The NFL was founded in 1920; however, it didn’t adopt the name National Football League until 1922. The NFL originally had only eleven teams. Today the NFL has thirty-two. The NFL is split into two separate conferences: AFC and NFC. At one time the two conferences were separate leagues. They would each hold separate drafts. The two leagues also raised player salaries significantly by competing with each other’s contracts. In 1966 AFL Commissioner Al Davis began attempting to sign players from NFL teams. While this was happening many owners from both leagues were working on an agreement to combine the leagues. On June 8, 1966, the two leagues combined into the NFL.
Every year the NFL crowns a league champion through a playoff system culminating in the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl has been played for the past forty-three years. The Pittsburgh Steelers recently won a league record sixth Super Bowl in February of this year. Despite this, there are three teams that have more championships than the Steelers. The Green Bay Packers have won twelve titles, the Chicago Bears have won nine, and the New York Giants have won seven.
The NFL has seen many competitors over the past forty years. The first threat to the NFL was the World Football League. The WFL was able to bring players over from the NFL in 1974. However; in 1975 financial problems forced the WFL to fold halfway through their season. The biggest challenge to the NFL was the USFL. The USFL had many high profile players and had a national television contract. The USFL also had finance problems and only survived for three years.
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