I did not even know the book “Going Long,” by Jeff Miller, existed before coach Dave Buck loaned it to me.

The subtitle reads, The Wild 10-Year Saga of the Renegade American Football League.

When the AFL emerged back in 1959, it faced plenty of adversity, most of it obviously from the powerful, well-established National Football League.

No one gets more credit for founding the AFL than Texas millionaire Lamar Hunt, who had to relocate his franchise from Dallas to Kansas City – where they forged three AFL championships.

Hunt also deserves credit for coming up with the name Super Bowl after a toy his kids played with called a Super Ball.

Almost everyone hated the name; the media loved it.

The AFL was comprised of just eight teams in 1960.

The western division featured Los Angeles, Dallas, Oakland and Denver.

The east had Houston – yes, they had problems with geography back then, too – New York, Buffalo and Boston.

One of the foremost problems was establishing a fan base. The Raiders and the Broncos played before crowds that averaged fewer than 15,000.

The story of the AFL is filled with great players and coaches, many of whom are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon, who signed with both leagues when he came out of LSU, gave the AFL a degree of cachet, as would Joe Namath when he signed with the Jets four years later.

Cannon never made it to the hallowed halls of Canton, Ohio, but Lance Alworth, who played for the Chargers, did. Alworth was Jerry Rice with speed.

There’s a brief, but still interesting, passage about how Don Shula wound up in Miami and why Alabama’s Bear Bryant did not.

It seems as if Miller interviewed every one who had a connection to the AFL.

One person Miller did not interview was Hall of Famer, former quarterback and kicker, George Blanda.

Blanda told Miller, “I usually don’t talk to people like you,” and he didn’t.

I never tire of hearing how they realigned the two leagues for the merger. The NFL was comprised of 16 teams, the AFL 10.

The Steelers, Browns and Colts were coaxed into relinquishing their former ties to become members of the American Football Conference, giving both conferences 13 teams.

That each of those teams received a three million dollar bounty to switch, prompted the move. This is a book certainly worth reading, if you can find it. Thanks coach.

Ron Grillo