Territorial Draft
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. The Raiders were not "originally in Minnesota" as some claim. They were a new AFL franchise. One reason they were so weak in the first few years of the AFL was that the other AFL teams did not make quality players available in the allocation draft. The Minneapolis group did not take any of the rights of players they drafted with them when they went to the NFL, as they did not join that league until 1961.
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.
Read more about this topic: 1960 American Football League Draft
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