On November 24 , 1963 , the NFL played its full schedule of seven games ( untelevised due to uninterrupted coverage of the assassination , but well-attended ) , only two days after the assassination of President Kennedy , while the rival American Football League ( AFL ) postponed its four games out of respect for the fallen president . Rozelle soon came to regret his decision to have the NFL play , and frequently stated publicly that it had been his worst mistake . However , Rozelle and White House Press Secretary Pierre Salinger had been classmates at the University of San Francisco years before , and Rozelle had consulted with him . Salinger urged Rozelle to play the games . Rozelle felt that way , saying that " it has been traditional in sports for athletes to perform in times of great personal tragedy . " He also said that football was Kennedy 's game and the late president thrived on competition . Rozelle 's " aptitude for conciliation " with the league 's owners and his work in expanding the NFL , however , led to his receiving '' Sports Illustrated '' magazine 's 1963 " Sportsman of the Year " award . The award was ironic , since it was the existence of the '' AFL '' that expanded the sport and forced the NFL to grant franchises to Dallas and Minnesota . By 1965 , the rival American Football League was firmly established , with a new NBC-TV contract , and a new superstar in New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath . After an NFL team ( the Giants ) had signed an AFL player ( the Buffalo Bills ' Pete Gogolak ) in early 1966 , American Football League commissioner Al Davis had shaken the NFL . Davis had immediately started signing NFL stars such as Roman Gabriel , John Brodie and Mike Ditka to contracts with AFL teams . Fearful of their league 's collapse , NFL owners , without the knowledge of Rozelle , approached AFL owners ( without the knowledge of Davis ) and requested merger talks . AFL and NFL executives including Lamar Hunt , founder of the AFL and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs , completed a plan . Rozelle is erroneously credited with forging the merger . In October 1966 , he did testify to Congress to convince them to allow the merger , promising that if they permitted it , '' " Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted . " '' ; and '' " Every franchise of both leagues will remain in its present location . " '' The merger was allowed , but despite Rozelle 's promises , numerous NFL teams have since moved , or used the threat of moving to have cities build or improve stadiums . Following the urging of American Football League commissioner Al Davis , Rozelle also agreed to the creation of the Super Bowl and later supported the concept of '' Monday Night Football '' . NFL sources have since aggrandized Rozelle 's part in both the merger and Monday Night Football . Rozelle is also often erroneously credited with introducing the concept of shared television revenues to professional football . He did advocate it for the merged NFL , but he was simply embracing the concept which had been implemented by the AFL ten years before the merger
assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
History of the NFL Commissioner