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American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
(AFL, 1960–1969) had a unique take on the uniforms of
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
s,
umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per' ...
s, line judges, field judges and
back judge In gridiron football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. During professional and most college football games, seven officials operate on the field. Since 2015, Division I ...
s. With their red-orange stripes, black collars and cuffs, and AFL logos on their shirt fronts, sleeves and caps, they were not only more colorful, but easier to see than those of the other league. They were especially unique when seen on
color television Color television or Colour television is a television transmission technology that includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improves on the monochrome or black-and-white t ...
, which was also on the rise in the 1960s. Both the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
and
All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...
had used colored uniforms in the 1940s. In his book COLORS, Jim Finks Jr., son of Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Jim Finks, Sr., shows the original uniform of AFL official
Jack Reader John Kenneth Reader (November 11, 1925 in Lawrence, Massachusetts – November 10, 2008 in Hingham, Massachusetts) was an American football official. After graduation from the College of the Holy Cross in 1950, football star Reader became an on-fi ...
, who was a back judge in the first AFL game in 1960 and in both the first and third AFL-NFL World Championship games. Reader was in an iconic January 20, 1969 ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...
'' photo, signaling a touchdown after
Matt Snell Matthews Snell (born August 18, 1941) is a retired professional football player who played for the New York Jets. He was Jets' owner Sonny Werblin's first coup, prior to his 1965 acquisition of Joe Namath. A powerful fullback out of Ohio Stat ...
's 4-yard plunge against the Colts. The following list indicates men who were
American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
on-field officials: an important but seldom-credited part of the game. Nine, as shown in the list below, officiated in the American Football League for the entire ten years of its existence, 1960 through 1969. They were: Ben Dreith (FJ, R); Bob Finley (U, R); Hugh Gamber (BJ, FJ); Elvin Hutchison (HL); John McDonough (R); Walt Parker (U); Jack Reader (BJ, R); Al Sabato (HL) and George Young (U). There were 34 on-field officials in the AFL in 1969, the league's last year of play. 33 of them were good enough to continue to officiate after the merger. One of them was Cal Lepore, now known as "the father of instant replay". He also promulgated the use of replay to review the accuracy of on-field calls, for the evaluation of officials. Another important link from the American Football League to today's professional football. Notes: * Bob Austin (AFL Supervisor of Officials, 1960–1965) * Mel Hein (AFL Supervisor of Officials, 1966–1969) *
Jack Reader John Kenneth Reader (November 11, 1925 in Lawrence, Massachusetts – November 10, 2008 in Hingham, Massachusetts) was an American football official. After graduation from the College of the Holy Cross in 1950, football star Reader became an on-fi ...
(Officiated the first AFL game in 1960. Ten-year American Football League official, 1960–1969) * Jim Tunney received an offer from the AFL to be a referee in 1960, but chose to go to the NFL as a field judge. * Years before Pete Gogolak, Fritz Graf was the first "jumper" from the AFL to the NFL. He was in the AFL in 1960, officiated its first Championship, then went to the NFL in 1961. *
Jack Reader John Kenneth Reader (November 11, 1925 in Lawrence, Massachusetts – November 10, 2008 in Hingham, Massachusetts) was an American football official. After graduation from the College of the Holy Cross in 1950, football star Reader became an on-fi ...
, who died in 2008, was a ten-year AFL official who worked the league's first game (Broncos-Patriots) on September 9, 1960 and the first Super Bowl. *
Bob Wortman Robert Vincent "Bob" Wortman (December 3, 1927 – October 20, 2015) was a collegiate athlete at the University of Findlay, Ohio, where he played basketball and football. He went on to be a field judge in the American Football League from 1965 th ...
was the first man to officiate both a Super Bowl and an NCAA basketball championship. * Frank Rustich was an AFL line judge and also a boxing referee who officiated at the 1973
Ken Norton Kenneth Howard Norton Sr. (August 9, 1943 – September 18, 2013) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1967 to 1981, and held the WBC world heavyweight championship in 1978. He is best known for his fights with Muhammad Ali, ...
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Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...
Heavyweight Boxing Championship.


See also

*
List of American Football League players The following is a list of men who played for the American Football League (AFL, 1960–1969). Players A B C D Elbert Dubenion E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Notes Player notes 1,398 ...


External links


AFL officials' uniforms
{{DEFAULTSORT:American Football League Officials * 1960s-related lists Lists of referees and umpires American football-related lists