The One-night Season

The game was neither the "terrifically outstanding contest" that Stram predicted nor "the nation's No. 1 football spectacle" the sponsoring Chicago Tribune called it the next day. It was dull and one-sided and the seventh consecutive win for the pros.

Kansas City scored on a Dawson-to-Pitts 36-yard pass play and a Jan Stenerud field goal in the first quarter to lead 10-0, and with the help of two interceptions (one off Shaw, one off Phipps), led 24-0 at the half. The All-Stars got their three points in the third quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Mike Delaney of American International College, as the Chiefs sat on their lead.

Most of the Chiefs were pleased with their performances. Dawson had certainly made up for not playing 13 years before, and, coincidentally, the marching band from his old high school in Alliance, Ohio had been on hand to serenade him. Garrett, playing at 181 pounds (down 10 from last year), seemed faster and slipperier than ever.

Jim Tyrer spoke up. "We're a team, an association, a family," he said. "We pro players are unified in what we're fighting for, but on the field we'll be knocking each other's heads off."

The hitting will start this weekend. And in the nick of time. Withdrawal symptoms were setting in.