1976 Pro Bowl

The 1976 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 26th annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1975 season. The game was played on Monday night, January 26, 1976, at the new Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana,^[1] with 32,108 in attendance.^[2][3] The final score was NFC 23, AFC 20. It was also the first Pro Bowl game played indoors.

1976 NFL Pro Bowl

AFC NFC 20 23 Head coach: John Madden (Oakland Raiders) Head coach: Chuck Knox (Los Angeles Rams)
1 2 3 4 Total AFC 0 13 0 7 20 NFC 0 0 9 14 23
Date	January 26, 1976
Stadium	Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
MVP	Billy Johnson (Houston Oilers)
Referee	Fred Silva
Attendance	32,108
TV in the United States
Network	ABC
Announcers	Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, and Alex Karras
← 1975 Pro Bowl 1977 →

The game featured the best players in the National Football League as selected by the league's coaches. John Madden of the Oakland Raiders led the AFC team against an NFC team led by Los Angeles Rams head coach Chuck Knox.^[4]

The AFC's Billy "White Shoes" Johnson was named the game's MVP on the strength of a 90-yard punt return touchdown and a second punt return of 55 yards that set up a field goal.^[2][5] The referee was Fred Silva.^[6]

Players on the winning NFC team received $2,000 apiece while the AFC participants each took home $1,500.^[7]

Rosters

The 40-man Pro Bowl squads consisted of the following players:^[8][9]

Offense

Position	AFC	NFC
Quarterback	Terry Bradshaw – Pittsburgh^[a]^[10] Ken Anderson – Cincinnati Dan Pastorini – Houston^[b]	Fran Tarkenton – Minnesota^[a] Jim Hart – St. Louis Roger Staubach – Dallas^[b]^[a] Mike Boryla – Philadelphia
Running back	O. J. Simpson – Buffalo Franco Harris – Pittsburgh Lydell Mitchell – Baltimore John Riggins – NY Jets	Chuck Foreman – Minnesota Terry Metcalf – St. Louis Lawrence McCutcheon – Los Angeles Jim Otis – St. Louis
Wide receiver	Lynn Swann – Pittsburgh Isaac Curtis – Cincinnati Cliff Branch – Oakland Ken Burrough – Houston	Mel Gray – St. Louis John Gilliam –Minnesota Harold Jackson – Los Angeles Charley Taylor – Washington
Tight end	Riley Odoms – Denver Rich Caster – NY Jets	Charle Young – Philadelphia Charlie Sanders – Detroit
Tackle	Art Shell – Oakland George Kunz – Baltimore Russ Washington – San Diego	Ron Yary – Minnesota Dan Dierdorf – St. Louis Rayfield Wright – Dallas
Guard	Bob Kuechenberg – Miami Gene Upshaw – Oakland Joe DeLamielleure – Buffalo	Ed White – Minnesota Conrad Dobler – St. Louis Tom Mack – Los Angeles
Center	Jim Langer – Miami Jack Rudnay – Kansas City	Tom Banks – St. Louis Jeff Van Note – Atlanta

Defense

Position	AFC	NFC
Defensive end	John Dutton – Baltimore L. C. Greenwood – Pittsburgh Elvin Bethea – Houston	Jack Youngblood – Los Angeles Cedrick Hardman – San Francisco Fred Dryer – Los Angeles
Defensive tackle	Jerry Sherk – Cleveland Joe Greene – Pittsburgh Curley Culp – Houston	Alan Page – Minnesota Merlin Olsen – Los Angeles Wally Chambers – Chicago
Middle linebacker	Willie Lanier – Kansas City^[a] Jack Lambert – Pittsburgh Randy Gradishar – Denver^[b]	Jeff Siemon – Minnesota Jack Reynolds – Los Angeles
Outside linebacker	Andy Russell – Pittsburgh Jack Ham – Pittsburgh Phil Villapiano – Oakland	Chris Hanburger – Washington Isiah Robertson – Los Angeles Fred Carr – Green Bay
Cornerback	Mel Blount – Pittsburgh Lemar Parrish – Cincinnati Emmitt Thomas – Kansas City	Roger Wehrli – St. Louis Lem Barney – Detroit Bobby Bryant – Minnesota
Safety	Mike Wagner – Pittsburgh Jake Scott – Miami Jack Tatum –Oakland^[a] Glen Edwards – Pittsburgh^[b]^[10]	Cliff Harris – Dallas Ken Houston – Washington Paul Krause – Minnesota

Special teams

Position	AFC	NFC
Kicker	Jan Stenerud – Kansas City	Jim Bakken – St. Louis
Punter	Ray Guy – Oakland	John James – Atlanta
Return specialist	Billy Johnson – Houston	Steve Odom – Green Bay

Roster Notes:

bold denotes player who participated in game

^a Injured player; selected but did not play

^b Replacement selection due to injury or vacancy

Number of selections by team

Note: these numbers include players selected to the team but unable to play as well as replacements for these injured players, so there are more than 40 players in each conference.

AFC Team Selections Pittsburgh Steelers 11 Oakland Raiders 6 Houston Oilers 5 Kansas City Chiefs 4 Baltimore Colts 3 Cincinnati Bengals 3 Miami Dolphins 3 Buffalo Bills 2 Denver Broncos 2 New York Jets 2 Cleveland Browns 1 San Diego Chargers 1 New England Patriots —

NFC Team Selections Minnesota Vikings 9 St. Louis Cardinals 9 Los Angeles Rams 8 Dallas Cowboys 3 Washington Redskins 3 Atlanta Falcons 2 Detroit Lions 2 Green Bay Packers 2 Philadelphia Eagles 2 Chicago Bears 1 San Francisco 49ers 1 New Orleans Saints — New York Giants —

References

1. "Pro Bowl fun closes '75 season". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). UPI. January 26, 1976. p. 3C.
2. "NFC turns to home cookin' to hand AFC 23-20 loss". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. January 27, 1976. p. 2B.
3. "1976 Pro Bowl game book" (PDF). NFL Game Statistics & Information. National Football League. (PDF) from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
4. "Franco, O. J. give AC TD Edge in Pro Bowl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. January 26, 1976. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
5. "Boryla Passes Nip AFC". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. AP. January 27, 1976. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
6. "Pro Bowl Proves Ray Guy Can Really Punt". The Union Democrat. UPI. January 27, 1976. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
7. "NFL Pro Bowl history". CBSSports.com. from the original on August 10, 2011. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
8. "10 Steelers in Pro Bowl". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 25, 1975. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
9. "1976 Pro Bowl players". Pro-Football-Reference.com. from the original on February 5, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2012.
10. "Steelers Everywhere in Pro Bowl Clash". Pittsburgh Press. January 25, 1976. Retrieved January 6, 2012.