September 9, 1960: The 1st American Football League Game

Action from the 1st AFL game

September 9, 1960: The 1st game of the new American Football League was played. It is a Friday night, so as not to conflict with the college games on Saturday and the NFL games on Sunday.

It was played at Boston University Field, which was renamed Nickerson Field in 1963, and still stands. The home stand used to be the right field pavilion of Braves Field, home of baseball's Boston Braves from 1915 to 1952. The host Boston Patriots played the Denver Broncos, and the Broncos won, 13-10.

There had been Boston teams in the NFL before, but none lasted long. Denver had never had an NFL team. And the one they had now wore uniforms that made their later combination of blue helmets and orange jerseys look tame by comparison: Dark brown helmets with white numbers, white jerseys with dark brown numbers, dark brown pants, and socks with dark brown and gold vertical stripes. These uniforms were so mocked that they switched to the blue and orange ones in 1962.

Patriots running back and placekicker Gino Cappelletti scored the League's 1st points, a 35-yard field goal in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, Frank Tripucka, former quarterback at Notre Dame and with the Chicago Cardinals, threw a 59-yard touchdown pass to Al Carmichael, with Gene Mingo adding the extra point.

In the 3rd quarter, Mingo returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown. The Patriots closed to within 3 points when Butch Songin threw a touchdown pass to Jim Colclough, followed by Cappelletti's extra point. But there would be no scoring in the 4th quarter, as Goose Gonsoulin intercepted a late Songin pass at the Denver 2-yard line, and the Broncos won.

An oddity about the photo above: It's allegedly from the 1st game, yet the ballcarrier for the Patriots wears Number 46, and there's no Number 46 listed on their roster for the season. Yet there are 2 players listed as Number 45: Tight end Jerry Green, and tight end and defensive back Thomas Stephens. Green was white, and was wearing 45 in the official team photo. Stephens was also white. The ballcarrier in the photo is definitely black, but it doesn't give us a good look at his face, to make him easier to identify. So who is he?

No attendance figure was listed for this 1st game, but Nickerson Field's capacity has never been over 20,000, and the game was far from a sellout. I guess the choice to play on Friday night didn't help.

On Saturday, September 10, the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Dallas Texans, 21-20 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

On Sunday, September 11, the New York Titans beat the Buffalo Bills, 27-3 at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. And the Houston Oilers beat the Oakland Raiders, 37-22 at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco.

The Oilers ended up winning the 1st AFL Championship, beating the Chargers in the Championship Game.

The AFL's logo

The AFL struggled in its 1st 3 seasons, but, by 1963, was on solid footing. In 1966, with the NFL tired of its rosters being raided and its draft picks being signed, a truce and a merger were negotiated, and the AFL's teams were brought into the NFL for the 1970 season.

All 8 of the original AFL teams are still playing today -- but it's a little more complicated than that:

* The Denver Broncos are the only former AFL team still playing in their original city. They also turned out to be the last former AFL team to still be playing in their original stadium, although the expansion of the 18,000-seat minor-league ballpark named Bears Stadium to the 77,000-seat football stadium named Mile High Stadium in 1977 rendered it unrecognizable to those who saw it before. They remained there until 2000, and opened what's now Empower Field at Mile High the following season.

* The Boston Patriots are still playing in their original metropolitan area, but not in their original city. They moved to the suburb of Foxborough, Massachusetts in 1971, and changed their name to the New England Patriots.

* The Buffalo Bills are still playing in their original metropolitan area, but moved to the suburb of Orchard Park, New York in 1972.

* The New York Titans are still playing in their original metropolitan area, but not in their original city. They changed their name to the New York Jets in 1963, and moved to the Meadowlands of East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1984.

* The Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego in 1961, and back to the Los Angeles area in 2017. After 3 seasons in suburban Carson, California, they moved to a new stadium in Inglewood in 2020.

* The Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963.

* The Raiders didn't actually play a game in Oakland until the 1962 season. They moved to Los Angeles in 1982, back to Oakland in 1995, and to Las Vegas in 2020.

* The Houston Oilers moved to Memphis in 1997, becoming the Tennessee Oilers. They moved to Nashville in 1998, and became the Tennessee Titans in 1999. Hey, the Jets weren't using the Titans name.

* The AFL added the Miami Dolphins in 1966. They are still playing in their original metropolitan area, but moved to the suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida in 1987.

* The AFL added the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. They are still playing in their original city.

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September 9, 1960 was, as I said, a Friday. English actor Hugh Grant was born.

These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-1 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (The following season, it would be renamed Tiger Stadium.) Hector Lopez and Roger Maris hit back-to-back home runs in the 3rd inning. Mickey Mantle went 1-for-3 with a walk. Bill Stafford was the winning pitcher, and helped his own cause with an RBI single. Yogi Berra went 0-for-4, but had the Yankees' other RBI when he grounded into a force play. For the Tigers, Norm Cash hit a home run, and Al Kaline went 2-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1 at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia, in a game shortened to 5 innings due to rain. Stan Musial, approaching his 40th birthday, still managed to go 3-for-3 with an RBI.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Roberto Clemente went 1-for-3 with a walk. Ernie Banks went 1-for-4.

* The Washington Senators beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* A doubleheader was split at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The San Francisco Giants won the opener, 4-2. Willie McCovey won it with a home run in the top of the 9th inning. The Cincinnati Reds won the nightcap, 3-2. Willie Mays went 0-for-7 with a walk in the doubleheader. Frank Robinson did not play.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Brooks Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Braves, 5-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Hank Aaron went 1-for-4 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* And the Kansas City Athletics beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.