NFL History

The league that became known as the National Football League began in 1920 as a collection of teams from the powerful Ohio League. Originally called the American Professional Football Conference and then the American Professional Football Association, the term National Football League did not come about until 1922. The early years of the NFL were hectic, and the league did not become a major part of American sports until the late 1950s.

A total of 14 teams began the 1920 season, but only four managed to finish the season. The Akron Pros claimed the first league title, allowing only seven points all year. The Canton Bulldogs won the first official NFL title in 1922. Of the original teams, only the Cardinals and the Bears still exist. The Green Bay Packers joined the NFL in 1922 and are the team that has been in its original location the longest. Teams such as the Providence Steam Roller and the Frankford Yellow Jackets emerged as champions during the early years of the NFL, but the Chicago Bears and the Packers began to become powerhouses as the 1930s began. These two teams would win the NFL title a dozen times between them from 1929 through 1946. By the mid 1940s, the NFL was composed of ten franchises and divided into two conferences. The driving force behind much of what the NFL would become was Bears' owner and coach, George Halas.

A rival league, the All-American Football Conference, was formed in 1946 and existed for four seasons until some of the teams were absorbed into the NFL. The Cleveland Browns, founded and coached by Paul Brown, were the premier team of the AAFC and would win three titles from 1950 through 1955 after joining the NFL. The Detroit Lions were also a dominant franchise at this time and won three championships-in 1952, 1953 and 1957. The Baltimore Colts, behind quarterback Johnny Unitas, would win the title in 1958 and 1959. Their title victory in overtime over the New York Giants was the game that really began to cement the NFL into the American consciousness.

On the field, the Green Bay Packers won five titles from 1961 through 1967 under the leadership of Coach Vince Lombardi. Off the field, another league emerged to put pressure on the NFL. The American Football League lured many college stars away from the NFL and eventually the two leagues agreed to meet in a title game that would soon be called the Super Bowl. Lombardi's Packers easily won the first two, but when the upstart New York Jets and quarterback Joe Namath defeated the highly favored Baltimore Colts in the third version of this game, the scene was set for a merger between the two leagues. In 1968, the NFL was made up of 16 franchises, but by 1970 the league had absorbed all of the AFL teams and numbered 26 teams total. The NFL was divided into two conferences: the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference. The winner of each conference would meet in the Super Bowl after 1970.

The Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, and Pittsburgh Steelers combined to win eight of the ten NFL tiles during the 1970s. Miami went undefeated at 16-0 in 1972 and beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 to take their first title before repeating the next year. Dallas won two titles and lost twice to the Pittsburgh Steelers and once to the Colts in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh had an NFL dynasty from 1974 through 1979, claiming four Super Bowls behind such stalwarts as quarterback Terry Bradshaw and running back Franco Harris.

The San Francisco 49ers would ride quarterback Joe Montana to four Super Bowl wins in the 1980s. The Washington Redskins and Coach Joe Gibbs won a pair of titles. The Chicago Bears put together a highly regarded defense in 1986 and walloped the New England Patriots 46-10 in the Super Bowl for the franchise's first title since 1963. The New York Giants clobbered the Denver Broncos 39-20 in 1987 for their first championship since 1956.

The NFL had 28 teams by 1990. The Cowboys, bolstered by the talents of running back Emmitt Smith and quarterback Troy Aikman, were the best team early in the decade, with three titles in four years. The Buffalo Bills and quarterback Jim Kelly would win the AFC every year from 1990 through 1993 but could not win the Super Bowl. The Denver Broncos would win two titles before the decade closed.

The Patriots upset the St. Louis Rams in the 2001 Super Bowl to begin a run of three championships within a four year span. Coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady were the leaders of New England. The Steelers returned to prominence, winning two titles, one of them an exciting last minute victory over the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants pulled off the upset of the decade when they ruined the Patriots' chances of going 19-0, beating New England 17-14 for the title on a last minute touchdown in 2008. By the end of the decade the NFL was composed of 32 teams, with each conference comprised of four divisions of four teams each.