Overview - 1968 AFL: The 1968 AFL’s four best special teams cards belong to Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego, and the Jets. Kansas City’s kickers in particular are the best in professional football; Oakland gets great work from veteran George Blanda and rookie return man George Atkinson; San Diego effectively uses Speedy Duncan and new kicker Dennis Partee; and the Jets get consistent and clutch work from Jim Turner. The Player’s Cards add 26 new players to the old cards, an increase of almost 25 percent.
Fun Fact: The 1968 AFL missed only four extra points for the whole year, 349 makes to 353 attempts. The Chiefs missed one, the Chargers missed three, and eight teams were perfect. The 1968 Philadelphia Eagles missed four extra points in 21 attempts. The 1968 AFL’s performance is not even the record- the 8 teams of the 1965 AFL made every extra point, 267 for 267.
Boston Patriots:
Special teams:
Pats legend Gino Cappelletti became more of a short range kicker, falling off dramatically past 40 yards, but he hits at better than 66 pct in close and making all his extra points. Opponent kick return coverage is a little below average but no LG. Punt coverage is above average but with a LG, backing punter Terry Swanson, a short range punter with a block. Kick and punt returns are pretty average, still, Cappelletti’s consistency in close makes the Patriots’ card liveable.
Personnel:
Jim Colclough and Bob Scarpitto are roster filling receivers with a total of 10 catches between them.
Buffalo Bills:
Special teams:
Kicker Bruce Alford drops to 50% at 39 yards, but he does make all his extra points. Kickoff coverage is average, but the punt coverage is well below average, with a LG. Paul Maguire is a great punter with a block. Top returners Hagood Clarke (PR #1) and Max Anderson (KR #1) each have TDs on number 2.
Personnel:
Monte Ledbetter is a four catch extra wide receiver, and Keith Lincoln had 27 total touches for the Bills in his last AFL season, but was uncarded in the original set because he never played after a trade to San Diego. But Kay Stephenson had three starts (0-3) and 79 pass attempts and was uncarded at QB in the original set.
Cincinnati Bengals:
Special teams:
The Bengals opened their franchise history using Dale Livingston as a below average kicker and punter, albeit with no blocks. Their kick coverage is below average and they give up a LG. They do have the AFL’s second best punt coverage. Essex Johnson is a pretty good punt returner but the kick returners are pretty average.
Personnel:
Bill Peterson is added in as extra 0 catch pure TE with a 1 block who is carded because starting TE Bob Trumpy is also a WR ( Flanker). This provides more receiving depth just in case for gamers who replay seasons with injuries.
The Game Co. originally carded four runners but not FB Tommie Smiley, who had 63 carries and 19 catches. Part of the reason they overlooked him may be Smiley averaged only 2.3 yards a run and 4.5 yards per catch. Still, that’s 82 touches. Smiley actually caught the first pass in Bengal history.
One interesting new card belongs to a man who played a big part in Cincinnati’s history – Sam Wyche. He had played in the Continental League and actually had an MBA from South Carolina when he was picked up by Paul Brown for the expansion ’68 Bengals. Wyche served as a graduate assistant for Lou Holtz, and he was already thinking like a coach on the field. His overall career as a player was somewhat undistinguished, but he played pretty well in three 1968 midseason games. He’ll hold onto the ball too long on occasion, but he can give you a reasonable start or two.
Sam Wyche
Denver Broncos:
Special teams:
Ah, Floyd Little! Little is a good punt returner and kick returner, posting a TD in the 2 spot, even if the #2 guys are just average. Bill Van Heusen takes over the punting and he can punt for distance, but he has a block in the 12. But this year the Broncos punt coverage is very good. The kickoff coverage is among Pro Football’s worst. Bobby Howfield is a poor kicker.
Personnel:
Denver gets an extra TE (Dave Washington), WR (Jimmy Jones), a decent 66 carry runner in Fran Lynch, and two QBs (John McCormick and Jim LeClair) to go with the two QBs they already had. Of these cards LeClair can make a few throws and more than a few mistakes.
Houston Oilers:
Special teams:
Kicker Wayne Walker loses his range after 30 yards, but he hits all his extra points, and Jim Norton is a good punter for average, minus the block on twelve. No Oiler return man really stands out. The Oilers are decent PR defenders in the 1968 AFL but kick coverage is below average.
Personnel:
Lionel Taylor ended his career in Houston with 6 catches, the last of his 597 grabs in the AFL. He led the league in catches 5 times. He and WR Ode Burrell are roster fillers, but QB Bob Davis originally went uncarded with 3 starts (1-2) and 86 pass attempts.
New York Jets:
Special teams:
1968 saw the return of the Jets’ Jim Turner as an all star kicker; his 34 FGs (and 100% extra points) made bested Kansas City’s Jan Stenerud by 4 made kicks, and Turner scored a record 145 points on kicks alone. Both records would stand until 1983, squarely within the 16-game era. He still owns the Jets’ single season scoring record, 16 points ahead of the next best effort – Jim Turner, with 129 points in 1969 (and Jason Myers in 2018). Turner averaged a whopping 10.4 ppg as a kicker in 1968, including his three critical kicks in Super Bowl III. He is 2-7 all the way out to the 42 yard line. This capability does come with a price; the 1968 New York team allowed a team record 3 punt return TDs, and only the 2000 Jets, 2003 Jets and the 1961 Titans allowed a higher average (13.6 yards per return). Curley Johnson has great yards per punt, albeit with a block, and the Jets have above average kick return coverage. Punt returns are above average, especially #2 PR Earl Christy; New York kick returns are average. The combination of the Jets offense and Jim Turner is very useful.
Fun Fact: the 1968 Jets actually led the AFL in total defense; their 280 points allowed were due to a whopping ten “special cause” TDs- three fumble TDs against, including the “Heidi Game” fumble, four interception returns, and the three punt returns against noted above. This was about a quarter of the total of these types of unusual TDs for the whole league (7 PR, 1 KR, 6 fumbles, 23 interceptions, 2 miscellaneous). Without these unusual mistakes the Jets would have finished second in points to the Chiefs. The Jets were tops in yards, second in yards per play, second in turnovers forced, second in passing yards allowed, and tops against the run. It is a very underrated defense, as the Colts found out in Super Bowl III.
Personnel:
Curley Johnson was actually, at points in his AFL career, a running back, tight end, kickoff man and the first great punter in the history of the New York Jets. He’s included for the second straight year as a TE/WR, and Bill Rademacher (WR) is included for depth.
Miami Dolphins:
Special teams:
Larry Seiple punts for average yardage, with no blocked punt, but the Dolphins have sub-par punt coverage. The kickoff coverage is very good with no LG. Jimmy Keyes is a very poor kicker, but he is perfect on extra points. The Dolphins are plus four on penalties, though. The kick and punt returns are fairly average, but Jimmy Warren’s KR #2 card has Bob Neff’s 95 yard return in the 2 spot, at the time the longest AFL kickoff return without a score.
Personnel:
Larry Seiple, who at one point in the Sixties played as the starting TE, is here added as an extra TE, and the Dolphins get Bill Darnall as a WR and WB Kim Hammond, who attempted 26 passes in 3 games.
Oakland Raiders:
Special teams:
Only one other ’68 AFL special teams squad challenges Kansas City, and it is the Raiders. For the second straight year they come up with a great punt returner, in this case rookie DB George Atkinson, who has a TD in the 3 spot, while Oakland still has Rodger Bird as a more than capable PR #2. George Blanda is 2-7,11,12 out to 40 yards and 2-5,11,12 in the 33-42 range, and is perfect on extra points. The Raiders have the best punt coverage in the AFL but average kick coverage. Mike Eischeid punts for yardage with no blocks. The Raiders have fewer fair catches than the Chiefs so they will likely tally more yards, and with their kickers they are very tough. They are also plus 2 on penalties.
George Atkinson
Personnel:
Larry Todd has 17 touches as a halfback, appearing on this list for the second straight year. Eldridge Dickey gives the Raiders one more receiver.
Kansas City Chiefs:
Special teams:
The Chiefs have the best special teams in Pro Football. Jan Stenerud is a weapon, 2-7,11,12 out to the 2 yard line, and 2-4,11,12 out to the 47. Surprisingly he missed an extra point. Jerrel Wilson has great punt yards and no blocks. They have good to excellent returns and allow no long gains. Both Noland Smith (who led the AFL at 15.0 yards per return) and Goldie Sellers (who was even better as a non-qualifier at 18.4 yards per return) are capable and explosive punt returners and each has a touchdown on the cards; Sellers has two chances. Smith is also a good KR #1. This is a card that can win you games, and the Chiefs are already a team that can win games. Just the kickers alone and coverages are better than any other combination in either league.
Personnel:
Curtis McClinton is added as an extra fullback, with 24 solid carries.
1968 San Diego Chargers:
Special teams:
The Chargers replaced 1967 veteran Dick Van Raaphorst with rookie Dennis Partee, who was a pretty good kicker for the year other than his 2-10 extra point range. He is 2-7 out to 40 yards and very good in close. Punt and kick coverages are average although they do have a LG on punts. Partee is average for yards on punts with no blocks. Speedy Duncan provides the fireworks on punt returns, with a TD in the three spot, but as is the case with many of these teams, the #2 guys are mediocre. Still, the kickers and Duncan make this the third best AFL Special Teams card.
Personnel:
One of the more interesting “what ifs” concerns 1967’s excellent rookie All-AFL fullback Brad Hubbert, who was injured in San Diego’s second 1968 game after only 28 carries. Hubbert was averaging 14 carries and 60 yards a game, and he was providing the ideal inside counterpoint to Dickie Post. He was replaced by Gene Foster, who was probably a slightly better all-around player, but he was not the thumper between the tackles that Hubbert was. Later in the season even Foster left the lineup, and San Diego went with what was referred to at the time as the “mini backfield” of Russ Smith and Dickie Post. San Diego shares a division with both 12-2 teams in Kansas City and Oakland, but it would be interesting to see how the AFL’s best offense would perform with Hubbert in the rotation for the full season. Hubbert never really bounced back from his 1968 knee injury, he was a backup level player in 1969 and 1970 and out of football soon after that.
The 1968 NFL is coming! I just wanted to get these in the hands of AFL gamers, including myself. 😂
Fred Bobberts
Initial Date of Publication: 8-15-2025
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