Sports were growing in popularity across the board. But one major event stands out more than any other — which turns out to be the most popular sporting event in the US — the first NFL Super Bowl was played in January 1967.
They didn’t know it at the time (the first Super Bowl wasn’t even sold out!), but football was on its way to becoming the most popular sport in America. All it needed was a name, apparently.
The Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. The sixties also mark the last time my beloved Cleveland Browns won an NFL Championship (1964). We’re talking pre-Super Bowl days, now.
Only one team mattered in professional basketball: the Boston Celtics. They won 9 of the 10 possible championship to be won in the 60s. That’s domination like we’ve never seen in professional sports ever since.
Although he didn’t play for the Celtics, Wilt Chamberlain was an absolute beast in the 60s and is still considered by many to be one of the best centers of all time.
Share your love for 1960s Sports: History, Facts, MVPs & Champions
In the 1960s, boxing was owned by Muhammad Ali. He not only dazzled audiences with his fighting styles, but he also stirred up the pot with his words.
In the 60s, race was being pushed to the forefront and Ali was never a guy to hold back his thoughts.
Baseball was dominated by the Yankees in the first few seasons of the 1960s, but after 1965 we never heard from them again. In the late 60s pitching ruled the game, as guys like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax dominated the game so much they had to change the rules.
Sports in 1964
Pro Baseball
Roberto Clemente was in his prime in 1964
The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the New York Yankees in the 1964 World Series. Just one day after managing the Cardinals to the championship, John Keane resigned from St. Louis to take over for Yogi Berra in New York.
The collapse of the Philadelphia Phillies kept things interesting in the NL. The Phillies had a 6.5 game lead with two weeks left, but lost 10 in a row to choke miserably down the stretch. The Cardinals and the Reds battled it out until the last day of the season.
The Yankees won their fifth straight pennant behind the strong pitching of rookie phenom Mel Stottlemyre. The Yankees were sold to CBS, who purchased an 80% share of the club for $11.2 million. Charlie Finley tried to move his Kansas City Athletics to Louisville, KY, but MLB denied his request.
The hot bats in the AL were in Minnesota. Rookie Tony Oliva led the AL in BA with a .323 average. Oliva also led in runs scored (109) and hits (217). The Twins’ Harmon Killebrew led the AL in HRs (49).
Dean Chance was the best pitcher in the AL, with 20 wins to go along with a 1.65 ERA.
In the National League, Roberto Clemente was the best hitter with a .339 BA and 211 hits. Willie Mays had the most home runs in the NL with 47. Sandy Koufax was in his prime as well, dominating hitters with a 19-5 record and a tiny 1.74 ERA.
Pro Basketball
The Celtics were pretty sure they were going to win again.
The Boston Celtics showed no signs of losing their grip on professional basketball. In relatively easy fashion, they won an unprecedented sixth straight NBA title. Never before had pro sports seen such a long and hardly challenged run. While fun for Boston fans, it hardly helped keep the rest of teams’ fans interested.
Oscar Robinson of the Cincinnati Royals was voted the league’s MVP. San Francisco’s Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain led the league in scoring for the 3rd straight year with an average of 36.9 ppg.
1964 wasn’t all perfect for Boston, however. their beloved owner, Walter Brown, died at age 59. Coach Red Auerbach assumed the GM duties after Brown’s passing.
College Basketball
Much like pro basketball, college basketball was dominated by one team. The team to beat in 1964 was UCLA. No one could beat the, however, and they went on to complete an undefeated season. The only teams to do that before were San Francisco in 1956 and North Carolina in 1957.
Not surprisingly, UCLA coach John Wooden was voted Coach of the Year. His All-American guard, Walt Hazzard, won Player of the Year honors.
Howard “Butch” Komives of Bowling Green won the national scoring title with 36.7 ppg. Among the conference champions were Princeton, Kentucky, Texas A&M, Ohio State/Michigan and Kansas State.
Boxing
After the fight, the flamboyant new champion revealed that he was a member of the Black Muslim sect and insisted that he be called by his “nonslave” name of Muhammad Ali. In 1964, however most boxing enthusiasts continued to call him Cassius Clay.
The Liston-Clay contract called for a rematch, in violation of WBA rules. After the rematch was signed, the WBA stripped Clay of his title and called for a tournament of ranking contenders. Clay/Ali suffered a hernia three days before the start of the event and it had to be postponed. It was estimated that over $400,000 was lost on promotions.
Two other championships changed hands. Sugar Ramos lost the featherweight title on TKO to 21-year-old Vincente Saldivar in Mexico City. Pone Kingpetch of Thailand won the flyweight crown for the third time in a row.
Pro Football
The Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship with a shocking 27-0 victory over the Baltimore Colts. In the AFL, the Buffalo Bills brought the city its first major sports championship with a 20-7 win over the San Diego Chargers.
Although the NFL continued to be the dominated league, the AFL secured a TV contract with NBC worth $34 million, cementing its existence for the long run.
Colts’ QB Johnny Unitas was voted the best player that year, and Colts Head Coach Don Shula was the Coach of the Year. Commissioner Pete Rozelle reinstated Paul Hornung after being banned in 1963 for gambling.
Also, in 1964 the rules changed on what color home and away teams were required to wear. Before 1964, home teams had to wear dark colors, while the away team had to wear white. In 1964, the home team was allowed to choose. Many teams decided to wear white at home games that year. Some teams continued the tradition for many years, with the Browns wearing white for every home game (except one) until 1975 and the Cowboys still wear white jerseys at home games to this very day.
College Football
Notre Dame came within 95 seconds of a perfect season, until USC struck for a last minute touchdown in the most dramatic upset of the season. Alabama, undefeated champion of the SEC, then became the popular choice for #1. Unfortunately for Tide fans, Alabama lost its bowl game to Texas. Princeton was the only other major school with an undefeated record.
Two one-loss teams suffered one-point defeats: Texas and Michigan. The most lopsided upset was administered by Penn State versus Ohio State, who got crushed 27-0. Notre Dame QB John Huarte won the Heisman Trophy. Other great player from the 1964 season include Joe Namath, Gale Sayers, Craig Morton, Bob Timberlake, Archie Roberts, Dick Butkus, Jack Snow and Steve DeLong.
1964 Olympic Games
In 1964, one of the best organized and most successful Olympic Games in history were held in Japan. Japan was the first Asian nation ever to host the Olympics. 25 world records were broken and 52 of 61 possible Olympic records were also broken. The Games’ brightest track and field stars were Bob Hayes, Peter Snell and Bikila Abebe. Hayes won the men’s 100 meters, and the anchored the U.S. 400 meter relay team to a world record victory.
Snell won the 800 and 1500 meter runs. Two other 1960 champs defended the titles. Al Oerter won his third straight discus gold medal and Joszef Schmidt won his second triple jump title.
The 9th Winter Games were help in Innsbruck, Austria from January 29 through February 9. Russia led all other nations by a wide margin, winning almost half of the 25 total medals available (11).
Sports in 1965
Pro Baseball
Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers cemented his place in baseball history, with an amazing 2 shutout World Series performance to compliment his 26 wins in the regular season. He also threw a perfect game in 1965 and struck out an outstanding 382 batters — an MLB record.
Sandy Koufax had one of the best seasons of any pitcher in history in 1965
The 1965 World Series featured two teams that had come from 6th place in 1964, all the way back to prominence. The Dodgers ended up defeating the Minnesota Twins, 4 games to 2.
Maury Wills was a menace on the basepaths, stealing 92 bases. The Dodgers were credited with bringing back old school small-ball, winning the pennant with a league-low 78 home runs. They won with tight defense, high-speed base-running and strong pitching. Although five teams were in contention in the final month, the Dodgers went on a 13-game winning streak to clinch.
Jim Maloney of Cincinnati threw two no-hitters, although he lost one of them to the Mets, 1-0 in the 11th inning.
In the American League, Tony Oliva continued his hitting prowess, winning the batting title for the second straight year — in only his second season. Satchel Paige, just 59 years young, made his third and final comeback, this time with the Kansas City Athletics. He impressively pitched three innings of one-hit baseball.
The Braves played their last game in Milwaukee in 1965, as they packed their bags to play in Atlanta in 1966.
Willie Mays won the MVP Award in the NL and Zoilo Versailles won the AL MVP Award.
Pro Basketball
Shocking absolutely no one, the Boston Celtics won their seventh consecutive NBA title. This time, though, they had to fight to the last minute. The Celtics survived a last minute scare by the Wilt Chamberlain-led Philadelphia 76ers, beating them 110-109 in the seventh game of the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Bill Russell won the MVP award for the fourth time in five years. Chamberlain, who was traded from San Francisco to Philadelphia mid-season won his sixth straight scoring title and Willis Reed was awarded rookie of the year honors.
College Basketball
UCLA continued their stronghold on college basketball in 1965. They won the NCAA Championship for the second straight season. But it was a player from Princeton who had captured the imaginations of fans everywhere in 1965.
Bill Bradley was regarded by some at the time to be the best college basketball player in history. He once scored 58 points in a tournament game against Wichita. He passed up a lucrative offer from the New York Knicks to instead become a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University in England.
Boxing
The 1965 Clay vs. Liston fight gave us this iconic photo
Controversy raged over Muhammad Ali (known as Cassius Clay just the year before) and his behavior both in and out of the ring.
In May, Ali knocked out Sonny Liston in the first round with one punch. In November, a taunting Ali jabbed and hooked Floyd Patterson almost at will before the fight was halted in the 12th round.
The famous photo to the right was taken from that fateful, one-punch fight against Liston.
In other weight classes, five championships changed hands. Jose Torres won the light heavyweight title by KO’ing Willie Pastrano. Dick Tiger regained the middleweight crown. Carlos Ortiz lost and regained the lightweight title.
Pro Football
The Green Bay Packers and the Baltimore Colts, who tied for the Western Division title in the regular season, were all tied up at 10 after four grueling quarters of football. The Packers won, 13-10 after 13:39 of sudden death overtime, advancing to the NFL Championship to take on the defending champs, the Cleveland Browns.
The Packers went on to win the whole thing, defeating the Browns 23-12. Cleveland’s Jim Brown was named the league’s MVP.
The Buffalo Bills and San Diego Chargers rematched their 1964 championship again in the 1965 AFL championship game. The Bills again came out victorious, stifling the Chargers with a score of 23-0. San Diego’s Lance Alworth was named the AFL’s MVP.
College Football
Michigan State surprised the college football world in 1965 by finishing the regular season undefeated after being picked by some to finish as low as seventh in the Big Ten. They were voted the most outstanding team of the year and then they promptly went out and lost the Rose Bowl to UCLA.
The AP picked Arkansas as it’s favorite team. Nebraska also chalked up a perfect season in 1965. Mike Garrett, USC’s 185-bundle of power, was awarded the Heisman Trophy. Other top players in 1965 were: Rick Norton, Steve Juday, Don Anderson, Tom Nobis and Carl McAdams.
Conference champs included Alabama, Duke, South Carolina, Dartmouth, West Virginia, BYU and UCLA.
Sports in 1966
BASEBALL
Frank Robinson on the cover of Sport Magazine (August 1966)
Robinson also brought home baseball’s coveted Triple Crown award, in which he won the batting average, RBI, and home run titles, becoming only the ninth player ever to do so. Robinson also was awarded the AL MVP, which he had won in Cincinnati five years previously, becoming the first player to win an MVP in both leagues.
The Los Angeles Dodgers fielded an outstanding pitcher in Sandy Koufax. Koufax, who had an arthritic condition in his left elbow that needed a cortisone shot every few hours to allow him to continue pitching, still managed to win 27 games, post a minuscule 1.73 earned run average, and strikeout 317 batters. Ultimately, the anguish was too much, and Koufax announced his retirement from Major League Baseball at the end of the year.
The National League won the All-Star game in 10 innings, by a score of 2-1. This was the NL’s fourth consecutive midsummer classic win, putting them at a 19-17-1 advantage over the American League.
Slugger Ted Williams and long-time manager Casey Stengel were inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966, with the five year waiting period skipped for Stengel.
BASKETBALL (AMATEUR)
Cazzie Russell, the 1966 Player of the Year
With hard work and determination, the Miners outscored Kentucky, 72-65, to bring home the NCAA championship.
Cazzie Russell of the Michigan Wolverines earned the outstanding player of the year award, ending his Big Ten career with 2,164 total points. Later, Russell took the AAU’s Ford Mustangs to the championship, and the signed a contract with the New York Knickerbockers for three years, $200,000. This made Russell the highest paid rookie of all-time.
BASKETBALL (PROFESSIONAL)
The Boston Celtics had to work hard for their eighth consecutive NBA title. First, they were beaten for the Eastern Division title, but earned another chance at first place and won. Then they made it to the NBA finals, and built up a 3-1 lead, only to lose the next two to force a Game 7. In the final game, both teams fought for points in the last seconds, but Boston prevailed, winning 95-93.
The player of the year award went to Wilt Chamberlain who lead the NBA in scoring for the seventh consecutive year. Rick Barry became the fourth rookie to ever score more than 2,000 points in a season, and was named rookie of the year. Dolph Schayes, the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers, won the coach of the year award, but was fired after losing in the eastern division finals, and retired at season’s end.
BOXING
Muhammad Ali defended the heavyweight title exactly five times in 12 months, which was considered very active and somewhat unusual. Through a revoked approval by Illinois boxing officials, Ali did not have to fight Ernie Terrell in Chicago, but in Toronto. Terrell didn’t think the fight would pay well, so Ali fought George Chuvalo instead, and the Terrell-Ali bout was rescheduled to be in Houston in February 1967.
FOOTBALL (AMATEUR)
In the second to last game of the season, Michigan State and Notre Dame faced each other to decide who was was number one. But they tied 10-10. The UPI had Michigan State at #1, but the AP Poll placed Notre Dame at #1. In their bowl game, Notre Dame demolished USC, 51-0. Both polls now named Notre Dame as top in the nation.
FOOTBALL (PROFESSIONAL)
New Orleans newspaper dated November 1, 1966
The merger helped ease the tension by stopping the competitive bidding over college players. It also helped by adding two more teams in 1967, New Orleans and Cincinnati, with the expectation of more teams to come.
Another addition that was interesting to the fans was the promise of a common schedule by 1970, and the winners of the 1967 leagues would play in the first “Superbowl Game.”
Football also gained immunity from the antitrust law, similar to baseball’s in 1922, so that they could operate without interference from outside leagues.
In the AFL, the Buffalo Bills won the eastern division, while the Kansas City Chiefs won the western division. In the AFL title game, Kansas City swept the Bills in a 31-7 victory.
In the NFL, the Green Bay Packers swept the western division, and the Dallas Cowboys of the eastern division captured their title. In the NFL title game, the Packers edged out a victory over the Cowboys, 34-27.
GOLF
In 1966, Jack Nicklaus proved himself to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. Though he skipped some tournaments, Nicklaus participated in the four largest of them, winning two. By winning the Masters and the British Open, Nicklaus increased his yearly earnings to $111,419, which was second in golf.
The richest golfer in 1966 was Billy Casper. By winning the U.S. Open, and playing more frequently than Nicklaus, Casper earned $10,525 more than him. Though Casper was a fine golfer, many golfing fans were upset by the loss of Arnold Palmer in the U.S. Open. Though Palmer had led by 7 strokes in the fourth round, Casper soon passed him by.
SOCCER
Geoff Hurst was the hero of the 1966 World Cup.
Defending champions Brazil were unable to advance onto the quarterfinal round, since they were missing their star Pelé, who was injured in the first round match. Without Pelé, Brazil lost first to Hungary, 3-1, and then to Portugal, 3-1.
After defeating Brazil, Portugal became the favorites to capture the cup. In their next match versus North Korea, they whipped their opponents, 5-3. But when England defeated Portugal, their World Cup dreams were crushed.
West Germany eliminated Uruguay from the tournament, 4-0, and they also beat the Soviet Union, 2-1.
West Germany faced England in the World Cup final. In the first 90 minutes, both teams scored 2 goals apiece, tying the match and forcing it into overtime play. Then England’s Geoffrey Hurst stepped up, scoring two goals in overtime, securing the World Cup for the overjoyed hosts.
Sports in 1969
BASEBALL
1969 World Series program
During a 6-day stretch in mid-September, the Mets faced tough opposition. First, they were struck out 19 times by Steve Carlton. Next they were no-hit by Bob Moose. Another day they lost both games of a double-header to the Pittsburgh Pirates. Despite these dramatic losses, the Mets still won 38 of their last 49 games.
In a season filled with drama, the Western Division was battled for by six of the seven teams, with the dismal San Diego Padres finishing 41 games behind first place. When the dust finally settled, the Atlanta Braves held first place in the NL West, finishing 3 games ahead of second place.
In the American League East, the Baltimore Orioles dominated, finishing 19 games ahead of second place Detroit, who still won 90 games. With manager Earl Weaver at their helm, the Orioles had a team ERA of 2.83, two 20-game winners, and six position players with a batting average over .280.
The Minnesota Twins captured the AL West title, finishing 9 games ahead. They were stocked with offensive talent, as Twins players Rod Carew earned a .332 batting average, Harmon Killebrew led home runs (49) and RBIs (140), and Tony Oliva led the league in hits, with 197.
The 1966 World Series featured the New York Mets versus the Baltimore Orioles. In game one, the Orioles easily won, 4-1, and the sporting world figured that they would easily capture the trophy, but the Mets had other plans.
Game two was won by the Mets, 2-1, so was game three (5-0), four (2-1), and five (5-3). Amazingly, The “Miracle” Mets were World champions.
Four all-time greats were inducted into the Hall of Fame by new commissioner Bowie Kuhn: Roy Campanella, Stan Coveleski, Waite Hoyt, and Stan Musial.
BASKETBALL (AMATEUR)
Lew Alcindor at UCLA
In the Final, UCLA’s star player, Lew Alcindor, scored 37 points, earning his third consecutive player of the year award.
John Wooden, UCLA’s coach, won an award of his own: Coach of the Year.
Pete Maravich of Louisiana State became the first college player to score 2,000 points in his first two college seasons. He won the scoring title with an average of 44.2 points per game, almost 11 more than the next closest, Rick Mount (33.3).
BASKETBALL (PROFESSIONAL)
The NBA added two teams in 1969, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Phoenix Suns, while the St. Louis Hawks packed their bags and moved to Atlanta.
In the regular season, Baltimore won the Eastern Division and Los Angeles won the Western Division. In the playoffs, Boston, who finished fourth in the East, advanced to take on Los Angeles in the final. Boston went on to win the seventh game 108-106, making them the first fourth place team ever to win the NBA Finals.
After the college season ended Lew Alcindor of UCLA left for the pros, and was fought over by both the NBA and the ABA. The ABA made a $3.2 million offer, but Alcindor said it was “just talk” and went to the Milwaukee Bucks for a five year $1 million contract.
In the ABA, The Oakland Oaks swept the Western Division while the Indiana Pacers captured the Eastern title. In the championship finals, the heavily favored Oaks won the title in five games. This was much better than the Oaks had done in 1968, when they lost 64 games, a pro basketball record.
BOXING
The boxing world was a little confused about who was the heavyweight champion. Muhammad Ali was thought to be champion by most; but the World Boxing Association had staged a tournament the previous year where Jimmy Ellis was champion; and New York thought Joe Frazier was the best, so they staged a separate bout in which he won. At the end of the year, Ali, Ellis and Frazier were all recognized by someone as the “official” heavyweight champion.
FOOTBALL (AMATEUR)
On the final day of the regular season, President Nixon appeared at the Texas vs. Arkansas game. The game was to decide who would be crowned national champion. Texas won, so Nixon presented Texas with a championship plaque.
Penn State fans became angry; however, saying that it was too early to decide, even though Texas was ranked first in every major poll. Penn State could have challenged Texas in a bowl game, but declined. The Nittany Lions lost their bowl game anyhow, and Texas won theirs, saving Nixon a little embarrassment.
FOOTBALL (PROFESSIONAL)
Joe Namath unexpectedly retires
O.J. Simpson held out for a bigger contract for six months before signing with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL.
In the NFL championship, the Minnesota Vikings played the Cleveland Browns. The Vikings owned the Browns, winning the game 27-7. In the AFL championship, the Kansas City Chiefs outplayed the Raiders, 17-7. The Chiefs, making it to the championship in a playoff, became the first team to make it to the Super Bowl without winning their division.
In the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Minnesota Vikings in New Orleans by a score of 23-7.
GOLF
Tony Jacklin, 25, a newcomer to the major golf tournaments, became the first Englishman to win the British Open since 1951. Ray Floyd, 26, who had also never won a major tournament, won the PGA tour. Orville Moody, 35, spent 14 years in the Army teaching and playing golf before winning the U.S. Open.
George Archer, 29, at 6 foot 6 inches tall, was the tallest professional on the tour, but that’s not all he was recognized for. He won the Master’s, earning $186,975.
In the World Series of Golf, which matched the winners of the four major golf tournament, Orville Moody won with a 36-hole score of 141, earning him $77,500.
List of 1960s Major Sports Champions
| 1960 | |
| Pro Baseball | Pittsburgh Pirates |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | Ohio State |
| Boxing (HW) | Floyd Patterson |
| Pro Football | Philadelphia Eagles |
| College Football | Minnesota |
| Others | |
| 1961 | |
| Pro Baseball | New York Yankees |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | Cincinnati |
| Boxing (HW) | Floyd Patterson |
| Pro Football | Green Bay Packers |
| College Football | Alabama |
| Others | |
| 1962 | |
| Pro Baseball | New York Yankees |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | Cincinnati |
| Boxing (HW) | Sonny Liston |
| Pro Football | Green Bay Packers |
| College Football | USC |
| Others | |
| 1963 | |
| Pro Baseball | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | Loyola |
| Boxing (HW) | Sonny Liston |
| Pro Football | Chicago Bears |
| College Football | Texas |
| Others | |
| 1964 | |
| Pro Baseball | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | UCLA |
| Boxing (HW) | Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) |
| Pro Football | Cleveland Browns |
| College Football | Alabama |
| Others | |
| 1965 | |
| Pro Baseball | Los Angeles Dodgers |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | UCLA |
| Boxing (HW) | Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) |
| Pro Football | Green Bay Packers |
| College Football | Alabama and Michigan State |
| Others | |
| 1966 | |
| Pro Baseball | Baltimore Orioles |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | UTEP |
| Boxing (HW) | Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) |
| Pro Football | Green Bay Packers |
| College Football | Notre Dame |
| Others | |
| 1967 | |
| Pro Baseball | St. Louis Cardinals |
| Pro Basketball | Philadelphia 76ers |
| College Basketball | UCLA |
| Boxing (HW) | Muhammad Ali |
| Pro Football | Green Bay Packers |
| College Football | USC |
| Others | |
| 1968 | |
| Pro Baseball | Detroit Tigers |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | UCLA |
| Boxing (HW) | Joe Frazier |
| Pro Football | New York Jets |
| College Football | Ohio State |
| Others | |
| 1969 | |
| Pro Baseball | New York Mets |
| Pro Basketball | Boston Celtics |
| College Basketball | UCLA |
| Boxing (HW) | Joe Frazier |
| Pro Football | Kansas City Chiefs |
| College Football | Texas |
| Others |
More 1960s Sports
Baseball in the 1960s »
Share your love for 1960s Sports: History, Facts, MVPs & Champions
Joe NAmath predicted that the jets were to win the superbowl in 1968 and they just did that a astonishing shocker
Joe Namath still melts my butta 🙂
I wanna kiss you!
I wish he would melt my butter…..uhhh im so excited…uhhh
I might do this as a 6th grade project am i picking the right choice guys
So did Revis island and look where that went