Sports
 

American Football League

From NFL Wiki

The American Football League (AFL) was an American Professional Football league which fielded teams from 1960-69, before the NFL merged with it in 1966, effective in 1970. Present-day Pro Football is essentially the American Football League with another name. On-field game elements, including the two-point conversion, names on players' jerseys, official time shown on stadium scoreboards (instead of on a stopwatch in the NFL referee's pocket), and wide-open offensive play were all characteristics of the AFL, which the NFL later adopted. At a time when the NFL was just getting past about fifteen years of intentional exclusion of black players, the AFL revolutionized the Pros' method of stocking teams, by scouting and signing players from small and predominantly black colleges. The first black head scout, the first black starting quarterbacks of the modern era, and the first black middle line-backer were to be found in the American Football League. Off the field, national television of all league games, with all teams sharing in the TV revenue, as well as sharing of gate revenue with visiting teams, was initiated by the American Football League. The AFL was the first Pro Football league to have its players "miked" for television, and the first to have more than one announcer in the booth, and several moving sideline cameras at field level, as opposed to the NFL's single camera fixed at the fifty-yard line.

In 1959, Lamar Hunt was refused when he wanted to buy an existing NFL team, or an expansion team for Dallas. He formed the AFL, and the prevously complacent anti-expansion NFL immediately co-opted the Minnesota franchise intended for the AFL. Though it had told Hunt it did not want a team in Dallas, it reversed itself and put the Cowboys there with the express purpose of driving out the AFL Texans. It offered Rankin Smith a franchise in Atlanta to lure him from joining the AFL with the Miami franchise, and it gave New Orleans a team when Louisiana congressmen helped push through the merger with the AFL that the NFL accepted when it tired of competing for fans and for star players. Thus, four NFL teams came to be, because of the American Football League.

Finaly, the American Football League gave the sport the AFL-NFL World Championship game, whch evolved into the "Super Bowl", which never would have existed had not the AFL challenged the NFL monopoly.

Contents

[edit] Remarkable Players

Some of the greatest Pro Football stars of the 1960s played in the American Football League, including (only primary teams given):

[edit] Quarterbacks

[edit] Running Backs

[edit] Receivers

[edit] Tight Ends

[edit] Offensive Linemen

[edit] Defensive Backs

[edit] Linebackers

[edit] Defensive Linemen

[edit] Punters/Kickers/'Utility Men'

Although the above list contains the names of outstanding stars, many of whom were Rookies of the Year, Most Valuable Players, perennial All-League players, League and World Champions, All-Time All-League players, and all-time Pro Football record holders, not one of them has been selected to the "pro football" Hall of Fame.

[edit] Hall of Famers

American Football League members who are in the Hall of Fame include:

[edit] Quarterbacks

[edit] Running Backs

[edit] Receivers

[edit] Tight Ends

[edit] Offensive Linemen

[edit] Defensive Backs

[edit] Linebackers

[edit] Defensive Linemen

[edit] Punters/Kickers/'Utility Men'

[edit] Coaches and Contributors

[edit] Prominent Exclusions

  • Weeb Ewbank, Head Coach of the AFL New York Jets' World Championship Game victory over the overrated NFL Baltimore Colts, and the only man to lead teams to NFL, American Football League, and World Championships, is not in the "pro football" Hall of Fame.
  • Daryle Lamonica, quarterback of the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders, who still holds the record for best winning percentage (80.1%) in the history of Pro Football, is not in the "pro football" Hall of Fame.
  • Johnny Robinson, defensive back for the Dallas Texans and the Kansas City Chiefs, player on three AFL Championship teams and a World Champinship team, with an interception and a fumble recovery while playing with broken ribs in the World Championship game, is not in the "pro football" Hall of Fame.
  • Tom Sestak, defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills and one of the most feared players of the 1960s, two-time AFL champion and member of the All-Time All-AFL Team, is not in the "pro football" Hall of Fame.
Retrieved from "http://nfl.wikia.com/wiki/American_Football_League"