The date is January 15, 1967. Jim Morrison’s voice is whispering over the radio, much softer than the explosions rocking American troops overseas with Operation Cedar Falls well underway in Vietnam.

News from New York is that the US Army is conducting secret germ warfare, and the people of Boston are outraged about the pending verdict for Albert DeSalvo. On the other side of the country, 61,496 Americans are distracted as their Super Bowl predictions play out in front of them in the inaugural championship game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in California.

The game is recognized as the AFL-NFL World Championship, the first title clash between the two American football leagues after a merger agreement was made in the summer of 1966.

There was considerable tension between the two sides, but after 60 minutes of play, what many Super Bowl spreads sports writers had projected had come to fruition as the NFL’s Green Bay Packers had trumped the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.

The prevailing league was the more established of the two, and the winning team held the key with Super bowl line MVP Bart Starr. Starr threw for 250 yards and two touchdowns in the victory, and an American tradition is born.