The 1960 American Football League Draft was held on November 22, 1959, shortly after the organization of the league, and lasted 33 rounds. An additional draft of 20 rounds was held by the AFL on December 2.
Each AFL team had "territorial rights" to players from its general region for a first draft selection, so that teams could sign players who were known to their fans. These were not "picked" as such, but agreed on by consensus. The first territorial or "bonus" picks for each team were:
- Boston Patriots ~ Gerhard Schwedes, HB, Syracuse
- Buffalo Bills ~ Richie Lucas, QB, Penn State
- Dallas Texans ~ Don Meredith, QB, SMU
- Denver Broncos ~ Roger LeClerc, C, Trinity
- Houston Oilers ~ Billy Cannon, HB, LSU
- Los Angeles Chargers ~ Monty Stickles, E, Notre Dame
- New York Titans ~ George Izo, QB, Notre Dame
- Minneapolis AFL team 1 ~ Dale Hackbart, QB, Wisconsin
1 Minneapolis reneged on its agreement to join the AFL, and jumped to the NFL as an expansion team that became the Minnesota Vikings. By the time the Oakland Raiders were granted the eighth AFL franchise, other AFL teams had signed some of the Minneapolis draftees. In order to stock the Raiders with players, the AFL held an "allocation draft" on January 27, 1960. The Minneapolis group did not take any of the players they drafted with them when they went to the NFL.
After the first "territorial picks" the 1960 AFL draft proceeded with teams selecting by lot and player position, e.g., each team selected backs from the available list, then linemen, etc.
Often, AFL teams cooperated in signing draftees, allowing other teams in the league to sign their choices, to keep the players in the AFL; for example, Bill Mathis, whose "rights" belonged to the Broncos, but who signed with the Titans; Ron Mix, drafted by the Patriots, signed by the Chargers, etc. Each team had a set of "first selections" and "second selections", with each group listed separately and alphabetically as below.
| Boston Patriots | Buffalo Bills |
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| Dallas Texans | Denver Broncos |
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| Houston Oilers | Los Angeles Chargers |
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| New York Titans | Oakland Raiders (formerly Minneapolis) |
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For the allocation draft, the other seven AFL teams each froze eleven players, and Oakland selected a total of 24 players from the ranks of the other teams' "unfrozen" lists. The number of players originally drafted for the eighth AFL franchise, but who were signed by other teams, combined with the process of the allocation draft, virtually guaranteed that the Raiders would have the worst team in the AFL in its first year. In spite of this, they managed to sign future stars Jim Otto and Wayne Hawkins, two men who played the entire ten years of the American Football League.
| Oakland Raiders (allocation draft) |
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Future Hall of Famers Selected by AFL Teams[]
- Jim Otto 1, Center, University of Miami -- Taken as a "First Selection" by the AFL's Oakland Raiders. Inducted in 1979.
- Ron Mix 1, Offensive Tackle, USC -- Taken as a "First Selection" by the AFL's Boston Patriots. Inducted in 1980.
Other Notable Players Selected by AFL Teams[]
- Tom Day, Defensive End - Buffalo Bills, "Second Selection", North Carolina A&T
- Larry Grantham, Linebacker - New York Titans, "First Selection", Mississippi
- Abner Haynes 2, Halfback - Dallas Texans, "First Selection", North Texas State
- Johnny Robinson 1, Defensive Back - Dallas Texans, "First Selection", LSU
- 1 Member of the American Football League All-Time Team.
- 2 1960 AFL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player.
See also[]
- List of American Football League players
- History of American Football League draft
- List of Professional Football Drafts