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 Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional indoor American football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in 1987 season making it the third longest-running professional football league in North America after the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the National Football League (NFL) until the AFL closed in 2019. The AFL played a formerly proprietary code known as arena football, a form of indoor American football played on a 66-by-28 yard field, with rules encouraging offensive performance, resulting in a faster-paced and higher-scoring game. The sport was invented in the early 1980s and patented by Jim Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League (USFL) and the NFL. Each of the league's 32 seasons culminated in the ArenaBowl, with the winner being crowned the league's champion for that season.
Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in making football into the modern game that it is today.
William Lewis Shaw is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League (AFL). After playing college football with the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, he was drafted by the Bills. Shaw was the prototypical "pulling guard" who despite his size held his own against much bigger defensive linemen like Ernie Ladd, Earl Faison and Buck Buchanan. He won three straight Eastern Division titles and two American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965 with Buffalo.
Paul Edward Lowe is an American retired professional football player who was a halfback for the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs of the American Football League (AFL) from 1960 to 1969. He won an AFL championship with the Chargers in 1963 and a Super Bowl with the Chiefs in 1969. He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers.
Daryle Pasquale Lamonica is a former American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. 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.
James Larry Grantham was an American collegiate and professional football player.
Vito "Babe" Parilli was an American gridiron football quarterback and coach who played professionally for 18 seasons. Parilli spent five seasons in the National Football League (NFL), three in the Canadian Football League (CFL), and 10 in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football at Kentucky, where he twice received consensus All-American honors and won two consecutive bowl games.
Bill Mathis was an American professional football player who was a running back for the New York Titans/Jets in the American Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers. He started his professional career with the Titans, and played his entire career with the AFL's New York franchise. One of four Titans who remained with the New York Jets to play in and win a Super Bowl, Mathis led the AFL in carries in 1961 and was selected by his peers to the Sporting News 1961 AFL All-League team. He was an AFL Eastern Division All-Star in 1961 and 1963. Mathis had a collarbone broken in the third game of 1961, against the Boston Patriots. He played in the next game, and in fact in all the remaining games of the season.
Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller arena. It is distinct from traditional American or Canadian football played in larger domed or open-air stadiums, although several early college football games contested on full-sized or nearly full-sized fields at Chicago Coliseum (1890s) and Atlantic City Convention Center helped to show that football could be played as an indoor game.
Edward Leon Budde is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the Kansas City Chiefs in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL).
James Edwin Otto is an American former professional football player who was a center for the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1980, his first year of eligibility.
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).
William Ferdie Brown was an American professional football player, coach, and executive. He played as a cornerback for the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders in the National Football League (NFL). Following his playing career, Brown remained with the Raiders as an assistant coach. He served as the head football coach at California State University, Long Beach in 1991, the final season before the school's football program was terminated. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a player in 1984. At the time of his death he was on the Raiders' administrative staff.
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.
David Allen Kocourek was an American gridiron football player. He played college football at Wisconsin.
Richard John Lucas is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University from 1957 to 1959 and professionally in the American Football League (AFL) with the Buffalo Bills from 1960 to 1961 and the Denver Broncos in 1962.
James Marsalis is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for nine seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee State Tigers before playing professionally from 1969 through 1977. He helped the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs beat the defending league champion New York Jets in the first game of the 1969 AFL playoffs, making two interceptions off the Jets' Joe Namath. Following that, he started in the Fourth AFL-NFL World Championship Game for the Chiefs, defeating the Minnesota Vikings in the last World Championship game played between the AFL and NFL champions. Marsalis was selected by Pro Football Weekly as the 1969 AFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
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.
The American Football League (AFL) was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League (NFL) throughout its existence. While the American media generally ignored its operation, this second AFL was the first "home" of the Cleveland Rams, which joined the National Football League after one year in the AFL.
