{{Otherusesof|AFL|AFL}}
''Note: There were three earlier and unrelated American professional football leagues of the same name: One in 1926, one in 1936-1937 and one in 1940-1941. They are listed at the end of this article.
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| '''Sport''' || [[American football|American Professional Football]]
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| '''Founded''' || [[1959 in sports|1959]]
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| '''First Season''' || [[1960 in sports|1960]]
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| '''Last Season''' || [[1969 in sports|1969]]
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| '''No. of teams''' || '''8''' (1960), '''9''' (1966), '''10''' (1968-1969)
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{{!}} '''Merged'''
{{!}} [[AFL-NFL Merger|1970, with NFL]]
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{{#if:[[Kansas City Chiefs]] |
{{!}} '''{{#if:1970, with NFL|Last|Defending}} champions'''<!--There is no "current" champions if a league has folded and is now defunct-->
{{!}} [[Kansas City Chiefs]]
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The '''American Football League (AFL)''' was a professional [[American football|football]] league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the [[National Football League]] (NFL). The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League throughout its existence. Initially viewed as inferior, the AFL began attracting top talent from colleges and the NFL by the mid-1960s, well before the [[Common Draft]] which began in [[1967 in sports|1967]]. In fact, even in its first year, 1960, the AFL signed half of the [[1960 NFL Draft|NFL's first-round draft choices]], including All-American [[Billy Cannon]], perennial All-Star [[Johnny Robinson]], and Hall of Famer [[Ron Mix]]. In [[1966 in sports|1966]], a [[AFL-NFL merger|merger]] between the two leagues was announced, but was not finalized until [[1970 NFL season|1970]]. During its final two years of existence, the AFL won two upset victories over the NFL in [[Super Bowl III]] and [[Super Bowl IV|IV]], the former considered one of the biggest upsets in American sports history. When the merger took place all ten AFL franchises became part of the merged league's [[American Football Conference]], while only the NFL retained its old name and logo.
==League history==
==="The Foolish Club" (1959–[[1961 AFL season|1961]])===
By the late 1950s, the [[National Football League]] had grown to become one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the United States. One franchise that did not share in the success of the league was the [[Arizona Cardinals|Chicago Cardinals]], who were overshadowed by the more popular [[Chicago Bears]]. The team was reportedly for sale (with the intent of relocation), and one of the men who approached the Cardinals was [[Lamar Hunt]], son and heir of [[Texas]] millionaire oilman [[H. L. Hunt]].<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', p. 9.</ref> Hunt offered to buy the Cardinals and move them to [[Dallas, Texas]], where he had grown up. While Hunt negotiated with Cardinals ownership, similar offers were made by [[Bud Adams]], [[Bob Howsam]], and [[Max Winter]].<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', p. 13.</ref>
When Hunt, Adams, and Howsam were each unable to secure a controlling interest in the Cardinals, they approached NFL commissioner [[Bert Bell]] and proposed the addition of [[expansion team]]s. Bell, wary of expanding the 12-team league and risking its newfound success, rejected the offer.<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', pp. 13–14.</ref> On his return flight to Dallas, Hunt conceived of an entirely new league and decided to contact the others who had shown interest in purchasing the Cardinals. He contacted Adams, Howsam, and Winter (as well as Winter's partner, [[Bill Boyer]]) to gauge their interest in starting a new league. Hunt's first meeting with Adams was held in March 1959.<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', p. 14.</ref> Hunt, who felt a regional rivalry would be critical for the success of the new league, convinced Adams to join and found his team in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]]. Hunt next secured an agreement from Howsam to bring a team to [[Denver, Colorado]].<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', pp. 15–16.</ref>
After Winter and Boyer agreed to start a team in [[Minneapolis-Saint Paul]], the new league had its first four teams. Hunt also approached Willard Rhodes of [[Seattle, Washington]], but that effort failed when Rhodes was turned down by [[Husky Stadium]] and had no place for his team to play.<ref>Miller, ''Going Long'', pp. 3–4.</ref> Hunt also sought franchises in [[Los Angeles, California]] and [[New York City]]. During the summer of 1959 he sought the blessings of the NFL for his nascent league, as he did not seek a potentially costly rivalry. Within weeks of the July 1959 announcement of the league's formation, Hunt received commitments from [[Barron Hilton]] and [[Harry Wismer]] to bring teams to Los Angeles and New York, respectively.<ref name="chiefsafl">{{cite web |url=http://www.kcchiefs.com/history/ |title=Kansas City Chiefs History - AFL Origins |accessdate=2007-02-07}}</ref>
On [[August 14]], [[1959]], the first league meeting was held in Chicago, and charter memberships were given to Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. On August 22 the league officially was named the American Football League. Although Bell had given his public approval, individual NFL owners soon began a campaign to undermine the new league. AFL owners were approached with promises of new NFL franchises or ownership stakes in existing ones. When those efforts were rebuffed, the NFL announced on August 29 that it would bring expansion teams to Houston and Dallas, to start play in 1961.<ref>Gruver, ''The American Football League'', pp. 22–23.</ref>
Two more cities were awarded AFL franchises later in the year. [[Ralph C. Wilson Jr.|Ralph Wilson]], who owned a minority interest in the NFL's [[Detroit Lions]], announced he was placing a team in [[Buffalo, New York]] after he had been rejected by [[Miami, Florida|Miami]]. Buffalo was officially awarded a franchise on October 28. During a league meeting on November 22, a 10-man ownership group from [[Boston, Massachusetts]] (led by [[William Sullivan|William H. (Billy) Sullivan]]) was awarded the AFL's eighth team.<ref>Maiorana, ''Relentless'', p. 65.</ref> On [[November 30]], [[1959]], [[Joe Foss]], a [[World War II]] [[United States Marine Corps|Marine]] [[fighter ace]] and former governor of [[South Dakota]], was named the AFL's first commissioner. Foss commissioned a friend of Harry Wismer's to develop the AFL's eagle-on-football logo. Hunt was elected President of the AFL on [[January 26]], [[1960]].
===The AFL Draft===
''For more details on this topic, see [[American Football League Draft|AFL Draft]].''
The AFL's first [[American Football League Draft|draft]] took place the same day Boston was awarded its franchise, and lasted 33 rounds. The league held a second draft on December 2, which lasted for 20 rounds. Since the Raiders joined after the AFL draft, they inherited Minnesota's selections (read next section).<ref>Dickey, ''Just Win, Baby'', pp. 7–8.</ref><ref name="nflhistoryone">{{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1951-1960 |title="NFL History, 1951–1960" |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=NFL.com}}</ref> A special ''[[1960 American Football League Draft|allocation draft]]'' was held in January, 1960, to allow the Raiders to stock their team, since some of the other AFL teams had already signed some of Minneapolis' original draft choices.
===Crisis and success===
In November 1959, Minneapolis owner Max Winter announced his intent to leave the AFL in order to accept a franchise offer from the NFL. In 1961, his team began play in the NFL as the [[Minnesota Vikings]]. [[San Diego Chargers|Los Angeles Chargers]] owner Barron Hilton demanded that a replacement for Minnesota be placed in California, in order to reduce his team's operating costs and to create a rivalry. After a brief search, [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] was chosen and an ownership group led by local real estate developer Chet Soda was formed. After initially being called the Oakland Señors, the [[Oakland Raiders]] officially joined the AFL on [[January 30]], [[1960]].
The AFL's first major success came when the [[Tennessee Titans|Houston Oilers]] signed [[Billy Cannon]], the All-American and 1959 [[Heisman Trophy]] winner from [[LSU Tigers football|LSU]]. Cannon signed a $100,000 contract to play for the Oilers, despite having already signed a $50,000 contract with the NFL's [[St. Louis Rams|Los Angeles Rams]]. The Oilers filed suit and claimed that Rams general manager [[Pete Rozelle]] had unduly manipulated Cannon. The court upheld the Houston contract, and with Cannon the Oilers appeared in the AFL's first three championship games (winning two).<ref name="loup">{{cite news |first=Rich |last=Loup |title=The AFL: A Football Legacy (Part One) |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/01/22/afl_history_1/ |publisher=CNNSI.com |date=[[2001-01-22]] |accessdate=2007-02-08 }}</ref><ref name="cannon">{{cite news |first=Al |last=Carter |title=Oilers leave rich legacy of low-budget absurdity |url=http://texnews.com/texsports97/oilers063097.html |publisher=[[Dallas Morning News]] |date=[[1997-06-30]] |accessdate=2007-02-08 }}</ref>
On [[June 9]], [[1960]], the league signed a five-year television contract with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], which brought in revenues of approximately US$2,125,000 per year for the entire league. On June 17, the AFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, which was dismissed in 1962 after a two-month trial.<ref name="loup" /> The AFL began regular-season play (a night game on Friday, [[September 9]], [[1960]]) with eight teams in the league — the [[New England Patriots|Boston Patriots]], [[Buffalo Bills]], [[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans]], [[Denver Broncos]], Houston Oilers, [[San Diego Chargers|Los Angeles Chargers]], [[New York Jets|New York Titans]], and Oakland Raiders. Raiders co-owner [[Wayne Valley]] dubbed the AFL ownership "The Foolish Club," a term Lamar Hunt subsequently used on team photographs he sent as Christmas gifts.<ref name="herskowitz">{{cite news |first=Mickey |last=Herskowitz |title=The Foolish Club |url=http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/misc/5_the_foolish_club.pdf |publisher=Pro Football Weekly |date=1974 |accessdate=2007-02-08 }}</ref>
The Oilers became the first-ever league champions by defeating the Chargers, 24-16, in the AFL Championship on [[January 1]], [[1961]]. Attendance for the 1960 season was respectable for a new league, but not nearly that of the NFL. Whereas the more popular NFL teams in 1960 regularly saw attendance figures in excess of 50,000 per game, AFL attendance generally hovered between 10,000-20,000 per game.<ref name="attendance">{{cite web |url=http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1960a.pdf |title=1960 AFL box scores |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=The NFL History Network}}</ref> With the low attendance came financial losses. The Raiders, for instance, lost $500,000 in their first year and only survived after receiving a $400,000 loan from Bills owner Ralph Wilson.<ref name="dvd">{{cite video |people=[[Steve Sabol]] (Executive Producer) |year=2004 |title=Raiders - The Complete History |medium=DVD |publisher=NFL Productions LLC}}</ref> In an early sign of stability, however, the AFL did not lose any teams after its first year of operation. In fact, the only major change was the relocation of the Chargers from Los Angeles to [[San Diego, California|San Diego]].
===Movement and instability ([[1962 AFL season|1962]]–[[1963 AFL season|63]])===
While the Oilers found instant success in the AFL, other teams did not fare as well. The Oakland Raiders and New York Titans struggled on and off the field during their first few seasons in the league. Oakland's eight-man ownership group was reduced to just three in 1961, after heavy financial losses their first season.<ref name="nflhistorytwo">{{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1961-1970 |title=NFL History, 1961–1970 |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=NFL.com}}</ref> Attendance for home games was poor, partly due to the fact that the team was playing in the [[San Francisco Bay Area]]—which already had an established NFL team (the [[San Francisco 49ers]])—but the product on the field was also to blame. After winning six games their debut season, the Raiders won a total of three times in the 1961 and 1962 seasons. Oakland took part in a 1961 supplemental draft meant to boost the weaker teams in the league, but it did little good. They participated in another such draft in 1962.<ref name="loup" />
The Titans fared a little better on the field but had their own financial troubles. Attendance was so low for home games that team owner Harry Wisner had fans move to seats closer to the field to give the illusion of a fuller stadium on television.<ref name="jetsencyc">{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/nyj/jets.html |title=New York Jets history |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=Sports Encyclopedia}}</ref> Eventually Wisner could no longer afford to meet his payroll, and on [[November 8]], [[1962]] the AFL took over operations of the team. The Titans were sold to a five-person ownership group headed by [[Sonny Werblin]] on [[March 28]], [[1963]], and in April the new owners changed the team's name to the New York Jets.<ref name="jetsone">{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1962 |title=Jets history - 1962 |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=NewYorkJets.com }}</ref><ref name="jetstwo">{{cite web |url=http://www.newyorkjets.com/team/history?year=1963 |title=Jets history - 1963 |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=NewYorkJets.com }}</ref>
The Raiders and Titans both finished last in their respective divisions in the 1962 season.<ref name="sixtytwo">{{cite web |url=http://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/1962.htm |title=1962 standings |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=Pro-Football-Reference.com }}</ref> The Texans and Oilers, winners of their divisions, faced each other for the 1962 AFL Championship on [[December 23]]. The Texans dethroned the two-time champion Oilers, 20-17, in a double-[[Overtime (sports)|overtime]] contest that was at the time professional football's longest-ever game.<ref name="loup" />
In 1963, the Texans became the second AFL team to relocate. Lamar Hunt felt that despite winning the league championship in 1962, the Texans could not succeed financially in the same market as the [[Dallas Cowboys]], who had entered the NFL in 1960. After meetings with [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], [[Atlanta, Georgia|Atlanta]] and [[Miami, Florida|Miami]], Hunt announced on May 22 that the Texans' new home would be [[Kansas City, Missouri]]. Kansas City mayor [[Harold Roe Bartle]] (nicknamed "Chief") was instrumental in his city's success in attracting the team. Partly to honor Bartle, the franchise officially became the Kansas City Chiefs on May 26.<ref name="kcsixties">{{cite web |url=http://www.kcchiefs.com/history/60s/ |title=Chiefs timeline - 1960s |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=KCChiefs.com}}</ref>
The San Diego Chargers, under head coach [[Sid Gillman]], won a decisive 51-10 victory over the Boston Patriots for the 1963 AFL Championship. Confident that his team was capable of beating the NFL-champion [[Chicago Bears]] (he had the Chargers' rings inscribed with the phrase "World Champions"), Gillman approached NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and proposed a final championship game between the two teams. Rozelle declined the offer, but it would be instituted three seasons later.<ref name="gillman">{{cite web |url=http://www.nfl.com/news/story/6101341 |title="Gillman laid foundation for all who followed" |accessdate=2007-02-08 |last=Barber |first=Phil |work=NFL.com}}</ref>
===Watershed years ([[1964 AFL season|1964]]–[[1965 AFL season|65]])===
A series of events throughout the next few years demonstrated the AFL's ability to achieve a greater level of equality with the NFL. On [[January 29]], [[1964]] the league signed a lucrative US$ 36 million television contract with [[NBC]] (to start in the 1965 season), which gave the league money it needed to compete with the NFL for talent. A new single-game attendance record was set on [[November 8]], [[1964]] when 61,929 fans packed [[Shea Stadium]] to watch the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills.<ref name="sixtyfour">{{cite web |url=http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1964a.pdf |title=1964 box scores |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=NFL History Network}}</ref>
The bidding war for players between the AFL and NFL escalated in 1965. The Chiefs drafted [[Gale Sayers]] in the first round of the 1965 draft (held [[November 28]], [[1964]]), while the Chicago Bears did the same in the NFL draft. Sayers eventually signed with the Bears.<ref name="kcsixties" /> A similar situation occurred when the New York Jets and the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals both drafted University of Alabama quarterback [[Joe Namath]]. In what was viewed as a key victory for the AFL, Namath signed a $427,000 contract with the Jets on January 2. It was the highest amount of money ever paid to a collegiate football player, and is cited as a contributing factor to the eventual merger between the two leagues.<ref name="silverman">{{cite news |first=Steve |last=Silverman |title=The 'Other' League |url=http://www.kcchiefs.com/media/misc/11_the_other_league.pdf |publisher=Pro Football Weekly |date=[[1994-11-07]] |accessdate=2007-02-08 }}</ref>
In March 1965, Minneapolis lawyer [[Joseph Robbie|Joe Robbie]] met with Commissioner Foss to inquire about an expansion franchise. On May 6, Robbie secured an agreement to bring a team to [[Miami, Florida]] from city mayor Robert King High. League expansion was approved at a meeting held on June 7, and on August 16 the AFL's ninth franchise was officially awarded to Robbie and television star [[Danny Thomas]]. The [[Miami Dolphins]] joined the league for a fee of $7.5 million, and started play in the AFL's Eastern Division in 1966.<ref name="dolphins">{{cite web |url=http://www.miamidolphins.com/newsite/history/historicalhighlights/historicalhighlights.asp |title="Miami Dolphins Historical Highlights" |accessdate=2007-02-08 |work=MiamiDolphins.com}}</ref>
===Escalation and merger ([[1966 AFL season|1966]]–[[1967 AFL season|67]])===
{{Details|AFL-NFL Merger}}
1966 saw the rivalry between the AFL and NFL reach an all-time peak. On April 7, Joe Foss resigned as AFL Commissioner. His successor was Oakland Raiders head coach and general manager [[Al Davis]], who had been instrumental in turning around the fortunes of that franchise. No longer content with trying to outbid the NFL for college talent, the AFL under Davis actively started to recruit players already on NFL squads. Davis's strategy focused on quarterbacks in particular, and in two months he convinced seven NFL quarterbacks to sign with the AFL.<ref>Dickey, pp. 38–39.</ref> But while Davis intended to help the AFL win the bidding war, some AFL and NFL owners saw the escalation as detrimental to both leagues.
The same month Davis was named commissioner, Lamar Hunt and Dallas Cowboys general manager [[Tex Schramm]] held a series of secret meetings in Dallas to discuss their concerns over rapidly increasing player salaries, as well as the practice of player poaching. Hunt and Schramm completed the basic groundwork for a merger of the two leagues by the end of May, and on [[June 8]], [[1966]] the merger was officially announced. Under the terms of the agreement, the two leagues would hold a common player draft. The agreement also called for a title game to be played between the champions of the respective leagues. The two leagues would be fully merged by 1970, and NFL commissioner [[Pete Rozelle]] would remain as commissioner of the merged league. The AFL also agreed to pay indemnities of $18 million to the NFL over 20 years. In protest, Davis resigned as AFL commissioner on July 25 rather than remain until the completion of the merger, and [[Milt Woodard]] was named President of the AFL.<ref name="cross">{{cite news |first=B. Duane |last=Cross |title=The AFL: A Football Legacy (Part Two) |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/news/2001/01/22/afl_history_2/ |publisher=CNNSI.com |date=[[2001-01-22]] |accessdate=2007-02-08 }}</ref><ref name="silverman" />
On [[January 15]], [[1967]], the first-ever World Championship Game between the champions of the two separate professional football leagues, the AFL-NFL Championship Game (retroactively referred to as [[Super Bowl I]]), was played in Los Angeles. After a close first half, the NFL champion [[Green Bay Packers]] overwhelmed the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10. The loss reinforced for many the notion that the AFL was indeed the inferior league. Packers head coach [[Vince Lombardi]] stated after the game, "I do not think they are as good as the top teams in the National Football League."<ref name="silverman" />
The second AFL-NFL Championship ([[Super Bowl II]]) yielded a similar result. The Oakland Raiders—who easily beat the Houston Oilers to win their first AFL championship—were overmatched by the Packers, 33-14. The more experienced Packers capitalized on a number of Raiders miscues, and never trailed. Green Bay defensive tackle [[Henry Jordan]] offered a compliment to Oakland and the AFL, when he said, "...the AFL is becoming much more sophisticated on offense. I think the league has always had good personnel, but the blocks were subtler and better conceived in this game."<ref name="sbtwo">{{cite news |first=Tex |last=Maule |title=Green Bay, Handily |url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/features/superbowl/archives/2/ |publisher=[[Sports Illustrated]] |date=[[1968-01-22]] |accessdate=2007-02-09 }}</ref>
The AFL added its tenth and final team on [[May 24]], [[1967]], when they awarded the league's second expansion franchise to an ownership group from [[Cincinnati, Ohio]] headed by NFL legend [[Paul Brown]].<ref name="nflhistorytwo" /> Although Brown had intended to join the NFL, he agreed to join the AFL when he learned that his team would join the NFL once the merger was completed.<ref>Brown, ''PB - The Paul Brown Story''</ref> The [[Cincinnati Bengals]] began play in the 1968 season, and finished last in the Western Division.
===Legitimacy and the end of an era ([[1968 AFL season|1968]]-[[AFL-NFL Merger|70]])===
While many AFL players and observers felt their league was the equal of the NFL, the first two Super Bowls did little to prove it. That perception changed on [[January 12]], [[1969]], when the AFL Champion New York Jets shocked the heavily favored NFL Champion [[Indianapolis Colts|Baltimore Colts]] in [[Super Bowl III]]. The Colts, who entered the contest favored by as many as 18 points, had completed the [[1968 NFL season]] with a 13-1 record, and won the NFL title with a convincing 34-0 dismantling of the Cleveland Browns. Led by their stalwart defense—which allowed a record-low 144 points—the 1968 Colts were considered one of the best-ever NFL teams.<ref name="hof">{{cite web |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=822 |title="He guaranteed it" |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=Pro Football Hall of Fame}}</ref><ref name="baltse">{{cite web |url=http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/balticolts/baltcolts.html |title=Baltimore Colts history |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=Sports Encyclopedia}}</ref>
By contrast, the Jets allowed 280 points, the highest total for any division winner in the two leagues. They had also narrowly beaten the favored Oakland Raiders in the AFL Championship. Jets quarterback Joe Namath recalled that in the days leading up to the game, he grew increasingly angry when told New York had no chance to beat Baltimore. Three days before the game, a frustrated Namath responded to a [[heckler]] at the Touchdown Club in Miami by declaring, "We're going to win Sunday, I'll guarantee you."<ref name="silverman" /><ref name="cross" /><ref name="jackman">{{cite news |first=Phil |last=Jackman |title=Lifetime guarantee; Jets-Colts |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/football/bal-mackey011299,0,4077047.story?coll=bal-sports-football |publisher=[[Baltimore Sun]] |date=[[1999-01-12]] |accessdate=2007-02-09}}</ref>
Namath and the Jets made good on his guarantee as they held the Colts scoreless until late in the fourth quarter. The Jets won, 16-7, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in American sports history.<ref name="pagetwo">{{cite web |url=http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/010523upset.html |title="Page 2's List for top upset in sports history" |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=[[Page2]] }}</ref><ref name="wankel">{{cite news |first=Bob |last=Wankel |title=Eagles can win with right strategy |url=http://www.courierpostonline.com/columnists/cxww020105a.htm |publisher=[[The Courier-Post]] |date=[[2005-02-01]] |accessdate=2007-02-09 }}</ref><ref name="hornet">{{cite news |first=Kenneth |last=Gooden |title=Can Hornets match greatest all-time upsets? |url=http://media.www.statehornet.com/media/storage/paper1146/news/2003/11/19/Sports/Can-Hornets.Match.Greatest.AllTime.Upsets-2422553.shtml?sourcedomain=www.statehornet.com&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com |publisher=The State Hornet |date=[[2003-11-19]] |accessdate=2007-02-09 }}</ref><ref>Shamsky, ''The Magnificent Seasons'', p. 5.</ref> With the win, the AFL finally achieved parity with the NFL and legitimized the merger of the two leagues.<ref name="hof" /> That notion was reinforced one year later in [[Super Bowl IV]], when the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs upset the NFL champion [[Minnesota Vikings]], 23-7, in the last championship game to be played between the two leagues. The Vikings, favored by 12½ points, were held to just 67 rushing yards.<ref name="boxiv">{{cite web |url=http://www.superbowl.com/history/boxscores/game/sbiv |title=Super Bowl IV box score |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=SuperBowl.com}}</ref>
The last game in AFL history was the [[AFL All-Star Game]], held in Houston's [[Reliant Astrodome|Astrodome]] on [[January 17]], [[1970]]. The Western All-Stars, led by Chargers quarterback [[John Hadl]], defeated the Eastern All-Stars, 26-3. Hadl was named the game's [[Most Valuable Player]].<ref name="allstarhadl">{{cite web |url=http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/The_1970_AFL_All-Star_Game.htm |title=1970 AFL All-Start Game recap |accessdate=2007-02-09}}</ref> Prior to the start of the [[1970 NFL season]], the merged league was split into two conferences of three divisions each. All ten AFL teams made up the bulk of the new [[American Football Conference]]. To avoid having 16 teams in one conference and 10 in the other, the leagues voted to move three NFL teams to the AFC. Motivated by the prospect of an [[Battle of Ohio (NFL)|intrastate rivalry]] with the Bengals as well as his personal animosity with [[Paul Brown]], Cleveland Browns owner [[Art Modell]] quickly offered to include his team in the AFC. He helped convince the [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ([[Browns-Steelers rivalry|the Browns' archrivals]]) and Baltimore Colts (who already shared the [[Baltimore]]/[[Washington, D.C.]] market with the [[Washington Redskins]] prior to the merger) to follow suit, and each team received US $3 million to switch.<ref name="switch">{{cite news |first=Gordon |last=Forbes |title=This time, realignment will be cool breeze |url=http://lists.rollanet.org/pipermail/rampage/Week-of-Mon-20010319/001092.html |publisher=[[USA Today]] |date=[[2001-03-22]] |accessdate=2007-02-09 }}</ref><ref name="modell">{{cite web |url=http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/article.php?id=6085 |title="Moment 26: Enter Art" |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=ClevelandBrowns.com}}</ref> All the other NFL squads became part of the [[National Football Conference]].
[[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] [[placekicker|kicker]] [[Jan Stenerud]], who played the majority of his career with the [[Kansas City Chiefs]], was the last AFL player active in the NFL, retiring after the [[1985 NFL season]] when he played for the [[Minnesota Vikings]].
==Legacy==
The AFL stands as the only professional football league to successfully compete against the NFL. When the two leagues merged in 1970, all ten AFL franchises and their statistics became part of the new NFL. Every other professional league that competed against the NFL: the three previous leagues named "American Football League"; the [[All-America Football Conference|AAFC]]; the [[United States Football League|USFL]]; the [[World Football League|WFL]]; and the [[XFL]] folded completely. From an earlier AFL (1936-1937), only the [[St. Louis Rams|Cleveland Rams]], and from the [[AAFC]], only the Baltimore (now Indianapolis) Colts, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL and are currently operating.<ref name="cross" />
The NFL adopted many ideas introduced by the AFL, including names on player jerseys and revenue sharing of gate and television receipts. The older league also adopted the practice of using the stadium scoreboard clocks to keep track of the official game time, instead of just having a [[stop watch]] used by the referee. The AFL also introduced the [[two-point conversion]] to professional football thirty-four years before the NFL instituted it in 1994 (college football had adopted the two point conversion in the late 1950s). All of these innovations pioneered by the AFL, including its more exciting style of play and colorful uniforms, have essentially made today's pro football more like the ''AFL'' than like the old-line NFL. The AFL's challenge to the NFL also laid the groundwork for the [[Super Bowl]], which has become the standard for championship contests in the US.
Hunt's vision not only brought a new professional football league to [[California]] and [[New York State|New York]], but introduced the sport to [[Colorado]], restored it to [[Texas]] and later to fast-growing [[Florida]], as well as bringing it to [[New England]] for the first time in 12 years. In addition, the AFL also adopted the first-ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the league office negotiated an ABC-TV contract, the proceeds of which were divided equally among member clubs.
Four NFL franchises were awarded as a direct result of the AFL's competition with the older league: the Vikings, who were awarded to Max Winter in exchange for dropping his bid to join the AFL; the Cowboys, who were placed in Dallas (where Lamar Hunt was refused an NFL franchise) to offset the AFL presence there; the Falcons, whose franchise went to Rankin Smith to dissuade him from purchasing the AFL's [[Miami Dolphins]]; and the Saints, because of successful anti-trust legislation which let the two leagues merge, and was supported by several Louisiana politicians. Thus, if not for the AFL, at least four of current NFL teams would likely not have existed. Further, the success of the expansion process engendered by the AFL-NFL conflict certainly led to more expansion, ultimately to the thirty-two team league as it exists in 2007.
The AFL also spawned [[Coaching Legacy of the American Football League|coaches]] whose style and techniques profoundly affect the play of professional football until this day{{Fact|date=July 2007}}. In addition to AFL greats like [[Hank Stram]], [[Lou Saban]], [[Sid Gillman]] and [[Al Davis]] were eventual hall of fame coaches such as [[Bill Walsh (football coach)|Bill Walsh]], a protegé of Davis with the AFL [[Oakland Raiders]]; and [[Chuck Noll]], who worked for Gillman and the AFL [[San Diego Chargers|LA/San Diego Chargers]] from 1960 through 1965. Others include [[Buddy Ryan]] (AFL's [[New York Jets]]) and [[John Madden (American football)|John Madden]] (AFL's [[Oakland Raiders]]). Additionally, many prominent coaches began their pro football careers as players in the AFL, including [[Sam Wyche]] ([[Cincinnati Bengals]]), [[Marty Schottenheimer]] ([[Buffalo Bills]]), and two-time Super Bowl winner [[Tom Flores]] ([[Oakland Raiders]]). Flores also has a Super Bowl ring as a player ([[1969 AFL season|1969]] [[Kansas City Chiefs]]).
Perhaps the greatest social legacy of the AFL was the domino effect of its policy of opportunity for black players, which not only led to the explosion of black talent on the field, but the eventual entry of blacks into scouting, coordinator, and ultimately head coaching positions, long after the league ceased to exist.<ref>{{cite book | author=Jim Acho | title=The "Foolish Club" | publisher=Gridiron Press | year=1997 | id={{OCLC|38596883}}}} Foreword by [[Miller Farr]].</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Charles K. Ross | title=Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League | publisher=New York University Press | year=1999 | id=ISBN 0-8147-7495-4 }}</ref>
The AFL's free agents came from several sources. Some were players who could not find success playing in the NFL, while another source was the [[Canadian Football League]]. In the late 1950s, many players released by the NFL, or un-drafted and unsigned out of college by the NFL, went North to try their luck with the CFL, and later returned to the states to play in the AFL.
In the league's first years, men like the Oilers' [[George Blanda]], the Chargers/Bills' [[Jack Kemp]], the Texans' [[Len Dawson]], the Titans' [[Don Maynard]], the Raiders/Patriots/Jets' [[Babe Parilli]], the Pats' [[Bob Dee]] proved to be AFL standouts. Other players such as the Broncos' [[Frank Tripucka]], the Pats' [[Gino Cappelletti]], the Bills' [[Cookie Gilchrist]] and the Chargers' [[Tobin Rote]], [[Sam Deluca]] and [[Dave Kocourek]] also made their mark to give the fledgling league badly-needed credibility. Rounding out this mix of potential talent were the true "free agents", the walk-ons and the "wanna-be's", who tried out in droves for the chance to play professional football.
The American Football League took advantage of the burgeoning popularity of football by locating teams in major cities that lacked NFL franchises, and by using the growing power of televised football games (bolstered with the help of major network contracts, first with [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] and later with [[NBC]]). It featured many outstanding games, such as the classic 1962 double-overtime American Football League championship game between the [[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans]] and the defending champion [[Tennessee Titans|Houston Oilers]]. At the time it was the longest [[Professional American football championship games|professional football championship game]] ever played.
The AFL appealed to fans by offering a flashier style of play, compared to the more conservative game of the NFL. Long passes ("bombs") were commonplace in AFL offenses, led by such talented quarterbacks as [[John Hadl]], [[Daryle Lamonica]] and [[Len Dawson]].
After the AFL-NFL merger agreement in 1966, and after the AFL's [[New York Jets|Jets]] defeated the "best team in the history of the NFL", the Colts, a popular misconception fostered by the NFL and spread by media reports was that the AFL defeated the NFL because of the [[Common Draft]] instituted from 1967 on. This apparently was meant to confirm that until the AFL did not have to compete with the NFL in the draft, it could not achieve parity. But the 1968 Jets had less than a handful of "Common Draftees". Their stars were honed in the AFL, many of them since the Titans days. As noted below, the AFL got its share of stars long before the "Common Draft".
Players who chose the AFL to develop their talent included [[Lance Alworth]] and [[Ron Mix]] of the [[San Diego Chargers|Chargers]], who had also been drafted by the NFL's [[San Francisco 49ers]] and [[History of the Indianapolis Colts|Baltimore Colts]] respectively. Both eventually were elected to the [[Pro Football Hall of Fame]] after earning recognition during their careers as being among the best at their positions. Among specific teams, the 1964 [[Buffalo Bills]] stood out by holding their opponents to a pro football record 913 yards rushing on 300 attempts, while also recording fifty quarterback sacks in a fourteen-game schedule.
Another example is cited by the [[University of Kansas]] site, which describes the 1961 [[Bluebonnet Bowl]], won by KU, and goes on to say ''"Two Kansas players, quarterback [[John Hadl]] and fullback [[Curtis McClinton]], signed professional contracts on the field immediately after the conclusion of the game. Hadl inked a deal with the ''[AFL]'' [[San Diego Chargers]], and McClinton went to the ''[AFL]'' [[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans]]."'' Between them, in their careers Hadl and McClinton combined for an [[American Football League Rookies of the Year|American Football League Rookie of the Year]] award, seven [[American Football League All-Star games|AFL All-Star]] selections, two Pro Bowl selections, a team MVP award, two [[American Football League All-Star games|AFL All-Star Game]] MVP awards, two [[American Football League playoffs#1962 Championship|AFL championships]], and a [[Professional American football championship games|World Championship]]. And these were players selected by the AFL long ''before'' the "Common Draft".
Despite having a national television contract, the AFL often found itself trying to gain a foothold, only to come up against roadblocks. For example, CBS-TV, which broadcast NFL games, ignored and did not report scores from the other league.
==="NFL Rejects"===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:DawsonSestak1964.png|right|thumb|175px|[[Len Dawson]] was considered an "NFL reject" before he led the [[Kansas City Chiefs]] to two AFL championships and one [[Super Bowl]] victory.]] -->
Prompted by the NFL's disdain for the new league, newspaper, radio and TV reporters from NFL cities took to calling former NFL players who went to the AFL ''"NFL Rejects"'', implying that if a player had spent time in the NFL and then played with an AFL team, he was "washed up" and not good enough to play in the "superior" NFL.<ref> Book, ''"Blanda"'' by Wells Twombly, p. 194 </ref>
That assessment was contradicted by the play of the following "NFL Rejects": [[Jack Kemp]], [[Babe Parilli]], [[Ron McDole]], [[Art Powell]], [[John Tracey]], [[George Blanda]], [[Don Maynard]], [[Len Dawson]], and [[Lionel Taylor]]. They all started their careers in the NFL. In the American Football League, they all set standards at their respective positions.
===African-American players===
The eight new teams of the American Football League essentially made 280 additional positions available for American professional football players. One source of talent that had been traditionally ignored by the NFL was small, historically black colleges. [[Black players in American professional football|Black players]] who did manage to make NFL rosters were subject to unwritten but stringent "quotas" for the number of black players on a team and the positions that could be filled by blacks. At that time, there were no black quarterbacks, centers, or middle linebackers in the NFL.
The American Football League, in contrast, actively recruited from the black colleges, and used black players at positions not permitted to them in the NFL. For example, in 1963, the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs became the first team in pro football history to use the first overall pick of a draft on a player from a small black college – defensive tackle [[Buck Buchanan]] of [[Grambling State]], while the NFL's New York Giants relegated Buchanan to their 19th round pick that year (Buchanan was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1990).
Eighteen black players from [[Eddie Robinson]]'s Grambling teams made AFL rosters in the sixties. The larger NFL had just fourteen; on a per-team ratio the AFL had about two Grambling players per team, NFL teams had about one. The same could be said in general for the ratio of all black players in each league. The effect was cumulative, more and more outstanding black players opted for the AFL, recognizing their chances to play were greater there. The Denver Broncos made [[Marlin Briscoe]] the first modern starting black quarterback, and [[Gene Mingo]] the first ever black [[placekicker]] in professional football. [[Willie Lanier]] (also destined for the Hall of Fame), for example, became pro football's first black middle linebacker with the Chiefs. Hank Stram's strategic innovations were not the only ideas copied by old-line NFL teams after the merger: so were his "color-blindness" and his team's use of blacks at formerly "white" positions.
==AFL franchises==
{|class="wikitable"
!Division
!Team
!First Season
!Home Stadium
!AFL Record (W-L-T)<ref>Includes postseason games.</ref>
!AFL Titles
|-
|rowspan=5|Eastern
|Boston Patriots
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Nickerson Field]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–[[1962 AFL season|62]]), [[Fenway Park]] ([[1963 AFL season|1963]]–[[1968 AFL season|68]]), [[Alumni Stadium]] ([[1969 AFL season|1969]])
|align="center" |64-69-9
|align="center" |0
|-
|Buffalo Bills
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo)|War Memorial Stadium]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]-[[1969 AFL season|1969]])
|align="center" |67-71-6
|align="center" |2
|-
|Houston Oilers
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Robertson Stadium|Jeppesen Stadium]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–[[1964 AFL season|64]]), [[Rice Stadium]] ([[1965 AFL season|1965]]–[[1967 AFL season|67]]), [[Reliant Astrodome|Houston Astrodome]] ([[1968 AFL season|1968]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |72-69-4
|align="center" |2
|-
|Miami Dolphins
|align="center" |[[1966 AFL season|1966]]
|[[Miami Orange Bowl]]
|align="center" |15-39-2
|align="center" |0
|-
|New York Titans/Jets
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Polo Grounds]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–[[1963 AFL season|63]]), [[Shea Stadium]] ([[1964 AFL season|1964]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |71-67-6
|align="center" |1
|-
|rowspan=5|Western
|Cincinnati Bengals
|align="center" |[[1968 AFL season|1968]]
|[[Nippert Stadium]] ([[1968 AFL season|1968]]-[[1969 AFL season|1969]])
|align="center" |7-20-1
|align="center" |0
|-
|Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Cotton Bowl (stadium)|Cotton Bowl]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–[[1962 AFL season|62]]), [[Municipal Stadium (Kansas City)|Municipal Stadium]] ([[1963 AFL season|1963]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |92-50-5
|align="center" |3
|-
|Denver Broncos
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Mile High Stadium|Bears Stadium/Mile High Stadium]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |39-97-4
|align="center" |0
|-
|Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]), [[Balboa Stadium]] ([[1961 AFL season|1961]]–[[1966 AFL season|66]]), [[Qualcomm Stadium|San Diego Stadium]] ([[1967 AFL season|1967]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |88-51-6
|align="center" |1
|-
|Oakland Raiders
|align="center" |[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[Kezar Stadium]] ([[1960 AFL season|1960]]), [[Candlestick Park]] ([[1961 AFL season|1961]]), [[Frank Youell Field]] ([[1962 AFL season|1962]]–[[1965 AFL season|65]]), [[McAfee Coliseum|Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum]] ([[1966 AFL season|1966]]–[[1969 AFL season|69]])
|align="center" |80-61-5
|align="center" |1
|-
|}
==AFL playoffs==
{{Details|AFL playoffs}}
From 1960 to 1968, the AFL determined its champion via a single-elimination playoff game between the winners of its two divisions. In 1969, a four team tournament was held, with the second-place teams in each division also participating.
===AFL Championship Games===
{|class="wikitable"
!Season
!Date
!Winner
!Winner’s Share
!Loser
!Loser’s Share
!Score
!Site
!Attendance
|-
|[[1960 AFL season|1960]]
|[[January 1]], [[1961]]
|[[Tennessee Titans|Houston Oilers]] (1)
|$1,025
|[[San Diego Chargers|Los Angeles Chargers]]
|$718
|24-16
|[[Robertson Stadium|Jeppesen Stadium]], Houston
|32,183
|-
|[[1961 AFL season|1961]]
|[[December 24]], [[1961]]
|Houston Oilers (2)
|$1,792
|San Diego Chargers
|$1,111
|10-3
|[[Balboa Stadium]], San Diego
|29,556
|-
|[[1962 AFL season|1962]]
|[[December 23]], [[1962]]
|[[Kansas City Chiefs|Dallas Texans]] (1)
|$2,203
|Houston Oilers
|$1,471
|20-17 (2[[overtime (sport)|OT]])
|Jeppesen Stadium, Houston
|37,981
|-
|[[1963 AFL season|1963]]
|[[January 5]], [[1964]]
|San Diego Chargers (1)
|$2,498
|[[Boston Patriots]]
|$1,596
|51-10
|Balboa Stadium, San Diego
|30,127
|-
|[[1964 AFL season|1964]]
|[[December 26]], [[1964]]
|[[Buffalo Bills]] (1)
|$2,668
|San Diego Chargers
|$1,738
|20-7
|[[War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo)|War Memorial Stadium]], Buffalo
|40,242
|-
|[[1965 AFL season|1965]]
|[[December 26]], [[1965]]
|Buffalo Bills (2)
|$5,189
|San Diego Chargers
|$3,447
|23-0
|Balboa Stadium, San Diego
|30,361
|-
|[[1966 AFL season|1966]]
|[[January 1]], [[1967]]
|Kansas City Chiefs (2)
|$5,309
|Buffalo Bills
|$3,799
|31-7
|War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo
|42,080
|-
|[[1967 AFL season|1967]]
|[[December 31]], [[1967]]
|[[Oakland Raiders]] (1)
|$6,321
|Houston Oilers
|$4,996
|40-7
|[[McAfee Coliseum|Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum]], Oakland
|53,330
|-
|[[1968 AFL season|1968]]
|[[December 29]], [[1968]]
|[[New York Jets]] (1)
|$7,007
|Oakland Raiders
|$5,349
|27-23
|[[Shea Stadium]], New York
|62,627
|-
|[[1969 AFL season|1969]]
|[[January 4]], [[1970]]
|Kansas City Chiefs (3)
|$7,755
|Oakland Raiders
|$6,252
|17-7
|Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland
|53,561
|-
|}
==AFL All-Star games==
{{Details|American Football League All-Star games}}
The AFL did not play an All-Star game after its first season in 1960, but did stage All-Star games for the 1961 through 1969 seasons. All-Star teams from the Eastern and Western divisions played each other after every season except 1965. That season, the league champion Buffalo Bills played all-stars from the other teams.
After the 1964 season, the AFL All-Star game had been scheduled for early 1965 in [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]]' Tulane Stadium. After numerous black players were refused service by a number of area hotels and businesses, black and white players alike called for a [[boycott]]. Led by Bills players such as [[Cookie Gilchrist]], the players successfully lobbied to have the game moved to Houston's [[Jeppesen Stadium]].<ref name="boycott">{{cite web |url=http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/1950/Black_football_players_boycott_AFL_AllStar_game |title="Black football players boycott AFL All-Star game" |accessdate=2007-02-09 |work=The African American Registry }}</ref>
==All-Time AFL Team==
{{details|American Football League All-Time Team}}
As chosen by 1969 AFL Hall of Fame Selection Committee Members:<ref> 2001 National Football League Record and Fact Book, p. 405, Edited by Randal Liu and Matt Marini, Workman Publishing Company, New York, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2 </ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|align="center" colspan="6"|'''All-Time AFL Team'''
|-
|align="center" colspan="2" | '''Offense''' ||align="center" colspan="2" | '''Defense''' ||align="center" colspan="2" | '''Special Teams'''
|-
!Position
!Player
!Position
!Player
!Position
!Player
|-
|Flanker||[[Lance Alworth]]
|rowspan=2|End||[[Jerry Mays]]
|rowspan=6|Kicker||rowspan=6|[[George Blanda]]
|-
|End||[[Don Maynard]]
|[[Gerry Philbin]]
|-
|Tight end||[[Fred Arbanas]]
|rowspan=2|Tackle||[[Houston Antwine]]
|-
|rowspan=2|Tackle||[[Ron Mix]]
|[[Tom Sestak]]
|-
|[[Jim Tyrer]]
|rowspan=3|Linebacker||[[Bobby Bell]]
|-
|Center||[[Jim Otto]]
|[[George Webster]]
|-
|rowspan=2|Guard||[[Ed Budde]]
|[[Nick Buoniconti]]
|rowspan=5|Punter||rowspan=5|[[Jerrel Wilson]]
|-
|[[Billy Shaw]]
|rowspan=2|Cornerback||[[Willie Brown (football player)|Willie Brown]]
|-
|Quarterback||[[Joe Namath]]
|[[Dave Grayson]]
|-
|rowspan=2|Running back||[[Clem Daniels]]
|rowspan=2|Safety||[[Johnny Robinson]]
|-
|[[Paul Lowe]]
|[[George Saimes]]
|}
==AFL records==
The following is a sample of some records set during the existence of the league. The NFL considers AFL statistics and records equivalent to its own.
*Yards passing, game - 464, [[George Blanda]] (Oilers, [[October 29]], [[1961]])
*Yards passing, season - 4,007, [[Joe Namath]] (Jets, 1967)
*Yards passing, career - 21,130, [[Jack Kemp]] (Chargers, Bills)
*Yards rushing, game - 243, [[Cookie Gilchrist]] (Bills, [[December 8]], [[1963]])
*Yards rushing, season - 1,458, [[Jim Nance]] (Patriots, 1966)
*Yards rushing, career - 5,101, [[Clem Daniels]] (Texans, Raiders)
*Receptions, season - 101, [[Charlie Hennigan]] (Oilers, 1964)
*Receptions, career - 567, [[Lionel Taylor]] (Broncos)
*Points scored, season - 155, [[Gino Cappelletti]] (Patriots, 1964)
*Points scored, career - 1,100, [[Gino Cappelletti]] (Patriots)
==Players, coaches, and contributors==
*[[List of American Football League players]]
*[[American Football League Most Valuable Players]]
*[[American Football League Rookies of the Year]]
*[[American Football League Draft]]
===Commissioners/Presidents of the American Football League===
* [[Joe Foss]], commissioner (November 1959–April 1966)
* [[Al Davis]], commissioner (April 1966–July 1966)
* [[Milt Woodard]], president (July 1966–March 1970)
==See also==
*[[American Football League Draft]]
*[[American Football League win-loss records]]
*[[American Football League seasons]]
*[[American Football League playoffs]]
*[[American Football League Most Valuable Players]]
*[[American Football League Rookies of the Year]]
*[[List of leagues of American football]]
==Earlier AFLs==
===American Football League (1926)===
The league arose as a result of a contract dispute between [[Red Grange]] and his previous team, the [[National Football League]]'s [[Chicago Bears]]. When in 1926 the Bears refused to agree to new terms for Grange's services, his agent, [[C. C. Pyle]], formed a new team, the [[New York Yankees (NFL)|New York Yankees]], around Grange, as part of a new American Football League. The league lasted just one season, and in 1927 the Yankees joined the NFL.[http://nflhistory.net/linescores/pdf/1926a.pdf] <!--taken from NYY-NFL article-->. The NFL's Rock Island Independents joined the AFL. The Philadelphia Quakers were the league champions.
====Final 1926 standings====
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Team!!W!!L!!T
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Philadelphia Quakers (AFL)|Philadelphia Quakers]] '''(C)'''
|7||2||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[New York Yankees (AFL)|New York Yankees]]
|9||5||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Cleveland Panthers]]
|3||2||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Los Angeles Wildcats]]
|6||6||2
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Chicago Bulls (AFL)|Chicago Bulls]]
|5||6||3
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Boston Bulldogs (AFL)|Boston Bulldogs]]
|2||4||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Rock Island Independents]]
|2||5||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Brooklyn Horsemen]]
|1||3||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Newark Bears (AFL)|Newark Bears]]
|0||4||2
|}
===American Football League (1936-37)===
====Final 1936 standings====
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Team!!W!!L!!T
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Boston Shamrocks (AFL)|Boston Shamrocks]] '''(C)'''
|8||3||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[St. Louis Rams|Cleveland Rams]]
|5||2||2
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[New York Yankees (1936-37)|New York Yankees]]
|5||3||2
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Pittsburgh Americans]]
|3||2||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Syracuse/Rochester Braves]]
|1||6||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Brooklyn/Rochester Tigers]]
|0||6||1
|}
The Syracuse Braves moved to Rochester in midseason and disbanded during the season. The Brooklyn Tigers moved to Rochester after the Rochester Braves disbanded. The Cleveland Rams joined the NFL the following season. Boston was the champion in 1936.
====Final 1937 standings====
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Team!!W!!L!!T
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Los Angeles Bulldogs]] '''(C)'''
|8||0||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Rochester Tigers]]
|3||3||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[New York Yankees (1936-37)|New York Yankees]]
|2||3||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Cincinnati Bengals (1937-41)|Cincinnati Bengals]]
|2||3||2
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Boston Shamrocks (AFL)|Boston Shamrocks]]
|2||5||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Pittsburgh Americans]]
|0||3||0
|}
Los Angeles was the league champion in 1937.
===American Football League (1940-41)===
====Final 1940 standings====
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Team!!W!!L!!T
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Columbus Bullies]] '''(C)'''
|8||1||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Milwaukee Chiefs]]
|7||2||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Boston Bears (AFL)|Boston Bears]]
|5||4||1
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[New York Yankees (1940 AFL)|New York Yankees]]
|4||5||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Buffalo Indians]]
|2||8||0
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Cincinnati Bengals (1937-41)|Cincinnati Bengals]]
|1||7||0
|}
Columbus was league champion, with a final record of 8-1-1.
====Final 1941 standings====
{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="3" border="1"
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
!Team!!W!!L!!T!!Pct.!!Off.!!Def.
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Columbus Bullies]]
|5||1||2||.833||142||55
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[New York Americans (AFL)|New York Americans]]
|5||2||1||.714||116||73
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Milwaukee Chiefs]]
|4||3||1||.571||105||84
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Buffalo Tigers]]
|2||6||0||.250||72||172
|- align="center"
|align="left"| [[Cincinnati Bengals (1937-41)|Cincinnati Bengals]]
|1||5||2||.167||69||120
|}
Columbus was league champion, with a final record of 5-1-2.
===Results of AFL games: Sep.-Nov. 1941===
*Week 1
**Sun. Sep. 14 ... Columbus Bullies 34, Milwaukee Chiefs 7 (at Milwaukee)
*Week 2
**Sun. Sep. 28 ... New York Americans 10, Milwaukee Chiefs 3 (at Milwaukee)
*Week 3
**Sun. Oct. 5 ... Columbus Bullies 14, New York Americans 0 (at Columbus)
**Sun. Oct. 5 ... Cincinnati Bengals 29, Buffalo Tigers 0 (at Cincinnati)
*Week 4
**Wed. Oct. 8 ... New York Americans 26, Buffalo Tigers 7 (at Buffalo) (n.)
**Sun. Oct. 12 ... Columbus Bullies 14, Milwaukee Chiefs 7 (at Columbus)
**Sun. Oct. 12 ... New York Americans 23, Cincinnati Bengals 14 (at Cincinnati) (n.)
*Week 5
**Wed. Oct. 15 ... Columbus Bullies 35, Cincinnati Bengals 6 (at Akron) (n.)
**Sun. Oct. 19 ... New York Americans 7, Columbus Bullies 7 (at New York) (tie)
**Sun. Oct. 19 ... Buffalo Tigers 16, Cincinnati Bengals 0 (at Buffalo)
*Week 6
**Sun. Oct. 26 ... New York Americans 31, Buffalo Tigers 14 (at New York)
**Sun. Oct. 26 ... Milwaukee Chiefs 26, Cincinnati Bengals 6 (at Cincinnati)
*Week 7
**Sun. Nov. 2 ... Milwaukee Chiefs 7, New York Americans 6 (at New York)
**Sun. Nov. 2 ... Columbus Bullies 24, Buffalo Tigers 7 (at Columbus)
*Week 8
**Sun. Nov. 9 ... Buffalo Tigers 14, Columbus Bullies 7 (at Buffalo)
**Sun. Nov. 9 ... Milwaukee Chiefs 0, Cincinnati Bengals 0 (at Milwaukee) (tie)
*Week 9
**Sun. Nov. 16 ... Columbus Bullies 7, Cincinnati Bengals 7 (at Columbus) (tie)
**Sun. Nov. 16 ... Milwaukee Chiefs 41, Buffalo Tigers 14 (at Milwaukee)
*Week 10
**Sun. Nov. 23 ... Milwaukee Chiefs 14, Buffalo Tigers 0 (at Buffalo)
*Week 11
**Sun. Nov. 30 ... New York Americans 13, Cincinnati Bengals 7 (at New York)
==Footnotes==
{{reflist|2}}
==References==
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Paul |authorlink=Paul Brown |coauthors=Jack Clary |title=PB, The Paul Brown Story |year=1979 |publisher=Atheneum |location=New York |isbn=0-6891-0985-7}}
* {{cite book | last =Dickey | first =Glenn | title =Just Win, Baby: Al Davis & His Raiders | publisher =Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich | date =1991 | location =New York | isbn =0-15-146580-0 }}
* {{cite book |last=Gruver |first=Ed |title=The American Football League: A Year-By-Year History, 1960-1969 |year=1997 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=0-7864-0399-3}}
* History: The AFL - Pro Football Hall of Fame [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/decades/1960s/afl.jsp link]
* {{cite book |last=Maiorana |first=Sal |title=Relentless: The Hard-Hitting History of Buffalo Bills Football |year=1994 |publisher=Quality Sports Publications |location=Lenexa, Kansas |isbn=1-8857-5800-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Jeff |title=Going Long: The Wild Ten-Year Saga of the Renegade American Football League In the Words of Those Who Lived It |year=2003 |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0-0714-1849-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Shamsky |first=Art |coauthors=Barry Zeman |title=The Magnificent Seasons: How the Jets, Mets, and Knicks Made Sports History and Uplifted a City and the Country |year=2004 |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |location=New York |isbn=0-3123-3358-7}}
==Further reading==
*[[Jack Horrigan]] and Mike Rathet, ''The Other League/The Fabulous Story of the American Football League''
*[[Jack Orr]], ''We Came of Age/A Picture History of the American Football League''
*[[George Sullivan]], ''Touchdown!/The Picture History of the American Football League''
*Sal Maiorana, ''If You Can't Join 'Em, Beat 'Em: A Remembrance of the American Football League'', ISBN 1-4107-4942-8
==External links==
*[http://www.RemembertheAFL.com RemembertheAFL.com Website]
*[http://aflfootball.tripod.com aflfootball.tripod.com]
*[http://www.mmbolding.com/BSR/Detroit_Lions_vs_Denver_Broncos_August_5,_1967.htm The Summer of the Little Super Bowls]
*[http://v100.kusports.com/news/bowl/story/6 KU story on Hadl and McClinton signings with the AFL]
*[http://footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=00-1926 PFRA article about the 1926 seasons of both the NFL and AFL]
*[http://footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=afl35-41 PFRA article about the 1930s and 40s AFL]
{{AFL (1960 - 1969)}}
{{American Football League seasons}}
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[[Category:1970 disestablishments]]
[[Category:National Football League]]
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