Jan. 3, 1965 - The NFL season will be even longer in the not too distant future if the NFL Players’ Association has its way. The association today adopted a proposal calling for a best-of-three series to decide the championship. The idea is to boost the players’ pension fund. The primary source of pension funds is the present single NFL championship game, the Runner-up Bowl, and money from television and advertisements.
The player’s group revealed its plan shortly after the St. Louis Cardinals downed the Green Bay Packers, 24-17, in the NFL Runner-up Bowl in Miami. Ordell Braase of the Colts, the association’s president, said the resolution will be presented to the NFL owners “within the next month.”
Billy Gambrell, one of the smallest players in the league, stood out for the Cardinals as the upset the Packers to maintain the Eastern Division’s supremacy trend set by Cleveland in winning the NFL title over the Colts.
The 5-10, 167-pound Gambrell caught two touchdown passes from Charley Johnson (right), one on an 80-yard play. He caught six passes for 184 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player.
It was the first victory for the East in this game of runner-ups, and it left coach Vince Lombardi a most unhappy fellow.
“We looked like we were sleepwalking,” said the Packer coach. “We came out of the huddle like we were dying.”
The Packers took an early lead of 3-0 on a 40-yard field goal by Paul Hornung, but it was short-lived. Gambrell got behind Jesse Whittenton in the second quarter, caught Johnson’s perfectly placed 32-yard pass over his shoulder at the Green Bay 48, and raced in for the first touchdown.
The Cards added another in the third period on a 10-yard pass from Johnson to Gambrell and a third in the final quarter after an exchange of pass interceptions. Jerry Stovall intercepted a throw by Green Bay quarterback Bart Starr, the first interception Starr had suffered in 252 passes, and raced 30 yards into the end zone.
Stopped cold for three periods, the Packers came to life in the final quarter when Elijah Pitts recovered a fumble on the Card 16. Green Bay fullback Jim Taylor then went in for the score.
Late in the period, Starr passed to Taylor for 46 yards to set up the second score. The margin difference looked small in the final minutes when Ray Nitschke intercepted Johnson’s pass at midfield and ran it back to the Card 23. But on the next play, a hard-pressed Hornung tried a bomb, and the Cardinals’ Jim Burson intercepted at the goal line.
Hornung said he planned to throw all the way, although it appeared he had running room.
“I thought Max McGee had a couple steps on the defense, and I just threw it,” Hornung said.
Lombardi was asked if he thought the Packers had trouble getting “up” for the game.
“What’s good for one is just as good for another,” the coach replied. “The Cardinals apparently wanted to play more than we did.
“Cleveland lost in this game last year and went on to win the NFL title. Maybe this loss is a good omen.”
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