all-america football conference

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 in 1946. The AAFC successfully competed against the National Football League in many cities, outdrawing the older league in terms of attendance and, in the case of teams such as the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers, demonstrating equal if not superior football talent. The Browns of 1948 in fact became the first professional football team to go undefeated in all its games — 24 years before the 1972 Miami Dolphins of the NFL would do so. After four years of operation, many AAFC teams were in financial trouble due to escalating player salaries. The elder NFL also found its teams in difficulty, and a merger agreement was reached. 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 1950's,
The San Francisco 49ers, who would be paired with the Los Angeles Rams, and
The Baltimore Colts, who would play just one season (1950) in the NFL. The Colts name would be resurrected for an NFL expansion franchise, the Baltimore Colts, in 1953.

AAFC teams

Brooklyn Dodgers, 1946-1948 (ceased operations)
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, 1946-1949
San Francisco 49ers, 1946-1949

AAFC championship games

1946 — Cleveland Browns 14, New York Yankees 9
1947 — Cleveland Browns 14, New York Yankees 3
1948 — Cleveland Browns 49, Buffalo Bills 7
1949 — Cleveland Browns 21, San Francisco 49ers 7

AAFC Commissioners

Jim Crowley 1944-1947
Jonas Ingram 1947-1949
O.O. Kessing 1949-1949