NFL History

NFL HISTORY

The National Football League is the top professional, and premier “American Football” league in the world. All other leagues are a derivative of the league, compared and contrasted, as the NFL represents the ultimate goal of any elite football player. Founded in 1920 as the 11 team APFA (American Professional Football Association), the league changed its name a short two years later, becoming the National Football League, more commonly referred to as the NFL.

Early Years

When founded in the 1920, the 11 APFA teams were located in smaller cities and large towns and functioned similar to what is now considered a “traveling team/league.” Jim Thorpe was named the president of the league in its first year, while he also played for the Canton Bulldogs of Canton, OH. The first season resulted in only 4 of the 11 teams completing their season, as the Akron Pros went undefeated and claimed the organized league's first championship. Though the league would double in size during the next season, it would once again suffer from a lack of popularity and many teams would fail to complete the season.

The next year, the league took on its new name (NFL), yet the results were the same. At the time the game couldn't compete with other more popular sports of professional baseball and college football. By the mid-1930s all of the original teams had moved, or been moved by owners and players to larger cities, hoping to draw more fans. The only exception was the team known as the Green Bay Packers.

The league began enjoying more popularity during subsequent years, and the NFL enjoyed its first college draft in 1936. By WWII, the league began to rival the college game, due in part to fans following some of their favorite college players who had gone on to play professionally.

NFL vs. AFL

After being denied entry into the NFL with his proposed expansion teams in 1960, owner Lamar Hunt gathered several other individuals to found the American Football League (AFL). Hunt brought two teams to Texas, secured a TV deal with ABC and made changes to the game that didn't interfere with the current rules or regulations, yet made the game far easier to follow and more enjoyable for the professional football fan. By simply adding a clock in the stadium, names to jerseys and more “forward passing,” to the offensive attack, the league was an instant hit.

Quite possibly, the most groundbreaking move Hunt and the AFL owners made was to break the color barrier of professional football, when the NFL would not. This opened doors to equal opportunity, and an array of athletes, regardless of skin color or background. The NFL quickly realized that the AFL was more than a league to compete with, it was the future of professional football in America.

The League Merger and the Contemporary Era

In 1966, both leagues realized the need to call a truce in a war that had continued to grow due to college draft issues, player salaries, teams vying for players from other leagues – it had become business that was bad for the game. After a meeting between Dallas Texans owner Hunt, and Dallas Cowboys GM, Tex Schramm, the two leagues announced their intentions to merge. There would be a unified college draft, as well as a championship game that would declare one NFL team champion. Lamar Hunt would eventually offer the name “Super Bowl,” as a place holder, but as fans fell in love with the merger of the two leagues, the name stuck, and nearly half a century later, it is as it was.

Since the merger, the league has continued to evolve, grow, expand; teams have moved and in some cases they have moved back. The league now owns 32 professional teams, located in cities from coast to coast in the US, divided into two divisions – the AFC and the NFC.