November 1, 1970: The Kansas City Chiefs lead the Oakland Raiders, 17-14, late in the last minute of the game at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, and Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson makes a long run and gets out of bounds, seemingly sealing the win.
But Raider defensive end Ben Davidson dives into him at full speed with his helmet, a late hit that would mean 15 yards and an automatic 1st down for the Chiefs. But Chief receiver Otis Taylor sees this, and punches Davidson. The referee calls offsetting penalties, nullifying the play entirely. Now, the Chiefs have to punt, and the Raiders end up tying the game on a field goal by 43-year-old kicker and backup quarterback George Blanda.
As a result of this 17-17 tie, the Raiders finish 8-4-2, and, in this first season after the AFL-NFL merger, became the 1st-ever Champions of the AFC Western Division. The Chiefs finish 7-5-2, and out of the Playoffs entirely. (Only 1 Wild Card per Conference then.) This may be the nastiest episode in the epic rivalry between the Chiefs and the Raiders.
After the season, the NFL changes its rules: A personal foul called after a play is completed will no longer affect the result of the play.
The man the New York Jets' Winston Hill described as "the Number 1 cheap-shot artist in the league," after breaking Joe Namath's cheekbone with a late hit in a 1967 game, Ben Davidson was a 3-time AFL All-Star, so he wasn't just a cheap-shot artist. He later became known for his appearances in commercials for Miller Lite beer. and died in 2012.
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November 1, 1970 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:
* The 1st regular-season game between the New York Giants and the New York Jets was played. Despite having the home-field advantage in front of 63,903 fans at Shea Stadium, and being less than 2 years removed from their Super Bowl win, the Jets were defeated by the Giants, 22-10.
It was the 4th game of a 6-game winning streak for the Giants, who finished 9-5. The Jets, on the other hand, looked nothing like a recent champion, as this was the 5th game of a 6-game losing streak, and they finished 4-10.
* The Buffalo Bills beat the Boston Patriots, 45-10 at Harvard Stadium in Boston. The following season, the Pats moved to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts, and renamed themselves the New England Patriots.
* The Baltimore Colts beat the Miami Dolphins, 35-0 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The Colts went on to win the AFC Eastern Division, and then Super Bowl V. But the Dolphins recovered to win the AFC's lone Wild Card Playoff berth, and then won the next 3 AFC Championships, including Super Bowls VII and VIII.
This was the game where a fan ran onto the field, and got clobbered by Colts linebacker Mike Curtis.
* The Chicago Bears beat the Atlanta Falcons, 23-14 at Atlanta Stadium (later renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium).
* The Los Angeles Rams beat the New Orleans Saints, 30-17 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-17 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
* The San Diego Chargers beat the Cleveland Browns, 27-10 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.
* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Detroit Lions, 30-17 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.
* The football version of the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Oilers, 44-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium.
* The Washington Redskins beat the Denver Broncos, 19-3 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Green Bay Packers, 26-10 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.
* And the next night, on ABC Monday Night Football, the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 21-10 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.
One game was played in the NBA: The Atlanta Hawks beat the expansion Cleveland Cavaliers, 131-107 at the Cleveland Arena. Lou Hudson scored 43 points for the Hawks.
There were 4 games played in the American Basketball Association:
* The New York Nets beat the Virginia Squires, 121-109 at the Island Garden in West Hempstead, New York.
* The Kentucky Colonels beat the Miami Floridians, 112-109 at Curtis Hixon Hall in Tampa. To this day, the Tampa Bay region has not had a regular team in either the NBA or the ABA, with the sort-of exception of the 2020-21 season, when COVID restrictions forced the Toronto Raptors out of their home-base country of Canada, and they played their "home games" at the Amalie Arena in Tampa.
* The Pittsburgh Condors beat the Carolina Cougars, 112-97 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* And the Utah Stars beat their geographic rivals, the Denver Rockets, 117-111 at the Auditorium Arena in Denver.
And there were 5 games in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 5-2 at Madison Square Garden.
* The Boston Bruins beat the Minnesota North Stars, 5-0 at the Boston Garden.
* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.
* And the Montreal Canadiens, the St. Louis Blues, the California Golden Seals and the Vancouver Canucks were not scheduled.
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