Bengston Visits

July 10, 1968, Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern

Interesting photo here, if only for the oddity of it.  I take this as an early NFL merchandising gimmick, the way we see on today's broadcasts that Papa John's is the "official" pizza of the NFL, or the Microsoft Surface is the "official" tablet of the league, for a couple of examples. Now there's a list of Hall of Famers to be sure, on the wall behind Mr. Weber, to include Don Shula, George Allen, and Otto Graham.  Unfortunately, Coach Bengston isn't among them.  (We all know the tough act he had to follow.)  In today's world, the coach would be sitting there with branded apparel, heralding the team's colors and trademarks in all their glory.  But this was still a simpler era when the Lombardis and the Landrys of the league still roamed the sidelines in suits and ties.  And I can't tell you how many of those little plastic footballs I had growing up.