National Football League Major League Teams Timeline 1920-present

National Football League Logo [Ref: 4]

NFL Major League Teams Timeline 1920-present

NumberTeamsYears Active
American Pro Football Association 1920-1921
1Chicago Cardinals1898-1959
2Chicago Bears1920-present [1]
3Green Bay Packers1921-present
4New York Giants1921; 1924-1973 [2]
National Football League Era 1922-1959
5Brooklyn Dodgers1930-1943
6Portsmouth Spartans1930-1933 [3]
7Boston Braves1932 [4]
8Boston Redskins1933-1936 [4]
9Cincinnati Reds1933
10Pittsburgh Pirates1933-1939 [5]
11Philadelphia Eagles1933-present
12St. Louis Gunners1933
13Detroit Lions1934-present [3]
14Green Bay Packers (Milwaukee)1935-1984 [6]
15Phildelphia Eagles (Johnstown, PA)1936 *
16Washington Redskins1937-present [4]
17Cleveland Rams1937-1944 [7]
18Philadelphia Eagles (Buffalo)1938 *
19Philadelphia Eagles (Erie, PA)1938 *
20Pittsburgh Steelers (Charleston, West Virginia)1938 *
21Cleveland Rams (Colorado Springs)1939 *
22Pittsburgh Steelers1940-present [5]
23Cleveland Rams (Akron)1942 *
24Phil-Pitt Steagles1943 [8]
25Boston Yanks1944-1948
26Brooklyn Tigers1944
27Card-Pitt1944 [9]
28Los Angeles Rams1946-1981 [10]
29New York Bulldogs1949
30Cleveland Browns AAFC1950-1995 [10]
31San Francisco 49’ers1950-2013 [10]
32Baltimore Colts1950-1951 [10]
American Football League Era 1950-1988
33New York Yanks1950-1951
34Dallas Texans1952
35Baltimore Colts1953-1981 [11]
36Dallas Texans1960-1962 [12]
37Denver Broncos1960-present
38Houston Oilers1960-1995 [13]
39Los Angeles Chargers1960 [14]
40New York Titans1960-1962 [16]
41Buffalo Bills1960-present
42Boston Patriots1960-1969 [17]
43Dallas Cowboys1960-present
44Oakland Raiders1960-1981 [18]
45St. Louis Cardinals1960-1987 [19]
46Minnesota Vikings1961-present
47San Diego Chargers1961-2018 [20]
48Kansas City Chiefs1963-present
49New York Jets1963-present
50Atlanta Falcons1966-present
51Miami Dolphins1967-present
52Boston Patriots (Birmingham)1968 *
53New Orleans Saints1968-present
54Cincinnati Bengals1969-present
55Miami Dolphins (Tampa)1969 *
56New England Patriots1971-present [17]
57New York Giants (New Haven, Conn.)1973-1975 [21]
58New York Giants (New Jersey)1976-present [21]
59Tampa Bay Buccaneers1976-present
60Seattle Seahawks1976-present
61Indianapolis Colts1982-present [22]
62Los Angeles Raiders1982-1994 [23]
63Los Angeles Rams (Anaheim)1982-1994 [24]
64New York Jets (New Jersey)1984-present [25]
National Football League Europe Era 1988-2005
65Phoenix Cardinals1988-1993 [26]
66Barcelona Dragons1991-1992; 1995-2003
67Birmingham Fire1991-1992
68Frankfurt Galaxy1991-1992; 1995-2007
69London Monarchs1991-1992; 1995-1997
70Montreal Machine1991-1992
71New York / New Jersey Knights1991-1992
72Orlando Thunder1991-1992
73Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks1991
74Sacramento Surge1991-1992
75San Antonio Riders1991-1992
76Ohio Glory1992
77Arizona Cardinals1994-present [26]
78Amsterdam Admirals1995-2005
79Rhein Fire1995-2007
80Scottish Claymores1995-
81Carolina Panthers1995-present
82Jacksonville Jaguars1995-present
83St. Louis Rams1995-2018 [27]
84Oakland Raiders1995-2019 [28]
85Baltimore Ravens1996-present
86Tennessee Oilers1997 [29]
87England Monarchs (Birmingham)1998
88England Monarchs (Bristol)1998
89England Monarchs (London)1998
90Tennessee Titans1998 [30]
91Berlin Thunder1999
92Cleveland Browns (AFC)1999-present [31]
93Houston Texans2002-present
94Cologne Centurions2004-2007
95New Orleans Saints (Baton Rouge)2005 [32]
96New Orleans Saints (San Antonio)2005 [32]
National Football League International Era 2005-
97Arizona Cardinals (Mexico City)2005 [33]
98Hamburg Sea Devils2006
99Jacksonville Jaguars (London)2007-present [34]
100Buffalo Bills (Toronto)2008-2013 [35]
101San Francisco 49’ers (Santa Clara)2014-present
102Los Angeles Chargers2019-present [20]
103Los Angeles Rams2019-present [36]
104Las Vegas Raiders2020-present [37]
National Football League Major Teams Timeline 1920-present [Ref: 1-7]

Notes:

[1] Originally founded as Decatur Staleys (1920). Became Chicago Staleys (1921) and Bears (1922)

[2] The NFL counts the New York Giants of 1921 and 1924 as separate teams.

[3] Portsmouth Spartans became Detroit Lions in 1934.

[4] Boston Braves became Boston Redskins 1933 and Washington Redskins 1937.

[5] Pittsburgh Pirates became Pittsburgh Steelers 1940.

[6] Green Bay Packers played around half their home games in Milwaukee from 1935-1984.

[7] Cleveland Rams became Los Angeles Rams 1945.

[8] Philadelphia and Pittsburgh played as joint team due to player shortage during WWII. Known as Phil-Pitt and knicknamed “Steagles” by fans.

[9] Chicago Cardinals and Pittsburgh played as a joint team in 1944 also due to a player shortage. Known as Card-Pitt.

[10] Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49’ers and Baltimore Colts joined NFL from All-America Football Conference (1946-1949)

[11] NFL considers Baltimore Colts of 1951 & 1953 as separate teams.

[12] Dallas Texans became Kansas City Chiefs in 1963.

[13] Moved to Memphis and became Tennessee Oilers in 1996. name retired by NFL.

[14] Los Angeles Chargers moved to San Diego in 1961.

[15] Minneapolis were awarded a team for the AFL in 1960, but later resigned from the League and were awarded a team for the NFL to begin play in 1961.

[16] New York Titans changed name to New York Jets 1963.

[17] Boston Patriots moved outside Boston in Massachusetts in 1970 and changed name to New England Patriots.

[18] Oakland Raiders moved to Los Angeles (Anaheim) in 1982.

[19] Chicago Cardinals became St. Louis Cardinals in 1960.

[20] San Diego Chargers moved back to Los Angeles in 2019.

[21] New York Giants moved to New Haven, Connecticut in 1973, and East Rutherford, New Jersey in 1975.

[23] Baltimore Colts moved to Indianapolis in 1982.

[24] Los Angeles Rams moved to Anaheim in 1982.

[25] New York Jets moved into Giants Stadium, New Jersey in 1984.

[26] St. Louis Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988 and then moved to Tempe, Arizona and became Arizona Cardinals in 1994.

[27] Los Angeles Rams moved to St. Louis 1995.

[28] Los Angeles Raiders moved back to Oakland 1995.

[29] Houston Oilers moved to Memphis becoming the Tennessee Oilers in 1997.

[30] Tennessee Oilers moved to Nashville becoming Tennessee Titans in 1998.

[31] The Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996, and were renamed the Ravens. The NFL placed a new team in Cleveland in 1999, and gave them the Cleveland Browns name and history.

[32] The New Orleans Saints played their Home matches in Baton Rouge (Louisiana) and San Antonio (Texas) in 2005 due to the Super Dome in New Orleans being unplayable as a result of Hurricane Katrina.

[33] The Arizona Cardinals were the designated Home Team for an NFL International Regular Season match in Mexico City in 2005.

[34] The Jacksonville Jaguars were the designated Home Team for NFL International Regular Season matches in London from 2007 to present. nicknamed the “Union Jags” by fans.

[35] The Buffalo Bills were the designated Home Team for NFL International Regular Season matches in Toronto from 2008 to 2013.

[36] St. Louis Rams moved back to Los Angeles in 2019.

[37] Oakland Raiders moved to Las Vegas in 2020.

*Single Home match played at the venue indicated.

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]

[2] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 1998 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id173.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[3] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 1999 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id174.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[4] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2000 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id175.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[5] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2001 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id176.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[6] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2002 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id177.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[7] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2003 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id178.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[8] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2004 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id179.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[9] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2005 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id180.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[10] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2006 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id181.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

[11] World League of American Football (2018) WLAF History: 2007 [Internet] Available from: http://www.worldleagueofamericanfootball.com/id182.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]

Images

[8] National Football League (2019) Division Standings | 2019 | Preseason [Internet] Available from: https://www.nfl.com/standings/division/2019/PRE [Accessed 12 August 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

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