The very first Super Bowl was broadcast on CBS in 1967, a legendary game between the Chiefs and the Packers. The teams were coached by Hank Stram and Vince Lombardi, Green Bay won a blowout 35-10 victory. It's difficult ti imagine this today, but until recently nothing more than clips from the game existed, no complete tape could be found. Not even the networks or the NFL kept a copy of it.
But a tape has been found. A man whose father worked at a TV station in Scranton, PA in 1967 found an old video tape of the first Super Bowl that his father had recorded. Of course, it was in an attic. In 2005, the tape's owner showed up with the tape in a shopping bag at an archival service to see about getting it restored, thinking it would be of value to fans and the public. It's estimated to be worth at least $1 million.
The broadcast features everything, right down to the commercials which include spots for McDonalds and Muriel Cigars. I doubt too many folks around these parts remember when tobacco companies could still advertise on TV.
The Wall Street Journal has clips from the video on their site.
The tape is legit, but it isn't entirely complete. The person who recorded it skipped over some breaks in the action. The image is pixilated on occasion, the sound quality varies and there are occasional eruptions of white static at the side of the screen. Part of the third quarter is missing and the halftime show wasn't of interest to the recorder, so it was skipped.
There are some legal wranglings ongoing with ownership of the tape.
Let's hope all that gets settled, and sometime in the next year we'll be able to watch this historic event.
