. Morrall stayed in at quarterback since the first series had ended abruptly with the fumble. Earl threw down the middle to Mackey but too far. Then Earl dropped the ball off to Hill in the left flat, but Grantham warded off a block and stuck the ball carrier for a loss of one. Passing for the third straight play, Morrall could find no one open and ran out of the pocket to avoid the rush to the 25. Baird took Lee's punt on his 32 but gained nothing on the return.
  Morrall: Shula was waiting for me as I came off the field. He said, "I'm going to put John in. I'm going to give him a chance. We've got to get rolling." I nodded, that's all. Earlier in the year against Cleveland, the team was flat, and Shula put Unitas in to start the third quarter. I really boiled. But not this time. It wasn't hard to take. If I was a coach and my team was being quarterbacked by a guy who couldn't get the ball over the goal line, then I'd sure as hell do something. Namath was bringing the Jets down the field again ... but I hardly noticed what was happening. I paced the sidelines and over and over I kept asking myself what had gone wrong. There never once had been a day like this all season long; never before had we gotten close and not gotten in.
  Namath tossed to Mathis in the right flat to the 34. Then Joe rifled a pass to Sauer on a turn in in front of Lyles to the 47. 1st down. Joe then went long to Maynard down the right sideline, but it looked like Logan was the intended receiver because he was outrunning Don to the ball, which sailed over their heads. A draw play to Boozer advanced the ball to midfield. While moving back with the next snap, Namath threw to TE Lammons over the middle for 12y. Joe took the next snap, stood up, and fired to Maynard, but Boyd knocked it away. Then Joe took a full drop and fired down the middle to Snell between two defenders to the 24. Mathis took the delayed handoff and wiggled for a yard. Retreating deeper to avoid the rush, Namath threw long to Maynard, who made a diving catch beyond the back line of the end zone. Joe hurried to the sideline with what appeared to be an injured passing hand. Babe Parilli replaced him under center and threw low to Sauer on a slant-in from the left. So Turner came on and connected on a 30y field goal. Jets 13 Colts 0 (3:58)
  
  Schmitt and Rasmussen help form pocket for Namath.
  The spotlight was on both sidelines. Would Unitas come in for the Colts? How serious was Namath's injury? Would he be able to continued? A sprained right thumb was the diagnosis after he hit a rusher's helmet on the last pass.
  Dr. Nicholas offered to inject a pain killer into Joe's hand, but the QB refused out of fear that he wouldn't be able to feel the ball.
  On the Colts' sideline, Unitas put his helmet on and prepared to go in. He felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Morrall, who said, Good luck, John.
  Turner's kickoff hit the crossbar of the goal posts on the goal line. So Unitas came in to a crescendo of applause to start the drive from the 20. Could the old pro turn around the offense? Just his stepping on the field injected life into the Colts and made the Jets nervous.
  Colts G Glenn Ressler: We were really frustrated. But when Unitas came in, we felt like we were going to move the ball.
  Matte looked at the calm and cool Unitas in the huddle and thought: There's still time. When John came into the huddle, everyone came to attention. Unitas was the guy; he was the leader. He stepped up.
  Mackey said huddling with Unitas was like being in the huddle with God.
  The Baltimore defense became energized as well. When John went in the game, said Logan, our attitude changed.
  Ewbank recalled, When I saw Unitas, I was scared. I'd seen John do so many great things before.
  Jets' defensive signal caller Grantham: Unitas had a big mental impact on us.
  As was his style, Unitas gave no pep talk but instead was all business. Okay, we gotta get two touchdowns. Let's do it. The Colts sprang to the line of scrimmage. Matte took a handoff around right end for 5y. Then Johnny decided to test his sore elbow. He hit Hill out of the backfield but for no gain. On 3rd-and-five, Unitas took his patented dropback and threw a wobbly pass that was wide of Orr on the left sideline. So the offense trudged off the field as the punting unit came in. Baird fair caught Lee's punt at the Jet 37.
  Namath recalled: I kept a picture of Johnny U. over my bed. To me, he meant one thing: toughness.
  On the sideline, Ewbank couldn't help himself and started coaching his old QB again. Come on, John, don't throw any interceptions, Weeb said to himself.
  During Johnny's first series, Joe started pacing the sideline. When we get the ball, we gotta score, he yelled to his mates. The 13-point lead wasn't safe with Unitas.
  But this was not that Unitas. WR Alex Hawkins: He had no strength in his arm and was off-target and poorly timed-up with his receivers. It was painful to watch.
  The Jets' defense was already stacked against short passes and Unitas couldn't throw long.
  Would Namath continue to pass as much? Snell bulled straight ahead for 3y. Backing up from a rusher, Joe threw to Sauer who dove for the ball at the left sideline but just missed it. Then came a controversial play. George took a slant-in to midfield and fumbled. Baltimore recovered, but the officials ruled the play dead.
  Boyd saw what the Jets were doing and admired their skill. Every time they read a weak safety blitz, Sauer ran an I-cut (inside slant) automatically. He just took off, and Namath hit him with those quick passes.
  Showing no signs of impairment from the injury, Namath threw long to Sauer who had gotten inside of Lyles at the 15 and continued to the 10. That would turn out to be Joe's final pass of the game. Snell ran through right tackle to the six.
  The period ended with no first downs for Baltimore. The Jets ran 24 plays to the Colts' seven.
  END OF Q3: Jets 13 Colts 0
  As the teams changed sides, Namath stopped by the Jets bench and told Ewbank, I'm not going to take any chances. I'm just going to get on the board. You agree with that? Weeb told Namath, Make sure we get points.
  
  Namath throws off his back foot.
• Quarter 4
  Facing six down linemen and three linebackers up close, Namath handed to Snell for 2y. But Curtis jumped too soon, drawing a half-the-distance offside penalty to the three. With the Colts again in goal-line defense, Matt tried to get outside to the left, but Michaels and Volk stopped him for no gain. Mathis hurried through left tackle but got only a yard. So Turner came in for a short field goal from a severe angle to the left of the goal posts. Parilli spotted the ball on the nine for Jim's third three-pointer of the game. Jets 16 Colts 0 (13:26)
  
  Mathis tries to twist into the end zone.
  Pearson appeared to make a mistake by fumbling the kickoff in the end zone, then after a hesitation deciding to run it out. But he broke free to the 27. Unitas threw a quick pass to Mackey who was tackled low by Grantham after a gain of five. Then Matte ran a successful sweep to the right for the Colts' initial first down of the half. From the 38, Unitas threw a quick out to Richardson at the sideline for six more yards.
  Sample pushed the receiver out of bounds and ended up in a cluster of Colts on the sideline. Tom Mitchell ran up and swung his empty helmet across Johnny's head. Sample started to retaliate but, outnumbered, thought the better of it and returned to the field.
  When Matte followed LG Dan Sullivan to the Jets 37, the Colts entered NY territory for the first time this half. The crowd, which had started off for the Colts, then changed to the Jets late in the first half, now returned to Baltimore as the Master worked some of his magic. Then it was Hill's turn to carry, going to the 26. Offside on Philbin was declined in favor of the first down run. Johnny threw his patented out pattern but out of reach of Richardson. Unitas felt pain run up his arm as he threw to Orr slanting into the end zone, but Beverly jumped inside the receiver for his second interception and a touchback.
  Sample, the former Colt, couldn't resist rubbing it in. After the interception, he leaped into the air and slapped the back of Matte's helmet. It looks bad, buddy, he told his former teammate. Tom went after Johnny, who was running toward his bench, but the officials stepped between them before anything untoward happened.
  When Sample reached his sideline, Ewbank asked him, What did you do over at their bench? Nothing, replied the CB. Okay, calm down now, said the ever-cautious Weeb.
  In no hurry, Namath handed to Boozer on a draw play for 2y. Then Snell gained one, Gaubatz making another tackle. Boozer took a pitch around left end and gained one more than the seven needed for a first down. Sauer made a pinning block to clear the path. Snell tried left end, broke a tackle, and continued to the 41. A personal foul penalty on DE Roy Hinton added 15y to the Jets 44. Snell then darted over right guard for 7 more. Matt drew a tremendous hand as he took a rest after gaining 100y. Boozer cracked to the 35. Then Lou Michaels stuffed Mathis at the line of scrimmage. So Turner got another field goal try, but his 42-yarder went just outside the left upright.
  
  Dennis Gaubatz (53) sets his eyes on Matt Snell.
  The two quarterbacks from steel mill towns in Western Pennsylvania provided an interesting contrast. The brash young gunslinger with the shaggy hair and - to some - a motor mouth vs the wizened veteran with a crewcut who spoke quietly when he spoke at all. The Wave of the Future vs the Ghost of NFL Past.
  
  
  From the 20, Unitas threw three straight incompletions. The Colts had no choice but to go for it on 4th down. For once, Johnny was his old self, hitting Orr for 17y to retain possession. After two more errant tosses, the 35-year-old hit Mackey for 11. With 15y tagged on for a personal foul, the ball was placed at the NY 37. Following Matte's 1y run, Unitas connected with Richardson to the 15. Then the man some called the greatest quarterback of all time threw to Orr for 11. Al Atkinson came in late to add a personal foul penalty to the two with 4:14 left. Matte dove to the one as flags flew again. Offsides against NY gave the Colts the down back and kept the ball at the one. Unitas tried to sneak it over but was stopped a half-yard short. Matte tried to jump over but was denied. The ball was placed a foot closer to the goal. Finally, Hill ran through a hole at left tackle to finally put the Colts on the board. With the two-point conversion of the AFL not available, Michaels converted. Jets 16 Colts 7 (3:19)
  
  
  Jerry Hills scores.
  The New York return team reminded each other to watch for the onside kick. Sure enough, Michaels squibbed one to his right. Sauer was in position to recover, but the ball squirted through his hands, and Mitchell pounced on the pigskin for Baltimore at the 44. Volk lay prone on the ground with another head injury. His teammates literally dragged him off the field.
  When the Jets defense came back onto the field, Grantham told the huddle, Poise and execution. Three minutes. That's $5,000 a minute.
  Working the sidelines to conserve time, Unitas threw an out pattern to Richardson to the 38. The clock stopped with exactly three minutes left. Finding his rhythm, Unitas hit Orr to the 34 as the excitement level in the Orange Bowl rose higher and higher. Then another out to Richardson who stepped out at the 19. Next, Willie ran a post pattern, but Sample got a hand in to knock the ball away. Rochester hit Unitas just after he threw. What would Shula do on 4th-and-five? He'd need a field goal and a touchdown to overcome the nine-point deficit, but Michaels was not a sure thing. So he decided not to waste the field position. What a story if The Legend pulled this off. Unitas threw to Orr inside the five, but Grantham knocked it away with 2:21 on the clock.
  As the Jets offense gathered to run out the clock, referee Tommy Bell stepped into the huddle. Now, men, you're champions. Let's finish this game like champions and leave the field with your heads held high. He was responding to the chippiness that had broken out multiple times.
  NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle had watched the game with "mounting astonishment" in the press box alongside Bears owner George Halas and Cleveland owner Art Modell. With a few minutes left on the clock, Pete went down to field level to get to the award presentation. Spotting Pat Summerall, who was working the sideline for NBC radio, Rozelle motioned him over and made a request. Tell me everything you know about the New York Jets.
  Meanwhile, AFL players like Lance Alworth of the Chargers and Len Dawson of the Chiefs began gathering behind the Jets bench.
  Fans began chanting "AFL, AFL, AFL" as the clocked ticked down. The Jets' strategy was the same then as it would be now. Run the ball and make the opponent exhaust his timeouts. Sure enough, Snell gained a yard, and the Colts called their first timeout of the half. Even with the Colts massed for the run, Matt smashed to the 27 to run his tally to 106y. Then Snell ran the same play again for a first down at the 30. After another Baltimore timeout, the workhorse fullback ran through right tackle again for 3y. As Namath called signals for the next play, time ran out and the Jets were penalized 5y with 1:08 showing. Snell again to the 29, then another delay of game. Finally, Snell one more time to the 27, and Shula took his final timeout to make the Jets punt with 0:15. Johnson got it away to Brown who took it going out of bounds on the 34. Unitas threw over the head of Richardson to postpone the celebration one last time. On the final play, Unitas threw to Willie to the 49 to add 15y to the Colts' offensive total.
  FINAL SCORE: JETS 16 COLTS 7

Ewbank shook hands with Shula at midfield.

• We got all the breaks, said Weeb. Your team played well, countered Don. Nice of you to say that, said Ewbank, putting his arm around one of his favorite players on the Colts.
• The Jets carried their coach off the field and dunked him in the shower.
• Shinnick, a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, congratulated Namath. Always remember the Lord, he told Joe. I'll remember that, the victorious quarterback replied.

Namath provided one of the most iconic pictures and piece of video footage by raising his index finger in the #1 symbol as he ran into the shoot to the locker room.

• When he got there, Joe learned that he had won the Sport magazine MVP award - a Dodge Charger.
• That one of those you keep for a year? he asked. No, it's yours to keep was the reply. That's more like it.
• Later, Namath told Snell he thought the running back should have won the award.
  Jets owner Sonny Werblin agreed with his QB. Back in New York, Sonny sent Matt to a Cadillac dealership in New Jersey where they gave him an El Dorado.
  Namath winning MVP meant that the first three of those awards went to former Alabama players since Bart Starr of Green Bay won the first two.

Final statistics

• Time of possession: Jets 36:25 Colts 23:35
• First downs: Jets 21 Colts 18
• Rushing: Jets 43-142 Colts 23-143
• Passing: Jets 27-19-0/195 Colts 41-17-4/181
• Return yardage: Jets 6-10 Colts 8-139
• Fumbles-Lost: Jets 1-1 Colts 1-1
• Penalties: Jets 5-28 Colts 3-23
• Punting average: Jets 4-38.8 Colts 3-44.3
• Attendance: 75,377

Postgame

Jets Locker Room

• AFL President Milt Woodward decreed that there would be no champagne in the Jets locker room, which didn't sit well with the players. Ridiculous, said Namath.
• When Commissioner Rozelle entered to present the Super Bowl trophy, Jim Turner yelled, Hey, Pete! Welcome to the AFL. Rozelle said during the ceremony, It is obvious the New York Jets have taken tremendous strides on behalf of the American Football League.
• Ewbank, dripping from his shower dunking: It was fabulous. Joe called another of his great games. I couldn't pick out one of the players who played poorly. Defense was marvelous, the offensive line was great. The Colts also were great, but we were greater. We didn't make any mistakes. ... This is the start of a new era. ... We did put in a few new wrinkles, such as a couple of pass patterns, but they stuck mostly with a running game when they found it going well. Ball control did it. ... Naturally I was nervous when Joe came out holding his right hand in the fourth quarter because you don't want to lose your QB. But Babe Parilli was ready. With such fine pass protection, I don't believe Joe made a bad call.
• Namath was not entirely hospitable to reporters from NFL cities after the game. He enjoyed rubbing it in, reminding them of how they predicted a dominant performance by the Colts. At first, he said, I only talk to our New York writers. They were the only ones who thought we had a chance. Still he answered questions for nearly 45 minutes after the game ended.
  I hope you guys eat your pads and pencils. ... I want to congratulate the AFL. The AFL is here, and now maybe everybody will believe it. ... It was a long time coming, a long time coming for the whole league. ... I had no doubts. The boy can do anything he sets his mind on doing. I always had confidence we would win. But I didn't know what to expect. But I had a good time. ... The Baltimore Colts are a fine football team, but we had a couple of interceptions, and they dropped the ball. If it hadn't been for that, it might have been a different game. Today we won. We'd win tomorrow or any other time. A reporter asked if Joe felt sorry for Earl Morrall. Better him than me, came the reply.
• Other Jets also chided the media. LB Ralph Baker yelled to his teammates, Hey, you guys hear the latest? We've just been made 14-point underdogs to the College All-Stars.
• When Gerry Philbin was asked if he was surprised, he replied, Yeah. I'm surprised they scored on us. ... He looked around for Sports Illustrated pro writer Tex Maule, who was notorious for his contempt of the AFL. I'm waiting for Tex Maule. When is Maule coming in here? (Maule never showed and later said the outcome of Super Bowl III made him sick. However, he wrote a complimentary article about the Jets and Namath in particular.) We showed them. We proved it. We knew that if we stopped them, Joe would take over. The defense played one of its best games. The linebackers, where we had been a little weak, came through. Look at those interceptions. Four of them. It was a long time coming.
• Snell: All you wrote was how great Matte and Hill were. Go talk to them now. He also had a word for the AFL writers. I didn't even get a vote for the AFL All-Star team.
• Turner: Everybody in America, welcome to the AFL and the New York Jets.
• Grantham: It is so sweet. We were so far down when I joined the club in 1960 that I thought that we would never get to the top. But we came through. The odds were foolish. We were confident that Joe would get the points. Baltimore undersold our defense.
• Sample: We're the greatest team. We put the Baltimore offense and defense to shame. When Earl Morrall released the ball, our defensive backs were racing to the ball. We read him pretty good. And I'll tell you, I feel pretty good. I've been thinking about this game for three years - every day.
• Elliott: How about our defensive backs? They played one hell of a game. I want to know who's got the No. 1 defense now.
• Philbin: I just hope this changes some people's minds about our league.
• Walt Michaels: It was execution and great play by our safetymen. And I can't say enough about our linebackers. We sacrificed by letting the linebackers help out against passes. We didn't think their runners could go all the way. And they didn't.
• Sauer: I believe I was the primary receiver on all except three passes tossed in my direction. Joe just put that ball in there. He truly was great.
• Lammons: Personally, I went into the game expecting to win and we did. I am not a defeatist. If I were, I wouldn't be playing football.
• Taormini: I've played pro ball for nine years, and I've felt pride in contributing to my team. The American Football League has come a long way. But my career has more meaning now because I can hold my head up with anyone, like a Hickerson at Cleveland or a Kramer at Green Bay.
• Reporters ignored Don Maynard, who served as a decoy the whole game. I'm just happy we won, and if the Colts don't believe it, they can look up at the scoreboard. And if they still don't believe it, tell them to come around and take a look at my check.
• The crowd in the locker room was augmented by numerous players from other AFL teams. Bobby Bell of Kansas City: I'll bet you 200-something players from the AFL came in the locker room. I was there. We were like family, man. We all stuck together.

Colts Locker Room

• Shula: I hate to see it all go down the drain. We just couldn't get going. I hate to face the winter after all the things we've accomplished. But they deserved to win. We didn't make the plays. ... You've got to give Namath credit the way he moved their offense. We didn't play our ball game. It's tough not playing it in a game like this. I had a lot of respect for them, and I think our team had a lot of respect. We still didn't get it done, and they did. It's going to be a long winter. The Jets running game didn't surprise Don. We saw films where they ran real good. Matt Snell is a fine back, and he proved it today. On Namath: He was all we had heard. A fine football player. He beat our blitz three or four times, and we beat him only once.
• Unitas: They beat us pretty good. We moved the ball fairly well, but we didn't make the big plays. ... Time ran out on us.
  Unitas went to his grave believing that the Colts would have beaten the Jets if he had started the game or at least taken over at the beginning of the second half. A number of the other players expressed the same opinion over the years.
• Billy Ray Smith: They just walked out there and beat us. They didn't beat us physically. They just beat us. When you're No. 1, you're the best, but when you're No. 2, you're nothing. His voice choking with emotion, the 33-year-old veteran added, I'm liable to be as old as Methuselah by the time we get to be No. 1. He had nothing but praise for Namath. He did it all. He threw the ball short a little. He threw the ball long a little. He ran the ball a little. He had it all going and so they won. I just couldn't quite get to him. ... We let down our teammates and the entire National Football League. My pride is bent.
• C Bill Curry: We played 10 or 12 teams as good as the Jets in our league. I don't mean that as sour grapes, but we didn't play our game. The turnovers were the story of the game. We had them. They didn't.
  Years later, Tom Matte recalled Super Bowl III this way: Namath played O.K. He didn't set the world on fire, and as far as being the MVP, I thought Snell deserved it. But the guy who really deserved it was Weeb Ewbank. He outcoached Shula. That game made football what it is today. Everyone thought the NFL would dominate; this game proved we couldn't. It really helped football, and it gave everybody credibility in the AFL. We had a pretty damn good football team. We just made some mistakes, and that was the problem.
  
  
  When the Colts arrived back at their hotel, they were met by Rick Volk's wife running down the hall screaming for a doctor. Fortunately, the team physician, Dr. Norman Freeman, was nearby. He found the safety lying unconscious in the bathroom, his body shaking with convulsions. He was also swallowing his tongue. The doctor used a ballpoint pen to free Volk's tongue and called for an ambulance. At the hospital, Rick regained consciousness and was placed in intensive care. A neurosurgeon examined him and decided there was no serious damage to the brain. When Volk came to, he asked his wife, "Who won?"
  When Namath heard about Volk's hospitalization, he sent flowers.
  Volk returned to the Colts the following season and continued his NFL career through 1978.

Needless to say, Rosenbloom's party didn't go as planned.

• After the final gun, Carroll sat devastated in the press box where he had watched the game among the writers.
• The gathering at his mansion was more like a wake than a celebration. The host spent much of the party sitting behind a large rubber plant. Rosenbloom and his friend, Senator Ted Kennedy, went for a swim.
• Rozelle visited the party. When an aide, on the verge of tears, expressed sorrow about the loss, Pete tried to console him. Looking at the big picture, the Commissioner told him, Don't worry. This may be the best thing that ever happened to the game.
  Shula: During that offseason, Rosenbloom started to ... take a lot of heat from his golfing buddies about the loss. He became known as the first owner to lose to a team in the new league. I saw innuendos in the paper, talking about me and our relationship. And that's when I started to drift apart from him. I coached the following year, but my relationship with Rosenbloom was never the same after that game. It changed the course of the NFL, and it changed my life. He was an owner who was also a fan. A very intense guy. He wasn't used to losing at anything. That was one of the darkest moments of my career.
  Shula would finally win a Super Bowl with the Miami Dolphins after the league's only undefeated season in 1972.

The Jets' party at Sonny Weblin's house turned out to be a celebration of more than just a team victory.

• A group of Chiefs and Raiders stopped by along with players from other AFL teams. They hugged the Jets and thanked them profusely.
• According to Jim Turner, many of the AFLers cried, including Kansas City's giant DT Buck Buchanan. Matt Snell recalled: Buck had to go around and shake everybody's hand and say, "Thank you for redeeming us." So we started thinking that many of those guys appreciated what we did more than we did ourselves ...
• Walt Michaels introduced his 73-year-old mother and said that he and brother Lou had pooled their winner's and loser's share and given half to Mom.
• The party lasted into the wee hours.
  When Joe returned to his hotel room, he smiled when he saw a funereal bouquet of flowers that Lou Michaels had sent him before the game as a joke.
• When the team charter departed for New York, left behind was the 21" sterling silver Tiffany Super Bowl trophy and the game ball that had been stored in the hotel vault. John Elliott, who was headed to Jacksonville for the AFL All-Star game and didn't leave with the rest of the team, took it to the airport and gave it to someone in the Jets entourage.
  Namath received letters for many years from high school coaches ex­plaining how they used the 1968 Jets to motivate their players. Maybe it motivated some other people, too, said Joe. There are a lot of underdogs in the world. Maybe it meant something to the underdogs in life.
  
  
  Bobby Boyd, Mike Curtis, John Mackey, Tom Matte, Fred Miller, Earl Morrall, and Bob Vogel were selected for the annual Pro Bowl game. When the seven reported to Los Angeles, they were berated by the other participants for losing the Super Bowl to the AFL for the first time.
  By contrast, the eleven Jets (Al Atkinson, Verlon Biggs, Emerson Boozer, John Elliott, Dave Herman, Winston Hill, Don Maynard, Joe Namath, Gerald Philbin, George Sauer, and Jim Turner ) who played in the AFL All-Star Game in Jacksonville FL were lionized as heroes.
  
  
  Postscript: When the Colts arrived in Miami two years later for Super Bowl V, LB Mike Curtis was asked what was in his mind as he recalled Super Bowl III. He gave the questioner more than he bargained for.
  My God, no one knows the despair, the abject humiliation, we felt that day. The 1968 Baltimore Colts, a perfect football machine. The 1968 Baltimore Colts, who crushed every opponent but one on a tough schedule. The 1968 Baltimore Colts ... the first National Football League team to lose the Super Bowl.
  I felt great anger inside of me that day. Those damn Jets, for one thing, were holding as if they were never going to hold again. They haven't stopped yet. The worst offender of all, Winston Hill, makes All-AFL. But even worse, I hate guys who steal a pass and then stuff it in the victim's face, humiliating him. It's cheap and it's miserable, the act of an incompetent and a loudmouth, and Johnny Sample is a perfect example of both.
  Going into that game, we heard over and over again that we've got to beat that longhair. Yeah, I thought, we've got to beat that longhair. But there was no dishonor in losing to the best - and that's what Namath was. But losing to the Samples and the Hills .... man, that was degrading.