Post by TheShadow on Dec 24, 2005 21:01:38 GMT -5
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sportsillustrated.cnn.com
On The Air
ABC and NBC were the two television networks that broadcast AFL games. ABC
televised the games the first five years with Curt Gowdy and Paul Christman
as the main announcing team.
Gowdy went to NBC in 1965, when the Peathingy Network took over after paying
$36 million for broadcast rights.
Known in the Northeast for his work with the Boston Red Sox, Gowdy became
NBC's signature sports voice as he broadcast Major League Baseball and
college basketball in addition to his AFL/NFL duties. Gowdy called eight
Super Bowls, including the first and third, when Namath and the Jets upset
Baltimore for the AFL's first victory.
NBC stayed with the AFL when it became the American Football Conference in
1970 as part of the merger and carried AFC games through the 1997 season.
The Original Eight
In 1960, there were eight AFL teams: Houston Oilers, New York Titans,
Buffalo Bills, Boston Patriots, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Texans, Oakland
Raiders and Denver Broncos.
The last team added was Boston, headed by local businessman Billy Sullivan.
Like Harry Wismer, the broadcaster who owned the Titans, Sullivan was
underfinanced, a condition that would plague him even after the merger with
the NFL and eventually cause his family to lose the team.
Fallen Challengers
No professional league in American sports has had to contend with more
pretenders to the throne than the NFL.
Seven times in as many decades a rival league has risen up to challenge the
NFL and six of them went under in less than five seasons. Only the fourth
American Football League (1960-69) succeeded, forcing the older league to
sue for peace and a full partnership in 1966.
Of the six other leagues, only the All-America Football Conference (1946-49)
lives on -- the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL
after the AAFC folded in 1949.
AFL 1960-1969
There are several Web sites devoted to the American Football League. The
most comprehensive is at aflfootball.tripod.com. It contains draft choices,
game results and more -- a real gem for AFL fanatics.