All-America Football Conference
Encyclopedia
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football
league that challenged the established National Football League
(NFL) from 1946
to 1949
. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: San Francisco 49ers
, Cleveland Browns
and Baltimore Colts (not related to the later NFL team that would play in Baltimore from 1953 through 1983, now the Indianapolis Colts
).
The AAFC was the second American professional sports league (the first being the third American Football League) to have its teams play in a double round robin format in the regular season: each team had a home game and an away game with each of its AAFC "brethren."
The Cleveland Browns
were the AAFC's most successful club, having won every annual championship in the league's four years of operation.
sports editor Arch Ward
on June 4, 1944. Ward was also the originator of baseball’s All-Star Game
and football’s College All-Star Game
.
Ward brought together a number of wealthy pro football enthusiasts, some of whom had previously attempted to purchase NFL franchises. Ward had previously encouraged the NFL to expand, but now he hoped to bring about a permanent second league and a championship game with the NFL, similar to baseball’s World Series
.
On November 21, 1944, the AAFC chose Jim Crowley
, one of the "Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
", as its commissioner. Not coincidentally, the NFL commissioner at this time was Elmer Layden
, another of Knute Rockne
's legendary 1924
backfield.
During the next months, the AAFC’s plans solidified. The league initially issued franchises for Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Brooklyn and Miami were later added. A group representing Baltimore was considered for admission, but could not secure a stadium. The league planned to begin play in 1945, but postponed its opening for a year as World War II still raged.
As the eight franchises built their teams, no move was more far-reaching than Cleveland's choice of Paul Brown
as its head coach. Brown had won six Ohio state championships in nine years at Massillon High School and the 1942 national championship
at Ohio State
, and had also coached successfully at the military’s Great Lakes Naval Station. In Cleveland, Brown would emerge as one of the game's greatest innovators.
Washington Redskins
owner George Preston Marshall
was perhaps the NFL's hardest-liner regarding the AAFC. In 1945, he commented “I did not realize there was another league, although I did receive some literature telling about a WPA
project”. Later he declared, “The worst team in our league could beat the best team in theirs.” After the AAFC put a team in Baltimore
, Marshall’s opposition to it would be a major obstacle to interleague peace. Not coincidentally, his team was badly hurt by the AAFC. A top team from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins began a decades-long title drought after coach Ray Flaherty
and many key players defected in 1946.
Layden’s successor, Bert Bell
, pursued a policy of official non-recognition, generally answering “no comment” to queries about the other league. In 1947, Pro Football Illustrated previewed both leagues in its annual publication and was banned from NFL stadiums.
The NFL was just emerging from its wartime retrenchment. The Cleveland Rams had suspended operations for 1943, and on three occasions teams merged for a season. The Boston Yanks had played only one season as an independent entity.
Meanwhile, the AAFC had advantages not enjoyed by many challengers:
Yet it remained to be seen if there was a market for this much pro football. Since achieving stability in the early 1930s, the NFL had never fielded more than 10 teams. No competitor had endured for more than two years. In 1946, there would be 18 teams, including three in Chicago, three in New York, and two in Los Angeles.
Baseball and college football were substantially more popular. Longtime NFL president Joe Carr
had said, "No owner has made money from pro football, but a lot have gone broke thinking they could." At a time when the World Series had long been a national institution, and the Rose Bowl
drew crowds of 90,000, the NFL's title game typically drew about 35,000 fans. Most pro teams shared
stadiums (and sometimes names) with the local baseball team, and both leagues saw fit to choose college football legends as their commissioners.
There was even a sense that collegians could defeat pros. 1946 saw the famous Army-Notre Dame scoreless tie
in Yankee Stadium. At season's end, Arch Ward (the AAFC founder) opined that both teams were superior to either pro champion.
It was in this landscape that the AAFC prepared to compete with the NFL.
, owner of the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers
, wished to move his team from Ebbets Field to the much larger Yankee Stadium. New York Giants owner Tim Mara
used his territorial rights to block the move. He had good reason: the Yankees had displaced the Giants as New York’s premier baseball team after moving into The House That Ruth Built, three rival football leagues had planted teams there hoping to duplicate that feat, and Topping (of Anaconda Copper
) was significantly wealthier than Mara.
Topping responded by buying into the baseball Yankees and transferring his club to the AAFC.
Most of his players followed. His renamed New York Yankees were rewarded with $100,000 from each of the other seven AAFC teams while the AAFC's initial New York investor withdrew. (Note that the AAFC Brooklyn Dodgers were a separate entity never associated with Topping's team.)
Shortly after Topping defected, the NFL owners fired Commissioner Layden, replacing him with Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell
. Bell had already made a major contribution to the league: the NFL draft
, begun in 1935, was his idea.
Meanwhile, Dan Reeves
' Cleveland Rams
had consistently lost money, despite winning the 1945 NFL title. Compounding his problems, the local AAFC competition already looked strong: Arthur McBride was aggressively marketing the Browns, and coach Paul Brown was an Ohio icon. Accordingly, Reeves proposed to move the Rams to Los Angeles.
With two teams planned for California, the AAFC had national aspirations. The NFL's thinking was more modest: it rejected Reeves' move because of travel expenses. After the NFL refused to consider his second choice (Dallas), Reeves threatened to withdraw from the league. Having already lost Topping, the NFL reconsidered and approved the Los Angeles move.
It was unprecedented for the NFL champion to move at all, let alone partly to avoid an unproven rival. On the other hand, the NFL would now face the AAFC as a national rather than regional league, and the AAFC would not have a West Coast monopoly.
). The NFL's 10 teams played 11 games, its standard since 1937.
Again acting ambitiously, the AAFC chose stadiums larger than the NFL's in Chicago, New York, and Cleveland.
The two leagues’ franchises and home fields for 1946 were:
NFL
AAFC
(*) Later known as Tiger Stadium.
(**) Better remembered as War Memorial Stadium, the original home of the modern Buffalo Bills
.
(***) Later known as the Miami Orange Bowl.
Other than New York, all of the quality teams were in the Western Division. In the West, Cleveland led with a 12-2 record, three games ahead of San Francisco, followed by Los Angeles and Chicago. In the East, New York was the only team to win more than three games, finishing 10-3-1. Brooklyn and Buffalo were seven games behind, followed by Miami. Despite Brooklyn's record, its tailback Glenn Dobbs
led the league in passing and was named the MVP.
The title game was a tight affair, with the Browns coming from behind late in the fourth quarter to defeat the Yankees 14-9.
Despite the fiasco in Miami, the AAFC had enjoyed a successful debut, establishing a high level of play and doing well at the gate. The NFL likewise set attendance highs for both its season and title game. However, salaries shot up with two leagues competing for players, so the only teams to make a profit were the two champions, the Browns and the NFL Bears.
was named to replace him as commissioner.
To replace the Seahawks, the Baltimore group turned down in 1945 was issued a franchise. The new Baltimore Colts would play in Municipal Stadium. Meanwhile, the Bisons were renamed the Bills and the NFL added a 12th game to its schedule.
The AAFC enjoyed its most successful season in 1947. Some notable guests watched the Browns' opening game: the entire coaching staff of the 1946 NFL champion Chicago Bears. The 49ers obtained the rights to Army’s legendary Heisman-winners Felix Blanchard ("Mr. Inside") and Glenn Davis
("Mr. Outside"), and amid great publicity unsuccessfully attempted to get the military to permit them to play during their post-graduation furloughs. In other highlights, a Yankees-Dons game in the Los Angeles Coliseum drew a pro record of more than 82,000, and division leaders New York and Cleveland locked horns on November 23 in the most famous game in AAFC history. Before more than 70,000 fans at Yankee Stadium, the Browns rallied from a 28-0 deficit to tie 28-28.
New York won the East with an 11-2-1 record, 2½ games ahead of Buffalo, with Brooklyn and Baltimore far back. Cleveland, led by MVP quarterback Otto Graham
, won the West with a 12-1-1 record, 3½ games ahead of San Francisco. Los Angeles followed, and Chicago was last at 1-13. Former Commissioner Crowley would not return either as coach or owner.
The title game was a defensive struggle, with the Browns again defeating the Yankees, 14-3.
By this time a pattern had emerged among the franchises. The Browns, Yankees, 49ers, Dons, and Bills all had stable ownership and at least one winning season. The Browns led both leagues in attendance by a wide margin, the Yankees and Dons outpaced their crosstown NFL rivals on the field and at the gate, and the 49ers and Bills (despite a small stadium) also enjoyed good attendance.
However, the Dodgers, Rockets, and to a lesser extent the Colts were having serious problems. Playing near the Yankees and the NFL Giants, the Dodgers drew fewer than 12,000 fans per game, least in both leagues. The Rockets faced the NFL's flagship Bears and a Cardinals team enjoying rare success. After a decent start in 1946, the Rockets collapsed on the field and found themselves playing before tens of thousands of empty seats in huge Soldier Field. The first-year Colts did reasonably well at the gate but finished last. All of these teams were at the bottom of the standings and all were sold after the 1947 season, the Rockets for the second time.
One factor affecting AAFC attendance was the gap between the league’s best and worst teams. To counter this, Commissioner Ingram attempted to get the strongest teams to distribute some players to the weakest. He was modestly successful: the Browns sent rookie quarterback Y. A. Tittle
to the Colts, who enjoyed their first good season, and the Yankees were generous enough to fall into mediocrity. However, 1948 featured extremes despite Ingram’s efforts.
For the first time, the division races were close. One featured excellence, the other mediocrity.
In the West, San Francisco and Cleveland both remained undefeated far into the season. On November 14, nearly 83,000 (a record) in Cleveland Municipal Stadium watched the 9-0 Browns win a 14-7 defensive struggle over the 10-0 49ers. They met again two weeks later in San Francisco, with the Browns now 12-0 and the 49ers 11-1. The Browns again won narrowly, this time 31-28, clinching first place.
The rematch concluded an AAFC Thanksgiving week promotion: the Browns played three games in eight days. New Dodgers' part-owner Branch Rickey
(of baseball fame) suggested this experiment, and the Browns were chosen as the guinea pigs. They survived unscathed, and went on to complete an unprecedented 14-0 regular season.
The 49ers finished a heartbreaking second (and out of the postseason) at 12-2. Los Angeles followed at 7-7, and Chicago again finished 1-13 and last. The quarterbacks of the two outstanding teams, Cleveland’s Otto Graham
and San Francisco’s Frankie Albert
, shared the MVP.
In the East, Buffalo and Baltimore tied at a mediocre 7-7, just ahead of 6-8 New York. Brooklyn was last at 2-12. Buffalo won a playoff and the dubious privilege of meeting Cleveland for the title.
Cleveland won the title in a predictable rout, 49-7. With pro football's second perfect season (after the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs
of the second American Football League
) and an 18-game winning streak and a 29-game unbeaten streak in progress, the Browns were making history. Since then, only the 1972
Miami Dolphins
team managed to win its league championship with an unblemished record. The Pro Football Hall of Fame
recognizes the Browns' latter streak as the longest in the history of professional football.
The NFL had also had a problem with imbalance. Nearly every title game from 1933 to 1946 featured either the Giants or Redskins from the East against either the Bears or Packers from the West.
But in the late 1940s new powers rose in the NFL, as the Cardinals, Eagles, and Rams all won titles, and the Steelers reached a playoff. All these teams had long histories of futility and had merged or suspended operations during the war. (In fact, the Cardinals were winless from mid-1942 to mid-1945, including an 0-10 merged season with the Steelers.)
Adding to the drama, the division races were often tight. Decades before Pete Rozelle
, Bert Bell promoted parity by purposely matching strong teams early in the season, keeping them from getting far ahead in the standings. All this contrasted sharply with the AAFC.
The war was getting increasingly costly thanks to rising salaries and dropping attendance. Nearly every team in both leagues lost money - enough that in December, the NFL officially acknowledged the AAFC as peace talks almost succeeded in ending the war. However, the AAFC wanted the NFL to admit four of its teams, while the NFL was willing to admit only the Browns and 49ers. Although the survival of its Brooklyn and Chicago teams was now in doubt, the AAFC decided to continue the fight.
As the war entered its fourth season, financial problems forced reorganization in both leagues.
In the NFL, the champion Philadelphia Eagles
lost money and were sold. Plagued by league-low attendance, the Boston Yanks moved to New York in a curious move. Yanks owner Ted Collins had long desired a franchise in Yankee Stadium (thus his team’s name), and expected the AAFC and its Yankees to be gone in 1949. Instead, with Yankee Stadium and the Yanks name unavailable, Collins' renamed Bulldogs had to share the Polo Grounds with the Giants on unfavorable terms and compete with two superior rivals.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers, the AAFC's least-drawing team, merged with the Yankees. The Rockets (renamed the Hornets) and Colts continued their streaks of annual ownership changes.
With the AAFC now down to 7 teams, it realigned into one division, reduced its schedule to 12 games (still a double round-robin), and changed its postseason to a Shaughnessy playoff
. In 1948, the 12-2 49ers had stayed home while the 7-7 Bills played for the title. This would not recur, as now the top four teams would qualify for the playoffs. Also, for the first time in pro football, playoff home-field advantage would be based on win-loss record rather than rotating between divisions.
The lineup of the rival leagues was now:
NFL
AAFC
Ward, of course, was also the founder of the AAFC. After the game's contract with the NFL expired with the 1948 game, Ward refused to renew it, and attempted to help the AAFC by putting its champion into the prestigious game. However, the NFL was able to convince the Tribune’s board to override Ward and force him to re-sign with the NFL, handing the AAFC an embarrassing defeat.
Red ink on both sides continued to flow. Los Angeles Dons owner Ben Lindheimer was subsidizing the Colts and Hornets. The Green Bay Packers, then as now owned by a local civic group, had to issue new stock to remain solvent. Now facing two cross-town rivals, the Bulldogs predictably had even lower attendance in New York than in Boston. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were also having serious financial problems.
On the field, Cleveland finally showed some vulnerability. An opening day tie with the Bills ended their winning streak, and on October 9 the 49ers ended their unbeaten streak in a 56-28 upset to move into first place.
Things soon reverted to the AAFC norm, however. The Browns won the rematch with the 49ers, 30-28, and Cleveland (9-1-2) and San Francisco (9-3) finished one-two for the fourth consecutive year. Brooklyn-New York and Buffalo were the other playoff qualifiers, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles. Baltimore finished far behind at 1-11.
In playoff action, Cleveland defeated Buffalo 31-21 and San Francisco defeated Brooklyn-New York 17-7. The two best teams in AAFC history met at last with the title at stake, with the Browns winning the final title, 21-7. No MVP was named for this season.
The Browns now owned a 52-4-3 record and all four AAFC titles.
The Browns and 49ers, as the AAFC's two strongest teams, were obvious choices. (San Francisco was also a natural fit as a geographic rival to the Los Angeles Rams
, who were alone on the West Coast at the time.) The third choice was the subject of some debate.
There was some sentiment to admit the Bills rather than the Colts, as the Bills had better attendance and the better team. However, Buffalo's size (only Green Bay was smaller) and climate were seen as problems. George Preston Marshall had long objected to the Colts' proximity to his Redskins. However, the choice was Baltimore after Marshall, deciding that Redskins-Colts could be an excellent rivalry, agreed to accept a $150,000 fee to waive his territorial rights.
Although Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well, Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority share of the Browns and the NFL was not inclined to add a fourth team (despite the fact that admitting only three teams made for an uneven 13 teams in the league). Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the minor-league American Football League
of the late 1940s, to join their league.
The Yankees' players were divided between the Giants (who chose six players) and Bulldogs (who received the rest). Three Bills players were awarded to the Browns. The Dons and Rams
had already consolidated operations shortly after the 1949 season. The remaining Bills, Dons, and Hornets entered a dispersal draft.
With the AAFC Yankees gone, Bulldogs owner Ted Collins was free to rename his team "Yanks" and move into Yankee Stadium. He continued to lose money, however, and sold the team to Dallas interests after two seasons.
The word "American" did not remain in the enlarged league's name for long. "National Football League" was restored in March 1950. Although "National" and "American" became the names of the league's new conferences, within three years the conferences were renamed Eastern and Western. It was not until the AFL-NFL merger
twenty years later that the "American
" and "National
" conference names were restored.
The enlarged NFL was aligned as follows:
With two exceptions, this was the NFL's alignment for the rest of the 1950s.
Admitting Baltimore over Buffalo proved to be a mistake, as the AAFC's Colts folded after one season in the NFL, bringing the league back to an even 12 teams. A replacement team, also named the Colts
, joined the league as an expansion team in 1953. Meanwhile, the popularity of the original Bills franchise prompted Ralph Wilson (former minority owner of the Detroit Lions
) to adopt the name "Buffalo Bills" for his American Football League franchise
ten years after the AAFC dissolved. Both the replacement Colts (now based in Indianapolis
) and the replacement Bills are still playing in the NFL to this day, though neither maintains official ties to their namesakes.
Remarkably, although the NFL absorbed the AAFC, the AAFC actually had better average attendance.
In December 1949, with both leagues financially exhausted but now at peace, a profitable interleague playoff was now both possible and desirable. Although Pittsburgh's Art Rooney
, whose Steelers were among the shakiest NFL franchises, publicly advocated such a game, most of the NFL was unwilling to risk defeat at the hands of their vanquished, supposedly inferior rival. Officially, however, commissioner Bert Bell maintained that the NFL constitution barred such a game. The football world would have to wait to see how the Browns matched up against the NFL's best.
All would not be lost for fans, however. Bell appreciated that the Browns were now an important asset to the NFL, and scheduled a special Saturday night game between them and the NFL’s two-time champion Philadelphia Eagles to open the 1950 season. While not quite an unofficial interleague playoff, what took place on September 16, 1950, was no ordinary regular season game.
The defending champions of two leagues that had never met on the field were about to play, foreshadowing tensions present in the early Super Bowls of the 1960s. At last the Browns would have the chance to prove themselves, and by extension the AAFC, against the NFL. There was tremendous anticipation from fans and the press, which called the game “The World Series of Pro Football”. Although the game was played in the Eagles’ city, it was not played on their field: because of the huge crowd expected, the game was moved from Shibe Park to Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, site of the Army–Navy Game. Attendance was more than 71,000: more than any previous NFL or AAFC championship game and one of the largest pro football crowds to that date. (This figure also surpasses Super Bowl I
and nearly matches Super Bowls II and III.) There was even a most valuable player award, unheard of for a regular-season game.
As it turned out, “The World Series of Pro Football” resembled Super Bowl III
nearly two decades later. As with the 1968 Baltimore Colts
and New York Jets
, the Eagles were widely considered one of the NFL’s strongest-ever champions, while many discounted the Browns’ success in their “inferior” league. The result was just as shocking: the Eagles underestimated the highly motivated Browns (coach Greasy Neale did not even scout the Browns’ preseason games), while Paul Brown
found some previously unknown weaknesses in the widely imitated “Eagle Defense”. The Browns led 14-3 at halftime and dominated the rest of the game to win decisively, 35-10. Quarterback Otto Graham
was named the game’s MVP.
, then won a playoff 8-3 to qualify for the 1950 NFL championship game. Their opponent was a formidable Los Angeles Rams team that averaged nearly 39 points per game, a record that still stands. (Ironically, this was the Rams’ first game in Cleveland since winning the 1945 title as the Cleveland Rams.) In a classic seesaw game, the Browns prevailed on a last-minute field goal, 30-28, to win their fifth consecutive league title.
The Browns’ 1950 season confirmed the quality of their AAFC achievements as nothing else could. After the title game, Commissioner Bell called the Browns "the greatest team to ever play football.”
Cleveland remained near the top of the NFL for years, although in 1951 they were finally denied a league title (by the Rams). The Browns played in every NFL title game from 1950 to 1955, winning three of them, for a grand total of seven league titles in ten years.
The other ex-AAFC teams did not fare nearly as well.
The 49ers, the AAFC's second-best team, struggled in 1950 and finished 3-9. However, starting the next year they emerged as one of the better teams in the NFL’s Western Conference, reaching the postseason in 1957 after some near-misses.
The Colts' prospects were not promising: they had finished 1-11 and last in the AAFC in 1949 and also faced the handicap of playing near the Washington Redskins
. In 1950, the Colts went 1-11 again and disbanded. Their legacy lived on, however: three years later, a new Baltimore Colts franchise
(descended from the Boston Yanks
/New York Bulldogs/Yankees
team after a year in Dallas
, though those teams are officially considered separate from the modern Colts franchise from 1953
on) was established and became one of the NFL’s storied teams. Although the Colts would controversially move to Indianapolis
, on March 29, 1984, the NFL would return to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season
in the form of the Baltimore Ravens
--ironically, descended from the original Browns franchise that played in the AAFC after their own controversial move
. Officially, the NFL considers the "expansion
" Browns (1999
on) to be one continuous entity from the original 1946 AAFC team, with it having suspended operations from 1996
–1998
, while the Ravens unofficially consider the pre-1984
history of the Colts as their own.
See Cleveland Browns
, San Francisco 49ers
, Baltimore Colts
(1947–50), and Indianapolis Colts
for further details of these teams' subsequent histories.
's pre-1970 statistics with the AFL New York Jets
are considered official NFL statistics, while Y.A. Tittle's pre-1950 statistics with the AAFC Baltimore Colts are not.
According to the NFL, this is because official scoresheets of AAFC games were not made available to the NFL after the merger. Without these, the NFL could not verify the authenticity of any AAFC statistics or records and so chose to ignore them. However, in the case of the NFL-AFL merger completed in 1970, the AFL gave all of its official scoresheets to the NFL making it possible for the NFL to accept the AFL's statistics and records.
Another explanation is that unlike the NFL-AFL agreement, the NFL-AAFC agreement was not a merger between equals. Only three of the seven AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL. There was no interleague playoff in December 1949. "American" swiftly disappeared from the enlarged league's name. The AFL, on the other hand, was able to force the NFL to admit all of its teams and to play a Super Bowl
on a neutral field. From this perspective, it is not surprising that the AFL's statistics were recognized and the AAFC's were not.
Despite this, however, the Pro Football Hall of Fame
does recognize AAFC statistics.
The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and original Baltimore Colts began in the AAFC.
Fifteen AAFC alumni are enshrined in pro football’s Hall of Fame.
The AAFC played a 14-game schedule more than a decade before the NFL, and played a major role in popularizing zone defenses in pro football.
The AAFC put the first pro football teams in Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Indeed, the AAFC was a coast-to-coast league more than a decade before Major League Baseball. This brought about another innovation: AAFC teams traveled by air while NFL teams still traveled by train.
Black players
were excluded from the NFL from 1934 to 1945. The AAFC helped reintegrate Professional Football
in 1946 when Cleveland signed Marion Motley
and Bill Willis
. The NFL Rams, having been driven out of Cleveland by the AAFC Browns, signed Kenny Washington
and Woody Strode
only after the venue they sought to play in, the Los Angeles Coliseum, enforced its policy of integration.
The AAFC’s Paul Brown produced numerous innovations to the game on and off the field. Among them were year-round coaching staffs, precision pass patterns, the face mask, and the practice of coaches’ calling plays via “messenger guards”. He also was the first coach to have his staff film the opposition and have his team break down those game films in a classroom setting. In fact, the classroom setting and chalkboard analysis can also be attributed to him. His success with the Browns forced the rest of both leagues to adopt his methods. Many of his players and assistants eventually coached champions. Brown declined efforts to draft him to succeed Bert Bell as NFL commissioner, later founded the American Football League
's Cincinnati Bengals
, and later served on the NFL’s key Competition Committee until his death in 1991.
These and other AAFC innovations and personalities helped lay the groundwork for Professional Football's great success.
Finally, the Browns' NFL Championship in their first year in the NFL and their domination of that league for the next decade, in retrospect, seem to have been harbingers of another upstart league that like the AAFC was ridiculed and reviled by the NFL and its supporters, but would eventually be recognized as the genesis of modern Professional Football: the American Football League
of 1960–1969.
(*): Team now in NFL.
(**): Team in NFL with that name, but unrelated to the AAFC team.
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 14, New York 9 (December 22 @ Cleveland)
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 14, New York 3 (December 14 @ New York)
Eastern Division playoff: Buffalo 28, Baltimore 17 (December 12 @ Baltimore)
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 49, Buffalo 7 (December 19 @ Cleveland)
Semifinal #1: Cleveland 31, Buffalo 21 (December 4 @ Cleveland)
Semifinal #2: San Francisco 17, Brooklyn/New York 7 (December 4 @ San Francisco)
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 21, San Francisco 7 (December 11 @ Cleveland)
See All-America Football Conference playoffs
for box scores.
of the Cleveland Browns.
in Canton, Ohio:
(Note: Graham and Motley were also named to the NFL's 75th anniversary all-time team
in 1994.)
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
league that challenged the established National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) from 1946
1946 in sports
-American football:* All-America Football Conference begins play. Cleveland Browns win the championship by beating New York Yankees 14-9.* Chicago Bears win the NFL crown by defeating the New York Giants 24-14 in New York.-Association football:England...
to 1949
1949 in sports
-American football:* Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL for the 1950 season....
. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
, Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Baltimore Colts (not related to the later NFL team that would play in Baltimore from 1953 through 1983, now the Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
).
The AAFC was the second American professional sports league (the first being the third American Football League) to have its teams play in a double round robin format in the regular season: each team had a home game and an away game with each of its AAFC "brethren."
The Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
were the AAFC's most successful club, having won every annual championship in the league's four years of operation.
Founding
The AAFC was founded by Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
sports editor Arch Ward
Arch Ward
Arch Ward was the sports editor for the Chicago Tribune and personal friend of the owner, Robert R. McCormick. He created the MLB All-Star Game, the All-America Football Conference , the Golden Gloves amateur boxing tournament and the College All-Star Game. Ward was twice offered the job as...
on June 4, 1944. Ward was also the originator of baseball’s All-Star Game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
and football’s College All-Star Game
College All-Star Game
The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game was a preseason American football game played annually from 1934 to 1976 between the National Football League champions and a team of star college seniors from the previous year...
.
Ward brought together a number of wealthy pro football enthusiasts, some of whom had previously attempted to purchase NFL franchises. Ward had previously encouraged the NFL to expand, but now he hoped to bring about a permanent second league and a championship game with the NFL, similar to baseball’s World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
.
On November 21, 1944, the AAFC chose Jim Crowley
Jim Crowley
James Harold "Jim" Crowley was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback from 1922 to 1924. After a brief career as a professional football player, Crowley turned to coaching...
, one of the "Four Horsemen of Notre Dame
Four Horsemen (football)
The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame comprised a winning group of American football players at the University of Notre Dame under coach Knute Rockne. They were the backfield of Notre Dame's 1924 football team...
", as its commissioner. Not coincidentally, the NFL commissioner at this time was Elmer Layden
Elmer Layden
Elmer Francis Layden was an American football player, coach, college athletics administrator, and professional sports executive. He played college football at the University of Notre Dame where he starred at fullback as a member of the legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield...
, another of Knute Rockne
Knute Rockne
Knute Kenneth Rockne was an American football player and coach. He is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in college football history...
's legendary 1924
1924 in sports
-American football:NFL championship* Cleveland BulldogsCollege championship* College football national championship – Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Penn Quakers -Association football:England...
backfield.
During the next months, the AAFC’s plans solidified. The league initially issued franchises for Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco. Brooklyn and Miami were later added. A group representing Baltimore was considered for admission, but could not secure a stadium. The league planned to begin play in 1945, but postponed its opening for a year as World War II still raged.
As the eight franchises built their teams, no move was more far-reaching than Cleveland's choice of Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
as its head coach. Brown had won six Ohio state championships in nine years at Massillon High School and the 1942 national championship
Mythical National Championship
A mythical national championship is a colloquial term used to question the validity of national championship recognition that is not explicitly competitive...
at Ohio State
Ohio State Buckeyes football
The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is an intercollegiate varsity sports team of The Ohio State University. The team is a member of the Big Ten Conference of the NCAA, playing at the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division I-A, level. The team nickname is derived from the state...
, and had also coached successfully at the military’s Great Lakes Naval Station. In Cleveland, Brown would emerge as one of the game's greatest innovators.
NFL reaction
As might be expected, the NFL did not welcome its new rival. In 1945, Layden remarked that the AAFC, still a year from its first game, should “first get a ball, then make a schedule, and then play a game.” This insult, often paraphrased as "Tell them to get a ball first," would be long remembered.Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
owner George Preston Marshall
George Preston Marshall
George Preston Marshall was the owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League from 1932 until his death in 1969.-Contributions:...
was perhaps the NFL's hardest-liner regarding the AAFC. In 1945, he commented “I did not realize there was another league, although I did receive some literature telling about a WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
project”. Later he declared, “The worst team in our league could beat the best team in theirs.” After the AAFC put a team in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Marshall’s opposition to it would be a major obstacle to interleague peace. Not coincidentally, his team was badly hurt by the AAFC. A top team from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins began a decades-long title drought after coach Ray Flaherty
Ray Flaherty
Raymond Paul Flaherty was a professional football player in the National Football League from 1926-1935. He was the head coach of the Boston/Washington Redskins from 1936–1942, where he won four division titles and two NFL Championships . Flaherty served in the United States Navy until 1945...
and many key players defected in 1946.
Layden’s successor, Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
, pursued a policy of official non-recognition, generally answering “no comment” to queries about the other league. In 1947, Pro Football Illustrated previewed both leagues in its annual publication and was banned from NFL stadiums.
Competition
The AAFC posed a formidable challenge. In most interleague sports wars, the established league has major advantages over the challenger in prestige, finance, size, and public awareness. The NFL-AAFC war differed in several respects.The NFL was just emerging from its wartime retrenchment. The Cleveland Rams had suspended operations for 1943, and on three occasions teams merged for a season. The Boston Yanks had played only one season as an independent entity.
Meanwhile, the AAFC had advantages not enjoyed by many challengers:
- The AAFC was founded by a key figure at a major newspaper, so it enjoyed ample attention in the press.
- The AAFC owners (dubbed "the millionaires' coffee klatch") were wealthier than their NFL counterparts. Among them were Cleveland’s Arthur B "Mickey" McBride (a real estate and taxi magnate), San Francisco’s Anthony MorabitoTony MorabitoAnthony J. "Tony" Morabito, a University of Santa Clara alumnus who had been moderately successful during the late 1930s and early 1940s in the lumber hauling business in San Francisco, California realized that air travel would make feasible a coast-to-coast rivalry in football.In 1944, after...
(lumber), Chicago’s John L. Keeshin (trucking), and Los Angeles’ group of racetrack owner Benjamin Lindheimer, actor Don AmecheDon AmecheDon Ameche was an Academy Award winning American actor with a career spanning almost sixty years.-Personal life:...
and MGM's Louis B. MayerLouis B. MayerLouis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
. The NFL owners were generally men whose primary assets were their teams.
- Peace produced a surplus of talent and an opening for a new league, as many pro and college players (some of whom had played on military teams) returned to civilian life. Many college-eligible players were signable despite longstanding tradition because their original classes had graduated. The AAFC took its share: its 1946 rosters included 40 of the 66 College All-Stars, two recent Heisman TrophyHeisman TrophyThe Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , is awarded annually to the player deemed the most outstanding player in collegiate football. It was created in 1935 as the Downtown Athletic Club trophy and renamed in 1936 following the death of the Club's athletic director, John Heisman The Heisman Memorial...
winners (Frank SinkwichFrank SinkwichFrank Francis Sinkwich Sr. won the 1942 Heisman Trophy as a player for the University of Georgia, making him the first recipient from the Southeastern Conference. In the course of a brief but celebrated career in professional football, Sinkwich was selected for the National Football League Most...
and Angelo BertelliAngelo BertelliAngelo Bortolo Bertelli was an American football player. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1943 playing as a quarterback for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.-Early life:...
), and more than 100 players with NFL experience.
- Air travel was now viable. Like Major League BaseballMajor League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
, all NFL teams still played in the Northeast and Midwest, but the AAFC seized the opportunity to place teams in open cities in Florida and California.
Yet it remained to be seen if there was a market for this much pro football. Since achieving stability in the early 1930s, the NFL had never fielded more than 10 teams. No competitor had endured for more than two years. In 1946, there would be 18 teams, including three in Chicago, three in New York, and two in Los Angeles.
Baseball and college football were substantially more popular. Longtime NFL president Joe Carr
Joseph Carr
Joseph "Joe" F. Carr was the president of the National Football League from 1921 until his death in 1939. Carr was born in Columbus, Ohio. As a mechanic for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Columbus, he directed the Columbus Panhandles football team in 1907 until 1922...
had said, "No owner has made money from pro football, but a lot have gone broke thinking they could." At a time when the World Series had long been a national institution, and the Rose Bowl
Rose Bowl Game
The Rose Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game, usually played on January 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. When New Year's Day falls on a Sunday, the game is played on Monday, January 2...
drew crowds of 90,000, the NFL's title game typically drew about 35,000 fans. Most pro teams shared
stadiums (and sometimes names) with the local baseball team, and both leagues saw fit to choose college football legends as their commissioners.
There was even a sense that collegians could defeat pros. 1946 saw the famous Army-Notre Dame scoreless tie
1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game
The 1946 Army vs. Notre Dame football game was a regular season college football game played on November 9, 1946. Army , then ranked Number 1 in the Associated Press college football poll, played the University of Notre Dame, of South Bend, Indiana, ranked Number 2, at Yankee Stadium in New York City...
in Yankee Stadium. At season's end, Arch Ward (the AAFC founder) opined that both teams were superior to either pro champion.
It was in this landscape that the AAFC prepared to compete with the NFL.
Maneuvers and intrigue
Dan ToppingDan Topping
Daniel Reid Topping was a part owner and president of the New York Yankees baseball team from 1945 to 1964. Daniel Reid Topping was the son of Rhea Reid and Henry J. Topping. Rhea Reid, the daughter of Daniel G. Reid, known as the "Tinplate King" for his vast wealth in the tin industry, was the...
, owner of the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers
Brooklyn Dodgers (NFL)
The Brooklyn Dodgers were an American football team that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943, and in 1944 as the Brooklyn Tigers. The team played its home games at Ebbets Field. In 1945, because of financial difficulties, the team was merged with the Boston Yanks...
, wished to move his team from Ebbets Field to the much larger Yankee Stadium. New York Giants owner Tim Mara
Tim Mara
Timothy James "Tim" Mara was the founder and administrator for the New York Giants of the National Football League. The Giants', under Mara, would win NFL championships in 1934, 1938, and 1956 and divisional titles in 1933, 1939, 1941, 1944, 1946, 1958, 1959.-Early life:Mara was born into poverty...
used his territorial rights to block the move. He had good reason: the Yankees had displaced the Giants as New York’s premier baseball team after moving into The House That Ruth Built, three rival football leagues had planted teams there hoping to duplicate that feat, and Topping (of Anaconda Copper
Anaconda Copper
Anaconda Copper Mining Company was one of the largest trusts of the early 20th century. The Anaconda was purchased by Atlantic Richfield Company on January 12, 1977...
) was significantly wealthier than Mara.
Topping responded by buying into the baseball Yankees and transferring his club to the AAFC.
Most of his players followed. His renamed New York Yankees were rewarded with $100,000 from each of the other seven AAFC teams while the AAFC's initial New York investor withdrew. (Note that the AAFC Brooklyn Dodgers were a separate entity never associated with Topping's team.)
Shortly after Topping defected, the NFL owners fired Commissioner Layden, replacing him with Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell
Bert Bell
De Benneville "Bert" Bell was the National Football League commissioner from 1946 until his death in 1959. As commissioner, he helped chart a path for the NFL to facilitate its rise in becoming the most popular sports attraction in the United States...
. Bell had already made a major contribution to the league: the NFL draft
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
, begun in 1935, was his idea.
Meanwhile, Dan Reeves
Dan Reeves (NFL owner)
Daniel "Dan" Reeves was the owner of the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams from 1941 to his death in 1971.In addition to the controversial move of the Rams from Cleveland to Los Angeles, Reeves is remembered for being the first NFL owner to sign an African-American player in the post World War II era...
' Cleveland Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
had consistently lost money, despite winning the 1945 NFL title. Compounding his problems, the local AAFC competition already looked strong: Arthur McBride was aggressively marketing the Browns, and coach Paul Brown was an Ohio icon. Accordingly, Reeves proposed to move the Rams to Los Angeles.
With two teams planned for California, the AAFC had national aspirations. The NFL's thinking was more modest: it rejected Reeves' move because of travel expenses. After the NFL refused to consider his second choice (Dallas), Reeves threatened to withdraw from the league. Having already lost Topping, the NFL reconsidered and approved the Los Angeles move.
It was unprecedented for the NFL champion to move at all, let alone partly to avoid an unproven rival. On the other hand, the NFL would now face the AAFC as a national rather than regional league, and the AAFC would not have a West Coast monopoly.
Initial alignment
For 1946, the AAFC began play with 8 teams playing a record 14 games (a double round-robinRound-robin tournament
A round-robin tournament is a competition "in which each contestant meets all other contestants in turn".-Terminology:...
). The NFL's 10 teams played 11 games, its standard since 1937.
Again acting ambitiously, the AAFC chose stadiums larger than the NFL's in Chicago, New York, and Cleveland.
The two leagues’ franchises and home fields for 1946 were:
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| Boston Yanks Boston Yanks The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox schedule were held at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts... (Fenway Park Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball park near Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Located at 4 Yawkey Way, it has served as the home ballpark of the Boston Red Sox baseball club since it opened in 1912, and is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium currently in use. It is one of two "classic"... ) |
Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... (Briggs Stadium*) |
| New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Polo Grounds Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963... ) |
Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Wrigley Field Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales... ) |
| Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Shibe Park) |
Chicago Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Comiskey Park Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games... ) |
| Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC... (Forbes Field Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise... ) |
Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... (City Stadium City Stadium (Green Bay) City Stadium is a football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It served as home of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1925 to 1956. It remains the home of the Green Bay East High School football team... ) |
| Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... (Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891... ) |
Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,... (Los Angeles Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... ) |
AAFC
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| New York Yankees New York Yankees (AAFC) The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn... (Yankee Stadium) |
Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... (Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... ) |
| Brooklyn Dodgers Brooklyn Dodgers (AAFC) The Brooklyn Dodgers was an American Football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1948. The team is unrelated to the Brooklyn Dodgers that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943... (Ebbets Field Ebbets Field Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football... ) |
Chicago Rockets Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets was an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets... (Soldier Field Soldier Field Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears... ) |
| Buffalo Bisons (Civic Stadium War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo) War Memorial Stadium is the name of a stadium that formerly stood in Buffalo, New York. The stadium was on a rectangular block near the downtown area. Its main entrance was at Jefferson Avenue to the east and Best Street to the south... **) |
Los Angeles Dons Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum.... (Los Angeles Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... ) |
| Miami Seahawks Miami Seahawks The Miami Seahawks were a professional American football team based in Miami, Florida. They played in the All-America Football Conference for one season, 1946, before folding... (Burdine Stadium Miami Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl, formerly Burdine Stadium, was an outdoor athletic stadium in Miami, Florida, west of downtown in Little Havana. Considered a landmark, it was the home stadium for the Miami Hurricanes college football team... ***) |
San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and... (Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the... ) |
(*) Later known as Tiger Stadium.
(**) Better remembered as War Memorial Stadium, the original home of the modern Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
(***) Later known as the Miami Orange Bowl.
1946
In the AAFC's first game, on September 6, 1946, the Cleveland Browns hosted the Miami Seahawks, winning 44-0 before a pro record crowd of more than 60,000 fans. This historic game would prove a microcosm of much about the league:- Largely thanks to Paul Brown's innovations in organization and coaching, the Browns were on their way to setting a new standard of pro football excellence.
- Other teams would have significant problems, but the Seahawks would become the AAFC’s biggest fiasco. The Seahawks saw two games postponed by hurricanes, never drew more than 10,000, finished last, ran up $80,000 in unpaid debts, and were ejected from the league after the season.
- The crowd was the first of many large gates that the AAFC’s most popular teams (Cleveland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York) would attract, surpassing the NFL.
- The score, however, was the first sign of the AAFC’s greatest problem. The league would have a wide gap between its best and worst teams, and its standings would be remarkably consistent from year to year.
- Finally, this game marked the end of pro football’s color lineRacial segregationRacial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
. The Browns' Marion MotleyMarion MotleyMarion Motley was a professional football player, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns, and briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Early years:...
and Bill WillisBill WillisWilliam Karnet Willis was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football...
, both future Hall of Famers, became the first black players to play pro football since 1933. (The NFL Rams, who had also signed two black players, UCLA great Kenny WashingtonKenny Washington (American football)Kenneth S. "Kingfish" Washington was a professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the modern era.-UCLA Bruins:...
and future actor Woody StrodeWoody StrodeWoodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a pioneering black American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960...
, opened several weeks later.) Notably, this was before Jackie RobinsonJackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
's debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers, as Robinson was then playing for the Montreal RoyalsMontreal RoyalsThe Montreal Royals were a minor league professional baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec, that existed from 1897–1917 and from 1928–60 as a member of the International League and its progenitor, the original Eastern League...
, the Dodgers' top farm team. In coming years, the AAFC would tap this talent pool more than the NFL, with 20 black players compared with the NFL’s seven in 1949.
Other than New York, all of the quality teams were in the Western Division. In the West, Cleveland led with a 12-2 record, three games ahead of San Francisco, followed by Los Angeles and Chicago. In the East, New York was the only team to win more than three games, finishing 10-3-1. Brooklyn and Buffalo were seven games behind, followed by Miami. Despite Brooklyn's record, its tailback Glenn Dobbs
Glenn Dobbs
Glenn Dobbs was an American Football player in the All-America Football Conference. He played college football at the University of Tulsa before playing in the All-America Football Conference's Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946 and 1947, and the Los Angeles Dons from 1948 through 1949...
led the league in passing and was named the MVP.
The title game was a tight affair, with the Browns coming from behind late in the fourth quarter to defeat the Yankees 14-9.
Despite the fiasco in Miami, the AAFC had enjoyed a successful debut, establishing a high level of play and doing well at the gate. The NFL likewise set attendance highs for both its season and title game. However, salaries shot up with two leagues competing for players, so the only teams to make a profit were the two champions, the Browns and the NFL Bears.
1947
The Chicago Rockets had experienced some disorganization in 1946. In a remarkable move, Commissioner Crowley (a successful former college coach) gave up a five-year contract to become their part-owner and coach. Admiral Jonas H. IngramJonas H. Ingram
Admiral Jonas Howard Ingram was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II...
was named to replace him as commissioner.
To replace the Seahawks, the Baltimore group turned down in 1945 was issued a franchise. The new Baltimore Colts would play in Municipal Stadium. Meanwhile, the Bisons were renamed the Bills and the NFL added a 12th game to its schedule.
The AAFC enjoyed its most successful season in 1947. Some notable guests watched the Browns' opening game: the entire coaching staff of the 1946 NFL champion Chicago Bears. The 49ers obtained the rights to Army’s legendary Heisman-winners Felix Blanchard ("Mr. Inside") and Glenn Davis
Glenn Woodward Davis
Glenn Woodward Davis was an American football halfback famous in the 1940s. A graduate of the Class of 1947 at the United States Military Academy at West Point, Davis initially played college football for the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos...
("Mr. Outside"), and amid great publicity unsuccessfully attempted to get the military to permit them to play during their post-graduation furloughs. In other highlights, a Yankees-Dons game in the Los Angeles Coliseum drew a pro record of more than 82,000, and division leaders New York and Cleveland locked horns on November 23 in the most famous game in AAFC history. Before more than 70,000 fans at Yankee Stadium, the Browns rallied from a 28-0 deficit to tie 28-28.
New York won the East with an 11-2-1 record, 2½ games ahead of Buffalo, with Brooklyn and Baltimore far back. Cleveland, led by MVP quarterback Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, won the West with a 12-1-1 record, 3½ games ahead of San Francisco. Los Angeles followed, and Chicago was last at 1-13. Former Commissioner Crowley would not return either as coach or owner.
The title game was a defensive struggle, with the Browns again defeating the Yankees, 14-3.
By this time a pattern had emerged among the franchises. The Browns, Yankees, 49ers, Dons, and Bills all had stable ownership and at least one winning season. The Browns led both leagues in attendance by a wide margin, the Yankees and Dons outpaced their crosstown NFL rivals on the field and at the gate, and the 49ers and Bills (despite a small stadium) also enjoyed good attendance.
However, the Dodgers, Rockets, and to a lesser extent the Colts were having serious problems. Playing near the Yankees and the NFL Giants, the Dodgers drew fewer than 12,000 fans per game, least in both leagues. The Rockets faced the NFL's flagship Bears and a Cardinals team enjoying rare success. After a decent start in 1946, the Rockets collapsed on the field and found themselves playing before tens of thousands of empty seats in huge Soldier Field. The first-year Colts did reasonably well at the gate but finished last. All of these teams were at the bottom of the standings and all were sold after the 1947 season, the Rockets for the second time.
1948
Although 1947 had been a successful season for the AAFC in many respects, the league still lost money. In 1948, attendance in both leagues declined, and negotiations to end the war became serious.One factor affecting AAFC attendance was the gap between the league’s best and worst teams. To counter this, Commissioner Ingram attempted to get the strongest teams to distribute some players to the weakest. He was modestly successful: the Browns sent rookie quarterback Y. A. Tittle
Y. A. Tittle
Yelberton Abraham Tittle , better known as Y. A. Tittle, is a former football quarterback in the National Football League and All-America Football Conference who played for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and the New York Giants...
to the Colts, who enjoyed their first good season, and the Yankees were generous enough to fall into mediocrity. However, 1948 featured extremes despite Ingram’s efforts.
For the first time, the division races were close. One featured excellence, the other mediocrity.
In the West, San Francisco and Cleveland both remained undefeated far into the season. On November 14, nearly 83,000 (a record) in Cleveland Municipal Stadium watched the 9-0 Browns win a 14-7 defensive struggle over the 10-0 49ers. They met again two weeks later in San Francisco, with the Browns now 12-0 and the 49ers 11-1. The Browns again won narrowly, this time 31-28, clinching first place.
The rematch concluded an AAFC Thanksgiving week promotion: the Browns played three games in eight days. New Dodgers' part-owner Branch Rickey
Branch Rickey
Wesley Branch Rickey was an innovative Major League Baseball executive elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1967...
(of baseball fame) suggested this experiment, and the Browns were chosen as the guinea pigs. They survived unscathed, and went on to complete an unprecedented 14-0 regular season.
The 49ers finished a heartbreaking second (and out of the postseason) at 12-2. Los Angeles followed at 7-7, and Chicago again finished 1-13 and last. The quarterbacks of the two outstanding teams, Cleveland’s Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
and San Francisco’s Frankie Albert
Frankie Albert
Frank Cullen "Frankie" Albert was an American football player. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League...
, shared the MVP.
In the East, Buffalo and Baltimore tied at a mediocre 7-7, just ahead of 6-8 New York. Brooklyn was last at 2-12. Buffalo won a playoff and the dubious privilege of meeting Cleveland for the title.
Cleveland won the title in a predictable rout, 49-7. With pro football's second perfect season (after the 1937 Los Angeles Bulldogs
Los Angeles Bulldogs
The Los Angeles Bulldogs were a professional American football team that competed from 1936 to 1948...
of the second American Football League
American Football League (1936)
Sometimes called AFL II, the second American Football League was a professional American football league that operated in 1936 and 1937. The AFL operated in direct competition with the more established National Football League throughout its existence...
) and an 18-game winning streak and a 29-game unbeaten streak in progress, the Browns were making history. Since then, only the 1972
1972 Miami Dolphins season
The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only National Football League team to win the Super Bowl with a perfect season. The undefeated campaign was led by coach Don Shula and notable players Bob Griese, Earl Morrall, and Larry Csonka...
Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
team managed to win its league championship with an unblemished record. The Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
recognizes the Browns' latter streak as the longest in the history of professional football.
The NFL had also had a problem with imbalance. Nearly every title game from 1933 to 1946 featured either the Giants or Redskins from the East against either the Bears or Packers from the West.
But in the late 1940s new powers rose in the NFL, as the Cardinals, Eagles, and Rams all won titles, and the Steelers reached a playoff. All these teams had long histories of futility and had merged or suspended operations during the war. (In fact, the Cardinals were winless from mid-1942 to mid-1945, including an 0-10 merged season with the Steelers.)
Adding to the drama, the division races were often tight. Decades before Pete Rozelle
Pete Rozelle
Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle was the commissioner of the National Football League from January 1960 to November 1989, when he retired from office. Rozelle is credited with making the NFL into one of the most successful sports leagues in the world....
, Bert Bell promoted parity by purposely matching strong teams early in the season, keeping them from getting far ahead in the standings. All this contrasted sharply with the AAFC.
The war was getting increasingly costly thanks to rising salaries and dropping attendance. Nearly every team in both leagues lost money - enough that in December, the NFL officially acknowledged the AAFC as peace talks almost succeeded in ending the war. However, the AAFC wanted the NFL to admit four of its teams, while the NFL was willing to admit only the Browns and 49ers. Although the survival of its Brooklyn and Chicago teams was now in doubt, the AAFC decided to continue the fight.
Realignment
Commissioner Ingram stepped down, and another admiral, Oliver O. Kessing, was named to head the league.As the war entered its fourth season, financial problems forced reorganization in both leagues.
In the NFL, the champion Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
lost money and were sold. Plagued by league-low attendance, the Boston Yanks moved to New York in a curious move. Yanks owner Ted Collins had long desired a franchise in Yankee Stadium (thus his team’s name), and expected the AAFC and its Yankees to be gone in 1949. Instead, with Yankee Stadium and the Yanks name unavailable, Collins' renamed Bulldogs had to share the Polo Grounds with the Giants on unfavorable terms and compete with two superior rivals.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers, the AAFC's least-drawing team, merged with the Yankees. The Rockets (renamed the Hornets) and Colts continued their streaks of annual ownership changes.
With the AAFC now down to 7 teams, it realigned into one division, reduced its schedule to 12 games (still a double round-robin), and changed its postseason to a Shaughnessy playoff
Shaughnessy playoff system
The Shaughnessy playoff system is a method of determining the champion of a sports league that is not in a divisional alignment. It involves the participation of the top four teams in the league standings in a single elimination tournament...
. In 1948, the 12-2 49ers had stayed home while the 7-7 Bills played for the title. This would not recur, as now the top four teams would qualify for the playoffs. Also, for the first time in pro football, playoff home-field advantage would be based on win-loss record rather than rotating between divisions.
The lineup of the rival leagues was now:
| Eastern Division | Western Division |
|---|---|
| New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Polo Grounds Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963... ) |
Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... (Briggs Stadium) |
| New York Bulldogs (Polo Grounds Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963... ) |
Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Wrigley Field Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales... ) |
| Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Shibe Park) |
Chicago Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Comiskey Park Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games... ) |
| Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC... (Forbes Field Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise... ) |
Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... (City Stadium City Stadium (Green Bay) City Stadium is a football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It served as home of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1925 to 1956. It remains the home of the Green Bay East High School football team... ) |
| Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... (Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891... ) |
Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,... (Los Angeles Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... ) |
AAFC
| Brooklyn-New York Yankees (Yankee Stadium) |
| Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills (AAFC) The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons... (Civic Stadium War Memorial Stadium (Buffalo) War Memorial Stadium is the name of a stadium that formerly stood in Buffalo, New York. The stadium was on a rectangular block near the downtown area. Its main entrance was at Jefferson Avenue to the east and Best Street to the south... ) |
| Baltimore Colts Baltimore Colts (1947-50) The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding... (Municipal Stadium) |
| Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... (Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... ) |
| Chicago Hornets (Soldier Field Soldier Field Soldier Field is located on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in the Near South Side. It is home to the NFL's Chicago Bears... ) |
| Los Angeles Dons Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum.... (Los Angeles Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... ) |
| San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and... (Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the... ) |
1949
Since 1934, the College All-Star Game had matched the defending NFL champions against an all-star team of recent college graduates. The game was a major event, as Rose Bowl-sized crowds (more than 105,000 in 1947) watched college football’s best often hold their own with the pros. Held in late August at Soldier Field, the game was sponsored by the Chicago Tribune and directed by sports editor Arch Ward.Ward, of course, was also the founder of the AAFC. After the game's contract with the NFL expired with the 1948 game, Ward refused to renew it, and attempted to help the AAFC by putting its champion into the prestigious game. However, the NFL was able to convince the Tribune’s board to override Ward and force him to re-sign with the NFL, handing the AAFC an embarrassing defeat.
Red ink on both sides continued to flow. Los Angeles Dons owner Ben Lindheimer was subsidizing the Colts and Hornets. The Green Bay Packers, then as now owned by a local civic group, had to issue new stock to remain solvent. Now facing two cross-town rivals, the Bulldogs predictably had even lower attendance in New York than in Boston. The Pittsburgh Steelers and Detroit Lions were also having serious financial problems.
On the field, Cleveland finally showed some vulnerability. An opening day tie with the Bills ended their winning streak, and on October 9 the 49ers ended their unbeaten streak in a 56-28 upset to move into first place.
Things soon reverted to the AAFC norm, however. The Browns won the rematch with the 49ers, 30-28, and Cleveland (9-1-2) and San Francisco (9-3) finished one-two for the fourth consecutive year. Brooklyn-New York and Buffalo were the other playoff qualifiers, followed by Chicago and Los Angeles. Baltimore finished far behind at 1-11.
In playoff action, Cleveland defeated Buffalo 31-21 and San Francisco defeated Brooklyn-New York 17-7. The two best teams in AAFC history met at last with the title at stake, with the Browns winning the final title, 21-7. No MVP was named for this season.
The Browns now owned a 52-4-3 record and all four AAFC titles.
Merger
On December 9, 1949, two days before the AAFC title game, the two leagues made peace. Three AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL: the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts. The Buffalo Bills, Brooklyn-New York Yankees, Chicago Hornets, and Los Angeles Dons folded. The enlarged league was renamed the National-American Football League.The Browns and 49ers, as the AAFC's two strongest teams, were obvious choices. (San Francisco was also a natural fit as a geographic rival to the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
, who were alone on the West Coast at the time.) The third choice was the subject of some debate.
There was some sentiment to admit the Bills rather than the Colts, as the Bills had better attendance and the better team. However, Buffalo's size (only Green Bay was smaller) and climate were seen as problems. George Preston Marshall had long objected to the Colts' proximity to his Redskins. However, the choice was Baltimore after Marshall, deciding that Redskins-Colts could be an excellent rivalry, agreed to accept a $150,000 fee to waive his territorial rights.
Although Buffalo fans petitioned the NFL to admit the Bills as well, Buffalo owner Jim Breuil was content to accept a minority share of the Browns and the NFL was not inclined to add a fourth team (despite the fact that admitting only three teams made for an uneven 13 teams in the league). Breuil even rebuffed an offer from the next-best pro league in the nation at the time, the minor-league American Football League
American Association (football)
The American Association was a professional American football league based in New York City. Founded in 1936 as a minor league with teams in New York and New Jersey, the AA extended its reach to Providence, Rhode Island prior to the onset of World War II...
of the late 1940s, to join their league.
The Yankees' players were divided between the Giants (who chose six players) and Bulldogs (who received the rest). Three Bills players were awarded to the Browns. The Dons and Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
had already consolidated operations shortly after the 1949 season. The remaining Bills, Dons, and Hornets entered a dispersal draft.
With the AAFC Yankees gone, Bulldogs owner Ted Collins was free to rename his team "Yanks" and move into Yankee Stadium. He continued to lose money, however, and sold the team to Dallas interests after two seasons.
The word "American" did not remain in the enlarged league's name for long. "National Football League" was restored in March 1950. Although "National" and "American" became the names of the league's new conferences, within three years the conferences were renamed Eastern and Western. It was not until the AFL-NFL merger
AFL-NFL Merger
The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major professional American football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League and the American Football League...
twenty years later that the "American
American Football Conference
The American Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the National Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL....
" and "National
National Football Conference
The National Football Conference is one of the two conferences of the National Football League . This conference and its counterpart, the American Football Conference , currently contain 16 teams each, making up the 32 teams of the NFL.-Current teams:Since 2002, the NFC has comprised 16 teams,...
" conference names were restored.
The enlarged NFL was aligned as follows:
| American (Eastern) Conference | National (Western) Conference |
|---|---|
| Chicago Cardinals Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Comiskey Park Comiskey Park Comiskey Park was the ballpark in which the Chicago White Sox played from 1910 to 1990. It was built by Charles Comiskey after a design by Zachary Taylor Davis, and was the site of four World Series and more than 6,000 major league games... ) |
Baltimore Colts Baltimore Colts (1947-50) The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding... (Municipal Stadium Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) Memorial Stadium was a sports stadium in Baltimore, Maryland, that formerly stood on 33rd Street on an over-sized block also bounded by Ellerslie Avenue , 36th Street , and Ednor Road... ) |
| Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... (Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... ) |
Chicago Bears Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Wrigley Field Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales... ) |
| New York Giants New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Polo Grounds Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963... ) |
Detroit Lions Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and... (Briggs Stadium) |
| Philadelphia Eagles Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League... (Shibe Park) |
Green Bay Packers Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions... (City Stadium City Stadium (Green Bay) City Stadium is a football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin. It served as home of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1925 to 1956. It remains the home of the Green Bay East High School football team... ) |
| Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC... (Forbes Field Forbes Field Forbes Field was a baseball park in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1909 to 1971. It was the third home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, and the first home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the city's National Football League franchise... ) |
New York Yanks New York Yanks The New York Yanks American football team played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. In 1949, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins had requested the NFL to fold his Boston team and give him a new one in New York City... (Yankee Stadium) |
| Washington Redskins Washington Redskins The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,... (Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium Griffith Stadium was a sports stadium that stood in Washington, D.C. from 1911 to 1965, between Georgia Avenue and 5th Street, and between W Street and Florida Avenue, NW. An earlier wooden baseball park had been built on the same site in 1891... ) |
Los Angeles Rams St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,... (Los Angeles Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team... ) |
| San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and... (Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the... ) |
With two exceptions, this was the NFL's alignment for the rest of the 1950s.
Admitting Baltimore over Buffalo proved to be a mistake, as the AAFC's Colts folded after one season in the NFL, bringing the league back to an even 12 teams. A replacement team, also named the Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
, joined the league as an expansion team in 1953. Meanwhile, the popularity of the original Bills franchise prompted Ralph Wilson (former minority owner of the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
) to adopt the name "Buffalo Bills" for his American Football League franchise
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
ten years after the AAFC dissolved. Both the replacement Colts (now based in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
) and the replacement Bills are still playing in the NFL to this day, though neither maintains official ties to their namesakes.
Remarkably, although the NFL absorbed the AAFC, the AAFC actually had better average attendance.
"The World Series of Pro Football"
After winning each of their titles, the Browns challenged the NFL champion to an interleague championship. Unfortunately for fans, each year the NFL refused. (Of course, by playing such a game the NFL would legitimize the AAFC and risk more prestige.)In December 1949, with both leagues financially exhausted but now at peace, a profitable interleague playoff was now both possible and desirable. Although Pittsburgh's Art Rooney
Art Rooney
Arthur Joseph "Art" Rooney, Sr. , often referred to as "The Chief", was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers American football franchise in the National Football League.-Family history:...
, whose Steelers were among the shakiest NFL franchises, publicly advocated such a game, most of the NFL was unwilling to risk defeat at the hands of their vanquished, supposedly inferior rival. Officially, however, commissioner Bert Bell maintained that the NFL constitution barred such a game. The football world would have to wait to see how the Browns matched up against the NFL's best.
All would not be lost for fans, however. Bell appreciated that the Browns were now an important asset to the NFL, and scheduled a special Saturday night game between them and the NFL’s two-time champion Philadelphia Eagles to open the 1950 season. While not quite an unofficial interleague playoff, what took place on September 16, 1950, was no ordinary regular season game.
The defending champions of two leagues that had never met on the field were about to play, foreshadowing tensions present in the early Super Bowls of the 1960s. At last the Browns would have the chance to prove themselves, and by extension the AAFC, against the NFL. There was tremendous anticipation from fans and the press, which called the game “The World Series of Pro Football”. Although the game was played in the Eagles’ city, it was not played on their field: because of the huge crowd expected, the game was moved from Shibe Park to Philadelphia Municipal Stadium, site of the Army–Navy Game. Attendance was more than 71,000: more than any previous NFL or AAFC championship game and one of the largest pro football crowds to that date. (This figure also surpasses Super Bowl I
Super Bowl I
The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game in professional American football, later known as Super Bowl I and referred to in some contemporary reports as the Supergame, was played on January 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California.The National Football League ...
and nearly matches Super Bowls II and III.) There was even a most valuable player award, unheard of for a regular-season game.
As it turned out, “The World Series of Pro Football” resembled Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III
Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl". This game is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in sports history...
nearly two decades later. As with the 1968 Baltimore Colts
History of the Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They play in the AFC South division of the National Football League. They have won 3 NFL championships and 2 Super Bowls....
and New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, the Eagles were widely considered one of the NFL’s strongest-ever champions, while many discounted the Browns’ success in their “inferior” league. The result was just as shocking: the Eagles underestimated the highly motivated Browns (coach Greasy Neale did not even scout the Browns’ preseason games), while Paul Brown
Paul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
found some previously unknown weaknesses in the widely imitated “Eagle Defense”. The Browns led 14-3 at halftime and dominated the rest of the game to win decisively, 35-10. Quarterback Otto Graham
Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
was named the game’s MVP.
The Browns, 49ers, and Colts in the NFL
The Browns went 10-2 to finish in a first-place tie with the New York GiantsNew York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, then won a playoff 8-3 to qualify for the 1950 NFL championship game. Their opponent was a formidable Los Angeles Rams team that averaged nearly 39 points per game, a record that still stands. (Ironically, this was the Rams’ first game in Cleveland since winning the 1945 title as the Cleveland Rams.) In a classic seesaw game, the Browns prevailed on a last-minute field goal, 30-28, to win their fifth consecutive league title.
The Browns’ 1950 season confirmed the quality of their AAFC achievements as nothing else could. After the title game, Commissioner Bell called the Browns "the greatest team to ever play football.”
Cleveland remained near the top of the NFL for years, although in 1951 they were finally denied a league title (by the Rams). The Browns played in every NFL title game from 1950 to 1955, winning three of them, for a grand total of seven league titles in ten years.
The other ex-AAFC teams did not fare nearly as well.
The 49ers, the AAFC's second-best team, struggled in 1950 and finished 3-9. However, starting the next year they emerged as one of the better teams in the NFL’s Western Conference, reaching the postseason in 1957 after some near-misses.
The Colts' prospects were not promising: they had finished 1-11 and last in the AAFC in 1949 and also faced the handicap of playing near the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
. In 1950, the Colts went 1-11 again and disbanded. Their legacy lived on, however: three years later, a new Baltimore Colts franchise
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
(descended from the Boston Yanks
Boston Yanks
The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox schedule were held at the Manning Bowl in Lynn, Massachusetts...
/New York Bulldogs/Yankees
New York Yanks
The New York Yanks American football team played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. In 1949, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins had requested the NFL to fold his Boston team and give him a new one in New York City...
team after a year in Dallas
Dallas Texans (NFL)
The Dallas Texans played in the National Football League for one season, 1952, with a record of 1–11.-History:After the 1951 NFL season, the financially troubled New York Yanks franchise were put on the market. Ted Collins had founded that franchise in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, moved it to New...
, though those teams are officially considered separate from the modern Colts franchise from 1953
1953 NFL season
The 1953 NFL season was the 34th regular season of the National Football League. The names of the American and National conferences were changed to the Eastern and Western conferences....
on) was established and became one of the NFL’s storied teams. Although the Colts would controversially move to Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, on March 29, 1984, the NFL would return to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season
1996 NFL season
The 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end...
in the form of the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...
--ironically, descended from the original Browns franchise that played in the AAFC after their own controversial move
Cleveland Browns relocation controversy
The Cleveland Browns relocation controversy was the decision by then Browns owner Art Modell to move the National Football League team from its longtime home of Cleveland, Ohio to Baltimore, Maryland for the 1996 NFL season...
. Officially, the NFL considers the "expansion
Expansion team
An expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...
" Browns (1999
1999 NFL season
The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season...
on) to be one continuous entity from the original 1946 AAFC team, with it having suspended operations from 1996
1996 NFL season
The 1996 NFL season was the 77th regular season of the National Football League and the season was marked by notable controversies from beginning to end...
–1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
, while the Ravens unofficially consider the pre-1984
1984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
history of the Colts as their own.
See Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
, Baltimore Colts
Baltimore Colts (1947-50)
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding...
(1947–50), and Indianapolis Colts
Indianapolis Colts
The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. They are currently members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
for further details of these teams' subsequent histories.
The AAFC and the NFL record book
One notable difference between the All-America Football Conference and the American Football League (AFL), which merged with the NFL two decades later, is that the records and statistics of AAFC players and teams are not included in the NFL record book, while those of their AFL counterparts are. For example, Joe NamathJoe Namath
Joseph William "Joe" Namath , nicknamed "Broadway Joe" or "Joe Willie", is a former American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Alabama under coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and his assistant, Howard Schnellenberger, from 1962–1964, and professional football in the...
's pre-1970 statistics with the AFL New York Jets
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional football team headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, representing the New York metropolitan area. The team is a member of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
are considered official NFL statistics, while Y.A. Tittle's pre-1950 statistics with the AAFC Baltimore Colts are not.
According to the NFL, this is because official scoresheets of AAFC games were not made available to the NFL after the merger. Without these, the NFL could not verify the authenticity of any AAFC statistics or records and so chose to ignore them. However, in the case of the NFL-AFL merger completed in 1970, the AFL gave all of its official scoresheets to the NFL making it possible for the NFL to accept the AFL's statistics and records.
Another explanation is that unlike the NFL-AFL agreement, the NFL-AAFC agreement was not a merger between equals. Only three of the seven AAFC teams were admitted to the NFL. There was no interleague playoff in December 1949. "American" swiftly disappeared from the enlarged league's name. The AFL, on the other hand, was able to force the NFL to admit all of its teams and to play a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
on a neutral field. From this perspective, it is not surprising that the AFL's statistics were recognized and the AAFC's were not.
Despite this, however, the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
does recognize AAFC statistics.
Legacy
Although the AAFC played only four years, it had a major, lasting impact on pro football. Of all the leagues that challenged the NFL, only the American Football League of the 1960s influenced the NFL more than the AAFC.The Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and original Baltimore Colts began in the AAFC.
Fifteen AAFC alumni are enshrined in pro football’s Hall of Fame.
The AAFC played a 14-game schedule more than a decade before the NFL, and played a major role in popularizing zone defenses in pro football.
The AAFC put the first pro football teams in Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Miami. Indeed, the AAFC was a coast-to-coast league more than a decade before Major League Baseball. This brought about another innovation: AAFC teams traveled by air while NFL teams still traveled by train.
Black players
Black players in American professional football
Details of the history of black players in American professional football depend on the professional football league considered: the National Football League , which evolved from the first professional league, the American Professional Football Association, or the American Football League, , a...
were excluded from the NFL from 1934 to 1945. The AAFC helped reintegrate Professional Football
Professional football
In the United States and Canada, the term professional football includes the professional forms of American and Canadian gridiron football. In common usage, it refers to former and existing major football leagues in either country...
in 1946 when Cleveland signed Marion Motley
Marion Motley
Marion Motley was a professional football player, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns, and briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Early years:...
and Bill Willis
Bill Willis
William Karnet Willis was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football...
. The NFL Rams, having been driven out of Cleveland by the AAFC Browns, signed Kenny Washington
Kenny Washington (American football)
Kenneth S. "Kingfish" Washington was a professional football player who was the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the modern era.-UCLA Bruins:...
and Woody Strode
Woody Strode
Woodrow Wilson Woolwine "Woody" Strode was a decathlete and football star who went on to become a pioneering black American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor for his role in Spartacus in 1960...
only after the venue they sought to play in, the Los Angeles Coliseum, enforced its policy of integration.
The AAFC’s Paul Brown produced numerous innovations to the game on and off the field. Among them were year-round coaching staffs, precision pass patterns, the face mask, and the practice of coaches’ calling plays via “messenger guards”. He also was the first coach to have his staff film the opposition and have his team break down those game films in a classroom setting. In fact, the classroom setting and chalkboard analysis can also be attributed to him. His success with the Browns forced the rest of both leagues to adopt his methods. Many of his players and assistants eventually coached champions. Brown declined efforts to draft him to succeed Bert Bell as NFL commissioner, later founded the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
's Cincinnati Bengals
Cincinnati Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...
, and later served on the NFL’s key Competition Committee until his death in 1991.
These and other AAFC innovations and personalities helped lay the groundwork for Professional Football's great success.
Finally, the Browns' NFL Championship in their first year in the NFL and their domination of that league for the next decade, in retrospect, seem to have been harbingers of another upstart league that like the AAFC was ridiculed and reviled by the NFL and its supporters, but would eventually be recognized as the genesis of modern Professional Football: the American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
of 1960–1969.
AAFC teams
- Brooklyn DodgersBrooklyn Dodgers (AAFC)The Brooklyn Dodgers was an American Football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1948. The team is unrelated to the Brooklyn Dodgers that played in the National Football League from 1930 to 1943...
, 1946–48 (merged with New York Yankees for 1949 season) - Buffalo BisonsBuffalo Bills (AAFC)The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons...
, 1946; renamed Buffalo BillsBuffalo Bills (AAFC)The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons...
**, 1947–49 - Chicago RocketsChicago RocketsThe Chicago Rockets was an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets...
, 1946–48; renamed Chicago Hornets, 1949 - Cleveland BrownsCleveland BrownsThe Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
* , 1946–49 - Los Angeles DonsLos Angeles DonsThe Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the now defunct All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949 that played in the Los Angeles Coliseum....
, 1946–49 - Miami SeahawksMiami SeahawksThe Miami Seahawks were a professional American football team based in Miami, Florida. They played in the All-America Football Conference for one season, 1946, before folding...
, 1946, Baltimore ColtsBaltimore Colts (1947-50)The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding...
**, 1947–49 - New York YankeesNew York Yankees (AAFC)The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn...
, 1946–48; merged with Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming Brooklyn/New York Yankees, 1949 - San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ersThe San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
*, 1946–49
(*): Team now in NFL.
(**): Team in NFL with that name, but unrelated to the AAFC team.
1946
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 14, New York 9 (December 22 @ Cleveland)
1947
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 14, New York 3 (December 14 @ New York)
1948
Eastern Division playoff: Buffalo 28, Baltimore 17 (December 12 @ Baltimore)
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 49, Buffalo 7 (December 19 @ Cleveland)
1949
| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 1 | 2 | .900 | 339 | 171 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 416 | 227 |
| Brooklyn/New York Yankees | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 196 | 206 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 5 | 2 | .500 | 236 | 256 |
| Chicago Hornets | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 253 | 322 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 179 | 268 |
| Baltimore Colts | 1 | 11 | 0 | .083 | 172 | 341 |
Semifinal #1: Cleveland 31, Buffalo 21 (December 4 @ Cleveland)
Semifinal #2: San Francisco 17, Brooklyn/New York 7 (December 4 @ San Francisco)
AAFC Championship: Cleveland 21, San Francisco 7 (December 11 @ Cleveland)
All-time Standings
Franchises are ranked by win percentage. As was the custom for professional football leagues in the 1940s, ties were not considered for the purpose of standings.| Team | W | L | T | Pct. | PF | PA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 47 | 4 | 3 | .922 | 1561 | 683 | Accepted into NFL |
| San Francisco 49ers | 38 | 14 | 2 | .717 | 1597 | 928 | Accepted into NFL |
| New York Yankees | 27 | 13 | 2 | .675 | 913 | 732 | |
| Brooklyn/New York Yankees | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 196 | 206 | |
| Los Angeles Dons | 25 | 27 | 2 | .481 | 1066 | 1119 | |
| Buffalo Bisons/Bills | 23 | 26 | 5 | .469 | 1165 | 1272 | |
| Miami Seahawks/Baltimore Colts | 13 | 40 | 1 | .245 | 839 | 1427 | Accepted into NFL |
| Chicago Rockets/Hornets | 11 | 40 | 3 | .216 | 971 | 1501 | |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 8 | 32 | 2 | .200 | 660 | 1066 |
Championship games
From 1946 to 1948 the champions of each division met in the AAFC championship game. In 1949, there was only one seven-team division, so the championship game was the final round of a four team tournament.| Year | Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 1946 in sports -American football:* All-America Football Conference begins play. Cleveland Browns win the championship by beating New York Yankees 14-9.* Chicago Bears win the NFL crown by defeating the New York Giants 24-14 in New York.-Association football:England... |
December 22 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
14-9 | New York Yankees New York Yankees (AAFC) The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn... |
Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... |
41,181 |
| 1947 1947 in sports -American football:* Chicago Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 to win the NFL championship.-Association football:England* First Division – Liverpool win the 1946-47 title.* FA Cup – Charlton Athletic beat Burnley 1-0 after extra time... |
December 14 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
14-3 | New York Yankees New York Yankees (AAFC) The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn... |
Yankee Stadium | 60,103 |
| 1948 1948 in sports -American football:* University of Michigan wins college football national championship.* Cleveland Browns 49–7 Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference championship game.... |
December 19 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
49-7 | Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills (AAFC) The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons... |
Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... |
22,981 |
| 1949 1949 in sports -American football:* Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL for the 1950 season.... |
December 11 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
21-7 | San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and... |
Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... |
22,550 |
Other playoff games
In 1948, there was a tie for first place in the Eastern Division. In 1949, there was only one seven-team division, so the playoffs were a four team tournament.| Year | Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948 1948 in sports -American football:* University of Michigan wins college football national championship.* Cleveland Browns 49–7 Buffalo Bills in the All-America Football Conference championship game.... |
December 12 | Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills (AAFC) The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons... |
28-17 | Baltimore Colts Baltimore Colts (1947-50) The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The first team to bear the name Baltimore Colts, they were members of the All-America Football Conference from 1947–1949, and then joined the National Football League for one season before folding... |
Municipal Stadium | 27,327 |
| 1949 1949 in sports -American football:* Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL for the 1950 season.... |
December 4 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
31-21 | Buffalo Bills Buffalo Bills (AAFC) The Buffalo Bills was an American Football team, based in Buffalo, NY, that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. During its first season in 1946, the team was known as the Buffalo Bisons... |
Cleveland Municipal Stadium Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in Cleveland, Ohio. In its final years, the stadium seated 74,438, for baseball and 81,000, for football. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and football... |
17,240 |
| 1949 1949 in sports -American football:* Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL for the 1950 season.... |
December 4 | San Francisco 49ers San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and... |
17-7 | New York Yankees New York Yankees (AAFC) The New York Yankees were a professional American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1949. The team played in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx and often played in front of sold-out crowds . They were owned by Dan Topping, who brought many of his Brooklyn... |
Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium is a stadium located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California. It is the former home of the Oakland Raiders and the San Francisco 49ers of the NFL, and of the San Francisco Dragons of MLL. It also served as the home of the... |
41,393 |
See All-America Football Conference playoffs
All-America Football Conference playoffs
The All-America Football Conference was an American football league which challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949....
for box scores.
All-Star game
The AAFC played an all-star game only once, following the 1949 season. This game, played in Houston and known as the "Shamrock Bowl", was the league's last game before the merger with the NFL. The champion Browns faced a team of All-Stars from the other six teams.| Year | Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 1949 in sports -American football:* Cleveland Browns 21–7 San Francisco 49ers for the All-America Football Conference championship. After the 1949 season, the Browns, 49ers and original Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL for the 1950 season.... |
December 17 | AAFC All-Stars | 12-7 | Cleveland Browns Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League... |
Rice Stadium Rice Track/Soccer Stadium Rice Track/Soccer Stadium is a stadium in Houston, Texas. It is primarily used for track and field and soccer for the Rice University Owls. It sits on the location of Rice Field, Rice's old football stadium that was used prior to the opening of Rice Stadium in 1950. The venue held less than 37,000... , Houston |
10,000 |
Most Valuable Player
- 1946: Glenn DobbsGlenn DobbsGlenn Dobbs was an American Football player in the All-America Football Conference. He played college football at the University of Tulsa before playing in the All-America Football Conference's Brooklyn Dodgers in 1946 and 1947, and the Los Angeles Dons from 1948 through 1949...
, HB, Brooklyn Dodgers - 1947: Otto GrahamOtto GrahamOtto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, QB, Cleveland Browns - 1948 (tie): Frankie AlbertFrankie AlbertFrank Cullen "Frankie" Albert was an American football player. He played as a quarterback with the San Francisco 49ers in the National Football League...
, QB, San Francisco 49ers - 1948 (tie): Otto GrahamOtto GrahamOtto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, QB, Cleveland Browns - 1949: none named
Coach of the Year
There was no official award issued by the league. However, starting in 1947, the Sporting News named a Coach of the Year for all of pro football. In 1947 and 1948, the choice was from the NFL. In 1949, this award went to Paul BrownPaul Brown
Paul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
of the Cleveland Browns.
Hall of Fame
The following AAFC players and coaches are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of FamePro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
in Canton, Ohio:
- Paul BrownPaul BrownPaul Eugene Brown was a coach in American football and a major figure in the development of the National Football League...
(coach), Cleveland Browns - Ray FlahertyRay FlahertyRaymond Paul Flaherty was a professional football player in the National Football League from 1926-1935. He was the head coach of the Boston/Washington Redskins from 1936–1942, where he won four division titles and two NFL Championships . Flaherty served in the United States Navy until 1945...
(coach), , New York Yankees and Chicago Hornets - Len FordLen FordLeonard Guy Ford, Jr. was an American football defensive end. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1976.He played two years for the Los Angeles Dons of the All-America Football Conference...
, Los Angeles Dons - Frank GatskiFrank GatskiFrank Gatski was an American football player.Gatski was born on March 18, 1919 in Farmington, West Virginia....
, Cleveland Browns - Otto GrahamOtto GrahamOtto Everett Graham, Jr. was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.-Early life:Born in Waukegan,...
, Cleveland Browns - Lou GrozaLou GrozaLouis Roy Groza was an American football placekicker and offensive tackle who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns....
, Cleveland Browns - Elroy "Crazylegs" HirschElroy HirschElroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch was an American football running back and receiver for the Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Rockets, nicknamed for his unusual running style.-Early life:...
, Chicago Rockets - Frank "Bruiser" KinardFrank KinardFrank Manning "Bruiser" Kinard Sr. was a professional American football player for the Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers of the National Football League and the New York Yankees of the All-America Football Conference. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971...
, New York Yankees - Dante LavelliDante LavelliDante Bert Joseph "Gluefingers" Lavelli was an American football end who played for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League from 1946 to 1956...
, Cleveland Browns - Clarence "Ace" ParkerClarence ParkerClarence "Ace" Parker, is a former quarterback who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers , Boston Yanks , and the New York Yankees. He was an All-American tailback at Duke University in 1936...
, New York Yankees - Marion MotleyMarion MotleyMarion Motley was a professional football player, a fullback for the Cleveland Browns, and briefly for the Pittsburgh Steelers.-Early years:...
, Cleveland Browns - Joe Perry, San Francisco 49ers
- Y. A. TittleY. A. TittleYelberton Abraham Tittle , better known as Y. A. Tittle, is a former football quarterback in the National Football League and All-America Football Conference who played for the Baltimore Colts, San Francisco 49ers, and the New York Giants...
, Baltimore Colts - Arnie WeinmeisterArnie WeinmeisterArnold George Weinmeister was an American football defensive tackle. He went to four Pro Bowls, but with only a six-year tenure in the All-America Football Conference and National Football League combined, his career is one of the shortest of any Pro Football Hall of Fame member...
, New York Yankees - Bill WillisBill WillisWilliam Karnet Willis was one of the dominant American football players of the 1940s and 1950s, and is an inductee in the College and Professional Football Halls of Fame. Willis was one of the first African American football players to play professional football...
, Cleveland Browns
(Note: Graham and Motley were also named to the NFL's 75th anniversary all-time team
NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team
The National Football League 75th Anniversary All-Time Team was chosen by a selection committee of media and league personnel in 1994. Years served were in the NFL, unless otherwise stated.-Offense:Source:-Defense:Source:-Special teams:Source:...
in 1994.)
Rushing
| Year | Name | Team | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Spec Sanders | New York | 709 | 6 |
| 1947 | Spec Sanders | New York | 1432 | 19 |
| 1948 | Marion Motley | Cleveland | 964 | 5 |
| 1949 | Joe Perry | San Francisco | 783 | 8 |
Passing
| Year | Name | Team | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Glenn Dobbs | Brooklyn | 1886 | 13 |
| 1947 | Otto Graham | Cleveland | 2753 | 25 |
| 1948 | Otto Graham | Cleveland | 2713 | 25 |
| 1949 | Otto Graham | Cleveland | 2785 | 19 |
Receiving
| Year | Name | Team | Yards | TDs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Dante Lavelli | Cleveland | 843 | 8 |
| 1947 | Mac Speedie | Cleveland | 1146 | 6 |
| 1948 | Mac Speedie | Cleveland | 816 | 4 |
| 1949 | Mac Speedie | Cleveland | 1028 | 7 |
Scoring
| Year | Name | Team | Points | TDs | FGs | PATs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Lou Groza | Cleveland | 84 | 0 | 13 | 45 |
| 1947 | Spec Sanders | New York | 114 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 1948 | Chet Mutryn Chet Mutryn Chester A. Mutryn was a professional American football halfback and defensive back in the All-America Football Conference and the National Football League.... |
Buffalo | 96 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 1949 | Alyn Beals Alyn Beals Alyn Richard Beals was a professional American football end/defensive end in the All-America Football Conference and the National Football League. He played six seasons for the San Francisco 49ers... |
San Francisco | 73 | 12 | 0 | 1 |
AAFC Commissioners
- Jim CrowleyJim CrowleyJames Harold "Jim" Crowley was an American football player and coach. He gained fame as one-fourth of the University of Notre Dame's legendary "Four Horsemen" backfield where he played halfback from 1922 to 1924. After a brief career as a professional football player, Crowley turned to coaching...
1944–1947 - Jonas H. IngramJonas H. IngramAdmiral Jonas Howard Ingram was an officer in the United States Navy during World War I and World War II...
1947–1949 - Oliver O. Kessing 1949
See also
- List of leagues of American football
- All-America Football Conference playoffsAll-America Football Conference playoffsThe All-America Football Conference was an American football league which challenged the established National Football League from 1946 to 1949....