The first game in American football league history
The American Football League began in 1960 as a rival to the older and more established National Football League. Most of the AFL’s ownership was made up of investors who wanted to buy an NFL team, but for various reasons were unable to do so.
After all the planning and preparation, the first game had to be played. He featured the Denver Broncos on the road against the Boston Patriots. The game was held at Nickerson Field on the night of Friday, September 9, 1960. It was a breezy game that saw what many claimed was a surprisingly good game from two teams that had never played a major game before.
Frank Tripucka was the quarterback for the Broncos and would go 10 of 15 for 180 yards and a touchdown on the night. A host of Broncos ran the ball during that game with Gene Mingo gaining 66 yards, Dave Rolle gaining 33 yards, Al Carmichael gaining 24 yards, and Henry Bell gaining 17 yards, among others. Although no rushing touchdowns would be scored in the game, the Broncos did earn a punt return for a touchdown. Carmichael turned in the best receiving numbers for the Broncos that game with six receptions for 130 yards and a touchdown.
The Patriots’ quarterback that day was Butch Songlin. He attempted 24 passes, including 12 completions for 145 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots race was spread evenly among three players: Jim Crawford, Larry Garron and Walt Livingston, each of whom got seven or eight carries. The biggest receiver of the night was Jim Colclough, who caught four passes for 42 yards and a touchdown.
The scoring began with a 35-yard field goal in the first quarter by the Patriots’ Gino Cappelletti. Denver took the lead in the second quarter with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Al Carmichael from Frank Tripucka, and after Gene Mingo’s extra point, the score was 7–3. In the third quarter, Mingo returned a punt 76 yards for a touchdown, but the extra point was missed, making the score 13-3. The Patriots got into the end zone in the fourth quarter on a ten-yard pass from Butch Songin to Jim Colclough, making it 13-10. That would be the final score with the Broncos winning the first AFL game by three points.
Because this was the first AFL game, everything that happened in it was a league first. This includes:
-First AFL win on the road (Denver).
-The first home loss in the AFL (Boston).
-The first AFL field goal (Cappelletti).
-The first AFL touchdown (Carmichael).
-The AFL’s first ever touchdown pass (Tripucka).
-The first ever AFL punt return/special teams touchdown (Mingo).
-The AFL’s first 100 yard receiving game (Carmichael).
The AFL is a big part of American football history and was so successful that within a decade it was merged into the NFL.