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Week
12 poll: AFL Contributions
Buffalo meets
Kansas City this Sunday in a distant replay of the 1966 AFL Title game (the
Chiefs won, 31-7). The Chiefs went on to lose Super Bowl I to Green Bay, and
after just three more seasons of quasi-independence (the leagues' officially
merged in 1966, but retained separate standings) the upstart American Football
League fully melded with the National Football League. What was the AFL's
biggest contribution to the sport? Check below before answering. | Results
from Weeks 1-11
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Open
offensive style
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Joe
Namath
From
its inception in 1960, the AFL gained a reputation as a more exciting
and offensive league. While the NFL was dominated by Green Bay and
its "Run to Daylight" style, the AFL featured high-scoring
attacks in Houston, Oakland and San Diego (originally in Los Angeles)
among others. The league was putting up more points and doing it via
the air -- quarterbacks like Daryle Lamonica, George Blanda and Joe
Namath threw the ball early and often. Fans came to associate
offensive football with the AFL, a legacy that can still be seen
today.
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The
Super Bowl
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Super
Bowl IV
Though
it wasn't known as the Super Bowl when the Packers beat the Chiefs in
1967, the annual title game between the NFL and AFL champion was
destined to become sport's grandest spectacle. The younger league
shocked the staid NFL to attention in Super Bowl III when the Jets
beat Baltimore, and the game has only gotten bigger since. Beginning
in 1970, the game became a contest between the NFC and AFC champions,
and "Super Bowl Sunday" has practically become a secular holiday in the United States.
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The
players
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George
Blanda
Joe
Namath, George Blanda, Lance Alworth, Billy Cannon, Len Dawson, Otis
Taylor, Bobby Bell, Charley Hennigan, Willie Brown … just a few of
the amazing players who joined the NFL in 1966 from the AFL. The
influx of talent when the leagues merged was substantial. And, with
all that talent in one league, the public had an easier time
comparing stars and teams, any fan's favorite pastime. The NFL's
talent base was clearly stronger after the merger, and the league was
more exciting as a result.
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Strong
ownership and coaches
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Pete
Rozelle, Lamar Hunt
Perhaps
as critical as the addition of the players on the field, the AFL also
added tremendous leadership to the NFL via its owners and coaches.
The original eight owners were known as "The Foolish Club,"
but men like Lamar Hunt (AFL founder), Al Davis (a scout, coach, general manager, owner, and for a brief time the
commissioner of the AFL), Sid Gillman (coach of the Chargers)
and Hank Stram (coach of the Chiefs) had a critical effect on
policies and direction in the new league … and still do.
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RESULTS OF PREVIOUS POLLS
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| | | | Note: Photos
courtesy of the Associated Press.
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