AFC 33

NFC 28

January 21, 1973

The 1973 Pro Bowl was the first played away from the L.A. Coliseum since 1942. The game settled two important questions on the minds of the public. It established the equality of the AFC and NFC. And, it answered the question of whether O.J. Simpson would ever be a force in pro football as he had in his college days at USC. The game was watched by 47,879 at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. The coaches were Chuck Noll of the Steelers for the AFC and Tom Landry of the Cowboys for the Nationals.

The NFC looked like they would run away with the game in the first period, jumping to a 14-0 lead on the strength of two touchdowns by Green Bay’s John Brockington. Brockington scored on a one yard run and on a three yard pass from Billy Kilmer of the Redskins. In the second quarter, Simpson of the Bills carried the ball in from 7 yards out and Pittsburgh’s Roy Gerela connected on a field goal from 18 yards. The score at half was 14-10.

In the third quarter, Gerela again hit a field goal, this time from 22 yards out and Marv Hubbard of Oakland ran the ball over from 11 yards for a touchdown and the AFC had taken the lead, 20-14. Late in the third quarter, the NFC was poised to take back the lead with a second and five at the AFC’s 11 yard line. But, Calvin Hill of the Cowboys was hit hard by Pittsburgh’s Andy Russell on a sweep and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Elvin Bethea of the Oilers to snuff the drive. Daryle Lamonica of the Raiders led a drive that culminated in a 5 yard touchdown pass to Otis Taylor of the Chiefs. The extra point was no good. Later in the quarter, Norm Snead of the Giants tried to dump the ball into the flat from his own goal line. But, Bobby Bell of Kansas City intercepted at the 12 and returned it for a touchdown. The score had now ballooned to 33-14. In the last two minutes of the game, the NFC moved 52 yards for a touchdown with Brockington scoring his third touch, running it in from the one. After and onside kick, the NFC drove 52 yards again and scored on a twelve yard pass from Snead to Ted Kwalik of San Francisco in the final seconds. The final score was 33-28.

The AFC had taken a sweep of the NFC in 1972 season. They won the exhibition and regular season match-ups with the NFC and took the Super Bowl and Pro Bowls. This settled the question of parity between the old AFL and NFL remnants. O.J. Simpson, whose career to this point had been buried behind a woeful team at Buffalo, carried 16 times for 112 yards and caught 3 passes for 58 yards. He was named the game’s MVP. Pittsburgh’s Joe Greene said of Simpson after the game, “Man, if that guy had some blocking up there in Buffalo, they’d have to ban him from this league.”

O.J. Simpson lunges for a second quarter touchdown while in the grasp of Jimmy Johnson of the 49ers.

Oakland's Marv Hubbard, Buffalo's O.J. Simpson and Pittsburgh's Franco Harris take their frustration out on Pittsburgh's Mean Joe Green.

Stadium guide for 1973 Pro Bowl.

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