|
The Sporting News
(TSN),
which always treated the AFL fairly, published an
'American Football League Guide' from 1960 through 1969,
and included an
AFL All-League Team
for each year, even
1960, when the AFL did not hold an All-Star Game.
From 1960 through 1966, TSN
published a list of AFL All-League Players selected by the
players themselves. From 1967 through 1969, TSN's
'American Football League Guide' listed a team that was a
consensus of Associated Press (AP), United
Press International (UPI), Newspaper Enterprise
Association (NEA), and TSN.
In 1960, the AFL All-League
team was comprised of an 11-player offensive squad and an
11-player defensive squad. No kickers or coaches were named.
By 1969, the offensive squad had two 'wide receivers', a tight
end, two tackles, two guards, a center, a quarterback, two
'running backs' and a fullback, placekicker and punter for a
total of 11 men. The 1969 AFL All-League defensive squad
had two ends, two tackles, a middle linebacker, two outside
linebackers, two cornerbacks and two safeties, again a total of
11. Between 1960 and 1969, AFL All-League offensive squads
may have included extra receivers, as well as kickers and
punters, with up to 14 players. The defensive squads
evidently contained only 11 players in each year.
These were AFL All-League
players, as opposed to the Eastern Division and Western Division
AFL All-Star squads that were chosen to play in the AFL All-Star
Game from the post-1961 through the post-1964 seasons and the
post-1966 through the post-1969 seasons. After the 1965
season a special one-time format was used for the game, in which
the 1965 Champion Buffalo Bills played a team made up of
All-Stars from all the other AFL teams. Generally,
players on the American Football League All-League squad also
played in the American Football League All-Star Game, although
in some instances injuries affected the game squads.
Below is a list of
each year's AFL All-League selections. A page showing all
AFL All-Star game participants is under construction. The
players' positions are given as they were reported at the time,
thus what we might call today a 'safety' is simply called 'back'
in the earliest defensive squad selections. Clicking on a
team name will take you to Remember the AFL's team page.
Clicking on a player's name will take you to his Wikipedia
biography. If no Wikipedia page exists for
the player, you can start one. |
