When CBS announcer Frank Gifford interviewed Vince Lombardi before the 1967 Super Bowl, the Green Bay Packers coach was so nervous he was shaking like a leaf. He knew his team was heading into a game that would go down in history, no matter what the outcome. It was the first-ever Super Bowl.
A year before, the National Football League and the rival American Football League had agreed to merge. Officials decided that, until the merger took place, the champions of each league would square off in a final game of the season.
The two leagues clashed in 1967 -- when Lombardi’s Packers stormed to a 35-10 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs -- 1968 and 1969.
When the merger took effect in 1970, each league became a conference and the big game was played between conference champions.
The Super Bowl, with its much-hyped half-time show and expensive television commercials, has become an institution, and is the most-watched sporting event in the United States.
You already knew that, but did you also know Super Bowl Sunday is the second-largest food consumption day in the U.S. after Thanksgiving?
Here are some other fun facts:
- Lamar Hunt, the founder of the American Football Conference, coined the name “Super Bowl.” He drew inspiration from his daughter, who played with a toy called “super ball” and from college football games, which were played in bowl-shaped stadiums.
- Roman numerals are assigned to identify each Super Bowl. But that practice didn’t start until 1969, when these two teams clashed in Super Bowl III. The big game was referred to as The AFL-NFL World Championship Game in 1967 and 1968.
- The venue for a given Super Bowl is chosen three to five years in advance. Various cities bid to host the game. This week's game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints is in Miami, Fla.
- The game will be the 10th Super Bowl to be held in the Miami area, and the 15th Super Bowl to be held in Florida. Nineteen different venues have hosted Super Bowls.
- Twenty-two quarterbacks have won Super Bowl Most Valuable Player honors, more than any other position. Running backs are next with seven.
- The NFC has won 22 Super Bowls, one more than the AFC. However, the AFC has won nine of the last 12 after the NFC won 13 straight.
- This year's Super Bowl will pay out $83,000 (all figures U.S.) per man to the winning team and $42,000 per man to the losers.
- TV advertisements will cost companies between $2-3 million.
- The Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded to the winning team, is sterling silver and weighs seven pounds. It is valued at about $25,000. It is named after the legendary Green Bay Packers coach, who led his team to victory in 1967 and 1968.
- Nielson Media Research says 98.7 million people watched last year’s Super Bowl between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals.
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