The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence. It was more successful than earlier rivals to the NFL with the same name, the 1926, 1936 and 1940 leagues, and the later All-America Football Conference.
George Frederick Blanda was an American football quarterback and placekicker who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seasons of professional football, the most in the sport's history, and had scored more points than anyone in history at the time of his retirement.
Abner Haynes is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the American Football League (AFL).
Houston J. Antwine was a college and professional American football player from Southern Illinois University. He was drafted by the American Football League's Houston Oilers, then traded to the Boston Patriots in 1961. He is in the Southern Illinois University Athletic Hall of Fame and the Patriots Hall of Fame. A former NAIA wrestling champion, as a defensive tackle, the stocky "Twine" was nearly impossible to move out of the middle.
The American Football League stocked its teams in two ways:
- Signing free agents.
- Signing players from the previous year's college graduates.
For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions.
The American Football Conference – Eastern Division or AFC East is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). There are currently four teams that reside in the division: the Buffalo Bills ; the Miami Dolphins ; the New England Patriots ; and the New York Jets. All four members of the AFC East were previously members of the Eastern Division of the American Football League (AFL).
Albert Delane Bemiller is a former American football offensive lineman. He played college football at Syracuse University and professionally in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills. He was a member of two AFL championship teams with the Bills and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame in 2015.
The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise, and the Vikings were also awarded the first selection position in this draft. This draft was also the first regular draft for the Dallas Cowboys as they had only participated in the 1960 NFL expansion draft that year. The Cowboys held the worst record in the NFL the previous season, but selected second in this draft because of the entry of the Vikings into the league.
Henry Joseph (Hank) Schmidt was an American professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the American Football League (AFL).
In each year of its ten-year existence (1960–1969), numerous sports-news services named their choice for the American Football League's best first-year player. The choices by the major services are shown below.
The 1960 National Football League Draft in which NFL teams take turns selecting amateur college American football players and other first-time eligible players, was held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on November 30, 1959. Many players, including half of those drafted in the first round, signed with teams in the newly created American Football League, including the first overall pick and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon. At the time of the draft, the Cardinals were still the Chicago Cardinals; they moved to St. Louis in March 1960. The Dallas Cowboys were enfranchised in January 1960 after the draft.
Peter Kornel Gogolak is a former American football placekicker in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills, and in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Giants.
Thomas Arthur Keating was an American football player who played at the defensive tackle position. He played college football for the University of Michigan from 1961 to 1963. He also played 12 seasons of professional football in the American and National Football Leagues from 1964 to 1975. He was an AFL All-Star in 1966 and 1967, a key to the 1967 Oakland Raiders' defensive line that led the team to a 13-1 record and the 1967 AFL Championship, and was considered "the premier tackle in the old American Football League". He was known for his use of a distinctive four-point stance in which he lined up with both hands on the ground.
Frederick Couture Glick is an American former gridiron football player and coach. Glick played as a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago/St. Louis Cardinals and the Houston Oilers. Glick attended Colorado State, where he largely played as a quarterback as well as defensive back. He was inducted into the Colorado State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1991.
Dave Smith is a former American collegiate and professional football player. A fullback, he attended Greendale High School in Greendale, Wisconsin before playing collegiately for Ripon College and professionally from 1960 through 1964 for the American Football League's Houston Oilers, where he was a member of the AFL's first two championship teams, in 1960 and 1961. He was selected by Sporting News as the first All-AFL fullback in 1960. The league did not play an All-Star game that first year, but Smith's 154 carries for 643 yards and 5 touchdowns earned him a berth on the All-League Team. Smith later became a scout for the Buffalo Bills.
The 1961 Houston Oilers season was the second season for the Houston Oilers as a professional American football franchise; For the second consecutive season, the Oilers scored a triumph in the AFL championship game over the San Diego Chargers (12–2), the Western Division champions.
Hagood Clarke, III is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the American Football League (AFL) for five seasons during the 1960s. Clarke played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Buffalo Bills of the AFL.
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team. Now known as the Tennessee Titans, they previously played in Houston, Texas from the team's founding in 1960 to 1996, before relocating to Memphis, Tennessee, and later Nashville, Tennessee, and becoming the Titans.
