When the American Football League (AFL) played the National Football League (NFL) in the Super Bowl in the 1960s (before the two leagues merged in 1969), each league would use its own ball on offense. The AFL ball was longer and thinner—more like a dachshund or a hot dog.
Lombardi’s Packers won Super Bowl II on January 14, 1968, in Miami, Florida, with the score of Green Bay 33, Oakland 14.
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL).
Lombardi said his club had practices some with an AFL football, which will be used when the AFL has the ball on offense.
Actually, the AFL ball is a college type ball and is more pointed than the NFL ball. The lacing on the AFL ball is slightly longer.
The Super Bowl is one of the few games that is played using two different footballs. The NFL uses a ball that is larger and more rounded. THe AFL’s version is narrower and longer, described once by the late Vince Lombardi as resembling a “Long Island frankfurter.” Each team uses its own ball on offense.
When the Green Bay was on offense, the Packer used the NFL ball “The Duke.” When Kansas City went on offense, the Chiefs used the Spalding J5-V, which was longer and thinner than “The Duke” and was said to be easier to throw.
Just one year after switching to a Rawlings ball, the PIAA has gone back to the Wilson ball L-L teams favor for its sleeker, more aerodynamic design. It’s similar to the difference in the old debate between the NFL and AFL footballs. The latter was longer and thinner — “like a Long Island frankfurter,” Packers boss Vince Lombardi once said — than its NFL counterpart and thus more suitable for a pass-oriented league like the AFL.