which ball used in NFL/AFL preseason games

[smith03]

Did they use the same rules for the inter league preseason games 1967-69 games as the super bowl NFL ball when NFL team on offense AFL ball during AFL team on offense? Or some other rule

[Mark L. Ford]

Yes, it was the same rules as in the Super Bowl-- the team on offense would use its own league football. If the game was being played in an AFL stadium, the two point conversion applied, but points after were limited to one point if the NFL was hosting. The same applied to the officiating team-- AFL officials in AFL towns, NFL refs in NFL towns (after all, these were exhibitions, not the Super Bowl).
In the second interleague game in that initial summer (8/13/67), the Colts visited the Patriots. In that one, 48 years ago, there were no irregularities reported with the footballs, and the Colts won 33-3.

[smith03]

thanks and also thanks for the additional info on the 2 pts

maybe this is how baseball came up with using the dh in al parks and not using it in the nl parks

[fgoodwin]

Does anyone have a copy of the Super Bowl III game program handy?

Mine is boxed up and locked away in storage. Anyway, as I recall it has an article on the F-100 vs. J5-V (NFL vs. AFL) footballs. The balls were virtually identical, but it's been 20 years or more since I read the article. I think it came down to a difference in how the "tacking" (texture) of the balls was applied. I think there was also a difference in the number of laces.

Can anyone confirm?

[Mark L. Ford]

I don't know about the program, but looking around led me to this interesting site called "History of the NFL in 95 Objects". One of the items is the "skinny AFL football"

http://mmqb.si.com/column/nfl-95/

I think most football buffs know that Wilson made the NFL ball and Spalding made the one for the AFL during the 1960s, though I'll confess that I didn't know about J5-V and (except for the pickup truck) F-100.

[fgoodwin]

Typo: the NFL ball was the F-1100, not F-100

And here is the direct link to the article about teh AFL ball:

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/06/17/nfl-histo ... lding-j5v/

[Mark L. Ford]

I read another source that said that the NFL ball of that era was the Wilson F-1250 Duke game ball.

[oldecapecod11]

The National Football League is the only major sports league whose balls are manufactured in the United States. The footballs get their start on the backs of cows taken from feedlots in Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska. Young, lean steers are preferred over fat dairy cows because the leather is more resistant to stretching. When the cowhides arrive in Ada, they are received from our tannery that treats them with the Wilson exclusive recipe and are stamped with the Wilson 'W' to authenticate our NFL leather. In addition to the Super Bowl, Pro Bowl and all NFL footballs, our factory also manufactures the Official Footballs for the NCAA, 28 high school associations, American Youth Football and countless other leagues.

[smith03]

On Wilson Football 's facebook page under photos from dec 18, 2014 there is an ad from sometime in the 50s of the Duke game ball and it has F1072

[JohnH19]

I find it odd that the AFL's J5-V was known to be skinnier than the Duke. The CFL also used the J5-V and I always found it to be a bigger ball than the Wilson that the NFL used in the 70s and 80s.

Here's a link with some info on the CFL ball:

http://cfldb.ca/faq/equipment/