The National Football League, or NFL, is the most popular sports league in the United States, according to the most recent Gallup poll. This 2008 poll reported that football leads baseball 41 to 10 percent as Americans' favorite sport. In its early years, though, numerous NFL teams disbanded and baseball was far more popular. The NFL turned the corner in the 1950s and 1960s thanks to TV, the folding of rival leagues and the Super Bowl.
Early Years
The NFL was formed in 1920, but was so disorganized that it didn't have a championship game until 1933. Most of the NFL's teams in its early years were in medium-sized cities in Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. Akron was named the 1920 champion at an April 1921 meeting of administrators. The league's early star players included George Halas, who also coached and owned the Chicago Bears, and Jim Thorpe, who also was the NFL's commissioner. The number of NFL teams fluctuated constantly. There were 22 teams briefly in the 1920s. By 1932, there were eight, and they were mostly in the Northeast.
Growing Years
Detroit, Green Bay, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Washington had NFL teams by 1946. Chicago had two, although the Cardinals later moved to St. Louis and then Arizona. Baltimore, Cleveland and San Francisco joined the NFL when the All-America Football Conference merged with the NFL in 1950. The 1951 championship was the first game on national TV, and TV stations began broadcasting regular-season games in 1956. The NFL's popularity soared in the late 1950s, particularly after the captivating 1958 championship which Baltimore won 23-17 against the New York Giants in overtime.
Super Bowls
Football's soaring popularity spurred the addition of teams in Atlanta, Dallas, Minnesota and New Orleans in the 1960s and the 10-team American Football League's formation in 1959. The two leagues bid for college stars, but agreed in 1966 that the AFL would fold in 1970. The plan included a championship between the two leagues' winners from 1967 to 1970, and a championship between the National Football Conference and American Football Conference champions afterward. The championship became known as the Super Bowl in 1969. Green Bay routed Kansas City and Oakland in the 1967 and 1968 championships, but the New York Jets' shocking win over heavily-favored Baltimore in the 1969 Super Bowl helped football pass baseball in popularity in 1972. Pittsburgh won the most Super Bowls in the 1970s. San Francisco, Dallas and New England won the most Super Bowls in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. As of 2011, the NFL has 32 teams.
Great Players
The NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, honors the NFL's best players, coaches and administrators. The 260 members include 2010 inductees Jerry Rice and Emmitt Smith. Rice, who starred for San Francisco and Oakland, has more catches, 1,549, than any receiver in NFL history. Smith, who was with Dallas for most of his career, is the NFL's all-time leader in rushing yards with 18,355. Recent retirees Morten Anderson and Brett Favre could make the NFL Hall of Fame after they have been retired for the required five years. Anderson, a kicker, has more points, 2,544, than any player in NFL history. Favre, who played mostly for Green Bay, is the NFL's all-time leader with 508 passing touchdowns.
References
- Gallup, Inc.: Football Remains Runaway Leader as Favorite Sport
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: General History - Chronology (1869 to 1939)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: General History Chronology (1940 to 1959)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: General History Chronology (1960 to 1979)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Alphabetically
- Pro-Football-Reference.com: Football Records and Leaderboards
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