Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

JohnH19 wrote:Joe Namath "made" the AFL but Len Dawson should be the league's all-time QB.

I agree that Hank Stram should be one of the coaches. In my mind he's clearly the No. 1 guy based on three titles and a SB win.

Agree on both points, but was the AFL All-Time Team voting conducted before or after Super Bowl IV?

Retro Rider wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:Joe Namath "made" the AFL but Len Dawson should be the league's all-time QB.

I agree that Hank Stram should be one of the coaches. In my mind he's clearly the No. 1 guy based on three titles and a SB win.

Agree on both points, but was the AFL All-Time Team voting conducted before or after Super Bowl IV?

It appeared in newspapers on January 15, 1970, four days after the Super Bowl, but I'd bet my paycheck the polling was prior or during that weekend of the game.

paulksandiego wrote:

Retro Rider wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:Joe Namath "made" the AFL but Len Dawson should be the league's all-time QB.

I agree that Hank Stram should be one of the coaches. In my mind he's clearly the No. 1 guy based on three titles and a SB win.

Agree on both points, but was the AFL All-Time Team voting conducted before or after Super Bowl IV?

It appeared in newspapers on January 15, 1970, four days after the Super Bowl, but I'd bet my paycheck the polling was prior or during that weekend of the game.

I had the same feeling about that as you Paul and now it appears that the AFL's All-Time team was selected before Super Bowl IV. Prior to the AFL's final All-Star game on January 17, 1970, Bud Adams presented wooden plaques to members of the First Team. Here's a photo of Paul Lowe's plaque that clearly states that the team was selected in 1969 by the Pro Football Hall of Fame:



http://talesfromtheamericanfootballleag ... am-trophy/

paulksandiego wrote:

Retro Rider wrote:

JohnH19 wrote:Joe Namath "made" the AFL but Len Dawson should be the league's all-time QB.

I agree that Hank Stram should be one of the coaches. In my mind he's clearly the No. 1 guy based on three titles and a SB win.

Agree on both points, but was the AFL All-Time Team voting conducted before or after Super Bowl IV?

It appeared in newspapers on January 15, 1970, four days after the Super Bowl, but I'd bet my paycheck the polling was prior or during that weekend of the game.

My understanding is that it was voted on the day before the game, during the Hall of Fame voting precedure.

I've been meaning to post the question on this forum as to what happened to Bob Scarpitto's career. He didn't last long as a punter, despite leading the league in punting with phenomenal averages in '66 and '67. But Denver got rid of him after that year, and after one more ordinary season with Boston, he was done.

This is just a guess, but Scarpitto did cost the Broncos a game in the 1967 season against Buffalo. With the Broncos trying to protect a late lead, Scarpitto called for a fake punt on his own initiative. The gambit failed, and Buffalo drove the short field to the winning touchdown. Needless to say, this did not sit well with Lou Saban and probably put Scarpitto permanently in his doghouse.

While we're on the subject of the AFL, I'm curious to know people's opinions of the Canton-worthiness of players on this team (or potential replacements for them) who aren't currently in. Jim Tyrer, Winston Hill, Ed Budde, Walt Sweeney, and Johnny Robinson are all very qualified, in my opinion, and Larry Grantham, Dave Grayson, and Jerrel Wilson also seem to have good cases, based on what I know of them. What about the other players, though? The Hall has given very little consideration thus far to players who played the vast majority of their careers in the AFL, and it's easy to assume that this is the result of a bias on the part of the voters due to a perception of the AFL as an inferior league (which it may well have been, but maybe not to the degree that the voters think).

rebelx24 wrote:While we're on the subject of the AFL, I'm curious to know people's opinions of the Canton-worthiness of players on this team (or potential replacements for them) who aren't currently in. Jim Tyrer, Winston Hill, Ed Budde, Walt Sweeney, and Johnny Robinson are all very qualified, in my opinion, and Larry Grantham, Dave Grayson, and Jerrel Wilson also seem to have good cases, based on what I know of them. What about the other players, though? The Hall has given very little consideration thus far to players who played the vast majority of their careers in the AFL, and it's easy to assume that this is the result of a bias on the part of the voters due to a perception of the AFL as an inferior league (which it may well have been, but maybe not to the degree that the voters think).

Johnny Robinson is a definate, someone who should have been in years ago. Tyrer is certainly qualified, too. After the merger Hill and some others just didn't get the "alls" in the NFL as opposed to the AFL. Was it because there were more NFL writers voting? Maybe, but Hill was never in same grouping as Yary,Wright, . . .or even Kunz ..

rebelx24 wrote:While we're on the subject of the AFL, I'm curious to know people's opinions of the Canton-worthiness of players on this team (or potential replacements for them) who aren't currently in. Jim Tyrer, Winston Hill, Ed Budde, Walt Sweeney, and Johnny Robinson are all very qualified, in my opinion, and Larry Grantham, Dave Grayson, and Jerrel Wilson also seem to have good cases, based on what I know of them. What about the other players, though? The Hall has given very little consideration thus far to players who played the vast majority of their careers in the AFL, and it's easy to assume that this is the result of a bias on the part of the voters due to a perception of the AFL as an inferior league (which it may well have been, but maybe not to the degree that the voters think).

You can see the support many of those guys on the All-1960s teams that were not affiliated with HOF

http://nflfootballjournal.blogspot.com/ ... 1960s.html

What if you had to win one game with AFL players, how differently would your team look when compared to an "all-time" team? Here is who I would have:

QB: Greg Cook
HB: Clem Daniels
FB: Cookie Gilchrist
WR: Lance Alworth
WR: Don Maynard
TE: Fred Arbanas
OT: Jim Tyrer
OT: Ron Mix
OG: Billy Shaw
OG: Gene Upshaw
C: Jim Otto

DE: Earl Faison
DE: Jerry Mays
DT: Buck Buchanan
DT: Tom Sestak
OLB: George Webster
OLB: Bobby Bell
MLB: Willie Lanier
CB: Willie Brown
CB: Emmitt Thomas
SS: Ken Houston
FS: Johnny Robinson

K: Jan Stenerud
P: Jerrell Wilson

I would switch out Cook for Namath since he did win THE biggest game in AFL history.