There is no single POD, just better health for Burt Bell. Instead of planning to retire and reaquire the Eagles, he decides to remain NFL Commisioner. Of course, better health butterflies away his fatal heart attack on October 11, 1959.
May, 1959: Lamar Hunt fails to acquire the Chicago Cardinals. NFL Commissioner Bert Bell rejects Hunt's offer for NFL expansion. Hunt decides to form an alternative league.
July, 1959: Hunt announced his intentions to form a second pro football league.
August 14, 1959: The first league meeting. Initial members are Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis.
August 22, 1959: The league officially was named the American Football League. The NFL leadership expected this league to collapse as the All-America Football Conference did in the Forties. The official NFL policy of no new franchises remained in place.
October 28, 1959: Miami was officially awarded an AFL franchise.
November 21, 1959: Boston was awarded the AFL's eighth team. The league is then divided into two divisions (Eastern and Western). The Eastern Division teams were the Boston Patriots, Miami Dolphins, Houston Oilers and New York Titans. The Western Division included the Dallas Texans, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Marines.
November 22, 1959: The AFL held its first draft.
November 30, 1959: Joe Foss, former governor of South Dakota, was named the AFL's first commissioner.
December 2, 1959: An additional draft of 20 rounds was held by the AFL.
January 26, 1960: Hunt was elected President of the AFL.
January 28, 1960: The two-point option on points after touchdown was adopted by the AFL.
February 9, 1960: A no tampering verbal pact, relative to players’ contracts, was agreed to between the NFL and AFL.
March 13, 1960: The NFL owners voted to allow the transfer of the Chicago Cardinals to St. Louis.
April 12, 1960: The Cardinals are renamed the Falcons.
May 17, 1960: Billy Cannon rejects the NFL and signs with the Houston Oilers.
June 9, 1960: AFL signs a four-year television contract with ABC, which brought in revenues of approximately $2,500,000 per year for the entire league.
July 30, 1960: In the first AFL preseason game in Miami, the Dolphins defeated the Boston Patriots 17-13.
September 9, 1960: The Denver Broncos defeated the Patriots 20-17 at Boston in the first AFL regular-season game.
December 26, 1960: The Green Bay Packers defeated the hometown Cleveland Browns 17-16 in the NFL Championship Game.
January 1, 1961: The first AFL Championship Game held in Los Angeles had the Houston Oilers defeat the Los Angeles Chargers 12-7.
January 7, 1961: Detroit defeated Philadelphia 17-13 in the first Playoff Bowl between the second-place teams in each conference in Miami.
January 14, 1961: After the completion of his Bears contract, Willard Dewveall joined the Oilers, becoming the first player to jump from the NFL to the AFL.
February 10, 1961: The Chargers moved to San Diego.
April 5, 1961: NBC was awarded a two-year contract for television rights to the NFL Championship Game.
July 31, 1961: An AFL-CFL (Canadian Football League) exhibition game, later known as the Cam-Am Cup, is held at Ivor Wynne Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario. The game is played with a mixture of AFL and CFL rules. In the end, the Minnesota Marines edge out Hamilton Tiger-Cats 31-28. The game is a major success for the AFL. This game became the first in a series of 10 annual games.
September 30, 1961: A bill legalizing single-network television contracts by professional sports leagues was introduced in Congress by Representative Emanuel Celler. It passed the House and Senate and was signed into law by President John F. Kennedy.
December 24, 1961: Houston defeated San Diego 47-27 for the AFL championship.
December 31, 1961: Green Bay defeated the Philadelphia Eagles at home 38-10 for the NFL championship.
January 7, 1962: The Eastern Division defeated the Western Division 41-35 in the first AFL All-Star Game, played in Kansas City. The AFL voted to make the scoreboard clock the official timer of the game.
January 10, 1962: The NFL entered into an agreement with CBS for telecasting all regular season games.
November 8, 1962: The AFL assumed control of the New York Titans.
December 28, 1962: By denying an injunction that would have forced the NFL championship game (Green Bay at New York) to be televised in the New York City area, U.S. District Court Judge Weinfeld upheld the legality of the NFL’s television blackout. He did find the 75-mile radius excessive and reduced it to 50.
December 29, 1962: The hometown Minnesota Marines defeated the Houston Oilers 21-14 for the AFL championship at Minneapolis.
December 30, 1962: Hometown Green Bay Packers beat the New York Giants 17-10 for the NFL title. This first time an NFL team had achieved a "three-peat".
February 8, 1963: Oakland (Mavericks) and Kansas City (Royals) are awarded AFL franchises.
March 20, 1963: New ownership assumed control of the New York Titans.
March 28, 1963: The New York Titans were renamed the New York Gothams. The name was met with bemusement from the general public.
April 15, 1963: NFL Commissioner Bell indefinitely suspended Green Bay halfback Paul Hornung and Detroit defensive tackle Alex Karras for gambling.
April 17, 1963: After many negative responses, the Gothams returned to the Titans nickname.
May 11, 1963: The AFL allowed the Royals and Mavericks to select players from other franchises in hopes of giving the league more competitive balance.
May 23, 1963: NBC was awarded exclusive network broadcasting rights for the 1963 NFL Championship Game. Jim Brown of the Detroit Lions rushed for an NFL single-season record 1,907 yards.
December 23, 1963: Dallas defeated Oakland 7-3 at home in the first divisional playoff game in AFL history.
December 29, 1963: Hometown New York Giants defeated the San Francisco 49ers 40-23 for the NFL championship.
January 5, 1964: The Chargers defeated the Boston Patriots 27-24 at San Diego in the AFL Championship Game.
January 15, 1964: Dallas proposed a final championship game between the Texans and the NFL-champion Bears, but Chicago declined.
January 29, 1964: The AFL signed a five-year television contract with NBC to begin with the 1965 season.
March, 1964: After the NFL rejected their reinstatement, Hornung and Karras are signed by AFL teams.
January 24, 1964: CBS was awarded the rights for the 1964 and 1965 NFL regular-seasons.
April 17, 1964: CBS acquired the rights to the NFL championship games for 1964 and 1965.
May 7, 1964: The Kansas City owner Charles O. Finley attempted to have his team relocated to Atlanta.
December 26, 1964: The Oakland Mavericks defeated Houston Oilers 38-14 at home in the AFL Championship Game.
December 27, 1964: St. Louis Falcons lose to the Green Bay Packers on the road 17-24 in the NFL Championship Game.
April 1965: The AFL-NFL bidding war for players between the AFL and NFL escalates. Both the Kansas City Royals and Chicago Bears draft Kansas star Gale Sayers. Sayers eventually signed with the Royals. The New York Titans and the St. Louis Falcons both draft University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath. Namath signs a contract with the Titans. His contract becomes the highest amount of money ever paid to a collegiate football player. This will be noted as one of the turning points that lead to the two leagues merging.
June 12, 1965: The Kansas City owner Charles O. Finley attempted to have his team relocated to New Orleans.
December 26, 1965: Detroit defeated Los Angeles 13-10 in an NFL playoff game.
December 26, 1965: In the AFL Championship Game held in Oakland, the Mavericks defeated the Titans 30-19.
January 2, 1966: The Packers defeated the hometown Eagles 35-3 in the NFL Championship Game.
April 7, 1966: Joe Foss resigns as AFL Commissioner. He replaced by Oakland head coach and general manager Al Davis. Davis is chosen due his handiwork with the expansion Mavericks. Davis begins a policy of recruiting NFL players. In two months, he convinces six NFL quarterbacks to sign with the AFL. Some AFL and NFL owners see this escalation as trouble for their leagues. The AFL-NFL war reached its peak. The two leagues spent a combined $8 million on draft choices. Between the 107 common draft choices, the NFL and AFL signed 58 and 49 respectively.
May 8, 1966: Some NFL owners led by Rams General Manager Pete Rozelle secretly approach Lamar Hunt and other AFL owners, about a merger.
May 14, 1966: Royals owner attempted to relocate to Memphis.
May 28, 1966: Finley attempted to have his team relocated to Seattle.
May 30, 1966: Tired of the "Finley problem" of which relocation was only one, Commissioner Davis with full backing of the other owners gave a Finley an ultimatum. Sell the team (to the AFL or new owner) or have the team expelled from the league.
June 6, 1966: Finley sells the Royals to Ewing Kauffman.
June 7, 1966: The Royals are renamed the Scouts.
June 10, 1966: A basic groundwork for the merger is established.
June 11, 1966: The AFL and NFL officially announce the merger.
Elements of the agreement:
- Both leagues would now hold a "common draft" of college players.
- The two leagues would form an expanded league with 24 teams. They would increase to 26 teams by 1970 and 28 teams by 1976.
- All existing teams would be retained. No team can be moved outside of their metropolitan area. This would codified as 15-year ban that can only overridden with 3/4 owners approval.
- Each league will maintain separate schedules through 1969.
- Beginning in January 1967, the leagues agreed to play an annual championship game called the World Bowl. This game will match the champions of each league.
- The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences. The merged league would be known as the Unified Gridiron Football Association (UGFA). The conferences would retain "league" names. The history and records of both leagues are to be merged.
- By 1971, no teams must play in a stadium with seating less than 50,000.
- The game rules of the two leagues would be integrated. Some of the AFL's rules adopted would be the two-point conversion, official time on the scoreboard clock and players' names on jerseys.
- Additional elements of the merger would require an exemption from the antitrust law.
- Preseason games would be held between teams of each league starting in 1967.
July 25, 1966: Davis resigned as AFL Commissioner with Milt Woodard as his replacement.
October 21, 1966: Congress approved the AFL-NFL merger, passing legislation exempting the agreement itself from antitrust action.
November 17, 1966: The AFL expansion teams, the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Knights, are announced. Speculation runs rampant that the New Orleans franchise is a kick-back for passage of the antitrust exemption.
December 13, 1966: The rights to the World Bowl for four years were sold to CBS and NBC.
January 1, 1967: At home, Green Bay earned the right to represent the NFL in the first World Bowl by defeating Cleveland 20-14. The same day, the hometown Titans defeated the Marines 30-23 to represent the AFL.
January 15, 1967: The Packers defeated the Titans 24-14 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the first game between AFL and NFL teams (World Bowl I).
February 20, 1967: Vince Lombardi injured in a car accident. While hospitalized, doctors discovered and treated Lombardi's cancer.
March 14, 1967: The New York Giants made Bubba Smith, the first choice in the first combined AFL-NFL draft.
April 30, 1967: Lombardi promoted to Packers General Manager.
August 5, 1967: An AFL team defeated an NFL team for the first time, when Miami beat Chicago 20-7 in a preseason game.
December 31, 1967: At home, Detroit defeated New York 30-6 for the NFL championship. The same day, the Patriots edged out the Chargers 25-24 in San Diego for the AFL championship.
January 14, 1968: Detroit defeated Boston 31-21 in World Bowl II at Miami. The Oilers moved into the Astrodome. They became the first UGFA team to play its home games in a domed stadium.
February 28, 1968: Lombardi resigns as Packers GM.
March 7, 1968: Lombardi hired to coach the Atlanta Knights after the unexpected death of its head coach.
December 29, 1968: The Knights defeated the Broncos 38-25 for the AFL championship. The same day, Baltimore defeated Washington 17-13.
January 11, 1969: The AFL established a playoff format for the 1969 season, with the winner in one division playing the runner-up in the other.
January 12, 1969: In World Bowl III, an AFL team won the World Bowl for the first time, as the Knights defeated the Colts 31-27 at Miami. Lombardi becomes the first coach to win a World Bowl title in both leagues.
May 24, 1969: The last two franchises added before the merger, the Cincinnati Bengals (NFL) and the Memphis Kings (AFL), to begin play in 1970. The realignment plan is announced. Each league will consist of three divisions (East, Central, and West). The UGFA also agreed on a playoff format that would include one "wild-card" team per league—the second place team with the best record. The UGFA announced a three year agreement with ABC to televise Monday Night Football.
May 26, 1969: The new series makes the UGFA the first league with a regular series of national telecasts in prime time. The NFL celebrated its fiftieth year.
December 26, 1969: Oakland defeated San Diego 41-6 and Boston defeated Atlanta 23-17 in the first round of the AFL Playoffs.