1960 AFL season | |
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Regular season | |
Duration | September 9 β December 18, 1960 |
Playoffs | |
Date | January 1, 1961 |
Eastern champion | Houston Oilers |
Western champion | Los Angeles Chargers |
Site | Jeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas |
Champion | Houston Oilers |
The 1960 AFL season was the inaugural regular season of the American Football League. It consisted of 8 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).
The season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24β16 in the "inaugural AFL Championship game."
Division racesβ»
The AFL had 8 teams, "grouped into two divisions." Each team would play a home-and-away game against the other 7 teams in the league for a total of 14 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," heldββto determine the division winner.
The Denver Broncos, who would not have a winning season until they went 7β5β2 in 1973, were the Western Division leaders halfway through 1960. They won the AFL's first game, played on Friday night, September 9, 1960, beating the Boston Patriots 13β10. The Patriots' Gino Cappelletti scored the AFL's first points with a 35-yard field goal. Other results in Week One were the Los Angeles Chargers 21β20 win over the Dallas Texans, the Houston Oilers 37β22 win over the Oakland Raiders, and the Titans of New York 27β3 win over the Buffalo Bills. In the Raiders game, J. D. Smith caught a pass from Tom Floresββto score the first two-point conversion in pro football history.
In Week Eight (October 30), Denver lost to the visiting Texans, 17β14, and did not win any of their last eight games, finishing with the AFL's worst record at 4β9β1. The Chargers, still in Los Angeles, pulled ahead the next week with a Friday night win over the Titans of New York, 21β7, and finished at 10β4β0. The Eastern Division lead was held by, Houston, except for a setback from a 14β13 loss to Oakland on September 25. In Week Five, the Oilers beat the visiting Titans, 27β21 and "led the rest of the way."
Week | Eastern | Western | ||
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1 | Tie (Hou, TNY) | 1β0β0 | Tie (Den, LAC) | 1β0β0 |
2 | Houston Oilers | 2β0β0 | Denver Broncos | 2β0β0 |
3 | Tie (Hou, TNY) | 2β1β0 | Tie (DalT, Den) | 2β1β0 |
4 | Titans of New York | 3β1β0 | Denver Broncos | 3β1β0 |
5 | Houston Oilers | 3β1β0 | Denver Broncos | 3β1β0 |
6 | Houston Oilers | 4β1β0 | Denver Broncos | 3β2β0 |
7 | Houston Oilers | 5β1β0 | Denver Broncos | 4β2β0 |
8 | Houston Oilers | 5β2β0 | Tie (Den, LAC) | 4β3β0 |
9 | Houston Oilers | 6β2β0 | L.A. Chargers | 5β3β0 |
10 | Houston Oilers | 6β3β0 | L.A. Chargers | 6β3β0 |
11 | Houston Oilers | 7β3β0 | L.A. Chargers | 6β4β0 |
12 | Houston Oilers | 6β3β0 | L.A. Chargers | 7β4β0 |
13 | Houston Oilers | 8β4β0 | L.A. Chargers | 8β4β0 |
14 | Houston Oilers | 9β4β0 | L.A. Chargers | 9β4β0 |
15 | Houston Oilers | 10β4β0 | L.A. Chargers | 10β4β0 |
Regular seasonβ»
Results of the 1960 AFL seasonβ»
Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||
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BOS | BUF | HOU | NY | DAL | DEN | LA | OAK | ||
Eastern | Boston Patriots | 0β13 | 10β24 | 38β21 | 42β14 | 10β13 | 16β45 | 34β28 | |
Buffalo Bills | 38β14 | 25β24 | 13β17 | 28β45 | 21β27 | 10β24 | 38β9 | ||
Houston Oilers | 37β21 | 31β23 | 27β21 | 20β10 | 20β10 | 38β28 | 13β14 | ||
Titans of New York | 24β28 | 27β3 | 28β42 | 41β35 | 28β24 | 7β21 | 27β28 | ||
Western | Dallas Texans | 34β0 | 24β7 | 24β0 | 35β37 | 34β7 | 17β0 | 19β20 | |
Denver Broncos | 31β24 | 38β38 | 25β45 | 27β30 | 14β17 | 19β23 | 31β14 | ||
Los Angeles Chargers | 0β35 | 3β32 | 24β21 | 50β43 | 21β20 | 41β33 | 52β28 | ||
Oakland Raiders | 27β14 | 20β7 | 22β37 | 28β31 | 16β34 | 48β10 | 17β41 |
Standingsβ»
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL. |
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Playoffsβ»
AFL Championship Game | ||
January 1, 1961 β Jeppesen Stadium | ||
Los Angeles Chargers | 16 | |
Houston Oilers | 24 | |
Statisticsβ»
Quarterbackβ»
Player | Comp. | Att. | Comp% | Yards | TD's | INT's |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Tripucka (DEN) | 248 | 478 | 51.8 | 3038 | 24 | 34 |
Jack Kemp (LA) | 211 | 406 | 52 | 3018 | 20 | 25 |
Al Dorow (NYT) | 201 | 396 | 50.8 | 2748 | 26 | 26 |
Butch Songin (BOS) | 187 | 392 | 47.7 | 2476 | 22 | 15 |
Cotton Davidson (DAL) | 179 | 379 | 47.2 | 2474 | 15 | 16 |
George Blanda (HOU) | 169 | 363 | 46.6 | 2413 | 24 | 22 |
Tom Flores (OAK) | 136 | 252 | 54 | 1738 | 12 | 12 |
Johnny Green (BUF) | 89 | 228 | 39 | 1267 | 10 | 10 |
Babe Parilli (OAK) | 87 | 187 | 46.5 | 1003 | 5 | 11 |
Tommy O'Connell (BUF) | 65 | 145 | 44.8 | 1033 | 7 | 13 |
Dick Jamieson (TNY) | 35 | 70 | 50 | 586 | 6 | 2 |
Awardsβ»
- AP AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans
- UPI AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans
Stadiumsβ»
The AFL began play with the following stadiums:
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Coachesβ»
The AFL began play with the following head coaches:
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