Program for the 3rd Annual AFL All-Star Game, held in San Diego.
The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the league's merger with the National Football League (NFL).
All-League Teams
The Sporting News published American Football League All-League Teams for each season played by the American Football League, 1960 through 1969. From 1960 through 1966, the All-League Team was selected by the AFL players, and from 1967 through 1969 it was selected by a consensus of The Sporting News (TSN), the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI), and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA). The All-League AFL selections usually included one player at each team position on offense and on defense (i.e., one quarterback, two guards, four defensive backs, etc.). Eastern All-Stars wore red uniforms with a white top and red stars, with the colors reversed for away, while Western All-Stars wore blue uniforms with a white top and blue stars and vice versa for away. Each player wore their team's respective helmet, and unlike their regular team uniforms, all star uniforms never featured names on the back.
All-Star teams
The AFL did not have an all-star game after its first season in 1960 but from 1961 through 1969, other AFL players were added to the All-League players to form two squads, and the league held All-Star games for those seasons. After every season except 1965, the format consisted of games between All-Star teams from the Eastern and Western divisions. In 1965, the league champion Buffalo Bills played all-stars from the other teams.
After the 1964 season, the AFL All-Star game had been scheduled for early 1965 in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium. After numerous black players were refused service by a number of New Orleans hotels and businesses, black and white players alike lobbied for a boycott. The black players all left days before the game, saying that it was clear they were not wanted.[1] Under the leadership of Buffalo Bills players including Cookie Gilchrist and other players such as Clem Daniels, the players put up a unified front, and the game was successfully moved to Houston's Jeppesen Stadium.[2][3][4]
