AFL Championship Game 1960

Most people do not remember when the AFL (American Football League) got started or what teams were part of that league. The AFL was started because the NFL team owners did not want to add more teams and they wanted the final say with any expansion teams. The 1960 American Football League season was the inaugural regular season of the AFL. It consisted of eight franchises split into two divisions: the East Division (Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Titans of New York, Boston Patriots) and the West Division (Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans, Oakland Raiders).

Each team would play a home-and-away game against the other seven teams in the league for a total of fourteen games, and the best team in the Eastern Division would play against the best in the Western Division in a championship game. If there was a tie in the standings at the top of either division, a one-game playoff would be held to determine the division winner. The first AFL game was played on a Friday night, September 9, 1960, between the Denver Broncos and the Boston Patriots with the Broncos winning 13-10. The Houston Oilers beat the Oakland Raiders 37-22 in their first game.

At the end of the regular season, the Houston Oilers led the AFL Eastern Division with a 10-4 record and the Los Angeles Chargers led the Western Division also with a 10-4 record. The first AFL Championship Game was played on January 1, 1961, in the old Jeppesen Stadium. The Houston Oilers won the game 24-16. George Blanda was the quarterback and played many years later as a field goal kicker.

I remember that game was on Sunday, and it was cold and wet. My brother-in-law, Ted Golden, and I were sitting in the north end zone with the wind at our backs. The playing field was a mess because the HISD high schools and junior high schools played their games on that field and some of the U of H games were played there as well. Ted and I yelled so much during the game that we could hardly talk afterward.

The Houston Oilers won the Championship again in 1961 with George Blanda winning the MVP with 3330 passing yards, Billy Cannon the rushing leader with 948 yards, and Charley Hennigan as receiving leader with 1746 yards. A lot of good football with the only millionaire on the field, the owner, Bud Adams. The Dallas Texans were relocated to Kansas City in 1963 and renamed the Kansas City Chiefs owned by Lamar Hunt. Adams and Hunt formed the AFL because they could not get an NFL team.

The AFL was merged with the NFL effective with the 1970 season. The Oilers played their home games in the Rice Stadium starting in 1965 after leaving Jeppesen Stadium for more seating and better facilities. In 1968, the Oilers would have their home games in the Astrodome; however, Bud Adams was never happy not being the person in charge of the Astrodome.