Bring on the 'Boys. Again.

Photo credit: Neil Leifer

Sunday's win over the Giants sets up another post-season matchup between our Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys. Another game between two of the best- and most traditional-looking teams in the league.

Fifty years ago today, the photo above was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated. It shows quarterback Bart Starr bringing his arm forward to pass, in the Packers' 34-27 victory in the 1966 NFL Championship Game at the Cotton Bowl.

That victory, of course, earned the Packers the right to face the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs in the inaugural Super Bowl, and therefore deserved its place of prominence on the cover.

The interior coverage was as impressive as the cover photo.

Amazing. I particularly love the five-photo series of Jim Grabowski's fumble recovery.

These photos represented a great technical innovation for the magazine, which developed a new process to be able to turn around color photographs quickly. Publisher Garry Valk described it this way, in a special letter in the front of the magazine:

This issue of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED contains the most ambitious use of news color in the history of the magazine. The cover and the pro football championship stories that begin on page 8 are illustrated with 11 photographs of events that took place last Sunday afternoon. Using these photographs without delaying delivery of the magazine represents a major technical advance but hardly an unexpected one. On the contrary, the most noteworthy thing about this week's color that it is merely a significant example of the kind of coverage that our readers can expect throughout the year ahead.

Two weeks from now the NFL-AFL game in Los Angeles will offer a similar occasion for extensive use of on-the- deadline color. Later, such news stories as basketball championships. the Kentucky Derby, the U.S. Open and the World Series will be presented with more color photographs than ever before. And we will now have the opportunity to show, in color and within hours of when they happen, many of the less widely followed but equally interesting events in the sports spectrum.

The degree of our increasing emphasis on news color is not difficult to measure. In 1964 we ran only 18 pages&mdahsh;six of them from the Tokyo Olympics. In 1965 the figure was up to 38, and last year it was 92. We expect that the 1967 total will average four pages an issue, twice as many as a year ago.

One of the results of this is that a demanding sport of our own is going to become a matter of routine. Its name is "Chicago Close"—it is in Chicago, the site of our main printing plant, that all Sunday color pictures must be processed and selected. It is a nerve-testing game because there is a constant danger that the scheduled film may not arrive in time, and that plans for "standby" alternates will fail. (For several hectic hours four weeks ago, our scheduled color cover from the Boston-Buffalo AFL game was stranded in Detroit, our first standby was fogbound in Dallas and our second standby was snowed in at Cleveland.)

This week the coverage of two games doubled the chance of trouble. A staff of 10 went to Chicago early Sunday to await the arrival of film from Dallas and Buffalo, select pictures and get them to the three printing plants involved (no one company could handle that much rush work). As a safety measure in case none of the film arrived, a "superstandby" cover of Bart Starr (left) was chosen immediately after Green Bay had won. picked from 150 regular-season pictures of likely heroes of the Dallas game. Artist Robert Handville was also commissioned to do drawings based on wirephotos and descriptions of key plays from our men on the scene.

Happily. There were no delays with the game photographs. By one a.m. Monday the last rolls of film were being studied by the editors. An hour later final selections had been made and the last pic1ure dispatched to the engravers. It arrived 10 minutes before the 2 a.m. deadline. Now Starr was on our cover playing against Dallas, the kind of news color treatment we like, and know you do, too.

In an age of instantaneous on-demand high-definition video highlights, it seems amazing to consider a time when artists scrawled game pictures based on eyewitness accounts just in case photos didn't arrive at the printer.

Giant Killers, Then and Now

Photo credit: Even Seigle, Packers.com

So much for Rambeau III. The Packers demolished the Giants today, 38-13, to keep their improbable streak alive.

My favorite part of the game, other than the final score, was the opportunity to see two old-school NFL powers face off in their classic uniforms.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) throws the ball during NFC wild-card NFL football game against the New York Giants on Sunday, January 8, 2017 in Green Bay, Wis. Green Bay won 38-13. (Todd Rosenberg/NFL)

What a gorgeous game. Bold colors: green and gold against white, red and blue. No trendy teal or black-for-black's-sake here.

Everything about the game has changed around them, but the same basic uniforms could have been transported from 1961:

Photo credit: Even Seigle, Packers.com

Photo credit: Neil Leifer for Sports Illustrated

Fantastic.

Meet the New (Rams) Logo. Same as the Old Logo

As we recover from the Packers' heartbreaking loss in the desert, let's look at a subject absolutely, totally free from any hint of negative emotions - the relocation of the Rams from St. Louis back to Los Angeles.

The Rams recently unveiled the logo they'll be using in their new/old home:

The @RamsNFL unveiled their new logo during LA news conference: https://t.co/lERBAwwuZK pic.twitter.com/yOCVA8M6Pz

— NFL (@NFL) January 15, 2016

If it looks familiar, it should. It's the same logo they've been using since early 2000, with a city name swap.

The Rams also unveiled a throwback-ish wordmark (seen at the top of their revamped website):

This is a slightly-tweaked update of their 1970s/1980s wordmark.

Personally, I prefer the wordmark that followed it, cleverly superimposing "LA" over the first two letters in "RAMS".

In any case, it's a small tip of the cap to their history. But this minor change may beforeshadowing a much larger one.

Since 2014, before the move was official, the Rams have been hinting that they may adopt a throwback uniform, possibly the blue-and-whites worn by the "Fearsome Foursome" in the 1960s.

Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones, Jack Pardee","captionBlurb":"Los Angeles Rams Hall of Fame defensive linemen Merlin Olsen (74) and Deacon Jones (75) with linebacker Jack Pardee (32) during a 17-16 loss to the Chicago Bears on December 8, 1968, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. (National Football League)

They had a blue jersey as part of this set, but since they wore white at home, it was only worn a handful of times. When the Packers went to LA for their late-season swing, they packed the classic green jerseys.

Los Angeles Rams defensive end Lamar Lundy (85) and Hall of Fame defensive tackle Merlin Olsen (74) drop Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr (15) for a loss during a 27-24 Rams victory on December 9, 1967, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. (National Football League)

I think there's a more likely option than blue-and-white, though.

Since at least 2009, there has been a growing grassroots "Bring Back the Rams" movement in Los Angeles. This movement is driven entirely by fans in California, some of whom are too young to remember the team playing anywhere but Missouri, but almost all of whom have chosen the LA Rams' royal blue and athletic gold as their signature color scheme.

Deliberately or not, this choice has consistently provided a clear visual contrast with the muddy navy and metallic gold color scheme the Rams adopted during their time in St. Louis. There has been no mistaking those fans, wherever we have seen them.

Everywhere these fans gather to promote their efforts, from parking lots to Inglewood City Council meetings, the LA fans are there in their royal and gold.

For "Bring Back the Rams" rallies in 2015 and 2016 held at the LA Coliseum, the LA fans were there in their royal and gold.

When the Rams practiced in California last season, the LA fans were there in their royal and gold.

When the then-St. Louis Rams played the Chargers in San Diego, the LA fans were there in their royal and gold.

It's really quite striking.

At owner Stan Kroenke's press conference at the Forum, the Rams logo was projected behind the dias.

Many on social media noticed that the bright projection gave the logo an appearance of the old colors. And it could easily be re-colored without losing any of its impact.

It certainly seems likely that the team will bring back this color scheme, as a way of connecting both with their history in California and with their emerging fanbase. They almost have to, to honor the fans who have devoted so much time to lobbying for their team's homecoming.

So what does that leave for the Rams? One easy option would be to bring back the classic uniforms.

The Rams wore royal and gold with horns on their sleeves from 1973 through their last season in LA and all the way to Super Bowl XXXIV on January 30, 2000. After winning their only Super Bowl to date, the Rams changed to the drab colors they still wear today.

I mean, come on. It's not even close.

The classic unis were also immortalized in the 1978 Warren Beatty/Buck Henry film Heaven Can Wait, about a backup quarterback taken to the afterlife before his time. Allowed to return to Earth in the body of the team's owner, he gets his new body back into shape and leads his team to the Super Bowl.

We've seen how teams return to uniforms from the 1960s as a way of tapping into the sport's glory period and borrowing a little of that old-school glory for themselves.

That would certainly be welcome in the NFL. As would another team wearing Braisher stripes.

The Green Bay Packers play the Los Angeles Rams before a crowd of 57,796 at Leambeau Field in Green Bay, December 20, 1992. the Packers won, 28-13. (Photo: John Biever/Sports Illustrated)

If Kroenke wants to do something else, gold jerseys are always an option. The Rams wore gold in the early 1950s, and they looked great.

This was the same period when the Packers also wore gold jerseys, leading to a gold-versus-gold matchup in 1957.

The Rams recently wore gold jerseys as part of the NFL's Thursday Night Football "Color Rush", and even in the dingy dome they looked pretty good.

Under natural light on a Sunday afternoon, that color would be dazzling.

With popular styles swinging back from the "everything navy" of the 1990s, this seems to me an opportunity to own a bright, vibrant color. Not to mention that gold would be a particularly good fit for the bright California sunshine.

According to the team, they'll keep wearing the drab St. Louis uniforms for at least their first season back in La-La-Land. They may then choose to introduce a new look right away or wait for the new stadium in 2019.

ANAHEIM, CA - SEPTEMBER 24: Linebacker Kevin Greene #91 of the Los Angeles Rams looks to put a hit on Green Bay Packers quarterback Don Majkowski #7 during the game at Anaheim Stadium on September 24, 1989 in Anaheim, California. The Rams won 41-38. (GEORGE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES)

Personally, I'd like to see the Rams back in their classic colors as soon as possible. It only seems right, for the fans, for the city, and for the sport as a whole.

Super Bowl I Like You've Never Seen It Before

A CBS cameraman shoots Super Bowl I on Jan. 15, 1967 at Los Angeles California's Memorial Coliseum. The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-21. - Image credit: National Football League

Fantastic news from the NFL Network, as they have assembled a complete cut of the very first Super Bowl.

Super Bowl I: The Lost Game will premiere this Friday on their network, and will give us the most complete look ever at this historic game.

NFL Network to re-air Super Bowl I for first time

Forty-nine years to the day after the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs squared off in Super Bowl I, NFL Network will be the first network to ever replay this historic game on television.

Super Bowl I was broadcast by both NBC -- the official broadcaster of the AFL- and CBS -- the official broadcaster of the NFL and remains the only Super Bowl to have been broadcast live in the United States by two television networks. Considered to be the Holy Grail of sports broadcasts, the CBS and NBC tapes of the game were either lost or recorded over and no full video version of the game has existed ... until now.

In an exhaustive process that took months to complete, NFL Films searched its enormous archives of footage and were able to locate all 145 plays from Super Bowl I from more than a couple dozen disparate sources. Once all the plays were located, NFL Films was able to put the plays in order and stich them together while fully restoring, re-mastering, and color correcting the footage. Finally, audio from the NBC Sports radio broadcast featuring announcers Jim Simpson and George Ratterman was layered on top of the footage to complete the broadcast.

The final result represents the only known video footage of the entire action from Super Bowl 1 and NFL Network will show it to the world for the first time on the 49th anniversary of the game between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs, January 15.

Super Bowl I: The Lost Game will air on Friday, January 15 at 8:00 PM ET on NFL Network. The three-hour program is enhanced with pregame, halftime and postgame segments, modern broadcast graphics and coverage, social media interaction, facts and information, with studio contributors and guests live reaction and storytelling throughout.

Host Chris Rose and Steve Mariucci anchor the broadcast and are joined by a plethora of NFL Media talent, such as Terrell Davis, Daniel Jeremiah, Steve Wyche, and Elliot Harrison. Additionally, Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end for the Packers Willie Davis and former Packers wide receiver Antonio Freeman join in-studio, while former Packers greats Jerry Kramer and Dave Robinson join the show from remote.

In addition to the broadcast of the game, Super Bowl I: The Lost Game includes the following features:

• Wired sound from Packers head coach Vince Lombardi
• Footage of a postgame interview with Chiefs head coach Hank Stram and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle being interviewed by Pat Summerall
• In-depth discussion on how the Super Bowl I broadcast was lost and then re-assembled using NFL Films footage
• A feature on the merger between the well-established National Football Leagueand the upstart American Football League, giving birth to the modern-day NFL and the uniquely American spectacle called the Super Bowl.
• An interview with Super Bowl I CBS producer Bill Creasy on why the second half kickoff was kicked twice

All 145 plays of game footage from Super Bowl I: The Lost Game were compiled from NFL Films video shot at the game. The NFL Films crew for Super Bowl I were John Butterworth, Joe Fain, Morris Kellman, Stan Kirby, Stanley Leshner, Dave Marx, Skip & Ken Nelson, Walt & Jim Porep, and Art Spieller. There were only two ground cameras and just one sound camera, the rest of the staff were top cameras or assistants. By comparison, there will be approximately 35 NFL Films cameras at Super Bowl 50 and an additional support crew of well over 50 other NFL Films personnel.

Outstanding. What a rare treat for those of us who missed the game the first time it came around.

I don't have the NFL Network, but I'm confident they'll soon make it available to the rest of us on iTunes and the like. Until then, settle in, grab a beer and watch your Packers make history.

Nitschke Rampages Through LA

Last night the NFL voted to allow the Rams to return to Los Angeles, their home from 1946-1994. To celebrate the return of this little piece of football history, I offer a picture of Ray Nitschke tearing through the Los Angeles special teams line.

Green Bay Packers Ray Nitschke (66) in action, defense during punt attempt by Los Angeles Rams Danny Villanueva (11) at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Los Angeles, CA PHOTO CREDIT: Neil Leifer/Getty Images

This game was played on December 16, 1962, the final game of the regular season. The Packers came out on top 20–17 to cap off a 13-1 season on their way to a second consecutive World Championship.

Much is being made about the Rams possibly ditching the 90s navy-and-being and returning to their classic color scheme when they take the field in LA. As a lover of bright colors, I'd love to see it, especially if they wore gold jerseys like they did in the early 1950s:

The Wearing of the Silver and Black

In this photo from Super Bowl II, Packers quarterback Bart Starr tries to get away from Oakland defensive tackle Dan Birdwell.

What's striking to me is that Oakland Raiders uniform. The Packers uni Starr is wearing is close to the one Aaron Rodgers will don this Sunday, but there are a lot of little differences. The gray facemask. The solid green/gold stripes on the sleeves. The sock stripes. All minor changes (and all of them downgrades), but changes nonetheless.

But that Raiders uniform. The Silver and Black. Exactly as it was when they took the field that day in 1968. Sure, the materials are different, and the helmets have taken on a new shape in the intervening half-century, but the design elements are as they always were.

They even had names on the back of the jersey in 1968, which was pioneered by the AFL in 1960 but wouldn't be adopted by the Packers until 1970. And that might be the only design change, the old letters replaced with a sans-serif font.

With such a steady uniform history, it's easy to forget that the Raiders actually started out their existence as the gold and black, in jerseys that owed a little something to the Chicago Bears.



That was short-lived, and after a few minor tweaks the famous black-and-silver was introduced in 1963. The helmet logo was tweaked the following season, and to this day, the Raiders have an almost-perfect home uniform.

If anything, I'd like to see them make a minor tweak to the roads, bringing back the silver numbers with black outlines they wore in 1963 and 1964.

This was the basis for the throwbacks they wore in 2009 to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the American Football League, and it's an interesting departure. Other than that, it's hard to suggest improvements to Al Davis's classic design.

In a league increasingly eager to shed its traditional aesthetic to chase the latest trends, there's something wonderful about seeing two old-school teams taking the field. And with the Raiders possibly abandoning Oakland for Los Angeles (again), this is a rare pleasure for these two devoted fanbases to watch.