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American Football League All-Star game

Annual all-star game

American Football League All-Star game
Summary

Annual all-star game

Program for the 3rd Annual AFL All-Star Game, held in San Diego.

The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the league's merger with the National Football League (NFL).

All-League Teams

The Sporting News published American Football League All-League Teams for each season played by the American Football League, 1960 through 1969. From 1960 through 1966, the All-League Team was selected by the AFL players, and from 1967 through 1969 it was selected by a consensus of The Sporting News (TSN), the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA). The All-League AFL selections usually included one player at each team position on offense and on defense (i.e., one quarterback, two guards, four defensive backs, etc.). Eastern All-Stars wore red uniforms with a white top and red stars, with the colors reversed for away, while Western All-Stars wore blue uniforms with a white top and blue stars and vice versa for away. Each player wore their team's respective helmet, and unlike their regular team uniforms, all star uniforms never featured names on the back.

All-Star teams

The AFL did not have an all-star game after its first season in 1960 but from 1961 through 1969, other AFL players were added to the All-League players to form two squads, and the league held All-Star games for those seasons. After every season except 1965, the format consisted of games between All-Star teams from the Eastern and Western divisions. In 1965, the league champion Buffalo Bills played all-stars from the other teams.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL include AFL All-Star games in their statistics for the Pro Bowl. After the AFL–NFL merger of 1970, the name of the NFL's all-star game was changed to the AFC-NFC Pro Bowl. Six days after Super Bowl IV, Buffalo Bills rookie running back O.J. Simpson carried the ball on the last play in AFL history in the Astrodome (in Houston, Texas) at the All-Star game on January 17, 1970.

The 1965 boycott

After the 1964 season, the AFL All-Star game had been scheduled for early 1965 in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium. After numerous black players were refused service by a number of New Orleans hotels and businesses, black and white players alike lobbied for a boycott. The black players all left days before the game, saying that it was clear they were not wanted. Under the leadership of Buffalo Bills players including Cookie Gilchrist and other players such as Clem Daniels, the players put up a unified front, and the game was successfully moved to Houston's Jeppesen Stadium.

Game history

SeasonDateScoreSeriesMost Valuable Player(s)VenueAttendanceHead CoachesTelevision
1961January 7, 1962West 1–0Cotton Davidson, QB, TexansBalboa Stadium, San Diego20,973Eastern: Wally Lemm (Houston)
Western: Sid Gillman (San Diego)ABC
1962January 13, 1963West 2–0Offense: Curtis McClinton, RB, Dallas Texans
Defense: Earl Faison, DE, ChargersBalboa Stadium, San Diego27,641Eastern: Frank Ivy (Houston)
W:Hank Stram (Dallas)ABC
1963January 19, 1964West 3–0Offense: Keith Lincoln, RB, Chargers
Defense: Archie Matsos, LB, RaidersBalboa Stadium, San Diego20,016Eastern: Mike Holovak (Boston)
Western: Sid Gillman (San Diego)ABC
1964January 16, 1965West 4–0Offense: Keith Lincoln, RB, Chargers
Defense: Willie Brown, DB, BroncosJeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas15,446Eastern: Lou Saban (Buffalo)
Western: Sid Gillman (San Diego)ABC
1965January 15, 1966-Offense: Joe Namath, QB, Jets
Defense: Frank Buncom, LB, ChargersRice Stadium, Houston35,572Buffalo: Lou Saban
All-Stars: Sid Gillman (San Diego)NBC
1966January 21, 1967West 4–1Offense: Babe Parilli, QB, Boston Patriots
Defense: Verlon Biggs, DE, JetsOakland–Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California18,876Eastern: Mike Holovak (Boston)
Western: John Rauch (Oakland)NBC
1967January 21, 1968West 4–2Offense: Joe Namath, QB, Jets; and Don Maynard, F, Jets
Defense: Speedy Duncan, DB/KR, ChargersGator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida40,103Eastern: Joe Collier (Buffalo)
Western: Lou Saban (Denver)NBC
1968January 19, 1969West 5–2Offense: Len Dawson, QB, Chiefs
Defense: George Webster, LB, Houston OilersGator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida41,058Eastern: George Wilson (Miami)
Western: Lou Saban (Denver)NBC
1969January 17, 1970West 6–2John Hadl, QB, ChargersAstrodome, Houston30,170Eastern: George Wilson (Miami)
Western: Lou Saban (Denver)NBC

Broadcasters

The following is a list of the television networks and announcers that broadcast the American Football League All-Star game during its existence.

SeasonNetworkPlay-by-playColor commentator(s)Sideline reporter(s)
1961ABCJack BuckJim McKayGeorge Ratterman
1962ABCCurt GowdyPaul Christman and George Ratterman
1963ABCCurt GowdyPaul Christman
1964ABCCurt GowdyPaul Christman and George Ratterman
1965NBCCurt GowdyPaul ChristmanCharlie Jones
1966NBCCurt GowdyPaul ChristmanCharlie Jones
1967NBCCurt GowdyPaul Christman
1968NBCCurt GowdyKyle RoteCharlie Jones
1969NBCCharlie JonesAl DeRogatis

References

References

  1. Thomas, Ben. (January 11, 1965). "American football League calls off All-Star game set for New Orleans". The Day.
  2. (January 12, 1965). "AFL All-Star game moved to Houston". Morning Record.
  3. (January 12, 1965). "New Orleans: pro grid nightmare". St. Petersburg Independent.
  4. (7 February 2024). "#ThrowbackThursday: Remembering Clem Daniels".
  5. game played on Saturday.
  6. (December 2017)
  7. (December 2017)
  8. link. (December 11, 2008)
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  10. link. (December 11, 2008)
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  12. link. (December 11, 2008)
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Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

american-football-competitions american-football-league-all-star-game all-star-games pro-bowl boycotts-of-events 1961-establishments-in-the-united-states 1970-disestablishments-in-the-united-states
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