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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Super Bowl I Airs With Announcers Jim Simpson, George Ratterman

Wikipedia

NFL Films’ “Super Bowl 1: The Lost Game” of the historic 1967 championship game between Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers and Hank Stram’s Kansas City Chiefs, replays 8 p.m. Friday Jan. 22 on the NFL Network.

The 90-minute program includes NFL Films’ footage of all 145 plays, combined with the NBC Radio broadcast by announcer Jim Simpson and George Ratterman, the Cincinnati native who became Campbell County sheriff after playing football for Notre Dame, the Buffalo Bills,  New York Yanks and Cleveland Browns.

“The Lost Game” premiered on Jan. 15 – the anniversary of the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, as it was called – drew a season-high 558,000 viewers for the NFL Network.

The 1967 championship was the only Super Bowl to be broadcast by two TV networks, NBC and CBS, which held TV rights to each league. Spoiler Alert! (Green Bay won, 35-10)

Ratterman, a St. Xavier High School and Notre Dame football star, was the first NFL quarterback to wear a radio receiver in his helmet, an innovation by Cleveland Brown coach Paul Brown in 1956. He died in 2007 at age 80.

Simpson earned a Sports Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997 for his football, baseball, golf, basketball and tennis broadcasts on NBC or ESPN. He died last week at 88.

According to the NFL Network “The Lost Game” was edited together from film shot by 11 NFL Films staffers using only two ground cameras, and a handful of other cameras around Los Angeles Coliseum.  By contrast, more than 50 NFL Films staffers will use 35 cameras to shoot Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7. CBS will broadcast the game.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.