On August 14, 1959, at the call of Dallas businessman Lamar Hunt, a new professional football league to be called the American Football League was organized to begin play in 1960. Charter memberships were issued to Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York. Buffalo and Boston were admitted later that year. Early in 1960, Minneapolis defected to the National Football League and Oakland was picked as a replacement city. The whole idea seemed so far-fetched, even after AFL teams started playing, that the eight team owners became known as the "Foolish Club."

Almost every element that makes pro football the world's most popular sport that it is today can be traced to the American Football League and the huge changes its presence eventually brought to the sport. By the time the fierce AFL-NFL war of the 1960s was over, the expanded National Football League of the 1970s stretched from coast-to-coast and from border to border. Fans poured into NFL stadiums in record numbers. Rapidly increasing television coverage introduced pro football to hundreds of millions of new fans on every continent.

The Super Bowl was destined to become the most watched sports spectacle in the history of the world. The AFL was viewed by the masses as a "David" matched against an unbeatable "Goliath" for almost half of its 10-year history. But when the "rags-to-riches" story was concluded, the AFL had achieved what no other NFL challenger had ever accomplished - equality in a new and exciting pro football world.

Some AFL Firsts

July 30, 1960 - The Boston Patriots defeated the Buffalo Bills in the first AFL pre-season game.

September 9, 1960 - The Denver Broncos defeated the Boston Patriots in the first AFL regular-season game.

January 1, 1961 - The Houston Oilers won the first AFL championship by defeating the Los Angeles Chargers.

January 14, 1961 - End Willard Dewveall of the Chicago Bears played out his option and joined the Houston Oilers, thus becoming the first NFL player to defect to the AFL.

June 8, 1966 - The AFL and NFL announced a merger. Thus, the AFL became the first to successfully challenge the NFL in that league's history.

August 5, 1967 - The Denver Broncos became the first AFL team to defeat an NFL team when the defeated the Detroit Lions in the first of 16 AFL-NFL pre-season games that year.

AFL Statistical Leaders

Blanda	Cappelletti	Hennigan

Passing, Game - 464 yards
 George Blanda, Houston, Oct. 29, 1961

Passing, Season - 4,007 yards
 Joe Namath, New York, 1967

Passing, Career - 21,130 yards
 Jack Kemp, L.A.-San Diego, Buffalo

Rushing, Game - 243 yards
 Cookie Gilchrist, Buffalo, Dec. 8, 1963

Rushing, Season - 1,458 yards
 Jim Nance, Boston, 1966

Rushing, Career - 5,101 yards
 Clem Daniels, Dallas, Oakland

Receiving, Game - 13 catches
 Charley Hennigan, Houston, Oct. 13, 1961
 Lance Alworth, San Diego, Nov. 10, 1963
 Lionel Taylor, Denver, Nov. 29, 1964
 Sid Blanks, Houston, Sept. 12, 1964

Receiving, Season  - 101 catches
 Charley Hennigan, Houston, 1964

Receiving, Career - 567 receptions
 Lionel Taylor, Denver

Scoring, Career  - 1,100 points
 Gino Cappelletti, Boston

Scoring, Season - 155 points
 Gino Cappelletti, Boston, 1964

Scoring, Game - 30 pts (5 TDs)
 Abner Haynes, Dallas, Nov. 26, 1961
 Billy Cannon, Houston, Dec. 10, 1961
 Cookie Gilchrist, Buffalo, Dec. 8, 1963

All-Time AFL Team
# - Member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame

Offense
Flanker – Lance Alworth#, Chargers
End – Don Maynard#, Titans/Jets
Tight End – Fred Arbanas, Texans/Chiefs
Tackle – Ron Mix#, Chargers; Jim Tyrer, Texans/Chiefs
Guard – Ed Budde, Chiefs; Billy Shaw#, Bills
Center – Jim Otto#, Raiders
Quarterback – Joe Namath#, Jets
Running Back – Clem Daniels, Texans, Raiders; Paul Lowe, Chargers, Chiefs

Defense
End – Jerry Mays, Texans/Chiefs; Gerry Philbin, Jets
Tackle – Houston Antwine, Patriots; Tom Sestak, Bills
Outside Linebacker – Bobby Bell#, Chiefs; George Webster, Oilers
Middle Linebacker – Nick Buoniconti#, Patriots, Dolphins
Cornerback – Willie Brown#, Broncos, Raiders; Dave Grayson, Texans/Chiefs, Raiders
Safety – Johnny Robinson, Texans/Chiefs, George Saimes, Bills

Special Teams
Kicker – George Blanda#, Oilers, Raiders
Punter – Jerrel Wilson, Chiefs

Coach
Weeb Ewbank#, Jets