This Day in Football History

1941 - Bill Parcells is born

Two-time Super Bowl champion coach Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is born in Englewood, New Jersey.

Parcells is a seventh-round NFL draft pick in 1964 but never appears in a game, instead building a career as a coach starting at Hastings College. Parcells eventually rises to become head coach of the New York Giants in 1983, guiding the team to championships at Super Bowl XXI and Super Bowl XXV.

Parcells has a 172-130-1 record in 19 NFL seasons. He is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.

1959 - American Football League gets its name

The NFL learns the name of its biggest competitor as the new circuit is officially coined the American Football League.

The AFL launches with eight teams: the Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, Houston Oilers, Titans of New York, Dallas Texans, Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers and Oakland Raiders. The league expands to 10 teams before merging with the NFL in 1970.

Teams from the AFL form the bulk of the American Football Conference after the merger. Two modern NFL conferences - the AFC West and AFC East - are composed entirely of former AFL teams.

Birthdays

1909 - Mel Hein
1927 - Norm Willey
1938 - Paul Maguire
1941 - Mickey Slaughter
1956 - Wes Chandler
1959 - Andra Franklin
1972 - Stephen Boyd
1983 - Jahri Evans
1989 - Mohamed Sanu
1990 - Randall Cobb