1965 American Football League Championship Game

none November 2013 aflc 1965 Buffalo Bills 10–3–1 San Diego Chargers 9–2–3 Eastern Western BUF SD Lou Saban Sid Gillman 0 14 6 3 23 0 0 0 0 0 December 26, 1965 Balboa Stadium San Diego, California Jack Kemp (QB, Buffalo) 30,361 NBC Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman,and Charlie Jones NBC Radio Herb Carneal and George Ratterman Bills: Ralph Wilson (owner), Billy Shaw Chargers: Sid Gillman (coach), Lance Alworth, Ron Mix USA 1  San Diego 32.7205 -117.1505 Location in the United States 5 290 The 1965 AFL Championship Game was the American Football League's sixth championship game, played on December 26 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, California.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B3RQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6004%2C4853327 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press Buffalo wins AFL crown December 27, 1965 2, part 2http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1965/12/27/page/73/article/buffalo-wins-a-f-l-crown Chicago Tribune Markus Robert Buffalo wins AFL crown December 27, 1965 1, section 3https://www.si.com/vault/1966/01/03/607783/the-bills-come-storming-in Sports Illustrated Shrake Edwin The Bills come storming in January 3, 1966 16 It matched the Western Division champion San Diego Chargers (9–2–3) and the Eastern Division champion Buffalo Bills (10–3–1) to decide the American Football League (AFL) champion for the 1965 season. Background The defending champion Bills entered the game as 6½ point underdogs; the Chargers had won the first regular season meeting on October 10 by a convincing 34–3 score,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=RfIjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ZQEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3364%2C4071382 Toledo Blade Ohio Associated Press Bills suffer setback October 11, 1965 20 and tied the Thanksgiving rematch at twenty points each.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=BZpRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kxEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2645%2C5048232 Milwaukee Sentinel UPI Bills tied, but clinch tie for crown November 26, 1965 2, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=yv9VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HuMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5142%2C5614774 Eugene Register-Guard Oregon Associated Press Pro football's leaders battled by foes to holiday standoffs November 26, 1965 2B Game summary In favorable 60 F conditions on the day after Christmas, the Bills shut out the Chargers and repeated as champions, scoring two touchdowns in the second quarter, one on a punt return. They added three field goals in the second half to win 23–0.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fbFOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=YAEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5888%2C3868172 Toledo Blade Ohio Associated Press Bills turn solid gold with $100 quarterback December 27, 1965 31 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; he and Paul Maguire were among the five ex-Chargers on the Bills' roster that were previously released by San Diego head coach Sid Gillman.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=B3RQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=-BAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7119%2C4868327 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press 'Bills won by clawing, digging' says MVP Kemp December 27, 1965 5, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot This was the last AFL Championship to end the season; the AFL–NFL merger agreement was made the following June,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=XHZQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DhEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5213%2C1442218 Milwaukee Sentinel Associated Press How merger will operate June 9, 1966 4, part 2 https://www.si.com/vault/1966/06/20/608557/heres-how-it-happened Sports Illustrated Schramm Tex Tex Maule Here's how it happened June 20, 1966 14 and the first Super Bowl followed the 1966 season. Box score text-align:center; background:#eee Buffalo Bills 23, San Diego Chargers 0 Bills 0 14 6 3 Chargers 0 0 0 0 December 26, 1965 Balboa Stadium, San Diego, California 30,361 1:00 p.m. PST Jim Barnhill Pro-Football-Reference.com 60 F NBC Curt Gowdy, Paul Christman, and Charlie Jones1965 NFL-AFL Commentator Crews https://web.archive.org/web/20081211144644/http://the506.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1222283375 December 11, 2008 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 4em 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 1978. 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.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NU0aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=yCcEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5544%2C496769 Milwaukee Journal Official dies at tourney March 12, 1966 14 Statistics Statistics Bills Chargers First downs 23 12Rushing yards 108 104Yards per carry 3.0 3.8Passing yards 167 164 Sacked-Yards 2–15 5–45 Total yards 260 223Fumbles-Lost 1–0 1–0Turnovers 1 2Penalties-Yards 2–21 3–41 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.Champs or Chumps - Longest Championship Droughts See also 1965 AFL season AFL Championship Games 1965 NFL Championship Game References 2 32.72 -117.15 type:event title Buffalo BillsAmerican Football League Champions 1965 Buffalo Bills1964 AFL Champions Kansas City Chiefs1966 AFL Champions 1965 Category:Buffalo Bills postseason Category:Jack Kemp Category:San Diego Chargers postseason Championship Game Category:American football competitions in San Diego Category:December 1965 sports events in the United States Category:1965 in sports in California Category:1960s in San Diego