September
16, 1950
Are
You Ready for Some Football!
The 1950 NFL season opened
with a game between the defending NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles, and the
Cleveland Browns, who had been the 1949 champions of the All-America Football
Conference (AAFC) before the two leagues had merged. During the four years of
the AAFC's existence, the NFL and AAFC champions had never played each other;
the Browns defeated the Eagles 35-10.
The 1950 NFL season was the
31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the
All-America Football Conference (AAFC) expanded the league to 13 teams. The
All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football
league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946
to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many
of the nation's best players, and introduced many lasting innovations to the
game. However, the AAFC was ultimately unable to sustain itself in competition
with the NFL. Three of its teams were admitted to the NFL: the San Francisco
49ers, the Cleveland Browns and the Baltimore Colts (not related to the later
second Colts team that would play in Baltimore in the old NFL from 1953 through
1983, now the Indianapolis Colts).
Television brought a new
era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of
its games – home and away – televised. The Washington Redskins became the
second team to put their games on TV. Other teams arranged to have selected
games televised. In addition, the free
substitution rule (any or all of the players may be replaced by substitutes
after any play) was restored on a permanent basis. This change paved the way
for player specialization in pro football, including three separate units for
each team: offensive team, defensive team, and special teams.
Born in 1950?
Then
congratulations on entering the world of Medicare. Like to know more …
