Half a century ago, pro football took a significant step forward, though nobody knew it at the time.

The American Football League organized in 1959 and kicked off a year later, instilling fear and change in the senior NFL by bringing market competition in the form of big player contracts, big TV contracts, and six years later prompting a big league merger that became final in 1970.

In honor of pro football’s original rabble-rouser, EA Sports announced it will introduce an AFL Legacy Pack to plug into “Madden NFL 10.” Included in the add-on, scheduled for release Sept. 24, are original uniform and field designs for AFL club teams and a retro feel to the presentation, such as grainy TV camera imagery of game coverage.

All 15 “legacy” games scheduled for the NFL’s regular season and depicted in “Madden” will include Legacy Pack presentation in the offline modes. However, players can choose throwback togs for the eight original AFL franchises in any game.

The eight franchises will carry their original names in “legacy” play. Those teams are the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans (Kansas City Chiefs), Boston/New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers, Houston Oilers (Tennessee Titans) and The Titans of New York (New York Jets).

Xbox 360 users can download the Legacy Pack from Xbox Live for 560 Microsoft points; PlayStation 3 users can get it from the PlayStation Store for $6.99.