After deeming the 1940 season to be a success, the league made overtures of expansion, even going to the point of having a press conference to announce the addition of new teams (July), but when the press conference was held, the Boston Bears had withdrawn from the league and the new Detroit franchise deferred entry for the 1942 season (interests representing Philadelphia and Baltimore also applied for membership and were denied).
[2] At the beginning of the 1941 season, the Bullies accepted a challenge from the defending Western Interprovincial Football Union champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers for a three-game series; the Bombers had been banned from Grey Cup contention that year due to rules discrepancies between the WIFU and the other organizations playing Canadian football at the time.
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pct.= Winning Percentage, PF = Points for, AP = Points against The league's coaches selected the all-league team:[3] Precisely one week after the last regular season AFL game --- Sunday, December 7, 1941 --- Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese military forces.
As both major football leagues were losing personnel to military service, both made plans for a 1942 season (the AFL as a six team loop with a new Detroit franchise).
[2] Ironically, the NFL came close to suspending operations,[1] but continued as a ten-team league, but on September 2, 1942, the AFL suspended operations “until the end of the war.”[2] AFL president William Cox announced the suspension, stating “We do not have the time to go into the football business this fall.