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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—and then officially merged before the 1970 season to form one league with two conferences.
The American Football League stocked its teams in two ways:
- Signing free agents.
- Signing players from the previous year's college graduates.
John Gregory Huarte is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team and won the 1964 Heisman Trophy. He then played professionally with a number of teams in the American Football League (AFL), the National Football League (NFL), and in the World Football League (WFL) between 1965 and 1975. Huarte was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.
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).
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).
The 1966 NFL season was the 47th regular season of the National Football League, and the first season in which the Super Bowl was played, though it was called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The league expanded to 15 teams with the addition of the Atlanta Falcons, making a bye necessary each week for one team.
Rodney Jarvis "Rod" Sherman is a former American football wide receiver who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL).
Karl John Rubke was a professional American football center and linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL).
Willard Charles Dewveall was an American football end, the first player to jump from the National Football League to the American Football League.
Robert Kenneth "Bobby" Hunt is a former American Professional Football defensive back who played in the American Football League (AFL). He played collegiately at Auburn University. He was drafted by the Dallas Texans of the AFL in 1962 and went on to play in the AFL for the Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Cincinnati Bengals between 1962 and 1969. He was first team All-AFL his rookie year with the Texans. Hunt had ten interceptions in 1966 and during his nine-year career he had forty-two, returning one for a touchdown. He was second team All-AFL in 1964 & 1966, and was selected to play in the AFL All-Star game in 1964. He was an AFL Champion with the Chiefs in 1962 and in 1967, when he played for them in the first AFL-NFL World Championship game. After his playing career he was an assistant coach with the Buffalo Bills for 2 seasons. Hunt is a member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame class of 2015.
Aaron Lewis Brown, Jr. was an American football defensive lineman born in Port Arthur, Texas. Brown played for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1966 to 1972 and Green Bay Packers from 1973 to 1974. Brown is an alumnus of the University of Minnesota.
Gary Lynn Garrison is a former American football wide receiver who played professional football in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). He attended San Diego State University from 1964 to 1965. His 26 touchdown receptions are still a career school record.
Norman Earl Evans is a former American football player. He played professionally as an offensive tackle for 14 seasons, first in the American Football League (AFL) and later in the National Football League (NFL). Evans is the only player in NFL history to be chosen in two expansion drafts. The Miami Dolphins took Evans from the Houston Oilers in the 1966 AFL Expansion draft. He played 10 seasons with Miami. Evans was also chosen by the Seattle Seahawks in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft and played three seasons there. He was selected to two Pro Bowls and played in three Super Bowls, all with the Dolphins.
Willie Mitchell is a former professional football cornerback who played eight professional seasons 1964-1971. After winning the League Championship with the American Football League's Kansas City Chiefs in 1966, he started for them in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, and was on the Chiefs team that won the 1969 AFL Championship and then defeated the NFL's heavily favored Minnesota Vikings in the fourth and final AFL-NFL World Championship Game.
Edward Grey Cooke was an American football defensive end and linebacker who played in both the National Football League and the American Football League. In 1966, with the AFL's Miami Dolphins, he was selected to the AFL All-Star Team. He played college football at Maryland and was drafted in the third round of the 1958 NFL Draft.
The common draft was the selection of college football players in a combined draft from 1967 to 1969 by the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). This took place after the AFL-NFL merger agreement in 1966.
Jon Ray Gilliam was an American college and professional football center who played seven seasons in the American Football League from 1962-1968. He played for the 1962 AFL Champion Dallas Texans and the 1966 AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs, who went on to face the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, Super Bowl I.
Stewart Lynn "Smokey" Stover is an American former gridiron football player. He played College football at Northeast Louisiana State College—now known as the University of Louisiana at Monroe—as a fullback and professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a linebacker.
Rex L. Mirich is a former American football defensive lineman in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Northern Arizona, Mirich was drafted by both the AFL and the NFL in 1963. He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the 16th round of the 1963 NFL Draft and by the Oakland Raiders in the 20th round of the 1963 AFL Draft. He played seven seasons for the AFL's Oakland Raiders (1964–1966) and Denver Broncos (1967–1969), and the NFL's Boston Patriots (1970).
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