Professional Football Researchers Association Forum
PFRA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the history of professional football. Formed in 1979, PFRA members include many of the game's foremost historians and writers.
GameBeforeTheMoney wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2024 3:47 pm
Might not have been a league wide rule because stadiums were multi-use, the NFL might not have had the resources to put it in league wide. Just a guess.
The extension of the goal posts in 1966 was because of the 1965 Western Division Playoff between Green Bay and Baltimore. Jim Tunney was the official under the goal post and ruled the tying field goal by Green Bay's Don Chandler as good - and the game went into overtime. Then, as still today, if any part of the ball goes over the goal post, it's good, and it's a judgement call by the official. So, they raised the goal post 10 feet higher for 1966. The NFL raised the goal posts higher many years later after a Justin Tucker field goal went over the upright and it was good.
This history of goal posts interested me quite a bit when I first started my blog and I learned a lot while researching. In writing it I found the patent for Joel Rottman's sling shot goal post which included padding. If anyone's interested, it's here:
GameBeforeTheMoney wrote: ↑Wed Mar 27, 2024 3:47 pm
This history of goal posts interested me quite a bit when I first started my blog and I learned a lot while researching. In writing it I found the patent for Joel Rottman's sling shot goal post which included padding. If anyone's interested, it's here:
From what I remember reading, Rottman and Trimble had their new goal posts installed at the Autostade Stadium in Montreal during the fall of 1966. The Autostade was home to the Montreal Beavers of the Continental Football League. The new "tuning fork" style posts were made entirely of aluminum:
Montreal_Beavers_at_Autostade_1966_20878419696013.jpg (93.33 KiB) Viewed 1347 times
Game 2 of the Canadian Football League's 1966 Eastern Final (Ottawa vs. Hamilton) had to be played at the Autostade due to ongoing renovations that were taking place at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa. The game was played on Nov. 19, 1966 and you can get a small glimpse of the tuning fork style post in this photo of Ottawa coach Frank Clair:
The NFL first used the sling-shot style posts for the January 8, 1967 Playoff Bowl at Miami (Colts vs. Eagles). They were white in color.
Jan. 1967 Playoff Bowl_18587495982338.jpg (193.29 KiB) Viewed 1347 times
For some odd reason the St. Louis Cardinals continued using the offset H-shaped posts in 1967. They waited until 1968 to switch to the sling-shot style. Does anyone know why?
"For some odd reason the St. Louis Cardinals continued using the offset H-shaped posts in 1967. They waited until 1968 to switch to the sling-shot style. Does anyone know why?"
Maybe - and this is just another guess - I think the Cardinals first used Busch Stadium rather than the old Sportsman's Park in 66 or 67. So, it might have had something to do with it being such a new stadium, maybe they'd bought new goalposts for the building of the new stadium and wanted to get at least some use out of them, or at least having something to do with transitioning to a new stadium right around that time.
Those are absolutely fantastic photos. Rare (at least for me) to see color photos of CFL games of the 60s. I just love the way the color film from football games looks like from that era.
The other article has some nice history in it as well, although it should be noted that over the upright is good per NFL rules. That entire article was a really good reminder of how football is a descendant of rugby. That is one sport that I would probably get into a lot more if it received better coverage.
Seeing the Raymond Berry photo against the Giants reminded me of something important to mention. The Hall of Fame had a travelling exhibit many years ago that included a piece of the goal post from what I think was the 1958 championship game. Might have been 1950 - it was a while ago. But what surprised me was the goal posts were wooden - they weren't metal. I always thought goal posts were metal. Never thought of them as wood.
Sorry for the late reply - really been a busy past few weeks.
GameBeforeTheMoney wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 10:22 am
Maybe - and this is just another guess - I think the Cardinals first used Busch Stadium rather than the old Sportsman's Park in 66 or 67. So, it might have had something to do with it being such a new stadium, maybe they'd bought new goalposts for the building of the new stadium and wanted to get at least some use out of them, or at least having something to do with transitioning to a new stadium right around that time.
Those are absolutely fantastic photos. Rare (at least for me) to see color photos of CFL games of the 60s. I just love the way the color film from football games looks like from that era.
Former Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell had a reputation for being tight with a dollar so it wouldn't suprise me if your guess is on track. My initial thought was that Bidwell probably didn't want to spend the extra money to upgrade to the new "Tele-Goal" style posts. The Cards had just switched to the offset H-shaped posts in 1966 when Busch Stadium opened.
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame has a large number of color photos in their database that are available for viewing (type request in search box, i.e. specific year or player; key words like film, photo print, negative, etc.)
Retro Rider wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 10:02 pm
Former Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell had a reputation for being tight with a dollar so it wouldn't suprise me if your guess is on track. My initial thought was that Bidwell probably didn't want to spend the extra money to upgrade to the new "Tele-Goal" style posts. The Cards had just switched to the offset H-shaped posts in 1966 when Busch Stadium opened.
*Bidwill. Most-misspelled name in pro football history outside of maybe Ron Mikolajczyk.
Retro Rider wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 10:02 pm
Former Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell had a reputation for being tight with a dollar so it wouldn't suprise me if your guess is on track. My initial thought was that Bidwell probably didn't want to spend the extra money to upgrade to the new "Tele-Goal" style posts. The Cards had just switched to the offset H-shaped posts in 1966 when Busch Stadium opened.
*Bidwill. Most-misspelled name in pro football history outside of maybe Ron Mikolajczyk.
Is it Phil Bengston or Bengtson? I’ve seen both dozens of times.
Retro Rider wrote: ↑Wed Apr 10, 2024 10:02 pm
Former Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell had a reputation for being tight with a dollar so it wouldn't suprise me if your guess is on track. My initial thought was that Bidwell probably didn't want to spend the extra money to upgrade to the new "Tele-Goal" style posts. The Cards had just switched to the offset H-shaped posts in 1966 when Busch Stadium opened.
*Bidwill. Most-misspelled name in pro football history outside of maybe Ron Mikolajczyk.
Is it Phil Bengston or Bengtson? I’ve seen both dozens of times.
I have seen Phil's surname spelled incorrectly two times in one sentence.
