The All-America Football Conference and the National Football League battled for supremacy from 1946 through 1949. In the end, the players from the AAFC, as well as three teams, were brought into the NFL. Through extensive research, the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) has corrected the statistics and coaching records, selected offensive and defensive All-Pro Teams for all four seasons and an All-Conference team, and provided brief biographies and scouting reports for the members of the All-Conference Team.

In 1927 Cuban national Ignacio S. Molinet was recruited to play with the Frankford Yellow Jackets of the old NFL for a single season. Mexican national Jose Martinez-Zorrilla achieved 1932 All-American honors. These are the beginnings of the Latino experience in American Football, which continues amidst a remarkable and diversified setting of Hispanic nationalities and ethnic groups. This history of Latinos in American Football dispels the myths that baseball, boxing, and soccer are the chosen and competent sports for Spanish-surname athletes. The book documents their fascination for the sport that initially denied their participation but that could not discourage their determination to master the game.

Unable to buy into an existing team and rebuffed by National Football League owners who had no desire to expand, 27-year-old Lamar Hunt, the son of Texas billionaire H.L. Hunt, formed the American Football League in 1959. He placed his team in Dallas, called them the Texans, and invited other young entrepreneurs to join him. The seven men who did called themselves members of the "Foolish Club," but on September 9, 1960, the AFL made its regular season debut and went on to change the face of football forever. Unlike the NFL, the American Football League featured wide open offenses and innovative coaching strategies, capturing a new generation of fans dedicated to the league and its players. The AFL aggressively pursued college stars--Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon in its inaugural season and Joe Namath in 1965. The eight teams signed a collective television agreement that split the money equally among the franchises, thus providing far more stability and balance than earlier start-up leagues. Based on interviews with owners, coaches, players, scouts, broadcasters and writers from the era, this is a colorful account of the AFL and its place in sports history.

The Encyclopedia of New York State is one of the most complete works on the Empire State to be published in a half-century. In nearly 2,000 pages and 4,000 signed entries, this single volume captures the impressive complexity of New York State as a historic crossroads of people and ideas, as a cradle of abolitionism and feminism, and as an apex of modern urban, suburban, and rural life. The Encyclopedia is packed with fascinating details from fields ranging from sociology and geography to history. Did you know that Manhattan's Lower East Side was once the most populated neighborhood in the world, but Hamilton County in the Adirondacks is the least densely populated county east of the Mississippi; New York is the only state to border both the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean; the Erie Canal opened New York City to rich farmland upstate . . . and to the west. Entries by experts chronicle New York's varied areas, politics, and persuasions with a cornucopia of subjects from environmentalism to higher education to railroads, weaving the state's diverse regions and peoples into one idea of New York State. Lavishly illustrated with 500 photographs and figures, 120 maps, and 140 tables, the Encyclopedia is key to understanding the state's past, present, and future. It is a crucial reference for students, teachers, historians, and business people, for New Yorkers of all persuasions, and for anyone interested in finding out more about New York State.

Veterans Day, Sunday, November 11, 2001, eighty-one years after the gathering of the founding members of the National Football League in Canton, Ohio, I walked onto the historic Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, as a member of the officiating chain crew to work the football game between the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers, which is the oldest rivalry in the NFL.

A must-have book for any Cleveland Browns fan, this updated edition of Cleveland Browns A to Z is compiled alphabetically for easy accessibility. The book offers a complete history of the tradition-filled franchise and includes more than five hundred different items of interest. Imagine yourself in chilly Cleveland, where the frigid winds freeze fans in the stands and frustrate such legendary kickers as Lou Groza and Don Cockroft. Discover the origin behind the country’s most rabid followers, who sit in the east end zone’s Dawg Pound and bark their support for the team. Revel in a ream of statistics, from Hall of Famers like Jim Brown and Otto Graham to passing yards leaders to the win-loss record for when the team plays in domes. Cleveland Browns A to Z is a handy reference guide of notable information that makes up Browns history, especially regarding statistics. Cleveland Browns A to Z brings you the history of the Browns and will delight those with a penchant for sports trivia with its array of facts and heightened attention to detail. From Abe Abraham to Eric Zeiler, this book has all the information Browns Backers would ever want to know about their team. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

A fascinating history of the Super Bowl and its massive impact on the sports world and beyond. The Super Bowl has changed what was just another wintry Sunday into America’s unofficial holiday. It’s the biggest entertainment event of the year. It’s the most important advertising event of the year. It is the biggest gambling event of the year. More Americans watch this game than vote in presidential elections. How did this all happen? In The Football Game That Changed America, Dennis Deninger reveals how the Super Bowl went from almost being canceled after its first two years to becoming an ingrained part of American life. He tells the story of how this colossal event came to be—including the challenges, stumbles, and amusing surprises along the way—and details the game’s incredible impact well beyond the sports world, touching virtually every facet of life in the United States. Featuring colorful characters, bold rivals, and twists of fate, The Football Game That Changed America brings the history, growth, and future of the Super Bowl to life. It’s a captivating deep dive into a sporting event like no other.

Packed with fan favorite games and puzzles, inspirational player profiles, and instructions on how to play the game, The Everything Kids’ Football Book is returning for a new season with updated stats and an all-new section on flag football. Everything kids need to know about America’s favorite sport is in this updated edition of The Everything Kids’ Football Book, 8th Edition, including expanded information on flag football. In The Everything Kids’ Football Book, 8th Edition, young fans will find dozens of interactive puzzles and games and discover current stats for all of their favorite players and teams. This book introduces football fans of all ages to the various positions they can play, teaches them the rules and history of the game, and gives them tips and tricks to develop their skills. From the first Pop Warner fame to the latest Super Bowl, this book is sure to be a touchdown for both kids and parents.

This Brief identifies and contrasts the groups of expansion franchises and any teams that relocated from one metropolitan area or city to another within the National Football League (NFL) during three distinct periods from 1920 to 2013. It discusses historical differences and similarities between the teams’ markets and performances before 1933 and then as members of the NFL’s divisions and conferences. It measures and compares the emergence, development and success of the teams by analyzing demographic, economic and sport-specific data. It also discusses the NFL’s mergers with the All American Football Conference (1950) and American Football League (1970), outlining the reasons for and consequences of these mergers as well as their significance for sports fans and markets. The book makes an important, relevant and useful contribution to the literature regarding professional sports operations and to the NFL’s short and long run business strategies in American culture. Besides numerous sports fans within metropolitan areas and extended markets of these NFL teams, the book’s audiences are sports historians and researchers, college and public libraries and current and potential NFL franchise owners and team executives. The book may also be used as a reference or supplemental text for college and university students enrolled in such applied undergraduate and graduate courses and seminars as sports administration, sports business and sports management.

A unique new reference work, this encyclopedia presents a social, cultural, and economic history of American sports from hunting, bowling, and skating in the sixteenth century to televised professional sports and the X Games today. Nearly 400 articles examine historical and cultural aspects of leagues, teams, institutions, major competitions, the media and other related industries, as well as legal and social issues, economic factors, ethnic and racial participation, and the growth of institutions and venues. Also included are biographical entries on notable individuals—not just outstanding athletes, but owners and promoters, journalists and broadcasters, and innovators of other kinds—along with in-depth entries on the history of major and minor sports from air racing and archery to wrestling and yachting. A detailed chronology, master bibliography, and directory of institutions, organizations, and governing bodies—plus more than 100 vintage and contemporary photographs—round out the coverage.