Super Bowl III

Super Bowl III was an American football championship game played on January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the first to officially bear the trademark name "Super Bowl". Super Bowl III is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in both American football history and in the history of professional sports. The 18-point underdog American Football League (AFL) champion New York Jets defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Baltimore Colts by a score of 16–7. (The point spread varied between 17.5 and 19.5 across different sportsbooks and moved during the week before the game.)

The game was the first of two Super Bowl victories for the AFL over the NFL. Before the game many sports writers and fans believed that AFL teams were less talented than NFL clubs, and expected the Colts to defeat the Jets by a wide margin. The Colts posted a 13–1 record in the regular season and defeated the Minnesota Vikings 24–14 in the Western Conference championship game, then shut out the Cleveland Browns, the only team to beat the Colts in the regular season, 34–0 in the NFL Championship Game. The Jets were 11–3 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders 27–23 in the AFL Championship Game.

Jets quarterback Joe Namath famously made an appearance three days before the Super Bowl at the Miami Touchdown Club in which he personally guaranteed his team's victory. His team backed up his words by controlling the majority of the game, building a 16–0 lead by the fourth quarter off of a touchdown run by Matt Snell and three field goals by Jim Turner. Colts quarterback Earl Morrall threw three interceptions before being replaced by Johnny Unitas, who then led the Colts to their only touchdown, during the last few minutes of the game. With the victory, the Jets were the only winning team to score only one touchdown (either offensive, defensive, or special teams) until the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII. Namath, who completed 17 out of 28 passes for 206 yards, was named as the Super Bowl's most valuable player, making him the first player in Super Bowl history to be declared MVP without personally scoring or throwing for a touchdown.

This is the only Super Bowl whose matchup cannot (barring a future realignment and/or change to the playoff format) occur in the Super Bowl again, as both the Jets and Colts play in the American Football Conference (AFC).

As of , this is the Jets’ only Super Bowl victory and appearance, and they currently hold the third longest active championship game appearance drought in the NFL.

Background

Host selection process

The NFL awarded Super Bowl III to Miami on May 14, 1968, at the owners meetings held in Atlanta. It marked the second of eleven Super Bowls in the Miami area (as of 2022). It was also the second consecutive Super Bowl to be awarded to Miami (II and III), the only time that the Super Bowl has been hosted by the same stadium in back-to-back seasons. Two cities were considered for the game, New Orleans (Tulane Stadium) being the other.

Going into the meeting, several observers believed that New Orleans was the favorite. It had been reported that New Orleans was being promised the game by commissioner Pete Rozelle as a payback to Louisiana congressman Hale Boggs and senator Russell B. Long for being instrumental in passing crucial antitrust exemption legislation, which allowed for the AFL–NFL merger. In selecting Miami, owners rejected any potential quid pro quo. Miami's hosting of sold-out Super Bowl II just four months earlier was seen by all accounts as a huge success, and owners elected to stick with a known commodity. The expansion Saints had lost money in their first season, and were publicly going through front office shakeups. Furthermore, during the presentation, a mix-up in the Tulane Stadium rental fee helped dissuade the league. Rozelle made it clear, however, that Miami was not positioned to become the permanent home for the Super Bowl. Fearing that bidding wars over players would become the norm, greatly increasing labor costs, NFL owners, ostensibly led by league Commissioner Pete Rozelle, obtained a merger agreement with the AFL in June 1966, which provided for a common draft, interleague play in the pre-season, a world championship game to follow each season, and the integration of the two leagues into one in a way to be agreed at a future date. As the two leagues had an unequal number of teams (under the new merger agreement, the NFL expanded to sixteen in , and the AFL to ten in 1968), realignment was advocated by some owners, but was opposed. Eventually, three NFL teams (Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Baltimore Colts) agreed to move over to join the ten AFL franchises in the American Football Conference.

Despite the ongoing merger, it was a commonly held view that the NFL was a far superior league.

Baltimore Colts

The Baltimore Colts had won the 1958 and 1959 NFL championships under Coach Weeb Ewbank. In the following years, however, the Colts failed to make the playoffs, and the Colts dismissed Ewbank after a 7–7 record in 1962. He was soon hired by New York's new AFL franchise, which had just changed its name from the Titans to the Jets. In Ewbank's place, Baltimore hired an untested young head coach, Don Shula, who would also go on to become one of the game's greatest coaches. The Colts did well under Shula, despite losing to the Cleveland Browns in the 1964 NFL Championship Game and, in 1965, losing in overtime to the Green Bay Packers in a tie-breaker game to decide the NFL Western Conference title. The Colts finished a distant second in the West to the Packers in 1966, and in 1967, with the NFL realigned into four divisions of four teams each, went undefeated with two ties through their first 13 games, but lost the game and the Coastal Division championship to the Los Angeles Rams on the final Sunday of the season—under newly instituted tiebreakers procedures, L.A. won the division championship as it had better net points in the two games the teams played (the Rams win and an earlier tie). The Colts finished 11–1–2, tied for the best record in the league, but were excluded from the playoffs. In 1968, Shula and the Colts were considered a favorite to win the NFL championship again, which carried with it an automatic berth what was now becoming popularly known as the "Super Bowl" against the champion of the younger AFL. The NFL champion, in both cases the Green Bay Packers, had easily won the first two Super Bowls (1967 and 1968) over the AFL winner, establishing for a while then the superiority of the older NFL circuit.

Baltimore's quest for a championship seemed doomed from the start when long-time starting quarterback Johnny Unitas suffered a pre-season injury to his throwing arm and was replaced by Earl Morrall, a veteran who had started inconsistently over the course of his 12 seasons with four teams. But Morrall would go on to have the best year of his career, leading the league in passer rating (93.2) during the regular season. His performance was so impressive that Colts coach Don Shula decided to keep Morrall in the starting lineup after Unitas was healthy enough to play. The Colts had won ten games in a row, including four shutouts, and finished the season with an NFL-best 13–1 record. In those ten games, they had allowed only seven touchdowns. Then, the Colts avenged their sole regular-season loss against the Cleveland Browns by crushing them 34–0 in the NFL Championship Game.

The Colts offense ranked second in the NFL in points scored (402; only behind the Cowboys 431 points scored). Wide receivers Jimmy Orr (29 receptions, 743 yards, 6 touchdowns) and Willie Richardson (37 receptions, 698 yards, 8 touchdowns) provided Baltimore with two deep threats, with Orr averaging 25.6 yards per catch, and Richardson averaging 18.9. Tight end John Mackey also recorded 45 receptions for 644 yards and 5 touchdowns. Pro Bowl running back Tom Matte was the team's top rusher with 662 yards and 9 touchdowns. He also caught 25 passes for 275 yards and another touchdown. Running backs Terry Cole and Jerry Hill combined for 778 rushing yards and 236 receiving yards.

The Colts defense led the NFL in fewest points allowed (144, tying the 1963 Bears for the then all-time league record), and ranked third in total rushing yards allowed (1,339), while also recording 29 interceptions (2nd in the league) and holding their opponents to an NFL-low 9 touchdown passes. Bubba Smith, a 6′7″ 295-pound defensive end considered the NFL's best pass rusher, anchored the line. Linebacker Mike Curtis, who intercepted two passes and recovered three fumbles, was considered one of the top linebackers in the NFL. Baltimore's secondary consisted of defensive backs Bobby Boyd (8 interceptions), Rick Volk (6 interceptions), Lenny Lyles (5 interceptions), and Jerry Logan (3 interceptions). The Colts were the only NFL team to routinely play a zone defense. That gave them an advantage in the NFL because the other NFL teams were inexperienced against a zone defense. (This would not give them an advantage over the upstart New York Jets, however, because zone defenses were common in the AFL and the Jets knew how to attack them.)

New York Jets

The New York Jets, led by head coach Weeb Ewbank (who was the head coach of the Colts when they won the famous 1958 NFL Championship game and later the '59 title also), finished the season with an 11–3 regular season record (one of the losses was to the Oakland Raiders in the infamous "Heidi Game") and had to rally to defeat those same Raiders, 27–23, in a thrilling AFL Championship Game.

Jets quarterback Joe Namath threw for 3,147 yards during the regular season and completed 49.2 percent of his passes, but threw more interceptions (17) than touchdowns (15). Still, he led the offense effectively enough for them to finish the regular season with more total points scored (419) than Baltimore, and finished fourth in completion percentage, fifth in touchdown passes, and third in passing yards as one of only three quarterbacks to pass for over 3,000 yards in the AFL that season. Fundamentally, Namath usually found ways to win. For example, late in the fourth quarter of the AFL championship game, Namath threw an interception that allowed the Raiders to take the lead. But he then made up for his mistake by completing 3 consecutive passes on the ensuing drive, advancing the ball 68 yards in just 55 seconds to score a touchdown to regain the lead for New York. Future Hall of Fame wide receiver Don Maynard caught the game-winning pass in the end zone but strained his hamstring on the play.

The Jets had a number of offensive weapons that Namath used. Maynard had the best season of his career, catching 57 passes for 1,297 yards (an average of 22.8 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns. Wide receiver George Sauer recorded 66 receptions for 1,141 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tight end Pete Lammons added 32 receptions for 400 yards and three touchdowns. The Jets rushing attack was also effective. Fullback Matt Snell, a power runner, was the top rusher on the team with 747 yards and 6 touchdowns, while elusive halfback Emerson Boozer contributed 441 yards and 5 touchdowns. Meanwhile, kicker Jim Turner made 34 field goals and 43 extra points for a combined total of 145 points.

The Jets defense led the AFL in total rushing yards allowed (1,195). Gerry Philbin, Paul Rochester, John Elliott, and Verlon Biggs anchored the defensive line. The Jets linebacking core was led by middle linebacker Al Atkinson. The secondary was led by defensive backs Johnny Sample (a former Colt who played on their 1958 NFL Championship team) who recorded 7 interceptions, and Jim Hudson, who recorded 5.

Several of the Jets' players had been cut by NFL teams. Maynard had been cut by the New York Giants after they lost the 1958 NFL Championship Game to the Colts and had to spend one year playing Canadian football before the Jets (then called the Titans) enabled him to return to his home country. "I kept a little bitterness in me," he says. Sample had been cut by the Colts. "I was almost in a frenzy by the time the game arrived," he says. "I held a private grudge against the Colts. I was really ready for that game. All of us were."

Postseason

The Colts advanced to the Super Bowl with two dominating wins. First, they jumped to a 21–0 fourth quarter lead against the Minnesota Vikings and easily held off their meager comeback attempt in the final period for a 24–14 win.

Then they faced the Cleveland Browns, who had defeated them in week 5 of the regular season. But in this game, they proved to be no challenge as Baltimore held them to just 173 total yards and only allowed them to cross midfield twice in the entire game. Matte scored three of the Colts' four rushing touchdowns as the team won easily, 34–0.

Meanwhile, New York in the AFL championship game faced a red hot Oakland Raiders team who had just defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 41–6 one week earlier, with quarterback Daryle Lamonica throwing five touchdown passes. The championship game was close and hard-fought the whole way through, with both teams trading scores at a relatively even pace. The momentum seemed to swing in the Raiders' favor when George Atkinson picked off a pass from Namath and returned it 32 yards to the Jets 5-yard line, setting up a touchdown that gave Oakland their first lead of the game at 23–20 with 8:18 left in regulation. But Namath quickly led the team back, completing a 10-yard pass to Sauer and a 52-yard pass to Maynard on the Raiders' six-yard line. On the next play, his six-yard touchdown pass to Maynard gave them a 27–23 lead they would never relinquish. Oakland's final three possessions of the game would result in a turnover on downs, a lost fumble, and time expiring in the game.

Super Bowl pregame news and notes

After the Jets' AFL championship victory, Namath stated to The New York Times sportswriter Dave Anderson, "There are five quarterbacks in the AFL who are better than Morrall." The five were himself, his backup Babe Parilli, Lamonica, John Hadl of the San Diego Chargers, and Bob Griese of the Miami Dolphins. Namath added, "You put Babe Parilli with Baltimore instead of Morrall and Baltimore might be better. Babe throws better than Morrall."

Tickets for the game were priced at $12, $8, and $6.

Namath's guarantee

Despite the Jets' accomplishments, AFL teams were generally not regarded as having the same caliber of talent as NFL teams. Sportswriter Dave Anderson did not think that the remark was notable because, he recalled, Namath had said similar things during the week ("I know we're gonna win" for example), but an article by Luther Evans of the Miami Herald made the statement famous. Namath's comments and subsequent performance in the game itself are one of the more famous instances in NFL lore.

The Colts, linebacker Curtis recalled, "sort of laughed at" Namath's guarantee. The team did not adjust the defense it had used during the season against the Jets because "that should be good enough," Curtis said. The AFL champions shared the confident feelings of their quarterback. According to Matt Snell, all of the Jets, not just Namath, were insulted and angry that they were 19.5-point underdogs. After a film session the Wednesday prior to the game, Jets tight end Pete Lammons, a Texas native, was heard to drawl, "Damn, y'all, we gotta stop watching these films. We gonna get overconfident".

Broadcasting

thumb|Super Bowl III media guide

The game was broadcast in the United States by NBC. Curt Gowdy handled the play-by-play duties and was joined by color commentators Al DeRogatis and Kyle Rote in the broadcast booth. Also helping with NBC's coverage were Jim Simpson (reporting from the sidelines) and Pat Summerall, on loan from CBS (helping conduct player interviews for the pregame show, along with Rote). In an interview later done with NFL Films, Gowdy called it the most memorable game he ever called because of its historical significance.

While the Orange Bowl was sold out for the game, the live telecast was not shown in Miami due to both leagues' unconditional blackout rules at the time.

41.66 million people in the US watched the game on television, resulting in a rating of 36 and a market share of 70. The original NBC broadcast was later aired as part of the NFL Network Super Bowl Classics series.

Ceremonies and entertainment

"Mr. Football" was the title of the pregame show, which featured marching bands playing "Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A." as people in walking footballs representing all NFL and AFL teams except the Jets and Colts were paraded, after which performers representing a Jets player and a Colts player appeared on top of a large, multi-layered, smoke topped cake. Astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission (Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and William Anders), the first crewed flight around the Moon, which had returned to Earth just 18 days prior to the game, then led the Pledge of Allegiance. Lloyd Geisler, first trumpeter of the Washington National Symphony Orchestra, performed the national anthem.

Game summary

250px|thumb|Namath (center-left) running a play for the Jets in Super Bowl III

New York entered the game with their primary deep threat, wide receiver Don Maynard, playing with a pulled hamstring. But his 112-yard, two touchdown performance against the Oakland Raiders in the AFL championship game made the Colts defense pay special attention to him, not realizing he was injured. Using Maynard as a decoy—he had no receptions in the game—Joe Namath was able to take advantage of single coverage on wide receiver George Sauer Jr. (After studying the Colts' zone defense, Ewbank had told his receivers, "Find the dead spots in the zone, hook up, and Joe will hit you.") Colts kicker Lou Michaels (the younger brother of Jets defensive coordinator, Walt Michaels) kicked the ball off to cornerback Earl Christy, who returned the ball 25 yards to the Jets' 23-yard line. Namath handed the ball off to running back Matt Snell on first down who carried it 3 yards. On second down, Snell carried the ball for 9 yards, earning the Jets their first first down of the game. Colts safety Rick Volk sustained a concussion when he tackled Snell and was subsequently lost for the game. On the ensuing play, running back Emerson Boozer lost four yards when he was tackled behind the line of scrimmage by linebacker Don Shinnick. Namath threw his first pass to Snell that gained 9 yards on 2nd-and-14, but a 2-yard loss by Snell on the following play forced the Jets to punt the ball. The Jets noticed, however, from watching film the predictability of the Colts' defense based on how the defensive players lined up. Instead of calling plays in the huddle, Namath instead mostly gave formations and snap counts to the offense in the huddle, and then called plays from the line of scrimmage, after seeing what formation the Colts were lined up in. Center John Schmitt recalled that the Colts were "in shock" and "it drove them crazy ... no matter what [the Colts] did, [Snell] would run it the other way".

150px|thumb|left|Jets' guard [[Bob Talamini pictured during a play in Super Bowl III]]

The Colts began their first offensive series on their own 27-yard line. Quarterback Earl Morrall completed a 19-yard pass to tight end John Mackey and then running back Tom Matte ran for 10 yards to place the ball on the Jets' 44-yard line. Running back Jerry Hill's runs of 7 and 5 yards picked up another Colts first down, then Morrall's pass to tight end Tom Mitchell gained 15 yards on 3rd-and-13 and saw the ball placed at the Jets' 19-yard line. In scoring position, Morrall attempted to score quickly against a reeling Jets defense. Wide receiver Willie Richardson dropped Morrall's pass on first down followed by an incompletion on second down after Mitchell was overthrown. "You could almost feel the steam go out of them", said Snell.

With less than two minutes left in the period, Colts punter David Lee booted a 51-yard kick that pinned the Jets back at their own 4-yard line. Three plays later, Sauer caught a 3-yard pass from Namath, but Lyles forced a fumble on Sauer, and Colts linebacker Ron Porter recovered it at New York's 12-yard line.

Second quarter

However, on third down (the second play of the second quarter), Morrall's pass was tipped by Atkinson, bounced crazily, high into the air off tight end Tom Mitchell, and was intercepted by Jets cornerback Randy Beverly in the end zone for a touchback. "That was the game in a nutshell," says Matte.

Third quarter

The third quarter belonged to the Jets, who controlled the ball for all but three minutes of the period. Baltimore ran only seven offensive plays all quarter, gaining only 11 yards. On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Jets defensive end Verlon Biggs forced a fumble on Matte, yet another demoralizing event, which was recovered by linebacker Ralph Baker on the Colts' 33-yard line, leading to Turner's 32-yard field goal to increase the Jets' lead, 10–0. Then after forcing the Colts to punt again, Namath completed 4 passes for 40 yards to set up Turner's 30-yard field goal to increase the lead, 13–0. On that drive, Namath temporarily went out of the game after injuring his right thumb and was replaced by backup quarterback Babe Parilli for a few plays. Namath returned by the end of the third quarter, but the Jets would not run a pass play for the entire fourth quarter.

Matt Snell said, "By this time, the Colts were pressing. You saw the frustration and worry on all their faces." Despite not being put into the game until late in the third quarter, Unitas finished with more pass completions (11) and passing yards (110) than Morrall, but he also threw one interception. Matte was the Colts' top rusher with 116 yards on just 11 carries, an average of 10.5 yards per run, and caught 2 passes for 30 yards. The Colts were minus-4 in turnovers throwing four interceptions, all of which were deep in Jet territory.

| attendance = 75,389

Postgame reactions

When Sal Marchiano asked Namath in the locker room if he was the "king of the hill", Namath replied "No, no, we're king of the hill. We got the team, brother". Morrall later said, "I thought we would win handily. We'd only lost twice in our last 30 games. I'm still not sure what happened that day at the Orange Bowl, however; it's still hard to account for."

In an interview for the series America's Game, Bill Curry, Mike Curtis, and Bubba Smith said they have never gotten over that loss and that they never will. Curtis said "It was one of the best teams I ever played with, and we lost to somebody that we would beat a thousand times after the Super Bowl. It was humiliation to be kind." After the game, the team went to what was supposed to be an automatic victory party at owner Carroll Rosenbloom's house where Curry said to Rosenbloom, "We will get back here and we will win. I promise."

Final statistics

Sources: NFL.com Super Bowl III, Super Bowl III Play Finder NYJ, Super Bowl III Play Finder Bal

Statistical comparison

{| class="wikitable"

!New York Jets

!Baltimore Colts

|First downs||21||18

|First downs rushing||10||7

|First downs passing||10||9

|First downs penalty||1||2

|Third down efficiency||8/18||4/12

|Fourth down efficiency||0/0||1/2

|Net yards rushing||142||143

|Rushing attempts||43||23

|Yards per rush||3.3||6.2

|Passing – Completions/attempts||17/29||17/41

|Times sacked-total yards||2–11||0–0

|Interceptions thrown||0||4

|Net yards passing||195||181

|Total net yards||337||324

|Punt returns-total yards||1–0||4–34

|Kickoff returns-total yards||1–25||4–105

|Interceptions-total return yards||4–9||0–0

|Punts-average yardage||4–38.8||3–44.3

|Fumbles-lost||1–1||1–1

|Penalties-total yards||5–28||3–23

|Time of possession||36:10||23:50

|Turnovers||1||5

Individual statistics

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="6" style=";"|Jets passing

!C/ATT1

!Yds

!TD

!INT

!Rating

| Joe Namath

| 17/28

| 206

| 0

| 83.3

| Babe Parilli

| 0/1

| 0

| 39.6

! colspan="6" style=";"|Jets rushing

!Car2

!Yds

!TD

!LG3

!Yds/Car

| Matt Snell

| 30

| 121

| 1

| 12

| 4.03

| Emerson Boozer

| 10

| 19

| 0

| 8

| 1.90

| Bill Mathis

| 3

| 2

| 0

| 1

| 0.67

! colspan="6" style=";"|Jets receiving

!Rec4

!Yds

!TD

!LG3

!Target5

| George Sauer Jr.

| 8

| 133

| 0

| 39

| 12

| Matt Snell

| 4

| 40

| 0

| 14

| 5

| Bill Mathis

| 3

| 20

| 0

| 13

| 3

| Pete Lammons

| 2

| 13

| 0

| 11

| 3

| Don Maynard

| 0

| 5

| Bake Turner

| 0

| 1

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="6" style=";"|Colts passing

!C/ATT1

!Yds

!TD

!INT

!Rating

| Johnny Unitas

| 11/24

| 110

| 0

| 1

| 42.0

| Earl Morrall

| 6/17

| 71

| 0

| 3

| 9.3

! colspan="6" style=";"|Colts rushing

!Car2

!Yds

!TD

!LG3

!Yds/Car

| Tom Matte

| 11

| 116

| 0

| 58

| 10.55

| Jerry Hill

| 9

| 29

| 1

| 12

| 3.22

| Johnny Unitas

| 1

| 0

| 0.00

| Earl Morrall

| 2

| –2

| 0

| –1.00

! colspan="6" style=";"|Colts receiving

!Rec4

!Yds

!TD

!LG3

!Target5

| Willie Richardson

| 6

| 58

| 0

| 21

| 15

| Jimmy Orr

| 3

| 42

| 0

| 17

| 8

| John Mackey

| 3

| 35

| 0

| 19

| 8

| Tom Matte

| 2

| 30

| 0

| 30

| 3

| Jerry Hill

| 2

| 1

| 0

| 1

| 4

| Tom Mitchell

| 1

| 15

| 0

| 15

| 3

1Completions/Attempts

2Carries

3Long gain

4Receptions

5Times targeted

Statistics provided by NFL.com

Records set

The following records were set or tied in Super Bowl III, according to the official NFL.com boxscore and the Pro-Football-Reference.com game summary. The minimums are shown (in parentheses).

{| class="wikitable"

!colspan=3|Player records set in Super Bowl III

!colspan=3|Passing records

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most attempts, without interception, game || 28 || Joe Namath (New York)

|Most interceptions thrown, game || 3 || rowspan=2|Earl Morrall (Baltimore)

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most interceptions thrown, career || 3

!colspan=3|Rushing records

|Most yards, game || 121 || rowspan=5| Matt Snell (New York)

|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most yards, career || 121

|Most attempts, game || 30

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most attempts, career || 30

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Highest average gain, career (20 attempts)|| 4.0 yards (121–30)

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Highest average gain, game (10 attempts)|| 10.5 yards (116–11) || Tom Matte (Baltimore)

!colspan=3|Receiving records

|Most receptions, game ||8 || George Sauer Jr. (New York)

!colspan=3|Combined yardage records †

|Most attempts, game || 34 || rowspan=2|Matt Snell

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most attempts, career|| 34

|Most yards gained, game ||146 yds|| Tom Matte

!colspan=3|Defense

|Most interceptions, game || 2 || rowspan=2|Randy Beverly (New York)

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most interceptions, career || 2

!colspan=3|Special teams

|Most punt return yards gained, career || 34 yards || rowspan=3|Timmy Brown (Baltimore)

|Highest average, punt return yardage, game (3 returns) || 8.5 yards (4–34)

|- style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Highest average, punt return yardage, career (4 returns)|| 8.5 yards (4–34)

|Most field goals attempted, game || 5 || rowspan=2|Jim Turner (New York)

|Most field goals attempted, career || 5

!colspan=3|Records tied

|Most completions, game || 17 || Joe Namath

|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most receptions, career || 8 || George Sauer Jr.

|Most fumbles, game || 1 || rowspan=2|Tom Matte George Sauer Jr.

|-style="border-bottom: 2px solid gray"

|Most fumbles, career || 1

|Most fumbles recovered, game || 1 || rowspan=2| Ron Porter (Baltimore) Ralph Baker (New York)

|Most fumbles recovered, career || 1

† This category includes rushing, receiving, interception returns, punt returns, kickoff returns, and fumble returns
‡ Sacks an official statistic since Super Bowl XVII by the NFL. Sacks are listed as "tackled attempting to pass" in the official NFL box score for Super Bowl III.

{| class="wikitable"

!colspan=3|Team records set

{| class="wikitable"

! width="150px" style=";" | New York !! Position !! width="150px" style=";" | Baltimore

| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Offense

| George Sauer Jr. || style="text-align:center;" | SE || Jimmy Orr

| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Winston Hill‡ || style="text-align:center;" | LT || Bob Vogel

| Bob Talamini || style="text-align:center;" | LG || Glenn Ressler

| John Schmitt || style="text-align:center;" | C || Bill Curry

| Randy Rasmussen || style="text-align:center;" | RG || Dan Sullivan

| Dave Herman || style="text-align:center;" | RT || Sam Ball

| Pete Lammons || style="text-align:center;" | TE || bgcolor="#FFCC00" | John Mackey‡

| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Don Maynard‡ || style="text-align:center;" | FL || Willie Richardson

| bgcolor="#FFCC00" | Joe Namath‡ || style="text-align:center;" | QB || Earl Morrall

| Emerson Boozer || style="text-align:center;" | RB || Tom Matte

| Matt Snell || style="text-align:center;" | RB || Jerry Hill

| colspan="3" style="text-align:center;" | Defense

| Gerry Philbin || style="text-align:center;" | LE || Bubba Smith

| Paul Rochester || style="text-align:center;" | LT || Billy Ray Smith Sr.

| John Elliott || style="text-align:center;" | RT || Fred Miller

| Verlon Biggs || style="text-align:center;" | RE || Ordell Braase

| Ralph Baker || style="text-align:center;" | LLB || Mike Curtis

| Al Atkinson || style="text-align:center;" | MLB || Dennis Gaubatz

| Larry Grantham || style="text-align:center;" | RLB || Don Shinnick

| Johnny Sample || style="text-align:center;" | LCB || Bobby Boyd

| Randy Beverly || style="text-align:center;" | RCB || Lenny Lyles

| Jim Hudson || style="text-align:center;" | LS || Jerry Logan

| Bill Baird || style="text-align:center;" | RS || Rick Volk

Starting lineup provided by NFL.com

Umpire: Walt Parker (AFL) #25 first Super Bowl
Head linesman: George Murphy (NFL) #30 first Super Bowl
Line judge: Cal Lepore (AFL) #32 first Super Bowl
Back judge: Jack Reader (AFL) #42 second Super Bowl (I)
Field judge: Joe Gonzales (NFL) #54 first Super Bowl

Note: A seven-official system was not instituted until 1978.

Unlike the first two Super Bowls, officials wore their standard uniform. The AFL switched to the NFL uniform for 1968 in anticipation of the 1970 merger.

Jack Reader became the first official to work two Super Bowls. He was the only official to work two prior to the merger. He was promoted to referee in 1969.

Aftermath

The following season, 1969, would be the last one before the AFL–NFL merger. As part of the merger, the Colts were one of three NFL teams that moved to the newly formed American Football Conference (AFC) with the Jets and the other AFL teams. The Jets and Colts became divisional rivals in the AFC East until the 2002 realignment shifted the Colts, who had moved to Indianapolis in 1984, to the new AFC South; the teams would however not meet in the playoffs until the 2002 season. Due to being in the same conference, a Super Bowl rematch is no longer possible unless the NFL radically changes its conference alignment and/or its playoff structure.

The Jets have not played in the Super Bowl since the merger, losing the AFC Championship Game in the 1982, 1998, 2009 and 2010 seasons. On the other hand, the Colts won Super Bowl V (1970), then after relocating to Indianapolis, won Super Bowl XLI (2006) and lost Super Bowl XLIV (2009).

However, teams representing Baltimore and New York have contested one Super Bowl since the merger: Super Bowl XXXV between the Jets' crosstown rival (the Giants) and Baltimore's replacement team (the Ravens), with the latter contest being won by Baltimore.

This was the first of three occasions in which a team from New York defeated one from Baltimore in postseason play during 1969, as the Knicks eliminated the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA playoffs before falling to the eventual NBA Champion Celtics in the Eastern Division finals. Then in baseball the Mets upset the heavily favored Orioles in the World Series. The Orioles and Mets seasons mirrored their NFL counterparts as the Orioles nabbed first place in the newly formed AL East for good on April 16 and would easily hold the lead for the rest of the season finishing 19 games ahead of the defending champion Detroit Tigers. Meanwhile, the Mets were in third place in the NL East and 10 games behind the Chicago Cubs only to finish 8 games ahead of the Cubs while winning the division.

The Colts and Orioles would achieve redemption the following year with the Orioles winning the 1970 World Series over the Cincinnati Reds. Four months later, the Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16–13 in Super Bowl V.

This was also the last postseason victory for the Jets until they beat the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1982–83 playoffs.

In his 1983 autobiography and in subsequent media interviews, Colts lineman Bubba Smith alleged that the game had been rigged to allow the Jets to win so the NFL–AFL merger would proceed smoothly. Smith (who died in 2011) never offered conclusive evidence to support his claims, and his charges were never corroborated by anyone. His old coach Don Shula flatly rejected them, accusing Smith of making them up to sensationalize his book, stating "The way I recall that Super Bowl is that everyone missed everybody all day long, including Bubba."

References

Bibliography

External links

Super Bowl III Box Score at Pro Football Reference
Don Maynard on Super Bowl 3