I will be replaying the 1970 NFL season with the recently released card set sold by APBA. The replay will consist of 182 regular season games and seven playoff games including Super Bowl V. I will be using the Master game booklet and will limit Rare Plays to one per game per situation:

• Run Plays (RP1 – 4)
• Pass Plays (RP5 – 8)
• Kicks (RP9-10)
• Placekicking (RP11 – 13)
• Returns (RP14 – 17)
• Punts (RP18 – 20)

The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first after the consummation of the AFL–NFL merger. The merged league realigned into two conferences: all ten of the American Football League (AFL) teams joined the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers to form the American Football Conference (AFC); the other thirteen NFL clubs formed the National Football Conference (NFC). The realignment discussions for the NFC were so contentious that one final plan, out of five of them, was selected from an envelope in a vase by Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s secretary, Thelma Elkjer on January 16, 1970.

Tom Dempsey made a 63-yard field goal, setting an NFL record which stood for over 40 years. APBA instituted the Tom Dempsey rule, which KA* Kicker may attempt a field goal of up to 63 yards, play result of 37 shall be Good from that distance. All other numbers follow the play results in the 40–49-yard line column as indicated. 

During negotiations on a new television contract that would begin in 1970 (coinciding with the completion of a merger between the NFL and AFL), Rozelle concentrated on signing a weekly Monday night deal with one of the three major networks. However, both NBC and CBS were reluctant to disturb their regular programming schedules. On the other hand, ABC was a distant third in prime-time ratings and more willing to take any perceived risk, moreover, ABC’s existing Monday night prime time lineup was a particular weak spot. As a result, Rozelle made a deal with ABC. The first Monday Night game was between my beloved New York Jets visiting the Cleveland Browns.

Talking about the Jets, they entered the new decade two years removed from being crowned World Champions and lost the AFL title game the year prior to the Super Bowl winning, Kansas City Chiefs. Weeb Ewbank believed the 1970 squad was his most talented bunch, but injuries derailed their season. Season ending injuries to Roger Finnie, Matt Snell, and Joe Namath proved costly, especially when players like Don Maynard, Emerson Boozer, Gerry Philbin and George Sauer missed multiple appearances. Although they finished with a 4-10-0 record, they posted upset victories over the Los Angeles Rams and Minnesota Vikings.