Pop Warner was hired by the University of Georgia as its new head football coach at a salary of $34 per week.
While at Georgia, Warner also coached Iowa State University. He coached teams from two schools simultaneously on three occasions: Iowa State and Georgia during the 1895 and 1896 seasons, Iowa State and Cornell in 1897 and 1898, and Iowa State and Carlisle in 1899

John W. Heisman was coaching at Auburn when he observed what would come to be known as a "forward pass" for the first time. Technically, the play was illegal. During a game between Georgia and North Carolina in 1895. Toward the end of the game, North Carolina, with its back to the goal, was forced to punt. The fullback retreated until the crossbar of his goal was just above his head. Georgia rushed him mercilessly, and in desperation, he lobbed the ball forward to one of his teammates, who caught it and ran for a touchdown." Though Georgia's coach, Pop Warner, disagreed with the decision, the referee held fast to the opinion that the fullback could have fumbled the ball, allowing the touchdown to count.
 Heisman realized almost immediately that such a pass could open up the field during a game, and wrote to Walter Camp who was then the chair of the rules committee, petitioning him to make it legal. After years of campaigning, and due to the rise of public opinion against football due to the compounding of serious injuries and death, Camp and his committee finally relented. In 1906 the forward pass was confirmed as a legal play in the game of football. In his later years writing for Collier's, a popular American magazine, especially during the 1920s and 1930s, Heisman recalled that with the change that one play brought, "American football had come over the line which divides the modern game from the old. Whether it was my contribution to football or Camp's is, perhaps, immaterial. Football had been saved from itself."

1896

Not to be outdone by The Pittsburgh Athletic Club (PAC) in 1893, the The Allegheny Athletic Association (AAA) decided to have the first completely pro team, but only played two games that season.

They went out of existence on their own terms fielding a team in defiance of the AAU's ban from their competing against other AAU members.

1897

The Latrobe Athletic Association paid all of its players for the whole season, becoming the first fully professional football team.

The history of football now goes pro. 

1898

A touchdown was changed from four points to five points.

ALSO

Some Historians would have you believe that the following took place in 1899, when in fact it is documented to have taken place in 1898 . . .

The longest running pro team began. The team began as a neighborhood group that gathered to play football in a predominantly Irish area of Chicago's South Side, playing under the name Morgan Athletic Club (presently known as The Arizona Cardinals). The team later was acquired by Chris O'Brien, a painting and decorating contractor, and soon its playing site changed to nearby Normal Field, prompting the new name Normals. Later became the Racine Cardinals (playing at 61st and Racine Streets ),
the Chicago Cardinals,

 the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phoenix Cardinals, and, in 1994, the Arizona Cardinals. The team remains the oldest continuing operation in pro football.

Though no longer a player, Walter Camp remained a fixture at annual rules meetings for most of his life.

It has been noted that Walter Camp gets the credit for inventing the All-America Team, but the mythical honor-eleven is one thing the "Father of American Football" did not sire.
 A gentleman named Caspar W. Whitney came up with the idea while writing for a small magazine called This Week's Sport in 1889. Whitney was a friend of Camp and may well have asked his advice on selections, but he was an authority on his own and published the first A.A. team under his own by-line.

In 1890, again for This Week's Sport, and from 1891 through 1896 for Harper's Weekly, Whitney continued to make his popular annual selections. Camp didn't get into the All-America business until 1897, when Whitney was off on a world sports tour. During the season, Camp sat in for Whitney at Harper's when it came time to immortalize another eleven athletes.

The next year, Whitney was back at Harper's and later he made selections for Outing Magazine. However, once Camp had made the plunge he liked the A.A. waters, for he began selecting teams for Collier's and continued to do so until his death in 1925.
 Camp's reputation was so great that fans soon forgot all about Caspar Whitney. Eventually, people began to assume that Camp had created the idea, just as many people think Henry Ford invented the automobile. Whether intentionally or not, Camp fostered the mistake by publishing Whitney's 1889-96 selections alongside his own later ones. Unfortunately, he neglected to include Whitney's name.

 The Walter Camp Foundation continues to select All-American teams in his honor.

1899

Pop Warner coached at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania from 1899-1903

1900

College football expanded greatly during the last two decades of the nineteenth century. In 1880, only eight universities fielded intercollegiate teams, but by 1900, the number had expanded to 43.
Several major rivalries date from this time period, including
 Army-Navy (1890), 
Minnesota-Wisconsin (1890),
the Border Showdown between Kansas-Missouri (1891),
California-Stanford's Big Game (football) (1892),
the Iron Bowl between Alabama-Auburn (1893),
Michigan-Ohio State (1897).

William C. Temple took over the team payments for the Duquesnes Country and Athletic Club, becoming the first known individual club owner.

Star players that emerged in the early twentieth century include Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, and Bronko Nagurski; these three made the transition to the fledgling NFL and helped turn it into a successful league.

1901

The Panhandles were originally formed by the Pennsylvania Railroad Athletic Association in Columbus.

1902

Baseball's Philadelphia Athletics, managed by Connie Mack, and the Philadelphia Phillies formed professional football teams, joining the Pittsburgh Stars in the first attempt at a pro football league, named the National Football League (not the same as the modern NFL league) .
November 21 - The Athletics won the first night football game ever played, 39-0 over Kanaweola AC at Elmira, New York.

All three teams claimed the pro championship for the year, but the league president, Dave Berry, named the Stars the champions. Pitcher Rube Waddell was with the Athletics, and pitcher Christy Mathewson a fullback for Pittsburgh.

The first World Series of pro football, actually a five-team tournament, was played among a team made up of players from both the Athletics and the Phillies, but simply named New York; the New York Knickerbockers; the Syracuse AC; the Warlow AC; and the Orange (New Jersey) AC at New York's original Madison Square Garden. New York and Syracuse played the first indoor football game before 3,000, December 28. Syracuse, with Glen (Pop) Warner at guard, won 6-0 and went on to win the tournament.

1903

The Franklin (Pa.) Athletic Club won the second and last World Series of pro football over the Oreos Athletic Club of Asbury Park, New Jersey; the Watertown Red and Blacks; and the Orange Athletic Club.

Pro football was popularized in Ohio when the Massillon Tigers, a strong amateur team, hired four Pittsburgh pros to play in the season-ending game against Akron. At the same time, pro football declined in the Pittsburgh area, and the emphasis on the pro game moved west from Pennsylvania to Ohio.

John Heisman was named the Georgia Tech football coach.  

1904

A field goal was changed from five points to four points.

Ohio had at least seven pro teams, with Massillon winning the Ohio Independent Championship, that is, the pro title. Talk surfaced about forming a state-wide league to end spiraling salaries brought about by constant bidding for players and to write universal rules for the game. The feeble attempt to start the league failed.

The Canton Athletic Club was organized in November of 1904 to operate baseball and football teams, but the emphasis was on football and the goal was to beat the Massillon Tigers, who had won two straight Ohio championships.

The First Black (African-American) Pro Football Player

It seems unclear throughout The Internet as to the dates for Charles Follis becoming The First Black (African-American) Pro Football Player.

Some Websites claim:
The first known African-American to play pro football was Charles Follis, with the Shelby Athletic Club in 1902.

while other Websites claim:
Charles W. Follis, first African American to play professional football April 10th 1910

Upon Research into the actual date, these facts were found in:
Biographical Dictionary of American Sports
Football
edited by David L. Porter

FOLLIS, Charles W. "The Black Cyclone" professional athlete, became football's first black (African-American) pro when he signed to play for the Shelby (OH) Athletic Club under manager Frank Schiffer in 1904.
Many historians have, however, indicated Charles "Doc" Baker of the Akron (OH) Indians (1906-1908) or Henry McDonald of Rochester (NY) in 1911 as the first black (African-American) pro.

Pop Warner, coach of the Carlisle Pennsylvania Indian School football team, sees Jim Thorpe playing around with some other boys on the track. Warner invites Thorpe to watch football practice.

After a few minutes, Thorpe tells Warner that he can't be tackled. Thorpe takes the ball and begins running up and down the field, knocking some would be tacklers over, and leaving others in his dust.

A Native American member of Oklahoma's Sac and Fox Tribe, Thorpe transforms the nothing school into one of the country's football juggernauts. Thorpe can do everything on the football field better than any player ever has.

Even though Carlisle defeated such football powers as Harvard, Penn, Lehigh, and Army, it is never ranked in the college football polls because of its status as a vocational school rather than a college.

Thorpe went on to lead the Canton Bulldogs to the 
1916 pro football championship.

1905

The Canton Athletic Club, later to become known as the Bulldogs, became a professional team. Massillon again won the Ohio League championship.

To bolster its team, Canton hired seven players away from the Akron Athletic Club, including player-coach Bill Laub. For the game against Massillon, they added even more outside players, including halfback Willie Heston. A three-time All-American, Heston had scored somewhere between 90 and 100 touchdowns for the University of Michigan. Reportedly, he was paid $600 for that one game, but Massillon held him in check and won again, 14-4.

 In the early 1900s college football games were popular sports spectacles,
but the professional game attracted limited public support. 
College games were extremely rough, and in 1905, 18 college football deaths are reported and well over 100 serious injuries. The public was outraged, and there was even a White House conference. President Teddy Roosevelt calls on representatives from Yale, Harvard, and Princeton at mid-season and tells them he will abolish the sport if it doesn't become safer.

December 28 - 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of this meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed

There were more safety precautions and equipment after this point.
Under the leadership of Walter Camp, the teams establish new rules to open the game up.
As a result, football authorities revamped the game, and many of the rougher tactics were outlawed.
Obviously, a lot more pads are worn now, and football helmets are required. A neutral zone is established, linemen have to play on the line, games are shortened from 70 to 60 minutes, and another official is added.
From this committee came the legalization of the forward pass. One of the pioneers of the forward pass was John W. Heisman of which The Heisman Trophy was named after and Coach Pop Warner who still today has youth football leagues endorsed with his name.
Along with the introduction of the forward pass came the ban of the wedge formation. The wedge was a popular formation, which included Princeton's "V-formation wedge," Harvard's "flying wedge" and Yale's "tackles back" formation. Also prohibited was the locking of arms by teammates in an effort to clear the way for their ball carriers.

College coaches such as Amos Alonzo Stagg, Pop Warner, Bob Zuppke, and Knute Rockne developed many of the early offensive techniques and play formations. Following very few historical precedents, these men invented unique strategies that changed the nature of football forever.
Alonzo Stagg was instrumental in developing the between-the-legs snap from center to quarterback, the player in motion in the backfield before the snap of the ball, the onsides kick, the early T-formation, the huddle, the tackling dummy and many other innovations.
Knute Rockne introduced the "shift", with the backfield lining up in a T formation and then quickly shifting into a box formation to the left or right just as the ball was snapped. It remained a staple in the Notre Dame playbook until it was discarded by Frank Leahy in 1942 in favor of the T.

1906

The forward pass was legalized. The first authenticated pass completion in a pro game came on October 27, when George (Peggy) Parratt of Massillon threw a completion to Dan (Bullet) Riley in a victory over a combined Benwood-Moundsville team.
Initially the first forward pass happened in 1895.

Pop Warner unbalanced his line, placing four players on one side of the center and two on the other side, while shifting the backfield into a wing formation. The quarterback functioned as a blocker, set close behind the line and a yard wide of the center. At the same depth, but outside the line, was the wingback. Deep in the backfield was the tailback, who received most of the snaps, and in front and to the side was the fullback. This formation became known as the single-wing, and it remained football’s basic formation until the 1940s.

Sometime during the 1906 season, the Canton team became known as the Bulldogs. The squad had been further improved through the addition of four former Massillon players.

Arch-rivals Canton and Massillon, the two best pro teams in America, played twice, with Canton winning the first game but Massillon winning the second and the Ohio League championship. A betting scandal and the financial disaster wrought upon the two clubs by paying huge salaries caused a temporary decline in interest in pro football in the two cities and, somewhat, throughout Ohio.

The Massillon newspaper reported that Canton coach Blondy Wallace had tried to bribe some Massillon players to throw the game. When that failed, the story continued, Wallace had decided to throw the game the other way. The report was probably groundless, but it helped to kill football in both Canton and Massillon for some years. An even bigger factor may have been the amount of money the team spent on players.

1907

Pop Warner returned to Cornell for three seasons, and returned again to Carlisle in 1907.
During his second tenure at Carlisle, Warner coached one of the most famous American athletes, Jim Thorpe.

1909

A field goal dropped from four points to three points.

1911

A new team, called the Canton Professionals, was organized. Despite the name, it was made up entirely of local players and the pay was undoubtedly small.

1912

A touchdown was increased from five points to six points.

Some Historians would have you believe that the following took place in 1912, when in fact it is documented to have taken place in 1915 . . .

Jack Cusack, pro football pioneer revived a strong pro team in Canton, The Canton Bulldogs).

See 1915

1913

Jim Thorpe, a former football and track star at the Carlisle Indian School (Pa.) and a double gold medal winner at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, played for the Pine Village Pros in Indiana.

Knute Rockne is considered to be the father of the forward pass in football.
Rockne was not the first coach to use the forward pass, but he helped popularize it, especially on the East Coast. Most football historians agree that a few schools, notably Saint Louis University, Michigan, and Minnesota, had passing attacks in place.
  Few of the major Eastern teams used the pass, however. In the summer of 1913, while he was a life guard on the beach at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, Rockne and his college teammate and roommate Gus Dorais worked on passing techniques. That fall, Notre Dame upset heavily favored Army, 35-13, at West Point thanks to a barrage of Dorais-to-Rockne passes. The game played an important role in displaying the potency of the forward pass and "open offense" and convinced many coaches to consider adding a few pass plays to their play books.

1914

Pop Warner was hired by the University of Pittsburgh, where he coached his teams to 33 straight major wins and three national championships (1915, 1916 and 1918). He coached Pittsburgh from 1915 to 1923 to a 60-12-4 record.

In 1914, the first roughing-the-passer penalty was implemented

1915

Massillon made the first move to strengthen its team, hiring several players away from the Akron Pros and Canton followed suit by signing most of the other Akron players. Jack Cusack, who had become manager of the Canton team,


 also restored the old Bulldog name.

As the first of two Canton-Massillon games approached, Cusack scored a major coup by signing the great Jim Thorpe for $250 a game. However, Thorpe played only sparingly in the first game, at Massillon, and the Tigers won, 16-0. For the second game, Thorpe took over as coach, played the entire game, and kicked two field goals in a 6-0 win.

Even after the formation of The NCAA in 1905 to establish safety in the organization of Football relating to serious injuries and deaths; it is evident that the game of football remains a serious safety factor as it is indicated in the "The Cleveland Plain Dealer" newspaper.
Click on image to enlarge

Reprinted from The Cleveland Plain Dealer

1916

Canton became much stronger when Cusack brought in a number of players including former Carlisle teammate Pete Calac to complement Thorpe. The Bulldogs went undefeated (9-0-1), beat Massillon 24-0. Won the Ohio League championship, and was acclaimed the pro football champion.

The Akron Burkhardts were formed, that played in Akron, Ohio were named after a local family of brewers that sponsored the team.

1917

Most teams, including Canton and Massillon, sat out the 1918 season because of World War I and the influenza epidemic. In the meantime, Jack Cusack left Canton for the oil business in Oklahoma and Ralph Hay took command of the The Canton Bulldogs.

The Akron Burkhardts competed as the Akron Pros.

1918

In 1918, the rules on eligible receivers were loosened to allow eligible players to catch the ball anywhere on the field-previously strict rules were in place only allowing passes to certain areas of the field.

1919

Canton again won the Ohio League championship, despite the team having been turned over from Cusack to Ralph Hay. Thorpe and Calac were joined in the backfield by Joe Guyon.

Earl (Curly) Lambeau and George Calhoun organized

 the Green Bay Packers. Lambeau's employer at the Indian Packing Company provided $500 for equipment and allowed the team to use the company field for practices. The Packers went 10-1.

1920

The 1920 NFL season was the 1st regular season of the National Football League.

Over the last twenty years, chaos grew. Salaries were rising, and the players were abandoning teams and contracts and running to the highest bidder. College players were playing both college and pro, teams were disbanding and forming throughout every season, and the sport lacked organization.

 August 20 - A league in which all the members would follow the same rules seemed the answer.
An organizational meeting, at which the

	Akron Pros (formerly known as The Akron Bruokhardts), Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers, and Dayton Triangles

 were represented, was held at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio. This meeting resulted in the formation of the
American Professional Football Conference (APFC).

The teams pledged not to use any student player who still had college eligibility left, as the goodwill of the colleges was believed to be essential to the survival of the professional league.

 September 17 - A second organizational meeting was held in Canton, The teams were from four states -

	Akron Professionals , Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Tigers,and Dayton Triangles all came from Ohio The Hammond Pros and Muncie Flyers from Indiana The Rochester Jeffersons from New York The Rock Island Independents, Decatur Staleys, and Racine Cardinals (Chicago Cardinals) from Illinois.

Chicago Cardinals(APFA) Head Coach was Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback, John Leo "Paddy" Driscoll  from 1920 to 1922.

The name of the league was changed to the
American Professional Football Association (APFA) -
*the birth of the National Football League.
(It would not be changed to National Football League until 1922).

September 17 - The Decatur Staleys (later be recognized as The Chicago Bears) were made a charter member of the NFL


Footballs First President

Hoping to capitalize on his fame, the members elected Jim Thorpe of the Bulldogs as APFA's first president, solely because he was the most famous name in the game.

Stanley Cofall of Cleveland was elected vice president. A membership fee of $100 per team was charged to give an appearance of respectability, but no team ever paid it. Scheduling was left up to the teams, and there were wide variations, both in the overall number of games played and in the number played against APFA member teams.

Four other teams

	The Buffalo All-Americans Chicago Tigers Columbus Panhandles Detroit Heralds

joined the league sometime during the year. 

The Chicago Tigers played only in the first year of the league.
The Tigers' main claim to fame is that they helped start the tradition of playing on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1920, when they were defeated by the Decatur Staleys (later the Chicago Bears).

On September 26, the first game featuring an APFA team was played at Rock Island's Douglas Park. A crowd of 800 watched the Independents defeat the St. Paul Ideals 48-0. A week later, October 3, the first game matching two APFA teams was held. At Triangle Park, Dayton defeated Columbus 14-0, with Lou Partlow of Dayton scoring the first touchdown in a game between Association teams. The same day, Rock Island defeated Muncie 45-0.

By the beginning of December, most of the teams in the APFA had abandoned their hopes for a championship, and some of them, including the Chicago Tigers and the Detroit Heralds, had finished their seasons, disbanded, and had their franchises canceled by the Association.
 Four teams:

Akron Buffalo Canton and Decatur

still had championship aspirations, but a series of late-season games among them left Akron as the only undefeated team in the Association. At one of these games, Akron sold tackle Bob Nash to Buffalo for $300 and five percent of the gate receipts-the first APFA player deal.

The Official NFL website (found at http://www.nfl.com/) claims The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the ONLY undefeated team in NFL history. Yet in their chronicles they claim the NFL was established in 1920, then why do they fail to mention any of the following teams going undefeated? 1920 Akron is the only undefeated team in the Association. 1922 The Canton Bulldogs were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record. 1923 Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title. 1942 The Bears finish the season 11-0 1948 The Cleveland Browns won their third straight championship in the AAFC, going 15-0 makes them the first team to experience a perfect season

The American Professional Football Association was officially organized to begin play in the fall. 

Here are the original teams:

• Akron Professionals 
• Buffalo All-Americans
• Canton Bulldogs 
• Chicago Cardinals 
• Chicago Tigers
• Cleveland Tigers 
• Columbus Panhandles
• Dayton Triangles 
• Decatur Staleys 
• Detroit Heralds
• Hammond Pros
• Muncie Flyers
• Rochester (N.Y.) Jeffersons
• Rock Island Independents 

Women became active in cheerleading in the 1920s.
The University of Minnesota cheerleaders began to incorporate gymnastics and tumbling into their cheers

1921

The 1921 NFL season was the 2nd regular season of the National Football League
(then called the American Professional Football Association).

April 30 - At the league meeting in Akron, the championship of the 1920 season was awarded to the Akron Pros. The APFA was reorganized, with Joe Carr of the Columbus Panhandles named president and Carl Storck of Dayton secretary-treasurer. Carr moved the Association's headquarters to Columbus, drafted a league constitution and by-laws, gave teams territorial rights, restricted player movements, developed membership criteria for the franchises. The league would play under the then-rules of college football, and official standings were issued for the first time so that there would be a clear champion.
The distinction between "league games" and "non-league" games seems to have begun in 1921 when standings were finally kept. In 1920, all games apparently counted. For the record, however, the only accepted members of the APFA were Canton, Akron, Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus in Ohio, the short-lived Muncie Flyers and Hammond in Indiana, the Tigers and Racine Cardinals, both of Chicago, the Decatur (Ill.) Staleys, Rochester and Buffalo in New York, and the Detroit Heralds.

The Association's membership increased to 22 teams, including the Green Bay Packers, who were awarded to John Clair of the Acme Packing Company.

A number of teams had financial difficulties. Some of the teams that played during the previous season, including the Chicago Tigers, had disbanded. The Association did increase to 22 teams, but 4 teams (Brickley's New York Giants, the Cincinnati Celts, the Tonawanda Kardex, and the Washington Senators) could only last just this year. The Muncie Flyers also disbanded after the season, and even though the Cleveland Tigers changed their name to the Cleveland Indians, it still did not help them from folding after the season too.

October 16, Jim Conzelman takes over as coach of Rock Island Independents from Frank Coughlin-only mid-game coaching change in NFL history.

December 4 - The First Forfeited Game
Washington Senators were awarded the contest by Referee C.A. Metsler when the Rochester Jeffersons refused to take the field on account of weather conditions. The visiting team, had all of the advertised stars on hand, but would not risk their injuring themselves on account of slipping on the snow-covered field.
The contract signed by the visitors contains a clause to the effect "that if both teams have arrived on the field of play, and it is found that said field is too wet for play, the question of cancellation shall rest solely with the manager of the home team."
As Manager Jordan had his Washington team on hand, and felt that he should not disappoint the 400 or so faithful fans who were on hand. In view of the Jeffs' refusal to take the field, there was nothing left for Referee Metsler to do but give the locals the game, 1 to 0.
So how come the game doesn't show up in the record book? 

Teams that fold between 1921 and 1922 seasons:

New York Brickleys Giants Washington Senators Tonawanda Kardex Cleveland Tigers Muncie Flyers Cincinnati Celts Detroit Heralds

The Detroit Heralds was reorganized and renamed the Tigers, after the major league baseball team, in 1921, but things didn't get any better. After a win and a tie in their first two games, the Tigers lost the next five, along with a lot of money. Some players quit because they didn't get paid and the team folded before playing out its schedule.

Teams that join the APFA for the 1921 season:

Detroit Heralds became the Detroit Tigers. Green Bay Packers Cincinnati Celts (play 1921 season only) Minneapolis Marines Evansville Crimson Giants Tonawanda Kardex (AKA Lumbermen - play 1921 season only) Washington Senators (play 1921 season only) New York Brickleys Giants (play 1921 season only) Louisville Brecks

Player-coach Fritz Pollard of the Akron Pros became the first black (African-American) head coach.
Thorpe moved from Canton to the Cleveland Indians, but he was hurt early in the season and played very little.

A.E. Staley turned the Decatur Staleys over to player-coach George Halas, who moved the team to Cubs Park in Chicago. Staley paid Halas $5,000 to keep the name Staleys for one more year. Halas made halfback Ed (Dutch) Sternaman his partner.
George Halas coached the Bears at four different times
(1920-1929  -  1933-1942  -  1946-1955  -  1958-1967)

The Staleys claimed the APFA championship with a 9-1-1 record, as did Buffalo at 9-1-2. Carr ruled in favor of the Staleys, giving Halas his first championship Champions (they had one fewer tie game than the Buffalo All-Americans).

History of the Coin Toss

The coin toss has been a part of professional football since its start in 1892.  While the procedure has been relatively unchanged over the years, the following is a history of change made to the pre-game procedure.

Previously: Captains of each team handled the coin toss themselves.

Change: The referee performed the toss.

1922

After admitting the use of players who had college eligibility remaining during the 1921 season, Clair and the Green Bay management withdrew from the APFA, January 28. Curly Lambeau promised to obey league rules and then used $50 of his own money to buy back the franchise. Bad weather and low attendance plagued the Packers, and Lambeau went broke, but local merchants arranged a $2,500 loan for the club. A public nonprofit corporation was set up to operate the team, with Lambeau as head coach and manager.

 June 24 - The American Professional Football Association officially changed their name to the
 National Football League
 and is the 3rd regular season.

The NFL fielded 18 teams during the season, including new league teams such as the Green Bay Packers, the Milwaukee Badgers, the new Oorang Indians of Marion, Ohio, an all-Indian team featuring Thorpe, Joe Guyon, and Pete Calac, and sponsored by the Oorang dog kennels. Also included were the Racine Legion, and the Toledo Maroons.

Meanwhile the Chicago Staleys changed their name to the Chicago Bears after it moved from Decatur to Chicago in 1921.

November 27 - The Chicago Bears went on to make the NFL's first player transaction by purchasing tackle Ed Healey's contract from the Rock Island Independents for $100.

The Canton Bulldogs, led by player-coach Guy Chamberlin and tackles Link Lyman and Wilbur (Pete) Henry, emerged as the league's first true powerhouse and were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record.

The Official NFL website (found at http://www.nfl.com/) claims The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the ONLY undefeated team in NFL history. Yet in their chronicles they claim the NFL was established in 1920, then why do they fail to mention any of the following teams going undefeated? 1920 Akron is the only undefeated team in the Association. 1922 The Canton Bulldogs were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record. 1923 Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title. 1942 The Bears finish the season 11-0 1948 The Cleveland Browns won their third straight championship in the AAFC, going 15-0 makes them the first team to experience a perfect season

Teams that join the NFL for the 1922 season: 

Milwaukee Badgers
Marion Oorang Indians
Racine Legion
Toledo Maroons

Teams that fold between the 1922 and 1923 seasons:

Evansville Crimson Giants
Columbus Panhandles
After the 1922 season, Columbus Panhandles franchise owner Joe F. Carr discontinued the franchise because of cost and salary demands.

1923

The 1923 NFL season was the 4th regular season of the National Football League.

 For the first time, all of the franchises considered to be part of the NFL fielded teams. Thorpe played first for Oorang, then for the Toledo Maroons. Against the Bears, Thorpe fumbled, and Halas picked up the ball and returned it 98 yards for a touchdown, a record that would last until 1972.

Coach Zuppke ran single- and double-wing formations at the University of Illinois, often sending four or five receivers downfield in pass patterns. At Notre Dame in 1923 and 1924, Rockne instituted his famous Four Horsemen offense. Rockne set up the backs in a four-square, box alignment on one side. Then, in what was called the Notre Dame Shift, the backs would shift out of the box and into a single or double wing.

Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title.

The Official NFL website (found at http://www.nfl.com/) claims The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the ONLY undefeated team in NFL history. Yet in their chronicles they claim the NFL was established in 1920, then why do they fail to mention any of the following teams going undefeated? 1920 Akron is the only undefeated team in the Association. 1922 The Canton Bulldogs were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record. 1923 Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title. 1942 The Bears finish the season 11-0 1948 The Cleveland Browns won their third straight championship in the AAFC, going 15-0 makes them the first team to experience a perfect season

Teams that enter the NFL for the 1923 season: 

Duluth Kelleys
St. Louis All-Stars (play only the 1923 season)
A New Cleveland Indians (play only the 1923 season)
Columbus Tigers
After the "Panhandles" folded in 1922, a new team was organized by local businessmen called the Columbus Tigers and played from 1923-1926.

NFL teams that fold between the 1923 and 1924 seasons: 

Canton Bulldogs
Cleveland Indians
Louisville Brecks
Marion Oorang Indians
Racine Legion
St. Louis All-Stars
Toledo Maroons

1924

The 1924 NFL season was the 5th regular season of the National Football League.

The league had 18 franchises, including new ones in Kansas City (Kansas City Blues), Kenosha (Kenosha Maroons),
and Frankford, a section of Philadelphia 

(Frankford Yellow Jackets).
Though the Frankford Yellow Jackets origin goes back perhaps as far as 1899. Its home was Yellow Jacket Field in Frankford, a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, located in the northeastern part of the city, noted chiefly for the elevated subway line that terminates there. The Yellow Jackets won the NFL title in 1926, and were co-founded and co-owned throughout their existence by Bert Bell and Lud Wray

Before the season, the owner of the now-defunct Cleveland Indians bought the Canton Bulldogs and "mothballed" it, taking the team's nickname and players to Cleveland for the season. The new team, the Cleveland Bulldogs, won the 1924 NFL title with a 7-1-1 record.

Buffalo All-Americans change their name to Buffalo Bisons
 

Teams that join the NFL for the 1924 season: 

Cleveland Bulldogs
Frankford Yellow Jackets
Kansas City Blues
Kenosha Maroons (play 1924 season only)

Teams that fold between the 1924 and 1925 seasons: 

Louisville Brecks
Oorang Indians
St. Louis All Stars
Toledo Maroons
Cleveland Indians
Kenosha Maroons
Minneapolis Marines
Columbus Tigers

1925

The 1925 NFL season was the 6th regular season of the National Football League.

Five new franchises were admitted to the NFL

1. The New York Giants,

who were awarded to Tim Mara and Billy Gibson for $500 on August 1;

2. The Detroit Panthers, featuring Jimmy Conzelman as owner, coach, and tailback;
3. the Providence Steam Roller;
4. a new Canton Bulldogs team (which the NFL considers this 1925-1926 Canton Bulldogs to be the same team as the 1920-1923 team.);

5. and the Pottsville Maroons, who had been perhaps the most successful independent pro team.

The NFL established its first player limit, at 16 players.

Strategically, the early NFL game was hardly distinguishable from college football of the time. There was no attempt to break away from college playbooks or rulebooks, and for several years the NFL followed the NCAA Rules Committee recommendations. In the league’s early years, players considered the low-paying NFL a part-time job and held other jobs during the day. Thus, while college coaches could drill their players daily for hours, professional football coaches arranged practices in the evenings, sometimes only three or four times a week.

Late in the season, the NFL made its greatest coup in gaining national recognition. Shortly after the University of Illinois season ended in November, The legendary All-America halfback Harold (Red) Grange made his professional debut and signed a contract to play with the Chicago Bears. On Thanksgiving Day, a crowd of 36,000-the largest in pro football history-watched Grange and the Bears play the cross-town rival Chicago Cardinals

 to a scoreless tie at Wrigley Field.
Thereafter, professional football attracted larger numbers of first-rate college players, and the increased patronage made the league economically viable.

At the beginning of December, the Bears left on a barnstorming tour that saw them play eight games in 12 days, in St. Louis, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Chicago. A crowd of 73,000 watched the game against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, helping assure the future of the troubled NFL franchise in New York. The Bears then played nine more games in the South and West, including a game in Los Angeles, in which 75,000 fans watched them defeat the Los Angeles Tigers in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

March 14 - Walter Camp died

1925 NFL Championship controversy

Controversy surrounds who actually won the 1925 NFL Championship.
 Officially, the Chicago Cardinals are listed as the 1925 NFL champions because they finished with the best record. But many Pottsville fans claim that the Maroons are really the champions. The Maroons and the Cardinals were the top contenders for the title, with Pottsville winning a late-season meeting between them, 21-7. But the Maroons scheduled a game against a team of University of Notre Dame All-Stars in Philadelphia (and winning 9-7) on the same day that the Frankford Yellow Jackets were scheduled to play a game in the same city. Frankford protested, saying that it was violating their protected territory rights.

Although NFL president Joe Carr warned the Maroons in writing that they faced suspension if they played in Philadelphia, the Maroons claim that Carr approved the game during a telephone call, and played anyway. In response, Carr fined the club, suspended it from all league rights and privileges (including the right to play for the NFL championship), and re-turned its franchise to the league.

*In 2003 the NFL decided to again examine the case regarding the 1925 championship. But in October the NFL voted 30-2 not to reopen the case. Thus the Cardinals are still listed as the 1925 NFL champions.

The Kansas City Blues change their name to the Kansas City Cowboys

The Canton Bulldogs re-enter the NFL after an inactive 1924 season

Racine Legion is inactive for 1925 season

Teams that join the NFL for the 1925 season: 

New York Giants
Providence Steam Roller
Pottsville Maroons
Detroit Panthers 
a new Canton Bulldogs

Teams that fold between the 1925 and 1926 seasons: 

 Kenosha Maroons
Minneapolis Marines
Cleveland Bulldogs
Rochester Jeffersons
and with Racine Legion mothballing.

The Rock Island Independents leave the NFL for the rival AFL at end of the season.

1926

The 1926 NFL season was the 7th regular season of the National Football League

The First AFL

Grange's manager, C.C. Pyle, told the Bears that Grange wouldn't play for them unless he was paid a five-figure salary and given one-third ownership of the team. The Bears refused. Pyle leased Yankee Stadium in New York City, then petitioned for an NFL franchise. After he was refused, he started the first American Football League. It lasted one season and included Grange's New York Yankees and eight other teams. The AFL champion Philadelphia Quakers

 played a December game against the New York Giants, seventh in the NFL, and the Giants won 31-0. At the end of the season, the AFL folded.

Halas pushed through a rule that prohibited any team from signing a player whose college class had not graduated.

The NFL grew to 22 teams, including the Duluth Eskimos, who signed All-America fullback Ernie Nevers of Stanford, giving the league a gate attraction to rival Grange. The 15-member Eskimos, dubbed the Iron Men of the North, played 29 exhibition and league games, 28 on the road, and Nevers played in all but 29 minutes of them.

Frankford edged the Bears for the championship, despite Halas having obtained John (Paddy) Driscoll from the Cardinals. On December 4, the Yellow Jackets scored in the final two minutes to defeat the Bears 7-6 and move ahead of them in the standings.

The Buffalo Bisons change their name to the Buffalo Rangers

Teams that join the NFL for the 1926 season: 

Hartford Blues
Los Angeles Buccaneers
Brooklyn Lions
The  Brooklyn Lions was formed as the NFL countermove to the original American Football League, which also planned to field a team in Brooklyn called the Brooklyn Horsemen.
In the months before the regular season began, both leagues battled with each other for fan support and the right to play at Ebbets Field. The NFL emerged as the winner, as the Lions signed the lease to use the stadium on July 20.
Neither the Lions or the Horseman had much success. In fact, both teams merged just after four games into the regular season.
The team finished the NFL season as the Brooklyn Lions.
But both the Lions and the Horsemen folded following the season.

The Akron Pros change their name to the Akron Indians,
which had been an earlier Akron semi-pro team.
The Racine Tornadoes (formerly the Racine Legion) re-enter the NFL.
The Duluth Kelleys become the Duluth Eskimos
The Louisville Colonels (formerly the Louisville Brecks) re-enter the NFL as a road team out of Chicago.

Teams that fold between the 1926 and 1927 seasons: 

Kansas City Cowboys
Los Angeles Buccaneers
Buffalo Rangers
Detroit Panthers
Hartford Blues
Brooklyn Lions
Milwaukee Badgers
Akron Indians
(formerly the Akron Pros / Akron Burkhardts)
Racine Tornadoes
Columbus Tigers
Canton Bulldogs
Hammond Pros
Louisville Colonels

1927

The 1927 NFL season was the 8th regular season of the National Football League

At a special meeting in Cleveland, April 23, Carr decided to secure the NFL's future by eliminating the financially weaker teams and consolidating the quality players onto a limited number of more successful teams. The new-look NFL dropped to 12 teams, and the center of gravity of the league left the Midwest, where the NFL had started, and began to emerge in the large cities of the East. One of the new teams was Grange's New York Yankees, but Grange suffered a knee injury and the Yankees finished in the middle of the pack.

The New York Giants  won their first NFL Championship with an 11-1-1 record
The cross-town rival New York Giants posted 10 shutouts in 13 games.

Teams that join the NFL for the 1927 season: 

Cleveland Bulldogs (play only the 1927 season)
New York Yankees were added from the American Football League
and Buffalo Rangers returned to the Buffalo Bisons name.

Teams that fold between the 1927 and 1928 seasons: 

Buffalo Bison
Cleveland Bulldogs
Duluth Eskimos
Akron Indians
(formerly the Akron Pros / Akron Burkhardts)
Kansas City Cowboys
Los Angeles Buccaneers
Detroit Panthers
Hartford Blues
Brooklyn Lions
Canton Bulldogs
Milwaukee Badgers
Racine Tornadoes
Columbus Tigers
Hammond Pros
and Louisville Colonels.

1928

The 1928 NFL season was the 9th regular season of the National Football League.

 Grange and Nevers both retired from pro football, and Duluth disbanded, as the NFL was reduced to only 10 teams.
Experiencing financial problems, the Buffalo Rangers did not participate in league play.

The Providence Steam Roller of Jimmy Conzelman and Pearce Johnson won the championship, playing in the Cycledrome, a 10,000-seat oval that had been built for bicycle races.

Providence Steam Roller - the team, which played in a stadium made primarily for bike racing, hold the distinction of being the last team to win an NFL title (1928) that is no longer part of the league.


The Detroit Wolverines are granted an NFL franchise but play only the 1928 season
(the Wolverines have the best lifetime winning percentage (.778) of any franchise in NFL history)

The New York Yankees fold at end of the season

1929

The 1929 NFL season was the 10th regular season of the National Football League. The league increased back to 12 teams.

 July 27 - Chris O'Brien sold the Chicago Cardinals to David Jones.

July 28 - The NFL added a fourth official, the field judge

November 28 - Chicago Cardinals running back Ernie Nevers scores an NFL record 40 points. He rushes for an NFL record six touchdowns and adds four extra points to tally all of the Cardinals' points in their 40-6 victory over the Chicago Bears.

Grange and Nevers returned to the NFL. Nevers scored six rushing touchdowns and four extra points as the Cardinals beat Grange's Bears 40-6, November 28. The 40 points set a record that remains the NFL's oldest.

First NFL Night Game

According to NFL.com 
November 3 - Providence became the first NFL team to host a game at night under floodlights, against the Cardinals

The Chicago Cardinals defeated the Providence Steam Roller, 16-0.

The Steam Roller’s game under floodlights was actually the second game of a four-games-in-six-days fiasco. Providence had originally scheduled to play the Chicago Cardinals on Sunday, November 3, 1929, but heavy rains made the Cyclodrome field unplayable. Since neither team wanted to lose a payday, the historic night game was hastily scheduled for November 6 at nearby Kinsley Park Stadium, where floodlights recently had been installed.

Although the Steam Roller lost 16-0, the game was declared a  success because 6,000 fans attended. The local newspaper reported that the ball, which had been painted white for the night game, "had the appearance of a large egg," and whenever either team passed, "there was a panicky feeling that the player who made the catch would be splattered with yellow yolk." The floodlights, the newspaper concluded were "just as good as daylight for the players.” The next year, floodlights were permanently installed in the Cyclodrome.

 November 3 or November 6
or
September 24th, 1930
CAN ANYBODY VERIFY THIS DATE?

 
The Greenbay Packers added back Johnny "Blood" McNally, tackle Cal Hubbard, and guard Mike Michalske, and won their first NFL championship, edging the New York Giants, who featured quarterback Benny Friedman.

Teams that join the NFL for the 1929 season:

Buffalo Bisons (play 1929 season only)
Minneapolis Red Jackets
Staten Island Stapletons
Orange Tornadoes
Boston Bulldogs (play only 1929 season -
- the Bulldogs were in reality the Pottsville Maroons relocated, inactive for the 1928 season)

Teams that fold between the 1929 and 1930 seasons:

Dayton Triangles
Buffalo Bisons
Boston Bulldogs

1930

The 1930 NFL season was the 11th regular season of the National Football League.

Prior to the season, Brooklyn businessmen William B. Dwyer and John C. Depler bought the Dayton Triangles,
moved it, and renamed it the Brooklyn Dodgers. 
The Orange Tornadoes relocated to Newark and Buffalo Bisons and Boston Bulldogs dropped out. Portsmouth Spartans were a new team

 
Opposed to NFL.com - It is claimed in other records that on
September 24 - Portsmouth Spatans  beat the Brooklyn Dodgers at home in the first NFL night game played in front of portable lights University Stadium.

Was It
November 3, 1929 or November 6, 1929
or
September 24th, 1930
CAN ANYBODY VERIFY THIS DATE?

The Packers edged the New York Giants for the title as the Green Bay Packers were named the NFL champions for the second straight year after finishing the season with the best record.

But the most improved team was the Bears. Halas retired as a player and replaced himself as coach of the Bears with Ralph Jones, who refined the T-formation by introducing wide ends and a halfback in motion. Jones also introduced rookie All-America fullback-tackle Bronko Nagurski.
George Halas coached the Bears at four different times
(1920-1929  -  1933-1942  -  1946-1955  -  1958-1967)

The Giants defeated a team of former Notre Dame players coached by Knute Rockne 22-0 before 55,000 at the Polo Grounds, December 14. The proceeds went to the New York Unemployment Fund to help those suffering because of the Great Depression, and the easy victory helped give the NFL credibility with the press and the public.

Teams that join the NFL for the 1930 season:

The Dayton Triangles, the last of the NFL's original franchises, was purchased by William B. Dwyer and John C. Depler prior to the season, moved it to Brooklyn, and renamed it the Brooklyn Dodgers.
This franchise is not related to the Brooklyn Dodgers franchise that played in the All-America Football Conference from 1946 to 1948.
Another NFL team that played in Brooklyn was the Brooklyn Lions in 1926.

Teams that fold between the 1930 and 1931 seasons: 

Minneapolis Red Jackets
Newark Tornadoes

In the 1930s, cheerleaders began performing pom-pom routines and using paper poms,
still the most widely recognized cheerleading prop. 

1931

The 1931 NFL season was the 12th regular season of the National Football League.

The NFL decreased to 10 teams due to financial hardships caused by the Great Depression. Even the Frankford Yellow Jackets had to fold midway through the season.

 Carr fined the Bears, Packers, and Portsmouth $1,000 each for using players whose college classes had not graduated.

The Greenbay Packers were named the NFL champions for the third consecutive time after finishing the season with the best record beating out the Spartans, who were led by rookie backs Earl (Dutch) Clark and Glenn Presnell.

The Cleveland Indians join the NFL (play 1931 season only)

The Frankford Yellow Jackets disband during 1932 season 

Teams that fold between the 1931 and 1932 seasons: 

Minneapolis Red Jackets 
Newark Tornadoes
Cleveland Indians
Providence Steam Roller
Frankford Yellow Jackets

1932

The 1932 NFL season was the 13th regular season of the National Football League.

July 9 - George Preston Marshall, Vincent Bendix, Jay O'Brien, and M. Dorland Doyle were awarded a franchise for Boston. Despite the presence of two rookies-halfback Cliff Battles and tackle Glen (Turk) Edwards-the new team, named the Boston Braves, lost money and Marshall was left as the sole owner at the end of the year.

With the loss of 
Providence Steam Rollers,
 Cleveland Indians
 and Frankford Yellow Jackets, 
league membership dropped to eight teams, the lowest in NFL history.

Official statistics were kept for the first time.

The First Playoff Game

December 18, 1932

From the start of the National Football League in 1920, every league championship was determined based on the regular season standings. Then in 1932, the Portsmouth Spartans and the Chicago Bears finished the season in the first-ever tie for first place - so, for the first time in NFL history, a one-game playoff was staged to determine the 1932 championship.

However, a blizzard with deep snow and sub-zero wind chill, blew into Chicago and made it impossible to play the game at Wrigley Field. So, the game was moved indoors at Chicago Stadium and played on a modified field only 60 yards long and 30 feet narrower. The end zones were not regulation size and the sidelines butted up against the stands.

The Bears proceeded to shutout the Spartans, 9-0. The lone touchdown of the game was a disputed pass play from Bronko Nagurski to Red Grange. Rules at the time stipulated that a forward pass had to be thrown from at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Spartans contested that Nagurski did not drop back five yards before firing the jump pass to Grange. The play stood and the Bears later added a safety to put the final touches on their victory.

The game became an earmark for a new era in pro football. Because of the cramped quarters of the unusual venue, several NFL rules changes were employed for the following season.

As it was, if the ball went out of bounds or a player was tackled near the sideline, the next play began right there snug, against the line. Teams had to use a precious play just to get the ball back toward the center of the field.
In 1933, the rule regarding the use of inbound lines or hashmarks was re-written to require that the ball be spotted on the hashmarks on every play.

Another rule change that season was the movement of the goal posts from the end line to the goal line. On February 25, 1933, the NFL discontinued the use of the Collegiate Rules Book and began to develop its own rules. The most significant change was that the forward pass became legal anywhere behind the scrimmage line.

The Staten Island Stapletons fold between the 1932 and 1933 seasons

1933

The 1933 NFL season was the 14th regular season of the National Football League.

First NFL Rules

February 25  NFL officials adopted rules specifically for the NFL and discontinued the use of collegiate rules.

The NFL, which long had followed the rules of college football, made a number of significant changes from the college game for the first time and began to develop rules serving its needs and the style of play it preferred. The innovations from the 1932 championship game-inbounds line or hashmarks and goal posts on the goal lines-were adopted. Also the forward pass was legalized from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, February 25.

Major rule changes

	The forward pass is legal anywhere behind the line of scrimmage. Previously, the passer had to be at least five yards back from the scrimmage line. This change is referred to as the "Bronko Nagurski Rule" after his controversial touchdown in the 1932 NFL Playoff Game. Hashmarks or inbounds lines are added to the field 10 yards in from each sideline. All plays would start with the ball on or between the hashmarks. To increase the number of field goals and decrease the number of tie games, the goal posts are moved from the end lines at the back of the end zones to the goal lines. It is a touchback when a punt hits the opponent's goal posts before being touched by a player of either team. It is a safety if a ball that is kicked behind the goal line hits the goal posts, and rolls back out of the end zone or is recovered by the kicking team.

 July 8 -, the NFL was divided into two divisions for the first time and the winners of each division were to play a championship game to determine the league champion.

1933 season teams:

Boston Redskins
Green Bay Packers
Brooklyn Dodgers
New York Giants
Chicago Bears
Chicago Cardinals
Portsmouth Spartans

Teams that join the NFL for the 1933 season:

Three new franchises joined the NFL league

Originally named Pirates after the city’s major league baseball team, Owner Art Rooney Sr. changed the team name to Steelers in 1940 to more properly represent the city’s dominant steel industry

Bell and Wray reactivated the franchise under the name "Philadelphia Eagles." However, because of the time gap since the Yellow Jackets' demise in 1931
(and the fact that virtually no players from their 1931 roster played for the 1933 Eagles),
the NFL officially treats the two franchises as separate entities despite the commonality and continuity of their ownership.

and the third franchise to joine the NFL league
which is the now de-funct NFL team

The Staten Island Stapletons suspended operations for a year, but never returned to the league.

Halas bought out Sternaman, became sole owner of the Bears, and reinstated himself as head coach.
George Halas coached the Bears at four different times
(1920-1929  -  1933-1942  -  1946-1955  -  1958-1967)
Marshall changed the name of the Boston Braves to the Boston Redskins.

 David Jones sold the Chicago Cardinals to Charles W. Bidwill.
October 8 - Boston Redskins running back Cliff Battles becomes the first player to top 200 yards in a game, rushing for 215 yards in a 21-20 victory over the New York Giants.

 Due to the success of the 1932 NFL Playoff Game, Marshall and Halas pushed through a proposal that divided the NFL into two divisions, for the first time, with the winners of each division playing in a championship game to determine the NFL champion.

October 8 - Harry Newman of The New York Giants ran for 108 yards against the Boston Redskins. The Giants' first 100 yard game

First NFL Championship Game

The season ended when the  the Western Division champion Chicago Bears defeated the Eastern Division champion New York Giants in the first ever NFL Championship Game 23-21 at Wrigley Field, December 17.

1934

The 1934 NFL season was the 15th regular season of the National Football League.

The First NFL Thanksgiving 

Radio Executive, George.A. Richards purchased the Portsmouth Spartans for $8,000; The Spartans were members of the NFL from 1930 to 1933. Detroit gets it's 5th and final (now existing) football franchise when Richards moved them to Detroit, and renamed them the Detroit Lions.

Previous Football Franchise's in Detroit:

	1920 Detroit Heralds 1921 Detroit Tigers 1925 Detroit Panthers 1928 Detroit Wolverines

With the Spartans, not only was Richards bringing a proven, quality team to Detroit, he was also bringing at least one super-star, Earl "Dutch" Clark, one of the most versatile backs ever to play the game. Clark had an outstanding supporting cast in the Detroit backfield with a big, talented line anchored by Frank Christiansen.
September 23 - The Lions play their first NFL game, beating The New York Giants 9-0 at University of Detroit Stadium before 12,000 fans.

When the Monsters of the Midway came into the University of Detroit Stadium to face the Lions on Thanksgiving Day, November 29, 1934, no one had any idea that they were starting a tradition. The game was the brainchild of Lion owner George A. Richards. Being the owner of WJR, Richards had contacts in the booming radio industry. He used those contacts to garner the help of NBC Radio president Deke Aylesworth in setting up a 94 station network to broadcast the Lion / Bear tussle live coast-to-coast becoming the first NFL game broadcast nationally, with Graham McNamee the announcer for NBC radio.
 Richards felt that the game would give pro football excellent exposure, and Papa Bear George Halas agreed. Therefore, the game was on, and both squads proved more than ready to spoil the other teams Thanksgiving dinner.
The Lions first ever sellout crowd of 26,000 witnessed one of the great games in Lion history on that landmark day. Detroit got the early lead in the first quarter on a two yard Ace Gutowsky TD run that was set up by a Buster Mitchell 27 yard interception return. Dutch Clark provided the PAT. The Bears answered back to tie the game in the second stanza with a 14 yard TD.
The Bears cut the Lion lead to 16-13 in the third quarter when Jack Manders kicked field goals of 15 and 42 yards. The game remained there until late in the final period, when a Glenn Presnell pass was intercepted by Joe Zeller, who brought it back to the Detroit 4-yard line. Two plays later, the Bears scored on a play that was all too familiar to the Lions, a two-yard Nagurski flea flicker. The pass went to future Bear Hall of Famer, Bill Hewitt.
A desperate, Clark led, final drive fell short, and the Bears prevailed 19-16.
In describing the loss, Leo Macdonell of the Detroit Times wrote, "It was a heartbreak for the Lions and their followers, and with a heavy heart they feast over the crumbs of a game that put the Detroit team out of the running for the championship honors."
Times sports editor Bud Shaver added that, "Many Thanksgiving Days will roll into eternity before 26,000 Detroiters will forget that one in which the Chicago Bears knocked the Detroit Lions out of a chance for the National Football League Championship at U-D Stadium."
In addition, the Lions' first Thanksgiving Day proved to be such a success, both on the field and at the box office that it became an annual event. Nearly seventy-years later, it has become as big a part of America's Thanksgiving as the turkey and pumpkin pie.

Rookie Beattie Feathers of the Bears became the NFL's first 1,000-yard rusher, gaining 1,004 on 101 carries.

Professional football gained new prestige when the Bears were matched against the best college football players in the first Chicago College All-Star Game, August 31. The game ended in a scoreless tie before 79,432 at Soldier Field.

The Cincinnati Reds franchises that joined the NFL league in the 1933 season and played the first 8 games of the 1934 season was suspended for not paying league dues.
The St. Louis Gunners,

 an independent team, joined the NFL by buying the Cincinnati Reds franchise and went 1-2 the last three weeks and folding after 1934 season.

October 7 - Detroit Lions Glenn Presnell kicked a 54-yard field goal, an NFL record at the time.
The record stood for 19 years UNTIL September 27 1953 by Baltimore's Bert Rechichar who boots a record 56-yard field goal against Chicago. The record would stand for 17 years until Tom Dempsey nailed a 63-yarder on Nov. 8 1970.

The season ended with The 1934 National Football League Championship Game, also known as The Sneakers Game, was played at the Polo Grounds in New York City on December 9, 1934.
The final score was
New York Giants 30,
Chicago Bears 13.

A freezing rain the night before the game froze the Polo Grounds's field, much like the Ice Bowl years later. After a remark made by one of the players, an equipment man was sent to Manhattan College to borrow sneakers for the team to have better footing.

The New York Giants started the game wearing their regular cleats, but trailed 10-3 midway though the third quarter. So it was decided to switch out of the cleats for the sneakers. Then after the Bears increased their lead to 13-3, Giants quarterback Ed Danowski threw a touchdown pass to Ike Frankian to make the score 13-10. On the Giants next drive, running back Ken Strong scored on a 42-yard touchdown run. Later an 11-yard run by Strong was turned into another touchdown for the Giants. Finally the Giants closed it out with Danowski's 9-yard touchdown run. The game ended with the Giants ahead: 30-13.

December 10 - The player waiver rule was adopted 

The NFL splits into divisions as follows:

	EASTERN DIVISION  Boston Redskins  Brooklyn Dodgers  New York Giants Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Pirates	WESTERN DIVISION  Chicago Bears Chicago Cardinals  Cincinnati Reds Cincinnati Reds played first 8 games of the 1934 season - The St. Louis Gunners resumed Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Portsmouth Spartans

Major rule changes

1935

The 1935 NFL season was the 16th regular season of the National Football League.

All-America end Don Hutson of Alabama joined the Green Bay Packers.

November 3 - Philadelphia and Boston combine to throw an NFL record 11 interceptions.

The season ended when the Detroit Lions defeated the New York Giants 26-7 at University of Detroit Stadium, Detroit, Michigan, December 15 in the 1935 NFL Championship Game.

Major rule changes

The inbounds lines or hashmarks were moved closer to the center of the field, 15 yards from the sidelines.

May 19 - The NFL adopted Bert Bell's proposal to hold an annual draft of college players, to begin in 1936, with teams selecting in an inverse order of finish.

New York City's Downtown Athletic Club awarded the first Heisman Trophy to Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger, who was also the first ever NFL Draft pick in 1936. The trophy was designed by sculptor Frank Eliscu and modeled after NYU player Ed Smith. The trophy recognizes the nation's "most outstanding" college football player and has become one of the most coveted awards in all of American sports

1936

The 1936 NFL season was the 17th regular season of the National Football League.

For the first time since the league was founded, there were no team transactions; neither a club folded nor did a new one join the NFL. This was also the first year in which all league teams played the same number of games.

First NFL Draft Pick

As it stood, players were free to sign with any club. This tended to make the stronger teams even stronger and created much disparity in the NFL.
The previous year on May 19 of 1935, the league owners adopted a plan for a college player draft. Proposed by Bert Bell, the Eagles owner and future NFL commissioner.
The idea called for a draft whereby the weaker teams would have the first choice at top college prospects. The teams would draft in reverse order of their finish with the league champions from the previous season picking last.
 The draft had nine rounds.
 The Eagles made University of Chicago halfback and Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger the first player ever selected in the NFL draft, February 8. The Eagles traded his rights to the Bears, but Berwanger never played pro NFL football.
Legendary college coach Paul “Bear” Bryant was the fourth-round pick of the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1936. He, too, never played pro ball.
 The first player selected to actually sign was the number-two pick, Riley Smith of Alabama, who was selected by Boston.
Since that time, there has been a college draft held every year resulting in a competitively balanced league.

The popularity of the professional game slowly began to equal its college rival after the NFL instituted its first player draft.

 As many talented college players opted to play in the NFL, the professional game also drew more fans.
The Chicago Bears, the Chicago Cardinals, the Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers, and the New York Giants were some of the league’s dominant teams during the period.
 Outstanding players included

	running back Cliff Battles,   running back Tony Canadeo, quarterback Sammy Baugh, and  receiver Don Hutson.

  The Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II (1939-1945), however, drained many of the early professional franchises of money and players.

The Second AFL 

A rival league was formed, and it became the second to call itself the American Football League.
The Boston Shamrocks were its champions. 

The NFL season ended December 13 when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Boston Redskins 21-6 in the 1936 NFL Championship Game. For the only time in NFL history, the team with the home field advantage declined to play at their own stadium in Boston and instead elected to play at a neutral site. The decision was due to poor attendance, the Redskins moved the game from Boston to the Polo Grounds in New York City.

Major rule changes

The penalty for an illegal forward pass that is thrown beyond the line of scrimmage is five yards from the spot of the foul.

1937

The 1937 NFL season was the 18th regular season of the National Football League.

The 1937 draft was increased to 10 rounds.

The Cleveland Rams joined the league as an expansion team. Meanwhile, the Redskins relocated from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, D.C. - therefore becomming The Washington Redskins

The NFL season ended when the Redskins signed TCU All-America tailback Sammy Baugh, who led them to a 28-21 victory over the Bears in the 1937 NFL Championship Game at Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois, December 12.

The Los Angeles Bulldogs had an 8-0 record to win the AFL title, but then the 2-year-old league folded.

Major rule changes

A team known as the Cincinnati Bengals, the closest link to today's modern-era team, was formed as a member of the rival American Football League. It was that team's nickname which was later adopted by today's NFL franchise.

The 1937 Bengals finished with a 2-4-2 record in their first year, but the AFL folded after the season.

1938

The 1938 NFL season was the 19th regular season of the National Football League.

A twist is added to the draft procedure with only the five teams that finished lowest in the previous season were permitted to make selections in the second and fourth rounds.

Rookie Byron (Whizzer) White of the Pittsburgh Pirates led the NFL in rushing.

Marshall, Los Angeles Times sports editor Bill Henry, and promoter Tom Gallery established the Pro Bowl game between the NFL champion and a team of pro all-stars.

The NFL season ended when the New York Giants defeated the Green Bay Packers in the 1938 NFL Championship Game at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 11.

The first
NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Center, Mel Hein of the New York Giants

Major rule changes

At the suggestion of Halas, Hugh (Shorty) Ray became a technical advisor on rules and officiating to the NFL.

The Cincinnati Bengals continued as an independent team after the 2nd attempt of a rival league (AFL) folded. The Bengals played three NFL teams in 1938. They beat the Chicago Bears, 17-13, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, 38-0, and tied the Chicago Cardinals, 7-7.

1939

The 1939 NFL season was the 20th regular season of the National Football League.

The draft was expanded to 20 rounds.
Adding a twist to the procedure with only the five teams that finished lowest in the previous season were permitted to make selections in the second and fourth rounds.

Before the season, NFL president since 1921 - Joseph Carr died in Columbus, May 20. Carl Storck was named acting president, May 25.

The First Televised Game 

October 22 = NBC televises a pro football game for the first time, featuring the Philadelphia Eagles and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

A meager crowd of 13,050 were on hand at Brooklyn’s Ebbets Field on that now-historic day when the Philadelphia Eagles fell to Brooklyn’s Dodgers 23-14.

Five hundred-or-so fortunate New Yorkers who owned television sets witnessed the game in the comfort of their own homes, over NBC’s experimental station W2XBS.

While few people owned television sets in 1939. Many watch the telecast on monitors while visiting the RCA Pavilion at the World’s Fair in New York where it was scheduled as a special event.

"It was a cloudy day, when the sun crept behind the stadium there wasn’t enough light for the cameras," according to Allen (Skip) Walz, the NBC play-by-play announcer. "The picture would get darker and darker, and eventually it would go completely blank, and we’d revert to a radio broadcast."
 Such an occurrence would create a furor today,
but in 1939 it was simply technology at its best.

The season ended when the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 27-0 in the 1939 NFL Championship Game, at State Fair Park, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, December 10. NFL attendance exceeded 1 million in a season for the first time, reaching 1,071,200.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Halfback, Parker Hall of the Cleveland Rams

FIRST NFL PRO BOWL

 
The New York Giants defeated the Pro All-Stars 13-10 in the first Pro Bowl, at Wrigley Field, Los Angeles, January 15.

Major rule changes

1940

The 1940 NFL season was the 21st regular season of the National Football League.

The Third AFL

A six-team rival league, the third to call itself the American Football League, was formed,
and the Columbus Bullies won its championship. 

Once again the Cincinnatti Bengals joined an AFL league. They recorded 1-7-0 and 1-5-2 marks in 1940 and 1941, respectively. That AFL suffered the fate of the two AFLs before it, folding after the 1941 season as the United States entered World World II. Only this time, the Bengals folded along with it.
UNTIL 1967

T-formation with a man-in-motion. It was the first championship carried on network radio, broadcast by Red Barber to 120 stations of the Mutual Broadcasting System, which paid $2,500 for the rights.

Art Rooney sold the Pittsburgh Pirates - to be named the Pittsburgh Steelers - to Alexis Thompson, December 9, then bought part interest in the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Pittsburgh Pirates along with the Philadelphia Eagles and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds football team joined the NFL as 1933 expansion teams, after Art Rooney, Sr. paid a $2,500 fee.

Chicago Bears, End, Dick Plasman was the last player to appear in a game without a helmet.

The season ended December 8 when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins in the 1940 NFL Championship Game, 73-0 as Chicago wins the title before 36,034 in Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.
This game currently stands as the most onesided victory in NFL history.

Sparked by a comment made by Redskins owner George Preston Marshall, who had said three weeks earlier that the Bears were crybabies and quitters when the going got tough, Chicago crushed Washington, 73-0.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Halfback, Ace Parker of the Brooklyn Dodgers

Major rule changes

In the early 1940's, when men went to war, women not only went to work, but also on to the cheerleading squads. Cheerleading then became more of a female sport. When the men returned from war, new twists and turns were added. Gymnastics were always done by men, while the girls danced which gave rise to dance teams.

1941

The 1941 NFL season was the 22nd regular season of the National Football League.

Before the season, Elmer Layden was named the first Commissioner of the NFL, March 1; Storck, the acting president, resigned, April 5. NFL headquarters were moved to Chicago.

Bell and Rooney traded the Eagles to Thompson for the Pittsburgh Pirates, then re-named their new team the Pittsburgh Steelers. Homer Marshman sold the Rams to Daniel F. Reeves and Fred Levy, Jr.

THE NFL ON PEARL HARBOR DAY

Three scheduled NFL games were under way when the Japanese first attacked Pearl Harbor at 12:55 p.m. ET on Sunday, December 7, 1941.
The public address announcer at New York's Polo Grounds, where fans were celebrating "Tuffy Leemans' Day" in honor of their star running back, interrupted his commentary to tell all servicemen to report to their units.
The same was done at Chicago's Comiskey Park. At Washington's Griffith Stadium, the announcer paged high-ranking government and military personnel who were in attendance, but did not mention the attack. Reporters were told to check with their offices.

NFL Games Played on December 7, 1941
Home teams in Capital Letters 

 Chicago Bears 34, CHICAGO CARDINALS 24
 Brooklyn Dodgers 21, NEW YORK GIANTS 7
 WASHINGTON REDSKINS 20, Philadelphia Eagles 14

On Monday, December 8, America officially entered World War II.

First NFL Divisional Playoff Game

The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers finished the regular season tied in the NFL Western Division on December 14, setting up the first divisional playoff game in league history. The Bears won 33-14.

The Chicago Bears then went on to defeat the New York Giants, 37-9, in the NFL 1941 Championship Game, December 21.(two weeks after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor)

Columbus again won the championship of the AFL, but the two-year-old league then folded.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Wide receiver, Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers

The league by-laws were revised to provide for playoffs in case there were ties in division races, and sudden-death overtimes in case a playoff game was tied after four quarters. An official NFL Record Manual was published for the first time.

Major rule changes

1942

The 1942 NFL season was the 23th regular season of the National Football League.

Before the season, many players left for service in World War II, thus depleting the rosters of all the teams. Halas left the Bears in midseason to join the Navy, and Luke Johnsos and Heartley (Hunk) Anderson served as co-coaches as the Bears went 11-0 in the regular season.

World War II obviously had a dramatic effect on the entire nation. It forced an immediate change in what was a peaceful way of life, including the concept of sports and how they would be presented and played. The NFL, in a March 24, 1942 news release, attempted to explain its plan and role during the national crisis.

The release stated that until federal authorities decided greater benefits would accrue from some other policy, professional football's wartime effort would center about normal operations with an emphasis on participation in civilian emergency activities.

Commissioner Elmer Layden offered the following statement:

 "From Aristotle's time on down we have been told, and it has been demonstrated, that sports is necessary for the relaxation of the people in times of stress and worry. The National league will strive to help meet this need with the men the government has not yet called for combat service, either because of dependents, disabilities, or the luck of the draw in the Army draft."

Just as America’s general population rallied behind the United States’ World War II effort, so too did the National Football League.

Hundreds of players joined the effort through enlistment, as the NFL organizationally looked for additional ways to make a difference. One such endeavor was the selling of War Bonds, an activity that generated $4,000,000 worth of sales for the effort in 1942 alone.

The NFL also donated the revenues from 15 exhibition games to service charities. The games produced a total purse of $680,384.07. It was reported to be the largest amount raised by a single athletic organization.

After 10 years, The Pittsburgh Steelers posted their first winning record, 7-4 under head coach Walt Kiesling.

First Undefeated NFL Team

The Chicago Bears sailed through the 1942 NFL schedule undefeated and untied. The reigning NFL champs, the Bears, were favorites to win their third consecutive title when they met the Washington Redskins in the 1942 Championship game.

The Official NFL website (found at http://www.nfl.com/) claims The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the ONLY undefeated team in NFL history. Yet in their chronicles they claim the NFL was established in 1920, then why do they fail to mention any of the following teams going undefeated? 1920 Akron is the only undefeated team in the Association. 1922 The Canton Bulldogs were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record. 1923 Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title. 1942 The Bears finish the season 11-0 1948 The Cleveland Browns won their third straight championship in the AAFC, going 15-0 makes them the first team to experience a perfect season

 The season ended when the Washington Redskins defeated the Chicago Bears 14-6 in the 1942 NFL Championship Game, December 13 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C.

 The Redskin victory had an extra measure of satisfaction, since it was the same Bears team that two years earlier humiliated Washington 73-0 in the 1940 title game.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
for the second time in a row is awarded to Wide receiver, Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers

Major rule changes

1943

The 1943 NFL season was the 24th regular season of the National Football League.

 As more players left to serve in World War II, three teams were affected by the depleted rosters.

The Cleveland Rams, with co-owners Reeves and Levy in the service, were granted permission to suspend operations for one season, April 6. Levy transferred his stock in the team to Reeves, April 16.

Philadelphia and Pittsburgh were granted permission to merge for one season, June 19. The team, known as Phil-Pitt (and called the Steagles by fans), divided home games between the two cities, and Earle (Greasy) Neale of Philadelphia and Walt Kiesling of Pittsburgh served as co-coaches. The merger automatically dissolved the last day of the season, December 5.

Ted Collins was granted a franchise for Boston, to become active in 1944.

October 24 - the Green Bay Packers became the first team in National Football League history to intercept nine passes in a single game.  The feat came in their 27-6 victory over the Detroit Lions..

1943
PLAYOFFS

Sammy Baugh led the league in passing, punting, and interceptions. He led the Redskins to a tie with the Giants for the Eastern Division title, and then to a 28-0 victory in a divisional playoff game.

The season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 41-21 in the 1944 NFL Championship Game, December 26.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Quarterback, Sid Luckman of the Chicago Bears

Major rule changes

This feature of the game led to the modern two-platoon system, in which one group of 11 players enters the game to play offense and a second group enters to play defense.

1944

The 1944 NFL season was the 25th regular season of the National Football League.

Collins, who had wanted a franchise in Yankee Stadium in New York,named his new team in Boston the Boston Yanks,

joining the league as an expansion team and added to the Eastern Division.
 Team owner Ted Collins picked the name "Yanks" because he originally wanted to run a team that played at New York City's Yankee Stadium. Unfortunately, the Yanks could only manage a 2-8 record during its first regular season.

 The Brooklyn Dodgers changed their name to Brooklyn Tigers.

Both the Cleveland Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles resumed their traditional operations.

The Chicago Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers were granted permission to merge for one year under the name Card-Pitt, April 21. The combined team played half of their home games in each city.Phil Handler of the Cardinals and Walt Kiesling of the Steelers served as co-coaches. The merger automatically dissolved the last day of the season, December 3.

The NFL season ended when the Green Bay Packers defeated the New York Giants 14-7 at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 17 in the 1944 NFL Championship Game.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Halfback, Frank Sinkwich of the  Detroit Lions

The All-America Football Conference (AAFC)

The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was an 8 team professional American football league that challenged the rival National Football League from 1946 to 1949.
 The league was created in June 1944 and began play in 1946.

Looking for name recognition and establish credibility, the AAFC chose popular former University of Notre Dame standout Jim Crowley as its first commissioner on November 21, 1944.

June 4th two days prior to D-Day, a group described by the A.P. as "men of millionaire incomes" met in St. Louis to organize a new professional football league. They had been called together by Arch Ward, the innovative sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and organizer of the college and baseball All-Star games.

 The initial meeting, attended by representatives of Buffalo, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Cleveland (for whom Ward carried a proxy) led to a second organizational meeting on September 3, 1944 in Chicago.

	John Keeshin, a trucking executive, represented Chicago;   oilmen James Breuil and Ray Ryan were from Buffalo and New York respectively; boxer Gene Tunney sought a team for Baltimore; actor Don Ameche wanted one for L.A.; Tony Morabito, a lumber executive, was from San Francisco,; Arthur McBride, a Cleveland taxi man, came from that city.

Also present was Mrs. Eleanor Gehrig, widow of the baseball Hall of Famer, who later became a league executive.
It was reported that Detroit, Philadelphia and Boston were also interested in the new league.

Major rule changes

1945

The 1945 NFL season was the 26th regular season of the National Football League.

After the Japanese surrendered ending World War II, a count showed that the NFL service roster, limited to men who had played in league games, totaled 638, 21 of whom had died in action.

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals resumed their traditional operations.

The Brooklyn Tigers and the Boston Yanks then merged for this one season. The combined team, known simply as The Yanks, played half of their home games in each city. The team was coached by former Boston head coach Herb Kopf.
After Brooklyn Tigers owner Dan Topping announced his intentions to withdrew from the NFL and join the new All-America Football Conference In December, his NFL team was immediately revoked after the season and all of its players on its active and reserve lists were assigned to the Yanks, who once again became the Boston Yanks.
This concludes using "Tigers" as the name of any football teams, after 6 have employed the name in the past.

	1903 Massillon Tigers 1920 Cleveland Tigers 1920 Chicago Tigers 1923 Columbus Tigers 1925 Los Angeles Tigers 1944 Brooklyn Tigers

Halas rejoined the Bears late in the season after service with the U.S. Navy. Although Halas took over much of the coaching duties, Anderson and Johnsos remained the coaches of record throughout the season.

Steve Van Buren of Philadelphia led the NFL in rushing, kickoff returns, and scoring. 

The season ended December 16, 1945, 
Washington Redskins vs. Cleveland Rams, 
1945 NFL Championship Game at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland

The Rams scored a safety when Redskins quarterback Sammy Baugh, throwing the ball from his own end zone, hit the goal posts (which were on the goal line between 1927 and 1973). The two points was the margin of victory as the Rams won 15-14. After the game, the rules were changed so that when a forward pass thrown from one's own end zone hits the goal posts, it is instead ruled incomplete.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to rookie Quarterback, Bob Waterfield of the  Cleveland Rams

Major rule changes

1946

The 1946 NFL season was the 27th regular season of the National Football League.

December 31 - President Truman officially proclaims end of WW-II. 

Before the season, Elmer Layden resigned as NFL Commissioner and Bert Bell, co-founder of the Philadelphia Eagles, replaced him.

The contract of Commissioner Layden was not renewed, and Bert Bell, the co-owner of the Steelers, replaced him, January 11. Bell moved the league headquarters from Chicago to the Philadelphia suburb of Bala- Cynwyd.

The NFL took on a truly national appearance when the Rams became the first NFL team based on the West Coast after Reeves was granted permission by the league to move his NFL champion Rams from Cleveland, Ohio to Los Angeles.
Cleveland Rams became Los Angeles Rams

First African-Americans to play in the NFL

March 21 - Halfback Kenny Washington  and end Woody Strode (May 7) signed with the Los Angeles Rams to become the first African-Americans to play in the NFL in the modern era.

Also at this time Guard  Bill Willis on August 6 and back Marion Motley on August 9 joined the All American Football Conference (AAFC) with the Cleveland Browns.

 
While The Cleveland Browns  were founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference under owner Arthur 'Mickey' McBride. The team was to be named the Cleveland Panthers, but a semi-pro team was using that name and threatened to sue if the AAFC club used it as well.
A contest was held and most of the entries submitted wanted the name Browns, because the extremely popular Paul Brown was the team's head coach.
Brown is considered the "father of the modern offense," and many consider Paul Brown to be the the greatest football coach in history. Such claims are backed by significant evidence: Brown dominated as a gridiron general on every major level - high school, college, and professional.
he became the first coach for Arthur 'Mickey' McBride's new All America Football Conference franchise, the Cleveland Browns.

December 22 - The rival All-America Football Conference began play with eight teams, a rival league which was actually formed in 1944.

The league was absorbed by its competitor (The NFL) in 1950.
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was established as a rival to the NFL. The new league included the:

	Brooklyn Dodgers, 1946-1948  (merged with New York for 1949 season) Buffalo Bisons, 1946; renamed Buffalo Bills, 1947-1949 Chicago Rockets, 1946-1948; renamed Chicago Hornets, 1949 Cleveland Browns, 1946-1949 Los Angeles Dons, 1946-1949 Miami Seahawks, 1946; relocated, becoming Baltimore Colts, 1947-1949 New York Yankees, 1946-1948; merged with Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming Brooklyn/New York Yankees, 1949 San Francisco 49ers, 1946-1949

  The most powerful team in the new league was the Cleveland Browns, coached by football innovator Paul Brown.

Although talented, the quarterbacks of the 1930s and early 1940s seldom completed more than 50 percent of their passes. A major cause of these low percentages was the primitive nature of pass-blocking strategies. With little protection, passers always had to throw while avoiding incoming rushers. Brown installed a blocking system that radically transformed the passing game. He changed the system by arranging the linemen in the form of a cup that pushed most pass-rushers to the outside and provided a safe area, called a pocket, from which the quarterback could pass.
Using the strategy, Brown coached Cleveland to four AAFC championships from 1946 to 1949.

The Browns became a charter member of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946, with Paul Brown as head coach and general manager. Cleveland dominated the AAFC, losing just four regular-season games while winning every championship during the league’s four-year existence. The Browns boasted several future Hall of Fame members, including quarterback Otto Graham, tackle-placekicker Lou Groza, end Dante Lavelli, and halfback Marion Motley.

The Cleveland Browns, coached by Paul Brown, won the AAFC's first championship, defeating the New York Yankees 14-9 at Cleveland Stadium.

Backs Frank Filchock and Merle Hapes of the Giants were questioned about an attempt by a New York man to fix the championship game with the Bears. Bell suspended Hapes but allowed Filchock to play.

The NFL season ended when the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants, 24-14, at Polo Grounds, New York City, December 15 in the1946 NFL Championship Game.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
(The Joe Carr Trophy awarded by the NFL)
is awarded to Halfback, Bill Dudley of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bill Dudley led the NFL in rushing, interceptions, and punt returns.

Major rule changes

January 11

History of the Coin Toss

The coin toss has been a part of professional football since its start in 1892.  While the procedure has been relatively unchanged over the years, the following is a history of change made to the pre-game procedure.

Previously: The referee performed the toss.

Change:  Note was added to the rule that stipulated that the toss was to be made prior to either team leaving field after their pre-game warm up.

1947

The 1947 NFL season was the 28th regular season of the National Football League.

(AAFC) The Cleveland Browns again won the AAFC title, defeating the New York Yankees 14-3.

Charles Bidwill, Sr., owner of the Chicago Cardinals, died April 19, but his wife and sons retained ownership of the team. The cardinals went on to end the season when they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles, 28-21, in the NFL Championship Game on December 28.

(AAFC) The original incarnation of the Baltimore Colts started in the All-America Football Conference in 1946 as the Miami Seahawks. After a 3-11 season, they moved to Baltimore in 1947.

(AAFC) Buffalo Bisons were renamed Buffalo Bills.

Major rule changes

A bonus choice was instituted for the first time in the NFL draft. 
One team each year would receive the first pick before the first round began. This bonus pick, which continued through 1958, was selected by lottery and each team was eligible for the pick only once.
 The Chicago Bears won a lottery and the rights to the first choice and drafted back Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M.
The NFL received competition in the second half of the 1940s when the rival All-America Football Conference also held a college draft. Secrecy became a new element to the annual player draft as clubs from both leagues battled to sign the college stars.

History of the Coin Toss

The coin toss has been a part of professional football since its start in 1892.  While the procedure has been relatively unchanged over the years, the following is a history of change made to the pre-game procedure.

Previously:  Note was added to the rule that stipulated that the toss was to be made prior to either team leaving field after their pre-game warm up.

Change: Coin toss was moved to thirty minutes before the start of the game

1947
PLAYOFFS

 The 1947 National Football League season resulted in a tie for the Eastern Division championship between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers. The division championship game was played on December 21, 1947 at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field. The winner of that game would travel to Chicago to play in the championship game against the Chicago Cardinals on December 28.

1948

The 1948 NFL season was the 29th regular season of the National Football League.

The (AAFC) Cleveland Browns became the first professional football team to complete an entire season undefeated - 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would accomplish the task.

The Official NFL website (found at http://www.nfl.com/) claims The 1972 Miami Dolphins are the ONLY undefeated team in NFL history. Yet in their chronicles they claim the NFL was established in 1920, then why do they fail to mention any of the following teams going undefeated? 1920 Akron is the only undefeated team in the Association. 1922 The Canton Bulldogs were named the 1922 NFL Champions after ending the season with a 10-0-2 record. 1923 Canton had its second consecutive undefeated season, going 11-0-1 for the NFL title. 1942 The Bears finish the season 11-0 1948 The Cleveland Browns won their third straight championship in the AAFC (which merged with The NFL), going 15-0 makes them the first team to experience a perfect season

In 1948 Cleveland was home to three professional teams: The Indians, Browns and Barons. In that year all three teams would win the championship title of their respective leagues. No other city can claim three championship teams in one year.

January 15 - Fred Mandel sold the Detroit Lions to a syndicate headed by D. Lyle Fife.

During the season, Halfback Fred Gehrke painted horns on the Los Angeles Rams' helmets, making the first modern helmet emblem in pro football.

After suffering through three more losing seasons and financial woes, Yanks owner Ted Collins asked the NFL to fold the Boston Yanks for a new franchise in New York City.
This new team would be called the New York Bulldogs.

Pittsburgh Steelers coach Jock Sutherland died suddenly during a scouting trip. Sutherland had led the Steelers to an 8-4 recordand a ashare of the Eastern Division title in 1947.

The season ended when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 during a blizzard at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, December 19 in the 1948 NFL Championship Game.

 Major rule changes

January 14

First Use of a Penalty Flag in the NFL

The penalty flag was first used in the NFL, September 17, in a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Boston Yanks.

1949

The 1949 NFL season was the 30th regular season of the National Football League.

Prior to the season, Boston Yanks owner Ted Collins asked the league to fold his team due to financial woes, and give him a new one in New York City. This new team would be called the New York Bulldogs, sharing the Polo Grounds with the Giants.

 January 15  Alexis Thompson sold the champion Eagles to a syndicate headed by James P. Clark

As the season came to a close, The AAFC played its season with a one-division, saw the number of franchises drop to seven and the number of team's games drop to 12, with many AAFC teams in financial trouble due to escalating player salaries.
The NFL also found its teams in difficulty, and on December 9, Bell announced a merger agreement in which three AAFC franchises;
The

	Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts and The San Francisco 49ers

   would join the NFL in 1950. The remaining AAFC players are spread throughout the NFL via draft.

(AAFC) Brooklyn Dodgers merged with New York for 1949 season

(AAFC) New York Yankees merged with Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming Brooklyn/New York Yankees.

The other AAFC teams ceased to be as the Buffalo Bills were merged with the Browns, the New York Yankees were split among the New York Giants and the New York Bulldogs and the Los Angeles Dons mixed with the L.A. Rams.
The Chicago Rockets were renamed Chicago Hornets -

however the team was not one of the AAFC teams that merged with the National Football League prior to the 1950 season.

George Taliaferro was the first black (African-American) player ever drafted by an NFL team (Chicago Bears - 13th round - 1949), but he was not the first black (African-American) draftee to play in the NFL - that would be Wally Triplett of Penn State but only because George Taliaferro signed, instead, with the Los Angeles Dons of the (AAFC) All-American Football Conference.

First African-American drafted by an NFL club: George Taliaferro, halfback (Indiana). Picked by the Chicago Bears in the thirteenth round of the 1949 draft but elected to sign with the Los Angeles Dons of the AAFC. Played with the Dons 1949; New York Yanks 1950-51; Dallas 1952; Baltimore 1953-54; Philadelphia 1955. He went to the Pro Bowl in 1951, 1952, and 1953.  First African-American draftee to play in the NFL: Wally Triplett, halfback (Penn State). For that reason, his picture hangs in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.  Picked by the Detroit Lions in the nineteenth round of the 1949 draft. Played with Detroit 1949-1950; Chicago Cardinals 1952-53 Triplett holds the Lions' single-game record in kickoff return yardage with 294 (second highest total in NFL history), including a 97-yard touchdown return, against the Los Angeles Rams in 1950; his average of 73.5 yards per return in that game is also an NFL record. He also set the Lions' record for the longest run from scrimmage with an 80-yard touchdown against the Green Bay Packers. First name star from a predominantly African-American college: Paul (Tank) Younger, fullback-linebacker (Grambling). Los Angeles Rams 1949-1957; Pittsburgh 1958

 The final game in the history of the All America Football Conference (1946-1949) is generally regarded as the final championship game that took place on December 11, 1949 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. In that game, the Cleveland Browns would win their fourth consecutive AAFC title. The Browns were the only team to ever win the AAFC championship, having won it four straight years from 1946 through 1949. In that final championship game, the Browns defeated the San Francisco 49ers, 21-7.

One notable difference between the  All-America Football Conference and the American Football League (AFL), a league which also merged (intact) with the NFL two decades later,  was that the records and statistics of AAFC players and teams (most of which folded) are not considered part of the NFL record book. For example, any records and statistics which Joe Namath achieved before the New York Jets merged with the AFL into the NFL are still considered part of official NFL statistics, while Y.A. Tittle's stats as a passer for the Baltimore Colts before the AAFC merged them into the NFL are not considered official NFL statistics.

The NFL had two 1,000-yard rushers in the same season for the first time-Steve Van Buren of Philadelphia and Tony Canadeo of Green Bay.

The NFL season ended when the Philadelphia Eagles defeated the Los Angeles Rams In a heavy rain 14-0 on December 18 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles in the 1949 NFL Championship Game.

Major rule changes

January 20

The free substitution rule (any or all of the players may be replaced by substitutes after any play) was re-adopted for one year. The rule was previously adopted in 1943 in response to the depleted rosters during World War II, but repealed in 1946.

1950

The Golden age of football came in the 1950's, this was a time of change. The teams were gaining more and more fans and they were also making more money. This started to change aspects of the game, aspects like; player's salary, Television coverage and stadium size.

The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League.

Television brought a new era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games - both home and away - televised. The Washington Redskins became the second team to put their games on TV. Other teams arranged to have selected games televised.

February 1.- Curly Lambeau, founder of the franchise and Green Bay's head coach since 1921, resigned under fire

The merger prior to the season with the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) expanded the league to 13 teams.

The merged league briefly flirted with the name "National-American Football League", but restored the name "National Football League" a few months later.

March 3 -  The American and National conferences were created to replace the Eastern and Western divisions

Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers began play

The NFL establishes the following alignment: 

AMERICAN CONFERENCE 

Chicago Cardinals
Cleveland Browns
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Pittsburgh Steelers
Washington Redskins
San Francisco 49ers

NATIONAL CONFERENCE 

(1st) Baltimore Colts began play
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Los Angeles Rams
New York Bulldogs became New York Yanks

The Baltimore Colts folds after 1950 season 

The New York Bulldogs change their name to the New York Yanks and divided the players of the former AAFC Yankees with the Giants. A special allocation draft was held in which the 13 teams drafted the remaining AAFC players, with special consideration for Baltimore, which received 15 choices compared to 10 for other teams.

Three AAFC teams - Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts - joined the NFL intact.
The merger allowed the former 4-time AAFC champion Browns, the 49ers, and the Colts to survive. Without the agreement, those teams along with the entire AAFC would have folded due to financial difficulties.

In the first game of the season, former AAFC champion Cleveland
 defeated
NFL champion Philadelphia 35-10.
For the first time, deadlocks occurred in both conferences and playoffs were necessary. The Browns defeated the Giants in the American and the Rams defeated the Bears in the National.

October 2 - Bob Shaw established an NFL record with five touchdown catches as the Chicago Cardinals defeated the Baltimore Colts 55-13.
The record was tied in 1981 by San Diego Chargers Kellen Winslow
and again in 1990 by San Francisco 49ers, Jerry Rice.

October 29 - Detroit Lion's Wally Trippett established an NFL record with 294 kickoff return yards against Los Angeles.
The record has since been broken by Tyrone Hughes but Trippett's average of 73.5 yards per return still stands.
304 yards by Tyrone Hughes, New Orleans vs. L.A. Rams, Oct. 23, 1994

December 3 - Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Tom Fears celebrates his 27th birthday by making an NFL record 18 receptions for 189 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams' 51-14 victory over Green Bay Packers.

1950
PLAYOFFS
Home team in capitals

American Conference Playoff Game

CLEVELAND 8, N.Y. Giants 3

National Conference Playoff Game

LOS ANGELES 24, Chi. Bears 14

 
Cleveland Browns defeated Los Angeles Rams 30-28 in the 1950 NFL Championship Game, December 24.

Major rule changes

January 20

1951

The 1951 NFL season was the 32nd regular season of the National Football League.

January 14 - The Pro Bowl game which sat dormant since 1942, was revived under a new format matching the all-stars of each conference at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The American Conference defeated the National Conference 28-27

Prior to the season, Baltimore Colts owner Abraham Watner faced financial difficulties, and thus gave his team and its player contracts back to the league for $50,000. Baltimore's former players were made available for drafting at the same time as college players, January 18.
However, many Baltimore fans started to protest the loss of their team. Supporting groups such as its fan club and its marching band remained in operation and worked for the team's revival
(which eventually led to a new Baltimore team in 1953).

The Rams reversed their television policy from 1950 to having all of its games - both home and away - televised to televising ONLY road games after half the normal fan population were showing up for Home Games.

Television was a new technological devise that took the country by storm, in the early 50's 8 million televisions would be sold a year. Radios were a thing of the past; the television revolutionized the sport of football and the country.

For the first time, the NFL Championship Game was televised across the nation, December 23. The DuMont Television Network paid $75,000 to broadcast the game. Viewers coast-to-coast watched the Los Angeles Rams defeat the Cleveland Browns 24-17 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.

September 28 - One of the greatest opening day performances came when Hall of Fame quarterback Norm Van Brocklin of the Los Angeles Rams threw for a record 554 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Rams to a 54-14 victory over the New York Yanks.
The mark still stands as the greatest single passing effort in National Football League history.
Van Brocklin received the start that day when veteran Bob Waterfield, also a member of the Hall, was injured. The two quarterbacks were entrenched in a fierce battle for the starting role.
The "Dutchman," as Van Brocklin was nicknamed, made the most of his opportunity. He completed 27 of 41 passes and tossed five touchdowns - four of which went to fellow Hall of Famer Elroy "Crazylegs" Hirsch - en route to a easy 54-14 win over the New York Yanks.

Major rule changes

January 18

The Pro Bowl game, dormant since 1942, was revived under a new format matching the all-stars of each conference at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The American Conference defeated the National Conference 28-27, January 14.

1952

The 1952 NFL season was the 33rd regular season of the National Football League.

January 19 - New York Yanks became Dallas Texans
 Prior to the season, New York Yanks owner Ted Collins sold his team back to the NFL. A few days later, a new team was then awarded to an ownership group in Dallas, Texas after it purchased the assets of the Yanks, January 24.
However, the new Dallas Texans went 1-11, and was sold back to the league midway through the season.
The Texans’ inaugural game actually began on an optimistic note - they scored first. Just minutes into the game the Texans recovered a punt fumbled by a Giants defensive back. Two plays later the Texans scored. Sequence photos of the scoring pass-play show that the nearest Giants defender was the same defensive back who had set up the drive with his fumble - Tom Landry. The Texans missed the extra point (something they would do six more times during the season) and the Giants went on to win 24-6.
For the team's last five games, the the commissioner's office operated the Texans as a road team, using Hershey, Pennsylvania as a home base. Their final three "home" games were held at the Rubber Bowl in Akron, Ohio. After the season ended, the league folded the Texans, the last time an NFL team failed.

Over the years, football teams have come and gone for one reason or another. Below is a list of defunct franchises along with their years of existence. Akron Pros - Akron Indians 1920-1926 Baltimore Colts 1950-1950  Boston Yanks - Bos/Bkn Yanks/Tigers 1944-1948 Brooklyn Dodgers - Brooklyn Tigers 1930-1944  Brooklyn Lions 1926-1926 3-8-0  Buffalo All-Americans - Buffalo Bisons - Buffalo Rangers 1920-1929 Canton Bulldogs 1920-1926 Chicago Tigers 1920-1920  Cincinnati Celts 1921-1921  Cincinnati Reds 1933-1934  Cleveland Indians - Cleveland Bulldogs 1923-1927 Cleveland Indians 1931-1931  Cleveland Tigers 1920-1921  Columbus Panhandles - Columbus Tigers 1920-1926 Dallas Texans 1952-1952  Dayton Triangles 1920-1929  Detroit Heralds 1920-1920  Detroit Panthers 1925-1926  Detroit Tigers 1921-1921  Detroit Wolverines 1928-1928  Duluth Kelleys - Duluth Eskimos 1923-1927  Evansville Crimson Giants 1921-1922  Frankford Yellow Jackets 1924-1931  Hammond Pros 1920-1926  Hartford Blues 1926-1926  Kansas City Blues - Kansas City Cowboys 1924-1926 Kenosha Maroons 1924-1924  Los Angeles Buccaneers 1926-1926 Louisville Brecks - Louisville Colonels 1921-1926 Milwaukee Badgers 1922-1926  Minneapolis Marines - Minneapolis Red Jackets 1921-1930 Muncie Flyers 1920-1921  New York Giants 1921-1921  New York Yankees 1927-1928  New York Yanks - New York Bulldogs 1949-1951 Oorang Indians 1922-1923  Orange Tornadoes - Newark Tornadoes 1929-1930 Pottsville Maroons - Boston Bulldogs 1925-1929  Providence Steam Roller 1925-1931  Racine Legend - Racine Tornadoes 1922-1926 Rochester Jeffersons 1920-1925  Rock Island Independents 1920-1925  St. Louis All-Stars 1923-1923  St. Louis Gunners 1934-1934  Staten Island Stapletons 1929-1932 Toledo Maroons 1922-1923  Tonowanda Kardex 1921-1921  Washington Senators 1921-1921

The New York Giants used their 1st draft pick to select Southern Califonia's Frank Gifford

The Pittsburgh Steelers abandoned the Single-Wing for the T-formation, the last pro team to do so.

1952
PLAYOFFS
Home team in capitals

National Conference Playoff Game

December 28.

DETROIT 31, Los Angeles 21

The Detroit Lions go on to win their first NFL championship in 17 years, defeating the Cleveland Browns 17-7 in the 1952 NFL championship game

Major rule changes

1953

The 1953 NFL season was the 34th regular season of the National Football League.

Dallas Texans became new Baltimore Colts
A Baltimore, Maryland group headed by Carroll Rosenbloom was granted an NFL team, and was awarded the holdings of the defunct Dallas Texans organization,
January 23. The new team was named the Colts
after the previous team that folded after the 1950 NFL season.
The team put together the largest trade in league history, acquiring 10 players from Cleveland in exchange for five.
The NFL formally reinstates the dead Dallas Texans franchise as the Baltimore Colts

January 24 - The names of the American and National conferences were changed to the Eastern and Western conferences,

September 27 - Baltimore Colts's Bert Rechichar boots a record 56-yard field goal against Chicago.
Previously held by Detroits Glenn Presnell who kicked a 54-yard field goal October 7, 1934
Rechichar's record would stand for 17 years until New Orleans Saints, Tom Dempsey nailed a 63-yarder on Nov. 8 1970.

Willie Thrower became NFL's first black (African-American) quarterback when he appeared in a game for the Chicago Bears on Oct. 18; never appeared in another game and it would be 15 years before another African-American quarterback would take a snap in a pro game.

March 28  Jim Thorpe died

New York Giants coach Steve Owen ended a 24 year coaching career with a 153-108-17 record.

NFL.COM history claims - Mickey McBride, founder of the Cleveland Browns, sold the franchise to a syndicate headed by Dave R. Jones, June 10, 1953
WRONG . . .

Happened in 1961

November 12 - The NFL policy of blacking out home games was upheld by Judge Allan K. Grim of the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia

December 27 - The season ended when the Detroit Lions defeated the Cleveland Browns 17-16 in the 1953 NFL Championship Game for the second year in a row at Briggs Stadium, Detroit, Michigan

Major rule changes

The definition of illegal motion is clarified. A player must be moving directly forward at the snap to be considered illegally in motion.

1954

The 1954 NFL season was the 35th regular season of the National Football League.

The Canadian Football League began a series of raids on NFL teams, signing quarterback Eddie LeBaron and defensive end Gene Brito of Washington and defensive tackle Arnie Weinmeister of the Giants, among others.

Fullback Joe Perry of the 49ers became the first player in league history to gain 1,000 yards rushing in consecutive seasons.

September 7 - Pop Warner died of Throat cancer in Palo Alto, California at the age of 83.

Weeb Ewbank named head coach for Colts
September. 26 - Colts ordered plastic facemasks for helmets for first time

December 26 - The season ended when the Cleveland Browns turned around and defeated the Detroit Lions 56-10 in the 1954 NFL Championship Game at Cleveland Stadium, Cleveland, OhioMajor rule changes

Whenever it is raining, or whenever the field is wet and slippery, the offensive team can request a new, dry playable ball at any time.

1955

The 1955 NFL season was the 36th regular season of the National Football League.

The Pittsburgh Steelers drafted Louisville quarterback Johhny Unitis on the 9th round. They then cut Unitis without letting him appear in a preseason game.

The Baltimore Colts made an 80-cent phone call to Johnny Unitas and signed him as a free agent.
October 1 - Baltimore Colt's Alan Ameche becomes the first rookie in league history to top 100 yards rushing in his first two games after totaling 153 yards against Detroit. He had 194 yards in his debut vs. The Chicago Bears.

The Birth of Overtime  

August 28 - The sudden-death overtime rule was used for the first time in a pre-season game between the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants at Portland, Oregon. The Rams won 23-17 three minutes into overtime.

The bout laid the foundation for the NFL to adopt the overtime rule for regular season games, finally being approved in 1974

First Football Game on Color TV

NBC televises a college football game between Miami and Georgia Tech - the first broadcast of a football game in color.

NBC paid $100,000 to replace DuMont as the national television network for the NFL Championship Game.
Quarterback, Otto Graham, played his last game as the Cleveland Browns defeated the Los Angeles Rams 38 -14 in the 1955 NFL Championship Game, December 26 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles.
Graham had quarterbacked the Browns to 10 championship-game appearances in 10 years.

Major rule changes

The ball is dead immediately when the ball carrier touches the ground with any part of his body except his hands or feet while in the grasp of an opponent.

A new exception is made in regards to scoring a safety: When a defender intercepts a pass, his intercepting momentum carries him into his own end zone, and he is stopped before returning the ball back into the field of play, then the ball will be next put in play at the spot of the interception.

The sudden-death overtime rule was used for the first time in a preseason game between the Rams and Giants at Portland, Oregon, August 28. The Rams won 23-17 three minutes into overtime.

1956

The 1956 NFL season was the 37th regular season of the National Football League.

CBS became the first network to broadcast some NFL regular season games to selected television markets across the nation.

The NFL Players Association was founded.

The New York Giants moved from the Polo Grounds to Yankee Stadium.

First Wireless Communication
Coach to Quarterback

Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown tries out the first wireless communication between coach and quarterback. A citizens band radio receiver is placed inside the helmet of QB George Ratterman. Brown attempts to relay plays to him via a transmitter on the sidelines. The effort fails when Ratterman's receiver picks up a conversation between two women.

George Halas retired as coach of the Chicago Bears, and was replaced by Paddy Driscoll.
George Halas coached the Bears at four different times
(1920-1929  -  1933-1942  -  1946-1955  -  1958-1967)

December 30
The season ended when the New York Giants crushed the Chicago Bears in the 1956 NFL Championship Game, 47-7 at Yankee Stadium, New York City.

Major rule changes

It is now illegal to grab an opponent's facemask (other than the ball carrier).

When an offensive interior lineman takes a three point stance prior to the snap, he may not move until the snap.

The ball is dead immediately when the ball carrier is contacted by a defensive player and then touches the ground with any part of his body except his hands or feet.

Using radio receivers to communicate with players on the field is prohibited.

Players are prohibited from using any artificial medium to assist in the execution of a field goal or an extra point attempt. This change is sometimes referred to as the "Lou Groza Rule" after the Cleveland Browns' hall of fame offensive tackle and placekicker. Groza would always carry a 72-inch rolled piece of adhesive tape in his helmet. Before each kick attempt, he would use it as a directional aid by unrolling the tape on the ground from the line of scrimmage to the point where the ball would be spotted for the kick.

Meanwhile, the league started to use a natural leather ball with white end stripes, instead of the white ball with black stripes, for night games.

In the draft, the number of rounds stayed at 30 throughout the decade of the 1950s. By the middle of the decade, the NFL once again felt the squeeze of competition as the Canadian Football League was attempting to gain popularity by signing big-name college stars from the United States. In order to combat the threat, the NFL held early drafts from 1956-1959. The first four rounds of the drafts were held in late November or early December and rounds 5-30 were held in January.

1957

The 1957 NFL season was the 38th regular season of the National Football League.

Pete Rozelle was named general manager of the Los Angeles Rams.

 Sept. 29 - Horseshoes placed on the side of Colts helmets for first time.

 October 28 - Anthony J. Morabito, founder and co-owner of the San Francisco 49ers, died of a heart attack during a game against the Chicago Bears at Kezar Stadium.

November 10 - An NFL-record crowd of 102,368 saw the 49ers at Rams game in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

November 24 - Cleveland rookie Jim Brown rushes for an NFL record 237 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Browns to a 45-31 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.

The NFL Most Valuable Player Award
As awarded by the Associated Press
Is awarded to Running Back, Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns

1957
PLAYOFFS
Home team in capitals

Western Conference Playoff Game

 December 22 - The Detroit Lions came from 20 points down to post a 31-27 playoff victory over the San Francisco 49ers

December 29 - The season ended when the Detroit Lions crushed the Cleveland Browns 59-14 in the 1957 NFL Championship Game.

Major rule changes

During sudden-death overtime, rules for time outs is the same as in a regular game, including the last two minutes of the second and third quarters.

1958

The 1958 NFL season was the 39th regular season of the National Football League.

January 29 - The idea of the bonus pick, which began in 1947, ran full cycle and was abandoned after the 1958 draft.
By that time, each team in the league had been awarded the first overall pick in the annual draft, and teams resumed picking in reverse order of league standing.
 The last selection was quarterback King Hill of Rice by the Chicago Cardinals.

Halas reinstated himself again as coach of the Chicago Bears.
George Halas coached the Bears at four different times
(1920-1929  -  1933-1942  -  1946-1955  -  1958-1967)

Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns gained an NFL-record 1,527 yards rushing. In a divisional playoff game, the Giants held Brown to eight yards and defeated Cleveland 10-0.

 Lamar Hunt (son and heir of Texas oilman H. L. Hunt) attempted to bring an NFL franchise to his hometown of Dallas but was rejected by the league.

1958
PLAYOFFS
Home team in capitals

Eastern Conference Playoff Game

N.Y. GIANTS 10, Cleveland 0

1958 NFL Championship Game

First Overtime NFL Championship 

December 28 - The Baltimore Colts, coached by Weeb Ewbank, defeated the New York Giants 23-17 in the first sudden-death overtime in an NFL Championship Game,  winning the colts first NFL title.
The game ended when Colts fullback Alan Ameche scored on a one-yard touchdown run after 8:15 of overtime.
The game would be known to American football fans as 
"The Greatest Game Ever Played".

Many football fans regard the 1958 NFL Championship Game as the first overtime game in NFL history. Indeed it was the first playoff overtime game, but it was not the first-ever overtime game.
That occurred three years earlier on August 28, 1955 in a pre-season game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New York Giants.

1959

The 1959 NFL season was the 40th regular season of the National Football League.

January 28 - Vince Lombardi was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers.


First Blimp

CBS director Frank Chirkinian convinces the president of CBS Sports to pay $3,000 to put a camera in a blimp hovering over the Orange Bowl college game in Miami. Blimps and football games have gone together like mustard on hot dogs ever since.

Tim Mara, the co-founder of the New York Giants, died, February 17.

Intentions of The AFL

A second attempt to bring an NFL franchise to his hometown of Dallas was also unsuccessful. Lamar Hunt (son and heir of Texas oilman H. L. Hunt) was advised by league officials to contact the owners of the Chicago Cardinals, who offered to sell Hunt a 20 percent stake in the team.
Hunt rejected the offer, and it was then that he began to envision not just a new team in the NFL, but an entirely new league that was to drastically change the face of pro football forever.
Lamar Hunt, who founded the American Football League with six original cities - Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles and Minneapolis (Oakland replaced Minneapolis).

October 28 - Ralph C. Wilson was awarded an AFL francise

November 16 - Boston was granted an AFL francise
Lamar Hunt was the cornerstone, the integrity of the league. Without him, there would have been no AFL.