American Football League (1936)

The American Football League (AFL) 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 (NFL) throughout its existence. While the American media generally ignored its operation (often relegating game coverage to "page filler" status), this second AFL was the first "home" of the Cleveland Rams, which joined the National Football League after one year in the AFL.

In 1937, the Los Angeles Bulldogs, the first professional football team to play its home games on the West Coast, also became the first professional football team to win a league championship with a perfect record (no losses, no ties) – 11 years before the Cleveland Browns (AAFC) and 35 years before the Miami Dolphins (NFL) accomplished the same feat.

Origin

The brainchild of former New York Giants personnel director Harry March, plans for the formation of the second American Football League were announced on November 15, 1935. Fifteen cities bid for charter franchises for the new league, and on April 11, 1936, eight (Boston, Cleveland, Jersey City, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence, and Syracuse) were awarded.

American Football League

The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the National Football League (NFL). The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence.

The AFL was created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had minor shares of NFL franchises. The AFL's original lineup consisted of an Eastern division of the New York Titans, Boston Patriots, Buffalo Bills, and the Houston Oilers, and a Western division of the Los Angeles Chargers, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and Dallas Texans. The league first gained attention by signing 75% of the NFL's first-round draft choices in 1960, including Houston's successful signing of All-American Billy Cannon.

While the first years of the AFL saw uneven competition and low attendance, the league was buttressed by a generous television contract with ABC (followed by a contract with NBC for games starting with the 1965 season) that broadcast the more offense-oriented football league nationwide. Continuing to attract top talent from colleges and the NFL by the mid-1960s, as well as successful franchise shifts of the Chargers to San Diego and the Texans to Kansas City, the AFL established a dedicated following. The transformation of the struggling Titans into the New York Jets under new ownership further solidified the league's reputation among the major media.

American Football League (disambiguation)

American Football League is a name shared by several leagues of American football.

Major leagues

Minor leagues

See also

American Football League (1940)

American Football League, also known retrospectively as the AFL III to distinguish it from earlier organizations of that name, was a major professional American football league that operated from 1940–1941. It was created when three teams, the original Cincinnati Bengals, the Columbus Bullies, and the Milwaukee Chiefs, were lured away from the minor-league American Professional Football Association and joined three new franchises in Boston, Buffalo, and New York City in a new league. It competed against the National Football League (NFL), the oldest existing professional football league.

The organization was the third major league to bear the name American Football League. Its establishment resulted in the dissolution of the American Professional Football Association, which had just announced its intentions to compete with the NFL as a major league organization. In 1941 American Football League became the first football league to play a double round robin schedule (five home games and five away games). However, it folded after the end of the 1941 season.