Etc.

Echoes of the old AFL to ring on football's Super Sunday

If the New England Patriots manage to win Super Bowl XLII Sunday in Glendale, Ariz., they not only will complete the longest, perfect campaign in National Football League history with a 19-0 record, they will become the first franchise from the old American Football League to win four Super Bowls. The team began in 1960 as the Boston Patriots. It was one of eight original members of the upstart league, which played in the NFL's shadow until the rivals reached a merger agreement in 1966 and actually played a combined schedule in 1970. The eight NFL teams that share an AFL lineage, and their original identities (in parantheses), if different than they are today:

• Buffalo Bills
• Denver Broncos
• Kansas City Chiefs (Dallas Texans)
• New England Patriots (Boston Patriots)
• New York Jets (New York Titans)
• Oakland Raiders
• San Diego Chargers (Los Angeles Chargers)
• Tennessee Titans (Houston Oilers)