Tom Flores

The book "The Other League" leaves the University of the Pacific's Tom Flores off the list of men who played in the American Football League throughout its ten-year existence, evidently because Flores had not played for a whole year that he spent on "injured reserve". However when the AFL was formed in 1960, Flores was on an AFL team roster, and he was still on an AFL team roster through the league's last year in 1969.

The American Football League Hall of Fame has rectified the earlier omission, by including Flores on its list of 10-year AFL players.                                      Flores was the first Hispanic-American quarterback in professional football.  He became the Oakland Raiders starting quarterback early in the 1960 season and led the league by completing 54.0 percent of his passes, throwing for 1,738 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Flores had his most productive season in 1966.   Although he completed only 49.3 percent of his attempts, he passed for 2,638 yards and 24 touchdowns in 14 games. He went on to coach the Raiders to two Super Bowl victories.