TUPATALK: Super Bowl time brings back haunting sports memory

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As a young sports fan I learned very quickly about heartbreak.

It happened in January 1970, when the Minnesota Vikings and Kansas City Chiefs clashed in Super Bowl IV — the last time the NFL champion (Vikings) would take on the AFL champion (Chiefs).

In the fall of 1970, the leagues would merge to create today’s National Football Conference and American Football Conference.

Former NFL teams Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland would volunteer to join the AFC so that each league had 13 teams.

During the first three Super Bowls (1966-68), the general assumption was the NFL’s best teams were stronger than the AFL’s stronger teams.

Of course, the New York Jets helped blow that conclusion out of the water by stunning the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III (1858 season), 16-7.

The Colts had been 19.5-point favorites, but the Jets — led by brash quarterback Joe Namath — resculpted the face of the NFL with their win.

As I mentioned, the 1969 season would be the final one prior to the merger. The NFL lineup featured 16 teams; the AFL had 10.

Minnesota blew through the regular season by winning 12-straight games. In the playoffs, they edged the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional and then crushed Cleveland in the NFL championship, 27-7.

Minnesota’s defense — led by its front four, known as the Purple-People Eaters — set a NFL record by allowing only 133 points.

The Vikings scored more than 50 points three times — 52-14 against the defending NFL champion Colts, 51-3 against Cleveland, and 52-14 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Chiefs finished 11-3 in the AFL, losing twice to the Oakland Raiders.

Oakland (12-1-1) earned the No. 1 seed in the playoffs. But, in the AFL championship game on Jan. 4, 1970, the Chiefs upended Oakland, 17-7.

As mentioned, Minnesota beat the L.A. Rams and Browns to become the NFL champion.

The experts were not ambiguous about how they thought Super Bowl IV would lean — Minnesota was established as a 13.5-point favorite and many felt that was too close.

Now to the personal part about me.

1969 was the year I discovered NFL football. I was 13 and nursing a curiosity about pro sports. One day, I flipped it on to CBS and the Vikings were shellacking the Chicago Bears.

I decided, in my underdog instincts, to make Chicago “my” team.

But, that changed rather quickly. I can’t expect why, but something drew me to the Vikings.

Within just a matter of days, literally, I went from knowing almost nothing about the rules of football to a bona fide, knowledgable fan.

I mentally digested magazines about the NFL and the daily newspaper articles and the TV reports during the sports portion of the local news.

By the time the Super Bowl arrived, one could consider me an informed fan of NFL. I’m kind of amazed about how quickly I assimilated all the data.

Anyway, for me, the Vikings winning the Super Bowl turned into the most important thing in life.

On the day of the game, I tuned in with nervous anticipation. I just couldn’t imagine how the Vikings would lose.

But, for those who know the history it didn’t go that way.

Kansas City’s defense disrupted and shut down Minnesota’s attack.

By halftime, Kansas City led, 16-0.

I still remember watching Jan Stenerud kicking three field goals to open the scoring.

(Ironically, late in his career Stenerud would kick multiple seasons for Minnesota.)

As the game went on, my emotions felt the bitter pain of hopeless inevitability.

At one point, probably after the Chiefs scored their final touchdown (they would go on to win, 23-7), I walked outside in our front yard and sobbed behind the lilac tree.

To make it worse, my Viking hero Joe Kapp,, the rugged quarterback, got hurt.

In 1992, more than 22 years later, I sought an opportunity to interview Kapp, then an Arena Football League coach.

After more than hour of a one-on-one interview and chat session, I wrapped up by telling Joe how I had shed tears during Super Bowl IV.

Before I left, he signed an autograph.

I looked at it later.

He put a note at the end: “P.S., I cried too.”

This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: TupaTalk: A painful Super Bowl recollection