Remembering History: This Day 40 Years Ago-The "Heidi" Game

The year was 1968. A minute and five seconds remained in the 4th quarter between the New York Jets and Oakland Raiders. It was close throughout, and Jim Turner had just kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Jets a 32-29 lead. As millions of viewers anxiously anticipated the conclusion of the two heated rivals, something unimaginable happened.

In the middle of what was Oakland's go-ahead drive, NBC suddenly switched to the television adaptation of Heidi—the story of a young, orphaned Swiss girl. It had just turned 7 o'clock and NBC had prior arrangements to air the movie regardless of the score.

Several NBC execs attempted to tell the switchboard manager to delay the start of Heidi, but the vast number of phone calls demanding that the game go on or requesting Heidi to air instead prevented them from getting through.

Dick Cline, the broadcast operator who pulled the switch on the football game, was watching the clock attentively. Thanks to the large amount of scoring, 19 penalties, and 31 incomplete passes, the game was running long and getting closer and closer to Heidi's time slot.

The network was trying to contact Dick, to inform him to let the game continue, but they could not get through. "The switchboard just blew up, so no one could call in to me, and I couldn't call out to anyone." A cry that will never be forgotten.

And so it was, Raider fans, Jet fans and football fans alike, were all switched from a tight physical football game, to a childrens' movie.

Meanwhile, the Raiders were busy making NBC's decision look even worse. Raiders quarterback Daryle Lamonica threw a 43-yard touchdown to Charlie Smith, giving Oakland the lead with still 42 seconds on the clock. The Jets fumbled the following kickoff and it was recovered by Preston Ridlehuber for the TD. The Raiders had scored two touchdowns in the span of nine seconds, to win the game 43-32, though the outcome was still unknown to the majority of the public.

After the game, Jets coach Weeb Ewbank got a congratulatory phone call from his wife, Lucy, who was unaware of the Raiders' comeback. Ewbank informed her that they had lost and angrily slammed down the phone.

NBC, feeling the need to inform the public of what happened, sheepishly aired a crawl of the final score as Heidi was airing.

Laughably, it occurred during a tense part of the movie where Heidi's friend Klara was getting out of her wheelchair for the first time. "When I saw the banner, I thought it was handled very insensitively," said Delbert Mann, the film's director. "I was so upset, I gave a scream of anguish."

The network, blitzed (No pun intended) with complaints and hate mail, issued a formal apology. Many fans were so angered at the discovery of what happened that they complained to the NYPD. The New York Daily News covered it with the headline, "Jets 32, Raiders 29, Heidi 14."

The "Heidi Game", remains one of the most notorious errors in television history. In 1997, it was voted the most memorable regular season game in NFL history in affiliation with the league's 10,000th regular season game.

This game would have no doubt been one of the most memorable in history, just for the outcome. The programing switch, just added to it.

With no ESPN or Internet, for any football fan, it does not get any worse.

I realize that a good portion of the B/R community never watched this game live. Heck, I never watched it.

Now I ask you, how would you have reacted?

Leave your thoughts.

If you watched this game, and got cut off by "Heidi", I feel for you.