Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League

When 26 year old Lamar Hunt's dream of owning a pro football team is road-blocked by the NFL, Hunt dreams bigger and starts a new league. The AFL's early days coincide with the dawn of a new age in America, reflected in the energy of a young president and the grand national ambition to reach the moon.

Highlights how the San Diego Chargers (powered by coach Sid Gillman's offensive schemes) and the Buffalo Bills (and their dominating defense) became the AFL's premiere teams. Societal effects on the AFL are also examined, from the John F. Kennedy assassination to the relocation of the league's January 1965 All-Star Game from New Orleans to Houston after several black players were refused service in the former city.

See the AFL reach a watershed: a lucrative new TV contract with NBC, the awarding of a 9th franchise to Miami, and the launch of a player bidding war with the NFL that began with the New York Jets' signing of Alabama QB Joe Namath. The two leagues would reach a truce that would lead to the start of the Super Bowl, a "common draft" of collegiate players, and their eventual 1970 merger.

Looks at how, amidst a backdrop of upheaval in American society, the AFL generates its own upheaval in the sports world: after its champions are soundly defeated in the first two Super Bowls, the league gains respectability on the shoulders of Joe Namath, who, after his Jets defeat Oakland for the 1968 league title, fulfills a brash guarantee to defeat NFL champ Baltimore in Super Bowl III, regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history.

Profiles the league's final year, 1969, including the contentious debate on post-merger league realignment, Joe Namath's near-retirement, and innovations like the West Coast offense and stack defense that found their origins in the AFL. With the respectability it long sought now secure, the league ends on a high note with Hank Stram's Kansas City Chiefs soundly defeating Minnesota in Super Bowl IV.