Of the 14 franchises that comprised the American Professional Football Association in 1920, only two remain-the Arizona Cardinals (then the Chicago Cardinals) and the Chicago Bears (originally the Decatur-IL Staleys). Green Bay joined the APFA in 1921 and the league changed its name to the NFL in 1922. Since then, 54 NFL clubs have come and gone, five rival leagues have expired and two other leagues have been swallowed up.

The NFL merged with the All-America Football Conference (1946-49) following the 1949 season and adopted three of its seven clubs-the Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers. The four remaining AAFC teams-the Brooklyn/NY Yankees, Buffalo Bills, Chicago Hornets and Los Angeles Dons-did not survive. After the 1950 season, the financially troubled Colts were sold back to the NFL. The league folded the team and added its players to the 1951 college draft pool. A new Baltimore franchise, also named the Colts, joined the NFL in 1953.

The formation of the American Football League (1960-69) was announced in 1959 with ownership lined up in eight cities-Boston, Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and New York. Set to begin play in the autumn of 1960, the AFL was stunned early that year when Minneapolis withdrew to accept an offer to join the NFL as an expansion team in 1961. The new league responded by choosing Oakland to replace Minneapolis and inherit the departed team's draft picks. Since no AFL team actually played in Minneapolis, it is not considered the original home of the Oakland Raiders.

In 1966, the NFL and AFL agreed to a merger that resulted in the first Super Bowl (originally called the AFL-NFL World Championship Game) following the '66 league playoffs. In 1970, the now 10-member AFL officially joined the NFL, forming a 26-team league made up of two conferences of three divisions each.

Expansion/Merger Timetable

For teams currently in NFL.

1921-Green Bay Packers
1925-New York Giants
1930-Portsmouth-OH Spartans (now Detroit Lions)
1932-Boston Braves (now Washington Redskins)
1933-Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Pirates (now Steelers)
1937-Cleveland Rams (now Los Angeles)
1950-added AAFC's Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers
1953-Baltimore Colts (now Indianapolis)
1960-Dallas Cowboys
1961-Minnesota Vikings
1966-Atlanta Falcons
1967-New Orleans Saints
1970-added AFL's Boston Patriots (now New England), Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals (1968 expansion team), Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers, Kansas City Chiefs, Miami Dolphins (1966 expansion team), New York Jets, Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers (the AFL-NFL merger divided the league into two 13-team conferences with old-line NFL clubs Baltimore, Cleveland and Pittsburgh moving to the AFC)
1976-Seattle Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Seattle was originally in the NFC West and Tampa Bay in the AFC West, but were switched to their current divisions in 1977)
1995-Carolina Panthers and Jacksonville Jaguars
1999-Cleveland Browns return
2002-Houston Texans
2002-Realignment into 4 divisions (East, West, North, South - no more Central) in each conference

City and Nickname Changes

1921--Decatur Staleys move to Chicago
1922--Chicago Staleys renamed the Bears
1933--Boston Braves renamed the Redskins
1937--Boston Redskins move to Washington
1934--Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans move to Detroit and become Lions
1941--Pittsburgh Pirates renamed the Steelers
1943--Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers merge for one season and become Phil-Pitt, or the "Steagles"
1944--Chicago Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers merge for one season and become Chic-Pitt, or the "Stardinals"
1946--Cleveland Rams move to Los Angeles
1960--Chicago Cardinals move to St. Louis
1961--Los Angeles Chargers (AFL) move to San Diego
1963--New York Titans (AFL) renamed the Jets and Dallas Texans (AFL) move to Kansas City and become Chiefs
1971--Boston Patriots renamed the New England Patriots
1982--Oakland Raiders move to Los Angeles
1984--Baltimore Colts move to Indianapolis
1988--St. Louis Cardinals move to Phoenix
1994--Phoenix Cardinals renamed the Arizona Cardinals
1995--L.A. Rams move to St. Louis and L.A. Raiders move back to Oakland
1996--Cleveland Browns move to Baltimore and become Ravens
1997--Houston Oilers move to Tennessee
1999--Tennessee Oilers renamed the Tennessee Titans

Defunct NFL Teams

Teams that once played in the APFA and NFL, but no longer exist.

Akron-OH-Pros (1920-25) and Indians (1926)
Baltimore -Colts (1950)
Boston-Bulldogs (1926) and Yanks (1944-48)
Brooklyn-Lions (1926), Dodgers (1930-43) and Tigers (1944)
Buffalo-All-Americans (1921-23), Bisons (1924-25), Rangers (1926), Bisons (1927, 1929)
Canton-OH-Bulldogs (1920-23, 1925-26)
Chicago-Tigers (1920)
Cincinnati-Celts (1921) and Reds (1933-34)
Cleveland-Tigers (1920), Indians (1921), Indians (1923), Bulldogs (1924-25, 1927) and Indians (1931)
Columbus-OH -Panhandles (1920-22) and Tigers (1923-26)
Dallas-Texans (1952)
Dayton-OH-Triangles (1920-29)
Detroit-Heralds (1920-21), Panthers (1925-26) and Wolverines (1928)
Duluth-MN-Kelleys (1923-25) and Eskimos (1926-27)
Evansville-IN-Crimson Giants (1921-22)
Frankford-PA-Yellow Jackets (1924-31)
Hammond-IN-Pros (1920-26)
Hartford -Blues (1926)
Kansas City-Blues (1924) and Cowboys (1925-26)
Kenosha-WI-Maroons (1924)
Los Angeles-Buccaneers (1926)
Louisville-Brecks (1921-23) and Colonels (1926)
Marion-OH-Oorang Indians (1922-23)
Milwaukee-Badgers (1922-26)
Minneapolis-Marines (1922-24) and Red Jackets (1929-30)
Muncie-IN-Flyers (1920-21)
New York-Giants (1921), Yankees (1927-28), Bulldogs (1949) and Yankees (1950-51)
Newark-NJ-Tornadoes (1930)
Orange-NJ-Tornadoes (1929)
Pottsville-PA-Maroons (1925-28)
Providence-RI-Steam Roller (1925-31)
Racine-WI -Legion (1922-24) and Tornadoes (1926)
Rochester-NY-Jeffersons (1920-25)
Rock Island-IL-Independents (1920-26)
Staten Island-NY-Stapletons (1929-32)
St. Louis-All-Stars (1923) and Gunners (1934)
Toledo-OH-Maroons (1922-23)
Tonawanda-NY-Kardex (1921), also called Lumbermen
Washington -Senators (1921)