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The
year of 1966 was glorious
for the fledgling AFL. They
had forced an announced
merger with the NFL. The
first Super Bowl had been
played and the AFL All-Star
Game was held at Oakland
Coliseum in Oakland, CA.
Although the league was
young, many of its players
were storied veterans of
professional football. The
1967 All-Star Game belonged
to one such veteran, Vito
“Babe” Parilli of the Boston
Patriots. It rained four
inches in Oakland in the 24
hours before the game,
turning the field into a
swamp and making for
exciting, if not sloppy,
play for the 17,876 in
attendance. The format of
the game was returned to the
old East-West format for
1967. The coaches for the
game were John Rauch of
Oakland for the West and
Boston’s Mike Holovak for
the East.
Early in the first period,
Bobby Bell of Kansas City
hit Paul Costa of Buffalo
after a reception and Costa
fumbled. The Chiefs’ E.J.
Holub recovered on the East
31. From there, Len Dawson
of the Chiefs found his K.C.
teammate, Curtis McClinton
alone at the eight yard
line. McClinton took it in
on a play that covered 31
yards. Moments later with
Parilli back to punt, center
Jon Morris of Boston snapped
the ball over Babe’s head
and into a puddle in the
endzone resulting in a
safety. The score was 9-0 at
the end of the first period.
Early in the second period,
Boston’s Gino Cappelletti
was short on a long field
goal. Speedy Duncan of San
Diego returned the kick 64
yards down the sideline only
to fumble, which was
recovered by Larry Grantham
of the Jets. Later in the
second period, Tom Flores of
Oakland hit his Raider
teammate, Hewitt Dixon for
28 yards and then 17 for a
touchdown to move the score
to 16-0.
Early in the third period,
Dawson was dumped for a
safety in the endzone. But,
the West came back again a
moment later when K.C.‘s
Buck Buchanan recovered
Buffalo quarterback Jack
Kemp’s fumble and, led by
the blocking of Oakland’s
Ben Davidson and Ike
Lassiter, roared into the
endzone with the 39 yard
return. The score was a
seemingly insurmountable
23-2. But, the East
responded when New York’s
Verlon Biggs picked off a
Dawson pass a returned it 50
yards for a touchdown.
Seconds later, Oakland’s
Clem Daniels fumbled and
Miami’s Ed Cooke recovered
at the West 23. Parilli hit
Wray Carlton of Buffalo with
a 4 yard touchdown pass two
plays later and the score
suddenly was 23-16 after
three quarters. The momentum
had turned. On the opening
play of the fourth quarter,
the Broncos’ Bob Scarpitto
dropped to punt deep in his
own territory. But, the punt
was accidentally blocked by
his own teammate, E.J.
Holub’s long raised arm. The
East recovered at the twelve
and rookie of the year,
Bobby Burnett of Buffalo,
raced around right end to
tie the game at 23-23. Late
in the fourth, Parilli drove
the East toward the winning
touchdown when he hit
Cappelletti for 28 yards,
Burnett for 4 yards and,
finally, Houston’s Charley
Frazier for 17 yards and the
winning score. The final was
East 30, West 23.
The East had finally won
after five tries. Parilli was
named offensive MVP and
Biggs received the defensive
honors. The cold, rainy day
in Oakland provided a
backdrop for one of the most
exciting of the AFL
classics.
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