1948 PRO FOOTBALL RECAP
The Rookie Draft: LSU QB YA Tittle was chosen to the Minneapolis Bruins as the #1 Pick in the 1948 Rookie Draft, DE Len Ford from Michigan went to the Nations Capital as the 3rd Pick in the 1948 Draft to the Washington Commanders, The Kansas City Colts chose T George Connor from Notre Dame at Pick #5, The LA Rams went #7 to draft DT Arnie Weinmeister from Washington while the SF 49ers chose Ohio State C Dick Flanagan at P10, However the Cleveland Browns went dead last in Round 1 selecting LB Hardy Brown from Tulsa.
THE BIG NAMES OF WHO'S WHO IN 1948
Boston Patriots - Lou Groza (T), Walt Rankin (QB)
Cleveland Browns - Mitch Bedard (FB)
Green Bay Packers - Lawrence Colby (WR)
Kansas City Colts - Joseph Hare (SS), James Catron (RB), George Connor (T)
Los Angeles Rams - Otto Graham (QB)
Minneapolis Bruins - YA Tittle (QB), Faustino Lang (LB)
New York Giants - Brian Smith (WR)
Philadelphia Eagles - Bobby Layne (QB), David Lawrence (RB)
Pittsburgh Steelers - Howard Hartley (RB)
St. Louis Gunners - James Lange (FB), Robert Allen (RB), Tommy James (FS), Frank Gatski (C)
San Francisco 49ers - Victor Vail (WR)
Washington Commanders - Emlen Tunnell (FS)
FINAL STANDINGS
East: Pittsburgh Steelers (10-4), Philadelphia Eagles (10-4), Cleveland Browns (8-6), Washington Commanders (8-6), New York Giants (7-7), Cincinnati Cardinals (6-8), Boston Patriots (3-11)
West: Los Angeles Rams (13-1), Chicago Bears (8-6), San Francisco 49ers (6-8), Minneapolis Bruins (6-8), St. Louis Gunners (6-8), Green Bay Packers (5-9), Kansas City Colts (2-12)
PLAYOFFS
East Semi-Final: Pittsburgh def. Washington 35-7, Cleveland def. Philadelphia 28-16
West Semi-Final: LA Rams def. Minneapolis 34-24, Chicago def. San Francisco 35-14
East Final: Cleveland def. Pittsburgh 16-13
West Final: LA Rams def. Chicago 38-33
NFA Championship: Cleveland def. LA Rams 19-13
NFA All-Star Game: West def. East 21-19
LEAGUE LEADERS
Passing Yards - Bobby Layne (Philadelphia) 3,686
Passing TD's - Bobby Layne (Philadelphia) 32
Passing Rating - Bobby Layne (Philadelphia) 90.7
Rushing Yards - Robert Allen (St. Louis) 1,408
Receiving Yards - Marquis Gonzlez (LA Rams) 1,509
Total Points - Thomas Griffiths (LA Rams) 130
Tackles - Val McGrew (Boston) 123
Sacks - Jose German (Green Bay) 15
Interceptions - David Dorman (Pittsburgh) 7
THE SITUATION ON THE AFA
- Toronto has been announced to join the AFA for It's Inaugural Season and they've named the team for 1951 in which it will be called the Argonauts, As a Result we will now allow Canadian Football Union Players to be displaced in the AFA-NFA Draft Pool before the AFA will start playing in 1951. (I'm going to Pick the OTL CFL Stars to be placed in the draft class starting in 1949 after I'll Import the Real Rookies from 1949 when we get there)
- In Addition the Rainier Brewing Company has officially added a Franchise to the AFA beginning in 1951 to Seattle, WA the team will be called the Bombers and will begin playing at Sick's Stadium.
- However 2 Other Teams have been named for It's Inaugural Season, Los Angeles will be named the Suns and Houston will be named the Oilers, However Denver and Detroit have not named it yet.
- AFA will have Detroit and Toronto playing in the East and 2 More will be playing in the East while Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and Seattle will be playing in the West but 2 more cities have been announced to win franchises for the AFA's Inaugural Season the winners were New York, NY owned by Dan Topping and will be called the Knights and under a surprise move Atlanta, GA owned by Earl Mann who owns the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Baseball League as both of these new franchises will be playing the AFA East but on a related story Earl Mann is interested of bringing an MLB Team in Atlanta which could be relocated or not.
THE SITUATION ON THE NEW COLLEGE FOOTBALL ALLIANCE
- However Air Travel to away games was the New Normal in College Football and it became more popular for College Football Programs by the end of this decade
- Although Michigan won the title for 1948 in which they can't play a Bowl Game because of a No-Repeat rule for Big Nine Schools, Head Coach Bennie Oosterban said "We must go to a Bowl Game so we want the No-Repeat rule to be removed should the deal be settled for a New CFA" however Michigan is ineligible to play in the Rose Bowl due to the No Repeat Rule by the Big 9 as of right now, Northwestern took over and beated California 20-14 in Pasadena, Northwestern Head Coach Bob Voigts has been endorsed to remove the No-Repeat Rule from competing in Bowl Games.
- But In The End the No-Repeat Rule is Gone and the Midwest Conference is created consisting of Michigan and Northwestern along with Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue & Wisconsin as for Iowa and Minnesota they've joined the New Heartland Conference with Arkansas, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Tulsa.
- Arizona and Arizona State have been rejected to join the New Pacific Alliance, But They decided to start our own and let New Mexico join in followed by the Colorado (from the Big Seven) and BYU, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Colorado State from the Skyline Six.
- Meanwhile Hawaii & San Diego State will join California, Oregon, USC, Washington State, Stanford, Oregon State, Washington and UCLA to start a New Pacific Coast Alliance and accepted it.
- The New Texas Alliance will be have all 9 Texas Schools + LSU, SW Louisiana and Tulane to make it 12 to be called the Lone Star Conference
- The Mid-South Conference is Created and will be made up of Clemson, Duke, East Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
- The Northeast Conference is now created with Army, Boston College, Maryland, Navy, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
- The Deep South has claimed Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Mississippi
- However the new College Football Alliance will have Eight Conferences and No Independents however No Conferences will share the same state...at all, period but in the end a New Alignment will be created starting in 1951 and here it is.
Deep South (10): Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss
Heartland (11): Arkansas, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas, Kansas State, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tulsa
Lone Star (12): Baylor, Houston, LSU, Rice, SMU, Southwest Louisiana, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, TCU, Tulane, UTEP
Mid-South (12): Clemson, Duke, East Carolina, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest
Midwest (10): Cincinnati, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Purdue, Wisconsin
Mountain (9): Air Force, Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Colorado, Colorado State, New Mexico, Utah, Wyoming
Northeast (12): Army, Boston College, Maryland, Navy, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Syracuse, Temple, Virginia, Virginia Tech, West Virginia
Pacific Coast (10): California, Hawaii, Oregon, Oregon State, San Diego State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State
However with the Heartland and Mountain had a number of teams that aren't even, Several Schools are applying to even up for Both Conferences among them are Nevada who are interested to join the Mountain Conference beginning in 1951 while Wichita State is going to enter the Heartland Conference starting in 1951, Both of these decisions will be finalized by the end of the 1950 Season.
Also On The TV Side: NBC Takes It to get a TV Version of Take It Or Leave It hosted by Garry Moore which will debut in September 1947.
ITTL Notes: Air Force will start playing Organized College Football 4 Years Early ITTL (OTL: They Started playing in 1955), Colorado A&M changes into Colorado State happened in 1947 (which is 10 Years Early ITTL) and Oklahoma A&M changes it's name into Oklahoma State happed in 1948 (which is also 10 Years Early ITTL).