And to my earlier point - if the Canton Bulldogs survived. Assuming most everything goes as it does, this means two things:
1. The idea of saving a team with shitty management or financial problems by doing a stock drive may make things different. One possibility - OTL after the Browns moved, Ohio passed a law that requires owners to try to sell locally before moving a team (this is why the Columbus Crew of MLS isn’t chilling in Austin, TX now.) Assuming the law is constitutional, and I don’t see a reason it wouldn’t be, might at least one state try something like that sooner (with the caveat of “local owner and/or stock drive” being part of the law. Incidentally, one of the first states to pass such a law may be Illinois since they were instrumental in how the Packers got their ownership structure.)
2. Assuming the teams that survived OTL survive TTL - plus the Bulldogs - it means that, when the Dallas Texans take a Texas-sizes shit in 1952, the NFLvis at an even dozen and doesn’t need to replace a team. That replacement team? The Baltimore Colts. This means one of two things - either the NFL expands sooner or Rosenbloom is out in the cold, meaning maybe he joins the Foolish Club.
And if it’s the latter, the likeliest City squeezes out is Oakland, since they weren’t as ready in 1960 as the other seven teams. It also means Al Davis may be waitin in the Wings to rescue the NY Titans if he’s deemed a better option, and if Davis wants to move them, New Orleans is a likely spot. Think about that - no Jets, no one in Oakland, we have a New Orleans Raiders, and the overwhelming rule seems to be: one city, one team (that is, unless Chicago saves the Cardinals via stock drive, which isn’t ASB but seems like a long shot.)
So where does the NFL go in 1967 if New Orleans isn’t an option? Seattle seems like the next city up. And if the NFL needs three teams to jump to the AFC, the Steelers and Browns can jump and take the Bulldogs with them. Easy peasy and they can be their own division with the Bengals. The Oilers would go to the West and the Raiders make more sense in the East as a natural rival to the Dolphins.
This likely also averts the franchise swap between Rosenbloom and Irsay, so Rosenbloom stays in Baltimore and Irsay, with no team sharing the Bay Area, gets LA to himself - and as much of a head case as Bob Irsay was, it’s hard to see him leaving LA in the 80s when the Coliseum is a way better option than anything Baltimore had. (Also, if California passes a Modell Rule, he’s probably SOL anyway since a shit-ton of celebrities will no doubt buy shares in the Rams if he tries anything. And if that’s the case, I’m probably a Rams fan since I could see my father buying a share or two of the Rams, as my father was a fan before the move to St. Louis and then proceeded to tell the NFL to piss off afterward.)
If Tampa Bay gets a team, the NFC East, with the Giants, Eagles, Redskins and probably Falcons, fits best. Then the AFC gets a team in, I dunno, Phoenix. One wrinkle - if the Cardinals move, Indy would then make more sense, and if the Browns then move, it would be to St. Louis, not Baltimore. So the replacement Browns come back in 1999, the Texans in 2002, and the NFL looks like this:
AFC East
Baltimore Colts
Buffalo Bills
Miami Dolphins
New England Patriots
AFC North
Canton Bulldogs
Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns
Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South
Houston Texans
Jacksonville Jaguars
New Orleans Raiders
Tennessee Titans
AFC West
Arizona Firebirds
Denver Broncos
Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers
NFC East
Indianapolis Cardinals
New York Giants
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
NFC North
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Green Bay Packers
Minnesota Vikings
NFC South
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
St. Louis Stallions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
NFC West
Dallas Cowboys
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Seattle Seahawks