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.
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.
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national champion.
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.
The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the league's merger with the National Football League (NFL).
Edward B. Bell was a professional American football player. A halfback, he played college football at the University of Pennsylvania. Professionally, he played for the National Football League (NFL)'s Philadelphia Eagles from 1955 through 1958, and for the New York Titans of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. He was a fifth-round choice of the Eagles in the 1953 NFL Draft.
Lewis Pate "Bud" McFadin was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Texas and was a unanimous selection at the guard position on the 1950 College Football All-America Team. He played professional football in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams (1952–1956) and in the American Football League (AFL) for the Denver Broncos (1960–1963) and Houston Oilers (1964–1965). A versatile player, he played tackle and linebacker on defense, as well as guard on offense. He was a Pro Bowl pick in 1955 and 1956, a Sporting News All-AFL defensive tackle in 1960, 1961 and 1962, and an American Football League West Division All-Star in 1963.
Kenneth Leroy Carpenter was an American football halfback who played for the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League (NFL) the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Denver Broncos in the American Football League (AFL) in the 1950s and 1960. Following his playing career, Carpenter coached during the 1960s in the CFL, NFL and a variety of smaller leagues in the United States.
Francis Marion "Cotton" Davidson was an American football quarterback and punter in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL).
Howard Ferguson Jr. was an American professional football player. He played as a fullback and halfback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers and one season in the American Football League (AFL) with the Los Angeles Chargers. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
John Peter Olszewski was an American football fullback. He was drafted in the first round of the 1953 NFL draft and played professionally for the Chicago Cardinals, the Washington Redskins and the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1953 and 1955 seasons. Known as "Johnny O", he was among the first NFL players to wear the jersey number zero.
Albert Richard Dorow was an American gridiron football quarterback. He played college football at Michigan State University and professionally in the National Football League (NFL), the American Football League (AFL), and the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Max Ray Boydston was a professional gridiron football end who played in the National Football League (NFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the American Football League (AFL).
Alton Rollon Romine was a gridiron football defensive back and a halfback in the National Football League (NFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL), the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU), and American Football League (AFL). He played for the NFL's Chicago Bears (1955) and Green Bay Packers ; the CFL's Toronto Argonauts (1956) and Ottawa Rough Riders (1959); the ORFU's Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen (1957), and the AFL's Denver Broncos (1960) and Boston Patriots (1961). Romine played collegiate ball for the University of North Alabama before playing professionally for 8 seasons. He retired from football in 1961. In 1963, he became the head coach of the Huntsville Rockets of the Southern Professional Football League. He died in 2015.
Jess Dalton Tinsley was an American football tackle and end in the National Football League (NFL). A native of Homer, Louisiana, Tinsley played college football at Louisiana State University for the LSU Tigers, where he was selected All-Southern. Jess was selected second-team for LSU's All-Time football team in 1935. It claimed he "turned into a master tackle in senior year." Jess was the cousin of future LSU football star Gaynell Tinsley.
Abraham Cohen was an American football guard who played one season with the Boston Patriots of the American Football League (AFL). He was drafted by the New York Giants in the 26th round of the 1955 NFL Draft. He played college football at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Cohen was also a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Thomas Allen "Corky" Tharp was an American football defensive back who played one season for the New York Titans of the American Football League (AFL). He also played for the Toronto Argonauts of the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Tuscaloosa Warriors of the Southern Professional Football League. He played college football at the University of Alabama for the Alabama Crimson Tide football team.
Frederick Ethridge Broussard is a former American football player who played for Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL) and Denver Broncos of the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Texas A&M University and Northwestern State University.
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