Super Bowl IV
The NFL awarded Super Bowl IV to New Orleans on the 19th of March 1969. This decision came during owners' meetings held in Palm Springs, California. Two cities competed for the honor: Miami and New Orleans. Owners voted roughly three-quarters against giving Miami a third consecutive game. They felt an NFL town should host after two AFL towns had hosted recently. New Orleans mayor Victor H. Schiro joined George W. Healy Jr. and Al Hirt to pitch their city. They highlighted Tulane Stadium's seating capacity of 80,982 seats. Local accommodations also played a key role in the selection process. The final attendance reached 80,562 spectators.
Minnesota Vikings finished with a 12, 2 record in the 1969 season. Their defense allowed only 133 points all year long. The unit earned the nickname Purple People Eaters. Defensive tackles Gary Larsen and Alan Page anchored the line. Ends Carl Eller and Jim Marshall provided constant pressure. Bobby Bryant recorded eight interceptions before missing the Super Bowl due to injury. Quarterback Joe Kapp led the offense with superb running ability. He scored fifty or more points in three different games. The team won twelve straight victories between losses. This streak lasted thirty-five years until broken by later teams. The Vikings defeated Los Angeles Rams 23, 20 for the Western Conference title. They then crushed Cleveland Browns 27, 7 in the NFL Championship Game.
Kansas City Chiefs entered the playoffs at 11, 3. Quarterback Len Dawson suffered a knee injury early in the regular season. Second-string Jacky Lee broke his ankle weeks later. Third-string Mike Livingston engineered five wins of the next six starts. Dawson returned to clinch that sixth victory. Critics called their playoff berth a back-door entry since they finished second in the division. They defeated New York Jets 13, 6 on the 16th of November 1969. Oakland Raiders had beaten them 41, 6 the previous year. Kansas City took down Oakland 17, 7 in the final AFL title game. This run made them the first wild card team to play in the Super Bowl. Many sports writers believed the AFL was inferior to the NFL before this moment.
CBS televised Super Bowl IV with Jack Buck and Pat Summerall announcing. Frank Gifford reported from the winning locker room while Jack Whitaker covered the loser. The network erased the original videotape days after the game ended. Television executives deemed old games unworthy of preservation due to high costs. For decades only one recording existed from Canadian archives. CBC transferred footage to black-and-white film using the kinescope process. A color videotape covering the first three quarters surfaced in 2023. It included pregame shows and original commercials. Forty-four point two seven million people watched the broadcast in the United States. The rating reached 39.4 with a market share of 69 percent.
Ed Sabol of NFL Films convinced Hank Stram to wear a hidden microphone the night before the game. Stram had worn one during a regular season home game against Boston Patriots earlier that year. Sound man Jack Newman concealed the device on Stram's uniform. Some players noticed his demeanor deviated from normal form. Linebacker Willie Lanier said Hank seemed somewhat more animated. Quarterback Len Dawson wondered why he was chattering all the time. Halfback Mike Garrett recalled Stram being in rare form. Dawson later admitted he thought something was wrong because Stram called plays directly instead of letting him handle it. The resulting audio ranks among the most popular Super Bowl highlight films ever produced.
Hank Stram devised an effective plan to neutralize Minnesota's rushing attack. He doubled-teamed defensive ends Carl Eller and Jim Marshall. Most of quarterback Joe Kapp's completions were short passes. Neither Marshall nor Eller knocked down any throws. Stram put Buck Buchanan or Curley Culp nose-to-nose against center Mick Tingelhoff. Tingelhoff weighed only 235 pounds while Buchanan and Culp weighed over 280 pounds combined. This mismatch disrupted the Vikings' running game completely. Minnesota rushed for just 67 yards total. They managed only two first downs on the ground. Chiefs defense forced three interceptions and recovered two fumbles. The final score reached 23, 7 by halftime and held through the fourth quarter.
Super Bowl IV marked the fourth and final AFL-NFL World Championship Game. Kansas City Chiefs defeated Minnesota Vikings 23, 7. This victory squared the series at two games apiece before leagues merged officially. It was the first major professional sports championship won by a Kansas City-based team. Many believed the NFL remained superior until this moment proved otherwise. The American Football League gained legitimacy through this win. Chiefs would not win another Super Bowl until Super Bowl LIV in 2020. A parade drew over 150,000 people downtown the day after the game. Fifty years later a handful of players attended the Super Bowl LIV celebration. Kansas City remains the only team to win without allowing ten points in any postseason game during that era.
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Common questions
When and where was Super Bowl IV awarded to New Orleans?
The NFL awarded Super Bowl IV to New Orleans on the 19th of March 1969 during owners' meetings held in Palm Springs, California. Two cities competed for the honor: Miami and New Orleans.
What record did the Minnesota Vikings finish with in the 1969 season before Super Bowl IV?
Minnesota Vikings finished with a 12, 2 record in the 1969 season. Their defense allowed only 133 points all year long and earned the nickname Purple People Eaters.
How many people watched the CBS broadcast of Super Bowl IV in the United States?
Forty-four point two seven million people watched the broadcast in the United States. The rating reached 39.4 with a market share of 69 percent.
Why did Kansas City Chiefs enter the playoffs as a wild card team in Super Bowl IV?
Critics called their playoff berth a back-door entry since they finished second in the division. They defeated New York Jets 13, 6 on the 16th of November 1969 and took down Oakland 17, 7 in the final AFL title game.
Who convinced Hank Stram to wear a hidden microphone during Super Bowl IV?
Ed Sabol of NFL Films convinced Hank Stram to wear a hidden microphone the night before the game. Sound man Jack Newman concealed the device on Stram's uniform.