1963: Commissioner Suspends Hornung & Karras for Gambling

On April 17, 1963 the Commissioner of the National Football League, Pete Rozelle, announced several actions resulting from a three-and-a-half month investigation by the league into gambling involvement by players. The most noteworthy step taken by the Commissioner was to indefinitely suspend HB/PK Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers (pictured at right) and DT Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions. He also fined five other members of the Lions $2000 apiece for betting on the 1962 NFL title game and the Lions organization was penalized $4000.

The suspensions created headlines due to the prominence of the players involved. Hornung, a former Heisman Trophy winner out of Notre Dame, had led the league in scoring for three straight years (1959-61), including the 1960 season when he set a record of 176 points (it would last until 2006). He received MVP recognition in 1961 as the Packers won their first of two straight championships. While had had missed time in ’62 due to injuries, the Golden Boy was a popular player known for his fun-loving nature and enjoyment of the night life while also being talented on the football field. Karras, a five-year pro out of Iowa, was one of the mainstays of the outstanding defense in Detroit and had been selected for the Pro Bowl for the third straight season in 1962, also receiving consensus first-team All-Pro honors in 1960 and ’61.

Newspaper rumors had first surfaced in January, leaked by Chicago owner/head coach George Halas, indicating that the league was looking into allegations of gambling involving a player on a Midwestern team. Austin Gunsel, formerly of the FBI and now treasurer of the NFL, had begun coordinating the investigation a month before as a result of a large number of rumors involving players associating with gamblers. The 16 agents retained by the league were used to conduct the probe, and 50 players were interviewed with several undergoing lie detector tests.

Rozelle indicated that no evidence of fixes of games had been found as a result of the investigation (“There is no evidence that any NFL player has given less than his best in playing any game. There is no evidence that any player has ever bet against his own team.”). However, he made clear that gambling or association with suspicious characters would not be tolerated, and beyond those specifically named, the Commissioner indicated that several players had been reprimanded for making small wagers among friends and playing one-dollar betting cards.

Hornung and Karras were accused of betting typically in the $50 to $200 range on NFL games. Rozelle said that Karras had placed at least six bets since 1958 of $50 each until upping the amount to $100 on the Lions to beat the Packers in the 1962 Thanksgiving Day game and on the Packers to beat the Giants in the NFL Championship game. As to Hornung, the Commissioner indicated that he had placed several bets through a friend on the West Coast over the course of his career.

Detroit players fined $2000 apiece were star linebackers Joe Schmidt and Wayne Walker, G John Gordy, S Gary Lowe, and DE Sam Williams. Rozelle had concluded that they were each guilty of a single violation of the league’s gambling policy (“basically a group action, an action of extremely rash judgment but one abnormal for each”). The levy amounted to approximately one-sixth of their salaries.


Hornung was subdued and humble afterward, admitting his guilt. “I did wrong. I should be penalized. I just have to stay with it.” Karras, by contrast, expressed outrage (he allegedly shouted at Rozelle during the phone call notifying him of the suspension). “It comes as a shock to me,” he stated. “I haven’t done anything I am ashamed of and I am not guilty of anything.” (Karras, pictured at left, had not helped his situation by admitting in a broadcast interview that he had bet on NFL games)

The owners stood behind Rozelle’s action, although William Clay Ford of the Lions indicated that, while the team would comply, “compliance does not mean that we agree with the nature or extent of the penalties imposed.”

Both the American Football League and Canadian Football League confirmed that Hornung and Karras would not be allowed to play in either while under suspension by the NFL. “Under no circumstances will they be permitted to play in the American Football League until after suspensions are lifted,” said AFL Commissioner Joe Foss. Sidney Halter, CFL commissioner, stated that “I would refuse to register any contract submitted by a CFL club with a player suspended by an American league for betting on games.”

While the suspensions of Hornung and Karras were indefinite, Rozelle indicated that they could be reviewed, although no earlier than the conclusion of the 1963 season. The initial reactions of the two players carried over into their behavior over the course of the ensuing year. Hornung remained contrite and kept in contact with the league office, clearing his activities (such as attending the Kentucky Derby) and seeking a path toward reinstatement. Karras remained defiant and refused to sell the interest that he had in a bar, Lindell’s A.C. Cocktail Lounge, that had first drawn the attention of the Detroit police to the defensive tackle’s association with known gamblers (the Lions were fined for not adequately following up on the reports they had received from the police, and for allowing unauthorized individuals who were suspected gamblers, including one of Karras’ partners in the business, to sit on the team’s bench during games).

In early January of 1964, Karras, concerned about his chances of being reinstated, finally sold his interest in the bar. Both he and Hornung were reinstated by Commissioner Rozelle for the 1964 NFL season. The year away from the game showed in the performances of both when they returned. Hornung had particular problems with his placekicking in ’64, and Karras, who had dropped twenty pounds from his usual playing weight, had a somewhat less stellar season than usual.

Both players did bounce back to some degree. Karras had an All-Pro season in 1965 and played through ’70, finally being released late in the 1971 preseason. Hornung showed flashes of his old form, including a five-touchdown performance in a 1965 showdown against the Baltimore Colts on the way to Green Bay regaining the NFL title. The Golden Boy played through the ’66 season and was taken by the New Orleans Saints in the 1967 expansion draft, but retired during training camp.

1966: Merger of NFL and AFL Announced

By 1966, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the American Football League was not going to fold like its three predecessors of the same name and that, most significantly to the owners of National Football League teams, it would continue to drive up the cost of new talent. In 1965, Alabama QB Joe Namath had been signed to a stunning (for the time) three-year, $426,000 contract by the New York Jets (he had also been drafted by the NFL’s Cardinals). 1966 saw LB Tommy Nobis, first draft choice of the expansion Atlanta Falcons, sign a $600,000 deal, and it cost the Green Bay Packers approximately a million dollars to sign HB Donny Anderson and FB Jim Grabowski, the presumed heirs to the aging Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor, respectively.

In April, the first discussions regarding a possible merger of the leagues commenced between Tex Schramm, the president/general manager of the Dallas Cowboys, and Lamar Hunt, founder of the AFL and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. These background talks occurred while tumult broke out. First came the resignation of AFL Commissioner Joe Foss and his replacement by Al Davis, Oakland’s head coach/general manager who was far more inclined to engage in a no-holds-barred conflict with the older league. Then the NFL’s New York Giants signed veteran free agent placekicker Pete Gogolak away from the AFL’s Buffalo Bills, an act that now put competition for veterans on the table along with the ongoing and costly battle for talent coming out of the colleges.

The escalating strife nearly derailed the merger efforts. But on June 8, 1966 at the Warwick Hotel in New York City the NFL’s Commissioner Pete Rozelle (pictured at top), flanked by Schramm and Hunt, announced that a merger between the two leagues had been reached. Due to contractual issues, the merger was to be phased and reach completion in 1970.

- First, a game would be held between the champions of the two leagues following the 1966 season. This, more than any other provision, immediately excited pro football fans. It was decided later that the game, which of course would eventually come to be called the Super Bowl, would be played at a pre-determined neutral setting.

- Second, beginning in 1967 a common draft would be held among the teams of the two leagues (this may have dismayed college players looking forward to competing bids for their services, but came as a relief to owners looking to get player costs back under control). Also in ’67, there would be interleague preseason games.

- Finally in 1970, the AFL would be completely absorbed into the NFL, with teams playing a common schedule. Pete Rozelle would be commissioner of the entire edifice – much to the chagrin of Al Davis, who had been kept out of the merger negotiations (and, as a result, felt betrayed by his fellow owners).

In addition to the phased merging of the leagues, other points were agreed to:

- All existing franchises were to be kept, and in their current locations. While initially there had been discussion regarding the relocation of the Jets and Raiders, it was decided that there would be less danger of legal repercussions if they remained where they were, in proximity to NFL teams.

- As a result of not moving franchises, the AFL agreed to pay the NFL $26 million dollars (split between the Giants and 49ers) for the right to impinge on their territory.

- Each league agreed to add an expansion franchise no later than 1968 (the New Orleans Saints joined the NFL in 1967 and the Cincinnati Bengals rounded out the AFL in ’68).

- Television coverage would continue to be split between CBS (for the NFL) and NBC (the AFL), an arrangement which continued beyond the merger.

There had been dissenting voices among owners from both leagues – not surprisingly, teams that shared the same territory (the Giants and Jets in New York City, and the 49ers and Raiders in the Bay Area). The NFL clubs wanted the AFL teams to relocate, and the AFL teams objected to paying for the right to remain where they were.

Whatever the feelings of the dissenters at the time, the agreement reached in 1966 set the framework that continues to exist. From 13 teams in 1960, the NFL grew to 26 clubs with the merger in 1970 (the enlarged entity was broken up into the National Conference – the existing NFL – and the American Conference – the absorbed AFL).

In order to maintain equilibrium, since there were 16 NFL teams and 10 in the AFL by 1969, three existing NFL teams – the Browns, Colts, and Steelers - transferred to the American Conference. While the AFL lost its identity, there was satisfaction in that, unlike when the All-America Football Conference merged with the NFL in 1950, all of the franchises were accepted into the older league. And after losing badly in the first two Super Bowls, the AFL won the last two prior to the merger so as to make a statement that the younger teams were fully ready to compete with the older clubs.