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Why didn't George Plimpton try out for an AFL team?

posted 19 years ago by wakkadakka
11 replies | jump to latest

I know there was a lot of hatred between the NFL & the AFL back in the '60's, but why didn't Plimpton try out for an AFL team? Vince Lombardi made a comment about trying out for an AFL team in the movie & Plimpton acted like that was a bad thing. I would have loved to have had him try out for the Kansas City Chiefs with Hank Stram as the coach. Can you imagine some of the funny stuff that would have been in it?

I think the movie would have been funnier if Hank Stram had been the coach, so I was wondering why Plimpton didn't try out for the Chiefs?

[–] diamondgroup 19 years ago

In 1967, the NFL was really where the action was. The Packers ruled football, coming off two consecutive championships. They would complete the unprecendented triple crown that year. They had just demolished the AFL Champion Chiefs in the 1st AFL-NFL Championship (35-10) and would do it again to the Oakland Raiders (33-14). The AFL was still considered by many to be a minor leauge.It would have been natural for Plimpton to want to try out with the best and it would be a better story. Also, remember the Detroit Lions were considered to be a very colorful, some would say wacky, kind of franchise.
Karris and company were not your plain vanilla type of players. Stram's antics did not become widely known until he was miked for the 1969 Super Bowl against the Vikings.In 1967, he was merely considerd the coach who had just gotten his tail kicked by the Packer juggernaut.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] jejozi 10 years ago

This movie is based on his experiences during the 1963 training camp, the movie was made in '67, and the AFL had only been in existence two seasons. That said, he did contact the New York Titans to see if they'd accommodate him. They declined. He also tried other NFL teams before the Lions finally welcomed him.

This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

[–] rockamora 18 years ago

The AFL???
The bloody AFL???
Are you kidding me? They're never going to make it.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] gerardlei 17 years ago

Read Plimpton's book.

Prior to the 1963 preseason (which was when the story actually took place), Plimpton DID unsuccessfully attempt to latch on w/ the New York Titans (later Jets) of the AFL, as well as the Baltimore Colts of the NFL. Detroit and George Wilson were the only ones willing to give him a chance.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Sparky48 11 years ago

"Why didn't George Plimpton try out for an AFL team?"

Because in 1967 the AFL was considered to be a joke, and not a first-class pro football league. I saw a TV documentary on the AFL a while back, and this particular scene with Plimpton and Lombardi (particularly Plimpton's refusal to to respond to Lombardi's question about the prospect of playing in the AFL) was used to illustrate the lack of respect that many had for the American Football League at that time.

It wasn't until a few years later--after the Jets upset the Colts in Super Bowl III and the Chiefs topped the Vikings in Super Bowl IV--that the AFL garnered respect.

[–] indy_go_blue44 10 years ago

And even through the 70s, despite what appears to be AFL domination of the Superbowl, 5 of those championships were won by teams that had belonged to the NFL only a few years before: Baltimore 1, Pittsburgh 4. But the Jets, Chiefs and Raiders showed that the AFL (now AFC) were for real.

I always thought Lombardi (great coach, big anus) was showing his contempt for both the AFL and for Plimpton.

[–] schles-1 8 years ago

Because the AFL was considered a joke in and of itself so there would have been no basis for the humor plus there would have been no Alex Karas.