A 26-year-old Texan, frustrated by his unsuccessful attempts to gain a pro football franchise in the National Football League, embarked on an alternate course that was to drastically change the face of pro football forever. The young man was Lamar Hunt, who founded the American Football League with six original cities Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis (Buffalo and Boston were added, and Oakland replaced Minneapolis).

Lamar Hunt was the cornerstone, the integrity of the league. Without him, there would have been no AFL.