Answer to yesterdays question. History The American Football League started in 1960 as competition with the National Football League. Few thought the league would have a chance to succeed, but it was backed by the money and organization of Lamar Hunt. The Hunt family had made billions in oil and were able to provide support for the eight teams in the league, one of which Hunt owned. While the AFL was ridiculed by the more established league because it featured wide open offensive play and seemed to ignore defense, the fans in its cities took to the exciting brand of football. With franchises in Boston, New York, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland and Buffalo, the league soon took hold. The Dallas franchise moved to Kansas City and the Los Angeles team moved to San Diego and the league soon showed staying power. When the AFL signed and drafted college football superstar Joe Namath -- he was signed by the N.Y. Jets -- the NFL knew that its rival was most likely going to survive. Instead of trying to drive the other league out of business, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle initiated negotations with Hunt to merge. The two sides agreed to merge and they decided to play a championship game between the winners of the two leagues following the 1966 season. That first championship game -- named the AFL-NFL Championship Game -- was played in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Jan. 15, 1967. Read more: ehow/about_4570277_who-won-first-super-bowl.html#ixzz2rU29ezCz
Posted on: Sun, 26 Jan 2014 06:30:57 +0000
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