1972 Pro Bowl

1972 NFL Pro Bowl
DateJanuary 23, 1972
StadiumLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California
Co-MVPsJan Stenerud (Kansas City Chiefs, K), Willie Lanier (Kansas City Chiefs, LB)
RefereeBen Dreith
Attendance53,647
TV in the United States
NetworkNBC
AnnouncersCurt Gowdy, Al DeRogatis

The 1972 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 22nd annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1971 season. The game was played on January 23, 1972, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.[1][2] The final score was AFC 26, NFC 13.[3][4]

The Kansas City Chiefs swept the Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards, with placekicker Jan Stenerud named the game's offensive MVP and Willie Lanier selected as the defensive MVP.[5]

This was the last NFL game overall played with the hashmarks (also called the inbound lines) set at 40 feet apart (20 yards from the sidelines); the next season, they were brought in to 18½ feet, the width of the goalposts, where they still stand to this day.[6]

Attendance at the game was 53,647.[7] Don McCafferty of the Baltimore Colts coached the AFC while the NFC was led by the San Francisco 49ers' Dick Nolan.[8] The referee was Ben Dreith.[9]

  1. ^ "The game to end all games: Griese, Staubach foes again". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 23, 1972. p. D1.
  2. ^ "Pro Bowl brings an end to the '1971' football campaign". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 23, 1972. p. 3B.
  3. ^ "Stenerud, AFC kick NFC in Pro Bowl". Pittsburgh Press. UPI. January 24, 1972. p. 30.
  4. ^ "Stenerud answers critics by booting 4 FGs". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 24, 1972. p. 5B.
  5. ^ "'Sten' treats NFC pros rudely, 26–13". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. January 24, 1972. pp. 20, 23. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  6. ^ "Owners give offense big seven-yard boost". Rome News-Tribune. Georgia. Associated Press. March 24, 1972. p. 6A.
  7. ^ "NFL Pro Bowl history". CBSSports.com. Archived from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  8. ^ "The 1972 Pro Bowl". Bolding Sports Research. Archived from the original on April 30, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2012.
  9. ^ "1972 Pro Bowl game book" (PDF). NFL Game Statistics & Information. National Football League. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 22, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2012.