AFL

West 47

East 27

January 7, 1962

The first American Football League All-Star Game was played on January 7, 1962 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego, CA. The game was hosted by the San Diego Junior Chamber of Commerce as a charity event to raise funds for the Breitbard Athletic Foundation. The game was a rousing success for the new league turning a profit and gaining much needed television exposure for the stars of the league as the game was aired nationally by ABC TV. The coaches were Lou Rymkus of the Oilers and Sid Gillman of the Los Angeles Chargers.

The East did all of the scoring in the first quarter when George Blanda of the Houston Oilers connected on a 32 yard field goal. Abner Haynes of the Dallas Texans fumbled in his own end zone and was tackled by Jim Hunt of the Patriots for a safety. It was 5-0, East after one quarter. In the second quarter, Cotton Davidson of the Texans replaced Jack Kemp of the Chargers and promptly hit Donnie Stone of Denver with a 45 yard touchdown pass. Stone was playing in his twenty-fifth pro game of the 1961 season, having played a the full season in Canada. The East responded as Blanda hit teammate, Billy Cannon, with a 43 yard touchdown to make the score 12-7. Haynes answered with an 11 yard touchdown run and Davidson threw a 24 yard touchdown strike to San Diego’s Dave Kocourek. The halftime score was 21-12 in favor of the West.
 

In the third quarter, Haynes returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown and Davidson hooked up with the Charger’s Don Norton on a 10 yard touchdown pass. The East came back when Boston’s Gino Cappelletti caught a 5 yard touchdown pass from Blanda. The score at the end of the third period was 35-19. In the final period, the West put it away when Oakland’s Fred Williamson picked off a Blanda pass a returned it 53 yards for the West’s sixth touchdown. Blanda was intercepted five times on the afternoon. New York Titans quarterback Al Dorow replaced Blanda and hit Charley Hennigan for three yards and a touchdown. Dorow carried the ball over for the two-point conversion. The final score of the day came when the West’ Stone carried the ball over from 12 yards out. The final score was West 47, East 27.

For the day, Cotton Davidson completed 16 of 28 passes for 239 yards and was voted the game’s MVP.

Houston's George Blanda passes for the East.

Ken Adamson of Denver leads Texans' Abner Haynes on sweep.

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