<![CDATA[The AFL Curse]]> OK, if we are no longer able to pound on Steeler Squids in the offseason....how about some football history:

There is a Curse on the teams that won Championships as members of the American Football League.

Note this:   these are the teams from the AFL that won championships:

Houston Oilers nka Tennessee Titans   won the first two championships in 1960/61

Kansas City Chiefs  fka Dallas Texans  won the AFL title in 1962...and won the Super Bowl title in 1969 (as a member still of the AFL)

San Diego Chargers nka LA Chargers  won the AFL title in 1963.

Buffalo Bills   won the AFL titles in 1964 and 1965.

New York Jets  won the Super Bowl title in 1968 (as a member of the AFL)

And what do all 5 of these teams now have in common?:

None of these teams has won a Championship since the merger in 1970. 

(You may say:  what about the Raiders...they won an AFL title...and later won Super Bowls.  Yes...but they did not win THE Championship as a member of the AFL...they lost the Super Bowl the only year they won an AFL title...which at that point became tantamount to the AFC or NFC conference Championship game. 

Of these Championship winners in the AFL....the Jets and Chiefs have not made it back to the ultimate title game. The Chargers got hammered in their only Super Bowl appearance, the Titans came one yard short of possibly tieing a Super Bowl game to have a chance to win it in OT....and the Bills lost 4 straight SBs.....the closest they came being in the Scott Norwood "Wide Right" game.

So....this curse has gone on now for 49 years.   Who will break it?  Will the Chiefs behind Mahomes be that team? They seem to be in the best position to do so right now....though you could have said that last year and they didn't make it.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/topic/53283/the-afl-curseRSS for NodeThu, 01 Oct 2026 22:29:56 GMTFri, 10 May 2019 17:23:14 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 19:58:40 GMT]]> Some notes on the above:

A. Tom Benson's widow, Gayle, says she will continue to own and operate the Saints (and the N.O. Pelicans) as long as she is alive

B. Likewise, Robert McNair's wife, Janice will continue to own the Houston Texans...but their son Calvin McNair will become the chairman and operator of that franchise.

C.  The Seahawks were owned actually by the Paul Allen Trust....and now his sister Jody Allen has become the effective owner of the team...and has stated no intention to sell the franchise.

So each of these teams will remain in the families that have owned them.  (ala  the Rooneys, Maras, and other franchises). Compare to the Bills that were sold after the death of Ralph Wilson to the Pegulas.

Another of the  original AFL owners died not too long ago:  Bud Adams, owner of the Titans of Tennessee.  There was some family infighting...but it appears that Amy Adams Struk, daughter of Bud, has taken control.  A sister, Susan Adams Smith apparently sold her interest in the team to Amy.

And further FYI,  here is the list of NFL owners by length of ownership (the Packers, being a community owned entity have the longest tenure, naturally):

Franchise Owner Year
acquired
Green Bay Packers United States Green Bay Packers, Inc.4 1923
Arizona Cardinals United States Bill Bidwill 1962
Chicago Bears United States Virginia Halas McCaskey†‡2 1983
Denver Broncos United States Pat Bowlen†5 (Bowlen Family Trust) 1984
Dallas Cowboys United States Jerry Jones 1989
Cincinnati Bengals United States Mike Brown‡3 1991
New England Patriots United States Robert Kraft 1994
Philadelphia Eagles United States Jeffrey Lurie and Christina Weiss Lurie 1994
Indianapolis Colts United States Jim Irsay‡ 1997
Washington Redskins United States Dan Snyder† 1999
New York Jets United States Robert Wood Johnson IV5 and Christopher Wold Johnson‡ 2000
Atlanta Falcons United States Arthur Blank†1 2004
Baltimore Ravens United States Steve Bisciotti†1 2004
Minnesota Vikings GermanyUnited States Zygi Wilf† 2005
New York Giants United States John Mara (50%)3 
United States Steve Tisch (50%) 		2005
Kansas City Chiefs United States Clark Hunt and siblings‡2 2006
Miami Dolphins United States Stephen M. Ross† 2008
San Francisco 49ers United States Jed York‡1 2009
Los Angeles Rams United States Stan Kroenke1 2010
Oakland Raiders United States Carol and Mark Davis (mother and son)†‡ 2011
Cleveland Browns United States Jimmy and Dee Haslam 2012
Jacksonville Jaguars PakistanUnited States Shahid Khan 2012
Tennessee Titans United States Amy Adams Strunk 2 2013
Buffalo Bills South KoreaUnited States Kim and United States Terry Pegula 2014
Detroit Lions United States Martha Ford†[1] 2014
Tampa Bay Buccaneers United States Bryan Glazer and siblings‡ 2014
Pittsburgh Steelers United States Art Rooney II1,3 (60%) and family (12%)1,2,3 2017
Carolina Panthers United States David Tepper 2018
Houston Texans United States Janice McNair and family†‡2 2018
Los Angeles Chargers United States Dean Spanos 2018
New Orleans Saints United States Gayle Benson 2018
Seattle Seahawks Estate and/or Trust of Paul Allen6 2018
]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867804https://brownsboard.com/post/867804Sat, 11 May 2019 19:58:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 19:44:39 GMT]]> Per Forbes Magazine...at one time these were the Top 15 wealthiest NFL owners:

15.  Jeff Lurie...Eagles

14. Dan Snyder...Redskins

13. Jim Irsay...Colts

12. Tom Benson....Saints....Benson now deceased

11. Jimmy Haslam...Browns

10. Robert McNair....Houston....now deceased

9. Arthur Blank....Falcons

8. Steven Bisciotti...Ravens

7. The Pegulas...Buffalo

6. Jerry Jones....Dallas

5. Robert Kraft...New England

4. Shahid Khan....Jacksonville

3. Steve Ross....Dolphins

2. Stan Kroenke...Rams

1. Paul Allen...Seahawks...now deceased.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867802https://brownsboard.com/post/867802Sat, 11 May 2019 19:44:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 19:31:53 GMT]]>

@dutch-oven said:

I started looking up the history of the merger after you posted this thread and was surprised that the NFL came to the AFL first about merging, and that by and large the owners of AFL teams had far more money than the NFL owners. 

The AFL owners WERE a bunch of rich guys who put together the league:  Hunt, Adams, Wilson and others.....where a lot of NFL owners were old line  NFL families where football was there only holding:  Halas, Rooney, Bidwill, Mara,  George Preston Marshall....and a few guys like Modell who had bought their team on a shoestring but were not otherwise that wealthy.....not like the AFL guys.  So the AFL guys really had he deeper pockets to a great extent.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867801https://brownsboard.com/post/867801Sat, 11 May 2019 19:31:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 19:08:37 GMT]]>

@the-gipper said:

Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s.  I suspect they did.  I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games.  They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them:   Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins.  He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.

I started looking up the history of the merger after you posted this thread and was surprised that the NFL came to the AFL first about merging, and that by and large the owners of AFL teams had far more money than the NFL owners. 

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867796https://brownsboard.com/post/867796Sat, 11 May 2019 19:08:37 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 18:00:51 GMT]]>

@dutch-oven said:

How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's? 

Hell....I don't even know if they had ratings back in the 60s.  I suspect they did.  I do believe that the AFL had their games shown on NBC....I recall, I think, Kurt Gowdy calling games.  They were successful enough to lure a lot of big names to play for them:   Joe Namath in particular. They also got Rick Norton QB who the Browns drafted in the second round to sign with the Dolphins.  He was a big name out of college...but did nothing as a pro. Same for Jack Concannon.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867787https://brownsboard.com/post/867787Sat, 11 May 2019 18:00:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:31:15 GMT]]> How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's? 

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867765https://brownsboard.com/post/867765Sat, 11 May 2019 13:31:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:28:13 GMT]]>

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867762https://brownsboard.com/post/867762Sat, 11 May 2019 13:28:13 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:26:56 GMT]]>

@dutch-oven said:

Allow me to be the first person to stay on-topic (for Gip's sanity) and say that if the stadium in the '64 AFL Title Game looks familiar, it's Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium - used in the movie 'The Natural' as the New York Knights home stadium. 

True.

But they used Milwaukee's old stadium in Major League to depict Cleveland Municipal Stadium

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867760https://brownsboard.com/post/867760Sat, 11 May 2019 13:26:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:25:24 GMT]]>

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867759https://brownsboard.com/post/867759Sat, 11 May 2019 13:25:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:24:57 GMT]]> Allow me to be the first person to stay on-topic (for Gip's sanity) and say that if the stadium in the '64 AFL Title Game looks familiar, it's Buffalo's War Memorial Stadium - used in the movie 'The Natural' as the New York Knights home stadium. 

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867758https://brownsboard.com/post/867758Sat, 11 May 2019 13:24:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:24:08 GMT]]>

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867757https://brownsboard.com/post/867757Sat, 11 May 2019 13:24:08 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:21:49 GMT]]>

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867754https://brownsboard.com/post/867754Sat, 11 May 2019 13:21:49 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 13:21:22 GMT]]>

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867752https://brownsboard.com/post/867752Sat, 11 May 2019 13:21:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 02:09:05 GMT]]> And let's also note this:   for all of its talk about parity....the following current NFL teams have NOT won a championship since the 49 years of the 1970 merger....including expansion teams:

Chic/St.L/AZ Cardinals

Detroit Lions

Minnesota Vikings

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

LA/SD Chargers

Kansas City Chiefs

Jacksonville Jaguars

Houston Texans

Tenn. Titans/Hou. Oilers

NY Jets

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

That is 14 of the 32 franchises or  43.75% of all NFL teams have not had a title in nearly 50 years. (2.5 generations...or to put it in this perspective since most of the Baby Boom generation were almost all still below drinking age of 21 (and who many or most are now at retirement age)

Note for you Gen Xers and Millenials....when we Baby Boomers were young....we were thought responsible enough to be allowed to drink at age 18.  At least drink "3.2" beer.     (do they even make 3.2 beer any more?)

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867703https://brownsboard.com/post/867703Sat, 11 May 2019 02:09:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Sat, 11 May 2019 01:58:14 GMT]]> Of course, then there are the expansion teams that have come into existence since the 1970 merger:

Tampa Bay Bucs...won one Championship

Seattle Seahawks...won one Championship

Carolina Panthers....no titles

Jacksonville Jaguars...no titles

Baltimore Ravens...2 titles

Houston Texans...no titles

Also note:  in addition to the Bengals and Dolphins being AFL expansion teams during the later 60s....the NFL also expanded after 1959 and pre merger:

Dallas Cowboys.....5 titles

Minnesota Viking... -0- titles

Atlanta Falcons...-0- titles

New Orleans Saints....1 title.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867702https://brownsboard.com/post/867702Sat, 11 May 2019 01:58:14 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Fri, 10 May 2019 17:46:39 GMT]]> Post merger.....you were better off being an AFL team that had won no championships than if you had won titles:

Boston/New England Patriots....never made an AFL title game...now has 6 SB wins

Denver Broncos...never made an AFL title game...now has 3 SB wins.

Miami Dolphins....AFL expansion team in 1966....has won 2 SBs

Oakland Raiders...Did not win a Championship (appeared in one SB)...have since won 3 SBs

Cincinnati Bengals....AFL expansion team in 1968....(only a member of AFL for 2 years)....Only team to not win a Championship during AFL years....and to not have won a title since.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867641https://brownsboard.com/post/867641Fri, 10 May 2019 17:46:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to The AFL Curse on Fri, 10 May 2019 17:49:42 GMT]]> But think about this:  here are the teams that were in existence in the NFL in 1959 the year before the AFL came into existence, and their fates before and since that season:

NY Giants:   they had won 4 championships prior to the first NFL/AFL Championship (aka Super Bowl)...and have won 4 SBs since.

Philadelphia Eagles:  they won at least 3 championships pre SB...and finally won one a year ago

Washington Redskins:  won a few pre SB titles...and won 3 SBs.

Baltimore/Indy Colts:  won 2 pre SB titles...and have won 2 SBs (one in Balt. one in Indy)

Chicago Bears:  won  8 pre SB titles...and have won 1 Super Bowl

Green Bay Packers:  won 9 Championships pre SB...and have won 4 SBs since.

LA/St.L/Cleve. Rams:  won pre SB titles in both Cleveland and LA...and then won a SB in St. Louis

San Francisco 49ers....never won a Pre SB championship....but have won 5 titles since

Pittsburgh Steelers....never won a Pre SB championship...but have won 6 titles since.

Arizona/St.L/Chicago Cards....won 2 NFL titles pre SB,  but have not won any titles since 1947. (did appear in one SB)

Detroit Lions....won 4  pre SB championships....have not appeared in a SB.

Cleveland Browns....won 8 pre SB championships....have not appeared in a SB.

]]>https://brownsboard.com/post/867640https://brownsboard.com/post/867640Fri, 10 May 2019 17:49:42 GMT