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Why Is It Called “The Super Bowl”?

September 4, 2024

Why Is It Called “The Super Bowl”?

Most major sports competitions in the US and the rest of the world culminate in a final game, but the NFL used to be an exception. For a bit over a decade, from 1920 to 1931, it determined the season champions using a simple win-loss record.

However, from 1932 onwards, the winner has been decided in a final match — first the NFL Championship Game and then the ubiquitous Super Bowl.

But how did we get there? Why did the NFL move to a final game to determine the champion? Most importantly, why is it even called the Super Bowl? That’s precisely what we’re here to discover, so strap in for an exciting history lesson.

What Came Before the Super Bowl?

The NFL began in 1920 but was initially called the American Professional Football Association (APFA). As the name was a bit of a mouthful, it was quickly changed to the current National Football League (NFL) for the 1922 season.

However, what stayed the same was the way champions were determined.

The Straightforward Win-Loss System

Starting with the first season, the APFA/NFL used a standard win-loss record for the whole season to determine the champion. The Akron Pros never lost a game, so it was decided that they should come on top.

Interestingly, if the modern tie-breaking rules had been in force at the time, the Buffalo All-Americans would have been co-champions, as their win percentage of .864 was the same as that of the Akron Pros’.

The win-loss-based system was kept in place until 1931, and within that period, nine teams managed to bring home the trophy. Only the Green Bay Packers and the Canton Bulldogs won more than once, the former on three and the latter on two occasions. Both teams took all their trophies in consecutive seasons, the Packers from 1929 to 1931 and the Bulldogs from 1922 to 1923.

However, the 1932 season featured a tie between the Chicago Bears (6–1–6), who won the 1921 season as the Chicago Staleys, and the Portsmouth Spartans (6–1–4), today’s Detroit Lions. This was a first in the then-short history of the NFL (not counting the 1921 controversy), so it was decided that a playoff game should be played.

The match ended 0–9 for the Chicago Bears after three scoreless quarters and the fourth quarter featuring most of the action and all the points.

The First Playoff Game and the NFL–AFL Merger That Changed Everything

The 1933 season brought a significant change that partly resulted from the tie from the previous year. The NFL got separated into two divisions, and it was decided that the winners of each would play each other in the NFL Championship Game.

This new system remained in place all the way until the famous merger between the NFL and the AFL (American Football League).

A big part of the merger deal was that the NFL champion had to play against the AFL champion in the AFL–NFL World Championship Game. This lasted for four seasons, from 1966 to 1969 when the merger was finally complete.

Interestingly, teams from both the NFL and the AFL managed to win the World Championship Game during this period. The NFL’s Green Bay Packers were victorious in 1967 and 1968, while the AFL’s New York Jets and Kansas City Chiefs won in 1969 and 1970, respectively.

The 1967 NFL season also brought along the introduction of the NFL playoffs. One team, the New Orleans Saints, was added for the year. With 16 teams in play for the season, the system was changed to operate in four divisions, two per conference. The winners of each division advanced to the new playoff system.

This also resulted in two playoff games, each determining the conference champion. The conference champions played each other in the NFL Championship game to determine the overall winner.

After that, the NFL Champion played the AFL Champion. This was effectively Super Bowl II, but the name wasn’t there yet. It was officially introduced the year after.

Super Bowl III — The Biggest Upset in American Football History

The Super Bowl III was big in many ways, not just for introducing the now half-a-century-old moniker. It took place on January 12, 1969, and was the culmination of the 1968 NFL season and the 1968 AFL season.

The third AFL–NFL Championship Game was the biggest upset not only in American football history but also in professional sports. It was played between the AFL champion, the New York Jets, and the NFL champion, the Baltimore Colts.

The New York Jets carried a record of 11–3 from the regular AFL season and defeated the Oakland Raiders 27–23 to become the 1968 AFL Champions. Conversely, the Baltimore Colts ended their regular NFL season with a 13–1 record and obliterated the Cleveland Browns 34–0 to get crowned 1968 NFL Champions.

By this Super Bowl, many believed that AFL teams were simply less talented than NFL ones, so it was widely expected that an NFL team would win the World Championship game for the third time in a row.

However, the Jets controlled the game entirely for the first three quarters, building up to a 13–0 lead by the start of the fourth quarter with Matt Snell’s touchdown and Jim Turner’s two field goals.

The Colts’ quarterback Earl Morrall managed three interceptions, after which he got replaced by Johnny Unitas, who scored the first and only touchdown for the team in the closing minutes of the game. However, the match finally ended in 16–7 for the Jets, crowning them World Champions.

Interestingly, this was the Jets’ only Super Bowl win, and they have never played in the finals again. They also became the Colts’ divisional rivals and managed to play the conference finals four times, losing every time, including once to the Colts. On the other hand, the Colts won the Super Bowl three times, once as the Baltimore Colts and two times as the Indianapolis Colts, in 2006 and 2009.

The Big Name Enters the Picture

As you’ve noticed, the initial Super Bowl wasn’t called the Super Bowl. The name Super Bowl I was attributed to it retroactively. At the time, no one really knew how to call the game, as it was something very new for everyone. No NFL and AFL teams had played against each other before, so it was a strange championship for many.

Pete Rozelle, the NFL Commissioner, suggested the name “The Big One”. However, this never caught on. Another one of his suggestions was “Pro Bowl”, but this would have led to a lot of confusion, as it was the moniker of the NFL All-Star game.

“World Series of Football” seemed like a good choice, but it couldn’t enter the picture, as it was too similar to the name used by the MLB.

Rozelle finally suggested the name “The AFL–NFL World Championship Game”. It was adopted as the official name, but it never really caught on among the fans or anyone else, for that matter, as it definitely was a mouthful.

Just imagine the massive headline “Kansas City Chiefs win the AFL–NFL World Championship LVIII.” It’s simply too much. However, in all honesty, it would have just been the NFL World Championship LVIII, but removing three letters wouldn’t have really made a difference.

Speaking of the Kansas City Chiefs, it was the then-owner of the franchise and founder of the AFL, Lamar Hunt, who proposed the name “Super Bowl”. However, as he admitted, he said that as a joke, adding that it was a name the NFL could improve upon. However, it spread around and got to the media. The NFL still used the official line, while the media began pushing the Super Bowl moniker.

Hunt later said that the name was likely in his head at the time because of the small Super Ball toy his children played with. For those who don’t know, it’s a bouncy ball toy invented by a chemist called Norman Stingley in 1964, which was quite popular at the time.

And the Rest Is History

The name introduced accidentally spread as wildfire in the public in 1967 and 1968. Therefore, it was only natural for it to become the official name for the 1969 Super Bowl.

More than that, it got cemented in the public’s eye thanks to the astonishing win by the New York Jets at the Miami Orange Bowl.

After more than half a century in use, the name Super Bowl is known to everyone in the US and likely to hundreds of millions worldwide. It sounds like the only one we could ever use for the NFL Finals, and it will probably remain so for many more half-a-centuries to come.