1959 American Football Season

The 1959 American football season stood as a monumental turning point for the sport, bridging the classic eras of gridiron history with the rapid modern expansion of the 1960s. Marked by hard-hitting defensive battles, the rise of legendary icons, and structural shakeups that changed professional sports forever, 1959 was an unforgettable year for football fans.

Professional Football: The NFL and a Rematch of Titans

In the National Football League (NFL), the year concluded with a highly anticipated rematch of the legendary 1958 title game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants.

Led by Hall of Fame quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts overcame a late 9–7 deficit in the fourth quarter of the NFL Championship Game on December 27, 1959. Powering through with 24 unanswered points in the final period, Baltimore secured a decisive 31–16 victory at Memorial Stadium to repeat as World Champions.

Birth of the American Football League (AFL)

While the NFL commanded the field, the modern landscape of professional sports was shifting dramatically behind the scenes. Frustrated by the NFL’s refusal to expand, businessman Lamar Hunt initiated the founding of a rival league.

• August 14, 1959: The league held its first official meeting.
• August 22, 1959: The new organization was officially named the American Football League (AFL).
• The Original Eight: Charter memberships were established for franchises in Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Buffalo, and Boston.

Though they would not begin playing on the field until the 1960 season, the moves made in late 1959 set the stage for the eventual AFL-NFL merger and the creation of the modern Super Bowl.

College Football: The Dominance of the Syracuse Orange

On the collegiate gridiron, the Syracuse Orangemen put together what is widely considered one of the most dominant single-season campaigns in NCAA history.

Guided by legendary head coach Ben Schwartzwalder, Syracuse finished the regular season undefeated at 10–0, featuring an unstoppable offense led by future Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis and a ferocious defensive front line dubbed the “Sizable Seven.” Syracuse capped off their perfect 11–0 season by defeating the Texas Longhorns 23–14 in the Cotton Bowl, firmly capturing the consensus National Championship and the inaugural MacArthur Bowl.

A Deep Dive into 1959 Football History and Highlights

The year 1959 captured the essence of mid-century football—unforgiving defenses, the popularization of the T-formation, and the emergence of transcendent stars like Johnny Unitas and Ernie Davis. Off the field, the passing of long-standing NFL Commissioner Bert Bell in October 1959, paired with the formal election of Joe Foss as the first AFL Commissioner, signaled a changing of the guard, cementing 1959 as a foundational pillar of football history.

• January 1, 1959 – The 45th Rose Bowl was the venue for the Iowa Hawkeyes to spoil New Year’s Day for the Cal Golden Bears, 38-12. Iowa’s Bob Jeter was voted as the game’s MVP.
• January 11, 1959 – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum – The 9th NFL Pro Bowl was played as the Eastern Conference got the better of the Western Conference in a final score of 28-21. According to the American Football Database website, New York Giants halfback Frank Gifford and Doug Atkins, the Defensive End from the Chicago Bears, were the game’s Most Valuable Players.
• February 2, 1959 – Vince Lombardi signed a five-year contract to coach the Green Bay Packers. His subsequent decade in Wisconsin changed the NFL forever. Coach Lombardi led the “Pack” to three NFL Championships and victories in the first two Super Bowls, cementing one of the greatest coaching legacies in sports history.
• February 27, 1959 – The Chicago Cardinals traded running back Ollie Matson to the LA Rams for 9 players. The Los Angeles Rams franchise, headed by General Manager Pete Rozelle, traded seven players, a 1959 second-round pick, and a player to be named later to the Chicago Cardinals for Matson.
• September 15, 1959 – George A. Sarles’ patent on a radio transmitter device for inside a quarterback’s helmet is published. HELMET RADIOS INCLUDING A TRANSISTOR AMPLIFIER. US Patent 2904645A 
• October 4, 1959 – Cleveland Browns running back, the legendary Jim Brown, sets a team high single game record for rushing attempts with 37 as the Browns dropped the Chicago Cardinals 34-7. According to NFL.com, Jim Brown played for nine seasons, totaling 118 games, and averaged 5.2 yards per carry on 2,359 career rushing attempts. Brown scored 106 touchdowns, which averages just under one TD per game played. If fantasy football existed in that era, it would have made for some interesting draft parties!
• October 28, 1959 – The American Football League awarded the Buffalo Bills franchise to Ralph C Wilson.
• October 31, 1959 – Miraculous Cannon Run in the Ole Miss vs LSU game.
• November 1, 1959 – Memorial Stadium – Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown delivered a performance for the ages, forever etching his name into the record books. In a thrilling 38-31 victory over the defending NFL Champion Baltimore Colts, Brown accounted for nearly every point, rushing for an incredible five touchdowns.
• November 14, 1959 – Athens, Georgia – The number 12 Georgia hosted No. 8 Auburn in a big SEC game. Auburn came out of the gates swinging as they built a 13-7 lead on two long field goals by Hall of Famer and 1960 NFF National Scholar-Athlete Ed Dyas. Their touchdown was scored via a quarterback sneak by Bryant Harvard. Georgia’s comeback began with less than three minutes to play when Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton hit Don Soberdash for two crucial completions to set up a touchdown pass to Bill Herron with 30 seconds left. Kicker Durwood Pennington became the real hero with the game-winning point after. Georgia defeated  Auburn, 14-13, in a thriller. Georgia’s victory over Auburn was its first over College Football Hall of Fame coach Ralph “Shug” Jordan and the Tigers in seven seasons, and it clinched the Bulldogs’ first SEC title since 1949.
• November 17, 1959 – William Shea unveiled the proposed New York City stadium with a transparent roof, according to brainyhistory.com.
• November 22, 1959 – The AFL held its very first Draft, with 8 teams participating: the Dallas Texans, Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills, New York Titans, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and Boston Patriots. Patriots fans often refer to this date as the birth of their franchise, according to the remembertheAFL.com website. Just for the record, the very first pick of this inaugural AFL Draft was the NY Titans’ selection of Notre Dame quarterback George Izo. (source)
• November 28, 1959 – CNE Stadium, Toronto – The Winnipeg Blue Bombers knocked off the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 21-7 for a second straight year to capture the CFL’s Grey Cup.
• November 28, 1959 – Legion Field, Birmingham – At the 24th Iron Bowl, it was Alabama blanking Auburn 10-0, breaking a streak of five consecutive wins by the Tigers in the head-to-head matchups.
• November 30, 1959 – The fledgling American Football League chooses former World War II ace pilot and former Governor of South Dakota, Joe Foss, as its first commissioner, per the South Dakota HOF website. Joe Foss’s leadership made the NFL extremely uncomfortable as he made lucrative television deals, including the initial five-year, $10.6 million contract with ABC in 1960 & later with NBC for even bigger returns to broadcast AFL games. Foss led the upstart league until 1965, about two months before talks with the NFL began, considering working together rather than merely as rivals to promote professional football.
• November 30, 1959 – The NFL Draft was held once again, this time for the upcoming 1960 season. Heisman Trophy winner, halfback Billy Cannon from the 1959 National Champion LSU Tigers, was the top pick of the draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Cannon was also the territorial or bonus pick in the new AFL Draft earlier on November 22, 1959, by the Houston Oilers, per a Saturdaydownsouth.com website story. His contract rights were litigated in court, and Billy ended up playing in the AFL with the Houston Oilers and later with the Oakland Raiders. Billy led the Oilers to back-to-back AFL championships in 1960 and 1961. He also led the AFL in total yards in 1961, going over 2,000 yards for the season. He scored the game-winning touchdown in the 1960 championship game and was MVP of both title games. An injury forced him to play tight end with the Raiders, where he was part of their first Super Bowl victory. Billy Cannon finished his great career with the KC Chiefs.
• December 2, 1958 – The Green Bay Packers used the first pick of the 1959 NFL Draft on Iowa quarterback Randy Duncan, the Heisman runner-up who famously received a kiss from Jayne Mansfield at Bob Hope’s request.
• December 18, 1959 – Former Washington Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh was named the first coach of the AFL’s New York Titans. Baugh was a collegiate head coach at Hardin-Simmons University from 1955 through 1959 after his playing days were over. He spent two seasons as the Titans’ head coach, posting a 14-14 record. He later coached at the University of Tulsa and even became the Houston Oilers’ fourth-ever coach in 1964, per the missyablue.com website. (source)
• December 21, 1959 – The Dallas Cowboys hire the New York Giants defensive coordinator, Tom Landry, as their First Head Coach. Landry stayed on as the Dallas head man until 1988. The Dallas News website has a fascinating story on how the former Cowboys owner, Tex Schram, chose Landry to guide his team. In the article, Schram, a former LA Rams GM and later a CBS Sports employee, was quoted to say, “I went to their [Giants] games and was surprised by what I saw,” Schramm said. “Here was an assistant coach – a defensive coach — who was looked upon by his players as almost a god. They were the best defensive club in the league for several years, and Tom Landry was the reason. He had a different philosophy of defense, and it worked.”  Tom actually signed on with Schram before the Cowboys franchise even officially existed. The NFL formally announced the awarding of a franchise to Dallas on January 28, 1960. 
• December 27, 1959 – Memorial Stadium, Baltimore – The National Football League Championship Game had the same billing as the watershed 1958 Title contest, with the New York Giants facing the Baltimore Colts. There were more than a few changes, though, from the previous year that the Golden Rankings website describes. The Giants had lost Vince Lombardi as their offensive strategist when he left to coach the Packers. The League had record-setting attendance during the 1959 season, directly attributed to the overtime 1958 Championship between these two teams. A tragedy struck the NFL when, on October 11, 1959, Commissioner Bert Bell suffered a heart attack while at the Steelers versus Eagles game and passed away. The former treasurer, Austin Gunsel, stepped up to lead the League, but there were some very big shoes to fill. The American Football Database provides some details about the game itself, noting that after 3 field goals by Giants kicker Pat Summerall, New York was up 9-7 heading into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, though, Baltimore came to life as Johnny Unitas ran in a touchdown and threw for another while the Colts’ defense scored on a pick-six to bury the Giants. The Baltimore Colts came from behind to register a convincing 31-16 victory over the New York Giants.