THREE MILWAUKEE GROUPS INTERESTED IN AFL FRANCHISE

JAN 15 (Houston) - The AFL will remain an eight-team league in 1965 and probably for at least two more years although it has scheduled an expansion meeting to consider 38 applications this year. Commissioner Joe Foss said Thursday the AFL was investigating the various groups applying for franchises and then make up its mind when and if it wants to add any new clubs. Foss said nine groups from Philadelphia, five from Atlanta, four each from Washington and Chicago, three from Milwaukee and two from Los Angeles have made inquiries. He also had heard from would-be owners in Miami, New Orleans, Birmingham, Seattle, Portland, Columbus and Cincinnati. In Milwaukee, County Board Chairman Eugene Grobschmidt said no group had contacted him about possible playing dates in County Stadium. Foss did not name the groups in Milwaukee, where the NFL Green Bay Packers play three of their home games. Although Foss declined to name names, he did reveal he had spoken to Arthur Allyn, owner of the Chicago White Sox, earlier this week in Chicago. Allyn would like to put an AFL franchise in Comiskey Park. All league owners assured Foss they expected to stand pat through 1965. Anaheim, Cal., new home of the Los Angeles Angels, has been making a strong pitch for San Diego and there are rumors that Denver eventually might be headed toward Philadelphia. Under the terms of a new five-year $36-million television contract with the National Broadcasting Co., it is reported each team will get each team will get $750,000 in 1065, $900,000 in 1966, $850,000 in 1967, $900,000 in 1968, and $950,000 in 1969. There is an additional $2 million expansion fund that probably will be split among new franchises. That fund could provide $500,000 for each of two new clubs in 1968 and 1969 but lesser amounts if spread over more than two years. The AFL stole a march on the rival NFL by voting to putting a player representative on its pension committee. NFL players have been trying unsuccessfully for such representation for years. The AFL five-man pension committee will include Foss, a player to be selected by the players association and three outside businessmen to be picked by Foss...SCREEN ROAD GAMES: Under the new television setup, an attempt will be made to screen most of the teams' road games in the home city. The league will operate once more on a 15-week schedule adding an extra week by allotting open dates as it did last season. Milt Woodard, assistant commissioner, has the job of making up the schedule. It is probable that a special gala opener for Houston's new domed stadium will be arranged. Every club in the league wants to help Houston open its stadium with its 53,000 seats for football.

BILL AUSTIN SIGNS AS RAM ASSISTANT
JAN 16 (Los Angeles) - Bill Austin, who quit as Green Bay Packers offensive line coach this week, has been hired by the Los Angeles Rams to replace Ray Wietecha, it was announced Friday. Wietecha resigned for personal reasons from the Rams. Austin played guard in the NFL for the New York Giants. He was line coach at the University of Wichita in 1958, then in 1959, when Vince Lombardi was made head coach at Green Bay, Austin joined the staff and remained six years. Austin said he had been negotiating with the Rams since submitting his resignation to the Packers Wednesday. He said he would probably go to Los Angeles about the middle of next week, and that he and his wife looked forward to returning to southern California. Austin said he hadn't had a chance to look at the Rams' offensive line because "previously I've been concerned about their defensive line. I just hope I can do a job for them," he said.

'IF STARR HAD SEEN MOORE...'; SHULA 'SEES' PACK AS CHAMP

JAN 17 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Colt Coach Don Shula, in his analysis on the 1964 season via Tex Maule in Sports Illustrated, including this item: "If Starr had seen Moore, it might have been the Packers in the championship game, not the Colts." Shula was referring to the final 1:50 of the Packer-Colt game in City Stadium when the Packers had the ball on the Colts' 31-yard line, third and nine to go, and the Colts leading 21-20. Bart Starr threw a pass off to his left, toward Max McGee, but it was intercepted by Don Shinnick, saving the game for the Colts and giving each team a 1-1 record at the time. A Green Bay win might have given the Pack the momentum they needed to go on to the title and a loss likely would have flattened the Baltimore hopes. Shula wrote: "Starr called the pattern we were afraid of - a pass to Tom Moore against single coverage by Bill Pellington. Starr dropped back and Moore circled out of the backfield and was all alone. Then Starr threw - and he threw toward McGee. Shinnick went up and picked off the ball and closed the Packers out, and we ran out the clock. I don't know why Starr did not throw to Moore; maybe the defensive line had shut off the lane to Moore." Starr, asked to recall the play, said, "I couldn't see Tom and I don't know if it was the tackle or end that blocked my view. I wasn't trying to hit Max. I was just trying to thrown the ball out of bounds, but it was a poor throw." Bart had a humorous sequel to the play, which, of course, became a real "crucial" because Paul Hornung had missed the extra point after the Packers' second touchdown. "Later in the season as we often discussed the play, I kidded Paul, 'we might have gone to the 10 but you probably would have missed the field goal anyway,'" Starr laughed. While an entire season often seems to "turn" on one play, and this seems to THE play, there were many other instances that could be championship-losing keys. Two weeks later in City Stadium, the Vikings were ahead 21-20 (this one when Hornung's extra point kick was blocked), but the Packers went ahead 23-21 on a 20-yard field goal by Hornung with 4:52 left. Then Fran Tarkenton, being chased madly, uncorked a 44-yard prayer pass with 54 seconds left to set up a winning field goal. Two weeks later - this time in Baltimore, the Packers, ahead 14-10, had first and goal on the Colt two and wound up with Hornung missing a field goal from the 17 (one of the five he missed that day). Then late in the game Willie Wood dopped an interception of a John Unitas pass on the Colt 25 with nothing but daylight in front of him. And so it went. The season "turned" on many plays, but, like that first kiss, the first one meant the most...Don Chandler, the kicking specialist obtained by Coach Vince Lombardi last week, already holds two Packer "records" (which won't go in the Green Bay books). Chandler's longest field goal was for 53 yards vs the Cowboys, a yard longer than the record of 52 shared by Ted Fritsch and Paul Hornung. And his best punting average was 46.6 yards in 1959, which topes the Packer mark of 44. by Jerry Norton in 1963. Chandler, who carries the nickname Babe. will be 31 next Sept. 5. Norton, incidentally, will be 34 May 16...Jerry Kramer will go back to Mayo's for additional surgery in February. Meanwhile, the big guard says, "I'm feeling fine and the doctor said I could do a little weightlifting." Also on his program is some bow and arrow shooting...Ron Kramer of the Packers and the Lions' Gail Cogdill, the two fellers who asked to be traded, opposed each other twice last season and R.K. led in catches while Cogdill scored the only TD. Kramer caught 10 passes for 156 yards, including six for 77 in Detroit, while Cogdill nailed six for 82. Gail caught four for 59 here and one was a 23-yard TD throw from Milt Plum. The Packers won both games, 14-10 there and 34-7 here.

WIETECHA NAMED PACKER LINE COACH

JAN 19 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers and Los Angeles Rams completed a unique "trade" today. It was consummated in New York late this morning with the signing of Ray Wietecha, former Giant center, as the Packers' new offensive line coach by GM-Coach Vince Lombardi. Wietecha, who recently resigned a similar position with the Rams, succeeds Bill Austin, who quit his Packer post last week to replace Wietecha on the Rams' staff. Asserting "we are real fortunate to get him," Lombardi said, "The Ram line was the most improved in the NFL last season under Wietecha." The new Packer aide is highly regarded by his former boss, Ram Coach Harland (Swede) Svare, who the day he appointed Wietecha to his staff declared, "He's been preparing himself to coach for years." Wietecha joined the Rams in 1963. Considered one of the most intelligent and durable players in the league during his 10-year NFL career, Wietecha played in 133 consecutive games with the Giants and was rated one of the best offensive line blockers in the pro ranks, earning all-pro honors five teams. An all-Big Ten center at Northwestern University, he was drafted No. 12 in 1950 by the Giants as a future but did not join them until 1953 - after taking a fling at minor league baseball. As a rookie, he proved himself a genuine jack-of-all-trades, playing linebacker, defensive halfback, and end in addition to center. Wietecha, who has been making his home in New York, is married and the father of four children.

'I'D LOVE TO PLAY IN NEW YORK,' HORNUNG

JAN 24 (New York) - The Golden Boy is in town. But not to play pro football for the New York Giants. Not yet, anyway. And it isn't Joe Namath of the New York Jets, of course. The reference is to the original glamour boy of the big dough world of pro football, Paul Hornung. Not that he'd mind being traded to the Giants by the Green Bay Packers. "I'd love to play in New York," he said honestly yesterday. "I think I'd like living here. But I talked with our coach (Vince Lombardi) and he said he isn't going to trade me. I called him after he had gotten Don Chandler from the Giants. The stories said I was on the block because we got Chandler to take over as our kicker. He said there was no deal on."...PLAYER LIKE CHATTEL: "But a NFL player is like chattel. You can be bought and sold. Lombardi is a good man, strong and respected. I know that if he did deal me, it would be for the good of the team (what he would get in return) and for me. That's the kind of man he is." How about the stories that they weren't talking after Paul missed a meeting of the team prior to the Playoff Bowl in Miami recently? "Nothing to that," Paul said. "There are no hard feelings between us. He's the coach, the boss. If I play for him, I'd give him it all. If I'm traded, the other team will get everything I can do."...HE'S A SWINGER: Is Hornung sorry he was born 10 years too soon? How would he like to be one of today's great college quarterbacks like Namath or another Notre Damer like himself, John Huarte? A six-figure bonus baby? "I'd be looking for seven figures," he laughed. Then, seriously: "The game has been very good to me. I don't resend the college kids getting all that money. In fact, it puts the established players in a better bargaining position." Meaning that proven stars like himself might be able to get bonus contracts, with life insurance, post-career salary guarantees and other fancy financial fringe benefits? "Yes, we ought to be able to get things like that," he answered. Paul is a "swinger," which he readily admits. Meaning he loves a good time and loves money. He was told that the Dallas Cowboys had corralled a centerline backer from Rice, Malcolm Walker, with a unique deal: They put $80,000 in a saving account in the player's name. If he doesn't touch it for 10 years, it will bring him an annuity of $500 a month. If he leaves it alone for 17 years, he'll get nearly $800 a month...WANTS TO KICK: "That would not be for me," Hornung laughed. "I'd take the whole 80 thousand and run off to Paris. They would have to address me: 'Paul Hornung, Left Bank.'" Much of Green Bay's trouble last year was due to placekicking, for which Hornung got the horns. He missed 17 of 35 field goals and a couple of vital extra points. Four games were either tied or lost by a total of five points when his kicks when awry. Assuming no trade, does Paul intend to yield the placekicking duties to Chandler? "No, I want to keep the job," he answered. The pride showed in his face.

PACKERS PLAN MORE SEATS AT STADIUM

JAN 26 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers will open bids Feb. 11, to establish cost estimates for adding from 5,300 to 12,000 permanent seats to City Stadium. The bids will be from four possibilities including removal of all or some of the bleacher seats now on the north side of the stadium. City Stadium now seats 42,328, including about 4,200 bleacher seats. The Green Bay Stadium Commission last week authorized the Packer Corp. to obtain the bids and undertake the construction if it sees fit to do so. No municipal funds would be involved under the proposal. Osborn Engineering Co., Cleveland, a consultant in the original stadium site in 1957, is the architect for the project and circulated the request for bids. The bid opening was stated as 10 a.m., Feb. 11.

DON CHANDLER, 'SAVED' BY LOMBARDI, SIGNED AS PACKER

JAN 27 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Don Chandler, the punting and kicking specialist who was virtually "saved" for pro football by Vince Lombardi, has signed a 1965 Packer contract. And it might be added,,.already. Chandler was obtained from the Giants just 15 days ago in exchange for a high draft choice. And today Lombardi announced the three-way foot specialist as the first veteran signed for the new campaign. Vince noted that, "We're fortunate to have an established punter and kicker like Chandler." Thus, in one quick stroke, the Packers' tantalizing kicking problem has been licked - at least on paper. And such footsters as Paul Hornung, Jerry Norton and Lee Roy Caffey will have to contend with Chandler next season. Hornung and Norton both dropped off with their booting and some of Paul's misses meant the difference in winning and losing. Caffey was discovered later in the season as a kickoff man. Chandler said at his home in Tulsa today that "I am certainly looking forward to a warm relationship with the Packers after so many years on the opposite side of the fence. I have always been aware of the fine operations of the Packers and the feeling of the city toward the players." The 30-year-old Chandler came to the Giants out of Florida University, as a punting specialist and offensive back. Due to a shoulder injury, a carryover from his college days, Chandler was homesick, discouraged and pessimistic about his chances of making the Giants as a rookie in '56 in the Vermont training camp. "I knew my shoulder might go any moment," he recalled, "and I didn't think the Giants could afford to carry a cripple - even if he could kick. So I packed my bags and left camp. I was going to go home and forget all about pro football." Fortunately for the Giants and now the Packers, Lombardi, then offensive coach of the Giants, got wind of Chandler's unscheduled departure and reached the Burlington, Vt., airport just in time to take him off a plane and haul him back to camp. "You may not make this ball club," Lombardi growled at Chandler, "but you're sure as hell not going to run out on me." Chandler said later "it was the best thing that ever happened to me." Chandler is a kickoff, placekick, field goal and punting specialist. He spent his first six years in New York as a punter and in 1962 assumed the placekicking duties when Pat Summerall retired. As a punter, Don averaged just under 45 yards in nine years. He hit on 46 of 77 field goals, including a 53-yarder against the Cowboys in '63 - a Giant record. He made 127 of 135 extra points. Chandler's dual role creates an interesting shoe problem on the sidelines since he wears the light conventional low-cut shoe for punting and the high-top square-toe shoe for placekicking. He merely changes shoes but the problem becomes complex when his team has the ball near midfield when a punt or kick could  the order. The "high" shoe must be laced up, while it takes little time with the low-cut. Chander is considered a clutch passer. Over the years, the quiet Oklahoman, who is known as "Babe," has averaged 51 yards a punt from behind his goal line. In his nine years in New York, the Giants have won six division titles. Chandler would like to roll, or rather, a seven in '65 up in Green Bay.