Reeves was also the first owner in the NFL to hire a full-time scouting staff. After moving to L.A., new owner Dan Reeves signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, the first two African-American athletes with an NFL contract since 1932. The Rams played their last game, a championship which they won, in Cleveland in 1945 and were moved to Los Angeles for the next season. While the team is closely associated with these two cities, the Rams franchise was actually born in Cleveland in 1936 and joined the NFL the following year.įor the first six years of the franchise’s history, the Rams were a terrible team and were disbanded for a year (1943 season) following a shortage of manpower due to World War II. The Los Angeles Rams returned to Los Angeles - the team moved from the city after the 1994 season - after spending 20 years in St. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Erica Crossen The Cleveland Browns suspended operations after Browns fans and Cleveland city officials blocked then owner Arthur Modell from moving the team to Baltimore. The Browns dominated the AAFC until it was shuttered in 1949 and the team joined the NFL the following year, along with two other AAFC teams, the San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts (not the same franchise as the later Baltimore Colts, which are now the Indianapolis Colts).Īfter moving to the NFL, the Browns continued their dominance and went on to win the NFL Eastern Conference championship for six straight years from 1950 to 1955 and NFL titles in 1950, 19.Īlthough the Cleveland Browns were a strong team in the beginning, the team has not done well at all in the past few decades - the team even had to suspend operations for a few years between 1996 – 1998. Brown was appointed as the team’s coach and general manager and also named the team as well. The first thing that McBride did was hire Paul Brown, who was a successful high school, college, and military coach. McBride after he acquired a franchise in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC) that would start playing games in 1946. The Cleveland Browns were formed in 1944 by local businessman Arthur B. Photo source: Wikimedia Commons via Erik Drost All of these teams played an important part in establishing the rules and customs of today’s NFL.įor this list, we chose to arrange the teams by the date that they entered the NFL and not when they were originally formed. Today, only two teams from this initial line up are still around, the Arizona Cardinals (formerly the Chicago Cardinals) and the Chicago Bears (initially the Decatur Staleys).įor the 1922 season, the APFA changed its name to the NFL and the other teams on this list joined in subsequent years. The APFA started off with 10 teams, which had already existed in some form as regional teams. This laid the foundation for the American Professional Football Association (APFA), which was started in 1920 as the direct forerunner of the National Football League (NFL). As football grew in popularity, many companies sponsored professional teams. American football dates back to the mid 19 th century when colleges began playing games using modified rules from soccer and rugby.
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