Do you remember when astronauts recited the Pledge of Allegiance before the Super Bowl and the Halftime Show was a college marching band? Me neither.

Before the game was sold as a global event, it was a national one. At Super Bowl III in the Orange Bowl in 1969, a trio of Apollo 8 astronauts led the crowd–which included Joe and Ted Kennedy, Bob Hope and Spiro Agnew–in pledging allegiance to the U.S. flag. The Florida A&M University marching band entertained between halves.

The Jets became the first AFL team to win the game, defeating the heavily favored Colts, solidifying the planned NFL-AFL merger. Joe Namath became a national sensation, having boldly predicted the upset. A very gifted and confident quarterback who threw tons of interceptions, Namath was a very good player who would forever be overrated as great because of this game.