Ward brought together a number of wealthy pro football enthusiasts, some of whom had previously attempted to purchase NFL franchises.

The idea was not originated in vacuum, as two additional upstart leagues were trying to challenge the NFL in 1944:[1] On November 21, 1944, the AAFC chose James "Sleepy Jim" Crowley, one of the "Four Horsemen of Notre Dame", as its commissioner.

[5] Not coincidentally, the NFL commissioner at this time was Elmer Layden, another member of Knute Rockne's legendary 1924 "Fighting Irish" backfield at the University of Notre Dame.

A top team from 1936 to 1945, the Redskins began a decades-long title drought after coach Ray Flaherty and many key players defected in 1946.

Layden's successor, Bert Bell, pursued a policy of official non-recognition, generally answering "no comment" to queries about the other league.

In most interleague sports wars, the established league had major advantages over the challenger in prestige, finance, size, and public awareness.

Longtime NFL president Joe Carr had said, "No owner has made money from pro football, but a lot have gone broke thinking they could.

Dan Topping, owner of the NFL's Brooklyn Tigers,[17] wished to move his team from Ebbets Field to the much larger Yankee Stadium.

Shortly after Topping defected, the NFL owners fired Commissioner Layden, replacing him with Pittsburgh Steelers co-owner Bert Bell.

In the AAFC's first game, on September 6, 1946, the Cleveland Browns hosted the Miami Seahawks, winning 44–0 before a professional football record crowd of more than 60,000 fans.

Some notable guests watched the Browns' opening game: the entire coaching staff of the 1946 NFL champion Chicago Bears.

Inside") and Glenn Davis ("Mr. Outside"), and amid great publicity unsuccessfully attempted to get the military to permit them to play during their post-graduation furloughs.

Cleveland, led by MVP quarterback Otto Graham, won the West with a 12–1–1 record, 3½ games ahead of San Francisco.

Decades before Pete Rozelle, Bert Bell promoted parity by purposely matching strong teams early in the season, keeping them from getting far ahead in the standings.

Nearly every team in both leagues lost money – enough that in December, the NFL officially acknowledged the AAFC as peace talks almost succeeded in ending the war.

The Dodgers, the AAFC's least-drawing team, merged with the Yankees as the Rockets (renamed the Hornets) and Colts continued their streaks of annual ownership changes.

Instead, with Yankee Stadium and the Yanks name unavailable, Collins' renamed Bulldogs had to share the Polo Grounds with the Giants on unfavorable terms and compete with two superior rivals.

[29] With the AAFC now down to seven teams, it realigned into one division, reduced its schedule to 12 games (still a double round-robin), and changed its postseason to a Shaughnessy playoff.

Held in late August at Soldier Field, the game was sponsored by the Chicago Tribune—whose sports editor, Ward, had founded the AAFC.

[7] In an era when sports teams were wholly dependent on gate receipts to remain in business, and when revenues from sources such as media rights were negligible, this had the potential put the AAFC on essentially an equal financial footing.

Admitting Baltimore over Buffalo proved to be a mistake, as the AAFC's Colts folded after one season in the NFL, bringing the league back to an even 12 teams.

The Browns went 10–2 to finish in a first-place tie with the New York Giants, then won a playoff 8–3 to qualify for the 1950 NFL championship game.

In a classic seesaw game, the Browns prevailed on a last-minute field goal, 30–28, to win their fifth consecutive league title.

From an organizational perspective, the Ravens are a continuation of the pre-1996 Browns, who played in Cleveland until they controversially agreed to move to Baltimore for the 1996 NFL season.

The AAFC helped reintegrate professional American football in 1946 when Cleveland signed Marion Motley and Bill Willis.

The NFL Rams, having been driven out of Cleveland by the AAFC Browns, signed Kenny Washington and Woody Strode only after the venue they sought to play in, the Los Angeles Coliseum, enforced its policy of integration.

Through its poaching of NFL official (and former player-coaching star) Tommy Hughitt, the AAFC took an explicitly anti-racist stance toward rough play, aggressively penalizing racist unsportsmanlike conduct.

Motley credited this, along with the AAFC fans' embrace of black talent in the league, with helping to establish the legitimacy of integrated professional football.

One of the NFL's shakiest franchises financially prior to the merger, the addition of the Browns would help form a rivalry due to the close proximity of Cleveland and Pittsburgh that would be cut to two hours driving time by the time the Ohio Turnpike and the western extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike were completed by the mid-1950s, allowing fans of both teams to attend each other's away games.

The following AAFC players and coaches are enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio: (Note: Graham and Motley were also named to the NFL's 75th anniversary all-time team in 1994.)