The 30 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All-Time - Elliott Kalb [31]
EK: Brian’s conspiracy theory isn’t the only one that I’ve heard concerning this game. Former Cleveland Browns player Bernie Parrish—one of the organizers of the NFL Players Union in the mid-1960s—wrote a book in 1971 called They Call it a Game in which he detailed his theory. “Namath and his teammates’ performance secured the two leagues, at the very least, $100 million in future television revenues . . .′ But I don’t buy Brian‘s, Parrish’s, or even Bubba Smith’s claims of a fix, despite the fact that Smith played in the game.
Tuohy: Now, turn to the ownership of the Colts, one Carroll Rosenbloom. Legend has it that Rosenbloom placed a $1 million bet on his own team in the 1958 NFL Championship Game against the New York Giants. In that game, with time running out and the Colts controlling the ball inside the Giants’ ten-yard line, Rosenbloom supposedly called down to the sidelines and ordered head coach Weeb Eubank not to kick a game-winning field goal, but instead to push the ball into the end zone so Rosenbloom’s Colts could cover the four-point spread.
EK: There was a heated debate at the time about whether Rosenbloom had a large bet on his team to win by four or more. Did he order Ewbank to go for the touchdown? He denied it vehemently. The rumors never went away, however, and Commissioner Rozelle eventually addressed the rumors five years later, claiming that they weren’t true. Of course, Rozelle worked for the owners, including Rosenbloom.
Tuohy: On the field, the two best choices to cajole into going along with the fix were the Colts’ head coach Don Shula and his starting quarterback, twelve-year veteran journeyman Earl Morrall. How did each perform in Super Bowl III?
Let’s look at Morrall first. Despite being the MVP of the season, putting up twenty-six touchdowns and nearly 3,000 yards, Morrall was flat out horrible in Super Bowl III (6-17, 71 yards, 0 TD, 3 INT). The Colts had numerous scoring chances in the first half. The first resulted in a missed field goal (hmmm). One of the best scoring chances was the famous “flea-flicker” play. The flea-flicker was a staple of Morrall’s repertoire during his time in New York with the Giants. He was very familiar with the play. Yet when the Colts ran it in the Super Bowl, Morrall, with time and protection, somehow missed his intended receiver—a wide open (and I mean all alone, flapping his arms in the air, wide open) Jimmy Orr in the end zone. Instead of the easy touchdown, Morrall opted to throw the ball into coverage over the middle where it ended up in the arms of Jets’ strong safety Jim Hudson.
EK: When I talked to former Jets defensive back John Dockery, who played in that game, about why rumors persist about the game being fixed, the only answer he had was Rosenbloom. “There were rumors about him gambling when he lived, and he died a mysterious death,” Dockery said. Rosenbloom did have a reputed gambling problem, dating back to the 1950s. An active man and a good swimmer, he was found dead in the ocean in back of his home in early 1979. Foul play was suspected, but eventually his death was ruled an accidental drowning.
So I hear you on Rosenbloom, Brian. This is the strongest part of your conspiracy theory. In his book The Making of the Super Bowl, Don Weiss wrote that the Colts were so confident of victory that Rosenbloom threw what looked for all the world like a victory party (at his Florida home where he would be found dead just ten years later) for his coaching staff, eight days before the game was played. If he had been in on a conspiracy, this would have been a perfect move for