Fifty years ago, pro-football was celebrating the Baltimore Colts’ second championship, the second one achieved in Baltimore once again against the New York Giants after the legendary championship game in Yankee Stadium, the Colts’ first championship often dubbed, “the greatest game ever played.”
Television brass discovered professional football was a very television friendly game while Sunday football was gaining stature versus the college game and starting to eat away at Major League Baseball as a dominant national professional team.
While perhaps not seeming so significant at the time, an upstart league would begin play in 1960 as the NFL added two expansion teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings.
The original AFL consisted of:
Eastern Division
Boston Patriots
Buffalo Bills
Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans)
New York Titans (now New York Jets)
Western Division
Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs)
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers (now San Diego Chargers)
The NFL teams were:
Eastern Division
Cleveland Browns (now Baltimore Ravens AFC)
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)
St. Louis Cardinals (now Arizona Cardinals)
Washington Redskins
Western Division
Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts AFC)
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams (now St. Louis Rams)
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
During the 1960’s, the NFL first tried to drive the AFL out of business and also began its first big national TV contract with CBS while the AFL linked up with NBC. Soon, the NFL decided rather than to beat them, have them join the NFL and the two leagues merged leading to the first Super Bowl after the 1966 with the Green Bay Packers beating the Kansas City Chiefs. Vince Lombardi’s team made the upstart AFL look like a second class operation with a convincing 35-10 pounding. They’d win again the following year over the Oakland Raiders 33-14.
Meanwhile, the NFL opened up new territory moving south adding teams in Atlanta and New Orleans in 1966. The AFL was growing too – adding a team the Miami Dolphins in 1967 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968.
The initial impressions of the merger being a shotgun wedding with an inferior AFL diluting the superior NFL were turned inside out with Super Bowl III pitting the highly favored Baltimore Colts led by Johnny Unitas versus the upstart New York Jets with their brash quarterback, Joe Namath who promised a Jets win. The Jets promised as delivered dominating the Colts with a 16-7 victory.
As the 1960’s came to an end, professional football now extended to 26 cities with almost all regions of the country represented. It was time for the finishing touches to create one unified National Football League. The Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns moved to what would be called, “The American Conference (AFC)” while the remaining NFL teams would be “The National Conference (NFC).”
With NFC games on CBS, AFC games on NBC, and Monday Night Football on ABC, fans could enjoy a wide choice of games with 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm games on Sunday and then a national telecast on Mondays.
The 1970’s saw the undefeated Miami Dolphins in 1972 and the dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers who’d win three Super Bowls in the decade as heated rivalries formed and powerhouse franchises emerged. The NFL opened up the only region of the country without an NFL team adding the Seattle Seahawks and solidifying the Florida market with a team in Tampa.
While the 1980’s saw the game leap to even greater heights, it was a decade of upheaval.
Teams moved initiated by the Oakland Raiders moving to Los Angeles, the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis, and St. Louis Cardinals to Phoenix, Arizona. Players went on strike in 1982 playing only nine games. It got uglier in 1987. While the record shows fifteen games were played, three games were played by a rag-tag assembly of replacement players, but by the time the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl at season’s end, the Strike and replacement saga was rapidly becoming a distant memory.
The 1990’s continued franchise movement and expansion with an attempt to solidify Dixie adding an NFC team in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the second move seemed a little more far fetched with a team awarded to Jacksonville, Florida seeming to leave Baltimore and St. Louis out in the cold with their dreams to rejoin the NFL, but those dashed hopes would be short-lived as the moving vans pulled up to the Los Angeles area teams. The Raiders returned to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis to open the 1995. The following season would see Baltimore’s dream of football justice secured but at quite a dreadful price to the heart of football. The Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in a move that was as heartbreaking and reminiscent of the Colts departure for Indy a dozen years earlier. For Cleveland, the pain would be brief as the NFL presented the Ohio fans a new Cleveland Browns, with all their history in tact to play in a new state of the art open air stadium. The Houston Oilers bolted Texas for Tennessee to become the Tennessee Titans playing in Nashville once a new stadium was completed.
The paranoia caused by musical franchises saw one city after another building lavish new stadiums. Only a small minority of towns have facilities that existed at the time of the merger. Balancing out the league to 32 teams, Houston regained an AFC team for the 2002 season with both conferences being organized into four four team divisions.
The NFL has never stood stronger than it does in January 2010, but missing a team in the nation’s second largest market, Los Angeles creates a black hole tugging on the need for a team. The collective bargaining agreement expires after this season and the cozy protection of the salary cap could be in jeopardy while there are dark whispers of a lockout for 2012.
Some cities must surely be a little weary of the future. Buffalo, San Diego and Minnesota play in old venues lacking the modern perks demanded by today’s owners. Jacksonville is having difficulty filling its stands seldom having a game qualify as a sellout to lift the television blackout. St. Louis could face a shaky future as the ownership situation is resolved. St. Louis has a tricky out-clause based on its stadium rating that could allow it to move. Buffalo’s owner, Ralph Wilson, couldn’t be more loyal to Buffalo, but he is 92 years old. The team is already playing one game a year in Toronto.
Looking ahead through the next decade, expansion does not seem like a good idea, but almost certainly a team will land in Los Angeles. Could the Bills be Toronto bound?
Part of the NFL’s success is never standing still as the history of the last fifty years clearly demonstrates. Upstarts will be assimilated as was the AFL or eliminated as was the USFL and other lesser leagues.
While baseball continues to relish the title of the Great National Pastime, is there any question which sport garners the most support and attention?
Television brass discovered professional football was a very television friendly game while Sunday football was gaining stature versus the college game and starting to eat away at Major League Baseball as a dominant national professional team.
While perhaps not seeming so significant at the time, an upstart league would begin play in 1960 as the NFL added two expansion teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings.
The original AFL consisted of:
Eastern Division
Boston Patriots
Buffalo Bills
Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans)
New York Titans (now New York Jets)
Western Division
Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs)
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders
Los Angeles Chargers (now San Diego Chargers)
The NFL teams were:
Eastern Division
Cleveland Browns (now Baltimore Ravens AFC)
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC)
St. Louis Cardinals (now Arizona Cardinals)
Washington Redskins
Western Division
Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis Colts AFC)
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams (now St. Louis Rams)
Minnesota Vikings
San Francisco 49ers
During the 1960’s, the NFL first tried to drive the AFL out of business and also began its first big national TV contract with CBS while the AFL linked up with NBC. Soon, the NFL decided rather than to beat them, have them join the NFL and the two leagues merged leading to the first Super Bowl after the 1966 with the Green Bay Packers beating the Kansas City Chiefs. Vince Lombardi’s team made the upstart AFL look like a second class operation with a convincing 35-10 pounding. They’d win again the following year over the Oakland Raiders 33-14.
Meanwhile, the NFL opened up new territory moving south adding teams in Atlanta and New Orleans in 1966. The AFL was growing too – adding a team the Miami Dolphins in 1967 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968.
The initial impressions of the merger being a shotgun wedding with an inferior AFL diluting the superior NFL were turned inside out with Super Bowl III pitting the highly favored Baltimore Colts led by Johnny Unitas versus the upstart New York Jets with their brash quarterback, Joe Namath who promised a Jets win. The Jets promised as delivered dominating the Colts with a 16-7 victory.
As the 1960’s came to an end, professional football now extended to 26 cities with almost all regions of the country represented. It was time for the finishing touches to create one unified National Football League. The Baltimore Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns moved to what would be called, “The American Conference (AFC)” while the remaining NFL teams would be “The National Conference (NFC).”
With NFC games on CBS, AFC games on NBC, and Monday Night Football on ABC, fans could enjoy a wide choice of games with 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm games on Sunday and then a national telecast on Mondays.
The 1970’s saw the undefeated Miami Dolphins in 1972 and the dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers who’d win three Super Bowls in the decade as heated rivalries formed and powerhouse franchises emerged. The NFL opened up the only region of the country without an NFL team adding the Seattle Seahawks and solidifying the Florida market with a team in Tampa.
While the 1980’s saw the game leap to even greater heights, it was a decade of upheaval.
Teams moved initiated by the Oakland Raiders moving to Los Angeles, the Baltimore Colts to Indianapolis, and St. Louis Cardinals to Phoenix, Arizona. Players went on strike in 1982 playing only nine games. It got uglier in 1987. While the record shows fifteen games were played, three games were played by a rag-tag assembly of replacement players, but by the time the Washington Redskins won the Super Bowl at season’s end, the Strike and replacement saga was rapidly becoming a distant memory.
The 1990’s continued franchise movement and expansion with an attempt to solidify Dixie adding an NFC team in Charlotte, North Carolina, but the second move seemed a little more far fetched with a team awarded to Jacksonville, Florida seeming to leave Baltimore and St. Louis out in the cold with their dreams to rejoin the NFL, but those dashed hopes would be short-lived as the moving vans pulled up to the Los Angeles area teams. The Raiders returned to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis to open the 1995. The following season would see Baltimore’s dream of football justice secured but at quite a dreadful price to the heart of football. The Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in a move that was as heartbreaking and reminiscent of the Colts departure for Indy a dozen years earlier. For Cleveland, the pain would be brief as the NFL presented the Ohio fans a new Cleveland Browns, with all their history in tact to play in a new state of the art open air stadium. The Houston Oilers bolted Texas for Tennessee to become the Tennessee Titans playing in Nashville once a new stadium was completed.
The paranoia caused by musical franchises saw one city after another building lavish new stadiums. Only a small minority of towns have facilities that existed at the time of the merger. Balancing out the league to 32 teams, Houston regained an AFC team for the 2002 season with both conferences being organized into four four team divisions.
The NFL has never stood stronger than it does in January 2010, but missing a team in the nation’s second largest market, Los Angeles creates a black hole tugging on the need for a team. The collective bargaining agreement expires after this season and the cozy protection of the salary cap could be in jeopardy while there are dark whispers of a lockout for 2012.
Some cities must surely be a little weary of the future. Buffalo, San Diego and Minnesota play in old venues lacking the modern perks demanded by today’s owners. Jacksonville is having difficulty filling its stands seldom having a game qualify as a sellout to lift the television blackout. St. Louis could face a shaky future as the ownership situation is resolved. St. Louis has a tricky out-clause based on its stadium rating that could allow it to move. Buffalo’s owner, Ralph Wilson, couldn’t be more loyal to Buffalo, but he is 92 years old. The team is already playing one game a year in Toronto.
Looking ahead through the next decade, expansion does not seem like a good idea, but almost certainly a team will land in Los Angeles. Could the Bills be Toronto bound?
Part of the NFL’s success is never standing still as the history of the last fifty years clearly demonstrates. Upstarts will be assimilated as was the AFL or eliminated as was the USFL and other lesser leagues.
While baseball continues to relish the title of the Great National Pastime, is there any question which sport garners the most support and attention?
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