For more details around the New Orleans All Star game debacle, check out a recent podcast from “Good Seats Available” with an episode title of “How New Orleans Moved the Chain” with Erin Grayson Sapp.
I worked with Dickie Westmoreland in the 1980's at our Juvenile Camp here in San Diego, California. Such a fine man. I talked to him on the phone a few months ago 😇
I was 10 and living in Overland Park, KS when the Texans moved to KC. We watched the AFL bud and blossom over the next few years until the historic merger. Today's NFL is what it is BECAUSE of the AFL!
i, too, lived in shawnee mission kansas in the 60s and 70s. just down the street from SM North high school. i was 10 when the chief's won the superbowl in 1970. the number of kids wanting to play "Y" football surged. in 1970 we had so many kids trying out we had to split our 7th grade Old Mission Jr high "b" team in two. man we had fun. i feel so sorry for the kids growing up today.
Every young NFL fan should see this video. The vast majority of them have no idea about how the NFC and AFC originated and the overall history of the league.
17 year old NFL fan here, can agree every kid my age claims to know their NFL history, yet will be confused when I say “Lamar Hunt” or “AFL” Not knowing the existence of the AFL is blasphemy and an insult to all the AFL players, coaches and owners
It's most appropriate that Curt Gowdy introduced this documentary since he did play by play of telecasts of many major AFL games during the league's existence, including Super Bowl III.
It was truly a glorious time for pro football, where anybody could watch the game and enjoy it. While it's still fun to watch in person (albeit expensive as hell), on television it's little more than a 3 hour, teeth-grinding ordeal because of all the over-production and commercials.
I was a boy in the 50s and a teen in the 60s. I was a football fanatic. Being from Minnesota, I was a die hard NFL guy. When the Packers beat the Chiefs and then the Raiders, I was overjoyed. Then, the Jets beat the Colts and the Chiefs humiliated the Vikings. Since losing is a way of life in Minnesota, I was a Vince Lombardi/Packers fan. I loved them because they were a winner. Years have gone by and I discovered the AFL. I now regret not watching any games at the time. These teams were fantastic and so much fun to watch. Their wide open style of play was quite the opposite of the NFL. I now search for every AFL game that I can find on You Tube. When I look at pro football today, I pine for those glorious days of the 60s. We will never see football like that ever again. I so appreciate sites like this who publish AFL stories and games.
Yea, your understanding of history does not reflect reality. Packers were long term losers in ways the Vikings have NEVER been in the 70s and 80s. Packers had a lot in common with the lions in these years. Packers fans forget all of the blackouts and empty seats. They forget that the NFL had to put in special rules to protect the team allowing public ownership. The packers were not viable without NFL welfare. 23-7 is a humiliation? No , it’s not :). It’s a sold win for KC, but your calling it a humiliation reveals more about you than it does about Super Bowl 4.
I remember vividly that my late father always rooted for the underdog. Being from New York as he was, he never was a Giants fan nor was he an Eagles or Steelers fan prior to 1961. I don't recall him following any real NFL team except for maybe the Rams, but when the AFL emerged, he became a die-hard Raiders fan until 1966, when his loyalty changed to the Dolphins and stayed that way until he died in 1992. He would always talk about games he saw on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s...and I agree with another post here sincerely - "the AFL was the best thing that ever happened to professional football" - that is so right. Today I am 55 and my loyalty has stayed with the Seahawks since 1977 for the NFC and the Chiefs in the AFC since 1971. Thank you for uploading this nostalgia - I live by it!
It's fitting that the first AFL team to exist (Lamar Hunt's Texans/Chiefs) was also the last AFL team to take the field as a member of the AFL instead of the AFC. It's also ironic that the very moment the AFL proved beyond all doubt that it was every bit as good as the NFL was also the moment that it ceased to exist. Arrowhead Stadium has become a shrine to the AFL, which is fitting considering the Chiefs uniform has had the AFL logo with Lamar Hunt's initials added to the football on the logo as a permanent part of their uniform since Hunt's death. Arrowhead has a lot of AFL references throughout the stadium. One of my favorites is one of the main restaurants in Arrowhead is called "The Foolish Club." It's also fitting that the team that won the Superbowl for both the NFL's 50th and 100th anniversaries was the AFL's flagship franchise: Lamar Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs.
I agree about the AFL’s lasting mark on Pro Football. I was a little kid in the 60s, and a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. So I considered myself an “NFL guy”. But it wasn’t until I was a teenager in the 70s (after the merger) that I realized that the Cowboys of the 60s were really closer to an old AFL team in style (and probably because of its status as an expansion team), even though they competed directly with the Dallas Texans (KC Chiefs) early on. I was in the third grade when the Jets beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, and I was devastated. The next year when the Chiefs beat the Vikings, I realized this was the best thing that could have ever happened. I was also not really pleased about the merger. I remember thinking when they moved the Steelers, Colts and Browns in the new AFC, I thought they were going dilute the American Football Conference. I really thought it should have been like the NL and AL in baseball. And even though Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes was my favorite player, when the Cowboys traded for Lance Alworth in 1971, I was doing back flips thinking that we (Cowboys) just got the best AFL player ever. I have a lot of memories of listening to announcers like Curt Gowdy and Charlie Jones. I loved the old Chiefs-Raiders battles the best. Without the AFL, the NFL of today would not be what it is now. And even today I always find myself pulling for those original AFL teams.
I totally agree with your comments about the Cowboys being closer in style to the AFL than the NFL. They had a wicked offense that was explosive. Had Dallas won the NFL title in 1966 and again in 1967, they would have done the same as the Packers did.
agreed. the nfl and afl should've remained as two seperate leagues that met each year for a pro-football championship called the "superbowl." the afl brought pro-football into the "modern" age. and being a young lad in kc during the 60s i still can't root for the raiders to this day. but i always liked lamonica (the mad bomber), warren wells and jim otto. hated ben davidson though and the rest of the raiders.
but i was also a fan of the nfl. always had a deep respect for the likes of butkus, sayers, brown, unitas, roman gabriel, and lombardi. i followed the nfl just as much as the afl.
As a kid growing up in North Jersey in the 70’s. You could still feel the AFL/NFL rivalry. The interesting thing is the Steelers never felt like they were part of it. Those Sunday afternoon games on NBC with the Bills, Raiders, Chiefs and Jets had a certain feeling to it. Great stuff…
I'm a relatively new fan; a Brit who started watching my beloved Raiders in the early 1980's, but it is for the reasons you mentioned that I love watching the 1970's games.
After watching this I now understand why Namath is in the hall of fame. Not because of his numbers(pretty pedestrian) but because of the impact he made. Not only winning the first Super Bowl for the AFL but because he literally put the league on the map permanently.
Well, one number is that he was the first passer to pass for 4,000 yards in a season in 1967. No one threw for 4,000 yards again until Dan Fouts in 1979. But he did throw a tremendous amount of interceptions. So did Kenny Stabler. Maybe it’s an Alabama thing. Go Vols!
In the 1960s when you heard that voice of the AFL Curt Gowdy you knew you were going to see the best of the AFL and in the early to mid 1970s the best of the AFC Starting in the 1960s I just loved hearing Curt Gowdy's play by play especially of the late afternoon games of the best rivalry in Pro football at that time the KC Chief's vs. the Oakland raiders Those were the hardest hitting games and usually great games that are still to this day some of the greatest games ever
@@Buccaneer9 He played before the chant but I agree with your sentiment. His over the shoulder circus catch on the game winning drive in the AFC title game will be remembered for a very long time
When I think of the AFL, the first two names that come to mind are Abner Haynes and Lance Alworth. I went to the Patriots' second home game ever in 1960, a 13-0 loss to Buffalo on a Friday night at BU Field. I still have the program. I was an AFL guy from Day 1 and always will be.
I just loved watching that film and remembering the days of my youth watching my Denver Broncos and the other AFL teams. Thanks for taking me back to those fond memories!
I grew up a Bills fan. Old War Memorial stadium lived up to its billing. You have seen parts of it before, in the movie the Natural. Some of it was filmed there, then they torn it down. Those old Bill players were legends in that blue collar town. Every factory worker wanted to be them. They were real guys. Paul McGuire owned a bar at the end of my street. I got to know quite of few of the old Bills after they retired. Man did they have stories. They loved being around their guys.
the chief's were the winningest team in the afl's 10 year history. and i think dawson was the afl's all-time leading quarterback was he not? i used to work at "len dawson's" restaurant in overland park, ks. never saw lenny once. i don't think he owned it but merely sold his name to the investors. i didn't know lenny dawson died. i'm surprised kc didn't make it a day of mourning. he, stram, hunt and those afl chief's really helped bring the city national recognition.
Learned a lot about the AFL/NFL that I have never known. I'm glad that the AFL survived because I 💕 love watching the passing game and razzle dazzle of the AFC teams since I started watching football 🏈!! Also, the Oakland Raiders have always been my favorite team since a couple years before winning the Super Bowl 🍜 Championship 🏆 Game 🎯 over the Philadelphia Eagles! Football 🏈 for me, is the best sport to watch, which is why I hope that the USFL & XFL continue to flourish and add more teams heading into the future. And I love watching the CFL too! Yeah, I am glad that the AFL & NFL merged. It was good for business and great 👍 for the fans!
This was JUST AWESOME! Thanks for posting!! I remember reading that Al Davis was really indignant about the AFL/NFL merger, Mr. Davis thought they had the NFL right where they wanted them and that the AFL could surpass the NFL in talent snd ratings, becoming the premier football league. RIP Al Davis, he had a brilliant mind for both football and business! “Just Win Baby”!!
I was a sophomore in high school and bet on the Jets and won the bet. The AFL had the best nick names. One of those was the Mad bomber. I became a fan in the early Sixties of the AFL.
I grew up in the Chicago area. We had the Bears m, of course, but the AFL games were also televised. In the mid 60's I became a fan of the league, esp the Raiders. They had a great rivalry with the Chiefs in those days. Great entertaining football.
I wish they had never merged with the NFL because I really liked the competitive edge and loyalty each league had for each other and the pride they each had especially when a AFL team and a NFL team played each other I really miss that
Then you would have the jealousy name calling and two league nearly going broke signing players if the 2 leagues didn't merge there would be no Super Bowl as it's known today
I grew up watching Bart Starr, Sony Jergesson,Johnny Unitas etc. Then came Joe Namath. I was 14 or 15. I had never seen a quarterback thread the needle the way he did. I was hooked on the AFL.
The series called "Full Colored Football" (maybe 6 one hour episodes) aired for the 50th season of the AFL in 2009. It was awesome!! The history of the AFL should always be talked about
I grew up on the AFL and preferred them as a separate entity. I was against the Merger. And as Bills Fan from Buffalo, we had 2 AFL CHAMPIONSHIPS and have been shut out ever since including 4 straight Super Bowl Losses.
As for the merger, the good things about it were the common draft, the inter-league preseason games, and the Super Bowl between the two league champions. The re-alignment of the two leagues into one entity in 1970 SUCKED and I still dislike it to this day. All these tributes that are being paid to the AFL in the modern day prove that the AFL should have stood firm and refused re-alignment with the NFL and stayed a separate league.
@@brdempsey69 You could have had the common draft and the Super Bowl without a full merger. They should have gone the AL route and insisted on Major League Football with the AFL getting the expansion teams until they were balanced. That's one where Al Davis should have won the argument.
@@wvu05 BINGO -- you nailed it. THAT is exactly what should've happened & if Al Davis would've had his way, would've happened. An interesting side note: I looked it up & in 1969 when the AFL and NFL were separate leagues, the 26 teams combined to score 908 TD's during the regular season. The next year in 1970, when the re-alignment took place, the 26 teams combined to score 797 TD's -- exactly 111 fewer. WHOOPS !! ---- that doesn't sound like a better product being put on the field of pro football, to me -- and it certainly didn't look like it when I watched it in real-time in 1970.
WOW!!!!! What a GREAT VIDEO!!!!! As a huge fan of football and a self proclaimed football historian I found this video to be so entertaining but yet very informative. As much as I thought I knew about the AFL after watching this I was humbled because I didn't know half of what I thought I knew. Thank you so much for this video especially for a big sports nut like myself and I'm really excited to see more of your videos!
I was only ten years old when I watched the Jets/Colts game, but I had watched a lot of AFL games and thought the Jets were ready to give the Colts a tough game. The Jets had Namath, Don Maynard, George Sauer, Emerson Boozer, Matt Snell, Winston Hill - all skilled players - and I thought the Jets might be able to move the ball. I didn't know if the Jets defense could stop the Colts. Earl Morrall was first-team all-NFL, John Mackey was the unstoppable tight end, and the Colts had a strong offensive line. Tom Matte had a 58 yard run but didn't score. The Jets gave up a lot of yards, esp. in the first half, but timely interceptions stopped the Colts, and good fortune helped the Jets all game.
Nice thoughts, but Ralph Neely was a Cowboy. I remember Mackey catching a pass early in the game & running through tackle attempts for a 20-25 yard gain & thought "I was right, Jets have no chance". Wrong again.😛
One factual mistake. The narrator said in Super Bowl 3 the Jets intercepted Colts QB Earl Morrall 4 times. Actually, the Jets intercepted Morrall 3 times and Unitas once
Good point. Also, there was no 2-point conversion so when Unitas finally marched them down for that touchdown it was a 3 score differential; so the Jets were probably giving up yards for time.
I remember watching the longest regular Season game between the Chiefs and the Dolphins. It was insane, like a heavyweight boxing match. Kept going back and forth. It Lasted for a record 77 minutes. You had griese, Warfield, buoniconti, Morris, for the Dolphins, and Dawson, stenerud for the chiefs. Played on grass and the uniforms were all muddy, then the Chiefs drove the Ball down and Jan Stenerud ends up kicking The game winner. Now that was when football was football. Three yards and a cloud of dust, blood and guts. When football was a war of attrition, last man standing.Stenerud and the kicker for Miami Were former European footballers and they Lined up off to the side, and they were accurate from farther away, and this is one Of the reasons that the goalposts were moved to the back of the endzone was that it would make it safer for the players and increase the difficulty on field goals
I jumped at it. -Len Dawson at 10:04 He quite literally did. Paul Brown cut him in 1962 and while he was delivering the news, Dawson reached across Brown's desk and picked up his phone. He called Hank Strahm and told him he was available. He signed him over the phone to the Chiefs. Brown also paid for the long distance call.
A major TV network carrying the games made the difference in the league succeeding vs folding. Every team received $1M per year and kept their operations in the black.
This was a documentary that HBO did in the 1990s. I had it on a recorded VHS tape and watched it all the time. Once I found a version of it, I had to upload it for the world to see. It was the original AFL documentary. Well before the mini series that NFL Films made later. Made me an AFL fan as a 12 year old kid.
Most of their stars were from those schools. It gave the AFL an advantage over the NFL because it actually had better talent. SEC and Southwest Conference schools didn’t have many or any black players in the 1960s. That left an opportunity for AFL coaches to go build relationships with the Historically Black Colleges throughout the Southeast and Texas and get legit talent.
20:09-Glenn Edwards' pick of the Bucs' Doug Williams' last-second "Hail Mary" pass to seal a Chargers win was reminiscent of Super Bowl X, when he did the same thing for the Steelers to Roger Staubach and the Cowboys in closing out that game.
The AFL was so important to the league as we know it! The impact made, not only on the current game, but with teams in certain cities, added to the NFL also. The Dallas Texans( KC Chiefs), forced the NFL to add the Cowboys into the league. Also, Lamar Hunt, owner of those same Chiefs, was the man who came up with the name for the AFL/NFL Championship game, currently the Super Bowl!
Lance Allworth #19 for San Diego from Arkansas was the first AFL player inducted into the Football Hall of Fame. I believe Billy Cannon was to the AFL as Red Grange was to the NFL in it's beginning in the early 1920's.
A great book to read is "Ten Gallon War" by John Eisenburg. Although the primary focus is both the start of both the Dallas Texans and Cowboys, he goes a little deeper regarding the Start of the AFL (Without all the NFL whitewashing) and the trials and tribulations of Lamar Hunt trying to get a NFL franchise.
16:56 I’m a Raider fan. When I heard that the Raider franchise was actually almost folded I was surprised. But because Ralph Wilson, the former owner of the Bills, want to help Wayne Valley, the former owner of the Raiders, and he lent $400,000 to the then financially troubled team. I’m very glad that the Raiders are still in the NFL and I want to thank Mr. Wilson for keeping the Raider franchise alive. If he didn’t do that, there will be no connection to the cities of Oakland, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas and all of Raider Nation.
The merger was the most important decision made in the history of Pro Football. Had they stayed separate they would've eventually cannibalized each other, and I doubt Pro Football could've regained the momentum and popularity it had finally obtained at that point.
7:53 I can't believe the fan came onto the field during the last play, knocked the ball down, and the refs said nothing about it! Unbelievable! The players on offense should have either tackled the guy into the ground, or got him signed to the defense right away.
Oakland Raiders played their first two seasons in San Francisco, at Kezar Stadium, the 49ers home, and Candlestick Park in 1960, and Candlestick Park all of 1961. If the City of San Francisco said NO to them, they would have had no place to play at all. Cal said no to them regarding using Memorial Stadium. Finally, Laney Jr. College let them expand their bleachers so they could play there, 15,000 capacity, in 1962.
Laney college did not exist in 1962 Frank Youell field was built from the ground up after the Raiders moved into the Oakland coliseum Frank you'll feel was used for 3 years for OAL high school football games eventually it was tore down and Laney college was built on that site
About Namath: IMO, he’s unquestionably the AFL’s historical MVP. He was THE guy with the charisma and Q rating it took to win the vital New York market, and he arrived at a time when the Giants were downtrodden enough to leave that market vulnerable. Sonny Werblin was visionary in locking Namath in. Joe’s statistics never got in the way of his Q rating. He made you watch him and the Jets, no matter which NFL game was being shown on TV.
I think if Joe didn’t have such bad knees, and if the Jets would have had more talent for longer you would have seen much better stats. He did have a 4000 yard season.
The first football game I remember watching was Super Bowl III in our house in the Chicago suburbs. We were originally from New York City and my dad (Giants fan) was very mad when the Jets won.
In SB 3 Namath attempted 0 passes in 4th Qtr it was the jets defense that won it Colt owner Carroll Rosenbloom never forgave HC Don Shula for losing SB3 and after the 1969 season failing to make the playoffs fired him. Shula was immediately hired in 1970 to coach the Dolphins going unbeaten in 1972 and the Colts? Rosenbloom swapped franchises with Robert Irsay who owned the Rams and Irsay proceeded to slowly ruin them until slinking off to Indianapolis in the cover of darkness in 1984 having been unable to sign John Elway.
The whole family watched that game. The Colts were overwhelming favorites and I was rooting for the Jets! I believe the merger happened in 1970, also. And, even though the Jets had some really good teams through the years, they would never get within sniffing distance of the Super Bowl again. Only the Lions, who have never been close to the SB, were more futile.
Carroll Rosenbloom did not fire Don Shula, he went to Miami because of an offer he couldn't refuse , the Dolphins had to give their no 1 draft choice in 1971 to the Colts as ordered by Pete Rozelle( Carroll Rosenbloom was on vacation when he was hired by the Dolphins February 18, 1970, his son Steve gave the Dolphins permission to talk to him)
Rosenbloom seemed shady. A gambler, his death was suspicious and it was said he was murdered and the conspiracy may have gone back to SB III where Rosenbloom was rumored to have bet one million dollars on the Jets.
I've heard some football analysists say the real SB that changed the game was SB IV because Kansas City routinely passed on first down, generally a taboo with offensive strategy at that time.
Always thought Dallas, Atlanta and New Orleans should’ve been absorbed by the new AFC. Just add Houston, and you’ve got a great, geographically sound AFC South.
Many CFL players went there. The play style was like watching Canadian football. By amalgamation, the two leagues had covered the USA with teams, making it hard for any startup league in the future.
Perhaps Lombardi overstated his opinion of the AFL in 1967, but he backed it up with a win in Super Bowl II. When the Jets beat the Colts in III there had been three years of mutual drafts and the quality of the two leagues had come much closer together. Keep in mind that the Jets only beat the Colts by 9 points or so. The Packers were the cream of the league in the 60's. In the Colts/Jets game the Colts were intercepted on the Jets goal line and missed an easy field goal. Only after Johnny U came into the game, in the second half, did the Colts begin to play well, but it was too late.
Willful, Pig Headed Stubbornness. That was the American Football Leagues real key to success. It's a fact that when Raiders owner Wayne Valley was ready to fold his club, the other owners went to his aid. League founder Lamar Hunt after his team lost a million dollars one season observed "Well at this rate we can last another hundred years." And he meant it! They were in it for the long haul and nothing was going to stop them. It's only natural that by the time the league had been in existence for several seasons, the teams would improve dramatically. The rosters would gradually get stronger. They also had brilliant people in that League. From. Lamar Hunt to Al Davis of the Raiders. A football giant who became coach, Commissioner and Owner of the Raiders. Hank Stram, Sid Gillman, Weeb Ewbank and Lou Saban were just a few of the great coaches the AFL fostered. The AFL went after the best coaches and the best players. While the NFL ignored so much of the great Black talent, the AFL went after EVERYONE. Raiding the historically black colleges and poaching the NFLs quarterbacks. It was a Guerilla War with no rules. No matter what the "Foolish Club" would never yield. After the merger and the Jets victory, Profesional football grew into a multi billion dollar cash cow! The best thing that ever happened to the pro game, were these brilliant owners. Men more stubborn than a field full of Jackasses. They were anything but that.
As a Jets fan I long to see them win a SB in my lifetime. Namath put the AFL on the pedestal and NFL is what it is now. No other league can come close to this AFL story. The USFL back in the 80's was close but Trump got greedy with his bright ideas and killed that league.
Before I die, I'd like to see the Texans wear the old Oiler's uniforms. You took the team from us, at least sell the Texans the Name. They were the prettiest uniforms ever worn.
No, your lousy city wouldn't step up..the name is permanently retired and belongs in perpetuity to the Adams and their posterity.. ain't gonna happen, forget it
Well as a guy who has seen every Super Bowl and around way before this.. I often wondered why smaller cities were in the afl? Now think about it.. Only a few things have changed.. Seattle is in the nfl and not the afl anymore.. With the draft it does not matter what league your in as the league seems to level out every few years and the crummy get better and the best go down hill..
I was looking for American soccer history & shoulda realised immediately how football there means what football does in New Zealand - something else . As it is this is very interesting & explains the inspiration behind Englands’ soccer league breakaway in 1993 let alone provide a brilliant history of the game especially for the ignorant soccer supporter of England . The signing of players literally on the touch line is hilarious & some of that stadia from the early 1960s made most British soccer stadia of the 1980s look like cattlesheds 👍
The AFL was an accelerator. When the Jets won Super Bowl III, Alabama still had an all-white team. Look at the nasty things that Modell said about the AFL, but he was quick to move his Browns over to the AFC when the merger happened.
I remember seeing it on a blooper reel in a pizza parlor ,Joe Namarh goes back to throw and he's about to get run over and flattened by three defensive players, at the last second he throws the ball to his receiver and hits him right between the numbers, in the back.
The AFL teams were not worse then the NFL teams by 1966. They were worse then the Packers. Guess what....so was the rest of the NFL. They were a dynasty. There is a reason we call it the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It was not a fair comparison. The moment they fell off, the AFL/AFC dominated for a decade. Jets (AFL), KC (AFL), Colts (moved but AFC), Random Cowboys, Dolphins (AFC), Dolphins (AFC), Steelers (NFC version was bad, they only got good with the money of the move to the AFC), Steelers (AFC), Raiders (AFC), Random Cowboys, 2x Steelers (AFC), Raiders (AFC). Remember the one Dolphins team was even undefeated!
Come to think about, the 49ers and Cowboys for a LONG stretch of twenty years were the only legitimate NFL/NFC teams to even win a Super Bowl. The whole time until the 90's was conquered by the AFL/AFC
I remember watching SB VII as a 10 YO kid, telling the grown-ups that the Dolphins would win. They did and, adults were kinda' quiet. It's hard to argue about perfection. LOL!
how much better would it be for Football if the AFC was the AFL still...nothing wrong with a little competition. You see what happens where there's a monopoly
It would be like MLB today. AL and NL operating separately but coincide with each other. NFL vs AFL today would make the Super Bowl an even bigger event
Back in the 1960s CBS had locked up the NFL, so NBC gave TV exposure and needed money for the AFL. Remember, this is when there were only 3 networks and each had considerable strength.
Amazing to think that an AFL franchise could be bought for $25K in 1960. At one point the Raiders were in such dire financial straights that Oakland's Al Davis had to get a loan from Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson to stay afloat. The urban legend is that Raider players would go around the Bay Area in the off-season and go door to door to sell season tickets.
One of the big reasons why the AFL was seen as a second-rate league was the fact that almost all of the league's starting QB's, the most prominent position, were former NFL quarterbacks. Patriots: Babe Parilli Buffalo: Jack Kemp Chiefs: Len Dawson Oilers: George Blanda Raiders: Tom Flores Chargers: Tobin Rote It was easy for the NFL to call the AFL a league of scrubs because of that. "Oh, they're only good now because they're facing lesser opponents."
I loved the AFL as a youngster growing up and Broadway Joe was my favorite but watching the Jets on tv with my grandpop was terrible as I listened to him telling me Green bay,,Baltimore or the Bears would crush the Jets and any other Afl team.
For more details around the New Orleans All Star game debacle, check out a recent podcast from “Good Seats Available” with an episode title of “How New Orleans Moved the Chain” with Erin Grayson Sapp.
Thanks to the AFL Black & White players for sticking together. Greetings from Charleston, West Virginia. Semper Fi
Almost heaven!!!
I worked with Dickie Westmoreland in the 1980's at our Juvenile Camp here in San Diego, California. Such a fine man. I talked to him on the phone a few months ago 😇
@teen_laqueefa West Virginia. "Mountaineers are Always Free" State Motto
@@FATHERKNOSEBEST Where was he from North Carolina ?
I was 10 and living in Overland Park, KS when the Texans moved to KC. We watched the AFL bud and blossom over the next few years until the historic merger. Today's NFL is what it is BECAUSE of the AFL!
i, too, lived in shawnee mission kansas in the 60s and 70s. just down the street from SM North high school. i was 10 when the chief's won the superbowl in 1970. the number of kids wanting to play "Y" football surged. in 1970 we had so many kids trying out we had to split our 7th grade Old Mission Jr high "b" team in two.
man we had fun. i feel so sorry for the kids growing up today.
I love the stories! It’s where I live now
Every young NFL fan should see this video. The vast majority of them have no idea about how the NFC and AFC originated and the overall history of the league.
Or all the quid pro quo rigging that took place to secure the merger....
17 year old NFL fan here, can agree every kid my age claims to know their NFL history, yet will be confused when I say “Lamar Hunt” or “AFL”
Not knowing the existence of the AFL is blasphemy and an insult to all the AFL players, coaches and owners
It's most appropriate that Curt Gowdy introduced this documentary since he did play by play of telecasts of many major AFL games during the league's existence, including Super Bowl III.
The AFL was the best thing that ever happened to professional Football!
It was truly a glorious time for pro football, where anybody could watch the game and enjoy it. While it's still fun to watch in person (albeit expensive as hell), on television it's little more than a 3 hour, teeth-grinding ordeal because of all the over-production and commercials.
It made the NFL what is now today.
True!!
Truer words have never been spoken!
Uh, no, not really.
I was a boy in the 50s and a teen in the 60s. I was a football fanatic. Being from Minnesota, I was a die hard NFL guy. When the Packers beat the Chiefs and then the Raiders, I was overjoyed. Then, the Jets beat the Colts and the Chiefs humiliated the Vikings. Since losing is a way of life in Minnesota, I was a Vince Lombardi/Packers fan. I loved them because they were a winner.
Years have gone by and I discovered the AFL. I now regret not watching any games at the time. These teams were fantastic and so much fun to watch. Their wide open style of play was quite the opposite of the NFL. I now search for every AFL game that I can find on You Tube. When I look at pro football today, I pine for those glorious days of the 60s. We will never see football like that ever again. I so appreciate sites like this who publish AFL stories and games.
Yea, your understanding of history does not reflect reality.
Packers were long term losers in ways the Vikings have NEVER been in the 70s and 80s. Packers had a lot in common with the lions in these years.
Packers fans forget all of the blackouts and empty seats. They forget that the NFL had to put in special rules to protect the team allowing public ownership. The packers were not viable without NFL welfare.
23-7 is a humiliation? No , it’s not :). It’s a sold win for KC, but your calling it a humiliation reveals more about you than it does about Super Bowl 4.
I was a child in 1960s Kansas city, Missouri. I was AFL all the way! R.I.P. Len Dawson. Forever underrated, one of the early Giants of the NFL!
RIP John Madden.
Coach Madden...Oakland Raiders..RN4L
I was an AFL kid. Lived in KC from 1960 - 1969 during my elementary school years. The 70 Chiefs are still my favorite NFL squad.
I remember vividly that my late father always rooted for the underdog. Being from New York as he was, he never was a Giants fan nor was he an Eagles or Steelers fan prior to 1961. I don't recall him following any real NFL team except for maybe the Rams, but when the AFL emerged, he became a die-hard Raiders fan until 1966, when his loyalty changed to the Dolphins and stayed that way until he died in 1992. He would always talk about games he saw on NBC in the 1970s and 1980s...and I agree with another post here sincerely - "the AFL was the best thing that ever happened to professional football" - that is so right. Today I am 55 and my loyalty has stayed with the Seahawks since 1977 for the NFC and the Chiefs in the AFC since 1971. Thank you for uploading this nostalgia - I live by it!
It's fitting that the first AFL team to exist (Lamar Hunt's Texans/Chiefs) was also the last AFL team to take the field as a member of the AFL instead of the AFC. It's also ironic that the very moment the AFL proved beyond all doubt that it was every bit as good as the NFL was also the moment that it ceased to exist. Arrowhead Stadium has become a shrine to the AFL, which is fitting considering the Chiefs uniform has had the AFL logo with Lamar Hunt's initials added to the football on the logo as a permanent part of their uniform since Hunt's death. Arrowhead has a lot of AFL references throughout the stadium. One of my favorites is one of the main restaurants in Arrowhead is called "The Foolish Club." It's also fitting that the team that won the Superbowl for both the NFL's 50th and 100th anniversaries was the AFL's flagship franchise: Lamar Hunt's Kansas City Chiefs.
I agree about the AFL’s lasting mark on Pro Football. I was a little kid in the 60s, and a huge Dallas Cowboys fan. So I considered myself an “NFL guy”. But it wasn’t until I was a teenager in the 70s (after the merger) that I realized that the Cowboys of the 60s were really closer to an old AFL team in style (and probably because of its status as an expansion team), even though they competed directly with the Dallas Texans (KC Chiefs) early on.
I was in the third grade when the Jets beat the Colts in the Super Bowl, and I was devastated. The next year when the Chiefs beat the Vikings, I realized this was the best thing that could have ever happened. I was also not really pleased about the merger. I remember thinking when they moved the Steelers, Colts and Browns in the new AFC, I thought they were going dilute the American Football Conference. I really thought it should have been like the NL and AL in baseball.
And even though Cowboys receiver Bob Hayes was my favorite player, when the Cowboys traded for Lance Alworth in 1971, I was doing back flips thinking that we (Cowboys) just got the best AFL player ever.
I have a lot of memories of listening to announcers like Curt Gowdy and Charlie Jones. I loved the old Chiefs-Raiders battles the best. Without the AFL, the NFL of today would not be what it is now. And even today I always find myself pulling for those original AFL teams.
I totally agree with your comments about the Cowboys being closer in style to the AFL than the NFL. They had a wicked offense that was explosive. Had Dallas won the NFL title in 1966 and again in 1967, they would have done the same as the Packers did.
agreed. the nfl and afl should've remained as two seperate leagues that met each year for a pro-football championship called the "superbowl." the afl brought pro-football into the "modern" age. and being a young lad in kc during the 60s i still can't root for the raiders to this day. but i always liked lamonica (the mad bomber), warren wells and jim otto. hated ben davidson though and the rest of the raiders.
but i was also a fan of the nfl. always had a deep respect for the likes of butkus, sayers, brown, unitas, roman gabriel, and lombardi. i followed the nfl just as much as the afl.
As a kid growing up in North Jersey in the 70’s. You could still feel the AFL/NFL rivalry. The interesting thing is the Steelers never felt like they were part of it. Those Sunday afternoon games on NBC with the Bills, Raiders, Chiefs and Jets had a certain feeling to it. Great stuff…
My dad always rooted against any AFL whenever they played an old NFL team EVEN after the merger was decades in the rear-view-mirror.
The Steelers,Browns&Colts were paid to leave the NFL for the AFC.
@@jamesrkrau2481 for the Steelers it was the best thing to ever happen to them.
I was a kid then and in a way if you lived through it the early 70s until 1973 was really a continuation of the 60s.
I'm a relatively new fan; a Brit who started watching my beloved Raiders in the early 1980's, but it is for the reasons you mentioned that I love watching the 1970's games.
After watching this I now understand why Namath is in the hall of fame. Not because of his numbers(pretty pedestrian) but because of the impact he made. Not only winning the first Super Bowl for the AFL but because he literally put the league on the map permanently.
that is so true,excellent comment
Namath had great numbers but also very bad knees it's a miracle he played as long as he did.
Well, one number is that he was the first passer to pass for 4,000 yards in a season in 1967. No one threw for 4,000 yards again until Dan Fouts in 1979.
But he did throw a tremendous amount of interceptions. So did Kenny Stabler. Maybe it’s an Alabama thing. Go Vols!
K :ç gf%%ç
Namath in college was unbelievable. But for his crocked knees in the pros, imagine how good he'd have been? He is in the HOF anyways.
In the 1960s when you heard that voice of the AFL Curt Gowdy you knew you were going to see the best of the AFL and in the early to mid 1970s the best of the AFC Starting in the 1960s I just loved hearing Curt Gowdy's play by play especially of the late afternoon games of the best rivalry in Pro football at that time the KC Chief's vs. the Oakland raiders Those were the hardest hitting games and usually great games that are still to this day some of the greatest games ever
R.I.P.
#13 Don Maynard 🏈
"Mr. AFL"
God bless our pro football heroes
from a by-gone era.
and the announcers too..Frank Gifford, Howard Cosell, Dandy Don Meredith, Pat Summerall...
J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!
He was a great one.
@@Buccaneer9 He played before the chant but I agree with your sentiment. His over the shoulder circus catch on the game winning drive in the AFC title game will be remembered for a very long time
When I think of the AFL, the first two names that come to mind are Abner Haynes and Lance Alworth. I went to the Patriots' second home game ever in 1960, a 13-0 loss to Buffalo on a Friday night at BU Field. I still have the program. I was an AFL guy from Day 1 and always will be.
I just loved watching that film and remembering the days of my youth watching my Denver Broncos and the other AFL teams. Thanks for taking me back to those fond memories!
I grew up a Bills fan. Old War Memorial stadium lived up to its billing. You have seen parts of it before, in the movie the Natural. Some of it was filmed there, then they torn it down. Those old Bill players were legends in that blue collar town. Every factory worker wanted to be them. They were real guys. Paul McGuire owned a bar at the end of my street. I got to know quite of few of the old Bills after they retired. Man did they have stories. They loved being around their guys.
R.I.P. Len Dawson, perhaps the AFL's greatest player.
len dawson and lance alworth.
the chief's were the winningest team in the afl's 10 year history. and i think dawson was the afl's all-time leading quarterback was he not? i used to work at "len dawson's" restaurant in overland park, ks. never saw lenny once. i don't think he owned it but merely sold his name to the investors. i didn't know lenny dawson died. i'm surprised kc didn't make it a day of mourning. he, stram, hunt and those afl chief's really helped bring the city national recognition.
class guy
Taped this years ago on VHS...but why isn't this available on DVD???...long overdue in my opinion and funny how the Chargers ended up back in LA.
Learned a lot about the AFL/NFL that I have never known. I'm glad that the AFL survived because I 💕 love watching the passing game and razzle dazzle of the AFC teams since I started watching football 🏈!! Also, the Oakland Raiders have always been my favorite team since a couple years before winning the Super Bowl 🍜 Championship 🏆 Game 🎯 over the Philadelphia Eagles! Football 🏈 for me, is the best sport to watch, which is why I hope that the USFL & XFL continue to flourish and add more teams heading into the future. And I love watching the CFL too! Yeah, I am glad that the AFL & NFL merged. It was good for business and great 👍 for the fans!
This was JUST AWESOME! Thanks for posting!! I remember reading that Al Davis was really indignant about the AFL/NFL merger, Mr. Davis thought they had the NFL right where they wanted them and that the AFL could surpass the NFL in talent snd ratings, becoming the premier football league. RIP Al Davis, he had a brilliant mind for both football and business! “Just Win Baby”!!
I was a sophomore in high school and bet on the Jets and won the bet. The AFL had the best nick names. One of those was the Mad bomber. I became a fan in the early Sixties of the AFL.
I grew up in the Chicago area. We had the Bears m, of course, but the AFL games were also televised. In the mid 60's I became a fan of the league, esp the Raiders. They had a great rivalry with the Chiefs in those days. Great entertaining football.
I became a Bengals fan in 1968, when I was 13 years old.
I have always enjoyed watching the AFC teams with the old AFL in mind. Great documentary btw.
I wish they had never merged with the NFL because I really liked the competitive edge and loyalty each league had for each other and the pride they each had especially when a AFL team and a NFL team played each other I really miss that
Then you would have the jealousy name calling and two league nearly going broke signing players if the 2 leagues didn't merge there would be no Super Bowl as it's known today
I grew up watching Bart Starr, Sony Jergesson,Johnny Unitas etc. Then came Joe Namath. I was 14 or 15. I had never seen a quarterback thread the needle the way he did. I was hooked on the AFL.
The series called "Full Colored Football" (maybe 6 one hour episodes) aired for the 50th season of the AFL in 2009. It was awesome!! The history of the AFL should always be talked about
it was 5 episodes
@@LeighMet I wish there was more, it was an awesome series!!
I grew up on the AFL and preferred them as a separate entity. I was against the Merger. And as Bills Fan from Buffalo, we had 2 AFL CHAMPIONSHIPS and have been shut out ever since including 4 straight Super Bowl Losses.
As for the merger, the good things about it were the common draft, the inter-league preseason games, and the Super Bowl between the two league champions. The re-alignment of the two leagues into one entity in 1970 SUCKED and I still dislike it to this day. All these tributes that are being paid to the AFL in the modern day prove that the AFL should have stood firm and refused re-alignment with the NFL and stayed a separate league.
@@brdempsey69 You could have had the common draft and the Super Bowl without a full merger. They should have gone the AL route and insisted on Major League Football with the AFL getting the expansion teams until they were balanced. That's one where Al Davis should have won the argument.
@@wvu05 BINGO -- you nailed it. THAT is exactly what should've happened & if Al Davis would've had his way, would've happened. An interesting side note: I looked it up & in 1969 when the AFL and NFL were separate leagues, the 26 teams combined to score 908 TD's during the regular season. The next year in 1970, when the re-alignment took place, the 26 teams combined to score 797 TD's -- exactly 111 fewer. WHOOPS !! ---- that doesn't sound like a better product being put on the field of pro football, to me -- and it certainly didn't look like it when I watched it in real-time in 1970.
@@brdempsey69 Well, baseball is about to merge the American League and National League, and that's going to suck.
@@brdempsey69 very interesting 👍
WOW!!!!! What a GREAT VIDEO!!!!! As a huge fan of football and a self proclaimed football historian I found this video to be so entertaining but yet very informative. As much as I thought I knew about the AFL after watching this I was humbled because I didn't know half of what I thought I knew. Thank you so much for this video especially for a big sports nut like myself and I'm really excited to see more of your videos!
I was only ten years old when I watched the Jets/Colts game, but I had watched a lot of AFL games and thought the Jets were ready to give the Colts a tough game. The Jets had Namath, Don Maynard, George Sauer, Emerson Boozer, Matt Snell, Winston Hill - all skilled players - and I thought the Jets might be able to move the ball. I didn't know if the Jets defense could stop the Colts. Earl Morrall was first-team all-NFL, John Mackey was the unstoppable tight end, and the Colts had a strong offensive line. Tom Matte had a 58 yard run but didn't score. The Jets gave up a lot of yards, esp. in the first half, but timely interceptions stopped the Colts, and good fortune helped the Jets all game.
Nice thoughts, but Ralph Neely was a Cowboy. I remember Mackey catching a pass early in the game & running through tackle attempts for a 20-25 yard gain & thought "I was right, Jets have no chance". Wrong again.😛
So little is shown about the history of the NFL, thanks .❤
Love this history, and I wish the players of today on the teams could watch it, and it would give them such an understanding
One factual mistake. The narrator said in Super Bowl 3 the Jets intercepted Colts QB Earl Morrall 4 times. Actually, the Jets intercepted Morrall 3 times and Unitas once
Good point. Also, there was no 2-point conversion so when Unitas finally marched them down for that touchdown it was a 3 score differential; so the Jets were probably giving up yards for time.
I remember watching the longest regular
Season game between the Chiefs and the
Dolphins. It was insane, like a heavyweight boxing match. Kept going back and forth. It
Lasted for a record 77 minutes. You had griese, Warfield, buoniconti, Morris, for the
Dolphins, and Dawson, stenerud for the chiefs. Played on grass and the uniforms
were all muddy, then the Chiefs drove the
Ball down and Jan Stenerud ends up kicking
The game winner. Now that was when football was football. Three yards and a cloud of dust, blood and guts. When football was a war of attrition, last man standing.Stenerud and the kicker for Miami
Were former European footballers and they
Lined up off to the side, and they were accurate from farther away, and this is one
Of the reasons that the goalposts were moved to the back of the endzone was that it would make it safer for the players and increase the difficulty on field goals
I jumped at it. -Len Dawson at 10:04
He quite literally did. Paul Brown cut him in 1962 and while he was delivering the news, Dawson reached across Brown's desk and picked up his phone. He called Hank Strahm and told him he was available. He signed him over the phone to the Chiefs.
Brown also paid for the long distance call.
The AFL signing with NBC in 1964 paved the way for the merger with the NFL.
The 1962 championship was on ABC.
The NBC deal was signed in 1964 but didn't begin until 1965.
ABC carried AFL games from 1960 through 1964.
A major TV network carrying the games made the difference in the league succeeding vs folding. Every team received $1M per year and kept their operations in the black.
All my lifelong favorite teams are in the AFL or American Conference to this day.. Great Vid..
Love this piece. Just subscribed. Looking forward to watching this piece and many others. Thank you.
This was a documentary that HBO did in the 1990s. I had it on a recorded VHS tape and watched it all the time. Once I found a version of it, I had to upload it for the world to see. It was the original AFL documentary. Well before the mini series that NFL Films made later. Made me an AFL fan as a 12 year old kid.
The throwing game is common in Canada 🇨🇦; many were old CFL players, like Cookie Gilchrist.
Tears in my eyes... the 60s were so damn special!
The AFL Drafted Alot of Players From HBCU Schools.
Most of their stars were from those schools. It gave the AFL an advantage over the NFL because it actually had better talent. SEC and Southwest Conference schools didn’t have many or any black players in the 1960s. That left an opportunity for AFL coaches to go build relationships with the Historically Black Colleges throughout the Southeast and Texas and get legit talent.
Football Junkie.. thank you for this video. Loved it. I remember when the Jets won the Championship. I'm a new subscriber too.
20:09-Glenn Edwards' pick of the Bucs' Doug Williams' last-second "Hail Mary" pass to seal a Chargers win was reminiscent of Super Bowl X, when he did the same thing for the Steelers to Roger Staubach and the Cowboys in closing out that game.
The AFL was so important to the league as we know it! The impact made, not only on the current game, but with teams in certain cities, added to the NFL also. The Dallas Texans( KC Chiefs), forced the NFL to add the Cowboys into the league. Also, Lamar Hunt, owner of those same Chiefs, was the man who came up with the name for the AFL/NFL Championship game, currently the Super Bowl!
Lance Allworth #19 for San Diego from Arkansas was the first AFL player inducted into the
Football Hall of Fame. I believe Billy Cannon was to the AFL as Red Grange was to the NFL
in it's beginning in the early 1920's.
Wonderful documentary. Thank you for posting.
A great book to read is "Ten Gallon War" by John Eisenburg. Although the primary focus is both the start of both the Dallas Texans and Cowboys, he goes a little deeper regarding the Start of the AFL (Without all the NFL whitewashing) and the trials and tribulations of Lamar Hunt trying to get a NFL franchise.
16:56 I’m a Raider fan. When I heard that the Raider franchise was actually almost folded I was surprised. But because Ralph Wilson, the former owner of the Bills, want to help Wayne Valley, the former owner of the Raiders, and he lent $400,000 to the then financially troubled team. I’m very glad that the Raiders are still in the NFL and I want to thank Mr. Wilson for keeping the Raider franchise alive. If he didn’t do that, there will be no connection to the cities of Oakland, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas and all of Raider Nation.
The merger was the most important decision made in the history of Pro Football. Had they stayed separate they would've eventually cannibalized each other, and I doubt Pro Football could've regained the momentum and popularity it had finally obtained at that point.
The Legendary AFL football RULES PERIOD.
And even today I always find myself pulling for those original AFL teams.
1962 AFL championship was double overtime. Texans moved to Kansas City beginning in 1963.
7:53 I can't believe the fan came onto the field during the last play, knocked the ball down, and the refs said nothing about it! Unbelievable! The players on offense should have either tackled the guy into the ground, or got him signed to the defense right away.
Oakland Raiders played their first two seasons in San Francisco, at Kezar Stadium, the 49ers home, and Candlestick Park in 1960, and Candlestick Park all of 1961. If the City of San Francisco said NO to them, they would have had no place to play at all. Cal said no to them regarding using Memorial Stadium. Finally, Laney Jr. College let them expand their bleachers so they could play there, 15,000 capacity, in 1962.
Laney college did not exist in 1962 Frank Youell field was built from the ground up after the Raiders moved into the Oakland coliseum Frank you'll feel was used for 3 years for OAL high school football games eventually it was tore down and Laney college was built on that site
@@kevingrate8024 That was named for an undertaker
About Namath:
IMO, he’s unquestionably the AFL’s historical MVP.
He was THE guy with the charisma and Q rating it took to win the vital New York market, and he arrived at a time when the Giants were downtrodden enough to leave that market vulnerable.
Sonny Werblin was visionary in locking Namath in.
Joe’s statistics never got in the way of his Q rating. He made you watch him and the Jets, no matter which NFL game was being shown on TV.
I think if Joe didn’t have such bad knees, and if the Jets would have had more talent for longer you would have seen much better stats. He did have a 4000 yard season.
The first football game I remember watching was Super Bowl III in our house in the Chicago suburbs. We were originally from New York City and my dad (Giants fan) was very mad when the Jets won.
This was an incredible video, tyvm for posting!
This is a magnificent look at what it took to get the AFL off the ground, and running to compete with the NFL. Highly recommend it.
Rest In Peace Ralph Wilson Jr Go Bills!!!!
We appreciate Mr Pegula continuing Mr Wilson's legacy, keeping both the Bills & Sabres in Buffalo.
In SB 3 Namath attempted 0 passes in 4th Qtr it was the jets defense that won it
Colt owner Carroll Rosenbloom never forgave HC Don Shula for losing SB3 and after the 1969 season failing to make the playoffs fired him.
Shula was immediately hired in 1970 to coach the Dolphins going unbeaten in 1972 and the Colts? Rosenbloom swapped franchises with Robert Irsay who owned the Rams and Irsay proceeded to slowly ruin them until slinking off to Indianapolis in the cover of darkness in 1984 having been unable to sign John Elway.
The whole family watched that game. The Colts were overwhelming favorites and I was rooting for the Jets! I believe the merger happened in 1970, also. And, even though the Jets had some really good teams through the years, they would never get within sniffing distance of the Super Bowl again. Only the Lions, who have never been close to the SB, were more futile.
One year between when Elway wouldn't sign(1983) and when they snuck out of town(1984)
Carroll Rosenbloom did not fire Don Shula, he went to Miami because of an offer he couldn't refuse , the Dolphins had to give their no 1 draft choice in 1971 to the Colts as ordered by Pete Rozelle( Carroll Rosenbloom was on vacation when he was hired by the Dolphins February 18, 1970, his son Steve gave the Dolphins permission to talk to him)
The Colts had great seasons in 1975 1976 and 1977 then Irsay ran them into the ground
Rosenbloom seemed shady. A gambler, his death was suspicious and it was said he was murdered and the conspiracy may have gone back to SB III where Rosenbloom was rumored to have bet one million dollars on the Jets.
I've heard some football analysists say the real SB that changed the game was SB IV because Kansas City routinely passed on first down, generally a taboo with offensive strategy at that time.
Always thought Dallas, Atlanta and New Orleans should’ve been absorbed by the new AFC. Just add Houston, and you’ve got a great, geographically sound AFC South.
Many CFL players went there. The play style was like watching Canadian football. By amalgamation, the two leagues had covered the USA with teams, making it hard for any startup league in the future.
Raider Nation saying hey and 👍👍👍 … great vid! TY!
Perhaps Lombardi overstated his opinion of the AFL in 1967, but he backed it up with a win in Super Bowl II. When the Jets beat the Colts in III there had been three years of mutual drafts and the quality of the two leagues had come much closer together. Keep in mind that the Jets only beat the Colts by 9 points or so. The Packers were the cream of the league in the 60's. In the Colts/Jets game the Colts were intercepted on the Jets goal line and missed an easy field goal. Only after Johnny U came into the game, in the second half, did the Colts begin to play well, but it was too late.
My favorite picture in this show would be the teams and divisons they played in.
My dad was best friends with the Patriots first quarterback, Burch Songin. Used to play pickup games with him on the Common.
The AFL was the best thing that ever happened to the NFL.
Great doc. Just perfect.
Joe Namath even had his own song
still love & remember the JETS sideline car
Willful, Pig Headed Stubbornness. That was the American Football Leagues real key to success. It's a fact that when Raiders owner Wayne Valley was ready to fold his club, the other owners went to his aid. League founder Lamar Hunt after his team lost a million dollars one season observed "Well at this rate we can last another hundred years." And he meant it! They were in it for the long haul and nothing was going to stop them. It's only natural that by the time the league had been in existence for several seasons, the teams would improve dramatically. The rosters would gradually get stronger. They also had brilliant people in that League. From. Lamar Hunt to Al Davis of the Raiders. A football giant who became coach, Commissioner and Owner of the Raiders. Hank Stram, Sid Gillman, Weeb Ewbank and Lou Saban were just a few of the great coaches the AFL fostered. The AFL went after the best coaches and the best players. While the NFL ignored so much of the great Black talent, the AFL went after EVERYONE. Raiding the historically black colleges and poaching the NFLs quarterbacks. It was a Guerilla War with no rules. No matter what the "Foolish Club" would never yield. After the merger and the Jets victory, Profesional football grew into a multi billion dollar cash cow! The best thing that ever happened to the pro game, were these brilliant owners. Men more stubborn than a field full of Jackasses. They were anything but that.
Don't forget to mention what, now the presidential candidate Trump did for the USFL - are you reading this Democrats?
Back in the day, when you watched AFL FOOTBALL ..... "you were slapped in the face"..... and you loved it!!!
As a Jets fan I long to see them win a SB in my lifetime. Namath put the AFL on the pedestal and NFL is what it is now. No other league can come close to this AFL story. The USFL back in the 80's was close but Trump got greedy with his bright ideas and killed that league.
That's why they call Trump "Orange Dump"
The NFL was Classical Music the AFL was Rock and Roll
RIP John Madden
Before I die, I'd like to see the Texans wear the old Oiler's uniforms.
You took the team from us, at least sell the Texans the Name.
They were the prettiest uniforms ever worn.
No, your lousy city wouldn't step up..the name is permanently retired and belongs in perpetuity to the Adams and their posterity.. ain't gonna happen, forget it
@@mitchelll3879 I read the city agree to add more seats to the stadium then after the seats were added, something went wrong.
The games between KC & Oakland in the Mid to Late 60's were the best there was.
They would fight after every exchange if the ball, lots of personal fouls, players fighting all throughout the game, smdh
Was it the Chiefs Charlie Taylor retaliation 'spear' of Raider Ted Hendricks tackle foul start exciting rivalry brawls !!!
@@barbaraguntfat3047 Ask Ben Davidson!
Well as a guy who has seen every Super Bowl and around way before this.. I often wondered why smaller cities were in the afl? Now think about it.. Only a few things have changed.. Seattle is in the nfl and not the afl anymore.. With the draft it does not matter what league your in as the league seems to level out every few years and the crummy get better and the best go down hill..
I was looking for American soccer history & shoulda realised immediately how football there means what football does in New Zealand - something else . As it is this is very interesting & explains the inspiration behind Englands’ soccer league breakaway in 1993 let alone provide a brilliant history of the game especially for the ignorant soccer supporter of England . The signing of players literally on the touch line is hilarious & some of that stadia from the early 1960s made most British soccer stadia of the 1980s look like cattlesheds 👍
The AFL was an accelerator. When the Jets won Super Bowl III, Alabama still had an all-white team.
Look at the nasty things that Modell said about the AFL, but he was quick to move his Browns over to the AFC when the merger happened.
and many colleges are still all black....
Modell moved to the AFC because he was paid $3 million to do so. Same with the Steelers and Colts.
Bills owner saved the Raiders
I remember seeing it on a blooper reel in a pizza parlor ,Joe Namarh goes back to throw and he's about to get run over and flattened by three defensive players, at the last second he throws the ball to his receiver and hits him right between the numbers, in the back.
The AFL teams were not worse then the NFL teams by 1966. They were worse then the Packers. Guess what....so was the rest of the NFL. They were a dynasty. There is a reason we call it the Vince Lombardi Trophy. It was not a fair comparison. The moment they fell off, the AFL/AFC dominated for a decade. Jets (AFL), KC (AFL), Colts (moved but AFC), Random Cowboys, Dolphins (AFC), Dolphins (AFC), Steelers (NFC version was bad, they only got good with the money of the move to the AFC), Steelers (AFC), Raiders (AFC), Random Cowboys, 2x Steelers (AFC), Raiders (AFC). Remember the one Dolphins team was even undefeated!
Come to think about, the 49ers and Cowboys for a LONG stretch of twenty years were the only legitimate NFL/NFC teams to even win a Super Bowl.
The whole time until the 90's was conquered by the AFL/AFC
I remember watching SB VII as a 10 YO kid, telling the grown-ups that the Dolphins would win. They did and, adults were kinda' quiet.
It's hard to argue about perfection. LOL!
@@MarloSoBalJr how was the 90’s conquered didn’t the bills lost like 4 straight superbowl to nfc teams?
As a young man, I attended that LA Coliseum Super Bowl game. Remember the Dolphins field goal kickers futile pass attempt after a botched attempt? 😮
Joe Namath proved the NFL team wrong. HOF #12 Joe Willie.
Best name in AFL History......Emerson Boozer!!
Fun to see Hawkeye talking to Vince Lombardi
how much better would it be for Football if the AFC was the AFL still...nothing wrong with a little competition. You see what happens where there's a monopoly
It would be like MLB today. AL and NL operating separately but coincide with each other.
NFL vs AFL today would make the Super Bowl an even bigger event
Back in the 1960s CBS had locked up the NFL, so NBC gave TV exposure and needed money for the AFL. Remember, this is when there were only 3 networks and each had considerable strength.
36:55 Shea was about the worst place to watch an NFL game but I loved it.
Went to 2 football games there in the late 70s. Yes, better for baseball.
Great video!!!!
Amazing to think that an AFL franchise could be bought for $25K in 1960. At one point the Raiders were in such dire financial straights that Oakland's Al Davis had to get a loan from Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson to stay afloat. The urban legend is that Raider players would go around the Bay Area in the off-season and go door to door to sell season tickets.
Curt Gowdy narrated the opening and closing, but that sounds like John DeLancie ("Q" of Star Trek fame) doing the narration within the documentary.
These shenanigans by the nfl made me an AFC loyal fan since 1961…….AFC West baby
The AFL is so 60’s. And I mean that as a compliment.
what a blast to see NIXON at 14:30 giving his view
One of the big reasons why the AFL was seen as a second-rate league was the fact that almost all of the league's starting QB's, the most prominent position, were former NFL quarterbacks.
Patriots: Babe Parilli
Buffalo: Jack Kemp
Chiefs: Len Dawson
Oilers: George Blanda
Raiders: Tom Flores
Chargers: Tobin Rote
It was easy for the NFL to call the AFL a league of scrubs because of that. "Oh, they're only good now because they're facing lesser opponents."
🎉😢
That is the way it always goes, you're not as good until you are I guess.
HELL i still love the USFL. the AFL would of been my choice of leagues even thought i live in pittsburgh
The USFL was magical. I felt honored to have the opportunity to see a brand new league kickoff and have potential to exist for many years.
We have the maulers even though they blow. The merger saved our team big time.
USFL from the 80s?
I loved the AFL as a youngster growing up and Broadway Joe was my favorite but watching the Jets on tv with my grandpop was terrible as I listened to him telling me Green bay,,Baltimore or the Bears would crush the Jets and any other Afl team.
I have read at least the first 50 or so comments about this great documentary, and none of them mentioned al Davis! What a travesty!