This is the third installment of my "No AFL" series. Here are the first two parts:
Part 1:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=114350
Part 2:
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=114510
Here is Part 3:
1970: Cincinnati and Seattle enter the now 20-team NFL. However, in Seattle, there are problems because they are having trouble finding a new site for a stadium. The MLB Pilots decided to move to Milwaukee, and there are problems as to finding a place to build the new Kingdome since the Seattle Center site was turned down. However, Lloyd Nordstrom, the Kings owner, gets approval to play in Husky Stadium for the time being until the Kingdome site is worked out.
As for further expansion, Pete Rozelle said that none is on the horizon at this time, and that further expansion could very well be delayed until 1980 at the earliest.
The NFL owners have a meeting on another re-alignment in the wake of two new teams. This re-alignment is concentrating on creating more regional matchups. Cincinnati is put in the AFC, and Seattle in the NFC.
American Conference
East: They decide to put the Bengals in the AFC East with the Browns and Steelers to create a rivalry. The Patriots and Dolphins make up the other two teams. The Eagles move to the NFC.
West: The Rams are switched to the AFC West to continue their rivalry with San Francisco. The Colts remain in the AFC West, as do the Oilers, and the Gunners are moved to the AFC West while the Redskins are moved to the NFC East.
National Conference
East: The Giants, Falcons, and Texans stay, but they put Philly and Washington in this division to create more natural rivals with the Giants.
West: The Bears, Vikings, Packers, and Lions are joined by the expansion Seattle Kings.
Coaching:
Vince Lombardi almost took the Redskin job last year, but he decided to focus on health problems. He said that he would think about it in 1970, so they hired assistant Bill Austin to keep his seat warm. Now, since his health problems have subsided, he decides to coach the Skins.
Lou Saban takes over the Gunners job from Wally Lemm.
Paul Brown will be the HC of the Bengals, and hires many assistants, including Bill Walsh, a Stanford assistant for the last several years.
The Expansion Kings interviewed many candidates, including college coaches Joe Paterno, John McKay, and Bear Bryant, but were turned down by all three. So, they decided to name Tommy Prothro as head coach.
TV Contract: The NFL decides to use two networks for it's Sunday games, CBS and NBC. One network will cover the early games every Sunday, and the other the late ones, and that will alternate. The last two weeks of the season, there will be Saturday games, and CBS will cover one and NBC the other each Saturday, as well as the two Thanksgiving games and the two thursday night games in week 3 and 7. The networks will alternate the televising of the NFL Title game yearly, and it is now decided that the NFL Title Game will be played in either a neutral warm-weather site or a cold weather site with a dome yearly. The 1970 season game will be in Miami, the 71 game will be in the L.A. Coliseum, and the 72 game will be at the Houston Astrodome. The contract will run until the end of the 1974 season. Also, there is now going to be a weekly Monday Night Game. CBS and NBC decided they weren't interested(as in OTL). That left ABC and the new Hughes Network to bid for it. ABC decided to sign a 2-year deal to televise the games. Howard Cosell will be in the booth, former Texan and Oiler QB Don Meredith will do color, and they decide to have Keith Jackson in the booth for the first year.
Stadiums: The Steelers move into Three Rivers, Boston moves into their new stadium outside of Boston, and Dallas moves into Texans Stadium in Arlington.
NFL Draft
The expansion Bengals win the coin flip, get the first pick, and they take the prize, QB Terry Bradshaw. The Kings, deciding to build the line first, take DT Mike McCoy. The Redskins, drafting third, and being perennially bad on defense, drafted DT Mike Reid from Penn St. The Steelers, with Bradshaw out of reach, and not interested in QB Mike Phipps, makes a trade with the Bears, who are picking seventh. They trade their first round pick(4th overall), second round pick(24th overall) and WR Roy Jefferson to Chicago for their first rounder in 1971. The Bears are interested in Phipps, so they take him with the fourth overall pick and RB Larry Stegent from Texas A&M with the seventh overall pick. Other picks include RB Duane Thomas by the champion Giants, DB Bruce Taylor by San Fran, RB Steve Owens by Minnesota, and TE Raymond Chester by Cleveland.
NFL Season:
AFC East: The young Patriots, led by Griese, Csonka, WR's Fair Hooker and rookie Rich Caster, and led by Head Coach Sid Gillman, who has been with them since their inception, won their first division title by a game over the Browns. The Dolphins finish third, the Steelers fourth, and the Bengals, despite young Rookie Terry Bradshaw, finish last.
AFC West: The 49ers, coached by Al Davis and led by John Brodie, Calvin Hill, and Gene Washington, win the West for the second time in a row by a game over the Rams and three over the aging Colts, who let go Don Shula at the end of the year. The Gunners and the Oilers bring up the rear.
NFC East: The Giants and Falcons have an epic battle for the East. They play a classic game in late December for the East title. The Giants start out building an early 21-3 lead on a 48-yard Duane Thomas run and Namath TD's to Homer Jones and TE Bob Tucker. But, young QB Greg Cook leads a comeback. He hits TE Ted Kwalick early in the third to cut it to 21-10, and then, DE Claude Humphrey comes in, hits Namath, and Tommy Nobis takes the fumble in for a TD to cut it to 21-17 going into the fourth. The score remains that until three minutes left, when, Greg Cook, being rushed by Fred Dryer, rolls away and hits WR Ed Bell, a later-round selection, with a TD to put Atlanta up, 24-21. Their D held, and Atlanta and Van Brocklin were in the playoffs in year five. The Redskins, with Vince Lombardi and QB Sonny Jurgensen and 1969 late-round steal Larry Brown, fininsh third but are competitive, surpassing the aging Texans, and the Eagles finish last, despite a great year for O.J. Simpson.
NFC West: The Vikings and Lions battle for the West, and the Vikings pull it out. The Bears are third, the declining Pack is fourth, and the expansion Kings are fifth.
Playoffs: AFC Championship: 49ers 21, Pats 17
NFC Championship: Falcons 24, Vikings 14
NFL Championship(played in Miami's Orange Bowl):
Falcons 31, 49ers 21
1971:
Stadiums: Seattle announces that they have found a site for their new dome. It will be called the King County dome, or the Kingdome, and it will open in 1975.
The Eagles move into Veterans Stadium.
The 49ers move into Candlestick Park.
The Bears move into Soldier Field.
Coaching:
The Colts promote Don McCafferty to HC after the firing of Don Shula, who decides to sit out the 71 season and mull his options.
Nick Scorich takes over for Blanton Collier in Cleveland.
George Allen is replaced with the Rams by Lion assistant Chuck Knox, recommended highly by Lion Coach Joe Schmidt.
Other News: Ram Owner Dan Reeves dies, and the team is sold to Robert Irsay.
NFL Draft:
The Bengals get the #1 pick, but, the Steelers, with two first rounders(picks 5 and 10), trade those, along with DE Ben McGee, to the Bengals to draft Archie Manning first overall. The Kings, picking second, take QB Jim Plunkett, and the Eagles give O.J. some help by taking QB Dan Pastorini. The Oilers pick 4th, and take RB John Riggins. The Bengals, with the 5th and 10th selections, take WR Frank Lewis at 5 and LB Isiah Robertson at 10. The Packers take RB John Brockington at 6, the Gunners take LT Marv Montgomery(to protect aging Roman Gabriel) at 7, the Texans, at 8, pick DE Richard Harris, and, at 9, Miami takes WR J.D. Hill. Also, the Champion Falcons take WR Elmo Wright, and the 2nd place Niners take S Jack Tatum.
NFL Season:
AFC East: The Pats are still the class of the East. The Lamonica-Warfield led Browns, with a new coach, finish in second by two games. Meanwhile, the young Steelers, with good drafting under HC Chuck Noll and Rookie of the year Archie Manning, finish in third. The Dolphins struggle with QB's Steve Spurrier and Billy Kilmer, acquired in a trade with the Patriots in 69, who got him in the expansion draft, and finish in fourth while Cincinnati brings up the rear.
AFC West: The Rams, led by QB Craig Morton, WR Jack Snow, and their tough defense, led by Jack Pardee, Diron Talbert, Buck Buchanan, and Deacon Jones, take the division over San Fran, who struggle with injuries, namely to John Brodie, although rookie QB Ken Anderson shows promise. The Colts go through a tough .500 season, and Unitas announces his retirement at the end of the year. Rookie John Riggins has a 1,000 yard season, and WR's Charley Joiner and Otis Taylor and QB Charley Johnson enjoy good seasons, but the Oiler defense holds them down to fourth, and St. Louis is in last.
NFC East: Joe Namath misses a good bit of the year with knee problems, and the Giants finish in third behind the first-place Falcons and resurgent Redskins, led by Sonny Jurgensen and Larry Brown and rookie CB Clarence Scott. The Eagles show promise with RB O.J. Simpson, FB Jim Braxton, and Rookies Dan Pastorini and WR Harold Carmichael, and finish fourth, while the aging Texans finish in last. Hank Stram is fired at the end of the year. TE Jackie Smith, S Larry Wilson, and MLB Mike Curtis are the lone bright spots.
NFC West: The Lions, led by QB Greg Landry, CB Lem Barney, RB Altie Taylor, DT Alex Karras, and TE Charlie Sanders, win the division by a game over the Vikes. The Bears finish in third, while the Pack and Kings bring up the rear. Phil Bengston is fired by GB at the end of the year.
AFC Championship: Rams 14, Pats 10
NFC Championship: Falcons 21, Lions 7
NFL Championship Game(at the L.A. Coliseum): Rams 20, Falcons 17.
1972:
The sites for the NFL Championship games for the future:
1973: Tulane Stadium, New Orleans
1974: Miami Orange Bowl
1975: Seattle's new Kingdome
1976: Rose Bowl in Pasadena
Stadiums: The Lions announce their plans to move out of Tiger Stadium and into a new dome in Pontiac by 1975. It will be named the Silverdome.
After many years of haggling and threats to move the Colts to another city, Carroll Rosenbloom finally gets his stadium. It will be called the Baltodome, and it will be built at Camden Yards. It will open by the 1976 season. It will seat 70,000 for Football, 55,000 for the Orioles, and also be able to have 20,000 seats for hockey and the NBA's Bullets, preventing them from moving to Washington.
Coaching and GM:
George Allen is named the HC of the Chicago Bears after patching up differences with George Halas. He replaces Jim Dooley. He immediately puts his stamp on the team. The first thing he does is trade a draft choice to Miami for QB Billy Kilmer. He apparently isn't encouraged by Mike Phipps.
Then, he tries to trade for vets from the Rams, but, they don't want to trade away the core of a championship team. He does manage to acquire Jack Pardee from the Rams for lower-round draft choice.
Don Shula is courted by several teams, including Miami, Philadelphia, Dallas, Green Bay, and Houston, but, after careful consideration, he chose the Eagles. He likes the direction that they are going, with young stars like RB O.J. Simpson, QB Dan Pastorini, and WR Harold Carmichael. He just needs to build a defense, and he brings along Bill Arnsparger to be his defensive assistant. The Pack, snubbed by Shula, select Dan Devine. The Texans select Abe Gibron as their coach, the Oilers select Bill Peterson from Rice, and the Dolphins select Ray Malavasi, a former Oiler assistant, as their coach.
GM news: Joe Thomas, after a falling-out in Minnesota, is hired by the Eagles as their new GM, joining Don Shula.
Don Klosterman is hired as the new GM in Baltimore.
NFL Draft: Seattle has the #1 pick, and selects DE Sherman White. The Texans, in a rebuilding mode, select Oregon WR Bobby Moore(Ahmad Rashad). St. Louis selects DE Walt Patluski, Cincinnati selects TE Riley Odoms, Green Bay takes LT Lionel Antoine, Miami selects DB Willie Buchanon, Houston selects QB John Reaves, and Philly selects Jeff Siemon. Chicago, and George Allen, try to trade out of the pick and acquire vets. He trades the pick to Dallas for LB Mike Curtis(to pair with Butkus and play the weakside) and TE Jackie Smith. The Texans select DE Greg Sampson out of Stanford. In other selections, the Champion Rams select DB Tom Casanova, The Steelers select RB Franco Harris, and the Falcons select WR Terry Beasley.
News: The league announces that, for the 1973 season, they will expand the playoffs. Along with the four division winners, the two best non-division winning records will also go to the playoffs.
NFL 1972:
AFC East: The resurgent Browns, with Leroy Kelly, Daryle Lamonica, Paul Warfield, and Rookie RB Robert Newhouse, win the East by a game over New England. The young Steelers, led by Archie Manning, WR Ron Shanklin, Rookie Franco Harris, and their Steel Curtain defense, stay in it until the next-to-last week. The Bengals finish near .500, and the Dolphins, permanently benching Steve Spurrier and starting rookie Pat Sullivan, finish dead last.
West: The Rams take advantage of SF's QB problems and win another division title, led by Craig Morton and their tough defense, as well as Rookie RB Lawrence McCutcheon. For SF, Brodie struggles with injuries, and announces the 72 season will be it. Ken Anderson, his replacement, fills in well, and leads the team to 3 wins in it's final five games. The Oilers finish in third, the aging Colts in fourth, and St. Louis in last, which gets Lou Saban on the hot seat.
NFC East: Namath has a relatively healthy year, and the Giant defense helps them regain their division crown. Atlanta stays in it, but has injury problems. Greg Cook misses the final four games with a shoulder problem, and Tommy Nobis misses several games with a knee injury. The Skins also stay in it, but miss out on the next-to-last week of the season. The Eagles are much-improved under Shula, but only can muster a 6-8 season while the defense is rebuilt. The Texans are rebuilding under Coach Gibron, but get a bright spot in young QB Ken Stabler, as well as RB Ron Johnson.
NFC West: George Allen, in his first year in Chicago, leads the Bears to a division crown, led by LB's Mike Curtis and Dick Butkus, QB Billy Kilmer, RB Larry Stegent, and WR's Roy Jefferson and Dick Gordon. The Vikes and Lions battle until the end, but come up short. The Kings, with QB Jim Plunkett, WR's Randy Vataha and TE Bob Windsor, and DL's Mike McCoy and Sherman White, improve and finish fourth while the Pack, slipping from the glory days, finish last in Devine's first year.
AFC Championship: Browns 17, Rams 14
NFC Championship: Giants 21, Bears 20
NFL Championship(at the Astrodome): Giants 24, Browns 14
1973
Coaching: Al Davis moves to the front office, and appoints John Madden as the new Niner boss.
The new playoff format takes effect. The four division winners will be in, and the two best non-division winners from each conference join them.
NFL Draft: The Packers get the #1 pick, and take QB Bert Jones out of LSU to replace Bart Starr. The Dolphins take DT John Matuszak. The Gunners take DE Wally Chambers, The Texans select OT Jerry Sisemore to protect Kenny Stabler. With the fifth pick, the Kings take G John Hannah. Other notable picks: Landry and the champ Giants take Billy Joe Dupree, the Browns select WR Darryl Stingley, the Rams select WR Steve Holden, and the Steelers select WR Isaac Curtis.
NFL 73:
AFC East: Break up the Steelers!! They win their first division title. The second-place Browns get the first WC. The Pats and Bengals tie for third, and the Dolphins bring up the rear, although rookie QB Ron Jaworski has some success in his first year sharing time with Pat Sullivan.
AFC West: The Rams and 49ers battle for West supremacy, and the Rams come out on top, with San Fran second in John Madden's first year as coach. The Niners get the other WC. The Colts, with QB's Earl Morrall and second-rounder Dan Fouts learning behind him, struggle and win only 6 games. The Oilers finish fourth, and St. Louis brings up the rear, and Lou Saban is canned.
NFC East: Duane Thomas, the Giant first round pick in 1970, is causing problems. So, they end up trading him to the Bears before the deadline for their 1974 first-round selection. Cullen Bryant, a 73 second-round draft pick, fills in nicely for him. Bryant, Rookie TE Billy Joe Dupree, and their defense lead them to another division title over Atlanta, who gets a WC. The Eagles and Redskins battle for the other WC, and the resurgent Eagles get it on the last day. Also, Sonny Jurgensen announces his retirement at the end of the year. Vince Lombardi thinks about retirement, but decides to give it one more try. The Texans are in last, but are showing promise.
West: George Allen's Bears win another Division Title, fighting off Fran Tarkenton, Chuck Foreman, and the Vikings. The Lions struggle to finish .500 all year long. The Pack show signs of life behind some youth, led by rookies Bert Jones, WR Barry Smith, and RB/KR Terry Metcalf, but still need defensive improvements. The Kings still finish fifth, but give Tommy Prothro more time with a young expansion team.
NFL Playoffs:
First round:
AFC: Pittsburgh 21, San Fran 27
Cleveland 14, Rams 10
NFC: Giants 24, Eagles 14
Falcons 17, Bears 10
Championships:
AFC: Steelers 24, Cleveland 10
NFC: Giants 14, Falcons 7
NFL Championship(at New Orleans): Steelers 14, Giants 10
1974:
Coaching: Lou Saban is out in St. Louis, and is replaced by Bum Phillips, a former Patriots assistant.
NFL Draft: The Gunners get the first overall pick, and select RB Bo Mathews from Colorado. Seattle, with the Second pick, selects TE J.V. Cain of Colorado. Miami takes Ed(Too Tall) Jones from Tennessee State, Dallas takes DE John Dutton, Green Bay selects G John Hicks to protect Bert Jones, the Oilers select DT Carl Barzilawskas from Indiana, and Cincinnati takes Randy Gradishar. Other Notables: The Steelers take Lynn Swann, the Giants take LT Henry Lawrence, and the Falcons take TE Reuben Gant.
NFL 74:
AFC East: The Steelers, led by their bumper crop of rookies, win the East with a 12-2 mark. The rest of the division is shifting as well. The Bengals, with young QB Terry Bradshaw, TE Riley Odoms, and RB's Boobie Clark and rookie Delvin Williams, challenge for the AFC East and get a WC. The Browns and Pats struggle with age, while Miami, with youngsters like Ed(Too Tall) Jones, Ron Jaworski, and John Matuszak, start to make a move.
AFC West: The Niners, with QB Ken Anderson, and led by DB's Jack Tatum and George Atkinson, take the West, with the Rams in contention, earning a WC berth. The Oilers move to third, and start to show signs of contention, while the Colts and Gunners bring up the rear.
NFC East: The Eagles, with O.J. Simpson, Dan Pastorini, Harold Carmichael, and Rookies Don Goode at LB and Fred Cook at DE, win the East. The Falcons, with a healthy Greg Cook and vets like Floyd Little and Ted Kwalick, get a WC. The Giants and Skins battle for the playoffs as well, but, with Namath's knees betraying him, they slip to fourth place, right ahead of the Texans. The Redskins, off of the retirement of Sonny Jurgensen, draft Danny White in round 2 and pick up veteran Terry Hanratty from the Steelers. Lombardi, frustrated at not being able to go to the playoffs, and citing health problems, announces that this will be his last year.
West: The Vikes, led by Tarkenton, Foreman, and WR John Gilliam, win the West. The Bears come in second and get the other WC. The Pack goes to third behind Bert Jones, Terry Metcalf, and second-rounder John Stallworth. Look for the Pack to be back soon! The Kings finish in fourth, ahead of the aimless Lions, who fire HC Joe Schmidt.
NFL Playoffs:
First Round:
AFC: Steelers 34, Rams 14
49ers 24, Bengals 17
NFC: Eagles 31, Bears 14
Falcons 17, Vikings 7
Championships:
AFC: Steelers 24, 49ers 20
NFC: Eagles 17, Falcons 10
NFL Championship(Miami Orange Bowl): Steelers 21, Eagles 17
Next: Part IV. A rival league