When The NFL Got Squirrelly With The Divisions
The National Football League and the American Football League agreed to merge on June 8, 1966. The immediate result of that agreement was a unifying championship game at the end of each season and an end to the bidding war over players. In 1970, the two rival leagues fully merged into one professional football league. One often overlooked result of the merger was the introduction of divisions into the NFL's traditional Eastern-Western alignment. Since 1933, the NFL had separated the teams into Eastern or Western Divisions/Conferences. From 1933-49 it was Divisions. From 1953-66 it was Conferences. From 1950-52, the three seasons following the absorption of the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Colts from the All-America Football Conference, the teams were split into American and National Conferences. That bit of nomenclature was foreshadowing of what was to come about 20 years later. After the 1966 merger, the NFL got a little squirrelly with the separation of their teams. Probably due to the lateness of the merger announcement, the 1966 season was more of the same. 15 teams divided into Eastern and Western Conferences:
Eastern Conference
Dallas Cowboys
Cleveland Browns
Philadelphia Eagles
St. Louis Cardinals
Washington Redskins
Pittsburgh Steelers
Atlanta Falcons
New York Giants
Western Conference
Green Bay Packers
Baltimore Colts
Los Angeles Rams
San Francisco 49ers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
Minnesota Vikings
It was in 1967 that the NFL got squirrelly:
Eastern Conference
Capitol Division
Dallas Cowboys
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
New Orleans Saints
Century Division
Cleveland Browns
New York Giants
St. Louis Cardinals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Western Conference
Coastal Division
Los Angeles Rams
Baltimore Colts
San Francisco 49ers
Atlanta Falcons
Central Division
Minnesota Vikings
Green Bay Packers
Chicago Bears
Detroit Lions
This was the NFL from 1967-69. The most surprising aspect of this alignment for me has always been it's delightful alliteration. Four divisions with the names Capitol, Century, Coastal, and Central. Who would've thought that Pete Rozelle and his pals had that sort of whimsy in them? The Central Division is the only division that survived the complete NFL-AFL merger. The good old Central continued until the NFL's most recent realignment in 2002. The four teams of the Central make up the NFC North today. They are the only four teams that have stayed together since the NFL got squirrelly in 1967.
A couple things.
I sure do miss seeing the Colts as the Baltimore Colts. I also like seeing them on the National Football side of the ledger. The same is true for the Steelers and the Browns.
The NFL has rarely been very good with geography. They have gotten better in recent years but how can anyone ever seriously place teams from Atlanta and Baltimore in the West? The Cowboys have terrific rivalries with the Redskins, Giants, and Eagles but they aren't geographical rivals.
