1963: Transitional Season In The AFL

1963 was a year of transition for the AFL. Before the season even began there were team makeovers, name changes, and an unexpected relocation. There were name worthy personnel changes and noticeable power shifts. And the season ended with an unanswered challenge which could have potentially featured the first ever Super Bowl. In 1963:

The Texans became the Chiefs.

The Titans became the Jets.

The Raiders became the Raiders. (The redundancy will be explained)

And the Chargers became the Champs.

When the 1962 AFL Champion Dallas Texans departed from Dallas a mere few months after they had defeated the two time defending AFL champion Houston Oilers on December 23, 1962 in that season’s AFL Championship Game, the trend was set for the variety of changes that the league was to experience throughout the 1963 season. By abandoning the city of Dallas to the Cowboys, Big D from that time forward became an NFL town. But the departing organization was welcomed by a city that was enthusiastic for a professional football franchise, and so began the era of the Kansas City Chiefs. The relocation of the defending AFL Champions was but one of many changes to come within the league.

Two teams experienced makeovers intended to distance each respective organization from their early years of ineptness both on the field and at the highest level of team management. The Titans of New York; aka the New York Titans, initially enjoyed moderate success on the field of play, posting a 7-7 record in each of the league’s first two seasons of play in 1960 and again in 1961. But in 1962, as their record slipped to 5-9, the Titans’ lack of gridiron success was further surpassed by the financial woes of the ownership. Struggling to even cover payroll, responsibility for the team was assumed by the league itself before the completion of the 1962 season. When a new ownership took over after that fiasco, the primary owner Sonny Werblin changed the name of the team and the color of the uniforms. And so beginning in 1963 the Titans of New York became the Kelly green clad New York Jets. Although the new look did not net immediate results on the field, the hiring of NFL Champion Weeb Ewbank as the new Head Coach laid the groundwork for the historic success that the revamped AFL New York franchise would experience in the years to come.

The origin of the Oakland Raiders was a haphazard affair through no fault of their own. The Oakland franchise had replaced the Minneapolis organization which sold out to the NFL shortly after the initial AFL Draft, and so the Raiders originated as a group of players who were still available after the league Draft secured the best talent that had been available in the Autumn of 1959. The effects of their humble beginnings bottomed out when they were 1-13 in 1962. But in early 1963, the Raiders hired a young Chargers Assistant, Al Davis to be their new Head Coach. Davis immediately changed the atmosphere of the Raiders organization, and the positive results were instant. In their new silver and black clad uniforms, and with the addition of Titans receiver Art Powell, the remade Oakland Raiders utilized Sid Gillman’s vertical game that Davis had learned while on the Chargers coaching staff. Subsequently, the revamped Raiders immediately became one of the most lethal and productive Offenses in the AFL, and actually finished second in the West, with a record of 10-4. The entire attitude of the team was recreated in the image of their new brash Head Coach, who was recognized as the Coach of the Year due to the team’s turnaround. In essence, the Oakland Raiders “commitment to excellence” and “just win baby” attitude originated in 1963, the year the Raiders as they have been known ever since initially came to be.

In 1963, there was a notable power shift within the AFL. Whereas all three of the league champions to date had been from Texas, the 1963 AFL Championship Game was the first ever without a representative of the Lone Star State. The Texans had relocated to Kansas City, and finished third in the West to the revamped Oakland Raiders and the three time West Champion San Diego Chargers. Meanwhile the aging Houston Oilers relinquished their three peat East Title as they likewise descended to a third place finish. In fact, the two best teams of 1963 were the Chargers and the Raiders, as the power within the league shifted from the Lone Star State to the West Coast.

The 1963 AFL Championship Game pitted the West Division Champion San Diego Chargers against the Boston Patriots, who won the East Title in spite of posting their worst record since 1960. The Patriots were only 7-6-1 for the season, but they did boast an aggressive and stingy defense that specialized in brutalizing opponents with Red Dog blitzes. The game turned out to be a mismatch as Gillman’s game plan to confuse the blitzing Boston Defense with pre snap backfield in motion maneuvers was executed flawlessly and to perfection. From the outset, the Chargers seemingly scored at will. Keith Lincoln’s 329 all purpose yards performance is the most ever accumulated in a regulation professional football game. The versatile Lincoln in fact had over 100 yards receiving to complement his 206 yards rushing. In addition, Chargers tail back Paul Lowe gained 94 yards on the ground, including a 58 yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Sid Gillman game plan to stretch the field and utilize every available space in order to advance the football was realized in its most effective manner that day as the Chargers crushed the Patriots by the score of 51-10 and claimed the AFL Title.

But for the innovative and competitive Gillman, the claim to the AFL Title was only a step to the ultimate quest. For the day after his Chargers had conquered the Patriots, Gillman sent a telegram to Pete Rozelle, challenging the NFL Commissioner to authorize a game between the NFL Champion Chicago Bears and his AFL Champion San Diego Chargers. In essence, Gillman was suggesting an AFL-NFL Championship Game before the fact. With minimal explanation, Rozelle declined the challenge. Not to be outdone, the irrepressible Gillman had the AFL championship ring of each member of the Chargers team inscribed “1963 AFL and World Champions.” Gillman went on to explain “If anyone wants to dispute that claim, just let them play us.”

1963 was indeed a transitional season for the AFL, with notable implications that directly affected the duration of the history of the league itself. The decision to relocate the AFL’s charter team, the Dallas Texans, to Kansas City may very well have salvaged the very existence of the franchise itself. The Chiefs would subsequently represent the AFL in two Super Bowls, including a victory over the Minnesota Vikings in the last game ever played by an AFL team. Likewise the purchase of the New York Titans by Sonny Werblin probably salvaged the existence of the renamed Jets franchise, and the subsequent hiring of Head Coach Weeb Ewbank paved the way for their historic victory over the NFL’s Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III after the 1968 season. The hiring of Head Coach Al Davis by the Oakland Raiders not only led to instant respectability for the AFL’s Bay Area team, but also to his selection as AFL Commissioner in 1966, which indirectly resulted in the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. And Sid Gillman’s unanswered challenge to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle to play a postseason inter league Championship Game put the NFL on notice that the AFL would no longer accept the role of inferior league.

Ironically enough, Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are a-Changin’” was recorded in 1963, and then released a week after Sid Gillman’s unanswered challenge to the NFL to put up or shut up. For the AFL, 1963 was a transitional season, and in the world of professional football, the times were indeed a-Changin’.

Long live the memory of the AFL

Lenny The Cool Dawson

Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame quarterback Len Dawson is known to teammates and fans alike as “Lenny the Cool”. The nickname was earned by way of circumstance and demeanor. From the very beginning of and throughout his entire professional football career, Dawson experienced a series of personal, professional and even legal challenges which threatened his career, his health, and potentially his liberty. Each such challenge was met with the cool and calm efficiency that characterized the life of “Lenny the Cool” Dawson.

Dawson was a highly recognized and heavily recruited student athlete from Alliance, Ohio when he graduated High School in 1953. Though he had the opportunity to play football for Ohio State University, he chose to leave his home state and attend Purdue instead. There were two factors that influenced his decision. Firstly, Ohio State was adopting the T Formation Offense which would be more run oriented and would rely less on Dawson’s passing skills. Secondly, he had formed a close relationship with the young Assistant from Purdue who had recruited him.

When Len Dawson chose to play for Purdue, both a great Collegiate career ensued, as well as the beginning of a great relationship between the young quarterback and the Assistant Coach who lured him from his home state to become the Boilermakers signal caller. For in time; and especially in the 1960’s to mid ‘70s; Len Dawson and Hank Stram would be associated as close personal friends and as a highly successful coach and quarterback duo.

Yet the pathway to a successful and productive professional football career was no means a conventional route for Dawson in spite of a stellar record setting career at Purdue. For though Dawson was selected fifth overall in the 1957 NFL Draft when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him as their Number One Draft Pick, he actually spent the next five years sitting on the bench for the Steelers and eventually for the Cleveland Browns. Ironically enough, Dawson had been chosen one selection ahead of the legendary Jim Brown in the ‘57 Draft, who had already established himself as one of the greatest running backs ever by the time Dawson was warming the bench for the Browns in the early ‘60s.

Then, one day in 1962 he had lunch with Hank Stram, his friend and former Coach from his happier days at Purdue. As Dawson poured his heart out to Stram about his frustration over his gridiron inactivity, his former coach offered a proposal. Stram, who was by now the Head Coach of the Dallas Texans of the AFL, told the frustrated young Brown’s quarterback that if he was ever unemployed, that he might consider signing with the Texans. That meal and topic of their discussion basically amounted to another recruiting effort by the crafty Stram. And just as had been the case nine years earlier when Dawson was a teenage star athlete straight out of High School, the now exasperated bench warmer took Stram’s pitch to heart.

So much so in fact that shortly after the visit with his former college coach, Dawson made the proactive request to be released by the Browns. The fact that Paul Brown so readily acquiesced to his reserve quarterback’s request by immediately granting his release is quite revealing as to how far the former collegiate star had fallen in terms of expectations within the Browns’ organization. And then the fact that the former collegiate star did not receive a call from a single other NFL team in the weeks following his release from the Browns reveals that at that point in his career Len Dawson was an unofficial bust in the view of the league itself. It being obvious that he would not be receiving any better offers, Dawson signed with the Dallas Texans on June 30, 1962.

When he arrived in Dallas, Len Dawson was received with high expectations from Stram and the Texans organization. Almost immediately Len Dawson disappointed those expectations. By all accounts, including his own, Dawson was horrible in the early days of training camp. Stram was simply aghast at how five years of inactivity had diminished the skills and the mechanics of the once great quarterback. The play of Dawson was so bad in the early days of camp that Stram was advised to release him and cut his losses. But his former coach believed in his skills, and he worked personally with Dawson on his mechanics and timing. Dawson himself would admit years later that his performance in the early days of camp was so bad that he honestly believed that any coach other than his old friend Hank Stram would have cut him. But under the personal eye of Stram’s on field instruction, he restored his timing and regained his mechanics. By the end of training camp Dawson had won the job as the starting quarterback for the Dallas Texans. And less than six months after he signed with the team, the Dallas Texans were AFL Western Division champions. Subsequently, on December 23, 1962 they squared off against the two time defending league champion Houston Oilers in the AFL Championship Game.

As Len Dawson had seemingly been operating against the wind his entire professional career, it seemed only fitting that he and the Texans had to operate against the fierce winds of a blue norther during the 5th quarter of the AFL’s first sudden death overtime playoff game that late December afternoon in Houston’s Jeppeson Stadium. It must have seemed inconceivable to everyone on the Dallas sideline that they were in such dire straits after blowing a 17-0 halftime lead. As it was now, whichever team took the lead and broke the 17-17 tie entering overtime would instantly win the game and thereby earn the 1962 AFL Title. The odds of dethroning the George Blanda led two time defending AFL champion Houston Oilers seemed slim to none, when due to confused communication at the overtime coin toss, the Texans had to kick into the wind to open the 5th quarter of play. But the Texans defense held strong throughout the first quarter of overtime, and the momentum shifted in direct proportion to the changing of the field positions as the Texans opened up the 6th quarter with possession of the ball in Houston territory and the strong winds at their backs. 2:54 later when the football sailed through the uprights off the toe of Tommy Brooker’s successful 25 yard field goal conversion, the longest championship game in professional football history came to an end, and the Dallas Texans were the 1962 AFL Champions.

The Texans were proud to return to Dallas as Big D’s first professional sports championship team. Six months after Len Dawson had been an unemployed NFL bust, he was now the league’s Most Valuable Player and an AFL champion quarterback. The turnaround was a whirlwind experience. Dawson had only a few weeks to enjoy his personal and team achievements when he and his teammates were shocked with the news that the Texans were to be relocated to Kansas City. Team Owner Lamar Hunt was no longer able to compete financially with the NFL backed Cowboys, and in spite of having delivered Dallas their first ever professional sports championship, he had to abandon his home town to the NFL in order to seek a more readily accepting fan base in a more reasonable financial arrangement. And so in the summer of 1963 the Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs.

Although Dawson was productive from the outset, the first three seasons in Kansas City were difficult years for the team itself. Aside from the failure of the team during their early years in Kansas City to return to their championship status, the players themselves were overwhelmed by tragedy in 1963 and again in 1965. Two young Chiefs players; Stone Johnson and Mack Lee Hill, each passed away in tragic and unexpected circumstances. Johnson sustained a broken neck in one of the first preseason games ever for Kansas City, and passed away about a week later. Hill died quite unexpectedly in 1965 on the operating table while having an injured knee repaired. And so before the Chiefs played their first regular season game in 1963, they were dealing with the emotional trauma of the death of a teammate and a friend in Stone Johnson; and then a mere two years later they were once again in mourning over the loss of another friend and teammate when Hill passed away. Clearly, the first three seasons In Kansas City were difficult years for each and every member of the team as they endured emotional hardships while in the process of adjusting to new surroundings as their venue for their gridiron endeavors.

1966 ushered in changes league wide when the announcement was made that a merger of the AFL and the NFL would be effective in 1970. Relative to the merger agreement, effective at the conclusion of the 1966 season there would be an annual championship game between the champions of each respective league. Although initially referred to as the NFL-AFL Championship Game, the merger agreement of the AFL and the NFL entailed the origin of the Super Bowl.

Dawson had by this time already established himself as one of the league’s most accurate passers, and 1966 proved to be one of his best seasons since the relocation to Kansas City. As had been the case the previous season, Dawson led the league in passing efficiency, but he was also the league leader in touchdown passes for the first time since 1963. Most significantly, he guided the Chiefs to a 31-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the league championship game, thus delivering a second city their first professional football championship in a matter of four years. And in the most unlikely of scenarios, the NFL bust just five years earlier, had the opportunity to be the first quarterback to ever face the NFL in a league versus league championship game.

The opportunity to square off against the best of the NFL produced a competitive first half. In fact, going into the locker room at halftime Dawson and the Chiefs trailed the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers by the close score of 14-10. But early in the second half the usually dependable and accurate Dawson tossed an ill-advised pass that was intercepted and returned 50 yards to the Chiefs 5 yard line. The game was never the same after that turnover, as the Packers scored 21 unanswered points from that play until the end of their 35-10 victory in the first ever NFL-AFL Championship Game. Although the Packers were more than likely truly the better team of the two, Dawson has historically taken responsibility for the loss based upon his inerrant throw that proved to be the turning point in the game.

Consistent to his nature, Dawson rebounded from the Chiefs disappointing loss in the 1966 NFL-AFL Championship Game (later referred to as Super Bowl I), and proceeded to continue his run of six consecutive seasons of league leading efficiency through 1969. Despite his steady productivity though, the Chiefs themselves were unable to return to the AFL Championship Game in either of the two seasons following their disheartening loss to the Packers. Going into the 1969 season however; hopes were high that this would be the year that the Chiefs might once again win the AFL Title and have another shot at playing the best of the NFL in the fourth Super Bowl. In spite of having to open the season with four consecutive road games due to scheduling conflicts with the KC Royals over the utility of Municipal Stadium, the Chiefs won their first two games, including a shutout over Boston in Week 2. Dawson however went down in the Boston shutout with a potentially season ending knee injury. When backup quarterback Jacky Lee broke his ankle in the third game, the prospects of post season triumphs seemed bleak as Kansas City entered Week 4 with a 2-1 record and a third string signal caller at the helm.

After consulting several physicians, Dawson decided to forego surgery on his knee in lieu of alternative treatment, and was prepared to return to action five games later. Meanwhile, 3rd String quarterback Mike Livingston led the Chiefs to a five game winning streak. Dawson returned to action briefly in Week 8 in a 29-7 victory over Buffalo, and his initial post recovery start was the following week, when KC defeated the Chargers 27-3. Having played a full game after his recovery, Dawson was prepared to lead the Chiefs against the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets when personal tragedy struck the physically recovering quarterback.

On Friday November 14th, two days before the game with the Jets, Len Dawson learned that his Father had passed away in his home town of Alliance, Ohio. After consulting with his family, Dawson opted to play the game on Sunday. After leading the Chiefs to a 34-16 victory over the Jets with a masterful 23 for 38, including three touchdown passes performance, the grieving Dawson returned home to Ohio to mourn with his family. The next week he was back in the lineup.

Dawson nursed his ailing knee throughout the remainder of the regular season, sitting out only one game in Week 13 versus Buffalo. When the season concluded with a disappointing 10-6 loss at Oakland to the Western Division Champion Raiders, the Chiefs were relegated to a Wild Card entry into the 1969 playoffs. The odds of winning the League title with consecutive road victories against each respective Division winner was an unlikely scenario, yet backed by one of the greatest single season Defensive units ever, Lenny the Cool and the Kansas City Chiefs were up to the task. After a 13-6 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion New York Jets at Shea Stadium in the Divisional Round on December 20th, the Chiefs celebrated the new decade by defeating their rival Raiders in Oakland on January 4th by the score of 17-7 to claim the 1969 AFL Title. The Kansas City Chiefs would thus be the last team to play in the AFL, and the only team ever to represent the league twice in the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl IV featured the Kansas City Chiefs versus the Minnesota Vikings in the final Championship Game between the AFL and the NFL. As per the mutual merger agreement of 1966, the two leagues would merge beginning with the 1970 season. There was a sense of league pride associated with this game which put pressure on both teams to prevail. NFL apologists were hopeful that the Vikings would win big in order to alleviate the painful effects of the outcome of the previous season’s Super Bowl when the AFL New York Jets had upset the highly favored Baltimore Colts 16-7. As the Vikings were an 18 point favorite by kickoff, those NFL apologists were counting on Minnesota to prove the Jets victory a fluke, and thereby resume a presumed stature of league superiority entering the merger. AFL fans meanwhile were equally as anxious for the Chiefs to prevail in order to affirm the credibility that the outcome of the previous Super Bowl had already established. Additionally, there was a sense of urgency to defeat the Vikings specifically, since the Minneapolis franchise was originally an AFL team whose ownership had sold out to the NFL after the original AFL Draft in November of 1959, thereby creating havoc which could have potentially ended the efforts of the new league to successfully originate. The pressure each team experienced in preparation for the fourth Super Bowl notwithstanding; there was no individual on either side more under the gun than Lenny the Cool.

About a week before the Super Bowl, the story circulated through the Press that Len Dawson had ties to an illegal gambling ring. The accusations related to the arrest of a known gambler whose last name by coincidence was Dawson. Though no relation to Lenny the Cool, the Chiefs’ quarterback acknowledged being acquaintanced with the gambler. He also admitted that the two had spoken recently when the gambler Dawson called the quarterback Dawson to offer personal condolences regarding the recent passing of his father. But Lenny the Cool denied any involvement with the gambling affairs, nor was there any evidence of any such illicit activity. Other professional quarterbacks were likewise implicated and in turn cleared of any wrongdoing, but Dawson was the only quarterback who had to play that Sunday’s Super Bowl under the duress of a cloud of suspicion. The stress on Dawson was noted by teammates and Coach Stram, who acknowledged that their signal caller was even more quiet than usual.

A story in the New York Times the day prior to the game graphically related the grim reality of Dawson’s dilemma. Despite the fact that the Chiefs were 18 point underdogs to “the unbeatable” Vikings, a loss in the context of the allegations of illegal gambling would forever lead to suspicions that Dawson threw the game. Furthermore, the Times story accurately assessed that the least inefficiency by Dawson would raise questions as to his personal integrity. In essence, the least inerrant throw, and especially any untimely interceptions that might lead to a victory by the Vikings could potentially do irreparable damage to his reputation

and even derail what had become by now a highly successful professional football career. In the context of the allegations that loomed over the entire week leading into the game itself, it no longer mattered that he was ailing from an injured knee or even that he was mourning the recent death of his father. As the Times article accurately asserted on the eve of the Super Bowl, the next day Len Dawson would be playing for his personal reputation and possibly for his very career. His performance the next day was the essence of the legacy of Lenny the Cool.

On January 11, 1970 Len Dawson executed his game plan nearly flawlessly and thereby engineered a decisive victory over the heavily favored Vikings. Dawson was 12 for 17 with only one interception, and the outcome of the game was never in any serious doubt. Kansas City’s 23-7 victory over the 18 point favored Minnesota Vikings sustained the credibility of both the AFL as a league and Len Dawson as a person.

Super Bowl IV was the apex of Dawson’s career. From 1962-1969 he threw more touchdowns than any other quarterback in either league, led the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs to an unprecedented three AFL Titles, and engineered a Super Bowl victory in the final game between teams from the AFL and the NFL. After the merger, Dawson went on to play six additional seasons in the dual conference NFL. He retired following the 1975 season after a 19 year professional football career, and was inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

Long live the memory of Lenny the Cool Dawson.

Long live the memory of the AFL.

The Dallas Roots of the American Football League

Having been raised in the Dallas area in the 60’s and 70’s, I naturally write from the perspective of my beloved hometown. That said, in my mind, the history of the AFL is rooted in the city of Dallas. For indeed, the very concept of an alternative league to the established NFL originated in the mind of Dallas native Lamar Hunt. The son of millionaire oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, Lamar was an avid sports fan who had been a reserve tight end for the SMU football team in the early 1950’s. After his college days, Hunt became determined to use his financial backing to establish an NFL franchise in Dallas. Unfortunately, his efforts to purchase the floundering Chicago Cardinals in the latter years of the decade were unsuccessful, and he was likewise unable to sell the idea of establishing an NFL expansion franchise in Dallas to George Halas, the Owner/Coach of the Chicago Bears. As the head of an Expansion Committee that never even was known to assemble, Halas was for all practical purposes the official NFL spokesperson regarding such matters. Other Dallas businessman; namely J. Curtis Sanford and Clint Murchison, Jr, had also approached the NFL during the late 1950’s about establishing an expansion team in Big D, but they likewise were turned away empty handed.

The NFL simply seemed disinterested in attempting to expand into a market that had failed so miserably just a few years prior. For Dallas had indeed been home to one of the worst single season teams in the league’s history; the 1952 Dallas Texans. The Texans had been unable to win a single game before the League felt compelled to transform them into a sort of traveling squad, in order to simply complete its one single season of existence. Ironically, that ill fated team did finally net a single victory late that season as a traveling squad based out of Hershey, PA; all the while still retaining their identity as the Dallas Texans. Nonetheless; the NFL disbanded the Dallas Texans team immediately following that season, and seemingly abandoned Big D as a viable professional football city.

It being evident then that he could neither purchase or establish an NFL team to represent his beloved hometown, the wealthy and persistent Hunt pursued the idea of forming a new professional football league which would include a team based out of Dallas. In February of 1959; Hunt learned that Bud Adams of Houston had likewise been turned away by the NFL when he had expressed an interest in establishing an NFL franchise in Houston. Subsequently, Hunt contacted Adams regarding the notion of forming a new league, which would feature teams in Dallas and Houston. Adams, himself the son of a wealthy Houston oil man, enthusiastically teamed up with Hunt to pursue the possibility of establishing an alternate professional league. Within months, Hunt had commitments from Bob Howsom in Denver, and Max Winter and his business partner Bill Boyer in Minneapolis. Shortly thereafter; Harry Wismer in New York City and Barron Hilton in LA joined the effort.

On August 14, 1959; at its initial League Meeting in Chicago, the franchises from each of these six respective cities formally joined Hunt’s as yet unnamed professional football league, even as plans were in process to field two more teams in time to kick off an inaugural season in 1960. Then, just over a week later, the new league was officially named the American Football League at another League meeting in Dallas; which was the location of its Headquarters. The rapid progress towards the realization of the AFL was doubtlessly encouraging, but unforeseen challenges to the effort were underway. Unbeknownst to Hunt and his fellow AFL owners, Halas and the NFL were operating behind the scenes to undermine their efforts.

Even earlier, Halas had already attempted to entice Hunt and Adams to sell out the other potential league owners when it became increasingly evident that the ongoing labors towards establishing an alternative professional football league might actually succeed. At that time, the crafty NFL spokesman had promised both oil men that if they would abandon the effort to establish an alternative league, then each would subsequently be rewarded with partial ownership in NFL franchises in Dallas and Houston. The irony of the offer is evident. The only reason Hunt and Adams had even pursued the idea of forming an alternative league in the first place is because their respective efforts to establish NFL franchises in Dallas and Houston had been rejected, muchly due to the influence of Halas himself. Even that consideration notwithstanding; by the time Halas made this offer, money had already changed hands and the preparatory phase of the pending League was well underway. Hunt held firm in his commitment to his fellow investors and to the concept of an alternative league. Adams is said to have declined the offer because he regarded himself as a man of his word. Halas, himself a resourceful and persistent person, decided to pursue further avenues to uproot the AFL before the embryonic effort germinated into a gridiron reality. In fact, his next maneuver caught Hunt completely unawares.

On August 29, 1959; only two weeks after the announcement that the AFL would kick off in 1960, Halas made a public announcement to the Press which amounted to a declaration of war against the AFL. At the time, he was in Houston for an NFL exhibition game between his Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. This gridiron contest had ironically been arranged by Bud Adams before he had established the pending AFL Houston franchise. In a complete turnabout from his determined opposition to the notion just a few months earlier, Halas chose this occasion to break the news that the NFL now indeed did plan to expand, with the intent to establish and field two new teams in 1961. He further identified Dallas and Houston as the two most likely locations of the new NFL franchises, and even named Dallas oilman Clint Murchison Jr. as the likely owner of the prospective Dallas team. Ironically Murchison; like Hunt, had also been denied by Halas when he himself had inquired earlier that very year regarding the possibility of establishing an NFL team in Dallas.

When Hunt learned the news regarding Halas’ announcement, he was livid. The following day he issued a statement of his own to the local reporter who had initially informed him of this latest development. Within days both Dallas newspapers had printed articles which publicized Hunt’s frustration over the NFL’s sudden plans to expand into the two Texas cities which were clearly the hub of the early development of the AFL. Hunt contended that whereas he and his fellow AFL team owners had made all efforts to maintain amicable relations with the NFL throughout the process of establishing themselves as an alternative professional league; that Halas and the NFL were obviously not interested in operating in accord. He reviewed the recent history of the NFL’s consistent resistance against the notion of expansion, in spite of several opportunities to establish franchises in a number of viable cities, and noted that among the potential markets for professional football which had been rejected by the NFL were both the cities of Dallas and Houston. Hunt thus reasoned that the NFL’s inexplicable newfound interest in establishing franchises in Dallas and Houston was a transparent effort to hinder the operation of the AFL franchises in those two major Texas cities.

Having raised Hunt’s dander with the obvious ploy to undermine his efforts to establish a professional football team in Dallas, the NFL nonetheless continued over the next several weeks to entice him to sell out his fellow AFL owners. Both Murchison and Halas on separate occasions offered Hunt a financial stake in the hastily planned NFL Dallas team, which was still scheduled to commence play in 1961. Hunt continued to decline such offers, again noting that money had already changed hands, and that he himself had already invested an abundance of time, money, and effort to establish the AFL in order to bring professional football to Dallas. In essence the efforts by the NFL were a matter of “too little, too late”, for had the league accepted Hunt’s own offers to establish an NFL franchise in Big D a mere few months earlier, then they never would have had to contend with the perceived threat of a rival league.

When it became clear that Hunt simply would not sell out his fellow AFL owners, and as it became increasingly evident that the AFL was developing into an actual functioning professional football league, Halas the NFL expansion suppressor transformed into a zealot for immediate league expansion. No longer satisfied with fielding teams in Dallas and Houston as late as 1961, Halas now even used the occasion of Bert Bell’s funeral in October of 1959 to promote the notion of fielding NFL teams in both Texas cities in 1960. Bell, the longtime Commissioner of the NFL, had suffered a fatal heart attack on October 11, 1959, while attending a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. During Bell’s funeral, Halas circulated among the other NFL team owners, soliciting support to move the time frame for fielding both newly proposed Texas teams forward to 1960. Later that month, Halas made the public announcement that the NFL definitely would field an expansion team in Dallas in 1960, with plans to likewise field a new team in Houston in 1961.

The haste with which the NFL Dallas team was assembled caused a strategic challenge, inasmuch as the organization was being formed too late to participate in the annual NFL Draft. The challenge to field even an expansion worthy team without participating in the Draft seemed highly unlikely. Halas himself would eventually intervene on behalf of the prospective Dallas team in order to supply a certain key player to their squad, but he also had to deal with unexpected problems in Houston which forced his attention towards securing the 1961 NFL expansion team. For within weeks of announcing the NFL’s planned 1961 Houston franchise, negotiations between the NFL and Rice University regarding the use of their stadium failed, and thus Houston was no longer a viable option for Halas’ proposed 1961 NFL franchise. That setback notwithstanding; Halas remained as determined as ever to secure a second expansion team in his relentless efforts to uproot the obviously developing rival AFL.

By late October of that year; Ralph Wilson had formed an AFL Buffalo franchise, after failing to work a deal to do so in Miami. With the establishment of a Boston AFL franchise a few weeks later by New Englander Billy Sullivan; the nucleus of the American Football League appeared to have finally completely developed. The addition of these two franchises in Boston and Buffalo to the already established teams in Dallas, Houston, Denver, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and New York constituted the pending American Football League. The eight city league now fully established, the initial AFL Draft was scheduled to take place in Minneapolis on November 22–23, 1959. But then just when everything seemed to finally be coming together for Hunt and his fellow owners, Halas struck a blow that seemed to jeopardize the entire existence of the AFL.

For on the very eve of the Draft, news broke that Minneapolis had defected to the NFL. Although Winter initially denied the report, there was allegedly a heated discussion that evening among the AFL owners. Hunt however issued a statement that denied the validity of the report, and so the draft in Minneapolis took place as scheduled. The rumors that the Minneapolis franchise would nonetheless defect to the NFL continued over the next few weeks, and by January of 1960 those rumors were confirmed. Indeed, Winter and his group had come to an agreement with Halas to defect to the NFL, with plans underway to field a Minneapolis NFL team in 1961. The timing of Winter’s actions could not have been worse. The ever resilient Hunt however rebounded quickly, and so despite the awkward circumstances, he simply proceeded to secure an eighth AFL team to replace the departing Minneapolis group.

The eighth and final franchise which once and for all fulfilled the AFL “original eight” was established in Oakland by Chet Soda and his associates. Similar to the strategic issues facing the hastily established NFL Dallas team, the AFL Bay Area team was challenged with the monumental task of fielding a team without the benefit of participation in the AFL Draft the previous November. As it turned out, a portion of Minneapolis’ picks were eventually surrendered to Oakland, but most of Minneapolis’ picks had already been signed by the NFL, the Canadian Football League, and even by some of the other AFL teams by the time the Oakland franchise was established. Thus, in order to accommodate the AFL’s Bay Area latecomers, there was a supplemental “allocation” draft held on their behalf in January, 1961. And so although Halas successfully lured the Minneapolis franchise away from the AFL, the resilient efforts of the embryonic AFL nonetheless prevailed with the establishment of the Oakland franchise. But Halas was still not yet done in his efforts to undermine the AFL.

The issue of fielding even a remotely competitive team for the NFL Dallas Rangers (later Cowboys) actually provided Halas with yet another opportunity to undermine the AFL Dallas Texans. The Texans #1 selection in the AFL draft had been native Texan and local SMU hero Dandy Don Meredith. Since the Rangers could not participate in the NFL Draft, then there appeared to be no chance for them to make a play for Meredith, who had been one of the nation’s top quarterbacks during his collegiate career. But the ever proactive Halas intervened with a plan which would both secure Meredith’s services for the NFL Rangers, and at the same time undermine the AFL Texans.

Halas first talked all the other NFL owners into not drafting Meredith, so that Halas’ Chicago Bears could draft the SMU superstar in the 3rd Round. Then Halas traded Meredith to the Rangers for a future draft pick. The very fact that Halas was able to convince all the other NFL owners to agree to such an arrangement is indicative of the power and influence that the Bears Owner/Head Coach wielded within the entire league. This scheme went exactly to plan. Dandy Don Meredith; the AFL Dallas Texans #1 ever draft pick, signed with the NFL Dallas Rangers, in spite of the fact that the hastily established expansion team was not even able to participate in the 1960 NFL Draft.

By wooing Minneapolis from the AFL, and Meredith from the Dallas Texans; Halas indeed dealt blows to both Hunt’s league and team. Yet as had been the case throughout the entire experience of his attempts to bring professional football to his hometown, Hunt endured and proceeded. Clearly, Halas had employed a variety of efforts throughout most of 1959 to hinder Hunt’s initial quest to establish a professional football team in his hometown, and to undermine Hunt’s secondary plan to form a new league in order to fulfill his primary objective. Yet ultimately, both the Dallas Texans and the entire AFL not only endured and came to be, but each of the “original eight” AFL teams exists and operates to this day. And so in the Fall of 1960, the AFL officially kicked off; featuring the following teams:

Boston Patriots (now New England)

Buffalo Bills

Dallas Texans (now Kansas City)

Denver Broncos

Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans)

Los Angeles Chargers (long time San Diego Chargers; now again LA)

New York Titan (now Jets)

Oakland Raiders (now Las Vegas Raiders; for several years LA)

The NFL Dallas Rangers of course, changed their name to the Cowboys, and they likewise kicked off their inaugural season in the Fall of 1960. Dandy Don Meredith would eventually quarterback the Cowboys to several playoff appearances; including consecutive NFL Championship Games, before retiring after nine seasons before the 1969 season. Although a three time Pro Bowler and member of the Dallas Cowboy Ring of Honor; Dandy Don is best known as an Announcer for Monday Night Football, a career move which ironically coincided with the merger of the AFL and the NFL in 1970.

The fact that Halas was able to outmaneuver Hunt for the NFL services of Meredith most definitely had an adverse effect upon the AFL Dallas Texans. For indeed the Texans did struggle with somewhat mediocre performances at the quarterback position throughout the 1960–1961 seasons. The Houston Oilers having been led to the initial back to back AFL Championships by the savvy NFL reject quarterback George Blanda; the Texans followed suit and signed an NFL reject quarterback named Len Dawson.

“Lenny the Cool” would subsequently lead the Texans to victory in the 1962 AFL Championship Game against the defending two time AFL Champion Oilers. Surprisingly, the Texans victory over their cross state rival Oilers that day would be the last game in the history of the Dallas Texans. For shortly thereafter, the defending 1962 AFL Champions Dallas Texans shocked many by relocating to Kansas City. Three years of competing with the NFL for the Dallas professional football market was simply too expensive for Hunt to maintain. Hunt had done his best to overcome Halas, and he had even delivered the people of Dallas their first ever professional football championship, but ultimately he lost the battle for Big D. Dallas was from 1963 forward strictly an NFL town.

Although Dallas has been an NFL town since the departure of the Texans in 1963; nonetheless history confirms the Dallas roots of the entire AFL. The very concept of the AFL was the brainchild of Dallas native Lamar Hunt, whose primary objective was to bring professional football to his beloved hometown. The original headquarters of the AFL was in downtown Dallas. The city’s first professional football league Champions were the Dallas Texans. In fact, every time an AFC team kicks off an NFL game, the legacy of the league whose origins are rooted in Dallas, Texas lives on.

Long live the memory of the AFL; the league whose origins are rooted in Dallas, Texas.

Sources:

remembertheafl.com; Ange Coniglio

“Ten-Gallon War”; John Eisenberg 2012.

AFL History: The Abner Haynes and Clem Daniels Connection

In spite of the reputation of the AFL as primarily a passing style of professional football, the fact is that the league itself was also replete with a host of highly talented running backs. There were powerful runners such as Cookie Gilchrist and Jim Nance; speedy elusive backs like Paul Lowe and Abner Haynes; and other powerful all around performance backs including Billy Cannon and Clem Daniels. These are but a few of the top running backs of that era, and the debate as to the best of the lot makes for an interesting discussion. There is however the undeniable and statistically sustained fact that the AFL career leaders in the two primary benchmark standards for running back performance are native North Texans Clem Daniels and Abner Haynes.

Born two months apart in 1937 in neighboring North Texas counties; McKinney’s Clem Daniels and Denton’s Abner Haynes were teammates on the 1960 Dallas Texans. Raised 30 miles apart, Daniels was a quarterback at Prairie View A&M after leaving McKinney; while Haynes along with his Dallas Lincoln High teammate and friend Leon King had broken the Lone Star State’s collegiate men’s athletic color barrier by playing for North Texas State in Haynes’ hometown of Denton. Daniels was unable to experience even remote playing time as the back up to the 1960 AFL MVP Haynes, and then when the Texans attempted to move him to the defensive side of the ball, Daniels requested and was granted his release.

After being released, Daniels signed with the Oakland Raiders. Although initially used primarily as a kick returner; Daniels became the Raiders starting halfback by 1962; and established his place as one of the AFL’s elite players with a league MVP performance in 1963. That season he led the league in rushing yards as he also became the first 1,000 yard rusher in Raiders history. Daniels was an AFL All Star for four years from 1963–1966; is a member of the AFL All Time Team, and holds the distinction of being the All Time AFL rushing yardage leader.

Haynes meanwhile won the original AFL rushing title during his 1960 AFL MVP performance season. Like Daniels, Haynes was also a four time AFL All Star. He holds both the AFL single game record for touchdowns scored with five, and the single season record for touchdowns scored with 19. His 19 touchdown performance was in 1962, the same year that he scored the only two touchdowns in the Texans 1962 AFL Championship 20–17 victory over the two time defending champion Houston Oilers. A versatile back and skilled receiver, Haynes is a member of the AFL All Time Team and also holds the prestigious distinction of being the AFL’s career all purpose yards leader with over 12,000 yards during his eight year career.

These two native North Texans from neighboring counties then hold the distinction of being the AFL’s all time leaders in the two benchmark standards of running back performance. Daniel’s durability and slashing running style netted the most rushing yards ever in the 10 year history of the AFL. Meanwhile, Haynes versatility and speed led him to yield more career all purpose yards than any other AFL player.

In addition to their athletic accomplishments, Daniels and Haynes were each AFL All Star teammates in 1964; the year of the historic players strike. The 1964 All Star Game was originally scheduled to take place in the city of New Orleans. However; after several of the black All Stars from each squad were subjected to extreme racist treatment by citizens, taxi cab drivers and local bar owners, a meeting was held that included all 21 black players. Daniels and Haynes were among those who voted to refuse to play in the exhibition contest, essentially withholding their labor due to the atmosphere surrounding the game. The risk to their careers and livelihood was not enough to justify their participation in the game under those conditions, and Daniels and Haynes were among those with the most to lose at this point in each respective star’s career. Yet principle prevailed as the socially slighted players maintained solidarity and did not back down from their decision to withhold their services from the pending contest. Prominent white stars Ron Mix and Jack Kemp likewise supported and helped deliver the players’ decision to the AFL Commissioner Joe Foss.

Under the conditions, the AFL was forced to either cancel the All Star Game altogether, or relocate the event in deference to the players. The league opted to acquiesce to the concerns of the players, and the game was moved to Houston. The fact that the game was relocated was a major victory for the cause of racism awareness, and deserves to be chronicled among the many other human rights struggles and victories of the Civil Rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s. Daniels, who passed away in 2019, was among the key leaders at the famous meeting that led to the players’ decision to take a stand against the maltreatment that they had endured in New Orleans. Haynes, who was interviewed on the topic of players’ strike as recently as 2020, remains proud of his fellow players who stood in solidarity against racism at such a sensitive time in the history of the Civil Right movement.

Although there were several outstanding running backs who played in the AFL during its 10 year history; Clem Daniels and Abner Haynes stand out as the league’s career leaders in rushing yards and all purpose yards respectively. Their athletic achievements notwithstanding, the major contribution of these two native North Texans to sports in general was their role in forcing the awareness of social and systematic racism in the midst of the Civil Rights movement.

Long live the memory of Abner Haynes and Clem Daniels.

Long live the memory of the AFL.