1960s Timeline

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4 days ago

New Owner of New York Titans Optimistic on AFL Club’s Future

Mar. 19, 1963 - New York has the promise of another first-class professional football team that might rival the New York Giants, in the view of the new owners of the AFL’s Titans. This group of sports-minded executives obtained control last Friday of the club for $1 million. They plan a major rebuilding job on the team previously headed by Harry Wismer. David (Sonny) Werblin (pictured), who heads the new Gotham Football Club Inc., outlined his plans by telephone today from Mi

Mar 15

AFL’s New York Titans Are Sold

Mar. 15, 1963 - The New York Titans of the American Football League were sold by Harry Wismer (pictured right in 1960 with Sammy Baugh and Ramon Armstrong) today to the Gotham Football Club, Inc., for $1 million. The action, which had been urged by creditors of the pro football team, was announced at a hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Referee John E. Joyce in Federal Court in New York. Identified as the principals of the Gotham Football Club, new owner of the Titans, were David

Mar 8

Packers’ Jim Taylor Still Recovering from Hepatitis

Mar. 8, 1963 - “I’m getting stronger, but not enough for strenuous work yet,” drawled Jim Taylor (left) in his Louisiana accent. The All-Pro NFL fullback of the Green Bay Packers walked out of a hospital Jan. 21, recovering from hepatitis — a virus liver affliction. The 27-year-old Taylor said the doctor “says I’m clear of the infection, and I don’t expect it will affect me in any way next season.” “But it’s nothing to play around with,” the former Louisiana State University

Feb 14

Forty-Niners’ Bill Kilmer To Miss Entire ’63 NFL Season

Feb. 14, 1963 - San Francisco 49er halfback Bill Kilmer (pictured), who broke his leg in an auto accident last fall, apparently will miss the 1963 NFL season. “I guess it would be pretty tough to come back this year,” he admitted from a hospital bed where he has lain flat on his back for three months, “but I’m sure I’ll make it in 1964. Dr. Milburn [Lloyd Milburn, 49ers’ physician] told me I wasn’t through with football. I know he’s right, and I still have some hope for this

Feb 8

AFL’s Dallas Texans Set To Move to Kansas City

Feb. 8, 1963 - The champion Dallas Texans of the American Football League will move to Kansas City if 25,000 season tickets are sold and a satisfactory agreement can be worked out for use of Municipal Stadium, club owner Lamar Hunt said today. Hunt’s comment came after the Kansas City city council said it intended to enlarge the stadium and erect an office building to make a new home for the AFL club. “There doesn’t appear to be any major stumbling block on the stadium,” Hunt

Feb 5

NFL Star Will Not Be Paid for Peace Corps Services

Feb. 5, 1963 - It was all a misunderstanding, and pro football star Norman Snead (#9) will not be paid $75 a day by the Peace Corps but will donate his services, corps director Sargent Shriver said today. Snead, Washington Redskins quarterback, said that when he joined the corps last week, he was told he would be paid $75 a day as a consultant to recruit athletic coaches for overseas duties. Rep. Victor Wickersham (D-Okla.) said that was too much pay. Shriver, returning from

Jan 29

Eleven Football Stars Elected to New Professional Hall of Fame

Jan. 29, 1963 - Eleven football stars of bygone days and six officials who helped build the game up to its current stature became the first members of the National Professional Football Hall of Fame today. Red Grange (pictured in New York City in 1934), Jim Thorpe, Bronko Nagurski, and Sammy Baugh headed the players selected, all unanimously by a national board. Also honored were Earl (Dutch) Clark, Johnny (Blood) McNally, and Ernie Nevers, all backs; Mel Hein, a center; Pete

Jan 28

Redskins’ Quarterback Norm Snead Works for Peace Corps

Jan. 28, 1963 - Norman Snead (pictured left with Rosey Grier in 1961), Washington Redskins quarterback, took on a new offseason assignment today, recruiting young athletes and coaches for the Peace Corps. Officially, the Peace Corps lists the 23-year-old quarterback, already a ranking star in the NFL after only 2 seasons, as a consultant in recruiting for colleges and universities. Peace Corps officials said Snead’s first assignment will be to help round up 32 coaches and phy

Jan 19

Al Davis is Named Head Coach and General Manager of Oakland Raiders

Jan. 19, 1963 - Al Davis (pictured with his wife Carol), end coach of the San Diego Chargers, was named today head coach and general manager of the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League. Davis, 33, will take over immediately a club that won only 1 game while losing 13 in the AFL last year. Davis was a former assistant coach with the Baltimore Colts and the University of Southern California. He played football, basketball, and baseball at Syracuse. He gained a reputa

Jan 17

Lions’ Alex Karras Undergoes Two-Hour Grilling in New York

Jan. 17, 1963 - Star Detroit Lions tackle Alex Karras (pictured), glum and silent, flew back to Detroit tonight after being questioned by NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in New York. Karras, 250-pound All-Pro ace, underwent two long grilling sessions with Rozelle. Karras was obviously under orders not to talk about the sessions, but he emerged pale and apparently disturbed. In an interview on NBC-TV taped Sunday, Karras was asked if he ever had bet on football games. He replied

Jan 17

Browns’ New Coach Gives News Conference

Jan. 17, 1963 - Blanton Collier (pictured), the Cleveland Browns’ new head coach, answered questions yesterday at a press conference lasting nearly an hour. Asked about a statement by Arthur Modell, the Browns’ president, that Modell had fired Paul Brown because of a budding player rebellion, Collier said, “I had no indication of it. I was too busy with my own duties as offensive backfield coach.” Modell said that seven key players had threatened to retire prematurely “unless

Jan 16

Blanton Collier Named Coach of Cleveland Browns

Jan. 16, 1963 - Blanton Collier (pictured left with Jim Brown) was named head coach of the Cleveland Browns today, moving up to succeed his longtime friend, Paul Brown, who was fired last week. Collier rebounded into a top post a little more than a year after being fired by the University of Kentucky. The Browns’ president, Arthur Modell, announced Collier had signed a three-year contract. He will reportedly receive $35,000 a year. Collier becomes only the second head coach i

Jan 16

Lions’ Coach and Defensive Tackle Questioned in New York

Jan. 16, 1963 - The Detroit Lions’ head coach, George Wilson (right), and Alex Karras (#71), all-pro defensive tackle, were summoned to New York today for questioning by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle following an alleged confession by the player that he had bet on games. The Detroit News said Karras made the admission during a taped television interview last Sunday. Asked whether he had ever bet on a game, Karras was quoted by the newspaper as having replied, “Yes, but who ha

Jan 13

Jim Brown Praises Coach Allie Sherman

Jan. 13, 1963 - With a not-so-subtle dig at Paul Brown, his recently fired Cleveland coach, Jim Brown (left) paid high tribute to Allie Sherman (right) for helping make it possible for him to win Pro Bowl player-of-the-year honors today for the second straight time. Driving to 2 touchdowns and setting up another for Sherman’s triumphant Eastern troops, the 230-pound Cleveland fullback rushed for 141 yards, shattering his Pro Bowl record of 120 yards set last January. For a ye

Jan 13

Jim Brown Shines as East Upsets West at NFL Pro Bowl

Jan. 13, 1963 - The Eastern Division All-Stars, led by their hard-running fullback, Jim Brown of Cleveland (pictured with ball), came from behind with a 17-point spurt in the fourth period today to defeat the West, 30-20, in the 13th annual NFL Pro Bowl game. As a crowd of 61,374 at Los Angeles’s Memorial Coliseum and a national television audience looked on, Brown set a Pro Bowl rushing record of 141 yards. This broke his own mark of 120 yards set last year. Fumbles proved c

Jan 13

West Tops East in AFL All-Star Game, 21-14

Jan. 13, 1963 - Frank Tripucka, the Denver quarterback, passed 20 yards to Lionel Taylor, a Denver end, for the fourth-quarter touchdown that gave the West a 21-14 victory over the East in the second annual American Football League All-Star game. A crowd of 27,461 attended at San Diego’s Balboa Stadium. The same players had clicked on a 49-yard pass play from their 25 to set up the winning score. There were seven pass interceptions — 5 by the West — 9 fumbles, and 104 yards l

Jan 12

Lombardi and Sherman Set to Coach Pro Bowl Tomorrow

Jan. 12, 1963 - The finest football players in the world meet at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum tomorrow to play the 13th annual Pro Bowl game for charity. Coach Vince Lombardi (right), whose Green Bay Packers beat the Giants of New York for the NFL title the last two years, heads the favored all-stars of the Western conference. The Eastern division, beaten the last three years, hopes to reverse matters under the guidance of Allie Sherman (left), who piloted the Giants to the

Jan 11

Kemp and Blanda to Share QB Duties at AFL All-Star Game

Jan. 11, 1963 - Jack Kemp (pictured with ball) of the Buffalo Bills is reportedly in top form for the American Football League’s All-Star game in San Diego Sunday. Kemp is expected to share quarterback duties with George Blanda of Houston for the East against the West. Kemp was sidelined part of the 1962 season with a fractured finger. The West expects strong showings from Len Dawson, quarterback of the champion Dallas Texans, and Gene Mingo, the Denver Bronco kicking special

Jan 10

Packers’ Bill Quinlan Defends NFL Players

Jan. 10, 1963 - Bill Quinlan (pictured), star defensive end of the champion Green Bay Packers, spoke up on behalf of his fellow pro football players today with the angry charge that the present investigation of scandal is “ridiculous and disgusting.” Quinlan volunteered to undergo a lie detector test in testifying to the integrity of players in the NFL. “This thing disgusts me, and I figure it’s about time somebody stood up and spoke out for the players,” Quinlan declared. “T

Jan 9

Paul Brown Out as Coach of Cleveland Browns

Jan. 9, 1963 - Paul E. Brown (pictured with guard Gene Hickerson), head coach and general manager of the Cleveland Browns, which he founded in 1946, no longer will serve in those capacities, Arthur Modell, president and principal owner of the NFL club, said today. Brown, not immediately available for comment, will remain as a vice president. Modell said the Browns had several coaching successors in mind. He hopes to announce a choice in about 10 days. Brown, 56, has a 33-year