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Date | January 1, 1967 | ||||||||||||||||||
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Stadium | Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Tommy Bell | ||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 74,152 | ||||||||||||||||||
TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers |
Jack Buck, Ray Scott, Frank Gifford |
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Radio in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Jack Drees, Jim Morse | ||||||||||||||||||
The 1966 National Football League Championship Game was the 34th NFL championship, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas. It was the final game of the 1966 NFL season.
It determined the champion of the National Football League (NFL), which met the champion of the American Football League (AFL) in Super Bowl I, then formally referred to as the first AFL–NFL World Championship Game. The Western Conference champion Green Bay Packers (12–2), defending league champions, were hosted by the Dallas Cowboys (10–3–1), the Eastern Conference champions.
The home field for the NFL Championship alternated between the two conferences; even-numbered years were hosted by the Eastern and odd-numbered by the Western. Starting with the 1975 season, playoff sites were determined by regular season record, rather than a rotational basis.
The New Year's college bowl game at the Cotton Bowl for the 1966 season included the SMU Mustangs of Dallas. It was played the day before, New Year's Eve, which required a quick turnaround to transform the natural grass field. The two games were filled to the 75,504 capacity, but both local teams came up short.
It was the first NFL title game played after the AFL-NFL Merger was announced in June 1966. The game was played on January 1, 1967, the second consecutive year that the NFL season ended in January, rather than December. This was seventh season for the Dallas Cowboys and their first winning record since entering the league in 1960. They were champions of the NFL's Eastern Conference with a 10–3–1 record. The Packers won the Western Conference with a 12–2 record, their eighth consecutive winning season under head coach Vince Lombardi. Tickets for the game sold for ten dollars, and kickoff was just after 3 p.m. CST.