NFL'S History

Beginnings

The National Football League was the idea of legendary athlete Jim Thorpe he was player-coach of the Canton Bulldogs, and Leo Lyons, owner of the Rochester Jeffersons, a sandlot football team.






After Lyons's Jeffersons played, and lost badly to, Thorpe's Bulldogs in a 1917 match...



Lyons suggested to Thorpe that a league be formed.
Plans could not be initiated immediately in 1918, due to the Spanish flu quarantines and the loss of players to the Great War, which led to the Bulldogs suspending operations and most other teams either suspending operations or reducing their schedules to local teams.

A new league is born

It was not until August 1920, at a Hupmobile dealership in Canton, Ohio, that the league was formalized, originally as the American Professional Football Conference, initially consisting only of the Ohio League teams (though some of the teams declined participation). One month later, the league was renamed the American Professional Football Association, adding Buffalo and Rochester from the New York league, Detroit, Hammond, and several other teams from nearby circuits. The eleven founding teams initially struck an agreement over player poaching and the declaration of an end-of-season champion. Thorpe, while still playing for the Bulldogs, was elected president. Only four of the founding teams finished the 1920 schedule and the undefeated Akron Pros claimed the first championship. Membership of the league increased to 22 teams (including more of the New York teams) in 1921, but throughout the 1920s the membership was unstable and the league was not a major national sport. On June 24, 1922, the organization changed its title a final time to the National Football League.

AFL-NFL MERGER

The AFL–NFL merger of 1970 was the merger of the two major American Professional Football leagues in the United States at the time: the National Football League (NFL) and the American Football League (AFL). The merger paved the way for the combined league, which retained the "National Football League" name and logo, to become one of the most popular and powerful sports leagues in the United States.The two leagues would combine to form an expanded league with 24 teams, which would be increased to 26 teams by 1969, and to 28 teams by 1970 or soon thereafter.

The represents of the leagues announced a merger agreement:

- All existing teams would be retained, and none of them would be moved outside of their metropolitan areas.

- AFL "indemnities" would be paid to NFL teams which shared markets with AFL teams. Specifically, the New York Giants would receive payments from the New York Jets, and the San Francisco 49ers would get money from the Oakland Raiders.

- Both leagues would now hold a "common draft" of college players, effectively ending the bidding war between the two leagues over the top college prospects.

- While maintaining separate schedules through 1969, the leagues agreed to play an annual AFL-NFL World Championship Game, matching the championship teams of each league, beginning in January 1967, a game that would eventually become known as the Super Bowl.

-The two leagues would officially merge in 1970 to form one league with two conferences. The merged league would be known as the National Football League. The history and records of the AFL would be incorporated into the older league, but its name and logo would be retired.

Popularity

While baseball is known as "America's national pastime," football is the most popular sport in the United States. According to the Harris Poll, professional football moved ahead of baseball as the fans' favorite in 1965, during the emergence of the NFL's challenger, the American Football League, as a major professional football league. Football has remained America's favorite sport ever since. In a Harris Poll conducted in 2008, the NFL was the favorite sport of as many people (30%) as the combined total of the next three professional sports – baseball (15%), auto racing (10%), and hockey (5%).Additionally, football's American television viewership ratings now surpass those of other sports, although football season comprises far fewer games than the seasons of other sports.Furthermore, college football is actually the third-most popular sport in the country, especially in the Southern United States where college teams are far more popular than their pro counterparts; 12% of survey respondents list college football as their favorite. Therefore, fully 42% of Americans consider some level of football their favorite sport. States such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas often have football popular at all levels, thus explaining the popularity of teams in those states.

MY OPINION IS

This is favorite sport for many people

in the united states and the womans that likes it

are very beautiful, for example:

THE CHEERLEADERS

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