Al Carmichael, who scored the first touchdown in the old American Football League in 1960 while playing for the Denver Broncos, died on Saturday in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 90.

His death was announced by the Broncos.

In the A.F.L.’s inaugural game, on Sept. 9, 1960, Carmichael caught a 59-yard touchdown pass from Frank Tripucka, and the Broncos beat the Boston Patriots, 13-10, at Nickerson Field, on the Boston University campus.

A halfback, Carmichael played for Denver in 1960 and 1961 after a six-year stint with the Green Bay Packers, who had selected him in the first round (seventh overall) . He set an N.F.L. record with a 106-yard kick return in 1956 and was elected to the Packers Hall of Fame in 1974.

The A.F.L. and the N.F.L. announced a merger in 1966 and officially became a single league in 1970.

Albert Reinhold Carmichael was born on Nov. 10, 1928, in Boston. While playing for U.S.C., he scored the winning touchdown in the 1953 Rose Bowl against Wisconsin. It was the only score in the game, which U.S.C. won, 7-0.