I'll rephrase. As I remember, NBC decided their contractual obligation to air 'Heidi' trumped that of the AFL game in progress.
_That_ shows the respect the network had for the AFL. IIRC at the time they were two leagues with different contracts, and the NFL was king.
I bet Heidi was a crappy movie, too.
"and the NFL was king."
That reminds me - what was with Greg Gumbel calling Joe Namath "one of the great NFL quarterbacks"?
Give me a break. Outside of Jets-Colts, Namath has little to boast about. A tough guy (he, like Bart Starr, played for Bear Bryant at Alabama), but a thin professional resume.
ESPN Classic doesn't like to tell people that the best player in the pros (and maybe the best ever) John Unitas didn't play in Super Bowl III until the game was decided. Take the best player in the game from any team and I'll bet you hand over fist they'll lose to an underdog team with something to prove.