1960 American Football League season
The 1960 American Football League season was the inaugural regular season of the American Football League (AFL). 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).
| 1960 American Football League season | |
|---|---|
| Regular season | |
| Duration | September 9 – 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 season ended when the Houston Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 24–16 in the inaugural AFL Championship game.
Division races
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, a playoff would be held to determine the division winner.
The Denver Broncos, who would not have a winning season until they went 7–5–2 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 13–10. 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 21–20 win over the Dallas Texans, the Houston Oilers 37–22 win over the Oakland Raiders, and the Titans of New York 27–3 win over the Buffalo Bills. In the Raiders game, J.D. Smith caught a pass from Tom Flores to score the first two-point conversion in pro football history.
In Week Eight (October 30), Denver lost to the visiting Texans, 17–14, and did not win any of their last eight games, finishing with the AFL's worst record at 4–9–1. The Chargers, still in Los Angeles, pulled ahead the next week with a Friday night win over the Titans of New York, 21–7, and finished at 10–4–0. The Eastern Division lead was held by Houston, except for a setback from a 14–13 loss to Oakland on September 25. In Week Five, the Oilers beat the visiting Titans, 27–21 and led the rest of the way.
| Week | Eastern | Western | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tie (Hou, TNY) | 1–0–0 | Tie (Den, LAC) | 1–0–0 |
| 2 | Houston Oilers | 2–0–0 | Denver Broncos | 2–0–0 |
| 3 | Tie (Hou, TNY) | 2–1–0 | Tie (DalT, Den) | 2–1–0 |
| 4 | Titans of New York | 3–1–0 | Denver Broncos | 3–1–0 |
| 5 | Houston Oilers | 3–1–0 | Denver Broncos | 3–1–0 |
| 6 | Houston Oilers | 4–1–0 | Denver Broncos | 3–2–0 |
| 7 | Houston Oilers | 5–1–0 | Denver Broncos | 4–2–0 |
| 8 | Houston Oilers | 5–2–0 | Tie (Den, LAC) | 4–3–0 |
| 9 | Houston Oilers | 6–2–0 | L.A. Chargers | 5–3–0 |
| 10 | Houston Oilers | 6–3–0 | L.A. Chargers | 6–3–0 |
| 11 | Houston Oilers | 7–3–0 | L.A. Chargers | 6–4–0 |
| 12 | Houston Oilers | 6–3–0 | L.A. Chargers | 7–4–0 |
| 13 | Houston Oilers | 8–4–0 | L.A. Chargers | 8–4–0 |
| 14 | Houston Oilers | 9–4–0 | L.A. Chargers | 9–4–0 |
| 15 | Houston Oilers | 10–4–0 | L.A. Chargers | 10–4–0 |
Regular season
Results
| Home/Road | Eastern Division | Western Division | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS | BUF | HOU | NY | DAL | DEN | LA | OAK | ||
| Eastern | Boston Patriots | 0–13 | 10–24 | 38–21 | 42–14 | 10–13 | 16–45 | 34–28 | |
| Buffalo Bills | 38–14 | 25–24 | 13–17 | 28–45 | 21–27 | 10–24 | 38–9 | ||
| Houston Oilers | 37–21 | 31–23 | 27–21 | 20–10 | 20–10 | 38–28 | 13–14 | ||
| Titans of New York | 24–28 | 27–3 | 28–42 | 41–35 | 28–24 | 7–21 | 27–28 | ||
| Western | Dallas Texans | 34–0 | 24–7 | 24–0 | 35–37 | 34–7 | 17–0 | 19–20 | |
| Denver Broncos | 31–24 | 38–38 | 25–45 | 27–30 | 14–17 | 19–23 | 31–14 | ||
| Los Angeles Chargers | 0–35 | 3–32 | 24–21 | 50–43 | 21–20 | 41–33 | 52–28 | ||
| Oakland Raiders | 27–14 | 20–7 | 22–37 | 28–31 | 16–34 | 48–10 | 17–41 | ||
Standings
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playoffs
| AFL Championship Game | ||
| January 1, 1961 – Jeppesen Stadium | ||
| Los Angeles Chargers | 16 | |
| Houston Oilers | 24 | |
Statistics
Quarterback
| 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 |
Awards
- AP AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans
- UPI AFL Player of The Year: Abner Haynes, Dallas Texans
Stadiums
The AFL began play with the following stadiums:
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Coaches
The AFL began play with the following head coaches:
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