The Philadelphia Eagles sprang into action in 1933 when original team owner Bert Bell and first head coach Lud Wray purchased the former Frankford Yellow Jackets – an American football team part of the NFL. The Bell-Wray group paid an entry fee of $2,500 to acquire the assets of the failed Yellow Jackets franchise. Eagles Origins After establishing their new … Read more
Oakland Origins Since their inception, the Oakland Raiders have been riddled with controversy. After the Minneapolis-St. Paul franchise in the AFL defected to become the organization now known as the Minnesota Vikings, the gap in the AFL led to an Oakland group grabbing the spot – inheriting the team’s draft spot. Eddie Erdelatz served as the Raiders first head coach, but experienced … Read more
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers set sail for the first time in 1976 when the Tampa Bay area was awarded an NFL franchise team. The Bucs gained notoriety after finishing their opening season without winning or tying any game – a first in the history of the National Football League. All About the Bucs Tampa Bay stretches along Florida’s western … Read more
The Chargers – a founding team in the American Football League with the Dallas Texans and Boston Patriots in 1960 – got their start in the city of Los Angeles, California. They moved to San Diego in 1961 and merged with the NFL in 1970. In 2017, the Chargers moved back to Los Angeles after 56 seasons in San Diego. Fans of the … Read more
Professional football was introduced to New York at the same time that the New York Giants were established in the tristate area by original owner Tim Mara. The organization was legally named the “New York Football Giants” to distinguish itself from the New York Giants baseball team. The Giants experienced initial success during their inaugural season but struggled financially up until … Read more
The Minnesota Vikings kicked things off as an expansion team in 1960, and first took the field for their season opener in 1961. It all began, however, when a group of five businessmen were granted a franchise in the newly formed AFL in 1959. The Vikes would forfeit their AFL membership the following year to become the NFL’s 14th … Read more
The Washington Redskins are one of the older NFL franchises around, but they didn’t get their start as the Redskins, nor were they even in D.C. at the time. In fact, businessmen George Preston Marshall, Vincent Bendix, Jay O’Brien, and Dorland Doyle bought a NFL franchise for Boston in 1932. The team played at Braves Field and were then known … Read more
Established in 1946 as a member of the All-American Football Conference, the Cleveland Browns are one of the NFL’s most unique franchises. Out of the entire league, they are the only team named after a former coach – legend Paul Brown. The Browns are also the only team in the NFL without a logo on their helmet. The team … Read more
Ohio’s Cincinnati Bengals are a part of the NFL’s American Football Conference (AFC) and are a product of Pro Football Hall of Famer and Cleveland Browns founder Paul Brown. Under the ownership and guidance of Brown, Cincinnati was granted an expansion franchise in 1967 to bring the team back from a complicated history; the team stuck with the “Bengals” name as a … Read more
The San Francisco 49ers got their start in the ’40s – not in the NFL, but in the All-America Football Conference, a rival league to the NFL and one of its early competitors. Founder Tony Morabito worked hard to bring his idea of a San Francisco football team to fruition, and once he joined forces with a few … Read more