NFL & AFL 1966

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Conference
*Dallas Cowboys	14	10	3	1	445	239	.769
Cleveland Browns	14	9	5	0	403	259	.643
Philadelphia Eagles	14	9	5	0	326	340	.643
St. Louis Cardinals	14	8	5	1	264	265	.615
Washington Redskins	14	7	7	0	351	355	.500
Pittsburgh Steelers	14	5	8	1	316	347	.385
Atlanta Falcons	14	3	11	0	204	437	.214
New York Giants	14	1	12	1	263	501	.077
Western Conference
*Green Bay Packers	14	12	2	0	335	163	.857
Baltimore Colts	14	9	5	0	314	226	.643
Los Angeles Rams	14	8	6	0	289	212	.571
San Francisco 49ers	14	6	6	2	320	325	.500
Chicago Bears	14	5	7	2	234	272	.417
Detroit Lions	14	4	9	1	206	317	.308
Minnesota Vikings	14	4	9	1	292	304	.308
AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Division
*Buffalo Bills	14	9	4	1	358	255	.692
Boston Patriots	14	8	4	2	315	283	.677
New York Jets	14	6	6	2	322	312	.500
Houston Oilers	14	3	11	0	335	396	.214
Miami Dolphins	14	3	11	0	213	362	.214
Western Division
*Kansas City Chiefs	14	11	2	1	448	276	.846
Oakland Raiders	14	8	5	1	315	288	.615
San Diego Chargers	14	7	6	1	335	284	.538
Denver Broncos	14	4	10	0	196	381	.286

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	NFL Championship
1966	Dallas Cowboys	27	Green Bay Packers	34
	AFL Championship
1966	Buffalo Bills	7	Kansas City Chiefs	31
	Super Bowl I		Memorial Colisuem, LA, Ca.
1966	Green Bay Packers (NFL)	35	Kansas City Chiefs (AFL)	10

Tom Furlong, who was born in Co. Offaly, Ireland, played Kicker for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL preseason 1966 [Ref: 3-4]

NFL & AFL 1967

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
*Dallas Cowboys	14	9	5	0	342	268	.643
Philadelphia Eagles	14	6	7	1	351	409	.462
Washington Redskins	14	5	6	3	347	353	.455
New Orleans Saints	14	3	11	0	233	379	.214
Century Division
*Cleveland Browns	14	9	5	0	334	297	.643
New York Giants	14	7	7	0	369	379	.500
St. Louis Cardinals	14	6	7	1	333	356	.462
Pittsburgh Steelers	14	4	9	1	281	320	.308
Western Conference
Coastal Division
*Los Angeles Rams	14	11	1	2	398	196	.917
*Baltimore Colts	14	11	1	2	394	198	.917
San Francisco 49ers	14	7	7	0	273	337	.500
Atlanta Falcons	14	1	12	1	175	422	.077
Central Division
*Green Bay Packers	14	9	4	1	332	209	.692
Chicago Bears	14	7	6	1	239	218	.538
Detroit Lions	14	5	7	2	260	259	.417
Minnesota Vikings	14	3	8	3	233	294	.273
AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Division
*Houston Oilers	14	9	4	1	258	199	.692
New York Jets	14	8	5	1	371	329	.615
Buffalo Bills	14	4	10	0	237	285	.286
Miami Dolphins	14	4	10	0	219	407	.286
Boston Patriots	14	3	10	1	280	389	.231
Western Division
*Oakland Raiders	14	13	1	0	468	233	.929
Kansas City Chiefs	14	9	5	0	408	254	.643
San Diego Chargers	14	8	5	1	360	352	.615
Denver Broncos	14	3	11	0	256	409	.214

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	NFL Conference Championships
1967	Dallas Cowboys	52	Cleveland Browns	14
1967	Green Bay Packers	28	Los Angeles Rams	7
	NFL Championship
1967	Green Bay Packers	21	Dallas Cowboys	17
	AFL Championship
1967	Oakland Raiders	40	Houston Oilers	7
	Super Bowl II		Orange Bowl, Miami, Fl.
1967	Green Bay Packers (NFL)	33	Oakland Raiders (AFL)	14

NFL & AFL 1968

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Conference Capitol Division
*Dallas Cowboys	14	12	2	0	431	186	.857
New York Giants	14	7	7	0	294	325	.500
Washington Redskins	14	5	9	0	249	358	.357
Philadelphia Eagles	14	2	12	0	202	351	.143
Eastern Conference Century Division
*Cleveland Browns	14	10	4	0	394	273	.714
St. Louis Cardinals	14	9	4	1	325	289	.692
New Orleans Saints	14	4	9	1	246	327	.308
Pittsburgh Steelers	14	2	11	1	244	397	.154
Western Conference Coastal Division
*Baltimore Colts	14	13	1	0	402	144	.929
Los Angeles Rams	14	10	3	1	312	200	.769
San Francisco 49ers	14	7	6	1	303	310	.538
Atlanta Falcons	14	2	12	0	170	389	.143
Western Conference Central Division
*Minnesota Vikings	14	8	6	0	282	242	.571
Chicago Bears	14	7	7	0	250	233	.500
Green Bay Packers	14	6	7	1	281	227	.462
Detroit Lions	14	4	8	2	207	241	.333
AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Division
*New York Jets	14	11	3	0	419	280	.786
Houston Oilers	14	7	7	0	303	248	.500
Miami Dolphins	14	5	8	1	276	355	.385
Boston Patriots	14	4	10	0	229	406	.286
Buffalo Bills	14	1	12	1	199	367	.077
Western Division
*Oakland Raiders	14	12	2	0	453	233	.857
*Kansas City Chiefs	14	12	2	0	371	170	.857
San Diego Chargers	14	9	5	0	382	310	.643
Denver Broncos	14	5	9	0	255	404	.357
Cincinnati Bengals	14	3	11	0	215	329	.214

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	NFL Conference Championships
1968	Cleveland Browns	31	Dallas Cowboys	0
1968	Baltimore Colts	24	Minnesota Vikings	14
	NFL Championship
1968	Cleveland Browns	0	Baltimore Colts	34
	AFL Western Division Playoff
1968	Oakland Raiders	41	Kansas City Chiefs	6
	AFL Championship
1968	New York Jets	27	Oakland Raiders	23
	Super Bowl III		Orange Bowl, Miami, Florida
1968	New York Jets (AFL)	16	Baltimore Colts (NFL)	7

Adrian Young, LB, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, played Linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1968. [2]

NFL & AFL 1969

	P	W	L	T	PF	PA	Pct
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Conference Capitol Division
*Dallas Cowboys	14	11	2	1	369	223	.846
Washington Redskins	14	7	5	2	307	319	.583
New Orleans Saints	14	5	9	0	311	393	.357
Philadelphia Eagles	14	4	9	1	279	377	.308
Eastern Conference Century Division
*Cleveland Browns	14	10	3	1	351	300	.769
New York Giants	14	6	8	0	264	298	.429
St. Louis Cardinals	14	4	9	1	314	389	.308
Pittsburgh Steelers	14	1	13	0	218	404	.071
Western Conference Coastal Division
*Los Angeles Rams	14	11	3	0	320	243	.786
Baltimore Colts	14	8	5	1	279	268	.615
Atlanta Falcons	14	6	8	0	276	268	.429
San Francisco 49ers	14	4	8	2	277	319	.333
Western Conference Central Division
*Minnesota Vikings	14	12	2	0	379	133	.857
Detroit Lions	14	9	4	1	259	188	.692
Green Bay Packers	14	8	6	0	269	221	.571
Chicago Bears	14	1	13	0	210	339	.071
AMERICAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Eastern Division
*New York Jets	14	10	4	0	353	269	.714
Houston Oilers	14	6	6	2	278	279	.500
Boston Patriots	14	4	10	0	266	316	.286
Buffalo Bills	14	4	10	0	230	359	.286
Miami Dolphins	14	3	10	1	233	332	.231
Western Division
*Oakland Raiders	14	12	1	1	371	242	.923
Kansas City Chiefs	14	11	3	0	359	177	.786
San Diego Chargers	14	8	6	0	268	276	.571
Denver Broncos	14	5	8	1	297	344	.385
Cincinnati Bengals	14	4	9	1	280	367	.308

Date	Home Team		Away Team
	NFL Conference Championships
1969	Dallas Cowboys	14	Cleveland Browns	38
1969	Minnesota Vikings	23	Los Angeles Rams	20
	NFL Championship
1969	Minnesota Vikings	27	Cleveland Browns	7
	AFL Divisional Playoffs
1969	New York Jets	6	Kansas City Chiefs	13
1969	Oakland Raiders	56	Houston Oilers	7
	AFL Championship
1969	Oakland Raiders	7	Kansas City Chiefs	17
	Super Bowl IV		Tulane Stadium, New Orleans, La.
1969	Kansas City Chiefs (AFL)	23	Minnesota Vikings (NFL)	7

Adrian Young, LB, who was born in Dublin, Ireland, played Linebacker for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1969. [8]

Report

Tom Furlong, who was born in Co. Offaly, Ireland, and had played Inter-County Gaelic Football for his native county, before being banned by the GAA for playing soccer, emigrated to the United States of America, where he overheard coaches for the New York Giants in a bar lamenting about the quality of their kickers. Deciding there was nothing to American Football kicking that a Gaelic Footballer couldn’t do he offered to try out for them, gaining a spot on their practice squad in 1965. He was cut from the squad at the end of the year, but with the help of Irish Community leaders, managed to get a place on expansion team, the Atlanta Falcons, playing for them in preseason before tearing cruciate ligaments, and finishing out the season with the Brooklyn Dodgers of the rival AAA (2nd Level) League the Continental Football League.

In 1968, a new Irish-born star player emerged on the scene, Adrian Young, who was born in Dublin and had emigrated to America with his family while still in school. He took up American Football in Los Angeles, while in High school, and earned a scholarship to the University of Southern California Trojans, where he excelled, playing on the same team as O.J. Simpson. In 1968 he was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, where he spent four and a half seasons, before finishing out his career at the Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears, and then in his last two seasons, in the World Football League a AAA Rival to the NFL, where he played two seasons for The Hawaiians.

The National Football League of the 1960s was slow to take advantage of America’s expansion westwards, the very Conservative owners evening shunning colour TV in the awarding of their TV contracts. The American Football League set up as a rival league in 1960 with eight teams, six of them west of the Mississippi, whereas the NFL only had two teams west of the Mississippi – Los Angeles and San Francisco. The AFL was so successful, at both pulling in fans, and financially, stealing players from under the noses of the NFL, that the two leagues decided to end the war ad merge, with the Super Bowl first played between the two league Champions in 1966. Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls, before the New York Jets won the third in 1968, legitimizing the league in the eyes of doubters, and in 1969, the last year before the full merger, Kansas City Chiefs, became the second AFL team to win the Super Bowl.

Adrian Young Career Statistics

Year	Team	League	No	Position	GP	GS
1968	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	35	LLB	10
1969	PhiladelphiaEagles	NFL	35	LLB	13	1970
1970	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	35	LLB	14
1971	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	35	RLB	2	2
1972	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	35	LB	1	0
1972	Detroit Lions	NFL	51	LB	10	0
1972	Year	NFL			11	0
1973	Chicago Bears	NFL	54	LB	2
1974	The Hawaiians	WFL	61	RLB
1975	The Hawaiians	WFL	65	WLB

Interceptions

Year	Team	League	No.	YDS	AVG	LG	TD
1969	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	1	0	0.0	0	0
1970	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	2	19	9.5	13	0
1974	The Hawaiians	WFL	1	11	11.0	11	0
1975	The Hawaiians	WFL	2	38	19.0	19	0

Fumbles

Year	Team	League	No	Lost	Own	Opp	Rec	Yds	TD
1968	PhiladelphiaEagles	NFL	0	0	0	1	1	11	0
1969	Philadelphia Eagles	NFL	0	0	1	2	3	24	0

References

Bibliography

[1] National Football League (2014) “Past Standings 1966-1969” 2014 NFL Record & Fact Book. pp. 393-395.

Sources:

[3] Hannigan, Dara (1987) “Greening of the Gridiron” The Sunday Tribune , 27 July 1987. Sportweek, pg. 10 [Available online at the British Newspaper Archive: https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/ ]

[4] Irish Independent (2014) Tom Furlong and the NFL career that slipped away [Internet] Available from: https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/offalys-tom-furlong-and-the-nfl-career-that-slipped-away-30549405.html [Accessed 2 April 2020]

[5] Anon. (1966) NFL Exhibition Final Standings El Paso Herald Post. September 5 1966. pg. 19 [Internet] Available from: https://newspaperarchive.com/el-paso-herald-post-sep-05-1966-p-19/ [Accessed 2 April 2020]

[6] Pro Football Archives (2020)1966 Brooklyn Dodgers Continental Football League [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1966coflbkn.html [Accessed 2 April 2020]

Images:

[7] Irish Independent (2014) Tom Furlong and the NFL career that slipped away [Internet] Available from: https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/25ee2/30549403.ece/AUTOCROP/w1240h700/2014-08-31_spo_3142175_I1.JPG [Accessed 2 April 2020]

Websites

[8] Pro Football Archives (2019) Adrian Young [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/playery/youn00400.html [Accessed 12 October 2019]

[9] O’Callaghan, Eoin (2020) “Hollywood, the NFL and OJ – the remarkable tale of the Dublin kid who lived the American dream” The 42 Sunday, February 2, 2020. [Internet] Available from: https://www.the42.ie/adrian-young-nfl-4987121-Feb2020/ [Accessed 5 February 2020]

[10] Pro Football Archives (2020)ADRIAN YOUNG [Internet] Available from:http://www.profootballarchives.com/playery/youn00400.html [Accessed 12 October 2019]

Images

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Bart Barden.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish North American and World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 31 December 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and World Gridiron Archive 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Resereved.