Wiki Article on The Heidi Game.

[MIKEBENNIDICT]

http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/Heidi_Game ... _for_Heidi

We're coming up on the anniversary of that historic game next week.

[Bryan]

What a great rivalry...those late 60's Chiefs-Jets-Raiders matchups were the best games in either league. I think the Heidi Game kind of undercuts the theory that the Jets win in SB III "legitimized" the merger...the Jets-Raiders rivalry was nationwide in its following; it wasn't strictly an AFL town thing. The game was a big deal and highly anticipated. I think by the late 60's the average pro football fan was well aware of players like Namath, Lamonica, Otis Taylor, etc. Its not like Super Bowl III put the AFL on the map, IMO.

As for the game itself, the biggest moment was when the refs decided to eject Jim Hudson from the game. His backup, Mike D'Amato, was spectacularly terrible and was about as fast as Joe Namath playing safety. The end of the Heidi Game was the only prolonged game action in D'Amato's career, and 1968 would be his only NFL season. The Raiders isolated HB Charlie Smith on D'Amato for their last drive and had the following results:

78-yard TD reception by Smith; penalty on Raiders negates play
20-yard reception by Smith; 15 yard facemask penalty on D'Amato
43-yard TD reception by Smith

In that wiki article, Smith claims he would have outrun Hudson, too, but the Jets defense with Hudson shutdown Smith in the AFL title game later that year (5 carries,1 yard, 0 receptions). The wiki article was interesting in that I had no idea the Raiders stole the Jets uniforms after the game. I also didn't know that "Big Bad" John Elliott was also ejected from the Heidi Game.

[BD Sullivan]

What a great rivalry...those late 60's Chiefs-Jets-Raiders matchups were the best games in either league. I think the Heidi Game kind of undercuts the theory that the Jets win in SB III "legitimized" the merger...the Jets-Raiders rivalry was nationwide in its following; it wasn't strictly an AFL town thing. The game was a big deal and highly anticipated. I think by the late 60's the average pro football fan was well aware of players like Namath, Lamonica, Otis Taylor, etc. Its not like Super Bowl III put the AFL on the map, IMO.

As for the game itself, the biggest moment was when the refs decided to eject Jim Hudson from the game. His backup, Mike D'Amato, was spectacularly terrible and was about as fast as Joe Namath playing safety. The end of the Heidi Game was the only prolonged game action in D'Amato's career, and 1968 would be his only NFL season. The Raiders isolated HB Charlie Smith on D'Amato for their last drive and had the following results:

78-yard TD reception by Smith; penalty on Raiders negates play
20-yard reception by Smith; 15 yard facemask penalty on D'Amato
43-yard TD reception by Smith

In that wiki article, Smith claims he would have outrun Hudson, too, but the Jets defense with Hudson shutdown Smith in the AFL title game later that year (5 carries,1 yard, 0 receptions). The wiki article was interesting in that I had no idea the Raiders stole the Jets uniforms after the game. I also didn't know that "Big Bad" John Elliott was also ejected from the Heidi Game.

The 1970 Raiders games in both KC and at Shea against the Jets continued living up to the drama. The Ben Davidson cheap shot that sparked a brawl and cost the Chiefs a clinching first down laid the ground work for Part III of the Blanda Miracle Tour. Against the Jets, Warren Wells caught a Hail Mary (a Lamonica pass had been tipped by Earlie Thomas) with six seconds left and the Raiders won 14-13.