Led by Lamar Hunt and seven other owners, a new football league is formed to rival the NFL. The new league called the American Football League includes the New York Titans owned by Harry Wismer.

The Titans, who name legendary quarterback "Slingin" Sammy Baugh as their first coach, play their home games at the ancient crumbling Polo Grounds and are widely viewed in New York as a semi-pro team in a semi-pro league. The AFL is initially loaded with NFL castoffs, and those college players are viewed as not good enough for the 40-year old NFL.

The Titans' first player is Don Maynard, a former flanker from Texas-Western, who was passed up by the NFL and was playing in Canada. Maynard would go on to have a solid 13-year career and would go on to the Hall of Fame.

On September 11th, the Titans took their field for the first time at a rain-soaked Polo Grounds against the Buffalo Bills. A disappointing crowd of only 10,200 showed up to watch the Titans win 27-3.

Attendance would not improve as the Titans and AFL played in front of empty stadiums all season in the league's inaugural season. The Titans would end up going 7-7, finishing in second place.