By Bill Turianski on the 23rd of December 2021; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-1964 AFL season
-1964 AFL Championship Game (en.wikipedia.org).
-1964 AFL season (pro-football-reference.com).
The map… The map shows the primary helmets and jerseys worn by the 8 teams in the 1964 AFL, the fifth season of the American Football League. Also shown on the map page are the final standings of the 1964 AFL season, the Offensive leaders of the 1964 AFL season, the home jerseys of the 8 AFL teams that season, and the average attendances of the 8 teams 1964 AFL season (compared to the previous season).
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AFL attendances in 1964…
Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.
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Average Attendance, NFL vs. AFL (the 10 years they were in competition: 1960-69); plus NFL/AFL/Super Bowl title-winners in the 1960s…
Source for attendance figures: pdf at ProFootballResearchers.org [Coffin Corner newsletter, Sept 1991, by Bob Carroll], profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf. Helmet illustrations from gridiron-uniforms.com.
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- 1964 AFL Championship Game: Buffalo Bills 20, San Diego Chargers 7.
AFL West winners…The 1964 San Diego Chargers were coached by Sid Gillman. The Chargers had gone 8-5-1 in the regular season. The Chargers were reigning champions, but they limped into the 1964 title game, losing 3 of their last 4 games. The Chargers’ offense was powered by WR Lance Alworth (with an AFL-best 15 TD), and the rushing tandem of Keith Lincoln and Paul Lowe (who combined for 1,128 yards), but Alworth was injured for the title game. Three Chargers made the 1964 AFL All-Star Team: T Ron Mix, DE Earl Faison, and DT Ernie Ladd.
AFL East winners…The 1964 Buffalo Bills were coached by Lou Saban. The Bills went 12-2, and had the AFL’s best defense (the only defense in the AFL that yielded less than 1,000 yards rushing). And the Bills’ ground-based offense scored a league-best 400 points, and featured FB Cookie Gilchrist (with an AFL-best 981 yards rushing). Six Bills made the 1964 AFL All-Star Team: RB Cookie Gilchrist, G Billy Shaw, T Stew Barber, DT Tom Sestak, LB Mike Stratton, and S George Saimes.
December 26, 1964…Buffalo hosted the game, at their War Memorial Stadium (aka the Rockpile). ABC broadcast the game. Game time temperature was a warm and unseasonable 47°F (8°C). Rain earlier that day had made the field damp, muddy, and slippery, especially along the sidelines and in the endzones. Sand was spread on the worst spots {see image below}. The game was a sell-out, with 40,242 in attendance in the 37,500-cappacity stadium. (Around 2,700 standing-room-only were tickets sold, thus making the capacity that day an impressive 107%.)
1st Quarter…The Chargers raced out to a quick 7-0 lead, with an 80-yard drive in 4 plays. On the first play of the game, FB Keith Lincoln burst up the middle for a 38-yard gain {see photo below}. Three plays later, QB Tobin Rote connected with TE Dave Kocourek for a 26-yard TD pass. The Chargers took a 7-0 lead after just 2:11.
But on San Diego’s next possession, the Bills’ defense changed the game. On a Chargers pass-play, Bills LB Mike Stratton hit Keith Lincoln just as the Chargers FB was about to catch a swing pass from Rote. Lincoln broke a rib, and had to be helped off the field, and was out for the rest of the game. The Chargers went scoreless after that. Late in the 1st quarter, the Bills scored on a 12-yard FG by Pete Gogolak.
Score at end of 1st Quarter: Chargers 7, Bills 3.
2nd Quarter…Midway through the 2nd quarter, the Bills took the lead on a 52-yard TD drive. The Bills started with an 18-yard pass from QB Jack Kemp to WR Elbert Dubenion. After 3 running plays, a 15-yard pass from Kemp to FB Cookie Gilchrist put the Bills 1st-and-goal at the 4. That set up a 4-yard TD run by HB Wray Carlton {see photo below}. Late in the 2nd quarter, the Bills scored on a 17-yard FG by Pete Gogolak.
Score at Halftime: Bills 13, Chargers 7.
3rd Quarter…no scoring.
4th Quarter… At the start of the 4th Quarter, the Bills got the ball on their own 48. QB Jack Kemp connected with WR Glenn Bass on a slant-pattern, and Bass went 51 yards to the San Diego 1. Two plays later, Kemp scored on a QB sneak {see photo below}. Then the Bills defense held the Chargers scoreless for the rest of the game. With 26 seconds left, Bills fans got through police barricades, and stormed the field, and began tearing down the goalposts.
Final Score: Bills 20, Chargers 7. The Buffalo Bills would repeat as AFL champions the next season (1965).
Photo and Image credits above – 3 screenshots: shot of ABC television broadcast title graphic, and shot of grounds crew spreading sand on muddy War Memorial turf, and shot Chargers HB Keith Lincoln shaking hands with Bill FB Cookie Gilchrist, 3 images from screenshots of video uploaded by Classic Sports at youtube.com. Keith Lincoln, photo by Walter Iooss Jr. via pinterest.com. Colorized photo of Mike Stratton’s hit on Keith Lincoln, photo unattributed at remembertheafl.com/1964AFLChampions. Wray Carlton scores in 1964 AFL title game; and referee signals touchdown: 2 photos unattributed at pinterest.com. Jack Kemp, photo by Neil Leifer/Sports Illustrated via si.com. Celebratory Bills fans carry QB Jack Kemp off the field, screenshot of video uploaded by Classic Sports at youtube.com.
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Credits
Buffalo Bills on map page…
1964 Bills uniforms, illustrations by Gridiron Uniforms database at gridiron-uniforms.com/[1964-AFL]. Jack Kemp [photo from 1964 AFL title game], photo by Neil Leifer via gettyimages.com. Jack Kemp & Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964],photo unattributed from ebay.com. Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at pinterest.com. Elbert Dubenion [1965 Fleer card], from espnrochester.radio.com. Daryle Lamonica [photo from 1964], photo unattributed at buffalorumblings.com. Buffalo Bills game-worn 1963 helmet, from helmet hut.com. Billy Shaw [1962 Fleer card], from amazon.com. Stew Barber [1964 Topps card], from amazon.com. Tom Sestack [photo circa 1963], photo unattributed via remembertheafl.com. Mike Stratton [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at twitter.com/[@HelmetAddict]. Butch Byrd [1964 Fleer card], from remembertheafl.com/[Bills]. George Saimes [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed from amazon.com.
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Offensive stats leaders on map page…
Len Dawson [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at fs64sports.blogspot.com.
Babe Parilli [photo circa 1965], photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
Cookie Gilchrist [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at basnnewsroom.com.
Charley Hennigan [1965 team-issue card], from talesfromtheamericanfootballleague.com.
Lance Alworth [photo circa 1964], photo unattributed at pinterest.com.
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Thanks to…
-Blank map by anonymous US federal government employee, at File:StatesU.svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Thanks to Sportslogos.net for 1960-era AFL team logos.
-Thanks to the contributors at pro-football-reference.com.
-Thanks to the contributors at AFL 1964 season (en.wikipedia.org).
-Thanks to the Coffin Corner newsletter, for this pdf, profootballresearchers.org/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/13-04-430.pdf [AFL attendance by team 1960-69] .
Special thanks to Tim Brulia, Bill Schaefer and Rob Holecko of The Gridiron Uniform Database, for giving billsportsmaps.com the permission to use football uniforms illustrations from Gridiron Uniform Database {GUD}.
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![exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/[1968 Detroit]](http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/dressed_to_the_nines/detail_page.asp?fileName=al_1968_detroit.gif&Entryid=1115){kind=link}
