Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League

Full Color Football: The History of the American Football League



Showtime and the NFL celebrate the 50th season of the maverick American Football League, from its tumultuous beginnings to its unlikely merger with the rival NFL, through this insightful NFL Films, produced five-part documentary. Follow the birth of the only league to successfully rival the NFL from its innovative and wild beginnings to the most stunning upset in pro football history and the eventual powerhouse merger. The AFL was full of unique personalities both on and off the field. Breaking with tradition and challenging a powerful institution, it brought America a new and exciting brand of football.



"The AFL is one of the great American success stories, and it is a story with a lot of colorful characters," said NFL Films president Steve Sabol. "In this project we celebrate the AFL while also debunking myths about why the league succeeded." Weaving through the social, cultural and political events of the tumultuous 1960s, Full Color Football examines the daring vision of league founder Lamar Hunt and his dream to challenge the NFL. Through rare interviews from some of the biggest names in the AFL, including Joe Namath, Al Davis and John Madden, long lost game highlights and never before seen footage, Full Color Football tells the inside story of the outsiders who forever changed the game.



Episode 1: The New Frontier

When 26 year old Lamar Hunt's dream of owning a pro football team is road blocked by the NFL, Hunt dreams bigger and starts a new league. The AFL's early days coincide with the dawn of a new age in America, reflected in the energy of a young president and the grand national ambition to reach the moon. Pro football was well on its way to becoming America's game and it would do so with help from the most powerful machine of the age: television. Watch the other league's earliest days through the stories of eye witnesses like John Madden, Dan Rather, Larry King, Tim Russert, Hank Stram and Jim Brown in episode one of "Full Color Football."

Episode 2: Times They Are A Changin'

The AFL enters its 4th season with the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the passing of the Civil Rights Movement changing the landscape of America. The ripple effects were felt in the AFL, where the Sid Gillman helped the Chargers become the premier offensive team in the league, winning the AFL championship in 1963. Other teams like the Boston Patriots were just trying to get noticed in their own towns. And the Bills won back-to-back titles and the hearts and minds of Buffalo fans with a dominating defense. Sports and society finally intersect in 1965, when African-American players lead a boycott of the All Star game.

Episode 3: War and Peace

Bolstered by a generous new TV contract from NBC, the AFL wages war against the NFL by outbidding and even kidnapping top college prospects to join the new league. The arrival of Joe Namath revives a sagging New York franchise, while existing stars Lance Alworth, Willie Brown, Clem Daniels and others set records and increase attendance. When the Giants raid the Bills for kicker Pete Gogolak, the AFL retaliates by signing some of the NFL's biggest stars, forcing a merger between the leagues an agreement that ends the football wars and creates a world championship game that would come to be known as the Super Bowl.

Episode 4: Revolution

The AFL's quest for respectability takes another hit after the Raiders are soundly beaten in Super Bowl II. In 1968, amid the backdrop of the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement and the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, a league full of rebels and misfits continue to revolt against the establishment. Broadway Joe matures from showman into a champion quarterback. The Jets defeat the Raiders for the 1968 AFL championship. Namath guarantees a victory in Super Bowl III over the mighty Baltimore Colts and then delivers the greatest upset in the history of sports.

Episode 5: The Final Frontier

It's 1969 and anything is possible, the Jets upset the Colts in Super Bowl III, Man walks on the Moon, but the AFL is still considered separate and unequal in the eyes of the NFL. The debate over how the leagues will be realigned is long and contentious. The now predominant figure in all of pro football, Joe Namath, nearly retires under attack from the NFL establishment. But the league of possibility will make its mark for years to come. Innovations like the West Coast offense and stack defense are born in the AFL. Under Hank Stram, the Kansas City Chiefs dominate the Vikings in Super Bowl IV, becoming the first team with more blacks than whites to win a championship. The AFL finally has its respect. And with the dawn of Monday Night Football, the newly merged NFL is now the most popular sport in America.