All-America Football Conference
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| All-America Football Conference | |
|---|---|
| Image:AAFCLogo.PNG | |
| Sport | American football |
| Founded | 1944 |
| Inaugural season | 1946 |
| No. of teams | 8 |
| Country | Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States |
| Folded | 1949 |
| Last champions | Cleveland Browns |
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a 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 former University of Notre Dame standout Jim Crowley as its first commissioner on November 21, 1944. As one of the Fighting Irish's legendary Four Horsemen, Crowley also had a distinguished World War II naval career and aided the formative years of the league.
The AAFC started with eight teams playing 14 games per team, an increase from the 10 per year that the rival NFL played. While the AAFC was able to successfully compete against the National Football League in many cities, outdrawing the older league in terms of attendance <ref>Grosshandler, Stan. ALL-AMERICA FOOTBALL CONFERENCE. Professional Football Researchers Association. Retrieved on 2006-11-07. “One of the odd facts of the war is that the loser, the AAFC, the averaged 38,310 a game while the NFL averaged only 27,602.” </ref>, the continuing dominance of the league's Cleveland Browns would prove to be a problem.
When Crowley stepped down in January 1947, the league chose another naval hero, Admiral Jonas H. Ingram to replace him. In 1948, the Browns became the first professional football team to complete an entire season undefeated and untied — 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would accomplish the task.
On January 22, 1949, the league's owners named yet another Naval hero, Oliver O. Kessing, to head the league. Unfortunately, the fourth year of competition in the league 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 elder NFL also found its teams in difficulty, and a merger agreement was reached on December 9, 1949. Three AAFC teams were merged into the older league:
- The Cleveland Browns, winners of all four AAFC championships, who would go on to be the NFL's dominant team of the 1950s,
- The San Francisco 49ers
- The Baltimore Colts, who would play just one season (1950) in the NFL. The Colts name would be resurrected for another NFL franchise, also called the Baltimore Colts, in 1953. The team later relocated to Indianapolis in 1984.
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 into the NFL are not considered official NFL statistics. However, individual AAFC player statistics are included in Pro Football Hall of Fame records, and the defunct conference is memorialized in the Hall.
Contents |
[edit] AAFC teams
- 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
[edit] Season by season
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
[edit] 1946 Final standings
| Eastern Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 10 | 3 | 1 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Buffalo Bisons | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Miami Seahawks | 3 | 11 | 0 |
| Western Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 7 | 5 | 2 |
| Chicago Rockets | 5 | 6 | 3 |
[edit] 1947 Final standings
| Eastern Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees | 11 | 2 | 1 |
| Buffalo Bills | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 3 | 10 | 1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| Western Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 12 | 1 | 1 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 8 | 4 | 2 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Chicago Rockets | 1 | 13 | 0 |
[edit] 1948 Final standings
| Eastern Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Baltimore Colts | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| New York Yankees | 6 | 8 | 0 |
| Brooklyn Dodgers | 2 | 12 | 0 |
| Western Division | |||
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Chicago Rockets | 1 | 13 | 0 |
Eastern Division playoff: Buffalo 28, Baltimore 17 (Dec. 12 @ Baltimore)
[edit] 1949 Final standings
| Team | W | L | T |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 9 | 1 | 2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Brooklyn/New York Yankees | 8 | 4 | 0 |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 5 | 2 |
| Chicago Hornets | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Dons | 4 | 8 | 0 |
| Baltimore Colts | 1 | 11 | 0 |
Semifinals: Cleveland 31, Buffalo 21 (Dec. 4 @ Cleveland)
Semifinals: San Francisco 17, Brooklyn/New York 7 (Dec. 4 @ San Francisco)
[edit] AAFC championship games
| Year | Date | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946 | Dec 22 | Cleveland Browns | 14-9 | New York Yankees | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| 1947 | Dec 14 | Cleveland Browns | 14-3 | New York Yankees | Yankee Stadium |
| 1948 | Dec 19 | Cleveland Browns | 49-7 | Buffalo Bills | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
| 1949 | Dec 11 | Cleveland Browns | 21-7 | San Francisco 49ers | Cleveland Municipal Stadium |
[edit] 1946: Cleveland Browns 14, New York Yankees 9
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York Yankees (10-3-1) | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 |
| Cleveland Browns (12-2-0) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
Game Played Dec. 22, 1946 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Scoring
- N.Y. - Field Goal, H. Johnson 21
- CLE. - Motley, 2, run (Groza, kick)
- N.Y. - Sanders, 2, run (kick blocked)
- CLE. - Lavelli, 16, pass from Graham (Groza, kick)
- Notes
New York Yankees qualified by winning Eastern Division with 10-3-1 record; Cleveland Browns qualified by wining Western Division with 12-2-0 record.
[edit] 1947: Cleveland Browns 14, New York Yankees 3
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns (12-1-1) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| New York Yankees (11-2-1) | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Game Played Dec. 14, 1947 at Yankee Stadium, New York, New York
- Scoring
- CLE. - Graham, 1, run (Groza, kick)
- N.Y. - Field Goal, H. Johnson, 12
- CLE. - Jones, 4, run (Groza, kick)
- Notes
New York Yankees qualified by winning Eastern Division with 11-2-1 record; Cleveland Browns qualified by winning Western Division with 12-1-1 record.
[edit] 1948: Cleveland Browns 49, Buffalo Bills 7
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills (8-7-0) | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| Cleveland Browns (14-0-0) | 7 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 49 |
Game Played Dec. 19, 1948 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Scoring
- CLE. - E. Jones, 3, run (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - Young, 18, fumble return (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - E. Jones, 9, pass from Graham (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - Motley, 29, run (Groza, kick)
- BUF. - Baldwin, 10, pass from Still (Armstrong, kick)
- CLE. - Motley, 31, run (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - Motley, 5, run (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - Saban, 39, interception return (Groza, kick)
- Notes
Buffalo Bills qualified by tying for Eastern Division title with 7-7-0 record and then defeating Baltimore Colts in a Dec. 12, 1948 tiebreaker playoff); Cleveland Browns qualified by winning Western Division title with 14-0-0 record, edging out the 12-2-0 San Francisco 49ers, whom they defeated twice.
[edit] 1949: Cleveland Browns 21, San Francisco 49ers 7
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco 49ers (10-3-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| Cleveland Browns (10-1-2) | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
Game Played Dec. 11, 1949 at Municipal Stadium, Cleveland, Ohio
- Scoring
- CLE. - E. Jones, 2, run (Groza, kick)
- CLE. - Motley, 63, run (Groza, kick)
- S.F. - Salata, 23, pass from Albert (Vetrano, kick)
- CLE. - D. Jones, 4, run (Groza, kick)
- Notes
Cleveland Browns qualified by finishing 1st Place during regular season with 9-1-2 record, and then defeating 4th-Place Buffalo Bills in Semifinal Playoffs; San Francisco 49ers qualfied for four-team playoffs by finishing 2nd Place during regular season with 9-3-0 record, and then defeating 3rd-Place Brooklyn/New York Yankees in Semifinal Playoffs; both Semifinal Playoff games were played Dec. 4, 1949.
[edit] AAFC All-Star Game
[edit] 1949: AAFC All-Stars 12, Cleveland Browns 7
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Tot |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AAFC All-Stars | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Cleveland Browns | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
Game Played Dec. 17, 1949 at Rice Stadium, Houston, Texas
- Scoring
- AAFC - Mutryn, 2, run (Albert kick failed)
- CLE. - D. Jones, 40, pass from Graham (Groza kick)
- AAFC - Baldwin, 23, pass from Albert (Albert kick failed)
- Notes
This game, known as the Shamrock Bowl, was the only All-Star Game the AAFC ever played, and the league's last game before the merger with the NFL. The Browns qualified to face a team of All-Stars from the other six teams by defeating San Francisco in the league championship game.
