Battle of the Bucks

PRO FOOTBALL

A favorite yarn at the National Football League's plush Manhattan head quarters concerns a plaintive telegram that Commissioner Pete Rozelle received from a coach in the rival American Football League. POPE JOHN WAS A GREAT MAN, read the wire, HE RECOGNIZED THE OTHER LEAGUE. Rozelle's reply: TRUE, BUT IT TOOK 2,000 YEARS

Last week, for a change, the five-year-old A.F.L. was getting plenty of recognition and precious few snickers. Maybe its teams were still no match for the titans of the N.F.L. -- although those were fightin' words in Buffalo and San Diego. But there was one contest in which the A.F.L. was every bit the equal of its older rival: spending money. Armed with a $1,250,000 advance against its new five-year TV contract with NBC -and with orders to "get competitive" at any cost --the fledgling league plunged gleefully into a dollar-for-dollar battle with the N.F.L. to sign this year's bumper crop of graduating college stars.

Cash on the Bed. Eric Ambler might have written the script. The A.F.L. held an illegal secret draft --well before its officially scheduled draft meeting. And the N.F.L. hired "baby sitters" to hover over prize prospects and keep them out of the clutches of A.F.L. recruiters. An N.F.L. scout named Dick Pollard tagged along incognito when Indiana Fullback Tom Nowatzke flew to New York and talked contract with the A.F.L.'s New York Jets. The unwitting Jets gave Pollard a chatty tour of Shea Stadium ("Nice," said the spy) and allowed him to sit in on salary negotiations, thinking he was the boy's financial adviser --only to learn the bitter truth after Nowatzke signed with the Detroit Lions instead.

Money flowed like ballpark beer. One promising collegian reportedly returned to his dormitory room to find $25,000 in cash laid out neatly on his bed. When the Green Bay Packers lost out to the A.F.L.'s Houston Oilers in the bidding for Baylor End Larry Elkins, Packer Coach Vince Lombardi cracked: "We missed by a couple of hundred thousand." The New York Giants went all the way to $100,000 to land Auburn's rugged (6 ft. 2 in., 221 Ibs.) Tucker Frederickson, the "big back" that Allie Sherman wanted in order to beef up the Giants' sputtering ground attack. Notre Dame Quarterback John Huarte, who was being fought over by the A.F.L.'s New York Jets and the N.F.L.'s Philadelphia Eagles, was asked: "How does it feel to know you'll be able to lay your hands on $125,000 or $150,000 in a few days?" Shrugged Huarte: "It's just money."

Standoff. Even George Halas was bitten by the spending bug. Owner-coach of the Chicago Bears, Halas has a reputation for penny pinching that goes back 45 years; in the old days, he used to plead bankruptcy every year when contract time rolled around. He also has a team that captured the N.F.L. championship in 1963--but won only five games this year. Yanking the rubber band off his bankroll, Halas shelled out $50,000 for Kansas Halfback Gale Sayers, then sent George Jr. around with a $100,000 bundle for Illinois' All-Everything linebacker, "Animal of the Year" Dick Butkus.

By week's end, the duel of the dollars was still pretty much a standoff. The American Football League had signed four of its eight top draft choices; the National Football League had signed nine out of 14. The big battle was yet to be fought--over Alabama Quarterback Joe Namath, who has a date in the Orange Bowl and cannot be bought until New Year's Day. A fine drop-back passer, in the mold of Baltimore's Johnny Unitas, Namath is a special case: he is a No. 1 draft choice in both the A.F.L. (New York Jets) and the N.F.L. (St. Louis Cardinals). With a smart lawyer and a little patience, he could well wind up the highest-paid pro in history--before he even suits up for his first pro game.

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