The American Football League did not play an All-Star game after its first season in 1960 but did stage All-Star games for the 1961 through 1969 seasons. All-Star teams from the Eastern and Western divisions played each other after every season except 1965. That season, the league champion Buffalo Bills played all-stars from the other teams.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame and the National Football League include AFL All-Star Games in their statistics for the Pro Bowl. After the AFL-NFL Merger of 1970, the name of the NFL's all-star game was changed to the "AFC-NFC Pro Bowl".

The 1965 boycott

After the 1964 season, the AFL All-Star Game had been scheduled for early 1965 in New Orleans' Tulane Stadium. After numerous black players were refused service by a number of New Orleans hotels and businesses, black and white players alike lobbied for a boycott. Under the leadership of Buffalo Bills players including Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist, the players put up a unified front, and the game was successfully moved to Houston's Jeppesen Stadium.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 had just recently been passed, likely encouraging the AFL players in their cause, which was the first boycott in history of an entire city by a professional sports event.

Game history

Playing sites

• 1961-63: Balboa Stadium, San Diego
• 1964: Jeppesen Stadium, Houston, Texas
• 1965: Rice Stadium, Houston
• 1966: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
• 1967-68: Gator Bowl, Jacksonville, Florida
• 1969: Astrodome, Houston

External link

African American Registry article.