Bruce Alford, New York Yankees and New York Yanks Receiver
May 12th, 2010 | Published in Fathers and Sons, Player Deaths
Bruce Alford Sr. passed away on May 8. He was a receiver for the New York Yankees of the All-American Conference and New York Yanks of the NFL from 1946 to 1951. He was voted 1st Team All-AAFC by the Associated Press in 1947.
(The Yankees and Yanks were actually two different teams. When the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the players from the AAFC’s New York Yankees were divided between the NFL’s New York Bulldogs and New York Giants. The Bulldogs then changed their name to the Yanks.)
After his playing days, Alford officiated in the NFL for twenty years, from 1960 to 1979. His son, Bruce Alford Jr., also played in the NFL, kicking for the Redskins and Bills from 1967 to 1969.
To my knowledge, Alford appeared on just one card, the 1951 Bowman card pictured here. I am not aware of any cards of the AAFC’s New York Yankees.
