The AFL Curse
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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?)
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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.
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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.
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
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How did the AFL's TV ratings compare to the NFL's?
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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):
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