Hartman takes us back more than 55 years to 1959 when the upstart American Football League was trying to establish eight teams in Minnesota, Boston, Buffalo, New York, Houston, Dallas, Denver and Los Angeles to challenge the NFL.
At the time I had a great relationship with George Halas, owner and coach of the Chicago Bears. Halas wanted the local owners to withdraw from the AFL and wait for an NFL franchise, but couldn’t personally contact them for fear of a lawsuit — which later was filed after the local group did withdraw — so I was his go-between.