5
The Cleveland Browns won all four AAFC league championships
from 1946 to 1949. The AAFC stopped operating after the 1949
season. Three AAFC teams (Cleveland, San Francisco, and
Baltimore) joined the NFL beginning in the 1950 season. The
Cleveland Browns won the NFL championship in 1950, 1954, and
1955, and lost championship games in 1951, 1952, 1953, and 1957.
Art Modell (Modell) and a group of investors, including Paul
Brown as a minority investor, bought the Cleveland Browns in
1961. Modell tried to undermine Brown after the Modell group
bought the Cleveland Browns. Modell fired Paul Brown in 1963.
Brown moved to California for a short retirement.
3. The American Football League
The American Football League (AFL) was founded in 1959. The
AFL generally established franchises in cities where the NFL did
not have teams.
The AFL operated as a separate football league from 1960 to
1969. The AFL and NFL drafted and competed for the same players,
which led to higher player costs for AFL and NFL teams. The AFL
and NFL also competed for advertising dollars and television
audiences. The AFL secured a 5-year, $136 million television
contract from NBC for its 1965 season, which gave it a
substantial economic boost.
4. Merger of the NFL and AFL
On June 8, 1966, the AFL and NFL announced that they would
merge. The agreement provided that AFL and NFL teams would
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