In the 60's, the AFL turned out to be a successful challenger to the NFL. They were more racially-accepting, they played a more wide open style of football, and they were eventually able to force a merger with the more established NFL. But, what if it was never formed? What if Lamar Hunt would have been able to get majority ownership of the Cards and move them to Dallas?
January 1959: Lamar Hunt, after discussions with Violet Wolfner, one of the Cardinal owners, is able to buy a majority stake in the Chicago Cardinals and move them to Dallas. Hunt renames the team the Dallas Texans. The Chicago Cards were in the East, but, since they moved to Dallas, they decided to move them to the West, with the Colts coming to the East division. Here is the new alignment for 1959:
*teams that switched
NFL East: *Colts, Giants, Browns, Eagles, Steelers, Redskins
NFL West: Bears, Packers, 49ers, Lions, Rams, Texans*
The 49ers play the Colts for the Championship, and the Colts win their second straight, 31-21.
In 1960, several prospective owners are looking to try to gain expansion teams, including Bud Adams(in OTL, he owns the Oilers/Titans), Bob Howsam(he wanted a team for Denver), and several owners for the Minneapolis market(H.P. Skoglund, Max Winter, and William Boyer), as well as groups in St. Louis, Miami, Buffalo, and people that are looking at getting a second team for the LA and New York markets. Bert Bell, the former commissioner, wasn't interested in expanding at that time, but he ended up dying at the end of the 59 season. Pete Rozelle, the new commissioner, was more open to it, and would start an expansion group to study the feasibility of each city that was interested.
Lamar Hunt, the owner of the Texans, hires Hank Stram to be his new coach, and signs Len Dawson to be his QB.
NFL Season: In the East, the Colts, Browns, and Eagles have a tough race, but the Eagles pull away. In the West, the Packers win their first conference title since the 40's, and go to the Championship game and lose to Philadelphia, 17-13.
1961: The expansion committee decides to expand to two teams for 1962. They choose Houston and St. Louis:
Houston: Team is called the Oilers. The logo is an oil derrick. The helmets are silver. The home unis include blue jerseys and white pants, and white jerseys and red pants on the road. They play in Jeppessen Stadium.
St. Louis: The team is called the Gunners, after their 1934 NFL entry that lasted one year. They adopt the logo that team had:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis_Gunners
They go with blue helmets with the logo, red jerseys with white pants for home games, and white jerseys with blue pants for road games. They play in Busch Stadium.
The NFL decides to switch to a 14-game schedule.
NFL Season: The Texans keep improving after a good rookie class of WR Bernie Casey, TE Fred Arbanas, and DE Ron McDole, and start to provide a challenge, but the Pack is still the class of the West. In the East, the Colts, Giants and Eagles have a three-way race to the end, and the Giants win, but the Pack win, 37-0, for the championship.
1962: Houston and St. Louis are added to the league, and the league announces that a 4-team expansion will take place by 66 or 67. Here is how the league looks now:
*new teams
Eastern Conference: Colts, Giants, Browns, Eagles, Steelers, Redskins, *Oilers
Western Conference: Bears, 49ers, Lions, Packers, Rams, Texans, Gunners*
Ernie Davis, drafted by the expansion Oilers, dies of leukemia.
NFL Races: In the East, the Giants hold off the Steelers, and in the West, Green Bay holds off the Lions and the improving Texans. They win the Championship again, 16-7.
1963: Paul Hornung and Alex Karras were suspended for Gambling.
The NFL is criticized after playing games on the weekend of JFK's assassination.
Don Shula takes over the Colt Coaching position, and Paul Brown is let go in Cleveland by Art Modell.
NFL Races: The Texans win their first division title in Dallas, holding off the Bears and Packers. The Giants hold off the Browns and Colts for the East. The Giants win their first championship since 1956, holding off Dawson, Stram, and the young Texans, 17-14. Y.A. Tittle retires on top.
1964: A four-team expansion is announced for 1966. The cities included:
Minnesota: Their name is the Vikings(their unis are basically the same as they are in OTL).
Boston: They are named the Patriots. Their colors are red, white, and blue. Their unis include a white helmet, a logo consisting of a revolutionary soldier with a gun in his hand. They have blue jerseys with white pants at home, and white pants with red jerseys on the road.
Atlanta: They are called the Falcons(with basically the same unis in OTL).
For the fourth team, Seattle is considered, along with New Orleans, Miami, Denver, and a second team in the New York(to fill the void in the new Shea Stadium) and Los Angeles. Ultimately, Miami, with an ownership group consisting of Ralph Wilson and Danny Thomas, is awarded the team. They will be called the Dolphins(with the same unis in OTL). The Giants decide to move into Shea Stadium to be co-tenants with the new Mets. The expansion will make the NFL an 18-team league, and the conferences will be called American and National, with two divisions(East and West) in each conference. To have one West-Coast presence in each conference, the Niners move to the AFC West, and the Vikings are put in the NFC West to start a regional rivalry with the Bears, Lions, and Packers. And, to have two expansion teams in each conference, the Dolphins are put in the AFC East, and the Giants move to the NFC East. Here is the NFL for 1966:
American Conference:
East: Browns, Steelers, Eagles, *Patriots, *Dolphins
West: Colts, Oilers, 49ers, Redskins
National Conference:
East: Giants, *Falcons, Texans, Gunners
West: Bears, Lions, Packers, *Vikings, Rams
NFL Season: The Colts edge out the Browns for the East Title, and the Texans win the West by a game over Green Bay, and beat the Colts for Dallas's first pro sports title.
1965: Joe Namath is the first overall pick by the Giants. The World Champion Texans pick LB Mike Curtis, and the Bears pick Dick Butkus and Gale Sayers.
NFL Season: The Pack takes their West crown back from the Texans after winning a one-game playoff in Green Bay in OT when Herb Adderley returns a Len Dawson pass 25 yards for a TD. The Colts and Browns battle for the East, but the Browns hold them off. The Packers win their third title of the sixties over Cleveland, 23-12.
Part II: An ever-expanding NFL