Here’s a great set of photos from the American Football League for you. They were originally presented in celebration of the AFL’s fifth anniversary and feature all of the league’s then-eight teams — Buffalo Bills, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, and Boston Patriots. Obviously this collection predates the Dolphins and Bengals.
Here’s the description of how this wonderful collection came to be, from the auction page:
In 1959, when the American Football League was formed, the eight original franchise owners dubbed themselves “The Foolish Club” for competing directly with the established NFL. The resilience, foresight, and creativity of the new owners and others quickly allowed the AFL to establish itself as a viable competitor to NFL.
After five years, once the league was firmly established and already in negotiations to merge with the NFL, founder and Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt commissioned the production of eight commemorative pieces. Titled the “The Foolish Club Age 5,” the display shows one action shot of each of the eight AFL teams and was presented to the each of those eight AFL franchise owners.
Here’s the full framed set:
And here are closeups of each of the eight team photos:
