The NFL is the strongest league in professional sports. It hasn't been an easy road to the top, especially in the first 20-30 years. The greatest challenges, certainly the most interesting, came from other leagues trying to grab some of the football pie.
Starting in 1920, the NFL was challenged by a rival league in every other decade. After Red Grange exploded onto the professional football stage in 1925, the financial future of the NFL looked a bit better than bleak. There was one problem. Grange happened to have an idiot named C.C. Pyle as his manager. Grange closed out the '25 season with the Chicago Bears. Hoping to make a fortune on Grange's name, Pyle scheduled the Bears for a cross-country barnstorming tour. Grange, Pyle and George Halas did make a lot of money, and the publicity was priceless for a league in need of some, but the schedule was brutal on the players. The financial succes prompted Pyle to demand his own NFL team with Grange as his star. The NFL refused to give him one, so he started his own league, the American Football League. It failed miserably after one year, and Grange returned to the Bears to resume his Hall of Fame career. It's curious that the NFL refused to grant Pyle a team since teams were popping up and vanishing throughout the '20s. I think that the NFL just didn't want to yield to the lunatic.
The next challenge came from the All America Football Conference (AAFC) in 1946. This league was well organized and fairly well backed financially. It also had some dynamite talent, and one amazing team. The end of World War II left some former NFL players looking for teams. In an era without free agency, the War provided a little taste of some. The AAFC lasted four years and was dominated by the Cleveland Browns, winning all four championships. The San Francisco 49ers challenged the Browns at the end. In 1950, the NFL agreed to add the Browns, 49ers and Baltimore Colts at the expense of the rest of the teams. The Browns proved their worth, and the AAFC quality, by playing in every championship game from 1950-55, winning in '50, '54 and '55.
The most significant challenge to the NFL came in 1960 with another American Football League. The NFL and AFL fought over players and TV money. It led to a combined championship starting in 1966, best known as the Super Bowl, and a full merger in 1970. The only person upset with this outcome was Al Davis, and he hasn't been happy since.
The World Football League presented a meager threat in the '70s, but, like the first AFL, quickly faded away. The United States Football League posed a greater threat in the '80s. Using a spring schedule, this league was banking on the unquenchable thirst of the public for football. They would love football all year long. The league was able to sign some of the best college players, including future Hall of Famers Steve Young, Reggie White and Gary Zimmerman. The USFL did manage to throw a scare into the NFL. Lawsuits were involved, but ultimately the new league failed.
The NFL faced a rival league in the '20s, '40s, '60s and '80s. Unless the current labor issue results in something truly crazy, I see that trend coming to end. The NFL is simply to powerful to challenge now. The Arena Football League has carved out a little niche, but direct competition for players and attention is over.
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