AFL: The Advanced Football League

In many ways, the post 1970 merger NFL assumed the character of the AFL as its own, even as the identity of the AFL was discarded and abandoned. In fact, those of us who grew up watching post 1970 merger NFL football, may have been unaware that we were watching elements of AFL football under the NFL label. In my case, the first NFL season that I recall following as a 9 year old sports fanatic was 1970; which was in fact the very season of the merger itself. Now I knew at the time that Monday Night Football was a new format; but I was otherwise unaware of the historical significance of that particular season in terms of the recent merger between the AFL and the NFL. All I really knew was that my favorite team was the Dallas Cowboys, and that they played in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the NFL. I also knew that there was another conference called the American Football Conference. But as to the historical background of how those two Conferences came to be, I was both clueless, and at the time frankly apathetic. All I really cared about was enjoying the experience of watching and following the exploits of professional football. 

Over the course of that season however, I learned that the AFC consisted primarily of teams that had collectively constituted a separate league to itself that had been called the American Football League. And I discovered that three of the 13 teams; namely the Baltimore Colts, the Cleveland Browns, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, had originally been NFL teams that became AFC teams after the 1969 season. And so as an entry level football fan, I had a somewhat limited understanding that the NFL had been restructured as of 1970. But what I did not realize at the time was that the nature of the game itself was being transformed in the image of the AFL, even though the identity of the AFL was negotiated away as a term of the 1970 merger. 

Now there were two immediate changes to NFL games beginning with the 1970 season which were clearly adopted from the AFL. For commencing in 1970 the names of the players were displayed on their uniforms, and the official game time was reflected on the stadium scoreboard clock. These procedural changes were new to the NFL, but each had been the routine practice of the AFL. The fact is that the AFL had already established itself as the standard bearer with regards to several elements which has made the NFL the fan friendly, entertaining and exciting game that it is today. 

In this regard, the AFL was in many ways the “advanced football league”. In fact there were several technical and procedural practices that were routine to the AFL which were adopted by the NFL even before the 1970 merger. The AFL was the first of the two league’s to have weekly broadcast of regular season games; and the first professional football league to broadcast games in Color. The AFL also utilized mobile camera’s on the sidelines showing a variety of angles in the broadcast of their games, even while the NFL still only had one stationary camera at the 50 yard line. The AFL teams had flashy uniforms and helmet logos while the NFL was still in basic colors with somewhat bland helmet decals. 

Yet the distinctions between the two leagues transcended the technical and procedural. For the AFL was likewise ahead of the NFL with regards to tactics and style of play; namely their aggressive passing schemes. The AFL was airing the ball out so to speak while the NFL was still relying on the run as their primary offensive strategy.  Consequently, the AFL offered a more fan friendly, exciting style of play which featured more yardage and higher scores than the NFL. After the 1970 merger the NFL slowly began opening up their offensive game as well, and today’s on the field product reflects the fan friendly style of open and aggressive offensive strategies which the AFL had demonstrated over 50 years ago. But it even took the NFL 24 years after the merger to introduce an offensive strategy as basic as the Two Point Conversion as a post touchdown scoring option; whereas the AFL had utilized the Two Point Conversion for the entire 10 years of its existence. 

The AFL was not only the advanced league in terms of technical, procedural, and tactical elements of the sport of football; but was even ahead of the NFL as to scouting and staff demographics. The subsequent social demographics of the AFL revealed the cultural conflicts of the era between advanced thinking as contrasted to establishment ideology. For while the NFL was still very slow to draft and sign African American players, the AFL went so far as to scout talent from small Black schools to recruit,draft and sign players based upon skill with disregard to race. 

The subsequent demographic of AFL teams in fact lead to one of the most significant collective boycotts in sports history when players from the 1964 AFL All Star teams refused to play in New Orleans after several of the African American players were the victims of bullying and racial bigotry by some of the locals in the days leading up to the game. When the players; both black and white alike, refused to play the game under such circumstances, the venue was moved to Houston. Even then, some of the key players involved in the boycott were labeled for their role in the collective action, so much so that Kansas City star Abner Haynes actually received a disciplinary letter from his own team regarding the matter. Despite the negative response from certain teams after the fact, the collective boycott of the AFL 1964 All Star players nonetheless brought attention to racial bigotry in our country at the height of the Civil Rights Movement. In this consideration, the openness of the AFL to the inclusion of African American players to a sport heretofore disproportionately white, created an integrated demographic which challenged conventional ideology, and which in a moment of call to integrity, lead to one of the most principled collective boycotts in sports history. 

In conclusion, the post 1970 merger NFL has been decades of the ongoing development of technical, tactical, and social practices which were basic to the AFL; the forerunner and standard bearer of highly entertaining fan friendly football. The identity of the AFL may have ended in 1970 when the merger occurred, but it’s influential role as the Advanced Football League lives on in history, and is demonstrated each season that the NFL continues to implement AFL style football even into the 21st Century.

Long live the memory of the AFL.

Dave Henderson