AFL/NFL Merger

1. AFL/NFL Merger June 8th, 1966

4. 1958 - National Football League championship game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants drew 45 million viewers on NBC and established pro football as an entertainment commodity to rival baseball • Strong interest from businessmen to purchase franchise but were rejected

5. What next? • Led to LAMAR HUNT recruiting 7 businessmen from cities hungry for pro football to form a rival league • The AFL was publicly welcomed by NFL Commissioner Bert Bell, who said that competition would stimulate both leagues • The NFL quickly expanded into Hunt’s hometown of Dallas and into Minneapolis, another of the cities the AFL had designated for a franchise

6. The American Football League chose the original eight AFL cities: • Oakland as a replacement for Minneapolis • Los Angeles • Dallas (for Hunt’s franchise, which moved to Kansas City in 1962) • New York • Buffalo • Boston • Denver • Houston

7. What was so different? • The AFL created a high-flying aerial brand of football that contrasted with the stingy defenses and running attacks of the older NFL. • By 1962, the AFL had drawn 1 million fans to its games

8. 1965 • The AFL scored a television contract with NBC • New York Jets owner Sonny Werblin lured quarterback Joe Namath out of the University of Alabama to the AFL with the biggest contract in pro football history •  4 year deal worth $427,000 • $200,000 signing bonus and a salary of $25,000 per season • His three brothers and brother-in-law were given scouting jobs • a Lincoln Continental • The two leagues began to compete over fans, players and coaches

9. 1966 • An unspoken agreement that one league would not sign the other league’s players was broken in 1966 when the NFL’s New York Giants signed place-kicker Pete Gogolak away from the AFL’s Buffalo Bills

10. Bidding Wars • In retaliation for the Gogolak signing, Adams offered San Francisco 49ers quarterback John Brodie a 10-year, $750,000 contract. The Oilers also signed tight end Mike Ditka, and Oakland signed Rams QB Roman Gabriel with a reported $100,000 down payment. None of the players ever suited up for their AFL suitors.

11. As neither league could afford a bidding war, owners soon began to talk of a merger

12. June 8th, 1966 • Under the merger agreement announced on June 8, 1966: • The new league would be called the NFL • split into: • American Football Conference (AFC) • National Football Conference (NFC) • All eight of the original AFL teams would all be absorbed by the NFL • in 1946 when the NFL merged with the rival All-America Football Conference it only took in its Baltimore, Cleveland and San Francisco franchises and dissolved four other teams • Chicago Rockets, Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Yankees, LA Dons

13. 1966 – first SUPER BOWL between the two leagues • The term SUPER BOWL came from LAMAR HUNT • Jokingly mentioned the name after seeing his granddaughter play with a Super Ball • NFC won Super Bowl I & II (Green Bay) • AFC won Super Bowl III (NYJ – “the Guarantee”) • The Super Bowl is now the most watched televised sporting event in the world with more than 140 million viewers

14. 1967 • The first AFL-NFL draft occurred in 1967. The Baltimore Colts traded with New Orleans for the overall No. 1 choice and selected Michigan Sate defensive end Bubba Smith.

15. 1970 • 1970 – the leagues finally merged operations and schedules

16. Key Figures • Lamar Hunt – innovator/creator of the AFL and owner of the Dallas Texans/KC Chiefs • Bud Adams – signed Billy Cannon (Heisman winner – in 1960) • Sonny Werblin – signed Joe Namath • Tex Schramm – began the thought of the merger from the NFL standpoint • Al Davis – AFL commissioner in 1966 – very instrumental in the merging negotiations • Stepped up the bidding war with the NFL

17. Al Davis • Two months after Davis took the league's reins, the AFL and NFL agreed to an alliance that included a common draft, championship game and a complete merger by 1970. On May 31, 1966, Schramm and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt hammered out the framework for the merger, which was announced June 8 • Included in the merger was an $18 million indemnity to be paid by the AFL to the NFL over 20 years. Under the merger agreement, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle would oversee both leagues

18. Ralph Wilson and Al Davis

19. NFL Teams • Dallas Cowboys Washington Redskins New Orleans Saints Philadelphia Eagles Los Angeles RamsBaltimore Colts Atlanta Falcons San Francisco 49ers Cleveland Browns New York Giants St. Louis Cardinals Pittsburgh Steelers Minnesota Vikings Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Chicago Bears 

20. AFL Teams • New York Jets Houston Oilers Boston PatriotsBuffalo Bills Miami Dolphins Oakland Raiders Kansas City Chiefs San Diego ChargersDenver Broncos Cincinnati Bengals 

21. Divisions • Western ConferenceCoastal DivisionBaltimore ColtsLos Angeles RamsSan Francisco 49ersAtlanta FalconsCentral DivisionGreen Bay PackersDetroit LionsChicago BearsMinnesota VikingsEastern ConferenceCapitol DivisionWashington RedskinsDallas CowboysPhiladelphia EaglesNew York Giants/New Orleans Saints (rotating each year)Century DivisionCleveland BrownsPittsburgh SteelersSt. Louis CardinalsNew York Giants/New Orleans Saints (rotating each year)

22. How did the NFL change? • Including the names on player jerseys • Using the stadium scoreboard clocks to keep track of the official game time, instead of just having a stopwatch used by the referee • The AFL played a 14-game schedule for its entire existence, starting in 1960. The NFL, which had played a 12-game schedule since 1947, changed to a 14-game schedule in 1961, a year after the American Football League instituted it • The AFL began the two-point conversion to professional football thirty-four years before the NFL instituted it in 1994 (college football had adopted the two point conversion in the late 1950s) • A more exciting style of play • Colorful uniforms • The Super Bowl