August 14, 1959: The American Football League Is Founded

AFL Founder Lamar Hunt

August 14, 1959: The founding meeting of what was soon named the American Football League is held in Chicago. That city would not have a team in this league, the 4th to assume the name. (Previous AFLs operated in 1926, 1936-37 and 1940-41.)

The 8 founding teams that would begin play in September 1960 were, in alphabetical order:

* The Boston Patriots, founded by Billy Sullivan. With their move to suburban Foxborough, Massachusetts in 1971, they were renamed the New England Patriots.
* The Buffalo Bills, founded by Ralph Wilson. A team with that name had played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949.
* The Dallas Texans. They were moved and renamed the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963. The team was owned by the League's founder, Lamar Hunt. Today, the AFC Championship trophy is named for him.
* The Denver Broncos, founded by Bob Howsam.
* The Houston Oilers, founded by Bud Adams. They were moved to Memphis and renamed the Tennessee Oilers in 1997, moved to Nashville in 1998, and renamed the Tennessee Titans in 1999.
* The Los Angeles Chargers, founded by Barron Hilton. They were moved to San Diego in 1961, and back to the Los Angeles market in 2016.
* The New York Titans, founded by Harry Wismer, before being taken over by Sonny Werblin and Leon Hess. They were renamed the New York Jets in 1963.
* The Oakland Raiders, founded by Wayne Valley, before being taken over by Al Davis. They were moved to Los Angeles in 1982, moved back to Oakland in 1995, and moved to Las Vegas for the 2020 season.

In 1966, the AFL would add the Miami Dolphins. In 1968, it would add the Cincinnati Bengals. From 1966 to 1970, having made peace in their wild war with the established National Football League, the process of merging the 2 leagues into the modern NFL was undertaken.

The 1960s AFL was the most successful "rebel league" in U.S. sports history. You could argue that the NHL was, but it was an all-Canadian league at the start. In baseball, the National League wasn't really a "rebel league." The American League did get to make peace with the National League in 1902.

But people didn't really think of "Major League Baseball" as a single entity at that time. It can be argued that MLB didn't become such an entity until the establishment of the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball in 1920, or even until 2000, when the AL and the NL were rendered team groupings only, with a single baseball and a single set of umpires for both Leagues.

Compare the number of teams that were absorbed into the established league:

* 1926 AFL: None.
* 1936-37 AFL: 1, the Cleveland (later Los Angeles) Rams.
* 1940-41 AFL: None.
* 1946-49 AAFC: 3, the Cleveland Browns, the San Francisco 49ers, and the original Baltimore Colts, who soon failed.
* 1960-69 AFL: 10, all of them.
* 1961-62 American Basketball League: None. It had 8 teams, including in 6 cities that didn't then have NBA teams. Cleveland, the San Francisco Bay Area and Washington would get NBA teams; Kansas City had one, but lost it.
* 1967-76 American Basketball Association: 4, the New York (now Brooklyn) Nets, the Denver Nuggets, the Indiana Pacers and the San Antonio Spurs. It had 12 franchises in all. Of these cities in which those teams played, the following now have NBA teams, in addition to the preceding: Charlotte, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Miami, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Salt Lake City and Washington. Kansas City and San Diego got teams, but lost them.
* 1972-79 World Hockey Association: 4, the Edmonton Oilers, the original Winnipeg Jets (now the Arizona Coyotes), the Quebec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche) and the Hartford Whalers (now the Carolina Hurricanes). Besides the preceding, the NHL would also put teams in Calgary, Cleveland (failed), the Miami area, New Jersey, Ottawa and Phoenix.
* 1974-75 World Football League: None. It had teams in 8 cities that did not then have NFL teams. Only 2 of those cities now have them: Charlotte and Jacksonville.
* 1983-85 United States Football League: None. It had teams in 10 cities that did not then have NFL teams. 3 of those cities would get NFL teams long-term: Baltimore, Jacksonville and Phoenix; 2 others would get them temporarily: Memphis and Oakland.
* 2001 XFL: None.
* 2019 Alliance of American Football: None.

Despite being the son of oil baron H.L. Hunt and the brother of Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Herbert Hunt, some real pieces of work, Lamar Hunt was universally admired. He was also a key figure in American soccer, having attended the 1966 World Cup in England. He helped to found the North American Soccer League in 1967, trying and failing to save it in 1985, helping to found Major League Soccer in 1996, and using his clout to save MLS in 2001. He was also a minority owner of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls from their 1966 founding until his death.

The American Football Conference’s championship trophy and the U.S. Open Cup, America's answer to England’s FA Cup, are named for him. He died in 2006, having been elected to the Pro Football, National Soccer and International Tennis Halls of Fame.

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August 14, 1959 was a Friday. Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson and actress Marcia Gay Harden were born. And these baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Boston Red Sox, 11-6 at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees led 6-0 after 3 innings, but the Sox scored 9 runs in the top of the 8th, off Whitey Ford and then Ryne Duren. Vic Wertz and Gary Geiger hit home runs, while Ted Williams went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Mickey Mantle went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

This was the one season in his career that Williams did not bad at least .316, finishing at .254; and the one season between 1947 and 1964 in which the Yankees were out of the American League Pennant race before the 2nd week of September.

* The Cincinnati Reds swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 15-13 and 5-4 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. Over the 2 games, Frank Robinson went 6-for-10 with a home run and 4 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-3 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Harmon Killebrew went 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Braves, 2-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron both went 1-for-4, and Clemente also had an RBI.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Indians, 11-1 at Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961) in Detroit. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Harvey Kuenn went 3-for-5 with a home run and 2 RBIs. For the Indians, Tito Francona hit a home run, and Rocky Colavito went 1-for-4. Just before the next season started, Kuenn and Colavito would be traded for each other.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 7-5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks, Walt "Moose" Moryn and Dale Long hit home runs for the Cubs. For the Giants, Willie Mays went 2-for-5, and Willie McCovey went 3-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 5-1 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1 at the 1st Busch Stadium (formerly the last Sportsman's Park) in St. Louis. Alex Grammas singled Bill White home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning. This made a winning pitcher of Lindy McDaniel, in a game where the starting pitchers were Bob Gibson for the Cards and Don Drysdale for the Bums. Neither of them hit a batter. Stan Musial appeared only as a pinch-hitter, and did not reach base. Duke Snider went 3-for-4, including a home run.