(Redirected from NFL Championship)Throughout its history, the '
National Football League' and other leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champion, including a period of interleague match-ups determining a true world champion.
The NFL first determined champions through end-of-season standings, but switched over to a playoff system in 1933. The rival
All-America Football Conference and
American Football League, which have since merged with the NFL (some AAFC teams in
1950 and all ten AFL teams in
1970 respectively), began using the playoff system since the creation of their respective leagues.
From
1966–
1969 prior to the
AFL-NFL merger, the NFL and the AFL held a "world championship" game. The game was first called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game later renamed the Super Bowl. The
Green Bay Packers won the most of these World Championship Games with two victories.
Since 1970, the modern era NFL has become the only major professional football league in the
United States, and its current league championship game is called the '
Super Bowl'. The
Dallas Cowboys,
Pittsburgh Steelers, and
San Francisco 49ers have all won five Super Bowls. However, all three franchises trail the Packers who have captured an overall twelve league titles (NFL and Super Bowl) in their illustrious history. The current defending champion of the NFL is the
Indianapolis Colts who won
Super Bowl XLI over the
Chicago Bears.
1920 – 1932: The early years
:''For a list of NFL standings champions prior to 1933, see
List of NFL end-of-season champions''
At its inception in
1920, the NFL had no playoff system or championship game. The champion was the team with the best record during the season, determined by winning percentage, with ties omitted. This sometimes led to very odd results, as teams played anywhere from eight to twenty league games in a season, and not all teams played the same number of games.
In the
1932 season, the
Chicago Bears and the
Portsmouth Spartans tied with the best regular-season winning percentages (although the
Green Bay Packers had four more wins).
To determine the champion, the league voted to hold the first
playoff game in
Chicago at
Wrigley Field. Because of severe winter conditions before the game, and fear of low turnout, the game was held indoors at
Chicago Stadium which forced some temporary rule changes.
The game was played on a modified 80-yard dirt field, and Chicago won 9-0, winning the league championship. The playoff game proved so popular that the league reorganized into two divisions for the
1933 season, with the winners advancing to a scheduled championship game.
A number of new rule changes were instituted, many inspired by the 1932 indoor championship game: the goal posts were moved forward to the goal line, every play started from between the hash marks, and forward passes could originate from anywhere behind the
line of scrimmage (instead of five yards behind).
1933 – 1966: The advent of the postseason
1933 – 1966: NFL Championship Game
:''For a list of NFL Championship Games and winners, see
List of NFL champions''
Starting in
1933, the NFL decided its champion through a single postseason playoff game, called the ''NFL Championship Game''. During this period, the league divided its teams into two groups, through
1949 as ''
divisions'' and from 1950 onward as ''conferences''.
★ Divisions (1933–1949): 'Eastern' and 'Western'
★ Conferences (1950–1952): 'American' and 'National'
★ Conferences (1953–1966): 'Eastern' and 'Western'
The home team for the NFL Championship Game was determined by a yearly rotation between the conferences (or divisions), not by regular-season records. If there was a tie for first place within the conference, an extra playoff game determined which team would play in the NFL Championship Game. (This occurred nine times in these 34 seasons:
1941,
1943,
1947,
1950 (both conferences),
1952,
1957,
1958, and
1965.)
This last occurred during the
1965 season, when the
Green Bay Packers and
Baltimore Colts tied for first place in the Western Conference at 10-3-1. Green Bay had won both its games with Baltimore during the regular season, but because no tie-breaker system was in place, a conference playoff game was held on
December 26 (the scheduled date for the NFL championship game). The
Cleveland Browns, the Eastern champion at 11-3-0, did not play this week. The playoff pushed the
championship game to
January 2,
1966, the first time the NFL champion was crowned in January. Green Bay won both post-season games at home, beating the injury-riddled Colts (with third-string QB
Tom Matte) in
overtime by a field goal, and taking the title 23-12 on a very muddy field (in
Jim Brown's final NFL game).
For the
1960 through
1969 seasons, to compete with the rival
American Football League's championship games, the NFL staged an additional postseason game called the "
Playoff Bowl" (aka the "
Bert Bell Benefit Bowl" or the "Runner-up Bowl"). These games matched the second-place teams from the two conferences; the
CBS television network advertised them as ''"playoff games for third place in the NFL."'' All ten of these consolation games were played in the
Orange Bowl in
Miami in January, the week ''after'' the NFL championship game. The NFL now classifies these contests as exhibition games and does not include the records, participants, or results in the official league playoff statistics. The Playoff Bowl was discontinued after the
AFL-NFL merger; the final edition was played in January
1970.
Starting with the 1934 game the winning team received the 'Ed Thorp Memorial Trophy'. The trophy was named after Ed Thorp, a noted referee, rules expert, sporting goods dealer. Thorp died in 1934 and a large, traveling trophy was made that year, passed along from champion to champion each season with each championship team's name inscribed on it. Teams would also receive a replica trophy. The trophy was last awarded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1969. The actual trophy however is now missing.
[1]
1946 – 1949: AAFC Championship Game
:''For a list of AAFC Championship Games and winners, see
List of AAFC champions''
The
All-America Football Conference was created in June of
1944 to compete against the
NFL. Even though the league outdrew the NFL in attendance, the continuing dominance of the
Cleveland Browns led to the league's downfall.
For its four seasons, the league was divided into two divisions: 'Eastern' and 'Western' (1946–1948) and a single division in 1949. The site of the championship game just as in the NFL was determined by divisional rotation except for 1949 when the remaining teams with the best record hosted the game.
The Browns behind the guiding of
Otto Graham won all four of the league championship games. A playoff game was played in 1948 to break a tie between the
Baltimore Colts and
Buffalo Bills (AAFC) and in 1949 to set up a championship game between the Browns and the
San Francisco 49ers.
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, but this feat is not recognized by NFL record books. Unlike the AFL statistics which are treated as NFL statistics, records of the AAFC and its teams (most of which folded) are not recognized. However, individual
AAFC player statistics are included in
Pro Football Hall of Fame records, and the defunct conference is memorialized in the Hall.
1960 – 1966: AFL Championship Game
:''For a list of AFL Championship Games and winners, see
List of AFL champions''
With its creation in 1960, the AFL determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions, the 'Eastern' and 'Western'. The AFL Championship games featured classics such as the 1962 double-overtime championship game between the
Dallas Texans and the defending champion
Houston Oilers. At the time it was the longest
professional football championship game ever played. Also in 1963, an Eastern Division playoff was needed to determine the division winner between the
Boston Patriots and
Buffalo Bills.
1966 – 1969: NFL vs. AFL - The beginning of the Super Bowl era
:''For a list of AFL Championship Games and winners, see
List of AFL champions''
:''For a list of NFL Championship Games and winners, see
List of NFL champions''
:''For a list of AFL-NFL World Championship games, see
List of AFL-NFL World champions''
In 1966, the success of the rival AFL, the spectre of the NFL's losing more stars to the AFL, and concern over a costly "bidding war" for players precipitated by the NFL's Giants' signing of
Pete Gogolak, who was under contract to the AFL's
Buffalo Bills, led the two leagues to discuss a
merger. Pivotal to this was approval by Congress of a law (PL 89-800) that would waive jeopardy to anti-trust statutes for the merged leagues. The major point of the testimony given by the leagues to obtain the law was that if the merger were permitted, "Professional football operations will be preserved in the 23 cities and 25 stadiums where such operations are presently being conducted." The merger was announced on
June 8,
1966, and became fully effective in
1970.
After expanding to enfranchise the
New Orleans Saints in
1967, the NFL split its 16 teams into two conferences with two divisions each: the 'Capitol' and 'Century' Divisions in the '''Eastern Conference''', and the 'Coastal' and 'Central' Divisions in the '''Western Conference'''. The playoff format was expanded from a single championship game to a four-team tournament, with the four divisional champions participating. The two division winners in each conference met in the "Conference Championships," with the winners advancing to the NFL Championship Game. Again, the home team for each playoff game was determined by a yearly divisional or conference rotation.
The AFL on the other hand, raised its total franchise number to nine in 1966 with the
Miami Dolphins, joining the Eastern Division and a tenth team, the
Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. The league kept using the one-game-playoff format except when division tie-breakers were needed. With the addition of the Bengals to the Western Division in 1969, the AFL adopted a four-team playoff to determine its champion.
Following the NFL and AFL Championship Games for the
1966 through
1969 seasons, the NFL champion played the
AFL champion in
Super Bowls I through IV, the only true inter-league championship games in the history of professional football. The first two of these games were known as the ''AFL-NFL World Championship Game'', as the title ''Super Bowl'' was not chosen until 1968. Thus the third AFL-NFL matchup was dubbed "Super Bowl III" and the first two matches were retronamed as Super Bowls I and II. The first two games were convincingly won by the NFL's
Packers, the last two by the
AFL's
New York Jets and
Kansas City Chiefs, leaving the leagues even at 2-2 in "World Championship" competition when they subsequently merged.
All participants in those four AFL-NFL championship games were either AFL champions or NFL champions in the record books, no matter the outcome of the Super Bowl. Three of the four league champions who lost one of the first four Super Bowls would eventually win at least one. The exception, as of 2006, is the
Minnesota Vikings.
1970 – present: The Super Bowl era
:''For a complete list of post-merger
Super Bowl winners, see
List of Super Bowl champions.''
Post Merger
After the
1969 season and
Super Bowl IV, the AFL and NFL fully
merged and underwent a re-alignment for the
1970 season. Three of the pre-merger NFL teams were transferred to the AFC (
Browns,
Colts, and
Steelers) to level the conferences (
AFC and
NFC) at 13 teams each; each conference split into three divisions. Since there was now only one league, the
Super Bowl became a league championship and the winner is the NFL champion.
With only six division winners in the newly merged league, the NFL designed an eight-team playoff tournament, with four clubs from each conference qualifying. Along with the three division winners in each conference, two ''
wild card'' teams (one from each conference), the second-place finishers with the best records in each conference, were added to the tournament. The first round was named the "Divisional Playoffs", with the winners advancing to the "Conference Championships" (AFC & NFC). Two weeks later, the AFC and NFC champions met in the
Super Bowl, now the league's championship game. Thus,
Super Bowl V in January
1971 was the first Super Bowl played for the NFL title.
With the introduction of the wild card, a rule was instituted to prohibit two teams from the same division (champion and wild card) from meeting in the first-round (Divisional Playoffs). This rule would remain in effect through the
1989 season. More significantly, the home teams in the playoffs were still decided by a yearly divisional rotation, not on regular-season records (excluding the wild-card teams, who would always play on the road). This lack of "home-field advantage" was most evident in the
1972 playoffs, when the ''undefeated''
Miami Dolphins played the
AFC Championship Game against the
Pittsburgh Steelers, who had recorded three losses during the regular season, at
Three Rivers Stadium in
Pittsburgh.
Beginning in
1972, tie games were included in the computing of each team's
winning percentage. Each tie was now counted as half of a win and half of a loss, rather than omitted from the computation.
The institution of "home-field advantage"
In
1975, the league modified its 1970 playoff format by instituting a seeding system. The surviving clubs with the higher seeds were made the
home teams for each playoff round. The three division champions in each conference were seeded first through third based on their regular-season records, with the wild-card team in each conference as the fourth seed.
Teams that earned the top seed became known as clinching "
home-field advantage" throughout the playoffs, since they would play all of their playoff games at their home stadium (except for the Super Bowl, played at a neutral site).
However, the league continued to prohibit meetings between teams from the same division in the Divisional Playoffs. Thus, there would be times when the pairing in that round would pit the first seed versus the third, and the second versus the fourth. This system is identical to that now in use by
Major League Baseball.
Further playoff expansion
The league expanded the playoffs to 10 teams in
1978, adding a second wild-card team (a fifth seed) from each conference. The two wild-card teams from each conference (the fourth and fifth seeds) would play each other in the first round, called the "Wild Card Playoffs." The division winners (the first three seeds) would then receive a ''
bye'' to automatically advance to the Divisional Playoffs, which became the second round of the playoffs. In the divisional round, much like the
1970 playoff format, teams from the same division were still prohibited from playing each other, regardless of seeding. Under the
1978 format, teams from the same division could meet only in the wild-card round or the conference championship.
A players' strike shortened the
1982 season to nine games. The league used a special 16-team playoff tournament for that year. The top eight teams from each conference qualified (ignoring the divisional races -- there were no division standings, and in some cases 2 teams from the same division did not play each other at all that season). The playoffs reverted to the 1978 format in the following year.
In
1990, the NFL expanded the playoffs to twelve teams by adding a third wild-card team (a sixth seed) from each conference. The restrictions on intra-division playoff games during the Divisional Playoffs were removed. However, only the top two division winners in each conference (the 1 and 2 seeds) received byes and automatically advanced to the Divisional Playoffs as host teams. The 3 seed, the division winner with the worst regular season record in each conference, would then host the 6 seed in the Wild Card Playoffs.
In
2002, the NFL realigned into eight divisions, four per conference, to accommodate a 32nd team, the
Houston Texans. The playoffs remained a 12-team tournament, with four division winners (the 1, 2, 3, and 4 seeds) and two
wild cards (the 5 and 6 seeds) from each conference advancing to the playoffs. Again, only the top two division winners in each conference would automatically advance to the Divisional Playoffs, while everybody else had to play in the Wild Card round. Furthermore, the league still maintains the names "Wild Card Playoffs", "Divisional Playoffs", and "Conference Championships" for the first, second, and third rounds of the playoffs, respectively.
A proposal to expand the playoffs to 14 teams by adding a third wild card team (a seventh seed) from each conference, and only giving the 1 seeds the bye in the first round, was tabled by the league owners in 2003.
[2]
List of various league/world championship game systems
| Current NFL Championship system | World Championship system | Defunct league championship system |
Undefeated regular seasons and "perfect seasons" in professional football
Championships by Franchise
★ After the 1970 AFL-NFL merger and the emergence of the Super Bowl, all AFL and NFL league championship games prior to merger are listed along with the AFC and NFC conference championship games, respectively, in the NFL's official records, but are recorded as league titles for each victorious franchise between 1920 and 1969. The Super Bowl victories for each franchise between 1966 and 1969 are looked upon as "World Championship titles" not league titles so they are not included in most NFL lists due to their short time span.
Most successful professional football franchises in league titles (1920 – present)
These are the championships of professional American football leagues that are recognized by the
Pro Football Hall of Fame, but not necessarily the
National Football League official record books.
★ '''Note' – in this list, the first four
Super Bowls are not reflected as the first four Super Bowls were
World Championship games not league titles. Hence they count toward another list dealing with world championships.''
(
★ ) Dead
Most successful professional football franchises in AFL-NFL world championships (1966 – 1969)
Championship games per season
Below is a list of Professional Football champions per season as recognized by the
Pro Football Hall of Fame.
'KEY:'
★ (#) – ''the number of league championships won during the Pre-
Super Bowl era including the
NFL,
AAFC, and
American Football League.''
★ – ''the number of Super Bowl Championships in the
Super Bowl era.''
★ '(#)' – ''the total number of league championships won.''
★ '' – ''the number of world championships won; these were only available during the first four Super Bowls, which were interleague matches.''
APFA/NFL Standings Champions (1920 – 1932)
''(For the first thirteen seasons, the APFA/NFL did not hold a championship game except in 1932 when a playoff game was held, the precursor to the championship game; from 1920–1971, the NFL did not officially include tie games in the winning percentage.)
NFL Championship Game (1933 – 1945)
''(The NFL starts having a championship game, which would continue until 1969.)''
| Season | League | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|
| 1933 | NFL | 'Chicago Bears' (3) '(3)' | 23–21 | New York Giants | Wrigley Field | 26,000 |
| 1934 | NFL | 'New York Giants' (2) '(2)' | 30–13 | Chicago Bears | Polo Grounds | 35,059 |
| 1935 | NFL | 'Detroit Lions' (1) '(1)' | 26–7 | New York Giants | University of Detroit Stadium | 15,000 |
| 1936 | NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (4) '(4)' | 21–6 | Boston Redskins | Polo Grounds (New York, NY) | 29,545 |
| 1937 | NFL | 'Washington Redskins' (1) '(1)' | 28–21 | Chicago Bears | Wrigley Field | 15,870 |
| 1938 | NFL | 'New York Giants' (3) '(3)' | 23–17 | Green Bay Packers | Polo Grounds | 48,120 |
| 1939 | NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (5) '(5)' | 27–0 | New York Giants | Wisconsin State Fair Park (West Allis, WI) | 32,279 |
| 1940 | NFL | 'Chicago Bears' (4) '(4)' | 73–0 | Washington Redskins | Griffith Stadium | 36,034 |
| 1941 | NFL | 'Chicago Bears' (5) '(5)' | 37–9 | New York Giants | Wrigley Field | 13,341 |
| 1942 | NFL | 'Washington Redskins' (2) '(2)' | 14–6 | Chicago Bears | Griffith Stadium | 36,006 |
| 1943 | NFL | 'Chicago Bears' (6) '(6)' | 41–21 | Washington Redskins | Wrigley Field | 34,320 |
| 1944 | NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (6) '(6)' | 14–7 | New York Giants | Polo Grounds | 46,016 |
| 1945 | NFL | 'Cleveland Rams' (1) '(1)' | 15–14 | Washington Redskins | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 32,178 |
NFL Championship Game and AAFC Championship Game (1946 – 1949)
''(Between 1946 and 1949 both the
NFL and
AAFC were in operation with the merger of the AAFC into the NFL taking place in 1950.)''
NFL Championship Game (1950 – 1959)
''(Between 1950 and 1959 the NFL was the only operating league with former AAFC franchises the
Cleveland Browns,
San Francisco 49ers, and
Baltimore Colts joining the NFL. The number in the parenthesis is total number of NFL championships and the bolded number in parenthesis is the total number of league championships.)''
| Year | League | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|
| 1950 | NFL | 'Cleveland Browns'[13] (1) '(5)' | 30–28 | Los Angeles Rams | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 29,751 |
| 1951 | NFL | 'Los Angeles Rams' (2) '(2)' | 24–17 | Cleveland Browns | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 57,522 |
| 1952 | NFL | 'Detroit Lions' (2) '(2)' | 17–7 | Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 50,934 |
| 1953 | NFL | 'Detroit Lions' (3) '(3)' | 17–16 | Cleveland Browns | Briggs Stadium | 54,577 |
| 1954 | NFL | 'Cleveland Browns' (2) '(6)' | 56–10 | Detroit Lions | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 43,827 |
| 1955 | NFL | 'Cleveland Browns' (3) '(7)' | 38–14 | Los Angeles Rams | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 85,693 |
| 1956 | NFL | 'New York Giants' (4) '(4)' | 47–7 | Chicago Bears | Yankee Stadium | 56,836 |
| 1957 | NFL | 'Detroit Lions' (4) '(4)' | 59–14 | Cleveland Browns | Briggs Stadium | 55,263 |
| 1958 | NFL | 'Baltimore Colts' (1) '(1)' | 23–17 (OT) | New York Giants | Yankee Stadium | 64,185 |
| 1959 | NFL | 'Baltimore Colts' (2) '(2)' | 31–16 | New York Giants | Memorial Stadium | 57,545 |
AFL Championship Game and NFL Championship Game (1960 – 1965)
''(The NFL was joined by the
American Football League from 1960 to 1969 with the AFL merging with the NFL in 1970. The number in the parenthesis is total number of NFL or AFL championships and the bolded number in parenthesis is the total number of league championships.)''
| Season | League | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|
| 1960 | AFL | 'Houston Oilers' (1) '(1)' | 24–16 | Los Angeles Chargers | Jeppesen Stadium | 32,183 |
| NFL | 'Philadelphia Eagles' (3) '(3)' | 17–13 | Green Bay Packers | Franklin Field | 67,325 |
| 1961 | AFL | 'Houston Oilers' (2) '(2)' | 10–3 | San Diego Chargers | Balboa Stadium | 29,556 |
| NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (7) '(7)' | 37–0 | New York Giants | "New" City Stadium | 39,029 |
| 1962 | AFL | 'Dallas Texans' (1) '(1)' | 20–17 (2OT) | Houston Oilers | Jeppesen Stadium | 37,981 |
| NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (8) '(8)' | 16–7 | New York Giants | Yankee Stadium | 64,892 |
| 1963 | AFL | 'San Diego Chargers' (1) '(1)' | 51–10 | Boston Patriots | Balboa Stadium | 30,127 |
| NFL | 'Chicago Bears' (8) '(8)' | 14–10 | New York Giants | Wrigley Field | 45,801 |
| 1964 | AFL | 'Buffalo Bills' (1) '(1)' | 20–7 | San Diego Chargers | War Memorial Stadium | 40,242 |
| NFL | 'Cleveland Browns' (4) '(8)' | 27–0 | Baltimore Colts | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 79,544 |
| 1965 | AFL | 'Buffalo Bills' (2) '(2)' | 23–0 | San Diego Chargers | Balboa Stadium | 30,361 |
| NFL | 'Green Bay Packers' (9) '(9)' | 23–12 | Cleveland Browns | Lambeau Field | 50,777 |
===AFL-NFL World Championship Game (
The Super Bowl) (1966 – 1969)===
''(From 1966 to 1969 both NFL and AFL champions meet in the first and so far only World Championship games to decide a champion between leagues, the series ended NFL two, AFL two.)''
[4]
| Season | League | Game | Winning Team | Score | Losing Team | Location | Attendance |
|---|
| 1966 | AFL | | Kansas City Chiefs (2) '(2)' | 31–7 | Buffalo Bills | War Memorial Stadium | 42,080 |
| NFL | | Green Bay Packers (10) '(10)' | 34–27 | Dallas Cowboys | Cotton Bowl | 74,152 |
| | 'I' | 'Green Bay Packers ' | '35–10' | 'Kansas City Chiefs' | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 61,946 |
| 1967 | AFL | | Oakland Raiders (1) '(1)' | 40–7 | Houston Oilers | Oakland Coliseum | 53,330 |
| NFL | | Green Bay Packers (11) '(11)' | 21–17 | Dallas Cowboys | Lambeau Field | 50,861 |
| | 'II' | 'Green Bay Packers ' | '33–14' | 'Oakland Raiders' | Miami Orange Bowl | 75,546 |
| 1968 | AFL | | New York Jets (1) '(1)' | 27–23 | Oakland Raiders | Shea Stadium | 62,627 |
| NFL | | Baltimore Colts (3) '(3)' | 34–0 | Cleveland Browns | Cleveland Municipal Stadium | 78,410 |
| | 'III' | 'New York Jets ' | '16–7' | 'Baltimore Colts' | Miami Orange Bowl | 75,389 |
| 1969 | AFL | | Kansas City Chiefs (3) '(3)' | 17–7 | Oakland Raiders | Oakland Coliseum | 53,561 |
| NFL | | Minnesota Vikings (1) '(1)' | 27–7 | Cleveland Browns | Metropolitan Stadium | 46,503 |
| | 'IV' | 'Kansas City Chiefs ' | '23–7' | 'Minnesota Vikings' | Tulane Stadium, New Orleans | 80,562 |
Super Bowl Championship (1970 – present)
''(With the merger of the AFL with the NFL, the
Super Bowl became the NFL's championship game. The number in the parenthesis is total number of Super Bowl championships and the bolded number in parenthesis is the total number of league championships.)''
Footnotes
1.
For more information on the trophy visit [1]
2. For more information on the proposed playoff expansion visit [2]
3. This table lists all of the league championships won by these franchises between 1920 and 1969. Between 1966 and 1969 the winners of the NFL and AFL met in the so far only true world championship game, the Super Bowl, which after 1970 became the new NFL Championship Game. The winners of those games are not listed on this table but a separate one.
4.
5. Official NFL record books do not recognize the 4 AAFC Championships by the Cleveland Browns franchise. However, the Pro Football Hall of Fame does list them as apart of the 8 total league championships by the Browns
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. No official standings were maintained for the 1920 season, and the championship was awarded to the Akron Pros in a league meeting on April 30, 1921. Clubs played schedules that included games against non-league opponents.
12. became the Chicago Bears in 1922
13. When the Browns joined the NFL in 1950, their championship victory was their first in their NFL tenure hence why the number one is in parenthesis, but the bolded number is five, which reflects both NFL and AAFC championships.
14.
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
