First AFL Championship Game: The Birth of a Football Era

On January first, nineteen sixty one, was a day that changed professional football forever when the American Football League, better known as the AFL put together their very first championship game featuring the Houston Oilers and the Los Angeles Chargers. After a rough and tumble first year where the AFL seeked to compete with the powerhouse NFL that had been around for over forty years, the AFL put all it together for this one day, with drama, game changing plays and a quarterback who became a legend. And this one game helped lead to changes in pro football that we all love to this day. We're going to dive into all of that today on Daily Sports History. Welcome to Daily Sports History. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide as you daily learn more about sports history. And today's trivia question to listen out for is what Heisman Trophy winner did the Houston Oilers sign despite the fact that he had already signed with the La Rams of the NFL. Now, we covered the AFL briefly in the previous episode. We'll put that in a link in the description below. There's so much more that the AFL can give us, and so many more episodes We will cover on the AFL as this was in nineteen sixty was their first season where they had eight franchises, a lot you may know, as all these franchises are still around in the league today. The Buffalo Bills, the Houston Oilers, which are now the Tennessee Titans, the Titans of New York which are now the New York Jets, and the Boston Patriots, who were in the Eastern Division. In the Western Division was the Los Angeles Chargers, the Denver Broncos, the Dallas Texans which became the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Oakland Raiders, and each of these teams would play a home or away game against the other teams in the league, giving them a fourteen game schedule, which was two more games than the NFL would play that same season, putting pressure on the NFL, which they did so throughout the years. Now. One thing that the AFL did and continued to do was try to sign high profile players to make their league seem legitimate. They had a lot of players that were maybe off the streets or lower level in college or were cut by teams in the NFL, but they made big splashes where they could and the Houston Oilers did that when they signed Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, who was a halfback from LSU, to a contract of thirty three thousand for three years. Now thirty three thousand is roughly over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars to day, and it all happened despite the fact that he had already signed with the Los Angeles Rams, but chose to go with the Oilers as they were providing more money and which was something very common that happened for big name stars coming into the league. And the Oilers were able to also sign George Blanda, who had played for the Bears previously, but the Bears were looking for a new quarterback and said he could either be the placekicker or he could retire, which he did, and he went on to the Houston Oilers to help lead them to some historic seasons and he would start eleven of the fourteen games at quarterback and as their kicker, helping lead them to a ten to four record, where they started out strong, winning five of their first six games, including a thirty eight to twenty eight victory versus the Chargers in their second week, although the Chargers would come back in Week nine and win twenty four to twenty one, and they would finish three games above the Titans of New York, giving them a ten to four record and a spot in the AFL Championship game with the league's best total offense, and the AFL did their championship just like Major League Baseball. In the NFL, whoever won their division would get the chance to play for the championship. There would be no real playoff, It's just the season was the playoff and whoever led the way through the season got the chance to play for the championship. And in the Western Division, the LA Chargers actually started out shaky, but they had great co coaching and Sid Gilmour, who went on to be in the Hall of Fame for both college and pro football. And they also included coaching staff of Al Davis and Chuck Noll, a Hall of Fame owner and a Hall of Fame coach. And they were led by Jack Kemp who was a backup in the NFL for multiple teams, but he was able to put together a three thousand yard season help lead them to a ten and four record, and they were also led by their running back Paul Lowe who was working in the mail room of the Chargers owner Baron Hilton, and he tried out for the team and made it and had over eight hundred yards that season for the team. And despite their slow start, starting at five hundred in the first six games, they went on a terror in their last nine games, ending in a ten and four record, beating the Broncos by two games to win the Western Division. Ranking third in offense throughout the year, meaning many thought this would be an offensive showdown in the championship game against two of the best offenses in the league. Now, the AFL established that they were going to alternate who held the championship. On the even years, it's gonna be the Western Division winner. On the AUDI years, it'd be the Eastern Division winner. But the problem was that the Chargers played at the LA Coliseum, which was over one hundred thousand seats, and they only averaged ten thousand fans per game, and it was the Westerns year to host, and they were worried because ABC was hosting the game, if they had poor ticket sales and it looked like they didn't have anyone in the fans, that ABC would pull their million dollar contract TV contract, which helped sustain the league, so they flipped it and said that the Eastern Division would host the even years, which meant they would play at the Giuseppe Stadium in Houston, which was the home of the Houston University Cougars and only had capacity for thirty two thousand fans, which meant it would look like a fuller stadium and look better on TV. And coming into the game, the Oilers were actually favored by six and a half points one because they were the home team and also they had the best offense in the league behind an established quarterback in George Blanda. Now, the Chargers took the six to zero off of two field goals and the first quarter would end with that score, and in the second quarter, Houston got going as they scored their first touchdown from George Blanda to Dave Smith a seventeen yard pass, but the Chargers would take the lead back with another field goal, But the Oilers would finish the half with a field goal from George Blanda, giving them a ten to nine score going into halftime with the Oilers winning and coming into the third quarter Houston, George Blanda would throw another touchdown, giving them an eight point lead, but Paul Lowe, that mail room worker for the Chargers, scored a two yard rushing touchdown, putting the game within a touchdown as they were now down putting, making it a one score game, seventeen to sixteen game. But that high priced new free agent Billy Cannon caught an eighty eight yard pass which was a short pass and a catch which was a short catch and run that went for eighty eight yards and gave gave the Oilers an eight point lead win the When the Chargers took the ball for a chance to tie the game, now they could tie the game, which is something they couldn't do in the NFL, as the NFL did not have the two point conversion yet, but the AFL did, and despite the fact that the Chargers were down by eight, if they scored a touchdown and got a two point conversion, they could send the game into overtime. But sadly that wouldn't happen and they would they would go four and out and lose and give the ball back to the Oilers, who would win the very first AFL championship, being led by George Blanda, who threw three touchdowns in this game, cementing Higgins's legacy in pro football, and both these teams had a lot of success the following year, as they would meet again in the AFL championship game, this time played in San Diego, where the Chargers had moved to, but it was a lot of the same as the Oilers again won ten to three. But sadly, both these teams, despite moving to the NFL, have never won a Super Bowl. Both have been but never won the game. Even though they've had a lot of success in the AFL and NFL, that championship in the NFL has still alludes to them. But one day, I know it will happen. If you enjoyed this episode, please check out the World of Football podcasts hosted by Adam and Randy, where they take you through all of American style pro football, which includes the NFL, a RAINA League, college football, and even the CFL. Check them out so you can know all about what is going on in pro football around the world, and we'll put a link in the description below for you to check them out. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please share it on your social media's hit the Little Triangle share button and post it to your social media so that your friends and family can come check out all the sports history you are learning as well, and you guys can talk about it and know what is your favorite sports moment? And did you catch the answer to today's trivia question, what Heisman Trophy winner did the Houston Oilers sign despite the fact that he had already signed with the LA Rams And the answer is running back Billy Cannon signed a thirty thirty three thousand year contract with the Houston Oilers, which today is worth about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars