Rozelle and Expansion
Rozell was with his image of the future of the NFL and TV contracts etc, to me he was still very reactionary when it came to expansion, he didn't approve of expansion until the threat of the AFL was real and the owners started to pressure him to divide the potential AFL owners.
I didn't know that. I thought he would be more open than Bert Bell would be. But, in this Alternate reality, I thought about all these cities at the time that wanted teams(Den, Mia, Hou, Min, SD, Bos, etc....), and I thought of a scenario where Lamar Hunt, the new Dallas owner, talks to Rozelle in 1960 in this reality about expansion shortly after Rozelle gets the Commish job. He tells Pete about all these cities and thoughts of people starting leagues. He even tells Pete about his vision about starting a league that he would have went through with if the Cards didn't give him majority ownership. So, fearing a new league and competition, Pete decides to throw these cities a bone. So, he starts with Houston(Bud Adams) and St. Louis(?). Those worked out well, so he decided to have a 4-team expansion by 66.
Rozell was with his image of the future of the NFL and TV contracts etc, to me he was still very reactionary when it came to expansion, he didn't approve of expansion until the threat of the AFL was real and the owners started to pressure him to divide the potential AFL owners.
I didn't know that. I thought he would be more open than Bert Bell would be. But, in this Alternate reality, I thought about all these cities at the time that wanted teams(Den, Mia, Hou, Min, SD, Bos, etc....), and I thought of a scenario where Lamar Hunt, the new Dallas owner, talks to Rozelle in 1960 in this reality about expansion shortly after Rozelle gets the Commish job. He tells Pete about all these cities and thoughts of people starting leagues. He even tells Pete about his vision about starting a league that he would have went through with if the Cards didn't give him majority ownership. So, fearing a new league and competition, Pete decides to throw these cities a bone. So, he starts with Houston(Bud Adams) and St. Louis(?). Those worked out well, so he decided to have a 4-team expansion by 66.
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