The Franchises Of The American Football League

The American Football League was started in 1960 by professional football enthusiasts, many of whom had been denied ownership of National Football League franchises, and was set up to compete against the more established NFL. The league consisted of ten teams, though only eight were in the league from the start, and most of them were placed in cities that had no competing NFL franchise. In the beginning the AFL was not given much respect, but through displaying their on team talent and eventually proving themselves equal on the field, they earned the respect of pro football fans every where. There was decent parity in the league with six of the original eight franchises winning a league title during the AFL's existence. Many of the teams experienced instability and many experienced long stretches of success, but in the end when it came time for the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, every AFL franchise was brought into the NFL and eventually proved themselves to be worthwhile additions.

The Boston Patriots
The Patriots spent their entire stay in the AFL as the Boston Patriots, not changing to their later and more famous name of the New England Patriots until 1971. During their AFL run, the Patriots called a number of fields their home fields. They started playing games at Nickerson Field and remained their for three years before spending their next six seasons as the football tenant of the famous Fenway Park, they then played their final season as a member of the AFL in Alumni Stadium at Harvard University. Though the Patriots did not win an AFL Championship and in fact finished the decade with a below .500 record, they were an important part of the league and after a long period of struggling have become one of the more successful franchises in the NFL.

The Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills won back to back AFL titles in 1964 and 1965 and had a very successful run as members of the AFL. Despite their two championships, the Bills still managed to have a below .500 record over the course of their stay in the AFL. Despite this losing record, the Bills ownership was instrumental in the league being successful. The Bills, playing in War Memorial Stadium, were one of only two original AFL franchises to play their home games in the same stadium every year they were in the league. The Bills would go on to experience some early success in the NFL behind star running back O.J. Simpson, before struggling for a number of years. The Bills made their mark in the NFL in the early 1990's with four consecutive Super Bowl appearances, although they did not win any of them.

The Cincinnati Bengals
An ownership group led by former Cleveland Browns founder and head coach Paul Brown was awarded an AFL expansion franchise in 1967. With the groundwork for the AFL-NFL merger already having been laid, Brown agreed to have his team join the AFL only after being assured it would be part of the merged league a few seasons later. The Bengals played both of their AFL season home games in Nippert Stadium and compiled a record of 7-20-1 during their two seasons in the league. After becoming part of the NFL, the Bengals would go on to struggle for a number of years before experiencing some success in the 1980's, culminating in two losing Super Bowl appearances both at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers.

The Dallas Texans
The Dallas Texans were one the most successful AFL franchise during the league's run, winning three championships and going 92-50-5 over ten seasons. Texans' owner Lamar Hunt was instrumental in the founding of the AFL, which he largely pursued after being denied the chance to own an NFL team. The Texans won the third AFL Championship in a double overtime game against the two time championship winning Houston Oilers. The Texans shared the city of Dallas with their NFL counterpart the Cowboys, and after three seasons including a league championship, the Texans determined that the city couldn't support two professional football teams. Looking for a team that he could commute to easily from Dallas, owner Lamar Hunt decided on Kansas City, the team would also be renamed the Chiefs. The Dallas Texans were one of two AFL teams to change their mascot (the other being the Titans/Jets) and also one of two AFL teams to change cities (the other being the Chargers). The Chiefs would experience great success in the AFL, eventually winning the final league championship (Super Bowl IV in 1969) before the AFL-NFL merger was completed. The Chiefs would go on to experience moderate success as full members of the NFL, though they would fall short of repeating the league championship winning ways of their AFL days.

The Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos were one of the original franchises of the AFL in 1960. They were also the least successful of all of the AFL franchises, winning no championships and compiling a record of 39-97-4 during there years in the American Football League. The Broncos were the only original AFL franchise to not have a winning record during their time in the league. Despite this, the Broncos have gone on to become one of the more successful franchises following the merger of the two leagues. The Broncos first experienced success in the late 1970's and experienced it again in the 1980's. Their peak of success came in the late 1990's when quarterback John Elway led them to two consecutive Super Bowl victories.

The Houston Oilers
The Houston Oilers had a great start in the AFL, winning the championship in not only the league's first year, but in the second year as well. They then lost the championship game in their third season in a double overtime game against the Dallas Texans that was at the time the longest professional football game ever played. The Oilers made a big splash early on by signing Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon out of Louisiana State University and it paid off for them. By the time of the AFL-NFL merger though the Oilers career record in the AFL was just three games over .500 (72-69-4). The Oilers also earned a distinction as the first professional football team to play its home games indoors when they moved into the Astrodome for the 1968 season after playing their home games in two different stadiums up to that point (Jeppesen Stadium from 1960-64 and Rice Stadium from 1965-67). After moving on into the NFL, the Oilers would go on to experience some success in the 1970's behind running back Earl Campbell, and in the 1980's behind quarterback Warren Moon, but wouldn't make it back to a championship game until their loss to the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXIV.

The Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles Chargers were one of the more successful AFL franchises, winning one league champtionship and accumulating the second most victories in the league (behind only Dallas/Kansas City) while compiling a record of 88-51-6. After their first season in the league, the Chargers would move to San Diego where they continue to play today. The Chargers were led by quarterback John Hadl and wide receiver Lance Alworth and were coached their entire ten years in the AFL by hall of famer Sid Gillman. The Chargers would go into the NFL and experience success in the early 1980's behind quarterback Dan Fouts, and also again in the early 1990's under head coach Bobby Ross who they would make their first Super Bowl appearance under, only to lose to the San Francisco 49ers. The team would then experience a downturn in their success before rebounding back to become one of the premier teams in the league behind star running back LaDainian Tomlinson.

The Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins joined the AFL as an organization in 1965 when an expansion franchise was awarded to Joseph Robbie and actor Danny Thomas (who would eventually sell his share of the team to Robbie). The Dolphins would play home games during their four years in the AFL in the famous Miami Orange Bowl. The Dolphins record in the AFL was a dismal 15-32-2 and this was corrected in their first year in the NFL when they replaced their head coach with future hall of famer and eventual all time winning head coach Don Shula. The Dolphins would go on to have the first undefeated season by a professional football team in 1972 winning every game all the way through the Super Bowl, a feat that through the 2007 season has yet to be duplicated.

The New York Titans
The New York Titans were one of the original AFL franchises in 1960 and one of only three franchises placed in a city where there was already an NFL franchise. The Titans were respectable during their first two seasons, but after a losing season in 1962 the team's lack of community support almost saw it go into bankruptcy. The franchise was saved from such a fate by a change of ownership, and with this change of ownership came a change in the team name to the New York Jets. This transition saw other changes being made as well, future hall of famer Weeb Ewbank was hired as head coach and the team eventually moved from the Polo Grounds to Shea Stadium. The second half of the 1960's saw the Jets experience great success culminating with an AFL Championship in 1969 and a shocking Super Bowl victory (guaranteed by quarterback Joe Namath) over the NFL's Baltimore Colts. Following their inclusion in the NFL, the Jets would experience a predominantly unsuccessful existence. Though they have had strong teams and made the playoffs from time to time, they have yet to have a chance to win another league championship.

The Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were the last of the original AFL franchises to join the league in 1960. The first few years of the franchise's existence were truly chaotic, and the circumstances that they entered the league under equaled that. An AFL franchise had been awarded to Minnesota, but after the initial AFL draft the owners of the unnamed Minnesota team instead opted to join the NFL. This left the AFL one team short and set them on the task of finding a replacement ownership group and city. The focus shifted to Oakland, California after the owners of the Chargers insisted on another west coast team being added to the league so it would ease the demands on their travel needs. Once Oakland was welcomed into the league they were awarded the rights to the players that the Minnesota organization had drafted. Oakland played their first four home games that first year at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, after that they received permission to play their last three home games in Candlestick Park also in San Francisco. They would later play games at Frank Youell Field before finally settling in at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. The Raiders would struggle early on both on the field and financially and were actually saved from going out of business by a loan from Ralph Wilson, the owner of the Buffalo Bills. The team's fortunes turned around in 1963 under new head coach and general manager Al Davis. The Raiders would improve steadily and win the 1967 AFL Championship before moving on and losing Super Bowl II to the NFL's Green Bay Packers. The Raiders would fit right in with the NFL after the merger, winning one Super Bowl in the 1970's and two in the 1980's.

The American Football League of the 1960's was the most successful challenger to the dominance of the National Football League, eventually forcing a merger that in the end made the combined league stronger and even more dominant than it had been. The AFL was innovative and forced the NFL to evolve into a more modern and exciting game. What made the new league a success was that the AFL was competitive in acquiring the players it needed, competitive in attracting the fan base it needed, and in the end when it won two of the first four Super Bowls, it proved itself competitive on the field as well.

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