The American Expert Football Association, which had ten clubs from four states and competed in local leagues, was the forerunner to the National Football League. Football League was established in the year 1920. Jim Thorpe, George Preston Marshall, Bert Bell, Dan Reeves, and other individuals created the American Professional Football Association (APFA), usually referred to as the “NFL.” The National Football League – NFL Teams Year Established was founded in 1920. The league’s current name was adopted in 1922. The NFL became the first pro football league to consistently develop a presence on a national basis after several decades of fruitless attempts. Only two of the league’s original teams—the Decatur Staleys (presently the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals (presently the Arizona Cardinals—remain in existence today).
| Teams in the 1920–1932 Era | |||||
| Buffalo | Akron Pros | Canton Bulldogs | Chicago Cardinals | Chicago Tigers | Cleveland Tigers |
| Dayton Triangles | Columbus Panhandles | Green Bay Packers | Rock Island Independents | Toledo Maroons | Kenosha Maroons |
| Detroit | Decatur Staleys | Hammond Pros | Muncie Flyers | Racine Legion | Rochester Jeffersons |
The league was first known as the American Professional Football Conference and was officially founded on August 20, 1920, at a Hupmobile store in Canton, Ohio. At the time, it only included clubs from the Ohio League, but some of those teams later rejected to join. On September 17, one month later, the league changed its name to the American Professional Football Association and welcomed clubs from adjacent circuits, including Detroit, Hammond (a Chicago suburb team), Buffalo, and Rochester. The agreement over player snatching and the designation of an end-of-season winner was initially reached by the eleven founding teams. Thorpe was chosen as president while he was still a Bulldogs player. Only four of the original teams completed the 1920 season, and the unbeaten Akron Pros won the inaugural title.
The Era of 1921
In 1921, the league’s membership grew to 22 teams, including more New York teams, but throughout the 1920s, the league’s membership was unstable, and it was not a significant national sport. The organization, which had moved its headquarters to Columbus, Ohio, changed its name one final time to the National Football League on June 24, 1922.
The Decatur Staleys (now the Chicago Bears) and the Chicago Cardinals, two of the original members, are still in operation. The oldest team that hasn’t relocated is the Green Bay Packers, who were created in 1919 but didn’t start playing in the league until 1921. The Portsmouth Spartans joined in 1930, followed by the New York Football Giants (now known as the New York Giants), who moved to Detroit in 1934 to become the Lions.
The Dayton Triangles, one of the league’s founding clubs, is among the predecessors of the Indianapolis Colts. However, the NFL and the Colts view the Colts as a separate organization that was established in 1953 as the Baltimore Colts. Buffalo, Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit no longer have their original NFL clubs, but successor teams have been founded for those cities.
The Era of 2009
The United Football League, which started play in 2009, had initially intended to take a serious challenge to the NFL with NFL – comparable salaries and teams in New York City and Los Angeles. However, the UFL never played in those cities (an ostensibly New York team played in Long Island and New Jersey), cut its salaries, and instead opted for a complementary approach with teams in cities like Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Omaha; after four years, the UFL folded due to mass player withdrawal. Over the years, many other leagues have sought to establish, but none have been successful in achieving a level of competition equivalent to that of the NFL
Read More
The first alterations to the league’s shield logo since 1980 were revealed in a piece in USA Today on August 31, 2007, and they went into effect for the 2008 season. The NFL letters were changed to the number of stars in the logo were reduced from 25. The football was also repositioned to resemble the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The revamp was made with both apparel and television as well as internet media in mind. The shield emblem itself is a 1940s artifact.
“Get more sports news, cricket news, and football updates, log on to sportsdigest.in. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter and Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.”
