Chiefs are chasing history, but the first NFL three-peat was tinged by controversy
As the 2024 NFL season is set to begin, the biggest story involves the Chiefs’ quest at football history.
No franchise has won three straight Super Bowls, and only one team has won three consecutive NFL titles. The Green Bay Packers did it twice (1929 to 1931 and 1965 to 1967).
Here’s a closer look at those three-peats.
Green Bay Packers, 1965 to 1967
Green Bay had to play an extra game to get to the 1965 NFL title game. The Packers gave up a late touchdown and tied the 49ers in the regular-season finale. Green Bay finished with a 10-3-1 record in the West division, the same as the Colts.
It looked like Baltimore might take the division title in the playoff game, but Green Bay rallied from 10 points down in the second half and won 13-10 in overtime.
“This was the roughest game I’ve ever been in,” Packers defensive back Herb Adderly told reporters afterword.
Green Bay won the NFL title the following week by beating the Cleveland Browns 23-12.
In the 1966 season, Green Bay had a 12-2 regular-season record, beat the Cowboys 34-27 for the NFL title and then defeated the Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I.
After winning their division in 1967, the Packers downed the Rams 28-7 in the playoffs, then edged the Cowboys 21-17 in the NFC title game in the famous Ice Bowl.
In Super Bowl II, the Packers crushed the Raiders 33-14 for a third straight championship.
1929 to 1931
Coach Curly Lambeau guided the Packers to an unbeaten season in 1929. The only blemish was a scoreless tie against the Frankford Yellow Jackets on Nov. 28, but Green Bay won the NFL championship with a 12-0-1 record.
The following year, Green Bay had three fewer victories than the New York Giants but still won the NFL championship because of how the league handled ties.
Green Bay tied Portsmouth 6-6 in the final game of the season, giving the Packers a 10-3-1 record. The NFL ignored ties, so the Packers had a .769 winning percentage. New York’s final record was 13-4, a .765 winning percentage.
That gave the Packers a second straight NFL championship, although these days Green Bay would’ve finished behind the Giants.
In those days, teams scheduled their own games, not the NFL.
There was a controversial finish to the 1931 season. Green Bay lost its season finale 7-6 to the Bears in Chicago and had a 12-2 record. The Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans had an 11-3 record and thought they’d get the chance to play Green Bay to end the season.
Instead, the Packers had announced before facing Chicago that their season would end with the Bears game.
This is an excerpt from the Newark Advocate on Dec. 7, 1931:
“L.H. Joannes of the league-leading team announced at Chicago yesterday there will be no game between the Packers and the Portsmouth Spartans next Sunday because the game was never scheduled officially.
“His statement was made after Harry Snyder, president of the Spartans, arrived in Chicago to complete arrangements for the game. Snyder said the contest had been tentatively scheduled and that tickets already had been sold.
“But league rules provide that a tentative game may be canceled by either team involved and Joannes said the Packers were done for the season.”
Portsmouth appealed to NFL president Joe Carr to make the Packers play the game, but it never happened.
A Professional Football Researchers Association story about the kerfuffle noted that editorial writers in Ohio savaged the Packers.
“The Packers were called ‘cheese champs’ and accused of cowardice in refusing to risk their title. Up in Wisconsin they praised the Packers and couldn’t see the Portsmouth side for beans,” the PFRA story noted. “Viewed from a more cynical age, one finds a bit quaint the idea that the Packers would even consider jeopardizing their championship in a game that only could profit the Spartans. It all came down to Carr and his decision as to whether their was a verbal contract to force Green Bay to go to Portsmouth. With all the claims and counterclaims muddying the waters, he had had little choice but to rule in favor of Green Bay.”
The Packers-Portsmouth commotion did lead Carr to make a change, the PFRA story noted.
“A three-man commission was charged with preparing a schedule for the whole league,” the association wrote. “No more ‘tentatives.’ Once the league accepted the commission’s schedule, the games were official and would be played barring an act of God.”
Another note about the 1931 Packers: They played two games in a four-day span (Nov. 26 and Nov. 29).
One thing is for certain, if the Chiefs join those Packers teams as three-peat champions, no one will be saying a word about KC’s schedule.
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 9:57 AM.
