American Football League (1936)

American Football League

sport	American football
abbreviation	AFL II
League foundation	1935
League dissolution	1937
Teams	6 per season, 8 in total
Country countries	United States
Record champions	Boston Shamrocks (1936), Los Angeles Bulldogs (1937)

The American Football League (AFL II) was a professional league for American football in the United States that operated from 1936 to 1937 .

history

The creation of AFL II was announced on November 15, 1935 by Harry March , a long-time HR director for the New York Giants . As a result, 15 cities applied for a team, eight of which were selected. However, the number fell to six before the start of the season, as Philadelphia, Providence and Jersey City jumped off and only Brooklyn was added. The teams settled mainly in areas already developed by the NFL, only Cleveland had no NFL team in the area. Their players recruited the teams mainly from college, but some NFL stars were also poached. In addition to Harry Newman and Sid Gillman , the future Hall of Famer Ken Strong was a particularly prestigious win. Strong even received a 5-year ban from the NFL for moving to the competitive league. After five games in the season, the Syracuse Braves moved to Rochester, but gave up the game after the season. The AFL teams all lost money after the first season, but the league had an impact on the NFL. This took on the Cleveland Rams for a fee of $ 10,000 and the Boston Redskins moved to Washington. As a substitute for the Braves were Cincinnati Bengals founded, which, however, nothing to do with the first in the AFL IV founded, still existing Cincinnati Bengals had to do. The Rams were replaced by the Los Angeles Bulldogs , which, however, dominated the league in the second season so that no other team achieved a win rate over 50%. Due to the one-sidedness and the low profitability, the league was subsequently dissolved.

Tables

1936

team	S.	N	U	SQ	P +	P-
Boston shamrocks	8th	3	0	.727	133	97
Cleveland Rams	5	2	2	.714	123	77
New York Yankees	5	3	2	.625	75	74
Pittsburgh Americans	3	2	1	.600	78	65
Syracuse / Rochester Braves	1	6th	0	.147	51	113
Brooklyn / Rochester Tigers	0	6th	1	.000	58	82

1937

team	S.	N	U	SQ	P +	P-
Los Angeles Bulldogs	8th	0	0	1,000	219	69
Rochester Tigers	3	3	1	.500	94	115
New York Yankees	2	3	1	.400	57	115
Cincinnati Bengals	2	3	2	.400	102	89
Boston shamrocks	2	5	0	.286	76	98
Pittsburgh Americans	0	3	0	.000	7th	69

All stars

No All-Stars were chosen in the first season, but in 1937 they were. The choice was likely made by the coaches, as was the custom at the time.

position	Surname	team
End	Bill Moore	los Angeles
Tackle	Bill Steinkemper	Cincinnati
Guard	Pete Mehringer	los Angeles
center	Lee Mulleneaux	Cincinnati
Guard	Alex Drobnitch	new York
Tackle	Harry Fields	los Angeles
End	Red Fleming	Boston
Quarterback	Harry Newman	Rochester
Halfback	Don Geyer	Cincinnati
Halfback	Al Nichelini	los Angeles
Fullback	Gordon Gore	los Angeles

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dieter Hoch and Stefan Thoben: From AFL to NFL Europe . Huddle Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811390-3-7 , pp. 147 .
2. ↑ James Quirk, Rodney D. Fort: Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports . Princeton University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-18794-5 , pp. 338 .
3. ^ ^{A b} Dieter Hoch and Stefan Thoben: From AFL to NFL Europe . Huddle Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-9811390-3-7 , pp. 148 .
4. ^ ^{A b} James Quirk, Rodney D. Fort: Pay Dirt: The Business of Professional Team Sports . Princeton University Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0-691-18794-5 , pp. 339 .
5. ↑ Bob Gill: THE BEST OF THE REST: PART ONE . In: Coffin Corner . tape 5 , no. 11 , 1983, pp. 2 .
6. ↑ Bob Gill: THE BEST OF THE REST: PART ONE . In: Coffin Corner . tape 5 , no. 11 , 1983, pp. 3 .