During the negotiations between the NFL and the AFL, Kansas City Chief Owner, Lamar Hunt, thought of the name "Super Bowl" for the Championship game, after observing his daughter playing with her toy super ball. The NFL - AFL World Championship Game was created as a piece of the merger agreement between the NFL and the AFL in 1966. The first Championship took place in 1967 with the official title “Super Bowl.” In 1969, the name, "Super Bowl," became official.
The first of these "super" contests, Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers (13-2) against Hank Stram's Chiefs (12-2-1) and was played before 61,946 fans in Los Angeles' 100,000 seat Memorial Coliseum. The television audience for this game is estimated to have been approximately 60 million viewers. The game itself featured an unlikely hero in Green Bay wide receiver Max McGee. McGee was strictly a backup and did not receive much playing time. In fact, in 14 games during the 1966 season he had caught only four passes for 91 yards. Just moments after entering the game though, he caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Bart Starr to cap off an 80-yard drive that gave the Packers an early lead. On the day, McGee caught seven passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns as the Packers went on to win the first Super Bowl, 35-10. Each player on the Packers received a $15,000 bonus for winning the game, while members of the Chiefs earned $7,500. A one-minute television commercial sold for $75,000 to $85,000; compared to the millions spent on air time now.
The Winner of each Super Bowl receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named after Vince Lombardi, the great coach for the Green Bay Packers who led his team to victory in each of the first two Super Bowls. Following his death, the trophy was named prior to Super Bowl V in his honor.
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