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.
Charles Guy Tolar was an early American Football League (AFL) star who played his entire career with the Houston Oilers.
Charles Taylor Hennigan, Sr. was an American football player with the former Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL).
William Abb Cannon was an American football halfback, fullback and tight end who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He attended Louisiana State University (LSU), where he played college football as a halfback, return specialist, and defensive back for the LSU Tigers. At LSU, Cannon was twice named a unanimous All-American, helped the 1958 LSU team win a national championship, and received the Heisman Trophy as the nation's most outstanding college player in 1959. His punt return against Ole Miss on Halloween night in 1959 is considered by fans and sportswriters to be one of the most famous plays in LSU sports history.
James Charles Norton was an American professional football safety and punter who played for the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL). An original member of the Oilers franchise, he played in their first nine seasons from 1960 to 1968. Norton was an AFL All-Star for three seasons and holds the league's record for career interceptions. His jersey No. 43 was the first of eight retired by the Oilers/Titans franchise.
James Edwin Otto is an American former professional football center who played with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He played college football at the University of Miami for the Miami Hurricanes.
Sherrill Headrick was an American professional football player.
The Racine Raiders are a semi-professional American football club based in Racine, Wisconsin. The team plays in the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL).
Walter Horner Lemm was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels and achieved his greatest prominence as head coach of the American Football League's Houston Oilers and the National Football League's St. Louis Cardinals.
Tony Banfield is an American former professional football player who was a defensive back for the Houston Oilers of the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He played for Houston in the AFL from 1960 through 1963 and in 1965. In 1962, he returned a blocked punt 58 yards for a touchdown in the Oilers' 32–17 defeat of the Oakland Raiders. He was All-AFL in 1961 and 1962 and an American Football League Eastern Division All-Star in 1963. Banfield played in the first three AFL Championship games, winning the title in 1960 and 1961.
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.
William Frederick Groman was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Heidelberg College, and played professionally for the Houston Oilers from 1960 through 1962 and was on the first two AFL championship teams. He played for the Denver Broncos in 1963, and for the Buffalo Bills in 1964 and 1965, playing on the Bills' two league championship teams. In his six years of professional football, he played on four AFL championship teams, the only man ever to do so.
Jack Ross "Jacky" Lee was an American quarterback who played professional football in the American Football League (AFL) for all ten of its seasons (1960–1969). After playing football, baseball, and basketball at Ellet High School in Akron, Ohio, he played college football at the University of Cincinnati. In 1958–1959, Jacky Lee was the team MVP and an All Conference Quarterback. In 1960, he was MVP of the Senior Bowl.
The 1960 American Football League Championship Game was the first AFL title game, played on New Year's Day 1961 at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston, Texas. With New Year's on Sunday, the major college bowl games were played on Monday, January 2. This was the first time that a major professional football league's playoff game was played in January rather than December.
Hoyle John Granger is a former collegiate and professional American football player in the United States. He played his college football at Mississippi State. He was the first pick in the fifth round of the 1966 American Football League (AFL) draft, by the Houston Oilers. He was an AFL All-Star in 1967 and 1968.
Alan Miller is an attorney and former collegiate and professional football fullback. He played college football for Boston College. While at Boston College, Miller was a member of the All East and All New England Teams in 1959, as well as a member of the Catholic All American Team in 1958 and 1959. Miller was voted winner of the Omelia Trophy in 1959 and was a member of the North Squad in the Senior Bowl All Star Game played in Mobile, Alabama in 1960. Like many BC athletes, he was signed to a professional contract by the American Football League’s Boston Patriots, playing for them in their first year of existence, 1960. Miller was the Patriots' leading rusher in 1960. In 1961, he was traded to the AFL’s Oakland Raiders, and was a 1961 AFL All-Star. He played for the Raiders through 1965. Miller was a member of the AFL All Star Team in 1961, captain of the Oakland Raiders in 1963–65 and Most Valuable Player of the Raiders in 1965.
Mark Johnston is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for five seasons (1960–1964) in the American Football League (AFL) with the Houston Oilers, New York Jets, and the Oakland Raiders. He was an AFL All-Star in 1961, and was with the Oilers in the first three AFL Championship games, winning the title in 1960 and 1961.
Michael Francis Dukes was an American collegiate and professional football player who was best known as a linebacker for the original Houston Oilers. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Dukes attended Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur, Georgia and then played in college for Clemson University. He then played the 1959 season for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Dukes left the NFL for the upstart American Football League (AFL) where he played eleven seasons for the Oilers, Boston Patriots and New York Jets. He played for the first two championship teams of the American Football League, the 1960 and 1961 Oilers, and was selected to the UPI All-AFL Team in 1961.
Jack Maylon Simpson was an American collegiate and Professional Football linebacker He played at the University of Mississippi and professionally in the American Football League for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders. He was drafted in 1958 by the NFL Washington Redskins, but did not play. He signed as a free agent with the AFL's Broncos in 1961. He was the defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers in 1972
The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Nashville to become the Tennessee Oilers for the 1997 and 1998 seasons, operating out of Nashville, Tennessee for the 1997 season while traveling to Memphis for every home game at the Liberty Bowl, playing the 1998 season at Vanderbilt in Nashville, and then becoming the Tennessee Titans in 1999. The Oilers began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). The team won two AFL championships before joining the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in the late 1960s.
