Boston Patriots

Vs.

Atlanta Falcons

August 17, 1969

Butler's 2 Scores Help Falcons Beat Patriots by 34-16

NEWTON, Mass. (AP) - Rival coaches Norm Van Brocklin of the Atlanta Falcons and Clive Rush of the Boston Patriots agreed on one thing: neither had ever seen an onside kickoff run back by an opponent for a touchdown.

Malcolm Snider, a 250-pound rookie lineman from Stanford, stunned everyone by scooping up an onside kickoff by the Patriots in the final minute and running 40 yards for a touchdown Sunday as the Falcons nailed down a 34-16 exhibition victory over the Patriots.

"It's the first time I've ever seen it done," said Van Brocklin, a star quarterback before he retired to the coaching ranks, "And would you believe we work on falling on a loose ball?"

Boston fullback Jim Nance setup the onside kick gamble by scoring on a one-yard plunge with 35 seconds remaining. The Patriots hoped for one more shot, plus a two-point conversion used as an option in their American Football League.

Gino Cappelletti gently leaned his foot into the kickoff. The ball popped into Snider's hands, like a basketball and he took off, picking up a couple of blocks as he huffed and puffed the distance in completing the Falcons' second straight preseason victory in Van Brocklin's first year as head coach.

"When you win, it's always good," said Van Brocklin, former Minnesota coach who took over with the Falcons during the 1968 campaign. ''Winning, that's the name of the game, but we still need a lot of work."
 

Van Brocklin felt the Falcons played better than in their exhibition victory over Philadelphia, especially in giving better pass protection to veteran Randy Johnson, who hit on 11 of 23 passes for 115 yards and carried four times for 25 yards in going the distance in his first game appearance since an injury-plagued 1968 season.

"I thought it was a good test," the Atlanta coach said. "Boston has a couple of big running backs and that's a lot of meat coming at you. I don't want to single out individuals for their play. We're a football team, not a group of individuals."

The Patriots, who defeated Cincinnati in their debut under Rush Aug. 10, jumped off to a 6-0 first period lead on 23 and 50-yard field goals by Cappelletti. However, a pass interception gave them (Atlanta) their first chance, and they scored as Johnson went over from inches away on fourth down- completing a 24-yard advance.

Jim Butler, a hard-working runner, scored another Atlanta touchdown and Paul Wiedl booted a 33-yard field goal before the half.

Cappelletti and Wiedl matched field goals in the third period. Then Butler look off on a 76-yard scoring run before the touchdowns by Nance and Snider.

"It was pretty obvious we played a sloppy game," Rush said. "It was a pretty hot day (game temperature 86 degrees). However, I'm pretty satisfied with the play of both our first offensive and defensive units when they played together in the first period. When we began to experiment in the second period, we got hurt. We'll give our first units more time, so they can put together things better in future games."

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

BOS- FG Cappelletti 33.

BOS- FG Cappelletti 50

Second Quarter

ATL- Johnson 1 run  (Wiedl kick)

ATL- Butler 1 run   (Wiedl kick)

ATL- FG Wiedl  33

Fourth Quarter

BOS- FG Cappelletti 36

ATL- FG Wicdl 39

ATL- Butler 72 run (Wiedl kick)

BOS- Nance 1 run (Cappellitti kick)

ATL- Snyder 50 yard kickoff return (Wiedl kick)

Att-24,084

RETURN