Associated Press
Thanks to the Super Bowl, the N.F.L. is often discussed in terms of a before and an after.
The era before the 1966 season, when the N.F.L. and A.F.L. created a championship game between the leagues that became the greatest spectacle in American sports, was defined by strong defenses, running games and a group of star quarterbacks — Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, Y.A. Tittle — who are discussed in the vaguest, yet grandest, of terms. Each was a Paul Bunyan-like hero who dealt with impossible weather and poor equipment, yet accomplished feats we can’t possibly understand but are meant to appreciate.