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.
Daryle Pasquale Lamonica was an American professional football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. Lamonica was drafted by the NFL Green Bay Packers in round 12 with the 168th overall pick. He spent his first four seasons mostly as a backup for the Buffalo Bills, who selected him in the 24th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. Lamonica played his next eight seasons as the primary starter of the Raiders, including after they joined the NFL through the AFL–NFL merger.
George Frederick Blanda was an American professional football quarterback and placekicker who played 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 was an American professional football player who was a halfback and return specialist in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the North Texas State Eagles and was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 1960 AFL draft. He was also chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 1960 NFL draft.
The AFL–NFL merger was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). It paved the way for the combined league, which retained the "National Football League" name and logo, to become the most popular sports league in the United States. The merger was announced on the evening of June 8, 1966. Under the merger agreement, the leagues maintained separate regular-season schedules for the next four seasons—from 1966 through 1969 with a final championship game which would become known as the Super Bowl—and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences.
The American Football League draft, 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).
Arthur Louis Powell was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans.
Donald Carl Breaux is an American former professional football player and coach. He played college football at McNeese State College and in the American Football League (AFL). He served two stints as an assistant coach under head coach Joe Gibbs with the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL).
Albert Delane Bemiller was an American professional football player who was an offensive lineman for the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Syracuse University. He was a member of two AFL championships with the Bills and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame in 2015.
The 1961 NFL 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. 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.
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. UPI selected a rookie for each of the ten seasons, while the Associated Press did selections from 1961 to 1966, which ended up with the same selections that UPI made. In 1967, AP instead selected Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Years for the AFL, with the offensive choices matching the UPI selection.
Peter Kornel Gogolak is a Hungarian-born former American football player who was a 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 professional football defensive tackle. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1961 to 1963 and played 12 seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) 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.
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.
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas from its founding in 1960 to 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) and won two AFL championships before joining the NFL in the AFL–NFL merger of the late 1960s.
