National Football League Teams 1920-1959

Number	Teams	Years Active
	Ohio League founding members of APFA
A	Akron Pros	1920-1922
B	Canton Bulldogs	1920-1926
C	Rock Island Independents	1920-1925
D	Dayton Triangles	1920-1929
	American Pro Football Association 1920-1921
1	Decatur Staleys	1920
2	Buffalo All-Americans	1920-1923
3	Chicago Cardinals	1920-1959
4	Rochester Jeffersons	1920-1925
5	Cleveland Tigers	1920
6	Chicago Tigers	1920
7	Muncie Flyers	1920
8	Chicago Staleys	1921
9	Cleveland indians	1921
10	Evansville Crimson Giants	1921-1922
11	Green Bay Packers	1921-present
12	Washington Senators	1921
13	Minneapolis Marines	1921-1924
14	Tonawanda Kardex	1921
15	Louisville Brecks	1921-1923
16	New York Giants	1921; 1924-present
17	Chicago Bears	1922-present
	National Football League 1922-1925
18	Racine Legion	1922-1924
19	Milwaukee Badgers	1922-1926
20	Oorang Indians	1922-1923
21	Duluth Kelleys	1923-1925
22	Columbus Tigers	1923-1926
23	St. Louis All-Stars	1923
24	Cleveland Bulldogs	1924-1925
25	Frankford Yellowjackets	1924-1931
26	Buffalo Bisons	1924-1925
27	Kansas City Blues	1924
28	Kenosha Maroons	1924
29	Pottsville Maroons	1925
30	Detroit Panthers	1925-1926
31	Providence Steam Roller	1925-1931
32	Kansas City Cowboys	1925-1926
	NFL Consolidation Era 1926-1932
33	Los Angeles Buccaneers	1926
34	Duluth Eskimoes	1926-1927
35	Buffalo Rangers	1926
36	Detroit Panthers	1926
37	Hartford Blues	1926
38	Brooklyn Lions	1926
39	Racine Tornadoes	1926
40	Louisville Colonels	1926
41	Detroit Wolverines	1926
42	Staten Island Stapletons	1929-1932
43	Orange Tornadoes	1929
44	Minneapolis Red Jackets	1929-1930
45	Brooklyn Dodgers	1930-1944
46	Portsmouth Spartans	1930-1933
47	Newark Tornadoes	1930
48	Boston Braves	1932
	NFL Championship Era 1933-1959
49	Philadelphia Eagles	1933-present
50	Pittsburgh Pirates	1933-1939
51	Cincinnati Reds	1933-1934
52	Boston Redskins	1933-1936
53	Detroit Lions	1934-present
54	St. Louis Gunners	1934
55	Cleveland Rams	1937-1944
56	Washington Redskins	1937-present
57	Pittsburgh Steelers	1940
58	Phil-Pitt Steagles	1943
59	Boston Yanks	1944-1948
60	Brooklyn Tigers	1944
61	Card-Pitt	1944
62	Los Angeles Rams	1946-1994; 2019-present
62	New York Bulldogs	1949
64	The Yanks (Boston-Brooklyn)	1951

American Football Leagues Timeline 1926-1959

Number	Teams	Years Active
	American Football League I 1926
1	Philadelphia Quakers	1926
2	New York Yankees	1926
3	Cleveland Panthers	1926
4	Los Angeles Wildcats	1926
5	Chicago Bulls	1926
6	Boston Bulldogs	1926
7	Brooklyn Horsemen	1926
8	Newark Bears	1926
	American Football League II 1934
9	St. Louis Blues	1934
10	Kansas City Blues	1934
11	Louisville Bourbons	1934
12	Dallas Rams	1934
13	Charlotte Bantams	1934
14	Tulsa Oilers	1934
15	Memphis Tigers	1934
	American Football League III 1936-1937
16	Boston Shamrocks	1936-1937
17	Pittsburgh Americans	1936-1937
18	Rochester Tigers	1936-1937
19	Brooklyn Tigers	1936-1937
20	Los Angeles Bulldogs	1936-1937
21	Cincinnati Bengals	1936-1937
	American Football League IV 1938-1939
22	East Chicago Indians	1938-1939
23	Louisville Tanks	1938-1939
24	Nashville Rebels	1938-1939
25	Cincinnati Blades	1938-1939
26	Dayton Rosies	1938-1939
27	Columbus Bullies	1938-1939
28	Dayton Bombers	1938-1939
29	Kenosha Cardinals	1938-1939
	American Football League V 1940-1941
30	Milwaukee Chiefs	1940-1941
31	Boston Bears	1940-1941
32	Buffalo Indians	1940-1941
	Pacific Coast Pro Football League 1940-1948
33	Hollywood Bears	1940-1942; 1948
34	Oakland Giants	1940
35	Phoenix Panthers	1940
36	San Diego Bombers	1940-1946
37	San Francisco Bay Packers	1941-1944
38	Los Angeles Mustangs	1942-1943
39	Richmond Boilermakers	1943
40	Alameda Mustangs	1943
41	San Jose Mustangs	1944-1945
42	Hollywood Wolves	1944
43	San Francisco Clippers	1945-1948
44	Tacoma Indians	1946
45	Sacramento Nuggets	1946-1947
46	Salt Lake City Seagulls	1946-1947
47	Hawaiian Warriors	1946-1948
48	Long Beach Bulldogs	1948
	American Football League VI 1944
49	Hollywood Rangers	1944
50	Seattle Bombers	1944
51	Portland Rockets	1944
52	San Diego Gunners	1944
53	Oakland Hornets	1944
	All-America Football Conference 1946-1949
54	Miami Seahawks	1946
55	Cleveland Browns	1946-present
56	San Francisco 49’ers	1946-present
57	Los Angeles Dons	1946-1949
58	Chicago Rockets	1946-1948
59	Brooklyn-New York Yankees	1949
60	Buffalo Bills	1947-1949
61	Chicago Hornets	1949
62	Baltimore Colts	1947-1951
	National-American Football League 1950-1954
63	New York Yanks	1950-1951
64	Dallas Texans	1952

Irish Born NFL & AFL players 1920-1959

Bertie Maher, DE, who was born in Co. Mayo, played Defensive End for the Detroit Heralds in 1920. [2][3]

Bob Nash, DE/OT, who was born in Collinstown, Ireland, Played Defensive End & Offensive Tackle for the Akron Pros in 1920 , Buffalo All-Americans in 1921-1923, Rochester Jeffersons 1924 , New York Giants 1925 [2][7]

Tom McGlaughlin, FB, who was born in Ireland, played Fullback for the Tonawanda Kardex in 1921.[2][4]

Con O’Brien, OT, who was born in Ireland, Played Offensive Tackle for the New York Giants in 1921 [2][8]

Brian McGrath, OG, who was born in Ireland, played Offensive Guard for the Louisville Brecks in 1922. [2][5]

Francis Fitzgerald, BB-DB, who was born in Co. Kerry, played Defensive Back for the Toledo Maroons in 1923 [2][6]

Note:

[1] New York Yankees moved from AFL to NFL in 1927.

[2] Cleveland Rams moved from AFL to NFL in 1937.

[3] Cincinnati Bengals and a number of other teams were in numerous AFL’s.

[4] Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49’ers and Baltimore Colts moved from AAFC to NFL in 1950.

[5] Buffalo Bills & Cincinnati Bengals not same teams as current NFL teams. NFL reused the names.

[6] National Football League known as National-American Football League from 1950-1952 following merger of National Football League and All-America Football Conference, with two Conferences (National & American) replacing Eastern & Western Division . Reverted to NFL name in 1953.

[7] Four teams – the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Rock Island Independents and Dayton Triangles were members of the Ohio League (1901-1919) and became founder members of the American Professional Football Association in 1920.

[8] The American Professional Football Association (1920-1921) changed its name to the National Football League in 1922.

[9] The National Football League operated as the only Pro Football League from 1922-1925, and in 1926 made the decision to consolidate its players on a smaller number of financially successful teams.

[10] The American Football League of 1926 was the first Major Rival to the NFL to use the AFL name.

[11] The first scheduled National Football League Championship Game took place in 1933.

References

Bibliography

[1] National Football League (2014) “Past Standings” 2014 Official NFL Record & Factbook” pg. 350-399. National football League, Time Home Entertainment. 2014.

Websites

[2] Pro Football Hall of Fame (2005) American Football League Standings (1936-37) [Internet] Available from: http://www.profootballhof.com/news/american-football-league-standings-1936-37/ [Accessed 5 June 2017]

[3] Bob Gill, The Coffin Corner, Pro Football Researchers Association (1989) Back Before Bengalmania – Cincinnati’s First Brush with the Big Time – [Internet] Available from: http://profootballresearchers.com/archives/Website_Files/Coffin_Corner/11-05-379.pdf [Accessed 9 October 2018]

[4] Pro Football Archives (2019) 1938 | American Football League [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1938.html [Accessed 12 October 2019]

[5] Pro Football Archives (2019) 1939 | American Football League [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1939.html [Accessed 12 October 2019]

[6] Pro Football Hall of Fame (2005) American Football League (1940-1941) [Internet] Available from: http://www.profootballhof.com/news/american-football-league-1940-1941/ [Accessed 5 June 2017]

[7] Pro Football Hall of Fame (2005) All-America Football Conference (AAFC) Standings (1946-1949) [Internet] Available from: http://www.profootballhof.com/news/all-america-football-conference-aafc-standings-1946-1949/ [Accessed 5 June 2017]

Images

[8] Wikipedia (2018) All-America Football Conference Logo [Internet] Available from: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/11/All-America_Football_Conference_%28logo%29.png [Accessed 8 October 2018]

Websites

[9] The Growth of a Game (2015) The Complete List of European NFL Players [Internet] Available from: https://www.growthofagame.com/2015/03/the-complete-list-of-european-nfl-players/ [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[10] Pro Football Archives (2019) Detroit Heralds 1920 [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1920apfadet.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[11] Pro Football Archives (2019) Tonawanda Kardex 1921 [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1921apfaton.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[12] Pro Football Archives (2019) Louisville Brecks 1922 [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1922nfllou.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[13] Pro Football Archives (2019) Toledo Maroons 1923 [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1923nfltol.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[14] Pro Football Archives (2019) Bob Nash [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/playern/nash00200.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[15] Pro Football Archives (2019) New York Giants 1921 [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/1921apfany.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[16] Pro Football Archives (2019) Bert Maher [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/playerm/mahe00200.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

[17] Pro Football Archives (2019) Brian McGrath [Internet] Available from: https://www.profootballarchives.com/playerm/mcgr00400.html [Accessed 11 October 2019]

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Decy Maher and John Kane.

About this document

Researched, compiled and written by Enda Mulcahy for the

Eirball | Irish, North American & World Sports Archive

Last Updated: 7 March 2020

(c) Copyright Enda Mulcahy and Eirball 2020

You may quote this document in part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All Rights Reserved.Advertisements